Peter

July 20, 2014 – Sleeping Beauty, Part III: Maleficent

by


7/20/14 Rev. David McArthur
Sleeping Beauty, Part III: Maleficent

“Maleficent” is the next chapter which shows our world, that appears to be dualistic, is in the end a kingdom free of pain, where we see only the Presence of the Divine. So where does pain come from?

Maleficent, when a young girl, was a winged beauty who flew to the highest levels of nature’s beauty (the spiritual realm) and displayed the “male” roles of power and protector (the soul). From the human realm came a boy, Stefan, who could still experience the spiritual world (as when we were young). They become best friends. About the age of sixteen, Stefan leaves the spiritual world behind for the “adult” world. The King could never conquer Maleficent’s realm (the spiritual) so had offered to leave his throne to who ever reeks revenge for him upon it. So in a symbol of power over another, Stefan steals Maleficent’s wings for the King—a horrible betrayal of his friendship with her.
Thus the curse from the “evil fairy” Maleficent when Sleeping Beauty is born. Our souls feel betrayed by the high level of pain and difficulty in the human experience. Without the wings, the soul is limited, unable to rise to the highest level of understanding. Maleficent must walk in the world. Yet, like our soul guides us, she watches over Sleeping Beauty as she grows, revealing to her the beauty and care of the spiritual realm. Grateful, Sleeping Beauty calls Maleficent her “fairy god-mother”—the symbol of our caring and protective Divine Mother.
Like the the King, we continue to express our desire for control and power over others. That brings the violence and pain. When we meet the pain and evil that we have created (touch the needle) we fall into the deep sleep, the experience of betrayal the King had given the spiritual world.

Where’s the evil? There is none. It’s a change of consciousness. As Charles Fillmore said, “God, or good, is omnipresent.” The apparent evil is not real. There is no devil, no Satan. There is only power for the good. It is spiritual law. How magnificent that you have made the decision to heal, and so have stepped into the path of the pain you brought! It is one of the highest levels of what we do.

Look at what we accomplish with love. John’s gospel says, “…the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” And in Matthew, “…until heaven and earth pass away, not … one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the law, until the law is fulfilled.” This does not mean we have to go through all the pain and suffering we have given. What comes to us is for us to meet with love. Love is the fulfillment. The kiss of true love awakens Sleeping Beauty. But it is not the Prince’s, it is Maleficent’s (our Divine Mother). Divine Love heals our pain. We awaken. It’s a new world.

The King still attacks Maleficent. Although she does not engage, he falls from the tower and dies. Duality cannot sustain itself. This is what happens when we meet it with non-resistance. Let it go; give it no more power and energy. That which presents against you has no real power over you. You are a child of the most high. All that power is within you. Nothing can stand in the way of your good. There is only one power. Again in Matthew, Jesus said, “Do not resist an evil person; turn the other cheek.” But how? Non resistance is a challenge. Repeat: I am a spiritual being living in a spiritual world governed by spiritual law. I am a spiritual being living in a spiritual world governed by spiritual law. I am a spiritual being living in a spiritual world governed by spiritual law.

Sleeping Beauty and Maleficent both become the queens of their realms (the human and the spiritual), but the barriers between are gone. It is all one kingdom. God is good all the time! God is good all the time! All the time God is good!
 

July 20, 2014 – Sleeping Beauty, Part III: Maleficent

by

7/20/14 Rev. David McArthur
Sleeping Beauty, Part III: Maleficent

“Maleficent” is the next chapter which shows our world, that appears to be dualistic, is in the end a kingdom free of pain, where we see only the Presence of the Divine. So where does pain come from?

