August 17, 2014 – I Hold You In My Heart

8/17/14 Rev. David McArthur
I Hold You In My Heart

The Spirit of Love keeps asking us to grow and explore the amazing possibilities that we are. One of the forms of daily connection I use is particularly effective with those things that don’t have an off button—like when you are with family or friends and there’s one that always gets to you. After they leave you can’t turn it off, going over what you’ll say or do next time. It’s called the monkey mind, but I call it the snakey mind. It’s snakey because there’s always some fear there—of rejection or I’m not good enough, and so forth.

It’s very difficult to deal with the physical or emotional illness of people very important to us. We can’t control or fix them or the situation. It is one of the great bummers of the spiritual world. We worry. We have anxiety. We don’t feel connected spiritually. We feel powerless even though we know we are one with the only power. We do understand that there is amazing power, intelligence, and guidance in the heart. We have done a lot with HeartMath techniques.

Today we involve the heart in a different way: to take that person and simply hold them in our hearts. We don’t have to choose what we feel, or call forth anything, we simply hold that person or situation in our hearts. For example, I have a particular affection for the people of the Mideast but I can’t do anything about their situation. I can’t fix it. I can’t control it. All I can do is hold them in my heart. It’s connecting to the great power in the heart. And one of my friends is experiencing something I can do nothing about. I don’t know if it does anything for him, but it does for me. This even works for people you don’t like. I say, “I hold you in my heart.” My hand automatically goes to my heart, and I change. How I look at that person changes.

After all the angels and visitors at the scene of the Nativity, the Bible says, “Mary took all these things and pondered them in her heart.” This is an instruction on how to take things in your life that are unfolding. When we take things into our heart, they have been lifted.

Lao Tzu said, “If you want to be given everything, give everything up…Only by being lived by the Tao can you be truly yourself.” It means give up control—give up figuring it all out—give up thinking that worrying is how to love. Bring it to where the Divine Presence lives in our lives. It is so simply delightful to find it in those divinely frustrating times.

“I hold you in my heart.” “I hold you in my heart.” “I hold you in my heart.” For those one’s you care for, and whose struggle you know, or for those parts of you that struggle. Fortunately we get a choice. Bless you!

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July 27, 2014 – Sleeping Beauty, Part IV: True Love’s Kiss


7/27/14 Rev. David McArthur
Sleeping Beauty, Part IV: True Love’s Kiss

Central to both “Sleeping Beauty” and “Maleficent” is the point of transition, the point of healing the pain caused by the spinning wheel. It changes at True Love’s Kiss when we awaken and can then walk free.

In “Sleeping Beauty” the Prince (us, knowing we are children of God) heads into the forest to bring awakening to Sleeping Beauty, an unaware peasant. It’s a noble response of the soul to the understanding that we are all one. It’s an opportunity to be in service. It requires giving, facing pain (the fire of the dragons). But there is no heaven in the forest; they have to go to the castle.

In Maleficent the Prince goes through the challenges to get up to the Princess in the castle and he kisses her, but she sleeps on. There was no response to the nature of the divine (we see ourselves as separate). But the Princess awakens from “the mother’s kiss” by Maleficent (as the nurturer). Care and service flowed through Maleficent. We awaken to the change of the flow of spiritual energy.

It’s about giving it away! In the beautiful twelve step path it is not done until the twelfth step is done, which is to take it to another alcoholic. It is not done until it is given away. We step into that presence of divine love through service. Krishna tells Arjuna, “I am the super soul seated in the heart of each of us.” So when you give you are serving the one that lives in each of us. Jesus said, “what ever you did for one of the least … you did for me.”

Jasmina, in Mirror of My Soul, Sanctum of My Heart, recounts that in the state of appreciation she could see her heart energy grow. In a disturbed or traumatic state she would go into seizures. She was keenly aware of her “heart work”, and that she could work with others healing from brain trauma. She gave what she had away to others. And when she gave it away, she healed too. When we touch the true love we step into the divine.

It’s not just “doing”, it’s not just “showing up”. It is the giving of love through what you do. That is the service. Ask, “How can I serve today?” If you are not ready and willing, though, do not ask! Are you one who says,”I have to do everything for everybody all the time”? Ask anyway. You might get, “Leave them alone today. They’ll be ok.”

