affirmations

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!

June 29, 2014 – Journey Through the Heart to Stillness

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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!

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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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June 8, 2014 – Kindness for Piglet

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6/08/14 Rev. David McArthur
Kindness for Piglet 

One of the very powerful energies now coming into our 3D experience is the powerful attitude of kindness, to choose love instead of fear. We know what to do. The problem isn’t knowing what to do, the problem is remembering to do it.

Often when I want to move from fear to love, an image pops up from the gospel of Pooh which eases this for me: It had rained for some time. Piglet was afraid that he needed to be rescued. Pooh and Christopher Robin felt he needed to be rescued too. So they turned Christopher’s umbrella upside down to use as a boat. It worked. Can you imagine Piglet’s joy when he spied them coming into view, to his rescue?! This is the image that pops into my mind when someone needs reminding that things will be ok. It’s an extending of kindness.

When there is a fearful experience, what is asked of us? Could we choose to send kindness? Send, “You are a child of God. You are loved,” gently holding that connection for someone in their struggle. We aren’t their answer, but we are a presence in their world.

I went to a refugee camp on the West Bank. I went into a house with a family who had lost the father, the husband, because of the struggle there. Aware that we lived in two different worlds, I shared with the mother in the house that I had also experienced the death of a spouse. Almost as a challenge, the woman asked, “Was it by a gun?” I said, yes. When she heard that, she looked into my eyes—women do not normally look into a man’s eyes in that culture. I saw into her soul—the pain, the fear, struggle, loneliness, the fear she had for her 16 year old son who was slipping from her control. I saw the exhaustion, but also the beauty and the strength of that amazing woman. And she saw into me. Later I realized that we had been surrounded by a love which cared for both of us. What had happened was that we had given up separation, that feeling of difference. We were just two people. It touched us both. Somewhere in that connection there was a care and an acknowledgment of who we were.
That’s what we send when we send out kindness to another. It doesn’t change the outer, but the more we do it, the more we invite change. “Child of God, you are loved.”

Hold that awareness of kindness, of love, for three people and for their peoples. Today, President Peres of Israel; and President of the Palestinian Authority, Abbas; and Pope Francis meet to pray in a garden at the Vatican. Send your heart to them. It is a power greater than fear. It dissolves the feeling of difference. Breath that kindness for the people of the world. “Children of God, you are loved!” So when you’re driving down a California freeway, breathe kindness! Enjoy the journey!

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June 8, 2014 – Kindness for Piglet

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Rev. David McArthur
Kindness for Piglet 

One of the very powerful energies now coming into our 3D experience is the powerful attitude of kindness, to choose love instead of fear. We know what to do. The problem isn’t knowing what to do, the problem is remembering to do it.

Often when I want to move from fear to love, an image pops up from the gospel of Pooh which eases this for me: It had rained for some time. Piglet was afraid that he needed to be rescued. Pooh and Christopher Robin felt he needed to be rescued too. So they turned Christopher’s umbrella upside down to use as a boat. It worked. Can you imagine Piglet’s joy when he spied them coming into view, to his rescue?! This is the image that pops into my mind when someone needs reminding that things will be ok. It’s an extending of kindness.

When there is a fearful experience, what is asked of us? Could we choose to send kindness? Send, “You are a child of God. You are loved,” gently holding that connection for someone in their struggle. We aren’t their answer, but we are a presence in their world.

I went to a refugee camp on the West Bank. I went into a house with a family who had lost the father, the husband, because of the struggle there. Aware that we lived in two different worlds, I shared with the mother in the house that I had also experienced the death of a spouse. Almost as a challenge, the woman asked, “Was it by a gun?” I said, yes. When she heard that, she looked into my eyes—women do not normally look into a man’s eyes in that culture. I saw into her soul—the pain, the fear, struggle, loneliness, the fear she had for her 16 year old son who was slipping from her control. I saw the exhaustion, but also the beauty and the strength of that amazing woman. And she saw into me. Later I realized that we had been surrounded by a love which cared for both of us. What had happened was that we had given up separation, that feeling of difference. We were just two people. It touched us both. Somewhere in that connection there was a care and an acknowledgment of who we were.
That’s what we send when we send out kindness to another. It doesn’t change the outer, but the more we do it, the more we invite change. “Child of God, you are loved.”

Hold that awareness of kindness, of love, for three people and for their peoples. Today, President Peres of Israel; and President of the Palestinian Authority, Abbas; and Pope Francis meet to pray in a garden at the Vatican. Send your heart to them. It is a power greater than fear. It dissolves the feeling of difference. Breath that kindness for the people of the world. “Children of God, you are loved!” So when you’re driving down a California freeway, breathe kindness! Enjoy the journey!

June 1, 2014 – Create a Sacred Relationship

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6/01/14 Rev. David McArthur
Create a Sacred Relationship 

Our sacred relationships are those in which we see the magnificence in that other person. We see the one closest to us differently from how others see this person. Some of the most meaningful awakening in our lives comes from a relationship with another.

To create this perception even of “ordinary people” in us is simple. (I didn’t say easy.) It is giving. From giving comes receiving, and in between is appreciation. How we open to more is to give. Giving moves a special energy. We expand. The simplest way is “blessing”. When the head is processing life, the locus of our attention is us. When we bless the other person, the locus changes to them. It causes a beautiful movement from the head to the heart. Say, “Divine Love goes before you, making easy, joyous, and successful you way.” To expand it, draw more special energy by appreciation. Maybe that person holding up the line has just been holding the hand of a friend dying of cancer, or maybe she just came home from the front lines. When you are in your heart, it doesn’t have to be accurate, as the head would insist. Whatever, they are trying to deal with life. Appreciating that expands our heart consciousness and then we see their beauty and magnificence. Maybe your blessing is just a smile or a kind word. What we give is thoughtfulness, kindness. It changes what we perceive. It’s a soul to soul connection.