Maleficent, when a young girl, was a winged beauty who flew to the highest levels of nature’s beauty (the spiritual realm) and displayed the “male” roles of power and protector (the soul). From the human realm came a boy, Stefan, who could still experience the spiritual world (as when we were young). They become best friends. About the age of sixteen, Stefan leaves the spiritual world behind for the “adult” world. The King could never conquer Maleficent’s realm (the spiritual) so had offered to leave his throne to who ever reeks revenge for him upon it. So in a symbol of power over another, Stefan steals Maleficent’s wings for the King—a horrible betrayal of his friendship with her.
Thus the curse from the “evil fairy” Maleficent when Sleeping Beauty is born. Our souls feel betrayed by the high level of pain and difficulty in the human experience. Without the wings, the soul is limited, unable to rise to the highest level of understanding. Maleficent must walk in the world. Yet, like our soul guides us, she watches over Sleeping Beauty as she grows, revealing to her the beauty and care of the spiritual realm. Grateful, Sleeping Beauty calls Maleficent her “fairy god-mother”—the symbol of our caring and protective Divine Mother.
Like the the King, we continue to express our desire for control and power over others. That brings the violence and pain. When we meet the pain and evil that we have created (touch the needle) we fall into the deep sleep, the experience of betrayal the King had given the spiritual world.

Where’s the evil? There is none. It’s a change of consciousness. As Charles Fillmore said, “God, or good, is omnipresent.” The apparent evil is not real. There is no devil, no Satan. There is only power for the good. It is spiritual law. How magnificent that you have made the decision to heal, and so have stepped into the path of the pain you brought! It is one of the highest levels of what we do.

Look at what we accomplish with love. John’s gospel says, “…the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” And in Matthew, “…until heaven and earth pass away, not … one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the law, until the law is fulfilled.” This does not mean we have to go through all the pain and suffering we have given. What comes to us is for us to meet with love. Love is the fulfillment. The kiss of true love awakens Sleeping Beauty. But it is not the Prince’s, it is Maleficent’s (our Divine Mother). Divine Love heals our pain. We awaken. It’s a new world.

The King still attacks Maleficent. Although she does not engage, he falls from the tower and dies. Duality cannot sustain itself. This is what happens when we meet it with non-resistance. Let it go; give it no more power and energy. That which presents against you has no real power over you. You are a child of the most high. All that power is within you. Nothing can stand in the way of your good. There is only one power. Again in Matthew, Jesus said, “Do not resist an evil person; turn the other cheek.” But how? Non resistance is a challenge. Repeat: I am a spiritual being living in a spiritual world governed by spiritual law. I am a spiritual being living in a spiritual world governed by spiritual law. I am a spiritual being living in a spiritual world governed by spiritual law.

Sleeping Beauty and Maleficent both become the queens of their realms (the human and the spiritual), but the barriers between are gone. It is all one kingdom. God is good all the time! God is good all the time! All the time God is good!
 

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July 13, 2014 – Sleeping Beauty, Part II: One Power

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7/13/14 Rev. David McArthur
Sleeping Beauty, Part II: One Power

The “folk scripture” Sleeping Beauty is our story. We have forgotten we are children of God. Like Sleeping Beauty, everyone of us has touched that “spinning wheel” and felt pain, lack, hurt, rejection, and we have fallen asleep to the greater presence and goodness because the pain has numbed us. We need the Prince (our seeking mind) to bring the true love kiss moment. It is the acceptance of our union with the pattern of God within.

But the Prince is captured and put in chains, as we are bound by the chains of our experiences. However, his chains fall away, as do ours, when the focus is put on the truth, the Presence, through the feelings of love. The Prince picks up the Shield of Virtue, which is our capacity of choice to focus on the greater goodness, and heads into the field of thorns and cuts through them. Thorns are all the things we “have” to do, the things that are not true. Our perception makes the difference. The choice is to focus on the good.

But the mind is good at finding why we can’t. Enter the dragon, the great old God-thought of the “fear of God”. Or you feel you have to be a cynic—that’s your dragon. It is only fear.

We also looked at Jasmina Agrillo and her struggle with a brain tumor. From the brain surgery she lost all control of her body. She did discover she could see “…my heart and my brain. I could see my brain go into seizure with emotional stress. And I’d see my heart light up with the song of a bird. I could then see that energy go from my heart up to my brain. What I could see was the power of my healing heart.”

