Expressions of Love
In This Issue
The Love of God
- Rev. Frank Arnold
Faith - Rev. Sue Borg
Inability to Commit -
Gina Lakes
A Good Story
- author
Unknown
Old Service - "Tobias"
From the
internet
By Rev. Frank Arnold
We just returned from a trip to upstate New York to see our friends, Rev. Jim and Rev. Lauren Shuman. They live in a little place called Morristown Valley, right on the St. Lawrence River. From their window you can see Brockville, Canada. Quite a sight. Here's the picture from their deck. A short five minute boat ride and you're in Canada. It is so beautiful.
Suzi got in a bit of shopping and I got in a lot of fishing. We took the tour of The Thousand Islands, and saw some beautiful country, but the greatest joy was just sitting with our friends and doing nothing but enjoying each other. Have you ever tried to do just nothing?
I’ve decided that sitting on the deck on the river doing nothing but watching nature is when you’re closest to God. No thoughts, nothing but you and nature, the river, fish jumping, birds and squirrels trying to eat the same food from the bird feeders (one little squirrel was hanging upside down to eat from the feeder – pretty funny), little frogs on the lily pads in the nearby pond, and the cat trying to figure out how to get the frogs. Lauren assured us that her cat is a gourmet - loves frog legs. Yup, those are things that make you realize how life is filled with the Love of God.
And speaking of the Love of God, there is a new Miracles group landing in Utah – David Hoffmeister and the Messengers of Peace. They have begun their transition to Utah to create a Miracles Monastery at the Edge Retreat. In fact, the name of The Edge has been changed to The Living Miracles Monastery. It will now be a place for learning to live life based on A Course in Miracles. They are also going to create a center in Salt Lake City called the Living Miracles Center. We are excited for them and offer our loving encouragement for what they are creating.
The Course, for the last 25 years, has been one of my greatest experiences in this life. I have learned what it can do for a life – mine. I have found through the Course that God loves me no matter what I think or do, and no matter how much I judge myself or others, God doesn’t care – he still loves me. Learning to give up the fear of God and guilt are huge things and I’m so much better than I used to be. I’m sure there are a few judgments I could abolish from my life, but as Suzi says – I still like me.
This is what the Course says about the Love of God - “You can wait, delay, paralyze yourself, or reduce your creativity almost to nothing. But you cannot abolish it.” God’s love for you cannot be changed – period. That has always been such a good thing to learn for me. While I was growing up, you can be sure that’s not what I was taught and certainly not what I believed. I even believed in Hell – ha ha ha.
I’ve also learned that taking care of me and helping others helps me to understand God’s love. Whenever I am being of service, I find I cannot be harsh with me or with others. I find that my days are filled with more joy and kindness not just to others, but to myself. It’s hard to cuss and swear when you are doing a kindness for someone else. It is so true that giving IS receiving. See the last article in this newsletter. So interesting.
I learned to be patient and watch how the details get handled so gently when I don’t rush into negative thoughts about what is going on. For example, when we got to New York, our friends were not there yet and that cause some pretty weird concerns in a head – the what if’s and hoping, of course, they had not been in an accident. Of course, we stopped ourselves from thinking scary thoughts and two wonderful things happened immediately – the phone rang letting us know they were almost there and a truck pulled up and parked. As the guy got out to put luggage in his car, I looked down and guess what the license plate said - “RELAX.” God sent us a message on a license plate. Why do I ever think I need to do anything but Relax? Hmmmmm
So, I know I’ve said this before, but all that’s left is Gratitude for all that is and has been given. The Grace of God is always mine and the more I accept, the more is given. Gees, how simple can it get? RELAX! All is well
In May, I fulfilled a dream in the dream. Since I first started studying The Course, I have had a burning desire to meet and possibly chat with Judith Skutch-Whitson. I don't know the deep connection I have always felt, but I know it is real. I went on a trip to San Francisco and got to live that dream.