The hardest part is the part we avoid: the last step, receiving. The head will interfere, because if we really acknowledge the beauty which flows through us, it changes us, and the head doesn’t like change. When the beauty and love flow through you, you are a spiritual presence. You change. Even “the benefit of the doubt” starts the flow. Giving is giving. A sacred relationship is established. Instead of seeing the person with all their “person” stuff, see the beautiful soul. Even the really difficult people in your life. It can let us see who we really are. In it is wisdom and amazing intelligence. The Divine Love loves you as much as any soul in the universe. Just do one a day. Can you make a beautiful, holy relationship out of this?

Give, appreciate, receive. What makes it easy is blessing. Repeat 3 times, “Divine Love goes before you, making easy, joyous, and successful you way.” Your blessing will open that door for them, and when you receive you will get a chance to see the amazing spiritual being that you are!

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June 1, 2014 – Create a Sacred Relationship

by


Rev. David McArthur
Create a Sacred Relationship 

Our sacred relationships are those in which we see the magnificence in that other person. We see the one closest to us differently from how others see this person. Some of the most meaningful awakening in our lives comes from a relationship with another.

To create this perception even of “ordinary people” in us is simple. (I didn’t say easy.) It is giving. From giving comes receiving, and in between is appreciation. How we open to more is to give. Giving moves a special energy. We expand. The simplest way is “blessing”. When the head is processing life, the locus of our attention is us. When we bless the other person, the locus changes to them. It causes a beautiful movement from the head to the heart. Say, “Divine Love goes before you, making easy, joyous, and successful you way.” To expand it, draw more special energy by appreciation. Maybe that person holding up the line has just been holding the hand of a friend dying of cancer, or maybe she just came home from the front lines. When you are in your heart, it doesn’t have to be accurate, as the head would insist. Whatever, they are trying to deal with life. Appreciating that expands our heart consciousness and then we see their beauty and magnificence. Maybe your blessing is just a smile or a kind word. What we give is thoughtfulness, kindness. It changes what we perceive. It’s a soul to soul connection.

The hardest part is the part we avoid: the last step, receiving. The head will interfere, because if we really acknowledge the beauty which flows through us, it changes us, and the head doesn’t like change. When the beauty and love flow through you, you are a spiritual presence. You change. Even “the benefit of the doubt” starts the flow. Giving is giving. A sacred relationship is established. Instead of seeing the person with all their “person” stuff, see the beautiful soul. Even the really difficult people in your life. It can let us see who we really are. In it is wisdom and amazing intelligence. The Divine Love loves you as much as any soul in the universe. Just do one a day. Can you make a beautiful, holy relationship out of this?

Give, appreciate, receive. What makes it easy is blessing. Repeat 3 times, “Divine Love goes before you, making easy, joyous, and successful you way.” Your blessing will open that door for them, and when you receive you will get a chance to see the amazing spiritual being that you are!

May 25, 2014 – I Pray YES!

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NOTE: Owing to technical difficulties, there are audio drop outs during the first 5 minutes of this message.

5/25/14 Sheila Gautreaux, L.U.T.
I Pray YES! 

In Unity, we use affirmative prayer. In fact, Unity was co-founded by Myrtle Fillmore, who healed her tuberculosis with affirmative prayer. She had heard that “God is never sick.” That as children of God, we are made in the image and likeness of God, and inherit the characteristics of God. Therefore we can never be sick.

“Affirmative prayer is a form of prayer or metaphysical technique that is focused on a positive outcome rather than a negative situation.” (Wikipedia) It is understanding the nature of God and our relationship to God.

Affirmative prayer is a combination of affirmations and denials. Denials are a positive way to address the situation; a disavowal that the negative situation has any power to diminish or weaken us, that it has no power over us. The negative situation is true, but it is not the Truth of our being. Affirmations are statements of Truth of the life we want to live into.

Suppose I got fired. Denial doesn’t mean I can go back to work tomorrow. It means that being fired doesn’t diminish me or keep me down. Affirm your Truth and move from your head to your heart.

If you are so low that all you’ve got is begging and pleading with God, go for it until you get to a place of healing and you can go forward, until you can affirm the Truth and the possibilities. Then, disavow the possibility that it can bring you down, and affirm your Truth and power. But what about when you do it and it isn’t working? If it is not working, go back and see what’s within you that might be holding this up. Is it fear or doubt, or even old beliefs learned in childhood?

The steps are:

1.  Affirm your Truth! Write your affirmation. Make copies and post them on your bathroom mirror, your refrigerator, in your car, and at the office. Each day you will see these positive truths and they will sink in. Or you can say an affirmation 7 times a day for 21 continuous days. You are bringing the negative from the head to the heart, and “God hears the prayers of the heart.”  

2. Believe your affirmative prayer! Say, “I no longer believe (that); I believe (this)!”

3. And remember, gratitude is the most powerful prayer!

4. Release it to God. You don’t have to tell God over and over and over!

Now look around—see what we have created! Everything you see was at one time a divine idea that then appeared in the mind of man.

Affirmative prayer is to say, “Yes!” to the Truth of God and your being. Declare, I say YES! I say YES! I say YES! And I promise you, beloved, that “goodness and mercy shall follow you all the days of your life!” God bless you!

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