She chose to journey through the thorns up into the tower, the “secret place of the Most high,” according to Emily Cady, that “… is the point of mystical union between man and Spirit (or God in us), wherein we …feel our oneness with the Father, and we manifest this oneness.” Jasmina said, “I learned it is one thing to experience the presence of God. It is the other part of the journey to become love.” She had to reconstruct her life one small step at a time. She had to choose to bring the “true love kiss” to every thing she tried to do. She built a great new life.

Then the tumor returned. This time she chose spiritual healing. But let me be clear, surgery and medicine are equally manifestations of the Presence in healing. She chose to rebuild her goodness one choice at a time. That’s the way it is done. What ever comes up, just choose the goodness, because God is good all the time! God is good all the time! All the time God is good!

If it’s all good, then why the pain and suffering? The story tellers have brought out “Maleficent” to tell us. What is the pain and suffering for? We’ll answer that next week.
 

July 13, 2014 – Sleeping Beauty, Part II: One Power

by

7/13/14 Rev. David McArthur
Sleeping Beauty, Part II: One Power

The “folk scripture” Sleeping Beauty is our story. We have forgotten we are children of God. Like Sleeping Beauty, everyone of us has touched that “spinning wheel” and felt pain, lack, hurt, rejection, and we have fallen asleep to the greater presence and goodness because the pain has numbed us. We need the Prince (our seeking mind) to bring the true love kiss moment. It is the acceptance of our union with the pattern of God within.

But the Prince is captured and put in chains, as we are bound by the chains of our experiences. However, his chains fall away, as do ours, when the focus is put on the truth, the Presence, through the feelings of love. The Prince picks up the Shield of Virtue, which is our capacity of choice to focus on the greater goodness, and heads into the field of thorns and cuts through them. Thorns are all the things we “have” to do, the things that are not true. Our perception makes the difference. The choice is to focus on the good.

But the mind is good at finding why we can’t. Enter the dragon, the great old God-thought of the “fear of God”. Or you feel you have to be a cynic—that’s your dragon. It is only fear.

We also looked at Jasmina Agrillo and her struggle with a brain tumor. From the brain surgery she lost all control of her body. She did discover she could see “…my heart and my brain. I could see my brain go into seizure with emotional stress. And I’d see my heart light up with the song of a bird. I could then see that energy go from my heart up to my brain. What I could see was the power of my healing heart.”

She chose to journey through the thorns up into the tower, the “secret place of the Most high,” according to Emily Cady, that “… is the point of mystical union between man and Spirit (or God in us), wherein we …feel our oneness with the Father, and we manifest this oneness.” Jasmina said, “I learned it is one thing to experience the presence of God. It is the other part of the journey to become love.” She had to reconstruct her life one small step at a time. She had to choose to bring the “true love kiss” to every thing she tried to do. She built a great new life.

Then the tumor returned. This time she chose spiritual healing. But let me be clear, surgery and medicine are equally manifestations of the Presence in healing. She chose to rebuild her goodness one choice at a time. That’s the way it is done. What ever comes up, just choose the goodness, because God is good all the time! God is good all the time! All the time God is good!

If it’s all good, then why the pain and suffering? The story tellers have brought out “Maleficent” to tell us. What is the pain and suffering for? —We’ll answer that next week.
 

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July 6, 2014 – Sleeping Beauty, Part I: Soul Awakening

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7/6/14 Rev. David McArthur
Sleeping Beauty, Part I: Soul Awakening

“Sleeping Beauty” is about the awakening of our soul. In a time long ago the King and Queen celebrated the birth of their princess, but the royal baby was cursed that, on her 16th birthday, she would prick her finger on a spinning wheel and fall into a deep sleep. She would only be awakened by the kiss of true love. The King and Queen burned all the spinning wheels and sent Sleeping Beauty into the woods to be raised without knowing who she was. Many fairy tail characters don’t know who their parents are. We, too, lose awareness that we really are children of God. When we were children we were still in touch with the feeling of something beyond our understanding, of connection with the divine. But we were taught that that is not ok. We feel that everything belongs to God and we have no right to any of it.
 