When I knew I was going to San Francisco with my friend Lori, I emailed Judith and asked her if she has some time we could get together and she invited me to her home for lunch - HOLY COW - what an honor. I will tell you it was one of the most wonderful three hours of my life - and the food was exquisite - the whole afternoon felt like being in heaven.
Sharing Miracle stories and being in the presence of this beautiful woman will be a memory of Love forever. She told me about new DVD's they are making about the Course and about Helen and Bill and so much of the intimate story of the Course. I knew the story, of course, but not expressed by one who was there and so personally involved all the way through the printing and distribution from the very beginning.
I told her of one of my miracle stories and she said the miracle occurred just because I said YES without hesitation to a situation. Now I see how that's how most miracles occur. Just say YES. So now I have a little pillow on my desk that simply says YES to remind me to be open to all miracles. In turn, that reminded me of That reminded me of an article I wrote sometime ago. Here it is.
What is Faith? Faith is more than just wishful
thinking. Faith is your YES power. In fact, we are using faith all the
time. Whatever we have faith in, we are saying yes to; yes to happiness,
yes for my source of good, yes for my joy. I believe it was Henry Ford
that said this “If you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re
right.” Faith is like that – whatever you have faith in IS.
Stop for a moment and take a look at where you place your have faith.
Take a look at what you want. Take a look at what you have. Is it peace,
money, love – joy happiness, health?
All these things are already yours, and to see them manifest in form,
we place faith (our yes power or our passion) at the center of our
awareness and let Holy Spirit handle the details.
No matter what you are seeing right now, take a small step back and
place your faith in your spiritual awareness of Divine Source. If
sometimes it feels as like you are taking one step forward and two steps
back, remember when you step back it's to let God lead the way. If
things don’t appear as you would like them right now, step back and
remember God has a perfect plan, that plan works, and, yes, you are
a part of that plan. It cannot be otherwise.
Try beginning each day by trusting what is and letting Holy Spirit
show you what’s best right now. Of course, you have to be open to the
best, and focus on the best, and stay spiritually centered by allowing
guidance to see the bigger picture.
Then say "Thank You." When you say thank you you are giving back to
God. Have the willingness (faith) to see the
perfect outcome for every situation. By extending willingness, we
manifest the wisdom to recognize our blessings and stop
worrying about what to do.
Put your faith in the power of God within you. Know that God can
only do for you, what he can through you, what he can do as you.
Send a message of Yes to your body, to all your experiences and to your life. Just
stay willing to express and experience the ever-present, all-mighty presence of Love. This releases limitations that you might have
placed on your life or your experiences.
Faith is stronger than any circumstance or situation; it is mightier
than any person or thing. As we rely on God, we rely on a power and
wisdom that is stronger than anything we could ever possibly face.
The spirit of God is within us and provides the energy and strength we
need to face any situation. Faith is the trust that all things are in
perfection right now. When you let go of doubts and let your minds
be filled with understanding, you become empowered with energy and
strength. A little willingness (as The Course says),
goes a long way to restoring inner peace and allows us to
function as the magnificent beings that we are.
With an open heart and an open mind, faith rushes in and draws to us the right people, jobs, ideas and
whatever else we need. Faith develops courage, patience and
understanding and enhances every aspect of life. Every thought of or act of faith, is like a small thread, but when woven
together with others, it creates a beautiful tapestry of peace,
prosperity and health and opens us to miracles.
A thought of faith is like surrendering to the
Holy Spirit to remove the obstacles to peace and
harmony.
Just know that all things are in Divine Order and place your
faith in God, not in the outside world. When I focus on the
perfection and goodness of God, and remember that everything is always
available, I'm know that I will be guided through this adventure called
life! All things are possible when you know that you are in God and God
is in you.
