April 28, 2013 – Moving From Lack to More Than Enough

4/28/13 Rev. David McArthur
Moving From Lack To More Than Enough

One day some men showed up at Charles Fillmore’s door to repossess his printing press. He quickly told them, “I have a rich Father”, so they left. At that moment he had made a spiritual connection. He had been in the consciousness of lack, but moved to one of more than enough. Many of us have a consciousness of “just barely making it”, but part of our work as spiritual beings is to be an instrument through which blessings flow in abundance. We can make very powerful changes within ourselves—spiritual transformations—like an amazing journey from not enough to more than enough.

We all know the story of Jesus feeding the 5000 with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. Another time, the disciples had been fishing but had caught none. Jesus commanded them to cast their net once more. It was filled to overflowing. In both instances change occurred when the disciples, who represent the different faculties and capacities with in us, turned their focus on Jesus. He symbolizes the Christ consciousness, the Atman, the Buddha mind. The fish represent divine idea, which are pulled from the water (the subconscious) out into manifestation. Pulled from within us, a change of consciousness moves from spiritual energy or substance into manifestation. The Higgs-boson particle, called the God particle, is the scientific version of pulling from the spiritual into the manifest form so we can put it to work in our lives. We do it with the power of emotion, of love, of the divine presence within. In the presence of love, limitations don’t exist. Love dissolves all that is unlike itself. Limitations lose their power.

Move from lack to more than enough. Remove the limits in your life—it’s just time for them to go. Then support each other by changing consciousness for each other, and remove the limits in our community. It takes focus and intention. For two weeks, take 15 minutes each day to say, I Am Loving (enter into the experience of feeling love for another); I Am Loved (you are so deeply loved; so completely, without conditions; you are the beautiful child of God); I Am Love (it’s who you are; you carry it where ever you go; it is in you, for you). Let love’s power be in you.

I am loving. I am loved. I am love. When you do that and are in that love, whatever is needed will be met, because you “have a rich Father”!

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February 17, 2013 – The Great Paradox of Prosperity

2/17/13 Janet Conner
The Great Paradox of Prosperity

The Buddha and Jesus each gave us a formula to create a beautiful, abundant life. Guess what? They taught the same thing! And it’s nothing like our modern obsession with the Law of Attraction. They both taught the paradox of abundance. They both taught the paradox that you don’t get what you want by wanting it. They taught “put your attention on the divine within” and then your life is abundant.

Not too many months ago, with all my success, I was bankrupt. At Thanksgiving, I told my son, who then asked, ”Are you doing work you love? [I was.] Then what’s the problem?” He was saying it wasn’t what I was doing that needed to change. I knew I needed to turn my attention to the divine within. So in my daily deep soul writing I dialogued with my beloved divine voice. I heard that I needed to spend the following month deep soul writing every day. One week for preparation, the next looking back at all the wisdom and what I had learned already. Then a week in forgiveness. The fourth week was to be spent looking at the life “you now want to create”. So I wrote.

Then, on New Year’s Day, I didn’t want to write. I found You Are Here by Thich Nhat Hanh at my feet, and I read the sentence which changed everything—“The Buddha said when conditions are sufficient there is a manifestation.” I realized we’re 180 degrees off with The Secret. It’s not about the manifestation, it’s about the conditions! So what did Jesus have to say about it? Matthew 6:33, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Dr. Neil Douglas Klotz translates the original Aramaic as “Pouring yourself out makes the universe do the same.” When we pursue a right relationship with the universe we produce a condition of reception in which anything we need to produce our beautiful abundant life will be provided by the universe. The same teaching!

The conditions for manifesting our desires are uniquely our own. Every day I let God have the responsibility for manifesting the things I want. I focus on living my intentions as I have expressed them in the center of my mandala. Then I tap my heart and say, “I’m one with the One.”

Sing “I will leave this world as it is, go inside and find my God…Inside there is peace [and] joy… there is more than enough. Inside there is sacred love.” Set aside your wanting and asking and go inside and find your God.