Jasmina says in her book Mirror of My Soul, Sanctum of My Heart that she saw many parallels between herself and Sleeping Beauty. She wasn’t feeling valued or worthy. Her sense of self was quite limited. Raised by someone whose turmoil was so very hurtful, Jasmina was even afraid of being a mother to her little boy. As in the Sleeping Beauty story, a point of change comes. Sleeping Beauty meets the young Prince, and her feeling world opens to the field of knowledge. The Prince is our “knowing” side, and he knows he is a child of the King and Queen (it’s the awareness that we are heir to the divine). He’s the part of us that seeks guidance, that wants to learn.
 
Even if we don’t understand it, there’s a point where we open to changes that must take place in the soul’s growth. For Jasmina, this came with the growth of a large tumor in her brain. While in surgery, she says, “I entered a tunnel and kept falling, with illuminated hands guiding my fall to a great light. I entered it to meet an assembly of divine light beings whose grace enveloped me. I learned I had to love more. From the highest source of soul discernment, I felt joy at the great opportunity to become more love.” She experienced the knowledge of who she really is (the Prince side). The Prince also has a journey. Our thinking part seeks learning and has to experience the world of feeling (the princess side, Sleeping Beauty). Jasmina continued, “There was an explosion in my heart..I was aware of my soul as a great vibrational wave in the sea of love.”
 
Take in this knowledge so deeply that you really FEEL it. Say, “I am a beloved child of God.” “I am a beloved child of God.” “I am a beloved child of God.” Feel it so deeply that you KNOW it!

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July 6, 2014 – Sleeping Beauty, Part I: Soul Awakening

by


7/6/14 Rev. David McArthur
Sleeping Beauty, Part I: Soul Awakening

“Sleeping Beauty” is about the awakening of our soul. In a time long ago the King and Queen celebrated the birth of their princess, but the royal baby was cursed that, on her 16th birthday, she would prick her finger on a spinning wheel and fall into a deep sleep. She would only be awakened by the kiss of true love. The King and Queen burned all the spinning wheels and sent Sleeping Beauty into the woods to be raised without knowing who she was. Many fairy tail characters don’t know who their parents are. We, too, lose awareness that we really are children of God. When we were children we were still in touch with the feeling of something beyond our understanding, of connection with the divine. But we were taught that that is not ok. We feel that everything belongs to God and we have no right to any of it.
 
Jasmina says in her book Mirror of My Soul, Sanctum of My Heart that she saw many parallels between herself and Sleeping Beauty. She wasn’t feeling valued or worthy. Her sense of self was quite limited. Raised by someone whose turmoil was so very hurtful, Jasmina was even afraid of being a mother to her little boy. As in the Sleeping Beauty story, a point of change comes. Sleeping Beauty meets the young Prince, and her feeling world opens to the field of knowledge. The Prince is our “knowing” side, and he knows he is a child of the King and Queen (it’s the awareness that we are heir to the divine). He’s the part of us that seeks guidance, that wants to learn.
 
Even if we don’t understand it, there’s a point where we open to changes that must take place in the soul’s growth. For Jasmina, this came with the growth of a large tumor in her brain. While in surgery, she says, “I entered a tunnel and kept falling, with illuminated hands guiding my fall to a great light. I entered it to meet an assembly of divine light beings whose grace enveloped me. I learned I had to love more. From the highest source of soul discernment, I felt joy at the great opportunity to become more love.” She experienced the knowledge of who she really is (the Prince side). The Prince also has a journey. Our thinking part seeks learning and has to experience the world of feeling (the princess side, Sleeping Beauty). Jasmina continued, “There was an explosion in my heart..I was aware of my soul as a great vibrational wave in the sea of love.”
 
