Praying for Peace; A Contradiction in Terms?

August 18, 2024 / Church of the Harvest

From a Sermon given at the Summer Solstice Worship Service on June 23, 2024.

Whenever times are hard, the amount of dialogue about prayer typically goes up. During these periods folks who would consider themselves not religious or maybe even atheistic, are prone to offering “prayers” to others who are going through a rough patch.

In the larger social context, saying you are praying for another person can be just a way of signaling that you wish for them the best possible life experience. I admit that I have on occasion told someone I was praying for them when I did not intend to offer prayers per se, only because the other person was in such pain. There was nothing else I could say or do for them to alleviate their suffering other than to acknowledge my wish that they receive help from somewhere in the universe, spiritual help of some kind that they believed would lessen their pain.

United States President Dwight Eisenhower is often credited with the idea that at times of extreme distress, even nonbelievers look to a higher power. He is quoted as saying that there are no atheists in foxholes. The aphorism of foxholes however, started at an earlier point in the historical cycle, the point at which humans began to engage in global warfare. It refers to the trench wars of World War I, and as such offers insight for our contemporary world affairs. As many of you know, we are currently coming to the end of the lengthy cycle in which our human experience has been preoccupied with dominating each other in every possible sense, including going to war when we are blocked from easier means of forcing our will onto others. In the (largely) absence of atheism currently, I think it a good time to revisit the idea of communicating with a higher power using the vehicle that is known as prayer. What can prayer do or not do when it comes to our pervasive and escalating global warfare?

At its essence, prayer is simply an exchange of energy, an exchange that typically uses thoughts and often words to accomplish its purpose. As with any exchange of energy, it is intrinsically neither good nor bad. It is a choice, a way of proceeding in the moment with life.

There are many people who believe that prayer is the answer to all of life’s challenges. These people often spend a great deal of time, money and other resources engaged in this activity that they assume will solve all dilemmas. There are other people who believe that prayers are an empty or even an intrusive activity praying— (sorry, I couldn’t resist the pun)—on weak-minded or at best, naïve individuals.

As you all know, the dichotomies that human brains create can be deceptive and even addictive. Like all dichotomies, the trick here from a spiritual perspective is to find that place of peace in the middle. So, let us start there. Let us acknowledge that prayer as a human activity is neither good nor bad by itself. Whether it becomes a force for what some might label good or evil, depends upon a variety of factors, often laid bare primarily by context.

Who knows! You may need to let the stars crawl through your lap. Poem by Chelan Harkin used in conjunction with Fair Use Principals.

In the context of 21rst century United States, prayer as a simple act of communication, a means of creating energetically through matter, is very convoluted. There are multiple ongoing lawsuits with people fighting each other, trying to translate their particular set of beliefs into rules others must follow in regards to in what fashion, when and where others can pray. Essentially, prayer has become a primary form of warfare in this country, another way for folks to force their will onto others. The Supreme Court of the United States has weighed in on this debate repeatedly, imposing their own perspective on the rules for prayer in public venues such as in athletic events and graduations in schools; and governmental meetings such as town council deliberations, etc.

This increasing intensity of interpersonal warfare, this escalation of rules about praying seeping into the very fabric of the collective space is both a symptom of our national loss of a genuine spiritual perspective; and an opportunity that invites growth into a new level of spiritual development, individually, nationally and internationally.

Praying over or even for other people can be just a “sneaky” version of imposing your religious viewpoint on those who are better served by finding their own path. Image used in conjunction with Fair Use Principals.

Right now, all over the world prayer has been coupled with big business, with all the compounding problems that generates. Thousands, even millions of dollars are being spent to reward and enrich businesses and groups who pray for other individuals and collections of folks, with or without their consent.

I saw an interesting news story recently about a woman who was horrified to learn that the hospital that had provided essential medical services to her had subcontracted with a “nonprofit” to pray for her. Like many, she did not realize that patients who receive Medicare benefits can now channel these governmental funds in a manner to enrich those who use prayer as a form of health care treatment. Not only was she opposed to being prayed over, to add insult to injury she had had to figure out by decoding her complicated and some might say duplicitous hospital bill that she had been charged a copay for this “service” to which she had never agreed.

Part of me loves the fact that as a society we have progressed to a place where we can scientifically validate that the energy exchange that occurs during a prayer can indeed, bring real and vital healing. I welcome the addition of “alternative” forms of recovery to our outdated menu of medical services. But the part of me that understands how energy exchanges work, joins this patient in her dismay that she was not given a voice in her own healing. . .and indeed, was expected to pay money for this abusive act of disrespect and exploitation at the hands of others imposing their private values.

Apparently, the fact that the only time Jesus of Nazareth is known to have expressed anger was when he overturned the tables on moneychangers attempting to profit in a synagogue is still a lesson lost on many. The dangers of coupling spiritual explorations with business dealings are real and can be soul-crushing. Enough said.

The bottom line here, folks, is that prayer is best confined to the individual level, at least for almost everybody, for now. There is a way to use the energy exchange that occurs during prayer in a truly harmonious fashion in the collective space. . .but this is beyond the capability of almost all. Until you can work with your own energy system enough to pray from a place of peace, you will inadvertently be promoting war.

Most of us have so much healing to do after lifetimes of traumatic events and unresolved karma, that we do not even recognize when certain aspects of our energy system is still trying to control others. Calvin and Hobbes cartoon by Bill Watterson used in conjunction with Fair Use Principals.