“How can I serve today?” “How can I serve today?” “How can I serve today?” Just feel yourself opening! Feel what you are calling forth. When you are ready It will say, “I have exactly what you can do today!”And you might just enter into the state known as “Happily Ever After”!

July 27, 2014 – Sleeping Beauty, Part IV: True Love’s Kiss

7/27/14 Rev. David McArthur
Sleeping Beauty, Part IV: True Love’s Kiss

Central to both “Sleeping Beauty” and “Maleficent” is the point of transition, the point of healing the pain caused by the spinning wheel. It changes at True Love’s Kiss when we awaken and can then walk free.

In “Sleeping Beauty” the Prince (us, knowing we are children of God) heads into the forest to bring awakening to Sleeping Beauty, an unaware peasant. It’s a noble response of the soul to the understanding that we are all one. It’s an opportunity to be in service. It requires giving, facing pain (the fire of the dragons). But there is no heaven in the forest; they have to go to the castle.

In Maleficent the Prince goes through the challenges to get up to the Princess in the castle and he kisses her, but she sleeps on. There was no response to the nature of the divine (we see ourselves as separate). But the Princess awakens from “the mother’s kiss” by Maleficent (as the nurturer). Care and service flowed through Maleficent. We awaken to the change of the flow of spiritual energy.

It’s about giving it away! In the beautiful twelve step path it is not done until the twelfth step is done, which is to take it to another alcoholic. It is not done until it is given away. We step into that presence of divine love through service. Krishna tells Arjuna, “I am the super soul seated in the heart of each of us.” So when you give you are serving the one that lives in each of us. Jesus said, “what ever you did for one of the least … you did for me.”

Jasmina, in Mirror of My Soul, Sanctum of My Heart, recounts that in the state of appreciation she could see her heart energy grow. In a disturbed or traumatic state she would go into seizures. She was keenly aware of her “heart work”, and that she could work with others healing from brain trauma. She gave what she had away to others. And when she gave it away, she healed too. When we touch the true love we step into the divine.

It’s not just “doing”, it’s not just “showing up”. It is the giving of love through what you do. That is the service. Ask, “How can I serve today?” If you are not ready and willing, though, do not ask! Are you one who says,”I have to do everything for everybody all the time”? Ask anyway. You might get, “Leave them alone today. They’ll be ok.”

“How can I serve today?” “How can I serve today?” “How can I serve today?” Just feel yourself opening! Feel what you are calling forth. When you are ready It will say, “I have exactly what you can do today!” And you might just enter into the state known as “Happily Ever After”!

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


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

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.
 

Play

May 18, 2014 – Heart to Heart Connection


5/18/14 Rev. David McArthur
Heart to Heart Connection 

“Life is really one fool thing after another. Love is two fool things after each other.” A local “philosopher” told me that. But our primary relationship with the spouse is where most of our deepest spiritual learning comes from. Song writers have written “I can’t live if living is without you.” Or “Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m 64?” The attention is on “me”, on what is done for “me”. There are two levels of attention: in the intellectual, the flow is through the brain. In the spiritual, the flow is in the heart. When the head is significantly present it is in charge. When the heart intelligence is the predominant presence you are secure enough to focus on the other person. That’s why the couple experience is so powerful. It is the heart to heart connection.

Is your locus of intention on “me”, or in the heart where the connection happens? When there is no “me”, the heart is open to the God perception. That’s why we fall in love. It is opening to our oneness. Then we write verse like “You make the sun want to shine.” “Her hand in mine calms my soul.”

We can move from reaction to love, from head to heart, in four breaths. Breath #1, go to “neutral” when love is not your first response because the head is protecting you. It’s not good or bad; they are not for or against you. Breath #2 is go to “NEUTRAL”. The first was the intention of getting to neutral. The second is to get you there. Now you are in a place where you can choose. The third breath is “I CARE for you.” Focus on your feeling of care for that person. 4th breath is “I care for YOU.” Something new happens. Instead of the locus of your attention on your feelings of defense or “fixing it”, they are on the other person. Say to them, “tell me more”.