The kingdom of heaven is in you and faith will increase the
growing awareness of God’s presence within you. This presence is with
you and within you always. The more willing (just a little willingness) you are to know this, the
more peace you will feel in the power and goodness of God
being expressed through you.
Judith Skutch-Whitson and her husband are "The Foundation for Inner Peace. They are responsible for translating The Course into many other languages (I9 so far, I think) and that has become their life work. They can always use donations to keep the translations going.
Please visit their website and see what they offer and send them a donation. www.acim.org
God Blesses You and Loves you deeply and so do I.
By Gina Lake
From Choosing Love: How to Find True Love and Keep It Alive by
Gina Lake, which can be purchased on Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Choosing-Love-Find-True-Alive/dp/0615223788/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_4
You can read a free chapter from it at www.radicalhappines
The ego doesn't want to commit to anything-a place, a relationship, a
career-because it believes that something better may be possible, and
it's willing to forgo what is present for the possibility of something
better that isn't present. Essence, on the other hand, is committed to
whatever is. It doesn't commit into the future because all that exists
is the present, so it commits itself to that.
This is the essential difference between the ego and Essence: The ego
dreams of something better in the midst of whatever is, while Essence
simply enjoys and commits attention and love to whatever is. In fact,
committing attention to anything that is present results in enjoyment.
This is why the ego enjoys so little-it commits attention to what isn't
present and to what it doesn't have, and suffers over that, rather than
committing attention to whatever is. It loves its fantasies, dreams, and
desires more than it loves reality.
To love, we have to fall in love with reality-with what's true right
now, not with what might be true in the future or with what we want to
be true in the future. Love happens in the now (like everything,
really). That's why the ego doesn't know about love-because love is the
experience of being in the now, or the present moment, and as soon as
the ego experiences the now, it runs from it. Commitment takes a
willingness to fall in love with reality-with the real partner who is in
front of you-rather than seek something else, either actually or through
fantasy. What you commit to is what's here right now. Who knows what
will be here next? All you ever really have is what's here right now, so
it makes sense to commit to that, in other words, to give your full
attention-your love-to that.
Those who have difficulty committing to a relationship often have
difficulty committing to other things as well because they have an
underlying belief, or misunderstanding, that what's here isn't good
enough and what's somewhere else is better. This is the ego's basic
assumption about life: Whatever is happening now isn't it. It is
somewhere else, with it being ultimate happiness and contentment. The
ego assumes that because it perceives whatever is happening as not good
enough, it is, in fact, not good enough, and it concludes that must mean
there's something else that will be good enough. It imagines one day it
will find peace and happiness because life will finally line up
correctly. Those who can't commit are waiting for life to line up, fall
into place, and they're quite sure that doesn't look like whatever life
looks like now.
The funny thing (or not so funny thing) is that life never does line up
for anyone, simply because the ego won't perceive it as ever "lining
up." It has a habit of perceiving life as imperfect, even when it's
quite ideal. In any event, life isn't meant to be perfect or to fulfill
the ego's dreams and desires. It serves a higher purpose, one that has
very little to do with the ego's fantasies. Life is essentially about
learning to love and learning a lot of other things too, and for this,
life is likely to look less than perfect to the ego.
Life brings people into our lives for various reasons, and sometimes we
have to be willing to stretch ourselves to gain what can be gained from
a relationship or tap the love that is possible. Relationships, like
life, aren't meant to be easy, although they can be deeply rewarding.
Commitment makes it possible to tap the potential of a relationship. If
you give up on a relationship after the first blush is gone, you may
never realize this potential. Sexual union often becomes the glue that
keeps people together long enough to begin to experience true love or
learn what they need to learn from each other. Nature has a way of
bringing about spiritual lessons and spiritual growth. Sexual attraction
is one of the ways Essence brings people together and keeps them
together long enough to benefit from each other and grow.
The ego doesn't appreciate growth, and it's not in relationship for
that, or for love really. Its unwillingness to commit and to grow often
prevents a relationship that could be a very good one from becoming
that. It is forever chasing after the perfect "10," which doesn't exist.