September 30, 2012 – Love in Action: Commitment to Love

9/30/12 Rev. David McArthur

In a monastery in a beautiful valley, the monks were growing older. The abbot was concerned about the monastery surviving. His friend the rabbi couldn’t think of any way to help, but told the abbot, “I dreamt one of your monks was the messiah.” The abbot shared this with the monks. Silently, each wondered which brother it might be, or even if it might not be himself. So each one resolved to do better. As if a special wind had blown through the monastery, activity increased. The monks’ efforts to serve others and the surrounding community increased. Once again men from the community became interested in joining the order.
What a difference it makes when we see the beautiful divine presence in each other and within ourselves!

Another community saw how their old buildings no longer served them. After seeking guidance they decided to renew their place. There had just been enough money to meet existing needs, but different members pledged to do more. Then in their country a great recession hit, and fear gripped everyone. Some in the community lost their jobs, some lost their houses. They again prayed. “Should we go forward?” A curious answer came back that yes, they should go forward. They knew the real source of their abundance. In the face of the fear, they each committed to give from their resources. They built a beautiful center for themselves and all who hear of it. And the times got better for all. It had to start somewhere.

The change came from how they began to see each other—how they saw the divine in each other—and, what’s even harder, seeing the divine within themselves. It is easy to see who that was, as today we are celebrating our second year in our new buildings. The commitment we made was to honor the divine love that we are. Say to each other, “I commit to honor the love you are.” “I commit to being Divine Love in action.”

You cannot choose to be divine love—it is what you are! You cannot get away from it. But you can commit to putting divine love into action. That is what is the power! The wholeness! The wisdom! The abundance! You are!

June 17, 2012 – The Father Principle

6/17/12 Rev. David McArthur

Father’s Day! Becoming a father is when the spiritual journey really begins!

What ‘father’ really is, in part, is pure divine principle, immutable law, that, in love, does not support choices of self destruction, even when that means telling a child who is an addict that they are not welcome in the family any longer. It is the divine love which accepts accountability. Yet it is there when the choice is made to leave the destructive living behind.

It is “fathering” an organization which reaches out and touches the world, calling forth the highest, holding a vision of what can be. It is having a commitment to the love and abundance which lead us through difficult times. It is being the instrument of that divine principle.

One of the purposes of a father is to see who we really are and acknowledge that in us, to call forth in us who we really are because there was that love that had called him forth to be who he really was.

There is divine energy flowing through the universe and life. It is a pulse in us when we are “on purpose”. When it flows through us, transformation takes place and the universe is changed. We don’t know how.

The divine ‘father’ principle is in you, whether you are a man or a woman. See the light in others, see the purpose and the light flowing through them. What is there is Father, God. Call it forth again and again.

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June 17, 2012 – The Father Principle


6/17/12 Rev. David McArthur

Father’s Day! Becoming a father is when the spiritual journey really begins!

What ‘father’ really is, in part, is pure divine principle, immutable law, that, in love, does not support choices of self destruction, even when that means telling a child who is an addict that they are not welcome in the family any longer. It is the divine love which accepts accountability. Yet it is there when the choice is made to leave the destructive living behind.

It is “fathering” an organization which reaches out and touches the world, calling forth the highest, holding a vision of what can be. It is having a commitment to the love and abundance which lead us through difficult times. It is being the instrument of that divine principle.

One of the purposes of a father is to see who we really are and acknowledge that in us, to call forth in us who we really are because there was that love that had called him forth to be who he really was.

There is divine energy flowing through the universe and life. It is a pulse in us when we are “on purpose”. When it flows through us, transformation takes place and the universe is changed. We don’t know how.

The divine ‘father’ principle is in you, whether you are a man or a woman. See the light in others, see the purpose and the light flowing through them. What is there is Father, God. Call it forth again and again.

June 10, 2012 – Lighting the Torch of the Soul

6/10/12 Rev. Susan Galvan

Lighting the Torch of the Soul

Lighting the Torch of the Soul is bringing the heart’s core out into the open. So often, because of our busy-ness, we put it on the back burner until, late in life, it’s still “in the closet” and we are filled with regret. What brings us power to live in the light—in the Christ consciousness?

To do it, stop. At a mosque, each person upon entering, stops and washes off the outside life and leaves their shoes inside the door, so as not to bring the world with them into the holy space. So stop, and leave your world and go into your empty space.