Anchor this. Affirm Divine Love flows from my heart blessing you! Divine Love flows from my heart blessing you! Divine Love flows from my heart blessing you!
Then Divine Love flows from my heart loving you! Divine Love flows from my heart loving you! Divine Love flows from my heart loving you!

Heart to heart connection. Soul to soul understanding. It’s a beautiful experience. It’s why we spiritual beings came here. We know what beautiful spiritual beings we are, heart to heart!

May 18, 2014 – Heart to Heart Connection

5/18/14 Rev. David McArthur
Heart to Heart Connection 

“Life is really one fool thing after another. Love is two fool things after each other.” A local “philosopher” told me that. But our primary relationship with the spouse is where most of our deepest spiritual learning comes from. Song writers have written “I can’t live if living is without you.” Or “Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m 64?” The attention is on “me”, on what is done for “me”. There are two levels of attention: in the intellectual, the flow is through the brain. In the spiritual, the flow is in the heart. When the head is significantly present it is in charge. When the heart intelligence is the predominant presence you are secure enough to focus on the other person. That’s why the couple experience is so powerful. It is the heart to heart connection.

Is your locus of intention on “me”, or in the heart where the connection happens? When there is no “me”, the heart is open to the God perception. That’s why we fall in love. It is opening to our oneness. Then we write verse like “You make the sun want to shine.” “Her hand in mine calms my soul.”

We can move from reaction to love, from head to heart, in four breaths. Breath #1, go to “neutral” when love is not your first response because the head is protecting you. It’s not good or bad; they are not for or against you. Breath #2 is go to “NEUTRAL”. The first was the intention of getting to neutral. The second is to get you there. Now you are in a place where you can choose. The third breath is “I CARE for you.” Focus on your feeling of care for that person. 4th breath is “I care for YOU.” Something new happens. Instead of the locus of your attention on your feelings of defense or “fixing it”, they are on the other person. Say to them, “tell me more”.

Anchor this. Affirm Divine Love flows from my heart blessing you! Divine Love flows from my heart blessing you! Divine Love flows from my heart blessing you!
Then Divine Love flows from my heart loving you! Divine Love flows from my heart loving you! Divine Love flows from my heart loving you!

Heart to heart connection. Soul to soul understanding. It’s a beautiful experience. It’s why we spiritual beings came here. We know what beautiful spiritual beings we are, heart to heart!

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November 10, 2013 – A Step Towards Wholeness


11/10/13 Rev. David McArthur
A Step Toward Wholeness

When a question comes up one, two, three times, it’s Spirit saying, “Okay, I’ve got something for you to look at.” Here’s one: there’s something going on in your life, but “God is good all the time”—except this time? When facing a serious challenge, you have a choice: where do you place your attention?

A four year old girl is diagnosed with polio. “She’ll never walk again.” Her mother says, “YES SHE WILL!” This was not easy—rural Tennessee, deep poverty, big family, many children. With her mother’s support, the family kept focused and took what steps they could. At six the girl got metal braces; she stood and took her first step. 10 years later, at 16, she ran to a bronze medal in the Olympics! 4 years after that she won 3 gold medals. Fastest woman in the world! Her name is Wilma Rudolph.

The nature of God’s presence is wholeness. But when it isn’t there, it doesn’t mean God isn’t there. Divine goodness is there—as the potential within the experience. Take a step towards the wholeness. Every time the divine IS there. This is the force that we are one with, that is within us. It is what we create with. When it looks the worst is the time to remember “God is good all the time.” Because it is there—it is always there.

Gandhi, so insecure he could not talk to people, ran into a system of brutal subjugation. People wanted to deal with it using violence, but to him that wasn’t wholeness. Knowing he would likely be beaten, imprisoned, or killed, he took his step. He had no idea that it would eventually lead an entire nation of millions to freedom without violence. He just knew that was his next step. And it came from the step before. And that came from the step before. Those things in our world where we don’t express wholeness (relationships, health challenge, “not enough”—money, support, acceptance, whatever)—one step towards wholeness is all it takes.

God IS good all the time. At any time it is potential. What makes the difference between potential and manifestation? We’re what makes the difference. Commit: I am going to do that which I can do—a step toward wholeness. I will take a step toward wholeness. I will take a step toward wholeness. I will take a step toward wholeness.

