tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70332860069219294572024-02-20T02:40:59.704-08:00Guest ContributionsDear Kindred Soul,
Please join us through the comments facility or email andreTEXThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253901413798627016noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7033286006921929457.post-79765896596483977382010-04-02T03:06:00.001-07:002010-04-02T03:24:09.142-07:00I feel a bit strange asking for a prayer...<center> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://blip.tv/scripts/pokkariPlayer.js?ver=2009070701"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://blip.tv/syndication/write_player?skin=js&posts_id=3452028&source=3&autoplay=true&file_type=flv&player_width=&player_height="></script> <div id="blip_movie_content_3452028"> <a rel="enclosure" href="http://blip.tv/file/get/Yourspirituality-IFeelABitStrangeAskingForAPrayer703.mp3" onclick="play_blip_movie_3452028(); return false;"><img style="width: 110px; height: 47px;" alt="Video thumbnail. Click to play" src="http://blip.tv/file/get/Yourspirituality-IFeelABitStrangeAskingForAPrayer703.mp3.jpg" title="Click to play" border="0" /></a><br /><a rel="enclosure" href="http://blip.tv/file/get/Yourspirituality-IFeelABitStrangeAskingForAPrayer703.mp3" onclick="play_blip_movie_3452028(); return false;">Click to Play</a> </div> </center><div class="blip_description"><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Thu, March 25, 2010 12:36:00 PM</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">From Werner,</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">I feel a bit strange asking for a prayer request but trust you will understand!</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Over the last two years, I have been going through unemployment, sequestration and so many trials in my life and am still not sorted. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">I have grown both personally and spiritually during and this time and would not trade this for a moment. I do believe that this all happened for a reason and that my true life path will be revealed to me. I have a firm believe that abundance beyond my wildest dreams will enter my life shortly and through the stillness I have developed, I will be lead by God to fulfill His purpose.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">I am running out of time, financially and through helping me, my parents are at risk of losing their retirement home.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Therefore, I put in this prayer request that my financial woes come to an end and that I become free to live truth and fulfill my purpose and that my parents be secure in their retirement without the burden of financial worry.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Thank you in advance.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Werner </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Dear Werner,</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">I am sending your prayer request to the School of Truths Prayer Group. Rest assured that powerful prayers are being said for you and yours. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">In the meantime, please say the following affirmation regularly to yourself, and share it with your family.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">I know that my Father is with me. I know, and believe with deep gratitude, His wonderful promise that He hears me before I ask, and that as I believe, so it will be done unto me. I thank and glorify Him for His promise that when I ask, and believe, it will be given to me. I, and my nearest and dearest, are safe in His Grace. His Good is waiting to unfold in my life as surely as His Presence stills my mind, fills my heart and soul and brings me to understand that He has been waiting for this very moment to unfold in my life... this moment when outer circumstances are forcing me to ask for help.<br /><br />This act of seeking help, means that at last I acknowledge the eternal Truth that I, of myself alone, cannot do anything to help me and my family. I have always been powerless and will always be powerless if I were to continue to rely on my own wisdom, my own endurance, courage and strength. But, instead, now I thank you Father, for turning the key in my mind, the key that unlocks a simple, but vital truth that now sets me free: in my Father, in whose Spiritual Image I have been created, I, through His stupendous Presence, have access to All Power, which makes me, through Him, All-Powerful in all things that affect me and my life. His Omniscience, His All-Power, His Omni-presence, His wonderful promises, come down to this single Truth: I am a Child of the King of Kings. Divine Law, to which our Creator is also subject, since it His Own immutable Law, ensures that this is indeed the very Truth. All that He has, is mine also.This is guaranteed, cast in much more than stone, since it is underwritten not by the laws of human kind, but by Divine Law.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">I recognise, and am deeply thankful, that this moment is a great turning point in my life, because I have now nothing else to do but give over to Him and ask for His help. Although God works through human hands, it is not to human beings that I look to for my material, emotional and spiritual salvation. It is to Eternal God that I turn. I am His child and I suddenly know that I need never be afraid again.”<br /><br />Read the above Affirmation to yourself many times a day because it will help you to stay your mind on God alone. Do not ask for individual things. Only affirm over and over, not in desperation but in quiet gratitude, God’s Great Presence in your life and in your affairs. You have now handed everything over to Him. You have acknowledged at last that you yourself can do nothing to change things. The only work you can and must do now, is to Stop worrying. Discipline your mind. Whenever negative thoughts of any kind slip into your mind, which they often do by stealth, expel them firmly, but not fiercely or desperately. Replace a negative thought with all, or part, of the above Affirmation. Fear and worry are negative forces that have the same power as prayer, because worry is nothing but negative prayer that will materialise negative events and circumstances in your life as surely as positive prayer will do the opposite. Remind yourself often that negative emotions block the flow of His Spirit into your life, thus allowing the growth of all the things that have been keeping you awake at night.<br /><br />“Let go and let God”, is the key action for you to take now. It is a simple action, yet it will continue to be hard, even impossible, as long as you fail to fully Trust your Father in His Perfection, which is waiting to flood into your life.<br /><br />Also read the the Nicol Cambell lecture entitled “Growing Consciousness” by clicking the link below:<br /><br /><center><table><br /><tbody></tbody></table><table style="color: rgb(255, 153, 51);" border="3" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="4" width="190"><br /><tbody><tr><td style="color: rgb(204, 255, 204);font-size:120%;" publish="" postalign="left"><center><span style="color: rgb(204, 102, 0);font-family:Arial;" ><i><b><a target="_blank" href="http://yourspirituality.blogspot.com/2010/03/growing-consciousness-lecture-nicol.html"><u>Click here to go to "A Growing Consciousness</u></a><br /></b></i></span></center><center><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);font-family:Arial;" ><i><b><span style="color: rgb(204, 102, 0);"></span></b></i> </span></span></center></td></tr></tbody></table></center></span></div>TEXThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253901413798627016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7033286006921929457.post-4373149460916697362009-03-09T00:17:00.000-07:002009-03-09T06:34:59.870-07:00Response from Carmen - "Work till I drop"<span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">(See the thread in the post below this one)<br /><br /></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Andre<br /><br /></span> <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">So is the first step is to be born again. To accept Jesus as my Saviour? I have done that.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">When you are praying for a specific situation. How would you go about that? If you are in an impossible situation Can you expect your prayers answered immediatly.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">When you have been praying for a long time and you get no answer what do you advise me to do.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">I feel under a tremondous amount of stress about it and do not know what to think anymore.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">I have been reading the Nicole Campbell Path of Truth for years but am unsure on how to apply his solutions to my problems. </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Can you advise me </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">God bless</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">(Carmen)<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Dear Carmen, </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Begin by making a list of the things you DO have in your life. Perhaps a reasonably good job? Access to learning and personal growth opportunities on the Internet and elsewhere? Friends, reasonably good health? Then thank God for those things. Lay them, as well as the things you think you need, at God’s feet and resolve to leave it to Him – don’t rush back constantly to see if the kettle is boiling yet. ‘Leaving it to God means’ REALLY leaving it to God. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">But first, you are required to do something VERY important. If you don’t do it, leaving it at God’s feet will be an empty exercise. You must sort out your own feelings, thoughts and emotions. See clearly from where they come. Identify your fears and put them on the negative side of your list. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Look at your life and ask yourself if you are doing God’s work. Try to understand and accept that ALL work is God’s work because God is Omni-present. Try to create opportunities in your daily work routine to DO something good and kind for other people. Then you will find that you go to work with renewed vigour and interest, because you will know that what you are doing is important. It also gets you out of the house for a meaningful purpose and it gives you a chance to serve people, to help uplift them, to make their lives a little easier, even if it is only a smile that you are able to give them. Do regular exercises at home to tone up your body and you will find this also reflects as a sense of well being, of goodness and personal satisfaction in a job well done, a life well-lived. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Actively seek new ways to find little pools, little moments, of wellness, happiness and good feelings in your day and mark them up as personal victories. </span><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Then you will not come to God empty-handed, because all of these things you will lay at God’s feet, both the negative AND the positive things.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Then you will not think of “working till I drop” as a kind of punishment, but rather a source of joy that you have the energy to enjoy what can be enjoyed in your life. Know also that nobody can do this FOR you. Only you can do it. Go about it systematically and take careful note of the little victories – such as an obvious reduction in your stress levels, which will certainly begin to manifest as you discipline your emotions and your mind to look for the positive and to put the negative into perspective.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Know that God is Blessing you at every turn. This is the start of an exciting spiritual journey for you. See it as that, because it is true. And then ACT on it. Select and memorize positive affirmations (there are many in the Path of Truth and on my blog), and say them to yourself in both busy and quiet moments to help keep you oriented towards the positive and to </span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">reject negative thoughts, fears and feelings entirely from your mind</span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"> until your mind-set, (i.e. your habitual attitudes and thoughts), is happy and positive. These things make up the ‘first step’ and they are all within your ability to accomplish. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">In the meantime, forget about ‘being born again’ and all that esoteric stuff. Take each day as it comes and enjoy the small victories. You will see that the rest will follow automatically as day follows night. It is the Law.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">andre</span><br /></span></span>TEXThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253901413798627016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7033286006921929457.post-29614002445320399902009-03-07T00:15:00.000-08:002009-03-07T04:16:26.321-08:00Email from Carmen - Creative Visualisation<span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >The following email from Carmen underlines a central difficulty that many Truth students may experience as the Path unfolds for them. I therefore post Carmen's email, together with my reply, in the hope that it will help others who, </span><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >at this time,</span><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" > may also have the same orientation about the Fruits of the Spirit. If you would like to add your own insights and thoughts about this important spiritual issue, your comments would be more than welcomed.