Rampage of Gratitude

A few days ago two friends and myself were sitting in my living room, enjoying snacks and communication. I say communication, because one of them  has come down with a form of ALS that affects her speech, which is no longer understandable. So she has a pad, sort of an etch-a-sketch device, which helps.
   
Also, when I suggested she look into the computer driven speech device that Stephen Hawking used, she showed us an app on her phone where she could type and it would be converted to speech. So that also was a good tool.
   
Both are limiting, but that didn't limit her enjoyment of our afternoon. My other friend later asked me how we could bring more smiles and happiness into our friend's life. In addition to the ALS diagnosis, her husband recently suffered a health crisis and is still in a rehab facility. So she is home alone. We plan to create another opportunity for the three of us to get together, perhaps for an event.
   
I felt my own disappointments fade away in our friend's presence. How frustrating and limiting to suddenly be unable speak clearly.  We participated in Chorale together, but that’s no longer possible for her. And something like ALS can progress.
   
The last few months I’ve been feeling somewhat depressed, living on my own and having to deal with the maintenance mode of life alone, with no supportive partner to share the day’s events, as well as the health, financial and home management challenges. It’s just me, pretty much 24/7.
   
Then I’m reminded to clear out cobwebs of negativity and connect with the God force within. All my petty concerns pale as I realize how much I have to be grateful for.
   
Science of Mind magazine’s recent issue contains “Daily Guides” based on  Rev. Dr. Michele Medrano’s “Rampage of Gratitude,”  which includes a brief essay, inspirational quotes by Ernest Holmes and others, and an affirmation. She listed so many things to be grateful for, and many of them applied to me.     Gratitude for Love: “...when we consciously remember WHO loves us, and whom WE love, and  feeling gratitude for it, we get the gift of love and the grace of gratitude at the same time. We are blessed, and we are a blessing.”
   
I know that my children, although living distant from me, are loving and caring. My son calls me often on the way home from work, and we all enjoy Skype calls, plus occasional visits. I have a loving place to go for the holidays, and for that I am grateful.

Another: Gratitude for my Body. “Body obsession is rampant in our culture,” she writes. I know I've been guilty of that. The obsession is because we FEAR some terrible disease or rejection for imperfection. Giving doses of deep gratitude for our body helps us to stay healthy.
  
Holmes says: “Every time we think of our body, we should think of it as our spiritual body. Think of every organ, action, function of our physical body as being pure and perfect Spirit, and think of God as being is us and around us and through us.”  I am grateful for the good health that I enjoy, and especially for my rapid healing from two recent falls.
   
There are so many things to be grateful for ...our gifts, talents, joys, abundance, humor, beauty, music, nature, successes, friendships, our soul and even our failures, challenges, enemies, pains and grief, as we learn and grow from them. They all contribute to who we are.
   
With Thanksgiving approaching, we can be thankful for life itself, for the opportunity to be here, to be expressing ourselves on this plane of consciousness. We can affirm:
  
“The good of the universe is abundantly present in my life right now. I see it, I claim it and I accept it.”
   
And so it is.

Another Year, Another Fire

When deciding what to talk about this morning, I knew it would have to be about fire. Because...it’s 2019 and we’re in the midst of another fire. I’ve been feeling headachy, nauseous and even a bit dizzy from the smoke.
   
 I went back to my blog, revlizwritings, and noted that wildfires were the topic of two previous Creative Thoughts: In November 2018,when the Woolsey fire decimated Paradise and thousands were mandated to evacuate local areas, and then in December 2017. The scenes on the television were similar: homes destroyed, evacuations mandated, and first responders battled blazes on the ground while tankers and helicopters made drops of water and fire retardant. Lives were lost and words like “armageddon,”and “apocalyptic” were used in news stories.
  
 I focused on “Gratitude” in 2017, saying: ”It’s easy to get sucked into negative thinking by all the things that go on in what we call this plane of reality or the world of conditions. But I feel a surge of gratitude for all the personnel and resources mobilized to combat this incredible firestorm.
  
 I am grateful to live in a country, this USA, where we can pull together what’s needed for a catastrophe of this magnitude....and to see examples of generosity of spirit, of people pulling together in times of crisis.”  Rev. Mike exemplified that generosity of spirit in today’s firestorm when he came to the Center on Friday to provide sanctuary for people in need.
   
Fire is a double-edged sword.  While we see fire’s destructive force, it’s played a pivotal role in our evolution as human beings.
   