When you do you will discover that God Is Good All The Time!

November 10, 2013 – A Step Towards Wholeness

11/10/13 Rev. David McArthur
A Step Toward Wholeness

When a question comes up one, two, three times, it’s Spirit saying, “Okay, I’ve got something for you to look at.” Here’s one: there’s something going on in your life, but “God is good all the time”—except this time? When facing a serious challenge, you have a choice: where do you place your attention?

A four year old girl is diagnosed with polio. “She’ll never walk again.” Her mother says, “YES SHE WILL!” This was not easy—rural Tennessee, deep poverty, big family, many children. With her mother’s support, the family kept focused and took what steps they could. At six the girl got metal braces; she stood and took her first step. 10 years later, at 16, she ran to a bronze medal in the Olympics! 4 years after that she won 3 gold medals. Fastest woman in the world! Her name is Wilma Rudolph.

The nature of God’s presence is wholeness. But when it isn’t there, it doesn’t mean God isn’t there. Divine goodness is there—as the potential within the experience. Take a step towards the wholeness. Every time the divine IS there. This is the force that we are one with, that is within us. It is what we create with. When it looks the worst is the time to remember “God is good all the time.” Because it is there—it is always there.

Gandhi, so insecure he could not talk to people, ran into a system of brutal subjugation. People wanted to deal with it using violence, but to him that wasn’t wholeness. Knowing he would likely be beaten, imprisoned, or killed, he took his step. He had no idea that it would eventually lead an entire nation of millions to freedom without violence. He just knew that was his next step. And it came from the step before. And that came from the step before. Those things in our world where we don’t express wholeness (relationships, health challenge, “not enough”—money, support, acceptance, whatever)—one step towards wholeness is all it takes.

God IS good all the time. At any time it is potential. What makes the difference between potential and manifestation? We’re what makes the difference. Commit: I am going to do that which I can do—a step toward wholeness. I will take a step toward wholeness. I will take a step toward wholeness. I will take a step toward wholeness.

When you do you will discover that God Is Good All The Time!

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October 28, 2012 – Aladdin: No Fear in Oneness

10/28/12 Rev. David McArthur

The story of Aladdin is a look at our journey of consciousness. Aladdin lived in poverty and always felt he had to take from others. As we do at this level, he felt like a victim. At this “miserable sinner” level we are asleep to divine love. Then when adversity shows up we feel it proves we are of no value. Through adversity, though, Aladdin is brought to caves filled with treasure (the subconscious) where he finds many many beautiful things. When you overcome adversity, you feel power. This changed Aladdin’s consciousness. Feeling that he now had some power, some value, he didn’t need to steal. And he could love. Goodness showed up out of the bad. At this level we are still asleep, but how we think of ourselves has changed. We feel we can get a little good from life, from the adversity, from the bad.

Then Aladdin sees the princess and falls in love. The head experiences the heart. It is spiritual awakening. Aladdin now has purpose. He feels he has value. He now sees that power is for serving the purpose, to serve wholeness. The genie (which fulfills the power of the heart) creates for Aladdin and the princess their own palace away from the Sultan, who is the Father figure. (They woke up; they now know they are children of God.) At this level, you know you are fine and wonderful just the way you are. You are not miserable sinners. The world loves you.

Then the princess and the palace were taken by the sorcerer and Aladdin knew “it had been too good to be true”. This is believing in 2 powers, good and bad. As long as you believe it, it’ll show up. But there is only good and more good. Aladdin went back to the heart. The resolution was not through the thoughts (Aladdin) but through the heart (the princess). She denied life to the 2nd power (the sorcerer); she killed him. Love overcomes fear. That’s the gift.

The One Power dwells within man and all other beings and throughout the universe. One. In the heart, which knows the truth, there is no fear. No tension. No nervousness. You are at one with every other living person on Earth. No separateness. You have touched this oneness—with babies, with good friends, or in the silence. Nothing else is real. We can manifest and play with a 2nd power, but it is not the truth. God is good all the time! There is only one presence, one power—the all loving goodness of God! And that’s the truth!

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