Then get quiet. Come into the moment—no past; no future—step out of your exhausting story into where you are clear and still. Where your heart knows no limits. Experience that warmth of love. It is always there within, whether we are in it or not. It is where nothing is missing or needs fixing or re-arranging. Experience the lightness of being and gratitude which lifts the heart. Where you are at peace.

Next, appreciate your abundance, even the traumas you had which are part of what got you to this point. And appreciate each other. We each need an ally, a friend to point out our blind spots, to bring us back. This is not a solo journey. Together we move to where we want to be. Support each other’s dreams. Do not practice “dream-icide” upon yourself or others.

Finally we each need a plan. It might change, but follow. How do we recognize our plan—that we are manifesting the Christ consciousness? It’s when we light up. It’s doing things for which we are enthusiastic (en-theos, which is Greek for “filled with God”). It’s doing things that energize us. Remember you don’t have to know how, just what. In expressing your heart’s core values wonderful things do happen in ways never expected. Keep listening, opening, following. Affirm, “I am open and willing to allow the Christ to express in me, through me, as me!” “I am open and willing to allow the Christ to express in me, through me, as me!”

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June 10, 2012 – Lighting the Torch of the Soul


6/10/12 Rev. Susan Galvan

Lighting the Torch of the Soul is bringing the heart’s core out into the open. So often, because of our busy-ness, we put it on the back burner until, late in life, it’s still “in the closet” and we are filled with regret. What brings us power to live in the light—in the Christ consciousness?

To do it, stop. At a mosque, each person upon entering, stops and washes off the outside life and leaves their shoes inside the door, so as not to bring the world with them into the holy space. So stop, and leave your world and go into your empty space.

Then get quiet. Come into the moment—no past; no future—step out of your exhausting story into where you are clear and still. Where your heart knows no limits. Experience that warmth of love. It is always there within, whether we are in it or not. It is where nothing is missing or needs fixing or re-arranging. Experience the lightness of being and gratitude which lifts the heart. Where you are at peace.

Next, appreciate your abundance, even the traumas you had which are part of what got you to this point. And appreciate each other. We each need an ally, a friend to point out our blind spots, to bring us back. This is not a solo journey. Together we move to where we want to be. Support each other’s dreams. Do not practice “dream-icide” upon yourself or others.

Finally we each need a plan. It might change, but follow. How do we recognize our plan—that we are manifesting the Christ consciousness? It’s when we light up. It’s doing things for which we are enthusiastic (en-theos, which is Greek for “filled with God”). It’s doing things that energize us. Remember you don’t have to know how, just what. In expressing your heart’s core values wonderful things do happen in ways never expected. Keep listening, opening, following. Affirm, “I am open and willing to allow the Christ to express in me, through me, as me!” “I am open and willing to allow the Christ to express in me, through me, as me!”

May 6, 2012 – Tithing – Tool of Abundance


5/6/12 Rev. David McArthur

There’s more than just meditation. There are other tools. Chas. Fillmore, in Prosperity, said “It is perfectly logical to assume that a wise and competent Creator would provide for the needs of His creatures in their various stages of growth… Temporal needs would be met by temporal things, mental needs by things of like character, and spiritual needs by spiritual elements.” In the physical, the spiritual tool is giving. The primary, central tool is tithing to open to and touch that level of vibration, but the teaching of tithing has been much abused.

Tithing is protective in nature, not allowing us to get involved with lack. When you start, you shift your relationship with God. You’re saying, “I know I’ll be taken care of, so I can give this back to God.” It affects all aspects. Finances stabilize. You shift from a frightened child asking for protection, to that of an adult partnering with God. It’s not about winning the lottery, but of getting on with your life. There is nothing that isn’t already given you. You are loved whether you tithe or not. The question is, are you going to let it flow through you or will you “get and hold”? It’s about “attunement”. There is only one mind.

A Quaker church in the 1940’s experimented with the law, and planted one cubic inch of wheat. After tithing it’s yield they planted the remaining 9/10’s. They continued for six years. The tithe alone at the end exceeded what would have normally been the whole amount gained without tithing! A mathematician among them projected that if the process continued for 6 more years, there was not enough land on earth to plant the twelfth year’s 9/10 of wheat.