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">"I read with interest your comments on creative visualisation. I have lived with poverty all my life. How would you visualise yourself out of this situation. For instance at my advanced age 60 yrs to be able to own my own home and to be able to retire comfortably now instead of working until I drop? </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Kind regards</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Carmen"</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Dear Carmen, </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Spirituality is not like a motor car that can be switched on and off at will. Creative visualisation alone is therefore not the key. The key is a total commitment of self to Spirit within. This Inner Presence is called The Christ, which is the manifestation of God on the material plane. It is also, for practical purposes, synonymous with ‘Eternal Love’. This means that the individual grows spiritually until total Selflessness is achieved, in other words until the little, material ‘I” is completely under the command of the Christ Within each one of us. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">When this happens, one becomes “Christ-like” . The Bible is full of examples of this: Mat 6:28, “And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin. yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” And in Mar 11:24 “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” And, Mat 5:8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">One should note: The ‘pure in heart’ are those wonderful individuals who are totally in tune with their Higher Self… and when you meet such people you are immediately aware that they have Christ-like qualities… you see it in their joyful, un-complaining service to their fellow human beings and to nature. In them you see the fruits of the Spirit, as we see it in Jesus of Nazareth, (the Christ in Perfection), Buddha and other great souls. Those fruits are ‘Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self Control’. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">When the tree of your life, Carmen, clearly bears these fruits, you will not need to employ ‘creative visualisation’ like a gadget to help you get what you want – a gadget you can easily put down again when you feel you don’t need it anymore. Instead, you <span style="font-style: italic;">yourself</span> will have become a creative visualisation of your Father in Heaven.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">The word ‘believe’ is rather over-worked in the English language through the lack of a word that fully describes the intense, total and passionate abdication of the “little self” or the ‘animal- I” to the greater “I”, as in … ‘be still and know that I am God’. If you are able to take that momentous step in your life, if, as some Christians like to say, you become “born again”, all the rest will be added unto you. As the child of the Almighty, all of God’s Good is already yours, since He is Omnipresent and Omniscient. This means that He is All-Wise and that He constitutes you and your affairs completely. And if your circumstances do not reflect this, it is because you have not learned to completely 'Let Go and Let God' in your life. That is why the bible says, in Mat 6:7 "And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Mat 6:8, Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Please see clearly that living in God’s bounty is not like going into a super market and choosing what you <span style="font-style: italic;">want</span>. Spirit knows what you <span style="font-style: italic;">need</span> better than you do. The word 'want' stems from the small 'i' of us, while the word 'need' is from our Higher Self. And if you are suffering from lack of any kind, it is your Higher Self exposing you to the experiences you <span style="font-style: italic;">need </span>to grow spiritually until you are ready to take that final step on the Path to Self-realisation. This means giving yourself over to Christ completely, making a decision stemming from your God-given free will and without reservations, or <span style="font-style: italic;">wants, </span>of any kind. Then you will have made His Will, your Will. </span><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">And His omniscient Will is for your Greater Good.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">A final thought, I note that you regard sixty as ‘an advanced age’. I’m 69 now and I don’t know when I will be old. Perhaps when I’m seventy? Eighty? I have no idea and I don’t care. Don’t think of yourself as old before God decides that it is time to dismantle your body so that you are free to move on to your next great Spiritual Experience.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Bless you. </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Andre</span>TEXThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253901413798627016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7033286006921929457.post-78075485908661102932009-02-12T23:03:00.001-08:002009-02-12T23:03:53.102-08:00The Lowest Point - Another Response<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span style="" lang="EN-ZA">11 February 2009<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span style="" lang="EN-ZA"><o:p> </o:p>Dear Deborah<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span style="" lang="EN-ZA"><o:p> </o:p>We heard about you and felt the need to get in touch, encourage you in your journey as a Truth student, to live and embody the Truth.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span style="" lang="EN-ZA"><o:p> </o:p></span><b style=""><span style="" lang="EN-ZA">God is all there is<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><b style=""><span style="" lang="EN-ZA"><o:p> </o:p></span></b><span style="" lang="EN-ZA">It is critical that we focus on what IS, i.e. God, rather than on appearances, i.e. illness, poverty, lack and all the other negatives we see with our eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span style="" lang="EN-ZA"><o:p> </o:p>Let us realise that there is One Cosmic Reality Principle and Presence in the Universe – God.<span style=""> </span>All creation originates in this One Source, meaning God is all there is.<span style=""> </span>From this One Infinite Source flows the spiritual, mental, and physical Universal Life, all Love, all Law, all Energy, all Harmony, all Being, and all physical form.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span style="" lang="EN-ZA"><o:p> </o:p>This leads us to that, each human being is a creation of God, made of the God-substance, a unique, individualized Incarnation of Spirit.<span style=""> </span>This incarnated Spirit is your Essence and the Essence of every human being now and forever.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span style="" lang="EN-ZA"><o:p> </o:p></span><b style=""><span style="" lang="EN-ZA">Spiritual mind treatment <o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><b style=""><span style="" lang="EN-ZA"><o:p> </o:p></span></b><span style="" lang="EN-ZA">We must believe in our own treatment if it is going to be effective.<span style=""> </span>We must believe that there is a thing as Spirit, and that IT is right here responding to us and expressing as the experience or the condition we wish to enjoy.<span style=""> </span>The mind should transcend the appearance so that the appearance can be changed.<span style=""> </span>If the mind doesn’t get any farther than the appearance, that appearance will not change.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span style="" lang="EN-ZA"><o:p> </o:p>We must think of ourselves as being the way we would like to be.<span style=""> </span>The appearance is a fact, but not self creative.<span style=""> </span>We should forget all the negative arguments, forget all the reasons why it is not so and begin to think of a few reasons why it is so.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span style="" lang="EN-ZA"><o:p> </o:p>Jesus told us not to judge according to appearances, for there is a perfection at the centre of things.<span style=""> </span>Christ said ”Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect”<span style=""> </span>He again said “God has made us” The Divine Spirit is already within us.<span style=""> </span>This is our Father who desires only our good” Spirit has already provided a law of mind, giving us the use of a power greater than we are.<span style=""> </span>And if only we will learn to live in recognition of this Presence and in harmony with this law, then the miracle of life and love will take place.<span style=""> </span>He coupled the knowledge of spiritual truth with the thought that there is a law of mind which acts upon our belief and brings into our experience those things we believe, and not what we wish for.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span style="" lang="EN-ZA"><o:p> </o:p>Christ proclaimed that there is a presence within us that it is already perfect.<span style=""> </span>All we need to do is to learn to live right today.<span style=""> </span>And when we do, previous mistakes will be blotted out and our future will be taken care of.<span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span style="" lang="EN-ZA"><o:p> </o:p>But before this can happen we must learn to live right today.<span style=""> </span>It is in this moment of time that we are to make the great decision.<span style=""> </span>It is in this day in which we are living that we must choose what path we are to follow.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span style="" lang="EN-ZA"><o:p> </o:p>Shall we live in fear or in faith?<span style=""> </span>Shall we live in confusion or in the peace that comes from a deep and abiding conviction that there is a power greater than we are, ready, willing and able to work for us?<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span style="" lang="EN-ZA"><o:p> </o:p>To live affirmatively is to live as God lives, so we must plunge beneath the appearance.<span style=""> </span>This is where the test comes.<span style=""> </span>We are testing ourselves to see whether we can forget all negativity and conceive more good, let go of limitation and take hold of limitless, let go of the appearance and embrace reality.<span style=""> </span>That we surrender to the dignity of God’s law, to the love of God’s Presence, to the glory and joy of that Being and no longer be afraid.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span style="" lang="EN-ZA"><o:p> </o:p>As we turn to the great heart of love in and around us and recognise the divine nature of our own being and consciously unify ourselves with the living Spirit, we thank God that we let go of fear.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span style="" lang="EN-ZA"><o:p> </o:p>The practice of Truth must be activated and empowered by an individual consciousness of the all-pervading Loving Presence within and round about us.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span style="" lang="EN-ZA"><o:p> </o:p>Training the mind to think differently is simple enough, but not easy.<span style=""> </span>This is where faith must be used - faith in a power greater than we are, based on firm conviction that we live in a Divine Presence that wishes only good for us.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span style="" lang="EN-ZA"><o:p> </o:p></span><b style=""><span style="" lang="EN-ZA">Surrendering:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span style="" lang="EN-ZA"><o:p> </o:p>We are called to reform all our thinking, to make a complete and final surrender of all our littleness, fears, doubts, and uncertainties to that great something within us that is calm, certain and sure.<span style=""> </span>That something has never really left its divine kingdom, even though our minds have become so confused, so unhappy, and so filled with fear.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span style="" lang="EN-ZA"><o:p> </o:p>As much as this is our great challenge, it also is the great adventure of faith in a power greater than we are, the challenge of a love that abides forever.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span style="" lang="EN-ZA"><o:p> </o:p>Here’s an affirmation you can say quietly and with deep conviction:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span style="" lang="EN-ZA"><o:p> </o:p></span><b style=""><i style=""><span style="" lang="EN-ZA">I realise that I am one with the eternal newness of life.<span style=""> </span>All that Spirit is creates in and through me.<span style=""> </span>My body is alive with the life of God.<span style=""> </span>My body is illumined by the light of God.<span style=""> </span>There is no darkness or discouragement, despair, or defeat.<span style=""> </span>My mind is refreshed in that One Mind that eternally gives of itself to its creation.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><b style=""><i style=""><span style="" lang="EN-ZA"><o:p> </o:p>All that God has is mine.<span style=""> </span>I open my heart to accept the good gifts of joy, happiness, and enthusiasm, right now.<span style=""> </span>I open my heart to know that that which is forever ageless is my source.<span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><b style=""><i style=""><span style="" lang="EN-ZA"><o:p> </o:p>I decree that my body and my experiences shall reflect the image of life in all of its newness, and I shall move through the days of my years with gladness in my mind.<span style=""> </span>I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever, knowing that my cup is full to overflowing with the only life there is, the life and the eternal youth of God.<span style=""> </span>And so it is.