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June 2, 2013 – Ease Into The Now

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6/2/13 Rev. David McArthur
Ease Into The Now

We have been on an adventure lately, looking at things in a different way. One of the best parts of an adventure, though, is coming home. Right here, right now It is exactly who you are. Here and now, time and space is where you are and where the divine Presence is. Often we’re preparing for what’s coming up, or going over what’s past. But focusing on the now is what I’m reaching for. In the gospels, the term that is translated as “now” likely had more meaning, as in John, when it was written that Jesus said, “as the Father has loved me so how I have loved you. Now, remain in my love.”

It’s a state of consciousness. Being aware of the Presence in the present. How do I get there? I enter the moment not through the head, but through the heart, because in the heart I can have a sense of the Presence. So breathe ease [into your heart]. It’s a natural feeling. It has a sense of flow. You can go from there to other places, such as peace. It has no tension. An awareness comes to you of the loving people around you, of a greater wisdom unfolding—a connectedness with people rather than with stuff—being in the present moment aware of the Presence, of the beautiful people they are, that you are. Breathe the feeling. The feeling builds—a sense of greater order and of flow. Its like slowly floating down a river on a raft and drifting around the bend.

Breathe ease and be aware of the feelings in your body. Be aware of the presence of hope, of those in pain and stress who come in hope and amazing love. They breathe ease, as do you, bringing love and care into this moment. Bringing wisdom; being present with the Presence. Breathe ease. Be aware of the all-loving goodness around you without limit. We are together in a magnificent spiritual moment. That moment is here, now. Welcome home!

May 26, 2013 – My Jesus, Part II – The Soul

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5/26/13 Rev. David McArthur
My Jesus, Part II — The Soul

Asking questions is a valuable part of the spiritual path. Our God-thought grows as we grow. Underneath the miracles and stories of Jesus, there is a person who so impacted the people with him that they wrote that the experience was something divine (in the God-thought of the time). Still it was a new God-thought—the indwelling God that is not separate from us.

Edgar Cayce told of Jesus’ prior incarnations (a fascinating way to look at things). In one, as Joshua, Jesus/Joshua understood his God-thought as telling him to use military might to slay all the native people of the promised land. He saw the divine hand in his making the promised land safe for the Israelites. But this wasn’t expressing the divine in the highest manner. Fascinating to know that the same man [soul] later walked through that land teaching peace, non-violence, love. That’s a tremendous step—for a person to step into the consciousness that we call the Christ, the Atman, etc. Then he responded to violence with love, inclusion instead of superiority. Was it an expression of karmic law that he was publicly ridiculed and hung on a tree like, as Joshua, he did to many of the kings in the Holy Land? As Jesus, he said he did not come to take away the law, but to fulfill it (meeting his life but responding with love?). Is that how it happened? I don’t know. For me, it’s not that it did or didn’t happen but the response to it.

When I look at that story it has meaning for my life. But this is not a “one size fits all” spirituality. There is so much variety in our paths. Part of our assignment is to find what works for us.

A skilled artist actually had the experience that Jesus appeared and posed for her. She wrote that he bore no witness to duality or opposition. He told her that Spirit is the ultimate because it is indivisible love—the source of your love, your beingness. You are created in that image. Holy will pours through, generation after generation. It is love. It is the common essence. Love is who you are. Affirm, I am love. I am love. I am love. His gift and chosen task was to come and restore the heart to its true power. The heart is your source of all higher knowledge. When the inside and the outside are the same, it is the gateway to the soul and to eternity.

What is there helps me to make the choice today, when I see our oneness and connection. In the consciousness of love separation fades away and harmony comes forth. If HE is there helping me to do that, then HE is my Jesus, and I’m ok with that!

May 19, 2013 – My Jesus, Part I

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5/19/13 Rev. David McArthur
My Jesus, Part I

It’s ok to ask questions regarding the Bible. That “take it on faith” stuff makes me feel like they just didn’t know. Let’s start with the God thought. A very primitive people tried to make sense of their world. (This isn’t necessarily Unity.) They told stories about their questions and discoveries. They put God “out there” in the biggest thing they could see—the heavens. With Jesus, they had to figure a way for God to be down here—the virgin birth! It’s not a new idea (Horace, Dionysus, Krishna, Buddha, Quetzalcoatl). And then they had to get God back “up there”. (The resurrection and ascension.)

Let’s throw out everything that doesn’t make sense. Let’s pretend that Jesus is not God coming to Earth, but just a guy, a precocious Jewish boy. When people experienced him, they were touched and changed and talked of something “greater”. He didn’t see Jew/Gentile, but taught all people (even the Samaritan) inclusion, not exclusion; love, not rejection. He treated women as intelligent beings of value. But even without a single miracle, He touched the God thought.

Episcopalian Bishop Spong says how foolish we are to take the Bible literally. When we can see who we really are, we see the meaning of all life, the source of being, the God thought, seen when one has the courage to be, and not seen as separate. Jesus revealed God, and whenever God is seen in life, it is called Christ. He never said, “I healed you.” He said, “Your faith has healed you.” The magnificent law. No divine intervention. But through the beautiful laws we can be freed from where we are to be where we can be.