Take in this knowledge so deeply that you really FEEL it. Say, “I am a beloved child of God.” “I am a beloved child of God.” “I am a beloved child of God.” Feel it so deeply that you KNOW it!

June 29, 2014 – Journey Through the Heart to Stillness

by

6/29/14 Rev. David McArthur
Journey Through The Heart To Stillness

We come here to learn the steps to gain all the fabulous things Spirit has for us. But today I suggest that when we are faced with our challenges we do nothing. Absolutely nothing. It’s not as easy as it sounds.

So why meditate? In the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tsu says, “We join spokes together in a wheel, but it is the center hole that makes the wagon move. We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want…We work with being, but non-being is what we use.” But who were we before coming into this human experience? What is that which is behind the being? The non being is always there. It’s the spiritual being experiencing through us.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says one should “focus on Me (God) in the heart.” The psalms teach us the stillness is the path to the heart. Jesus said to “Enter into your closet. Pray to your Father who is in secret.” The secret is that which is below our awareness, below the things we know, deeper than thought or feeling.

As when Jesus calmed the stormy sea with “Peace, Be still”, we enter into stillness and calm our storm. It has nothing to do with our issues; yet it has everything to do with our issues. It is the relationship to the divine. What do we find below our knowing? Nothing.

We do it every Sunday. These are the steps we take to connect with this stillness.
1. Breath deeply through the heart. Pull energy from the monkey mind down to the heart.
2. Open the heart to connect to that divine intelligence by feeling the love. Feel its beauty; recall when you felt your heart going out and you received. In every moment your are loved with that infinite love by the entire universe.
3. “Peace. Be still.” Within the center of love is a still point at the very center of your heart. Be in stillness doing absolutely nothing. Thoughts come in. They’re just thoughts. Just go right back to the love. Find out who you truly are.
4. Then send the love. Radiate the love. When you go out, take that love with you.

Try it this week. Beginners to meditation, do this for 10 minutes every day this week. The experienced can do it for 15 minutes a day. Most meditation techniques are mind-on-mind. This is through the heart, which is 40 times more powerful than the mind. The mind tends to listen to the heart.

“Peace. Be still.” You can do it while standing in line—for 20 seconds. That would be fantastic. Maybe for a minute when you pull into your parking space—that would be wonderful. And at home, you can do a lot of nothing! Bless you!

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June 29, 2014 – Journey Through the Heart to Stillness

by


Rev. David McArthur
Journey Through The Heart To Stillness

We come here to learn the steps to gain all the fabulous things Spirit has for us. But today I suggest that when we are faced with our challenges we do nothing. Absolutely nothing. It’s not as easy as it sounds.

So why meditate? In the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tsu says, “We join spokes together in a wheel, but it is the center hole that makes the wagon move. We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want…We work with being, but non-being is what we use.” But who were we before coming into this human experience? What is that which is behind the being? The non being is always there. It’s the spiritual being experiencing through us.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says one should “focus on Me (God) in the heart.” The psalms teach us the stillness is the path to the heart. Jesus said to “Enter into your closet. Pray to your Father who is in secret.” The secret is that which is below our awareness, below the things we know, deeper than thought or feeling.

As when Jesus calmed the stormy sea with “Peace, Be still”, we enter into stillness and calm our storm. It has nothing to do with our issues; yet it has everything to do with our issues. It is the relationship to the divine. What do we find below our knowing? Nothing.

We do it every Sunday. These are the steps we take to connect with this stillness.
1. Breath deeply through the heart. Pull energy from the monkey mind down to the heart.
2. Open the heart to connect to that divine intelligence by feeling the love. Feel its beauty; recall when you felt your heart going out and you received. In every moment your are loved with that infinite love by the entire universe.
3. “Peace. Be still.” Within the center of love is a still point at the very center of your heart. Be in stillness doing absolutely nothing. Thoughts come in. They’re just thoughts. Just go right back to the love. Find out who you truly are.
4. Then send the love. Radiate the love. When you go out, take that love with you.