In Smithsonian Magazine’s article, “Why Fire Makes Us Human,” Jerry Adler writes: “Wherever humans have gone in the world, they have carried with them two things, language and fire. As they traveled through tropical forests they hoarded the precious embers of old fires and sheltered them from downpours. When they settled the barren Arctic, they took with them the memory of fire, and recreated it in stoneware vessels filled with animal fat. Darwin himself considered these the two most significant achievements of humanity.
   
“It is, of course, impossible to imagine a human society that does not have language, but—given the right climate and an adequacy of raw wild food—could there be a primitive tribe that survives without cooking?
  
 “In fact, no such people have ever been found. Nor will they be, according to a provocative theory by Harvard biologist Richard Wrangham, who believes that fire is needed to fuel the organ that makes possible all the other products of culture, language included: the human brain.”
  
 “Wrangham also believes that human beings evolved to eat cooked food, which provided more energy than raw foods, didn’t have to be chewed as long and as vigorously, and thus freed up time for other activities, including development of the intellect. Fire provided other benefits...heat and light for living spaces, sanitization of food, and more. 
  
 Fire is  incredibly powerful and useful, but can be deadly and destructive as well. Uncontained fire throughout human history has destroyed whole cities.

 Rome in Nero’s time comes to mind, as does the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, which leveled that city. In America a number of other fires, caused by everything from candles and electrical sparks to meteor showers and lightning have devastated towns and killed thousands. Often dry conditions and high winds fuel the flames, just as they do here.
   
Yet we can still be grateful. We have evolved from those primitive humanoids living in caves to who we are today, and fire has been pivotal.  And gratitude can be calming, boosting our mitochondrial enzymes, and healthy for our mind, body and spirit. We can ask ourselves: what am I personally grateful for today?  For me, it’s knowing that our first responders are on the job, protecting me from the fire’s expansion.
   
As Ernest Holmes says, “Gratitude is one of chief graces of human existence and is crowned in heaven with a consciousness of unity.” He also says, “Today I expect and accept every good thing that comes to me, for I know Divine Abundance is manifesting in all my affairs. I give thanks for the good that is forever flowing into my life.”

And so it is.

Consciousness

Recently I mentioned to some Religious Scientists that as a breast cancer survivor, estrogen responsive type, I habitually avoided soy, chlorinated swimming pools, and anything I deemed estrogenic. I’ve done a lot of other things for my health, and I’ve survived 25 years.

 I also referenced a news story about a professional female swimmer who developed breast cancer, even though she felt she was doing everything right. It could be the chlorine in the swimming pool, I said. And another minister said, It’s her “consciousness.”

So that got me thinking. What exactly is consciousness? It’s a key, if not THE key, to our teaching.  There are hundreds of times Ernest Holmes discusses consciousness in his book, The Science of Mind.

In surfing the Internet, I found debates on consciousness.  Can science actually explain it using  psychology, neurology, biology and/or physics? No, it turns out there’s no consensus on what “consciousness” actually is.

Going back to the metaphysical, Holmes says consciousness is mental awareness--the tendencies and patterns of our thoughts, feelings, actions --the totality of our personal mental atmosphere. We develop our own lens on life, but we are, in reality, individualized expressions of  the One Mind, and Universal Consciousness expresses through us at the level of our receptivity to it.

So the limits on our own life experiences come from limiting how much of Universal Mind and Power we allow into our own cauldron of mental activity. How much faith do we have? How much belief? Can I just speak my word and demonstrate what I desire? Do negative thoughts and feelings bring on what I really do not want? These are big questions.
   
For me, I’m a “treat and use your feet” practitioner. Yes, I use affirmative prayer, known as Spiritual Mind Treatment, block out negative thinking as best I can, and back it up with action toward my goals. My actions then become part of my mental atmosphere.

For health and healing, I'm proactive: Gluten free, dairy free, probiotics, supplements, exercise, turn off WiFi at night to reduce EMFs, experiment with gadgets like red light therapy, PEMF mat, magnets, a magnetic pulser and more.

So I wonder...am I overdoing it? Does this signify my belief, my faith, is lacking?. Body management is taking up an inordinate amount of my time as I age.  I want to enjoy time left, not deal with physical challenges.

