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Sunday, April 17, 2011

The Golden Key. By Emmet Fox.

The Golden Key

Scientific prayer will enable you to get yourself or anyone else, out of any difficulty. It is the golden key to harmony and happiness.

To those who have no acquaintance with the mightiest power in existence, this may appear to be a rash claim, but it needs only a fair trial to prove that, without a shadow of doubt, it is a just one. You need take no one's word for it, and you should not. Simply try it for yourself.

God is omnipotent, and we are God's image and likeness and have dominion over all things. This is the inspired teaching, and it is intended to be taken literally, at its face value. The ability to draw on this power is not the special prerogative of the mystic or the saint, as is so often supposed, or even of the highly trained practitioner. Everyone has this ability Whoever you are, wherever you may be, the golden key to harmony is in your hand now. This is because in scientific prayer it is God who works, and not you, and so your particular limitations or weaknesses are of no account in the process. You are only the channel through which the divine action takes place, and your treatment will be just the getting of yourself out of the way.

Beginners often get startling results the first time, for all that is essential is to have an open mind and sufficient faith to try the experiment. Apart from that, you may hold any views on religion, or none.

As for the actual method of working, like all fundamental things, it is simplicity itself. All you have to do is this: Stop thinking about the difficulty, whatever it is, and think about God instead. This is the complete rule, and if only you will do this, the trouble, whatever it is, will disappear. It makes no difference what kind of trouble it is. It may be a big thing or a little thing: it may concern health, finance, a lawsuit, a quarrel, an accident, or anything else conceivable: but whatever it is, stop thinking about it and think of God instead -- that is all you have to do.

It could not be simpler, could it? God could scarcely have made it simpler, and yet it never fails to work when given a fair trial.

Do not try to form a picture of God, which is impossible. Work by rehearsing anything or everything that you know about God. God is wisdom, truth, inconceivable love. God is present everywhere, has infinite power, knows everything, and so on. It matters not how well you may think you understand these things: go over them repeatedly.

But you must stop thinking of the trouble, whatever it is. The rule is, to think about God. If you are thinking about your difficulty, you are not thinking about God. To be continually glancing over your shoulder in order to see how matters are progressing is fatal, because it is thinking of the trouble, and you must think of God and nothing else. Your object is to drive the thought of the difficulty out of your consciousness, for a few moments at least, substituting for it the thought of God. This is the crux of the whole thing. If you can become so absorbed in this consideration of the spiritual world that you forget for a while about the difficulty, you will find that you are safely and comfortably out of your difficulty -- that your demonstration is made.

In order to "golden key" a troublesome person or a difficult situation, think. "Now 1 am going to 'golden key' John, or Mary. or that threatened danger": then proceed to drive all thought of John, or Mary, or the danger out of your mind, replacing it with the thought of God.

By working in this way about a person, you are not seeking to influence his conduct in any way, except that you prevent him from injuring or annoying you, and you do him nothing but good. Thereafter, he is certain to be in some degree a better, wiser, and more spiritual person, just because you have "golden keyed" him. A pending lawsuit or other difficulty would probably fade out harmlessly without coming to a crisis, justice being done to all parties concerned.

If you find that you can do this very quickly, you may repeat the operation several times a day with intervals between. Be sure, however, each time you have done it, that you drop all thought of the matter until the next time. This is important.

We have said that the golden key is simple, and so it is, but of course it is not always easy to turn. If you are very frightened or worried, at first it may be difficult to get your thoughts away from material things. But by constantly repeating a statement of absolute Truth, such as: There is no power but God: I am the child of God, filled and surrounded by the perfect peace of God: God is love; God is guiding me now; or, perhaps best and simplest of all. God is with me -- however mechanical or trite it may seem -- you will soon find that the treatment has begun to "take." And that your mind is clearing. Do not struggle violently; be quiet, but insistent. Each time you find your attention wandering, switch it back to God.