Try it this week. Beginners to meditation, do this for 10 minutes every day this week. The experienced can do it for 15 minutes a day. Most meditation techniques are mind-on-mind. This is through the heart, which is 40 times more powerful than the mind. The mind tends to listen to the heart.

“Peace. Be still.” You can do it while standing in line—for 20 seconds. That would be fantastic. Maybe for a minute when you pull into your parking space—that would be wonderful. And at home, you can do a lot of nothing! Bless you!

June 22, 2014 – Location, Location, Location!

by


Sheila Gautreaux, L.U.T.
Location, Location, Location! 

After rapidly outgrowing their old location a highly successful business celebrated opening day at their new location. A large floral bouquet arrived with a card that read, “Rest in Peace.” The owner immediately called the florist who apologized profusely. Hoping to shift the business owner’s attention, the florist pointed out, “Imagine how the mourners at the funeral home on the other side of town are feeling about the card on the bouquet they got that says, ‘Congratulations on your new location!’”

The parable about the farmer sowing seed is all about hearing and listening. The four locations where the seeds fell represent the four types of listening (hearers) and the reception we give the seeds (words of Truth). Hearing is automatic, and for those without any impairment it requires no effort. However, listening is a conscious choice, a process that requires focus, concentration, and intention to open and receive. From those that listen to words without “getting it” (location 1) to those that have done their inner work and are ready to listen to the words of Truth, guidance, and direction (location 4), God’s Guidance/Truth will either be inconsequential or powerful and life-transforming. The fourth place where the seeds fell—the fertile ground—represents the people that have begun to heal the inner challenges within before applying the principles to their outer lives. We give it to ourselves first before we seek an outer effect. It requires that we listen with authenticity—beyond the chaos and noise. The still small voice within continues to speak, and give us all the tools we need to deal with the world and our lives. It is a key to the Kingdom. Bring out the Kingdom in your life. Take the Words of Truth into your heart, and then to the outer. Affirm, “I listen with my heart and the Kingdom of Heaven is revealed for me.” “I listen with my heart and the Kingdom of Heaven is revealed for me.” “I listen with my heart and the Kingdom of Heaven is revealed for me.”

June 22, 2014 – Location, Location, Location!

by

6/22/14 Sheila Gautreaux, L.U.T.
Location, Location, Location! 

After rapidly outgrowing their old location a highly successful business celebrated opening day at their new location. A large floral bouquet arrived with a card that read, “Rest in Peace.” The owner immediately called the florist who apologized profusely. Hoping to shift the business owner’s attention, the florist pointed out, “Imagine how the mourners at the funeral home on the other side of town are feeling about the card on the bouquet they got that says, ‘Congratulations on your new location!’”

The parable about the farmer sowing seed is all about hearing and listening. The four locations where the seeds fell represent the four types of listening (hearers) and the reception we give the seeds (words of Truth). Hearing is automatic, and for those without any impairment it requires no effort. However, listening is a conscious choice, a process that requires focus, concentration, and intention to open and receive. From those that listen to words without “getting it” (location 1) to those that have done their inner work and are ready to listen to the words of Truth, guidance, and direction (location 4), God’s Guidance/Truth will either be inconsequential or powerful and life-transforming. The fourth place where the seeds fell—the fertile ground—represents the people that have begun to heal the inner challenges within before applying the principles to their outer lives. We give it to ourselves first before we seek an outer effect. It requires that we listen with authenticity—beyond the chaos and noise. The still small voice within continues to speak, and give us all the tools we need to deal with the world and our lives. It is a key to the Kingdom. Bring out the Kingdom in your life. Take the Words of Truth into your heart, and then to the outer. Affirm, “I listen with my heart and the Kingdom of Heaven is revealed for me.” “I listen with my heart and the Kingdom of Heaven is revealed for me.” “I listen with my heart and the Kingdom of Heaven is revealed for me.”

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