Are you willing to have an expanded flow in your life? Malachi 3:10, “ ‘Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.’ ”

January 22, 2012 – Beauty and the Beast


01/22/12 Rev. David McArthur

Beauty and the Beast is a picture of major spiritual transformation. Every character shows us a part of our self. The father represents the adult male part in all of us that seeks after truth through the mind. Beauty is that feeling part of us which is appreciation, love.

In a snow storm one night, the father arrives at a great castle where his every need is provided. The storm is the veil which keeps us from seeing ourselves, our true riches. The castle pictures the divine presence which provides and sustains us. Leaving the castle, the father picks a rose from the castle garden for Beauty. The Beast appears and declares the man’s life is now forfeit. (The rose stands for understanding, and once you have that, your life up to then is over, because you can’t go back to the way you were.) Beast lets the father go if Beauty (the ability to touch goodness) will come in his place.

Beauty appreciates everything about the castle except that she must dine with the ugly Beast every evening. The Beast is also something within us, that part where we see ourselves as ugly and frightening. It might be addiction, low self esteem, hurt expressing as anger and violence, or fear that keeps us from living our life. It is legitimate to see it as ugly and to be afraid. Going into the castle is growing into a greater knowledge of ourselves and we have power then to see that ugly painful part of our self. We have to get to know it, to see it and to become consciously aware of our self.

Beauty is allowed to go home for two months, but then doesn’t want to return to the castle. (We fall back asleep, finding comfort where we had been.) Beauty dreams (dreaming is awareness coming into our “sleep”) that the Beast is dying. With great compassion for him, she goes back. Compassion awakens us to truth. Her tears (tears of forgiveness) revive him. (Tears of forgiveness wash away the ugly, painful part which was a constant cry to be touched by the love that heals. The forgiveness comes from feeling that love.) The Beast’s ugliness falls away and the young man comes forth filled with power, wisdom– a receptivity which lets divine presence and power flow.

In this tale abundance and ugliness represent God and the Devil. But you know there is no truth in that! You know There is only One presence and One power in the universe and in your life, the all loving goodness of God. One presence! One power! And you do know “they lived happily ever after”!

October 2, 2011 – Blessing, Giving & Faith


10/2/11 Rev. David McArthur

In the process of spiritual growth, there are two spiritual practices that make a practical difference: blessing and giving. It’s part of a greater depth and growth of your spiritual consciousness. A “problem” is of your own consciousness. Bring it into wholeness by blessing it. God only knows wholeness, not “part” of anything. If we are not experiencing wholeness then there is work to be done. Blessing reaches into the wholeness. Blessing brings the wholeness through you, and not just in the solution to the problem, but in other areas of your life as well. Open to a greater flow of spiritual energy, directing it with intention.

Jesus combined blessing with giving. Twice, He fed crowds of thousands with about half a dozen loaves of bread and a few fish. (Matthew 14) He blessed what He had and then gave it to the disciples to give to the people. Another time the disciples had only 5 loaves of bread for themselves, and feared it was not enough. He again fed all of them, admonishing them that “they didn’t get it” – that it was divine substance that He brought into manifestation. It was the blessing of what they had and the giving of it that brought forth from the divine substance the solution to their problem. It was a demonstration for us how we use spiritual energy consciously with intention.

In the perception of a “problem”, you aren’t perceiving the goodness there. Call it forth. It responds to your need when you bless it and give from what you have. You are empowered to bring forth what you need. And we do this together – we call forth the demonstration, the manifestation – as with our renewed building and grounds we returned to just a year ago. And when it is time to go to the next step we gather to bless what we have, what we have done.

To experience the flow of abundance, give. You have something to give. Find it. Give freely with joy. Set the table as an experience of blessing. Make a list of what you need, affirming the good that is coming. The “change” is within one’s self. And then the world changes. Change comes from the center out to the circumference. The goodness is out there just waiting for you to get your act together. God is good all the time! Give. Bless. Do this for yourself and hold this truth for others.