Recently I took a fall at home and injured my foot. It hurt like the Dickens. My whole foot was swollen. I'm living alone, so.what to do? I hobble to the couch, then to the garage where a walker is hanging on a nail, and make it to the kitchen for an ice pack.

I felt too sick to go to my health clinic, so I did the RICE treatment. Then I also used my red light therapy and magnetic pulser gadgets, wore a foot boot and elastic support, and basically lay around, getting fat.

To lift my spirits, I affirmed:“Things are always working out for me,” along with treatments for health and healing.

Eventually I made it to a doctor, who found no fractures on the X-ray. It was a bad sprain. After an inactive three weeks, I’m able to put on my sneakers and walk around. It could have been worse, but wasn’t. I feel light, joyful and incredibly grateful for this healing, resiliency and willingness to use whatever tools, even weird ones, toward health and healing, while being open and receptive to Cosmic Consciousness.

So I don't just treat for healing. I help it along. Treat and use my feet! Being proactive seems to be the lens with which I currently view life. After all, the One Mind, the Universal Consciousness, is putting these tools in my path, so I figure it’s all God.

And so it is.

See service on 9/25/19:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER5MwgU8sVw

Lucifer

I recently got hooked on the Netflix series, “Lucifer,”  a fantasy comedy-drama-police procedural with a different perspective on the Devil, known as Lucifer Morningstar. He retires from Hell, moves to Los Angels with his demon bodyguard, opens a nightclub, and settles into a hedonistic lifestyle.

He makes Faustian deals with many people in exchange for favors, and displays impressive powers, such as superhuman strength, super metabolism for prodigious drinking, super speed, reflexes, and reactions, shape-shifting from his human body to a terrifying devil with blazing red eyes, a brilliant command of knowledge and languages, musical talents in singing and piano, and most importantly, invulnerability and immortality. The actor playing him, Tom Ellis, is devilishly handsome, charismatic, beautifully articulate and witty. So..what’s not to like?

Originally the most beautiful and perfect of angels, Lucifer, the Biblical story tells us, rebelled against his father, God, and was cast out of Heaven to become ruler of Hell. He reigned there for eons as well as roamed the Earth to stir up temptation and evil.

In “Lucifer,” he angrily feels victimized and rejected by Dad, i.e.,God, and determines to enjoy his human form on Earth.  Misunderstood by humans who see him as the incarnation of evil, he rants that he is not at fault for the worst things humanity does, as God created humans with free will. We choose what we do. Lucifer’s job is to punish, that’s all.

He becomes a police consultant to LAPD Deterctive Chloe Decker, solves crimes and learns about punishment the law and order way. As it turns out, he is only vulnerable in the presence of this Detective, who he comes to care about. He works with a therapist on his issues and the process of self-actualization. As one character says to him, “You know what your weakness is? You want to be good.”

The series drew a number of condemnations when it first appeared, with a Christian group calling the show as a mockery of the Bible and their religion, as well as spiritually dangerous for glorifying Satan as a caring, likable person. One critic  responded that the fictional show is a metaphor; “Lucifer’s journey is all about self-sacrifice, selflessness, justice, consent, free will, agency, redemption and forgiveness,” topics which Christians can recognize and discuss.

It’s also about difficult choices, and love.

So is there a Science of Mind message in all this?  Ernest Holmes  has 11 references to “Devil” and 55 references to “evil” in the Science of Mind.  “Evil is not an entity, but an experience on the pathway of self-unfoldment,” he says. “It is not a thing of itself but simply a misuse of power. It will disappear when we stop looking at, or indulging, in it. We cannot stop believing in it as long as we indulge in it, so the mystic has always taught the (human) race to turn from evil, and do good.”

Holmes reinforces the idea that we have free will. “The cosmic engine is started but man guides it in his own life.” Sin means making mistakes. These mistakes are punished by the Law of Cause and Effect.

Even in the “Lucifer” fictional Hell,  punishment is being stuck in a loop of guilt, ever-repeating one’s Earthly sins. There is a way out, through forgiveness and redemption, but Lucifer says no one takes it.

The devil is a myth, says Holmes, and evil an illusion, which we can cast out from our thoughts; we can cease doing evil and do good.  And we can, like “Lucifer,” engage in the gradual unfoldment of our inner self.

Apparently Season Five is coming, so more “Lucifer” adventures, whether on Earth or in Hell, are on the way.

And so it is.