Walk on water? What really happened there nobody knows. Resurrection? It has nothing to do with the body. That primitive culture told stories of symbol and meaning. They were a context oriented culture. Our culture is content oriented. In the story of Lazarus they talked of life instead of death. Jesus arrived after four days and the stories they shared brought Lazarus alive in their hearts. In Jesus’ resurrection the disciples shared what He meant to them and the change He brought alive in them—an understanding of love that even today touches me. Unwilling to speak of a God “up there”, I speak of something that was so full of life it is alive today. It helps me to know the God in what I see in front of me. I put all else away except the God I see alive in front of me!

May 12, 2013 – Mom As Divine Mother

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5/12/13 Rev. David McArthur
Mom As Divine Mother

One way we touch the love of God is the role of the mother. When there is a need for healing, for a healing presence, we connect with the figure of the Madonna and Child, of Mother Mary. At that point of pain, of overwhelm, when we feel we are asked to deliver far beyond our perception of our capacity, but we are asked anyway to show up for another, the divine presence shows up in the symbol of motherhood itself. Let that divine connection heal and nurture in that way mothers have of knowing we can step up to what is asked of us. Open that divine connection. It is not some God of power and authority, but of tenderness and caring. We know God is not male or female, yet we open to those divine feminine qualities that mothers embody for us.

All the greatest teachers the world has ever known have brought us awareness of awesome divine love. And every bit of that love and consciousness is seen in the mothers we know. Awaken to that. We know this divine is in us, works as us and through us, and that mothers embody this. In the times they didn’t, when their pain got in their way, when they were limited by their trauma, addiction, or struggle to awaken from their own sleep, remember that forgiveness is significant work, because it is in this relationship that we get to know, to glimpse that divine love.

Severely wounded, a young soldier in Viet Nam called to his momma. Back home, she heard him. “Super Mom” is that absolute divine intervention. We reach for that presence and know it as “momma”!

As her boy reached the difficult years of his early teens, a mother began leaving letters under his pillow “to be read when ever you are alone”. In the first she confided, “I know life is hard now. You are frustrated and nothing is right. I love you more than I can say. I am here if you want to talk. No matter where you go or want ever you do I will always be proud of you and love you.” Their connection deepened. What are you connected with? What are you going home to? Mother is that connection to “I am here for you and will always love you; that will never change” (which is God’s love). Mothers, you are the expression of divine connection. Thank you God, for loving me as “Mom”. And thank you, all moms, for loving us! Thank you!

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

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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”!

April 21, 2013 – Our True Work – Healing the Heart

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4/21/13 Rev. David McArthur
Our True Work — Healing The Heart

There are things that keep us from our peace—places of pain on our journey. Our assignment as spiritual beings is that when we see something which is less than the magnificence which we are, then it is time to heal it. We remember God is good all the time—even in Boston this week—but sometimes it’s hard to get to that knowing. However, life doesn’t happen to us, but for us.

A dedicated, loving ministerial student faced her final oral exam before the academic board. However, she was turned down for her diploma. She turned to a colleague for help in dealing with the rejection, but instead of asking him to commiserate with her, she asked he stand with her as she journeyed within to the place where she harbored a deep childhood hurt. It had caused the behavior which was the basis for her rejection. From her mature self, she loved that hurt little girl inside, assuring her she wasn’t there to hurt her, but to love her. That it was safe. She poured love out to her again and again. She opened up and let love in, and was at peace. Healed, she went back to the board, which was so impressed with her they granted her the diploma.

You are a beautiful being who came in not only to do it for yourself but for all others. When we recognize something which is less than magnificent in others it is because that same thing is alive in us. We have journeyed to heal it. You are not powerless and nothing can come into your life without you allowing it. What you do within is played out. You know how to do it because you know how to love. It is the Presence, the Power, because that is who you are! After the explosions in Boston, people ran toward the chaos to help. They responded with compassion. A whole world responded with compassion, deep love, and prayer. It is not what happens, but what we do about it. These things are part of the goodness that we experience. God is good all the time. Let Her show you a part of you that if you bring it to wholeness it will touch the heart and heal all of mankind. At times like these, “why?” is the next question, and now it is answered.

April 14, 2013 – From Complaint to Wisdom in Three Breaths

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4/14/13 Rev. David McArthur
From Complaint To Wisdom In 3 Breaths

In Unity, we know we’re the ones that create our lives, so when there is something in our lives to complain about, we can’t blame it on the devil! Since thoughts in mind produce after their kind, we have to ask at such a time, “Where is our focus? What are we affirming in our thoughts and in our lives?”

We might think we’ve figured out where God blew it, and feel smart and that we’re right. (I used to like feeling smarter than “them”, but not any more.) Now, when we see we are complaining more, we are uncomfortable with that. We know God is good all the time, so how do we shift away from complaining and having things to complain about?

Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life… Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them… Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? …[S]eek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you…” These teachings show up in all faiths. Lao Tsu said, “Watch the turmoil of beings, but contemplate their return…to the common source. [T]he source is serenity… When you realize where you come from, you naturally become tolerant, disinterested, amused, kindhearted as a grandmother, dignified as a king. Immersed in the wonder of the Tao, you can deal with whatever life brings you…”

Bring to mind a recent major complaint. To shift quickly, try taking 3 breaths. The first is the Heart Breath. The heart is the doorway to the deep expression of Spirit. Second is the Hug Breath. Breath it in—grandma hugs, mommy hugs, little ones hugs—so marvelous. Remember one; breath it in. Third is the Wisdom Breath. Breath in the wise place in you. You have been there. You understand how to take care that is wise. Open. Receive the beautiful spiritual power we work with. That infinite intelligence is there to guide you. It is you. It is ready to lead you with beauty. Not one other person has any more wisdom than you. Take that Wisdom Breath. We have walked to that knowing place where you know how this can unfold for you. In that moment thoughts in mind produce after their kind. Life and wisdom center in you. You are in the Tao, the Kingdom. It is simple; it is the love you are. Being that wisdom is who you are!

April 7, 2013 – Pooh and the North Pole – The Knowing Place

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4/7/13 Rev. David McArthur
Pooh and the North Pole — The Knowing Place

Pooh and I, Jesus, Lao Tzu and Krishna, share an amazing place. It’s a place all of us want, but we’re not sure where it is or even if we’ve gotten there! It always seems out of reach, not for ordinary people, but we’ve all gotten there many times. It’s The Place Of Knowing—the amazing experience where we actually know—we experience—the presence of the divine. But after we’ve been there we aren’t sure where we’ve been because the mind forgets. It doesn’t know what to do with the experience.

Winnie the Pooh called it the North Pole. (In stories, each character is part of ourselves, and speaks to our journey.) Pooh is the seeker. He is open. The whole gang goes off with him to find the North Pole. They sit by a beautiful stream to eat lunch. Roo falls in the water, and after much excitement, Pooh and Kanga hold a pole for Roo to grab and crawl out. Christopher Robin declares it is the North Pole. He represents the divine self that you are which, even though you didn’t know what you were looking for, has the full capacity to know when you have found it. That beautiful capacity to say, “This is what it is.” So they put a sign on it that says, “This is the North Pole.”

You probably do not find it in meditation or prayer, but in the middle of the dishes or doing something that needed to be done, like helping Roo. Suddenly you experience, you know, the goodness of God. You feel it is true. You’ve touched that very fabric of the Presence Itself. It is freeing. You can’t think it, but you can be it. You’ve been there, and you’ve forgotten, but a sweetness and gentleness lingers.

Eventually we do forget and think this stuff down here is what’s real. That’s where Christopher Robin has such a wonderful message—when you have found it, stop and put a sign on it. “This is my place of knowing. I feel all-loving goodness.” When you remember that feeling you remember that you know what is real. I Feel the All-loving Goodness. I Feel the All-loving Goodness. I Feel the All-loving Goodness. You do. You know it. Put that sign on it. You’ve found it, The Place Of Knowing, in you. You’ll be there again. You feel it because you are loved; you are that love!

March 31, 2013 – Every Time I Love

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3/31/13 Rev. David McArthur

Every Time I Love

5 days after 9/11, in an Egyptian coffee shop in Queens, New York City, Labib Salam and his friends were trying to understand it all when 4 young men entered and smashed everything. The police quickly caught all four, but Labib didn’t press charges. He said, “I understand their rage.” Labib and his friends began to clean up, and within an hour the four young men returned to help. In Labib’s compassion and forgiveness, we are reminded of the forgiving Jesus did from the cross. It is an amazing thing.

Resurrection is a little different. It’s an inside job. You can’t do it for someone else. When those four guys went back to Labib, they thanked him for not pressing charges. They grabbed brooms to help and soon were sharing coffee and conversation. Labib and the 4 left as friends the next morning. That’s resurrection!

Jesus’ resurrection was a demonstration of the things he had shown all along. You too have done all those things—feeding the crowds and supporting those needing healing. We do it sometimes “because we gotta”, but other times in a consciousness of wholeness and love. That’s different. Love transforms. It cannot not. Every time I love, love transforms. It does every single time. So you’ve been that demonstration! You are that life—that love. Every time I love, love transforms.

When we really screw up we usually blame others or just run away. The sense of connection is dead. Your compassion is dead. There is only you. But these guys touched the compassion of responsibility and brought back life.  Death is not the end. Those parts of us that are lifeless then are brought back to life. What makes the difference is the love. Every time I love, love transforms.

Sugar transforms the bitter cacao bean into chocolate, and the whole world loves it! Chocolate, as in the chocolate Easter egg, is a symbol if, every time you take a bite, you know love transforms. Make the commitment. Every time you take a bite of chocolate remember, Every time I love, love transforms. It is who you are—the beautiful child of God! And Every time you love, love transforms.