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span style="" lang="EN-ZA"><o:p> </o:p>I suggest if you haven’t read a copy of Nicol Campbell’s book “My Path of Truth”<span style=""> </span>that you download a copy for yourself<b style=""><i style="">.<o:p></o:p></i></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span style="" lang="EN-ZA"><o:p> </o:p>With God’s love<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="" lang="EN-ZA"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: arial;">Sent from </span><st1:city style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: arial;" st="on"><st1:place st="on">Pretoria</st1:place></st1:City><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="" lang="EN-ZA"><span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>TEXThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253901413798627016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7033286006921929457.post-14918805246618021842009-02-10T21:54:00.001-08:002009-02-10T21:55:57.716-08:00Another Response to Deborah - the Lowest Point<span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Deborah wrote to ask that we pray for her to walk again and for her husband to get a job that will sustain them. This led to an exchange of emails with Deborah which may be read in the post at <a><span style="font-size:0;"><strong style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);font-family:arial;" ><center></center></span><strong style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;"></strong></strong><div style="text-align: left;" align="left"></div></span></a><a href="http://guests-andre.blogspot.com/2009/01/lowest-point-response-to-deborah.html" target="_blank"><u>The Lowest Point,</u></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"> -Response to Deborah<br /></span><a><span style="font-size:0;"><strong style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);font-family:arial;" ><center></center></span><strong style="font-weight: bold;" face="arial"></strong></strong><div style="text-align: left;" align="left"></div></span></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Last weekend, during a meeting of School of Truth Students, I asked them to share their own ideas about Deborah's challenges. Nell-Marie sent me the following which I will share directly with Deborah but which you may also find inspiring in your own particular life-circumstances:</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Creative visualisation was actively practiced by our founder, Nichol Campbell. He believed that God will supply, in abundance, all his and the School of Truth’s needs. Some of the most amazing manifestations was the manner in which he received abundance and as a bonus, his dream car, a Rolls Royce.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">I would like to suggest that you visualise yourself without your wheelchair, walking with a spring in your step and enjoying your life. If, however, you are unable to visualise, make yourself a visualisation board and cut out or draw pictures of what you would like the Universe to manifest in your life. The same should apply to your husband in so far as his work is concerned.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">In Matthew 7:7, it is written: “He that seek shall find and to him that knock it shall be opened unto you.” Furthermore it is written: “And, all things, whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing you shall receive.” In other words, you need to ask (or visualise), believe that you have received and then thank God for the abundance. Also ask how you may spread your miracles or manifestations as you receive these.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">It is also important to be quiet and listen (or as they called it many years ago “harken to the voice within”). It is very difficult at first however, if you concentrate that with every breath you inhale you say, in your mind, “Life” and with every exhalation “Love”, you could find that mind shift you so desperately need.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Should you so wish, believe that you are in the right place in the right time, that you are now being steered in another direction and that something good will come from this.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">I trust that my thoughts will help her. As you and I agreed yesterday Truth is a choice and the trials and tribulations many.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Greetings and Blessings</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Nell-Marie</span></span>TEXThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253901413798627016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7033286006921929457.post-53129454229432083262009-01-16T00:26:00.001-08:002009-01-16T00:26:51.023-08:00The Lowest Point - Response to Deborah<center><script src="http://blip.tv/scripts/pokkariPlayer.js?ver=2008010901" type="text/javascript"></script><br /><script src="http://blip.tv/syndication/write_player?skin=js&posts_id=1681586&source=3&autoplay=true&file_type=flv&player_width=&player_height=" type="text/javascript"></script><br /><div id="blip_movie_content_1681586"><a onclick="play_blip_movie_1681586(); return false;" href="http://blip.tv/file/get/Yourspirituality-ResponseToDeborahsPrayerRequest478.mp3" rel="enclosure"><img title="Click to play" alt="Video thumbnail. Click to play" src="http://blip.tv/file/get/Yourspirituality-ResponseToDeborahsPrayerRequest478.mp3.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a onclick="play_blip_movie_1681586(); return false;" href="http://blip.tv/file/get/Yourspirituality-ResponseToDeborahsPrayerRequest478.mp3" rel="enclosure">Click To Play</a> </div></center><br /><em><span style="color:#ff0000;">Prayer request from Deborah:<br />Please pray for my husband to be healed from depression and to find permanent employment at an abundant salary that meets all of our needs.</span></em><br /><br /><span style="color:#660000;">Dear Deborah,<br />Your prayer request has been passed on to the School of Truth and their prayers will go out for you and your husband. I urge you to continue with the Affirmations I gave you earlier. Insert your husband's name and let him know what you are doing. If possible, get him to accompany you in speaking the Affirmations. The thing about Affirmations is that they serve as a focus for your mind and heart, and that of your husband, so that Spirit can manifest on the material plane all the good that God is waiting to express in your lives. Giving thanks also means to accept that God has already poured His Good into your lives. Give thanks for what is already yours and let go and let God materialize into the realities of your existence. </span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"><br />The change you are waiting for is closer than hands and feet. Please also look at the following for more about the power of prayer:<br /><a href="http://guests-andre.blogspot.com/2008/10/kingdom-of-god-lies-within.html">http://guests-andre.blogspot.com/2008/10/kingdom-of-god-lies-within.html</a> </span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"><br />Be Blessed.<br /><br />Andre<br /></span><br /></span><span style="color:#ff0000;">Reply from Deborah:<br />are affirmations also prayers because when i try to pray it trns into pleading and beseeching<br />what can i do?<br /></span><br /><span style="color:#660000;">Deborah, </span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"><br />Affirmations are powerful, positive confirmations of God’s Omniscience and all-encompassing Presence in His Universe – a Universe that also absolutely encompasses us and our problems. Pleading and beseeching stem from one’s human fallibility in positively expressing faith as a material manifestation of God’s infallibility. Pleading and beseeching are proof of how hard it is to strive and wrestle to ‘have faith’. To have complete faith out of one’s own striving is impossible, unless one is super-human, and who is? </span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"><br />The way to go forward is to let go and Let God. Breathe out. Say, "Here I am my Father". I give over. I will never be afraid again. Through the deepest, blackest darkness, I will KNOW that God is expressing my Good in ways I am not equipped to understand. But I KNOW that the hardship will soon cease. That I will win through the stormy waters of my spiritual, emotional and physical life; that I will be flung into calm waters where I will be given the blessing of being at peace enough to contemplate peacefully all that God has done for me and mine."<br /><br />I speak from personal experience and I can not explain it better than that. It has to do with a light that must switch on inside of you. It is about at last giving up and giving over. It is acknowledging that I, of my self, am totally helpless and powerless; accepting that I and my dire circumstances have more than proved that I alone can not solve my problems. This is called the ‘lowest point’. When one arrives there, the only way out is to reach for God’s hand, which is forever held out to save one even in the deepest ‘slough of despond’. </span><br /></span><span style="color:#660000;"><br />One’s determined striving to force oneself to ’have faith’ is a sure sign that one has not reached the ‘lowest point’. But we have a choice. We do not have to trudge painfully along through the devastation of our lives until we reach the lowest point. We can let go and let God take over at any time of our lives. We do not have to wait until we reach the ‘lowest point’. Giving over means letting go, absolutely, without any reservations. It means stopping the striving, the manipulation, the beseeching. God is not to be beseeched. If you go inside of yourself, honestly, you will recognise the fear, the panic, the attempts to dictate to God, that dominate your thinking, your mindset. You must also know that your circumstances are a manifestation of those fears and uncertainties. You must know that negative thoughts will always manifest as circumstances and material, emotional and spiritual realities – "the thing I feared came to pass." Who you are manifests as what you are. It is the Law. God is not angry with you. He does not punish you. He loves you and yearns to protect you and give you all the good things that it is His Good Pleasure to give you. It is the Law. Even He is subject to that. It is His Law that manifests in your life. You are the trigger. For good or for bad. </span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"><br />But thank God there is also the miracle of Grace, which means that in spite of our shortcomings, in spite of our fears, our panic, our weakness, our negative thoughts and acts (yes let’s call these things ’sins’, for want of a better word), God Saves us. Grace means we are ALREADY saved. We have to DO nothing other than give over and give thanks. </span><span style="color:#660000;"><br /></span><span style="color:#660000;"><br />To let go and let God, therefore, also means to stop trying to dictate to God what our ultimate good should be. It is about disciplining our minds to ward off negative thoughts, feelings and acts, even the simplest and most fleeting ones. It is about living positively so that we can draw positive circumstances to ourselves. It is about accepting that our current dire circumstances are also part of the path that leads to our ultimate good. We are never outside of God. And what happens at any moment in our lives happens inside of God, who is everywhere evenly present. </span><br /></span><span style="color:#660000;"><br />The sooner we learn and acknowledge the lessons that life, or God, is teaching us, and incorporate them into our mindset, our total value system and our habitual thinking, the sooner we will be able to step aside, (or let go and let God) leaving the door open for Spirit to flow through us and heal all of our circumstances. We will stop "believing", stop asking, stop pleading and beseeching, and give all of ourselves over to our Father who has been waiting for that moment for all of our lives up to that miraculous point. </span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"><br />There are no small or big miracles. There is only the miracle of the manifestation of God’s Perfect Good in our lives. I know that this is so because I have been to the ‘lowest point’.<br /><br />I am praying for you to have the courage to put your hand in God’s hand without reservations of fear. Peter did it when he walked on the water for a few anxious seconds. God already knows how hard it is. He created us in goodness and in fearfulness. We have no secrets from Him. We have His sympathy, because we are His children and He, who created Love, Loves us. </span><br /></span><span style="color:#660000;"><br />You are near the corner. I sense it strongly. Take the turn NOW and you will soon join those who have evolved Faith into Trust through having PROVED to themselves that God is everywhere evenly present and that you have only to ask and believe and it WILL be given to you. </span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"><br />God Bless you.<br /><br />andre<br /><br /></span><span style="color:#ff0000;">Reply from Deborah:</span><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">that's the thing, at times I feel as though I have taken the step<br />but I keep coming back to the same question of how can I manifest<br />the healing in my life the way jesus did in the bible? I have wanted this for the past 19 years to walk again. </span><br /><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">what a m I not doing why I am not able to do what jesus did, stand up and walk. why is this so<br />hard for me I constantly read about persons who were healed from incurable diseases as well as walk </span><br /><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">what more can I do?