Service 7/28/19 on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhzrNFeaQHo

The Divine Spark

  
   

The concept of a “divine spark” hit the news recently, when one national leader reportedly chastised another for calling certain vicious gang members “animals,” as they, like everyone, has a divine spark within. I was surprised to see a mystical idea expressed in that arena.

So I decided to explore the question: What is a divine spark? According to Christian author William Lane Craig, the idea of a divine spark, most common in Gnostic and mystical religions, is that every human being possesses either a connection with God or a "part" of God. The goal of life, then, is to allow the divine spark to influence us toward love, peace, and harmony. Upon death, the divine spark returns to God

Lane writes,  even though each of us possesses a soul-spirit, or divine spark, only a person redeemed by Christ can truly connect with God, so without a relationship with Jesus there can be no light or “divine spark.”

Ernest Holmes doesn’t specifically use the term “divine spark,” but teaches that we are all spirit having a human experience. We don’t have to be redeemed by Christ; the spark is there, we are expressions of God in action, and we have within us a power that can overcome every obstacle in our life and set us safe, satisfied and at peace, healed and prosperous, in a new light, and in a new life. 

So if everyone has this divine spark within, and God is all Good, how do we reconcile this belief with the viciousness, the evil, the atrocities, the suffering and more that we see in our world? 

Holmes says that man is made out of and from Life and must partake of the Divine Nature from which he springs. We are what we are, and we use this nature for better or for worse. We have volition and choice.

Surely if God or Universal Intelligence is imbued with goodness, he says, then it could not ordain that man ultimately be other than a perfect expression life. But God could not make an automatic individuality, and this explains why man suffers and behaves in discordant ways.

So man has free will, free to discover the divinity within, or not.  Potential man is just as perfect as the inherent God. The only way God can evolve a spontaneous individual is to let him alone and allow him to awaken to himself. Man must be created with the possibility of limitless freedom and left alone to discover himself.

We must know that the Universe is for us and not against us, he continues. But you might say, “the Universe is NOT for us, look at the evil, the limitation, lack and physical pain and anguish of the human race.” ....We shall have to learn that evil is neither person, place nor thing of itself, but is an experience which we are allowed to have...because of our divine individuality...until through negative experiences we learn to use the Law affirmatively. If we are free we can choose more than one course of action as an experience.

He adds that there is no sin but a mistake, no punishment but inevitable consequence. Wrong doing must be punished by the Law of Cause and Effect.  The age-long discussion of the problem of evil will never be answered until we realize that evil is not a thing of itself. It is simply a misuse of the Law of Freedom.

Evil will disappear when we no longer indulge in it, he concludes Then, and not until then, will the problem of evil be solved for the entire race. So while a vicious gang member, or other apparent evil doer, has a spark of divinity within, he has not claimed it, is not expressing it, and his behavior is in discord with the perfect Goodness of the Divine.

Thus, if we judge that person as an “animal,” which seems a blanket insult to all animals, it is the discordant, vicious behavior we are calling out. His divine spark is hidden.

And so it is.

On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp6b8WIX1Po
Treatment and talk start at 9:45

On Positive Thinking

I’ve been reading Barbara Ehrenreich’s Bright-Sided, How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America, in which she debunks the American cultural emphasis on a cheerful, optimistic and upbeat frame of mind. She traces it’s origin from reaction to the cold, unforgiving gloom of 19th century Calvin Puritanism to the arrival of the New Thought movement, with which we, as Religious Scientists, are associated. Positive thinking, as well such ideas as The Law of Attraction, came out of this movement. They are delusional, she indicates, rather than realistic.

In the chapter “Smile or Die,” she describes her own experience with the pink ribbon culture of breast cancer, with its dictate to have a positive attitude so the mind-body can boost the immune system to defeat cancer. Otherwise, if you developed cancer, your negative thinking brought it on. If you became terminal, you weren’t positive enough.

She took issue with this and with the characterization of breast cancer, not as a problem, but as a gift deserving heartfelt gratitude, a passport to a better life and connection to the Divine. She noted reports of some women being expelled from support groups when their cancer metastasized and it was clear they would never graduate to become “survivors.”

She sees tyranny in positive thinking, a heavy burden on patients to repress anger, sadness or disgust, especially if their cancer progresses.

Happily, she did survive, but angry that blame falls on patients rather than such suspicious carcinogens as hormone replacement therapy or other toxins. “Breast cancer, I can now report, did not make me prettier or stronger, more feminine or spiritual. What it gave me, if you want to call this a ‘gift,’ was a very personal agonizing encounter with an ideological force in American culture that I had not been aware of before -- one that encourages us to deny reality, submit cheerfully to misfortune, and blame only ourselves for our fate.”