But it's difficult to convince the ego of that. It believes in its
fantasies. To the ego, it's only a matter of time before "the one" shows
up. Hope springs eternal.
Essence experiences "the one" in whomever is showing up, and that's the
difference between Essence and the ego. It's possible to love whoever
shows up in your life. In fact, it's very wise to do that if you want to
be happy. If you don't want to be happy, you will reject whoever shows
up in your life. This doesn't mean you shouldn't be discriminating.
Loving and saying yes to those who show up in your life doesn't mean
getting sexually involved with them unless you want to. Essence says yes
to them-is open to them-because it is curious. And then it is very wise
about getting more involved with them. Essence commits itself to someone
only when love is flowing in both directions and the relationship is
rewarding on many levels. The ego, on the other hand, may commit out of
sexual attraction or because some other need is met through that
relationship, which is not a good basis for commitment.
Commitment naturally flows from love and appreciation of another. It's
the natural outcome of love. And this love is often enough to overcome
conditioning and other difficulties that might arise in the
relationship. Without love, commitment is hollow; it has no basis.
Without love, the foundation for the relationship won't be strong enough
to weather conditioning and other difficulties.
Commitment only makes sense when there is love, but the ego isn't
capable of love. It forms relationships based on needs, and that's when
commitment falters. As soon as someone's needs aren't getting met, then
the commitment is questioned. Those who are identified with the ego much
of the time have a very difficult time committing, while those who are
identified with Essence are able to love and therefore able to commit.
Eventually everyone learns to love, but relationships can be pretty
volatile when egos are in charge. Even so, because relationships provide
the ego with many of the practical things it values-sex, security,
affection, companionship, support, and help-people who are in
relationships for egoic reasons often end up discovering love. This is
how life draws people out of the ego and into Essence.
Choosing Love will be published by Hampton Roads in 2010.
A Good Story
'Where are you folks from?' he asked in a friendly voice. ' Oklahoma ,' they answered. 'Great to have you here in Tennessee.' What do you do for a living?' 'I teach at a seminary,' he replied.
'Oh, so you teach preachers how to preach, do you? Well, I've got a really great story for you.' And with that, the gentleman pulled up a chair and sat down at the table with the couple.
The man started, 'See that mountain over there? (pointing out the window). Not far from the base of that mountain, there was a boy born to an unwed mother. He had a hard time growing up, because every place he went, he was always asked the same question, 'Hey boy, Who's your daddy?' Whether he was at school, in the grocery store or drug store, people would ask the same question, 'Who's your daddy?'
He would hide at recess and lunchtime from other students. He would avoid going into stores because that question hurt him so bad. 'When he was about 12 years old, a new preacher came to his church. He would always go in late and slip out early to avoid hearing the question, 'Who's your daddy?' But one day, the new preacher said the benediction so fast that he got caught and had to walk out with the crowd.
Just about the time he got to the back door, the new preacher, not knowing anything about him, put his hand on his shoulder and asked him, 'Son, who's your daddy?'
The whole church got deathly quiet. He could feel every eye in the church looking at him. Now everyone would finally know the answer to the question, 'Who's your daddy?'
'This new preacher, though, sensed the situation around him and using discernment that only the Holy Spirit could give, said the following to that scared little boy.. 'Wait a minute! I know who you are! I see the family resemblance now, You are a child of God.' With that he patted the boy on his shoulder and said, 'Boy, you've got a great inheritance. Go and claim it.'
'With that, the boy smiled for the first time in a long time and walked out the door a changed person. He was never the same again. Whenever anybody asked him, 'Who's your Daddy?' he'd just tell them, 'I'm a Child of God.''
The distinguished gentleman got up from the table and said, 'Isn't that a great story?' The professor responded that it really was a great story!
