"Spiritual
consciousness never weeps; grief comes from the feeling of loss;
spiritual consciousness knows that there is no loss;
nothing ever can be lost; whatever was, is, and evermore shall
be. To spiritual consciousness there are no tears; not because
such consciousness is cold or indifferent, for the one who has entered
spiritual consciousness loves with a higher, a truer and a far more
tender love than they ever knew before.
Those who have entered spiritual consciousness know that all is well;
and where all is well there can be no tears. Spiritual
consciousness feels the existence, the presence and the unity of all
things, visible and invisible. To be consciously in the spirit
is to love all souls with the love of the spirit, and those who love
with the spirit are one with all souls, both in this realm and in the
realms beyond. They are conscious of the great white throne -
those who are in the form and those who are in the higher form.
Their sublime love has given them a sublime vision, and through that
vision they can see that nothing is lost, that all is well, and all
that is well is eternal." - (modified
to gender-neutral) Christian D. Larson, The Pathway of Roses,
originally published in 1912, re-published in 1994
At
first glance these words from Christian D. Larson sound a little
too mystical to be practical but that is not the case at
all. Too many people stay fastened to human consciousness and
never truly experience the higher realizations of truth. In our
human consciousness we fear death, suffer through seeming loss and
grieve the loss of time and become aged because of it. To
believe that "we are only human" costs us the time of
rejoicing and celebration that is ours only when we have the higher
realization of truth. The world we live in is depressed; the
violence, hate, ignorance and the pervasive use of drugs and alcohol
are all evidence that this is true. The people of the world have
become dependent on material substances rather than spiritual
substance. And most don't know the difference.
Are these things
practical? Of course they aren't. What is practical is
that which is practiced that brings us into the higher realm of
thought and faith in G-d and the good. To cause ourselves to
become conscious of life eternal, rather than a life of years on
Earth. We read so much in religious literature that we must live
a certain way in order to enter into "eternal life" but we
are already in an eternal life. The Spirit never dies and our
spirit is in the image and likeness of the Spirit that never
dies. This is what the Master Mind Jesus was attempting to teach
the people ... but they didn't get it. They believed they took
his life on a cross ... but he lives ... and so does Moses, Isaiah,
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Buddha, Krishna and all the saints and
seeming sinners of history. "But" ... the doubters
will say, how do we know this? We don't know it until we are
conscious that we are spirit having an experience in material form ...
one at a time ... but always immortal.
Let's go back to Christian
D. Larson: "Be
not anxious for your life." Live your life according to the
very highest light that is within you; use fully and well all the
powers that you have received; give your best to the world at all
times and under every circumstance, and depend upon the Infinite for
everything that existence may need or desire. You will receive
it. You need not be anxious about anything. God is greater
than anything that can possibly happen. Have faith in Him and He
will see you safely through. Things go wrong only when you fail
to be your best and fail to take God with you in everything you
do. It is therefore in your power to place yourself in that
position where everything will go right. The lilies of the field
are all that beautiful lilies can possibly be, and they depend wholly
upon the powers divine that are within them. Accordingly, they
are an inspiration to all the world."
And
so we understand that fear and suffering, loss and depression are
never necessary. G-d never chooses any of these for us, but we
do, sometimes over and over again. Religion has thrived on
making these things "real" for us. But we have chosen
to believe in them ... to accept them ... and even sometimes to feel
we deserve them. This is the foulness of religion at play in the
world ... Mary Baker Eddy referred to it as "mortal
mind." And there were those that scoffed at her but the
evidence proves her to be correct. Even now with the seeming
progressive Pope Francis in charge of the Catholic Church one of his
cardinals in San Francisco is positioning himself to impose some of
the most restrictive of "moral codes" on the people who
serve in the church and the Catholic schools. But this is just
one example, there are others in other religions who are even more
extreme in their attempts to take away the liberty that was gifted to
each of us by the Spirit and Intelligence that formed our spirit in
human form. Those who are not actively engaged in a daily
spiritual practice will be affected, although unconsciously, by this
mental poison in the collective consciousness. None of us are
without help or without hope.
Let's go back to Christian D. Larson: "The
soul never acts alone; whenever the soul acts, God acts also, in the
same place, at the same time, and for the same purpose. Whenever
the soul undertakes anything, there is immediate and direct assistance
from the Supreme. Therefore, the soul can never fail; nor can
any personal undertaking fail that is prompted, directed and inspired
by the soul. My Father (Spirit) worketh and I work; and I am the
soul. So long as I know and feel that I am the soul, the soul
will act in all my work, and where the soul acts there God will act
also, because the two are One. What the soul begins, God will
finish; what the soul aspires to be, God will cause to be."
There
will be those of you who have read this that desire to have the higher
realization of Life and Truth at a deeper level. And every one
of us can if we truly desire it with all our heart. But, first
let us realize as Jesus and Buddha and Krishna and Isaiah and so many
others realized ... we are living in a mystery to us only to the
degree that we let the world distract us from the Great UnSeen
Infinite Spirit that is always with us and always available to
us. And this is the truth for you and me and everyone.
AND
SO IT IS!
Keep
the
faith!
Rev.
Henry Bates
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