I got to thinking about my own experience with breast cancer almost 25 years ago. I had conventional treatment, and then I did everything I could to get well. Even my surgeon recommended positive thinking, with Bernie Siegel’s book and a video on boosting the immune system. I went to a support group, where we were able to vent our suppressed emotions, even if negative, as well as positive thoughts for healing. When my mind drifted to negative catastrophic thoughts, I sang a song to myself that I had written about being radiantly healthy.

I did everything I could to heal myself. I went to the Optimal Health Institute with its raw food and wheat grass regime. I changed my diet, read voraciously, took supplements, even went back to graduate school.

Like Barbara, I suspected that hormone replacement therapy produced the cancer. I didn’t blame myself. But anger and focusing on the negative wasn't helpful. I didn’t deny the reality of the condition, but I chose positive thinking plus a personal action plan. 

Eventually, I discovered Science of Mind and embarked on a spiritual path. I learned to use Spiritual Mind Treatment, which emphasizes affirmative prayer plus positive action. “Treat and Use Your Feet.” Unlike Barbara, I am grateful for the gift of a spiritual path, and a connection to the Divine.

And so it is.

The Happy Poet

As a film buff, I find myself looking for principles of Science of Mind in the stories. Recently I saw an indie film, The Happy Poet, which was written, directed, and edited by Paul Gordon, who also stars. It’s a low-key comedy about an introverted, low energy, emotionally flat corporate refugee and struggling entrepreneur, Bill, with an M.A. in poetry, who dreams of operating an organic sandwich stand.

He manages to get a $750 start-up loan from a smug bank officer, who puts down his idea and suggests that a hot-dog stand would be a better choice. He buys on installment a used hot-dog stand from a cranky, stiff-necked owner, and proceeds to offer his “eggless egg” sandwiches and hummus pitas in an Austin, Texas park.

His first customers want hot dogs, but he attracts into his orbit two characters, a pot dealer, who  partners as a  deliveryman, and an aging hippy, who gushes over the food and is rewarded with free handouts. Also, he attracts a pretty woman with whom he fails awkwardly to develop a relationship. They all brainstorm and come up with the name, "The Happy Poet" for Bill's business.

Well, the premise sounded promising, but the low-key, mumblecore style couldn’t hold my interest. I fast-forwarded to the end and was surprised to see that Bill, the poet, had his own brick and mortar "The Happy Poet" restaurant, powered by solar energy; a fleet of delivery people, wearing green "The Happy Poet" T-shirts, on bicycles; an electric "The Happy Poet" car; a mobile food truck run by his pregnant wife (the aforementioned love interest); and a business partnership with the two characters, now friends. With his arm around his two partners, in his monotone, deadpan voice, he declares: “I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy.”

So what happened? I had to go back and see how all this transpired. After a number of ups and down, bumps and wrong turns, betrayals, money issues, missed opportunities with the love interest, and a brief detour into “hot-dog day,” he achieves his dream.

The hippy happened to have a cousin, Derek, a venture capitalist who has shown interest in Bill’s idea. But Bill is not very convincing as an entrepreneur. Derek confronts him, with, “I don’t think you believe in "The Happy Poet.”

Bill’s initial phlegmatic responses become a bit more passionate. With as much indignity and passion that he can muster, he bristles. “I believe in "The Happy Poet." I believe in "The Happy Poet" more than you could know, Derek. I’m "The Happy Poet," not you. I’m "The Happy Poet.” And with a few insults to Derek, he walks out.

We see Derek with a knowing smile. And we see Bill striding tall and confidently. What do you know? He mustered up some energy and passion, in that polite, inimical low-key style.

Next thing we see he has enough money to pay off his bank loan and the hot dog cart, which he returns. “I got lucky,” he says. He also has the confidence to leave an organic sandwich on the porch of his lady love. Thus the happy ending.

But was it luck? I see it as the Law of Attraction in action, powered by his generous nature, his authenticity, his talent with organic food, his perseverance, and the strong belief and passion for his vision. Basically he affirms, “I AM 'The Happy Poet.'” And that’s what he becomes.  This unassuming, introverted guy can inspire all of us as we pursue our own dreams.

And so it is.