<br />Deborah, </span><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;"><br /></span><span style="color:#660000;">A watched kettle never boils – or so it seems. One has not truly given over to God if one keeps on rushing back to see if the kettle is boiling yet. Giving over is giving over totally and embracing not only God’s Will, but also God’s Timing, which is also perfect. Learn deeply what God is teaching you through not being able to walk and through your husband’s depression and desperate need for a good job. The kettle will not boil until you do that. </span><br /></span><span style="color:#660000;"><br />If you have internalized what I have said to you, you will know that we have no power, no strength, no independence from God. This means that we, of ourselves, can manifest nothing. It is the free, untrammeled flow of Spirit through our lives that manifests in our spiritual, physical, emotional and mental circumstances. It is about service to your fellow man, about disciplining your mind to negate negativity. That’s what we can do. But we can manifest nothing of ourselves. Only God’s Law dictates the manifestation of His All-good in our lives through His power of Love, which must shine through every single thing that we do in our lives. </span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"><br />Having done these things you will reach a plateau of acceptance, complete serenity and trust. Then, in practical terms, if your body is so damaged that you still cannot walk, then strength and Joy will come to you to help you adapt and carry the burden. But if you make your trust conditional to your walking again, you have not handed everything you are over to God, who Loves you, who is in you and who constitutes you absolutely. </span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"><br />More than this I cannot say to you. But you are not alone. You are with God and we pray that you will have the strength to be happy, secure and fulfilled. </span>TEXThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253901413798627016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7033286006921929457.post-57419363962184007612009-01-07T06:08:00.000-08:002009-01-07T09:46:28.048-08:00Response to a friend's blog<span style="color:#660000;">Albert, a good friend of very long standing, runs a business blog at </span><span style="color:#660000;"><a href="http://growingclients.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Growing Clients</a> , </span><span style="color:#660000;">which has an interesting new post entitled "The worldview of my clients ".</span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#660000;">Recently, on this topic, we engaged in an exchange of ideas around the principles of sound business management. This exchange centered on the concept of a "Worldview" ... what it is and how it impacts on the way we do business. What was especially interesting for me to note was that, while the word 'spirituality' was never used, that is exactly what we were talking about. </span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"><br />In fact, you may have noticed that many people in business frown on talking about spirituality. For them it's unprofessional - it might queer the deal, as it were. Not Albert, I can gratefully add, because he and I have many wonderful and stimulating exchanges - one of the reasons we are friends.<br /><br />But the truth is, many people do tend to be shy, if not ashamed, of talking to others about their spiritual life and awareness. There can be many reasons for this.<br /><br />Perhaps they may feel that others will think they have become "religous nuts", who think to buy tickets to heaven with loud arguments, converting all they meet to their way of seeing things.<br /><br />Some business people put on their Sunday or Saturday or-whatever-suits only for religious days. On other days they gouge their clients, friends and competitors. They do all the negative and hurtful things sane people know they should not do. </span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"><br />For others, spirituality may be something to keep in the dark closet of their minds to be brought out only for careful, tentative sharing with like-minded people or close associates. Some use it to try and impress others with their holiness, how far 'advanced' they are on the Path.<br /><br />You may be familiar with the old quote, "What you are, speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you are saying."<br /><br />All of life is about spirituality, including how one does business and how one treats one's clients, staff and competitors. The term 'worldview' is a synonym for 'spirituality', which cannot but reflect, for those with the eyes to see, exactly who and what we are. It is the word that describes where we are on the path of Truth that we are all traveling.<br /><br /><strong>In which category do you fall?</strong><br /><br />Albert emailed me to say that he had posted a list on his blog of the typical reactions that he gets from some of his clients in his business consultancy and he asked me to comment. With Albert's kind permission, I repeat his entire post, together with its comments, here for you to think about.<br /><br />His list has the following introduction:<br /><br /></span><span style="color:#ff0000;">"</span><span style="color:#cc0000;">During my annual break, I read Seth Godin, and he challenges his readers to define the worldview of their clients/customers. If you know Godin you would know that a worldview can be about anything. It could be about how you view running your business. </span><span style="color:#cc0000;">My clients consist mostly of owners of successful medium-sized businesses. While you all are different you do have a lot in common. In writing this post I tried to come up with a description with which any of you, my clients, might perhaps identify – although each, of course, would have an own emphasis. </span><br /></span><span style="color:#cc0000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;">Could this be you?"</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#660000;">I realised that Albert's list was drawn up from comments he'd heard from his clients over the course of time and that he was putting it on his blog hoping that people would respond appropriately. Finding his list fascinating, if not a little depressing, I immediately responded to “The worldview of my clients” as follows: </span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#660000;">Hi Albert, in your blog you say, “a worldview can be about anything. It could be about how you view running your business.” </span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#660000;">My sense of a worldview is contrary to what you say. An individual can have only one world view as a totality of one’s beliefs about reality. A child can not have a worldview… a balanced worldview is formed over time and through direct experience of the challenges of surviving as a member of a group, family, community, country, political party, etc. Like a religious view or a health view, a business view is just one Lego building block in the structure that represents an individual’s entire position regarding the great complexity of a fully developed worldview. This means that the individual’s convictions, moral, business and other, are entirely inter-related, issuing from set values that cover and direct all of the individual’s interactions with his or her world, and on every level of existence, from parenthood through to not shop-lifting. </span></span><span style="color:#660000;"></span><span style="color:#660000;">This would mean that one develops a worldview over time and that a worldview is never fully formed, but changes and grows as the person matures through experience, culture and his or her ever-richer humanness. It MUST be so that such maturation will also reflect in the person’s business approach, how they treat their staff and their customers, the shaping of a business ethos. </span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#660000;">Therefore, it would be more acceptable for me if you changed the above sentence to read “A worldview includes everything, and also how you view running your business.” </span><br /><br /><span style="color:#660000;">(For convenient linking of my answers, I quote the list below in a red font) </span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"><br /></span><span style="color:#cc0000;">• I am creative in an operational, doing kind of way. My planning is mostly intuitive.</span><br /></span><br /></span><span style="color:#660000;"></span><span style="color:#660000;">If you are asking do I tend to busk as I go along, yes to a degree, but not greatly so. I like to plan carefully ahead based <em>on what I know works</em>.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;">• So expect me to change as little as possible – although I will change if it is step-by-step but then provide really strong reasons.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#660000;">No. Threats and challenges cause to me change VERY quickly, and even dramatically, than when things are chugging along boringly on an even keel – when does it ever? It goes back to my statement about basing my planning and responses on “<em>what I know works</em>”. Such changes can be instant, and not step by step, depending on the scale of the threat to my business.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;">• I should attend more fairs or shows, take creative breaks from overcrowded, exhausting weeks and even go abroad. (Why not?)</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#660000;">I don’t think fairs and shows can teach me much about my business… been there, got the t-shirt. I would be interested only in terms of getting updated on developing technologies as they affect my industry. The internet has over the years greatly reduced my dependence on trade shows for this kind of update, though. But when it comes to employing production techniques and creative integrity, I don’t need to be told or shown how to do what I do. I can learn much more by watching and analyzing my competitors’ behaviour.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;">• I know I should lead by example as my staff is watching what I do and what I tend to ignore. In fact, they follow my example. Do I have to check my behaviour?</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#660000;">How one treats people has to do with the ethical and humane standards you have incorporated into your worldview. In fact, if you are not sure about your own worldview, what kind of person you are and what your values are, this is the mirror to look into – it’s a dead give-away about who and what you really are and why you are experiencing staff motivation, production, distribution and customer problems. </span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;">• Most of my staff members do not have my mentality and work ethic. Why not? I know I should spend more time with them. What should I do but emphasize that we all need to work harder?</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#660000;">Anybody who thinks he is the smartest person in his business is stupid. He has never heard of the power of the “gestalt”. (I.e. the whole is greater than the sum of the parts). One must know that the emotional and material rewards of getting a team to operate maximally to its full power can be so great that it’s worth taking the time to build teams through the tools of self-respect and personal growth.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;">• I would be pleased if my staff could show a greater understanding of the pressures which I have to deal with daily. I would welcome greater commitment to me and my business. I would like to run my team in a manner which is smooth and cuts out much of my daily stress. At the moment I simply do too much crisis management. Meeting our monthly overheads seems to always be a main goal. I wish I could get individual team members to take more off my shoulders by taking more all-round responsibility and not always only sticking to their narrow work fields. Why can’t they work together? Each should chip in without being asked. But how to get them to be pro-active in a considered and responsible manner?</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#660000;">Feeling sorry for oneself is not part of a healthy worldview. Commitment from one’s staff to one’s business is a mirror-image of one’s commitment and loyalty to them!</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;">• I know 2009 is going to be a tough year. Full of opportunities but tough. Heaven help us.