As the man turned to leave, he said, 'You know, if that new preacher hadn't told me that I was one of God's children, I probably never would have amounted to anything!' And he walked away.
The seminary professor and his wife were stunned. He called the waitress over & asked her, 'Do you know who that man was -- the one who just left that was sitting at our table?'
The waitress grinned and said, 'Of course. Everybody here knows him. That's Ben Hooper. He's governor of Tennessee!'
Perhaps, someone in your life today needs a reminder that they're one of God's children! Be sure to tell them.
YOU'RE ONE OF GOD'S CHILDREN!!! HAVE A GREAT DAY!
Old Service - "Tobias" from the internet
A friend passed this on to
me.... I don't know any details about this channel named Tobias,
but I liked this writing. I (Sue) don't even know who the "i" is
or what the radio show it is, but hopefully it's ok to put this here as
it was already on the internet.
I transcribed this from a blog talk radio show. Tobias, an Ascended
Master from the Crimson Council, gave this answer to a question posed by
the host:This question was asked by the host of the radio show:
Each one of us that steps onto the conscious path, we’re trying to serve in the biggest way and a lot of us feel challenged now and then with getting in our own way and limiting how we’re serving, and I go through that….extensively now and then with News for the Soul. What direction to go, how do I reach the most people, am I on the purpose in the right way, and how do I serve in the biggest way that I’m supposed to as per my contract? So anything you can enlighten me and those listening with as far as tuning into that would be great.”
Tobias:
“Yes, and this could lead into a very lengthy discussion but again, I’ll keep it succinct. I don’t want to shock you or the listeners too much but stop trying to serve others. It’s very old energy, doesn’t work, it’s relatively egotistical and it’s not a very good way for you or any of the others to have to validate why you’re here on earth, and also it’s not very compassionate to others. (Host: “Wow.”) Now I’m saying that to all of you, not just to you Nicole (the host).
If you get out of this old energy of being in service, you should only be in service to yourself, only to yourself. Because when you’re serving yourself and you’re loving yourself you are radiating such an energy to everybody else it becomes a natural way in service. It also changes the dynamics of why some of you as listeners are healers, why some of you are teachers, why some of you do body work, why some of you put out newsletters, or do radio shows. You are stuck in an old energy of feeling you had to be in service to make a difference on earth. You don’t.
Earth is actually doing quite fine. Humanity is doing wonderful – brilliant. Now you’re not going to see that if you read newspaper headlines, but actually humanity is on such a good path right now. It’s still going through its issues like you are, and its transformations, but we measure consciousness in certain ways and about two years ago it started taking off – going off the charts. The best thing that lightworkers – if you use that term – can do is have absolute compassion for humanity. Compassion means acceptance – not trying to change the world, not trying to save the world. Get out of that old mindset.
Do what you do, Nicole, and everyone of you who are listening, do what you do because you love it, because it serves you, and because it’s the dance of your soul. Don’t do anything anymore – any of you – out of what you call old service. Those are the old church incarnations, the old church days, thousands of years ago, and going back even further. We’re done with those days. Be the standard to other humans. Be the living example of the joy of life. Let abundance come back into your life. Let your health come back into balance. The old energy kind of service to humanity will drain you. Absolutely drain you. You get tired, you get depressed, and your passion will not be found. When you’re doing it out of service to yourself, out of joy to yourself, that is the greatest service you can be doing for humanity.
So perhaps it’s time for
all of us, right now, to evolve to our next level – why we’re here on
earth. Not to save it, but to be part of it. Not to change it, but to
celebrate it, Not to try to fix anything, but to absolutely dance with
it. That changes the entire energy composition of what you are and
what you do. And instead of struggles, everything comes to you far too
easy, and then we’re going to have to have another talk, one on one.
Some of you don’t think there’s value when it comes too easy. Ah - old
human conditioning."
Ed Note -
Be the standard to other humans. Be the
living example of the joy of life.