Monthly Archives: July 2017

Jul 28 2017
Consciousness, Contemplation, Mind, Revelation

Try This Contemplation For 7 Days

bt-contemplation

The Main Idea

There is one infinite, indivisible Presence, and I am It.

For the next seven days, I am suggesting that you use the above statement as a springboard for your daily contemplation.  So that there is no confusion about the “how” of this contemplation, I am writing it out exactly the way I am suggesting that you contemplate it.  As follows:

There is one infinite, indivisible Presence, and I am It.
There is one infinite, indivisible Presence, and I am It.
There is one infinite, indivisible Presence, and I am It.
There is one infinite, indivisible Presence, and I am It.
There is one infinite, indivisible Presence, and I am It.
There is one infinite, indivisible Presence, and I am It.
There is one infinite, indivisible Presence, and I am It.

Seeing The Main Idea From All Angles

Imagine going to a museum and gazing at a life-sized sculpture.  To take in the full beauty of the sculpture, you have to move around and look at it from many angles.  Similarly, this contemplation takes one spiritual idea that you consider from many “angles.” Instead of moving around a physical sculpture, you view the idea in many ways by emphasizing key words.

Note that all but two words are bolded. Each of your contemplation periods will consist of the main idea repeated slowly seven (7) times. On each repetition let your consciousness savor the bolded word.  You may be inspired to linger on that word a while. You may be inspired to rest in a moment of silence, after saying the word.

On some bolded words, you may linger even longer.  That’s okay. Although you are dealing only with one spiritual idea, each word that you dwell on is sure to reveal something new.

Give Up The Control

Once you’ve completed the seven (7) repetitions, be still and let Revelations flow within Consciousness.  Although I have given the above suggestions, the contemplation will start to have its own life.  When this happens, don’t try to control it.  It’s possible that you may not make it through the seven repetitions in one sitting.

Reader, after the seven days are over, please let me know how this went for you.  I look forward to hearing from you. In the next post, we will take this out of the seats and into the streets.

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Jul 15 2017
Consciousness

Redirect Your Attention To The Good In Your Life

gratitude-jar

Allen, I’m confused. I read your recent post “The Truth About Gratitude,” and I agree with you. But haven’t you, on occasion, suggested that your congregation members write down what they are grateful for? If gratitude is dualism, why would you do that?

I’m guilty as charged. In the last year or two, on occasion, I have even suggested that people keep a Gratitude Journal, and I don’t take back the suggestion. Here’s why.

Many years ago a man named Carlton fell in a deep ditch of debt. As hard as he tried, he couldn’t climb out. Every time he got his head above the bills, more debt piled on, and he was back where he started.

Carlton read every Truth book he could get his hands on. He listened to tapes, attended church regularly, and followed all the suggestions given to him – hoping, of course, to get out of debt. This wasn’t Carlton’s only problem. While struggling to climb out of debt, he was diagnosed with cancer.

Every day, Carlton did his “spiritual work,” hoping for a financial windfall. One day Carlton said to me, “Allen, Truth is not working for me. No matter what I say or do, I can’t get on top of these bills. But I’m not giving up.”

Although Carlton said he saw no evidence of Truth working in his life, he was overlooking one fact. There were no more malignant tumors in his body. Carlton had no radiation treatments, no chemotherapy, no medical intervention whatsoever, yet Carlton was cancer free.

Carlton, like many others, was so focused on the “one thing” happening that he overlooked all the other wonderful things that were happening in his life. God’s wholeness was evidenced in his life, but he overlooked it hoping and waiting for the “one thing” to happen.

Reader, what would have happened if Carlton kept a record — a journal — of the wonderful happenings in his life? Rather than being frustrated by what wasn’t happening in his life, he’d jump for joy because of the many ways God’s presence was revealed in his life.

This is why I periodically suggest that people who attend my church keep some loose version of a “Gratitude Journal.” Because of the “one thing” which seems to be delayed, I know many who are overlooking the wonderful things that are happening every day.

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Jul 03 2017
Consciousness, God, Oneness

The Truth About Gratitude

No-gratitude

The Editor Asks An Important Question About Gratitude

Brenda Becker, the indispensable editor of Absolutely Yours, asked me if gratitude is dualism. I promised her I’d write about it in the next post. What follows is not about gratitude expressed when someone does something nice for you? That’s a courtesy. I’m writing about gratitude expressed “to” God for “His manifold blessings.”

When I read Brenda’s question, I had flashbacks of my first days as minister of the Unity in Silver Spring church. At the close of the service we all held hands in a circle. A man led the closing prayer with these words “We are so grateful. We are so grateful. We are so grateful.” Every time he said the word grateful, the few and fine hairs on my back bristled. I felt the ghost of “ol’ time religion” in the room.

The Trinity Of Dualism

Webster’s definition of gratitude is riddled with dualism. Gratitude is defined as “appreciation of benefits received.” Do you see the dualism? Count them yourself: The receiver (1) is appreciative of the benefits (2) from the giver (3).

In our case, this trinity of dualism looks like (1) God, the giver (2) the gift, and (3) the receiver. If the gift is big enough, or comes right in the nick of time to avoid a calamity, the receiver may look heavenward and blurt out “Thank God.” Is this dualism? You bet.

Why? Because in most cases, the person who thanks God believes God to be something other than her own I AM. Look at it this way. Have you ever bought something nice for yourself – something you’ve been wanting for a long time? Did you thank yourself after purchasing it? Most likely not? We only thank so-called “others.”

Christ Jesus Explains His Expression Of Gratitude

The Abundance of Oneness can never be experienced in the human attitude of gratitude. The two are farther removed from one another as the earth is from the sun. Indivisible Oneness of existence is the reality of Being. Here there are no gifts, no giver, and no receiver. The Allness of God is All there is.

“But,” you ask, “didn’t Jesus thank God when he raised Lazarus?” Yes, he did, but take a look at the record. “And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank You that You have heard me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.’”

Did you catch the reason he thanked God? Christ Jesus knew that many still believed that God was a separate Identity. He also knew they worshiped Him as a personal doer. He often said, “I of myself can do nothing,” but they insisted that Christ Jesus, of Himself, was the doer. Publicly thanking God was Christ’s way of diverting attention away from Himself as a personal doer to the eternal action of the One Presence and Power.

The Bottom Line

Here is the bottom line:
Gratitude expressed “to” God is dualism.
Being grateful that you know God Is All is not.

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