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#660000;">No! It’s during the tough years that one is most stimulated to do better. That’s when the tough ones get kicked into overdrive and when they and their staff and their businesses change and adapt the most. They say… “Heaven help the challenges. We’re Ok!” </span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"><br />On reading what I had written, I recognised an important ommission and added the following:<br /><br /></span><span style="color:#660000;"></span><span style="color:#660000;">Correction: I said above “A child can not have a worldview” - Sorry, this was meant to be “A child can not have a balanced, mature worldview” Of course, a child does have a worldview… albeit an immature one, founded perhaps only on a basic need for love and security. But as we mature, our needs also mature and hence, our worldview. </span><br /></span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"></span><span style="color:#ff0000;">On January 6th, 2009 at 12:10 am Albert Said: </span><br /><br /></span><span style="color:#ff0000;"></span><span style="color:#cc0000;">Hi Andre, </span>You</span><span style="color:#cc0000;"> provided a very thorough and stimulating comment! I enjoyed reading it and expect that our other readers will too. </span><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;">I gladly accept your definition of “worldview” although Godin used it very narrowly. Your definition, for ease of reference, reads: “A worldview includes everything, and also how you view running your business.” </span><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;">Please note that not one of my clients need to be as detailed in their comments. You could focus on one or two points only, should you so wish. Please join the conversation. </span><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">on January 6th, 2009 at 6:32 pm Stephen joined the chat: </span><br /><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;"></span><span style="color:#333399;">I agree with Andre’s self-correction. Everyone has a world view. And many people cruise through life without ever reflecting on their behaviour nor articulating the underlying beliefs, assumptions and presuppositions that make up their world-view. </span></span><span style="color:#333399;">I think what you have posted is a subset of a much larger set of possible reflections and assumptions about how life works and how we best meet the challenges and opportunities presented. </span><br /><span style="color:#333399;"></span><br /><span style="color:#333399;">I believe your post points to an exercise we should all conduct with ourselves regularly. This would go hand in hand with a review of our strengths and weaknesses. Oh yes and also with a strategy thinking process. Everyone quotes Socrates “The unreflected life is not worth living”. This is part of that. I think. </span><br /><span style="color:#333399;"></span><br /><span style="color:#333399;">Thanks for the note - to ruk (<em>Afrikaans, 'to</em> <em>jerk' - editor)</em> me back into thinking mode. I will reflect on this some more.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">on January 7th, 2009 at 9:11 am Andre Said:</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#660000;">When needs drive a worldview must (move also) - there are interesting philosophical correlations between the challenges of living useful lives and the shaping of an ever-maturing worldview . </span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#660000;">Stephen is right when he says that we need to reflect more on our strengths and weaknesses… but with the proviso that such soul-seeking reflection must be balanced with living life vigorously and making mistakes with gusto. If not, such reflections can become neurotic and counter-roductive - not only in one’s emotional and spiritual life, but also in how one runs a business. </span><br /><br /><span style="color:#660000;">Thus, Hamlet’s ‘to be or not to be’ is still the only question. ‘Right Action’ (the Buddha variety) must go hand in hand with reflection.<br /><br /><br /><br /></span><span style="color:#660000;"></span><span style="color:#660000;"></span><span style="color:#660000;"></span><span style="color:#660000;"></span>TEXThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253901413798627016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7033286006921929457.post-63242787071233471302008-12-15T00:59:00.000-08:002008-12-15T01:03:06.942-08:00Request for Prayer Support From Deborah<center><div align="left"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:180%;color:#ff0000;"><strong>NEW:</strong></span></div><a onclick="play_blip_movie_1585455(); return false;" href="http://blip.tv/file/get/Yourspirituality-RequestForPrayerFromDeborah436.mp3" rel="enclosure"><img title="Click to play" alt="Video thumbnail. Click to play" src="http://blip.tv/file/get/Yourspirituality-RequestForPrayerFromDeborah436.mp3.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a onclick="play_blip_movie_1585455(); return false;" href="http://blip.tv/file/get/Yourspirituality-RequestForPrayerFromDeborah436.mp3" rel="enclosure">Click To Play</a><br /></center><p><em><span style="color:#cc0000;">From: Deborah<br />Sent: 15 December 2008 05:19 AM<br />To: andre@enviroworld.co.za<br />Subject: Please Pray </span></em></p><em><span style="color:#cc0000;"><p><br /></span></em><em><span style="color:#cc0000;">Please pray for healing so that I may walk again , for my aunt Vera to heal from her stroke and for Catherine to heal from diabetes.<br /></span></em><em><span style="color:#cc0000;"></span></em></p><p><em><span style="color:#cc0000;">Deborah<br /></span></em><br /><span style="color:#660000;">Dear Deborah, </span></p><span style="color:#660000;"><p>I have passed your prayer request on to the School of Truth Prayer Group. Know that powerful prayers are being said for you and your loved ones this week. And, in the weeks that follow, remember constantly, and make it your total mindset, that you and all your earthly and spiritual affairs have indeed now been handed over to God, completely and fully, without any reservations. </p><p>What transpires from now on in your life is for your Perfect Good, because your Father in Heaven is perfectly Good and you and He are One. Know also, that before you have asked. God has heard you and that when you ask, and believe, it will be done. In the meantime, visualize strongly, and with gratitude, the conditions in your life that you desire to manifest and thank God for the blessing of His bounty in your life. </p><p>This is of great importance to you, write it on your very soul: The Christ, the very Principle of Love, Life and Perfection, within you has now asked, “Do you want to be healed?” And you have answered with a fervent “Yes!”. Now, memorize and repeat the following powerful Affirmation many times a day to open yourself to the healing flow of Spirit through all that you are at this time in your life: </p><p>“I know that my body is a manifestation of pure Spirit and that Spirit is perfect. Therefore I do not let myself be misled by appearances of pain and lack, but keep the true picture ever before me – the picture of my spiritual perfection. </p><p>In Your Divine Mind my life’s plan is perfect. As my consciousness encompasses this, so does the realization of this illuminate my body temple. My intellect, in unity with your All-knowing Mind, finds the perfect answer for every problem. One by one the fetters of my limited understanding fall from me and I feel happy and free! </p><p>Gradually the shadows which seemed to separate me from my “good” disappear before the light of Divine Understanding. I realize my oneness with You, my Creator, and now I claim the inherent perfection to come forth into livingness, as I do my part.” </p><p>Most importantly, don’t strain and strive or try to wrestle God’s Good from Him with might and main. Let the Truth of your being come gently to you. Let go completely and Let God do His Work in you and through you also to others. </p><p>God Bless you </p><p>andre<br /><br /></p></span>TEXThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253901413798627016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7033286006921929457.post-24231972911114421922008-10-21T03:05:00.000-07:002008-10-21T04:45:09.054-07:00Letter from Josef in Germany about Tithing<span style="color:#660000;"><br /><center><script src="http://blip.tv/scripts/pokkariPlayer.js?ver=2008010901" type="text/javascript"></script><br /><script src="http://blip.tv/syndication/write_player?skin=js&posts_id=1387344&source=3&autoplay=true&file_type=flv&player_width=&player_height=" type="text/javascript"></script><br /><div id="blip_movie_content_1387344"><a onclick="play_blip_movie_1387344(); return false;" href="http://blip.tv/file/get/Yourspirituality-LetterFromJosefInGermanyAskingAboutTithing845.mp3" rel="enclosure"><img title="Click to play" alt="Video thumbnail. Click to play" src="http://blip.tv/file/get/Yourspirituality-LetterFromJosefInGermanyAskingAboutTithing845.mp3.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a onclick="play_blip_movie_1387344(); return false;" href="http://blip.tv/file/get/Yourspirituality-LetterFromJosefInGermanyAskingAboutTithing845.mp3" rel="enclosure">Click To Play</a> </div></center><p>Dear Andre, </span></p><span style="color:#660000;">I hope you are going well.<br /><br />Today I have a practical question about tithing. Last week I get a book called: "As You Tithe So You Prosper" by L.E. Meyer. I put it to this email.<br /><br />What does the school teaching about tithing? In the Path of Truth Page 276 I read something about giving. Means this tithing?<br /><br />Thank you for your last answer about the school etc. Tell me, how you become a lecturer at the school? And what you believe before you enter in the Path? For me its seems so diffucult to let go all the old doctrins.<br /><br />Thank you for all,<br /><br />God blesses your work,<br /><br />Josef<br /><br />Dear Josef, </span><br /><br /><span style="color:#660000;">Thank you for the book about tithing. </span><br /><br /><span style="color:#660000;">As you will know, the word "Tithe" has its origins in the Church of long ago. (According to Wikipaedia: "<em>Tithe, from the old English word, teogoþa ("tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a (usually) voluntary contribution or as a tax or levy, usually to support a Christian religious organization</em>". "</span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#660000;">Tithing" can, of course, be used only in that narrow sense, of giving money to the Church so that the Church can do the work of God on your behalf. And it is good to give to the Church. But give as much to the Church as you like, it cannot relieve you of your personal responsibility to God. No-one can do God’s work for you, not the Church and nobody else. Only you can do that. So "tithe", in a more modern sense, means to give of yourself, and the resources at your disposal, including money if you have it, to serve God in every way that you can and that you are led to do.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#660000;">Therefore, to serve God one need not give just money to the Church if Spirit within (through prayer and meditation) leads you to do that. It is important to know that to give love, support, understanding and empathy to your fellow man and to nature is also to serve God. In a modern sense that is also tithing. We all have something to give (like the wonderful story of the poor widow in the bible) and what we <em>do</em> have, we must share in a sensible and responsible manner and with due regard for the custodianship that God has given us over His substance of prosperity, health and happiness. </span><br /><br /><span style="color:#660000;">To give is to sow Spirit into the ether and into other lives as I, for example, try to do with these Internet pages. When the individual does this, he or she will find that a rich harvest follows: God’s Spirit will flow back to share and to spare, and to demonstrate God’s qualities of perfection, prosperity, health and happiness, in the life of the one who gives. But that is not why one should want to give. If the giver is doing it just for the rewards that he hopes will follow, the giving is an empty gesture, a sowing of seeds that will fall on rocky ground and not produce a harvest. </span><br /><br /><span style="color:#660000;">Giving (or tithing) must be truly selfless and with no longing for rewards. It must come from the heart, motivated entirely by a deep desire to serve the Father within. Only then is it truly "giving". If not, it is "buying" and God’s Spirit cannot be bought. Neither can God’s perfection, (which manifests as perfect health, prosperity, security and happiness) be bought by words, deeds or money. </span><br /><br /><span style="color:#660000;">(I can also tell you that the <em>degree</em> of any individual’s selfless desire to serve God through all His children in the world, (i.e. our fellow man and all of nature), is one measure of how advanced that person is on the Path of Truth – it is a litmus test that applies to all of us, no matter how rich, how poor, how weak and helpless or how powerful we are.)</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#660000;">With regard to your last question, I was fortunate to be introduced to the School of Truth by my mother, who was a member for most of her later life. Becoming a lecturer for the School is not a formal matter. One is lead to it, and the lecturers at the School recognise with rejoicing when one is ready to serve in this manner. We do not get paid for this work. It creates an opportunity to give a tithe of time, love and understanding in service of the Schools objective – which, in a single sentence, is to help raise the consciousness of its students through an increasing inner revelation of God’s Laws that govern his Spiritual Universe.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#660000;">Yes, I know it is hard. Very few of the things that are truly worthwhile are easy, it seems. But one must persist because the jewel of great value, realizing the full extent of our Oneness with our Father, the Eternal Creator, is the most worthwhile thing that we can achieve in this life. But you need not let go of the old doctrines, and not fight against them, if they give you comfort. </span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#660000;">Simply grow to understand them in the light that Spirit sheds in the course of time and be patient, loving and forgiving not only to others, but also to yourself. When the time comes that you find yourself ready, the doctrines will take on new meanings for you and fall into a beautiful and gentle perspective that will make looking back a happy experience.