Do not try to think in advance what the solution to your difficulty will be. This is called "outlining" and will only delay the demonstration. Leave the question of ways and means to God. You want to get out of your difficulty that is sufficient. You do your half, and God will never fail to do God's.

by Emmet Fox
Early 20th Century

Saturday, April 16, 2011

United We Stand. A Brotherhood of Man.



An oldie from the 1970's, but the message still stands. Now more than ever!

Muslims For Peace (the kid version).

Heal The World.



What is the missing element? Love your neighbor as you love yourself. We've all heard the phrase, now let's try living it!

Muslims For Peace.

To Love Is To Be There




"To Love is to be there." -Thich Nhat Hanh

Our minds seem to be constantly moving from past to future. Rarely do we rest in the Present Moment. The time we spend dwelling on the past does not help us, and the time we spend in worry about what the future may bring takes energy away from us. Only in the Present Moment do we have the opportunity to accept the past and build a better future by truly being in the moment and being available to those we love in the Here and Now. For our sake, as well as for the benefit of others, let us find the time to embrace the Present Moment and to Be Here Now!

Blessings,

Ralph

Music. The Quitter

Seth Breitman...

True Spirituality and Forgiveness.



What is the measure of any system of spirituality? Its ability to forgive.

People Uniting For Good. Kabbalah Congress 2010.

Everything Comes From Above - Unity Sessions

Friday, April 15, 2011

What Did Jesus Really Teach?



This is a question I have found asked in blogs, on UTube, and in churches of all denominations. What did Jesus really teach? Of course each person who asks this question usually believes that they have the answer. They tend to think that Jesus taught whatever it is that they believe...that which is approved by their church or religious denomination. But really, what did Jesus teach? How can we find out? Where do we turn to for this information?

I believe the answer to this question lies in the earliest documents which survive from the era of the early 1st century Jesus Movement; namely The Sermon On The Mount, The Didache, and what has come to be known as the "Lost Gospel of Q" or simply "Q". All these documents are now thought to represent the teachings of the Jesus Movement prior to the year 70 of the Common Era, although some scholars do disagree on some of these dates. But there is enough consensus to begin a reconstruction of the earliest Gospel of Jesus...a Gospel which stresses these basic points:

1. Love God who created you.

2. Love your neighbor as yourself, doing unto others as you would have others do unto you.

3. Love your enemies. Bless those who curse you. Forgive and you will be forgiven.


Blessings,
Ralph

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Sunday April 3, 2011. Meditation at "The Rustic Hermitage".


Yesterday was a wonderful time of new discovery in old places.  Due to the presence of other private retreat groups we were unable to meet in our usual location for meditation.  Instead we had the opportunity to use a new facility which we otherwise might have missed, the "Rustic Hermitage" located at The Hermitage Spiritual Retreat Center in Pittsburg Mo.  It was a rare treat!

Words really can not describe the place, nor even pictures (alas I forgot the camera!) do justice to it.  But I will take a stab at providing a description any way.  The Rustic Hermitage is a small cabin (about large enough to fit one comfortably and to hold a sitting group of up to 8 snugly) which has been divided into 4 living areas during an individual retreat.  There is an area for sleep with a single bed; an area for prayer and meditation, an area for study, and an area for eating.  There are no walls or obvious dividers on the inside, just one open room separated by function and a slight difference of floor elevation.  The cabin is located deep in the woods of Lake Pomme de Terre in a setting that is quite and peaceful beyond words.  Outside the cabin is a spring stream and water fall which trickles softly past.  Fr. Paul told me we should have a fun and fruitful experience, and he was right.  On our next trip out I will try to take pictures for the websites to give the readers a better understanding as to the peacefulness of the location.  Let it suffice for now to say we had a very peaceful and rewarding meditation far from the world of Koran burning Christian extremists attempting to incite Muslim extremists.  This was an oasis of peace in a desert of fear and misunderstanding.  A peace and closeness to God our world so desperately needs at this time in our history.

Peace and Blessings To All,

Ralph