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#660000;">Bless you</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#660000;">andre</span><br /><br /></span>TEXThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253901413798627016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7033286006921929457.post-80365045820548523022008-10-15T02:54:00.000-07:002008-10-15T03:00:10.050-07:00Friends Chatting about Spirtuality<center><div id="blip_movie_content_1366422"><a onclick="play_blip_movie_1366422(); return false;" href="http://blip.tv/file/get/Yourspirituality-ADiscussionBetweenFriendsAboutSpirituality433.mp3" rel="enclosure"><img title="Click to play" alt="Video thumbnail. Click to play" src="http://blip.tv/file/get/Yourspirituality-ADiscussionBetweenFriendsAboutSpirituality433.mp3.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a onclick="play_blip_movie_1366422(); return false;" href="http://blip.tv/file/get/Yourspirituality-ADiscussionBetweenFriendsAboutSpirituality433.mp3" rel="enclosure">Click To Play</a> </div></center><p><br /><span style="color:#660000;">Dear Steve,<br /><br />As you will have realised, I have been through some rather trying times health-wise. It's really interesting to me to realize how the state of one's body impacts on both mind and spirit. I went through a long period where I just did not have the energy for anything. It even knocked my relationship with my Creator into a dark corner where I felt that the mainstay of my life... my sense of God's constant presence in my life... simply slipped away, leaving me in a kind of limbo.<br /><br />I missed being hooked on Spirit very much and it has taken time to come right. Edwin Woods of the School of Truth said it's probably the drugs prescribed by the doctor that have that effect. That might be true, but it's also more than that. A sound mind is dragged down by an unsound body and it takes greater effort to stay in touch with Spirit.<br /><br />Of course, the word "effort" is not right. We both know that effort takes one nowhere in Spiritual matters - simply because we, of ourselves, can do nothing. More of "letting go and letting God", is therefore what I really mean. I learned a lot in the process, never really having been very ill in my adult life before. I have been thinking, also, that it's great practice for staying close to God when going through the process of dying, which, in my case, I sense is still a long way off. But when that time comes, the lessons I have learned through the recent difficult times will stand me in good stead.<br /><br />I am 99% better now and getting on with life with almost the same degree of energy as before. The good thing is that I lost 20 Kg in the process! Also, my voice has been restored and I am working hard again.<br /><br />Blessings<br /><br />andre<br /></span><span style="color:#660000;"><br /></span><span style="color:#cc0000;"><em>Dear Andre,<br /></em><br /></span><em><span style="color:#cc0000;">Thank you for your earlier reply. We spent the weekend in Canada so I'm a bit late getting back to you.<br /><br />Health challenges are often the ultimate test of a person's faith - and I have faced a few myself so I can identify with the insight you shared. Sometimes it is a very minor problem that snowballs out of all proportion as we allow our minds to distort spiritual perspectives.<br /><br />Back when I was an active Divine Science Practitioner I was sometimes called upon for prayer support in assisting someone overcome a health issue. Occasionally I was even called upon by DS ministers - individuals whom one seldom envisions needing to ask for assistance, particularly since all ministers are also trained practitioners! Ultimately they knew the root of the problem, and believed they knew what was necessary to overcome it, but I found they placed too much emphasis on 'theory' and not enough on 'action'.<br /><br />Since your blog offers prayer ministry you might find the following of interest: Rev W John Murray, an early Divine Science minister, taught that "all desire is prayer" - whether offered within a religious context or not.<br /><br />He noted that: "While reading the fifth chapter of John we feel Jesus standing by the pool of Bethesda, the ancient Lourdes, the healing waters, and we find one brought there. Year after year he had been taken there and borne away again with no visible sign of improvement, and his only explanation for it was that when the angel came to trouble the water, there was no one to put him into the pool. And Jesus said, after listening to this, 'Wilt thou be made whole?'<br /><br />The man's view of healing was very circumscribed, as is ours today. We limit it to some particular thing; if not a pool of healing water, it is a glass of hot water in the morning. If it is not one thing, it is another, and always external and mechanical. There he was, waiting for the troubling of the water when, all the while, the great healing, cleansing, purifying, energizing water of life was ready to flow through every artery of his being, to cleanse and purify and invigorate him.<br /><br />"And so Jesus sought to instill into this man's mind a great truth. But first he must get the man's consent, or co-operation, for the only way the individual can co-operate with the universe is through the will, and Jesus knew this. 'Wilt thou be made whole?' Christ was not saying: 'Do you know the truth and feel the force of the truth?'"<br /><br />Rev Murray writes an interesting lesson. It has been my experience as a DS practitioner that the more 'advanced' the student is (i.e. the ministers who requested prayer, for example, or long-time followers of New Thought) that healings often take longer for more practices DS people than with newer students - the latter being more into the 'basics' and more eager to commit to "healing through a desire to get well" instead of relying more on the theoretical aspects of the teachings.<br /><br />I found myself in this same position many years ago. I decided to rebuild my understanding of Truth from the ground up - starting with each step of the basics and continuing, slowly and methodically, up to the level I had attained previously. I even practiced the early exercises - simple stuff like rejoicing in the weather - even if it was raining and spoiled my outdoor plans! It worked wonders.<br /><br />Blessings,<br />Steve<br /><br /></span><span style="color:#660000;">Dear Steve,<br /></span></em><br /><span style="color:#660000;">As always, you have given me much food for thought.<br /><br />You touch on one of the things I find hard to deal with in talking to people. Almost salaciously, people seem to want "Spiritual Secrets" to be "revealed" to them; occult keys that will magically allow them to unlock the door to Spirituality. They seem disappointed when I tell them that Truth is simplicity itself, not hidden at all, but there for all to see and use in their lives. They seem reluctant to accept this simple fact as the key they are really looking for - to know that Eternal Law ensures the inevitability of results following actions (or mindset, as I call it), whatever those actions might be - positive or negative.<br /><br />I get the feeling that people want the Truth to be complicated, difficult to achieve and requiring great effort – a spiritual Mount Everest that they have to climb. Somehow, they feel that if it’s easy, and for free, it's not worth having; that it can’t possibly have value in their lives.<br /><br />This, I feel, is exactly because so many people need to be reassured by the "theory" of spirituality, to which I think you refer. And, as you imply, it is "Theory" that blocks the flow of Spirit simply because it clouds the power of excitement and spiritual desire. (As in when you say that the more "advanced" one is, the longer it can take to be healed.)<br /><br />For many people the hardest part to accept, it seems, is what you refer to as "action". They want the action to be strenuous, while in fact The "Action" needed is just to let Go and let God in the simplest, most trusting way possible. It’s about "selflessness" which does not need to strive, but simply "is" within enfolding Spirit, filled and surrounded by Love, the most reassuring and powerful force in the universe.<br /><br />Another problem I ask your thoughts about, is this: having found this jewel of great value, this exhilarating understanding of the simplicity of the Law, having become "more advanced", as you say, it is very hard to keep that initial excitement and desire from fading in one’s life. As that wonderful transport fades, the acolyte may fear it implies that his faith is also fading. How does one deal with that? How does one keep the fires burning high?<br /><br />Thank you so much for your stimulating email!<br /><br />God Bless<br />Andre<br /></span><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;">Dear </span><em><span style="color:#cc0000;">Andre,<br /><br />You wrote:<br /><br />> You touch on one of the things I find hard to deal with in talking to people. Almost salaciously, people seem to want "Spiritual Secrets" to be "revealed" to them; occult keys that will magically allow them to unlock the door to Spirituality. They seem disappointed when I tell them that Truth is simplicity itself, not hidden at all, but there for all to see and use in their lives.<br /><br />The truth is simple. When Jesus spoke "the common people heard him gladly" - but it was the religious intelligentsia (Scribes and Pharisees) who rejected the teachings. Modern times are no different. When it comes to religion and spirituality I find that the more letters a person has after his name (Ph.D, DD, MA, etc.) the less he knows.<br /><br />> For many people the hardest part to accept, it seems, is what you refer to as "action". They want the action to be strenuous, while in fact The "Action" needed is just to let Go and let God in the simplest, most trusting way possible. It's about "selflessness" which does not need to strive, but simply "is" within enfolding Spirit, filled and surrounded by Love, the most reassuring and powerful force in the universe.<br /><br />I want to cover the subject of "action" a bit further as I am using it in a context not widely used in New Thought circles. As a Divine Science teacher I was one of the only ones (if not 'THE' only one) who taught a "5 step" realization process. This is what was taught by Rev Murray and includes the additional 5th step - omitted by teachers in almost all of the New Thought groups. (It's really a crucial step - and its inclusion has brought results in cases where its prior omission had failed.) The 5 step process is:<br /><br />1. Desire<br />2. Visualization<br />3. Recognition of God as Principle<br />4. Faith that the desire will be fulfilled.<br />5. Action<br /><br />Most schools of New Thought use a combination of steps 1 thru 4. "Action", however, is what the student does to begin the manifestation process. It is the catalyst or igniter that gets the ball rolling - without which there is no guarantee that the process will begin.<br /><br />Let's look at some examples:<br />* A person who seeks employment can follow the first 4 steps but unless he follows through with action (such as filling out job applications and/or making his desire for work known to others) he may never secure a job.<br />* A person in need of friends can follow the first 4 steps but unless he follows through with action (placing himself in social situations where he can meet people) how will he acquire friends?<br />* A person who eats only sweets and cakes, and who is unhealthy due to poor diet, can follow the first 4 steps in a bid to regain his health.<br />But unless he takes 'action' (by changing his eating habits) he is destined for disappointment.<br /><br />In the above examples the failure is not on God's part - it is because the student failed to do 'his part' (action) to begin the manifestation process. It is an example of faith, as Nicol often states, when we "Let go, and let God" but this does not relieve us of our obligation to do our part in furtherance of the Divine plan. I guess my point is that I find that more advanced New Thought students neglect action - in contrast with newer students who are more likely to take an 'active role' in their own healing or transformation process. This is why it can take students who have practiced New Thought for many years much longer to change their health or circumstances.<br /><br />> Another problem I ask your thoughts about, is this: having found this jewel of great value, this exhilarating understanding of the simplicity of the Law, and as a result having become "more advanced", as you say, it is very hard to keep that initial excitement and desire<br />from fading in one's life. As that wonderful transport fades, the acolyte may fear it implies that his faith is also fading. How does one deal with that? How does one keep the fires burning high?<br /><br />Nicol Campbell refers to Truth students as "students" - even if they have been members for 40 years! He considered himself a student too, even though he was The School's founder. There is always something new to learn, spiritually, and so it is important to never perceive your quest for Truth as being finished. If we do this then the fire starts to fade. Keep the fires burning by being 'about your Father's business' - sharing Truth with others and helping them through prayer and teaching, such as your activities via the internet - plus renewing your relationship with God through joy in everyday activities.<br /><br />I think that a quest of this nature is not exclusively a learning process - it is also the key to enjoying life in all its aspects.<br /><br />Peace and blessings,<br />Steve<br /></span></em><br /><span style="color:#660000;">Hi Steve,<br /><br />Thank you so much! You have no idea how you have stimulated my thinking.<br /><br />I don't have any formal religious or DS or any other kind of training. All I know is that Spirit leads me to insight and your words about "action" were really interesting to me. I would add just one more point..as a 2b, perhaps: "passion". Passion, (or Feeling, Excitement), provides the God-given energy to turn the spiritual wheel through your 5 points around to end in "action".<br />Mere "Visualisation" without passion is no more than day-dreams. Day-dreams remain only in the sphere of "desire" and they cannot lead to the logical conclusion of "action". </span></p><p><span style="color:#660000;">Passion combined with visualisation, turns faith into mega-energized Trust in God, the Principle.<br /></span><br /><em><span style="color:#cc0000;">Dear Andre<br /><br />Thank you for your suggestion of 'Passion' as an additional point in the realization process! This is an important aspect and I will include it in subsequent lists.<br /><br />I might also add that the necessity for 'action' is Biblical. Recall that Jesus said "Seek and ye shall find" - the act of 'seeking' being the key to discovery. (How does that old saying go - "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step"? - this is another (more proverbial) example of the necessity for action.<br /><br />Peace and Blessings,<br />Steve<br /></span></em><br /></p>TEXThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253901413798627016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7033286006921929457.post-6041593724395490402008-10-05T01:38:00.000-07:002008-10-05T01:39:03.004-07:00The Kingdom of God Lies Within<strong><span style="color:#660000;"><em>The following email from Alex arrived this morning. It reflects the difficulties and the challenges many of us experience on first entering the Path of Truth. I hope it will provide insight and encouragement to</em> <em>others who may also be searching for signposts on their spiritual journey.</em></span></strong><em> </em><span style="color:#660000;"><strong><em>I</em> <em>also ask that you pray for Alex as per his request below.<br /></em></strong></span><span style="color:#660000;"></span><br /><br /><span style="color:#660000;">Dear André,</span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"><br />Thank you for making your recordings available online. They are very<br />much appreciated!<br /><br />I, like many, I suppose, find it difficult to ask for help. Right now<br />I am in desperate need of that ability. I know that having a conscious<br />contact with God and living in his will is of paramount importance in<br />my life but I am feeling too (name any excuse) to initiate that<br />dialogue. Please pray for me to put myself on that path. Please pray<br />for me to pray.<br /><br />Thanks,<br /><br />Alex</span><br /></span><span style="color:#660000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"></span><br /><em><span style="color:#990000;">Dear Alex<br /><br />What you are really asking for, I believe, is the Way to the Kingdom Within.<br /><br />Know this: your acknowledgement of the fact that you need prayer shows that you have entered on the Path. It is often a very difficult time for one who has begun to sense the Kingdom of God, but does not quite know what to do next or where to turn. For some, making that final commitment is as difficult as it is vital - it is a commitment that every single human being must make sooner or later if he or she are to fulfill the purpose of their lives.<br /><br />The inability most people feel to make the decisive step is due to the ego, the small "I" in them that is fighting for its very existence. I am talking about the little "me" in each one of us that does not want to give up the false glamour and sense-pleasures of this world. But I assure you: the Joy of being One with God is the greatest Joy of all. Against that, the sense-pleasures fade and they are revealed for the illusions they are.<br /><br />It is when your true Self gains ascendancy in your life that you are suddenly able to See and things fall into wonderful perspective. It is what we mean by the expression "born again". It also means the ego must die to make way for the birth of your Higher Self. It is about becoming selfless and a perfect instrument for His use.<br /><br />Josef S Benner says to those seeking the Kingdom of God, "... the Kingdom (is) where a Great Love and Wisdom, the serving and the inspiring of others, and the utter forgetfulness of self, are the natural life of everyone who dwells therein."<br /><br />Here is a clear signpost to the Entrance of the Kingdom:<br /><br />"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." (Mar 11:24)<br /><br />So, Alex, the message I have for you is this: ask, and believe, that you can pray and you will pray.<br /><br />But you should know that prayer is only one half of the equation. Prayer is talking to God. But you must also teach yourself to listen to God and this is done through meditation. I want to ask you to read my response to Ed Bellemore at the following web address: </span></em><a href="http://guests-andre.blogspot.com/2008/06/guest-contribution-from-ed-bellemore.html"><em><span style="color:#990000;">http://guests-andre.blogspot.com/2008/06/guest-contribution-from-ed-bellemore.html</span></em></a><em><span style="color:#990000;"> which has more about meditation. Follow the directions that Spirit in me has given there and you will be amazed how much it will help to unlock things for you.<br /><br />I also want to point you to the "Prayer" on my web site. It is a very powerful affirmation and prayer and I urge you to listen to it again and again. Contemplate deeply on what it says. If possible, memorize it and say it softly to yourself many times a day. It will help to liberate your Higher Self. </span></em><a href="http://meditate-andre.blogspot.com/2008/02/prayer.html"><em><span style="color:#990000;">http://meditate-andre.blogspot.com/2008/02/prayer.html</span></em></a><br /><em><span style="color:#990000;"><br />Finally, be absolutely sure of this: the help you are asking for is closer than hands and feet.<br /><br />I pray that you will soon dissolve the things that seem block your growth at this time. I am also sending your request to the School of Truth, who have a wonderful prayer group, to pray for you.<br /><br />The Blessings of Spirit Within go out to you. Please stay in touch and let us know how you are doing.<br /><br />andre</span></em>TEXThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253901413798627016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7033286006921929457.post-17329540364913633962008-09-30T23:57:00.000-07:002008-10-01T00:00:33.802-07:00Web Site Translations<strong><span style="color:#660000;">The following letter from Josef gives me a chance to show visitors to this site from across the world how easy it is to get written web content translated (through Google) into languages that they might be more familiar with than English. It's absolutely free and at my last count you have a selection of 23 languages to choose from such as Arabic, Chinese, German, Greek, Hindi, Japanese and so forth. For example, the Polish translation of this web page is at </span></strong><a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fyourspirituality.blogspot.com%2F&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sl=en&tl=pl"><strong><span style="color:#660000;">http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fyourspirituality.blogspot.com%2F&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sl=en&tl=pl</span></strong></a><span style="color:#660000;"><strong> (If anybody has difficulties in getting a translation done, you can email me through the link elsewhere on this page and I will be happy to try and help you.)</strong> </span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#660000;">Hallo Andre, </span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#660000;">My Name is Josef and I live in Germany (State Niedersachsen, City Burgwedel). I found the writings of Nicol Campbell in the internet, when I was looking for Authors of Divine Science. The writings are fantastic. But there are all in english. Maybe you can help me. </span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#660000;">Do you know, exist a German Version of the writings? Or do you know people in Germany, who are members of the school of truth? I want to learn more about it,because I´m very, very interested. And I want to know a litter bit more about Mr. Campbell. Where does he live, how old is he, etc.? </span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#660000;">About my person: I´m 36 years old, married and have 4 children. I grow up in a baptist church and visit it for many years. 3 Years ago I left the church. 2 ago a friend says to me: Josef, where is no hell! Ok, I said, I will look in the bible, maybe I´m wrong. And I found out, I was wrong. This was the first step in thinking about my religion, and religion at all. Now I, I hope so , on the "The Path of Truth". I´m looking for your answer. Thank you very much. Many greetings from Germany, </span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#660000;">Josef </span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"><em>Dear Josef, </em></span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"><em></em></span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"><em>Thank you for your kind email. Nicol Campbell, who lived in Johannesburg, South Africa, was the founder of the worldwide organization, The School of Truth, which serves its members through its regular spiritual magazine, the Path of Truth and whose lecturers conduct regular sessions here in South Africa. He passed on some years ago and as far as I know, his work does not exist in German. </em></span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"><em></em></span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"><em>However I do know that Google offers a free translation service of written website content. Go to </em></span><a title="blocked::http://translate.google.com/translate_t" href="http://translate.google.com/translate_t"><span style="color:#660000;"><em>http://translate.google.com/translate_t</em></span></a><span style="color:#660000;"><em> and have a look. They tell you exactly how to do it and its very easy. Once you have done that, you will be given a web address for the new German-content web site. As an example, I have had the opening page of Spiritual Truth Made Easy translated for you. You can view it like this: highlight the following, then copy and paste the address into your web browser and it will take you there: </em></span><a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fyourspirituality.blogspot.com%2F&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sl=en&tl=de"><span style="color:#660000;"><em>http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fyourspirituality.blogspot.com%2F&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sl=en&tl=de</em></span></a><span style="color:#660000;"><em> </em></span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"><em></em></span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"><em>When you have translated all the pages you are interested in, (it takes literally only seconds to do) you may decide to tell your friends and family about the this site. You will find that it has links to other rich resources, including the site of the School of Truth itself: </em></span><a href="http://wjm.0catch.com/School_of_Truth.html"><span style="color:#660000;"><em>http://wjm.0catch.com/School_of_Truth.html</em></span></a><span style="color:#660000;"><em> </em></span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"><em></em></span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"><em>I am sending your email on to the School of Truth and I am sure they will contact you regarding membership. You have entered upon the path of Truth and we send you warm greetings and encouragement. This web site tries to serve as a resource for people on the Path and I am happy to hear that it has interested you. Please come back again and again. You may also use the email address above, </em></span><a href="mailto:“pathoftruth@mweb.co.za"><span style="color:#660000;"><em>“pathoftruth@mweb.co.za</em></span></a><span style="color:#660000;"><em>“, to contact them directly about the magazine. </em></span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"><em></em></span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"><em>God’s richest Blessings to you and yours. </em></span><br /><span style="color:#660000;"><em></em></span><br /><em><span style="color:#660000;">Andre</span> </em>TEXThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253901413798627016noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7033286006921929457.post-73158073500993296902008-06-23T05:42:00.000-07:002008-07-31T07:46:11.304-07:00Guest Contribution from Ed Bellemore<span style="color:#990000;">21 June 2008 08:03 PM</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#660000;">Hello Andre, </span><br /><br /><span style="color:#660000;">I have been reading from The School of Truth web site, for a year. I love and believe the teachings. I have donated money and have tried - most times unsuccessfully - to solicit advice. I realize the important work they do and that time is a factor, so I try to find the answers to my questions on my own. However, one problem I cannot seem to overcome is how to meditate. I have read books on the subject but they all differ and sometimes get to confusing. I have searched the Bible but it does not give instructions. It mentions Jesus meditating but was he, or was he contemplating? The parables he told seemed to be for contemplating. How should a person go about quieting the mind?</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#660000;">Thank you for taking the time to read this.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#660000;">Ed Bellemore </span><br /><br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">Dear Ed, </span><br /><span style="color:#990000;"><br />Thank you for writing to me and sharing some of the challenges you are facing on The Path.<br /><br />Perhaps one reason you are having difficulties in getting direct advice about meditation lies in the fact that raising one’s consciousness is not a "paint-by-numbers" process. It is internal and it comes by having your Being more and more in God, and doing it by living in His world. However, if you are looking for a detailed "how to" manual on meditation from me, you will be disappointed. </span><br /><span style="color:#990000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#990000;">One’s ability to meditate is governed by many factors such as where one is on the Path, one’s personal circumstances and so forth. There are many popular books and "teachers" who will offer to give you the Keys to the Kingdom, through courses on meditation and other practices. But I cannot give you a ready-made guide to meditation. I can only share with you my own experience about this on the Path.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">I tell you that your real, and only, teacher lies closer to you than your hands and feet. It is the real you, the Spirit of the Creator that animates you, guides and teaches you, and that leads you across all the obstacles. It is an infallible guide that leads you further and further on your journey along the Path you are committed to travel, as we all must travel, and have travelled for eons. </span><br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">"Prayer is speaking to God. Meditation is listening to God". Spirit speaks within you as a gentle knowing, a revealing of knowledge you did not realize you already have. Such insights are often quite surprising and they fill you with wonder and with energy. That is my experience of meditation. The good news is that there is no trick to it. No striving, no straining. It is as simple and natural in your Spiritual life as breathing is in your material life. And the bible does tell you how to go about it:</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">The word "meditate" occurs 14 times in the bible and you are right, the direct connotation is almost always that of "ponder on", and "think about". That is, if you read the references literally. However, if you see these injunctions from the perspective of clothing, or arming, oneself in the Law, according to the Word of God, it means that Law has already shaped both your understanding and your spiritual perspectives to such an extent that when you meditate you no longer need to explore "meanings". You have already done that in contemplation.<br /><br />So, yes, there is a third element here to be aware of: 1) prayer, 2) contemplation and 3) meditation are indivisibly stages, or parts, of the process of coming into tune with your true self. For example: <em>Psalm 1:2 "But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night."</em> (I read this as "within" His law).</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">Here are some more examples from the bible that have a special spiritual, not literal, meaning for me:</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;"><em>Psa 4:4 Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.</em> (See, it does not say commune with your mind where your thoughts are, but your heart, where your feelings lie)</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;"><em>Psa 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God:</em> (This kind of "know" is to know absolutely and for your whole life – it is something you no longer have to "understand" or "explore". It is the very backbone of your spirituality)</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;"><em>Mat 6:6 …. enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray (I like to add "and listen") to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.</em> (Surely, effective communication is a two way street. One speaks and listens – i.e. one prays and meditates)</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;"><em>1Ti 4:15 Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.</em> (I personally interpret the meaning of the word "upon" in this quote as "within". I.e. "Meditate within these things… ") The literal translation of the word "upon" is amongst others: <em>Upon, Μελετάω (meletaō): to take care of</em>. So having taken care of, having internalized, the meaning it now provides a basis from which I meditate.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">The common denominator is the command to "be still". </span><br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">There are a number of passages from scripture and other writings that I know by heart and I usually recite them quietly to myself to calm my mind as I become still for my meditation – for example, Psalms 91, 23 and the Joseph Benner Prayer that I have posted on my blog) </span><br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">I am personally not able to completely blank out my human mind at will. And I don’t think this is necessary. The trick to quiet the mind is to let go and let God. During meditation I simply let my thoughts come and go. I don’t hang onto, or try to understand, them. I try to observe passing thoughts in an objective way. I affirm gently that they are not "My" thoughts. They are the thoughts, images and impulses that arise from my human, material brain. Often I seem to reach a place where thoughts no longer pop up willy-nilly and that is when I know that I am listening to God, who speaks to me then not in words or thoughts, but in a kind of gentle, but exhilarating, knowing. </span><br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">Jesus no longer needed to "contemplate" – He was God made flesh (with complete Oneness between his human mind and His God mind). All the secret or hidden meanings were already part of his spiritual mindset. He lived every waking and sleeping moment in meditation. (<em>Joh 14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.)</em> </span><br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">This therefore means that He was in a complete state of Grace – as we must all grow to be, for we must become like Him, as he assured us we can.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">I pray that God Blesses your journey on the Path.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">andre</span><br /></span>TEXThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253901413798627016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7033286006921929457.post-27744136023116141732008-04-28T01:06:00.000-07:002008-04-28T01:07:27.706-07:00What Faith Is<center><div id="blip_movie_content_867786"><a onclick="play_blip_movie_867786(); return false;" href="http://blip.tv/file/get/Yourspirituality-WhatFaithIs125.mp3" rel="enclosure"><img title="Click to play" alt="Video thumbnail. Click to play" src="http://blip.tv/file/get/Yourspirituality-WhatFaithIs125.mp3.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a onclick="play_blip_movie_867786(); return false;" href="http://blip.tv/file/get/Yourspirituality-WhatFaithIs125.mp3" rel="enclosure">Click To Play</a> </div></center>TEXThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253901413798627016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7033286006921929457.post-39246858720138655782008-02-08T02:45:00.000-08:002008-04-06T00:54:21.486-07:00The Prodigal Son BY Angllhugnu2<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">There have been a few lessons I've learned over the course of my fifty years. One such lesson stems from the use of the story of The Prodigal Son by Jesus.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">From where do these stories come that Jesus uses? What motivates Jesus to tell that particular story? And, what event(s) occured in Jesus' own life to reinforce the universal truths offered by its telling? What, in the story, solved a problem for Jesus in a way he would want to repeat its telling over and over?</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">I am sure the story of a son returning home or being found by a father or a mother was not a new one for teachers of that or in any other culture. In fact, great stories were always used to reinforce God's relationship or morals in Jesus' time. Even today these kinds of stories have a life and a purpose played out, at least for the Jews, in the Torah.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Christians have picked up, in part that tradition as well. Jesus' own story of being lost and found in the Temple is one version for sure. I have come to understand that Jesus, perhaps having had a difficult day, goes off to spend some time in conversation with The Father. In one, or a couple of moments of prayer he comes to the use, or formulates The Story of The Prodigal Son.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Jesus goes off to be by himself. He perches himself at a location where the view is good enough for him to grasp a complete view of the city. He feels separated yet still in touch with the world he's been blessed to teach. It is a comfortable place, a quiet place, a peaceful place to still the turmoil of his troubled soul and the message of The Father is within and about Him.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">In his many visits to this quiet place he stills himself by absorbing impressions of the world as it moves around him. He simply watches and listens to Life move. He see children play as he had. He sees market places busy with shoppers. He see travelers and money changers at the Temple. And, he notices a farmer standing quietly on his plot staring down a long road, waiting. Jesus knows the landowner's son had left with all the father had set aside for him.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">So, on this one particular day the farmer stands there waiting as always for the son.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Now, there were stories coming back through this small town how the son had blown his wad of cash, was now broke and feeding pigs (of all things). The father, having heard such talk, is hopeful the son will find safety at home. While he is confident his son will make the right choices, the man is worried. In fact, his thoughts for his son's safety are enough for him to walk a short way down the long road or trail (a little more each day) away from the house to see if his son is in sight.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">With the father's worry for the son fresh in his mind, Jesus ponders the events of his own day. He had a difficult time making a few lessons clear. Some people, those he wants to reach, are simply not hearing his message. While he understands, he still wants to know how to invite them to know what he knows. So, he considers how it is the people of Israel are much like the son; taking the riches given to them freely, only to end up using them unwisely; their hearts are hardened like rocks.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">In fact, it troubles Jesus on this particular day. His lessons are simply not being heard. He shakes off his worry and moves to still his heart. He watches, and simply listens to, the life around him. He looks to see the kids playing games. Their laughter echoes through the small valley. Travelers move through the market like an odd dance. And, a mother calls to feed a family.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Now once again stilled, he turns to consider this problem, perhaps for the umpteenth time, he suddenly sees on this day (off in the distance), the son returning home. He sees the appreciative father meeting and holding his defeated son long and hard in love. The father slowly pulls him nearer to the house where the servants act in caring for him.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">It seems the perfect time for Jesus to reflect upon his day. The time Jesus spends upon the perch is long enough for him to consider the significance of being welcomed. He compares the son's return and his own experiences of being lost. When he hears, later that night, the sounds of celebration at the farmer's home, the moment causes Jesus to pause for a time or two to learn something great.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">He speaks respectfully to The Father in prayer once again. "Father? Why do you celebrate so much the return of your people when they act so foolishly? Even as they have told you, they have wasted what you gave to them. You again give them more of everything, freely and happily. And, then they go off and spend it mindlessly again . I am having a tough time, working hard, doing as you ask. I just want to learn from you why it is that you celebrate their return?"</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">And, of course, The Father's reply is so profound, it effectively changes Jesus' own Self-view and clarifies for him a unique spiritual intimacy he was destined to learn to appreciate more, and to share deeply, with The Father who loves him.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">"Well, my son," The Father says to Jesus. "You have been with Me always - from the very beginning. BUT, like this one, they are lost and now they are found!"</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">After having shared in a lesson about the whole of Israel (including himself) through the experience of one farmer and his son , Jesus wanted those he was given to share his life with to understand that there was a further deepening connection to what is great and good, honest and true.. His message would be..."I AM real and present....always waiting to welcome you home. So, love your neighbor as you would love your Self....And, love your Self as The Father loves you....Always!"<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Written and gifted to these pages by Angllhugnu2</span></span><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 153);"></span>TEXThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00253901413798627016noreply@blogger.com0