What, in fact, is prayer? Some people like to talk about prayer as sending a message to God, and meditation as receiving a message from God. That can be a useful distinction for some starting their spiritual journey. This perspective however, suffers from what I sometimes label as “directional distortions.” In actuality, since the Creator-of-Us-All is everything and everywhere, seeing ourselves as engaged in a back-and-forth ping pong type communication is a fairly limited way of looking at things.

In this community of late we have talked a lot about the essential nature of spiritual communication. It is paramount, profound, and multifaceted. It is also largely nonverbal. What can present more challenges than praying as a means to communicate with the All-That-Is? Prayer is complicated, much, much more than just rote recitation.

When I think of prayer, I am always reminded about one of the greatest attempts to elucidate the true nature of prayer, the one reflected in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. To me, perhaps one of the most profound aspects of the record we have of the Christ talking about prayer, is the timing of his main teaching about the subject, when he introduced to his disciples what is known as “the Lord’s Prayer.”

It is said that he was asked by his followers to teach them how to pray at a point rather late in his ministry. He had already gathered a dozen passionate, committed adherents around him, as well as increasing crowds of others attracted to his light. His disciples were spiritual leaders in their own right, each chosen for their leadership potential, deep faith and hunger for the ultimate Truth to which Yeshua was guiding them. One has to believe that these individuals to the person, had been exposed to and participated in thousands of prayers on a daily basis prior to this time of teaching. And yet, it was only during the last part of their journey together apparently, that the disciples thought to ask Yeshua to impart to them the ability to pray; or that he brought to them his divinely-inspired and deeply-held wisdom about that subject. It was one of his last gifts.

To me, this speaks to the complexity of prayer. It is not something for the faint of heart. At its essence, genuine prayer requires great preparation and insight, sometimes a lifetime or many lifetimes of such.

I am not saying that prayer should be left to the end stages of spiritual development. All important learning is done in steps, building great pyramids upon humble foundations. Whatever step you are on, is valid. What I am saying though, is that the goal of prayer is to adhere as close as possible to that flawless communication with Our Source that that is our destiny, that Yeshua stressed with the very first sentence of the “Lord’s Prayer.” Authentic prayer arises only from a context of deep internal spiritual connection, repeated sessions of private conversation in a myriad of ways with your Creator. It is NOT about shaping the behavior of others through public displays of belief systems.

Mother Teresa was actually somewhat of a controversial figure, historically speaking. She made “mistakes,” changed and learned a lot in her life before she became a saint in the eyes of many. Over time, she learned to subjugate her will to her Creator. Image used in conjunction with Fair Use Principals.

The true nature of prayer as a spiritual process requires seeing it as a means to dedicate one’s life to the Creator. All other uses of prayer are disharmonious at best. The intention of the person praying is paramount, along with their embodied awareness. In the earlier stages of learning to pray, many fall prey to versions and practices that are disingenuous or even potentially destructive because they have little or nothing to do with a soulful relationship with and thereby honoring of the divine. If you are praying for your own spiritual salvation, great. If you are praying for other people, be wary of your conscious or unconscious motivations. You could easily be doing more harm than good.

To this community, despite as experienced and advanced many of you are in regards to working with energy, I heartedly recommend that you confine the focus of your praying to your own life for now. Keep in mind that creating in someone else’s space is a form of space invasion. Praying for another can be dangerous to them and to you, unless you really know what you are doing. Believe me, that is rare. Do not trust your brain/intellect and/or your ego to make that determination. Even when others essentially ask you to invade their space by praying for them, actually doing so will only likely help the other person in the short-term and may very well create for both of you a karmic debt.

Second of all, even when you are praying for yourself, be mindful of the direction the energy is flowing as you do so. Pray inward, not outward. Communicate with the God(dess) within, what is sometimes called the God(dess) of your own Heart by directing your awareness primarily towards your fourth chakra. Many people have been taught to offer prayers upward towards the heavens. What you are often doing in that case, is asking other spiritual forces to answer your prayers, rather than requesting the increasing presence of the divine.

When you direct your prayers upward, the Creator-of-Us-All will surely hear you, but who actually shows up to address your concerns may be—depending on what you got going in your space—some energy or entity sent by the Creator, your mother or father or another relative, a guide, an unembodied being who may or may not have your best interests in mind, your pet animal who passed away years ago, your pastor/preacher from another lifetime, a neighbor or friend who is not done with a conversation with which you are having, a being from another dimension just looking for a joyride, etc. You get the drift.

Even if you come from a culture that validates unembodied spiritual forces, rather than seeing them as intrinsically dangerous or evil; or you as crazy for acknowledging them, you are likely to be aware of only a tiny fraction of the foreign energies that live above and around you. “Helped by Spirits” by Intuit artist Jessie Oonark, Qamani’tuaq, 1970 used in conjunction with Fair Use Principals. Be mindful about your ignorance and do not leave yourself open to harm.

And last of all for these cliff notes, please be careful what you pray for. Potentially, prayer really is a fabulously powerful and life-affirming process of energy made ready for be born into your life.

Authentic prayer is the stuff of mystery and magic. Image used in Conjunction with Fair Use Principals.

Make sure you are ready for it. For maximum benefit, prayer should not be utilized lightly by engaging with it in from a place of desire or attachment. If you are praying that an object comes into your life, or an event unfolds the way you think it should happen, you have likely already lost many other possibilities, as well as your general life pathway to some degree. If you pray for specifics at all, one is best advised to doublecheck that these objects or events are a part of what the universe has in store for you.

One of the many reasons to “go light” on asking for specifics in prayer is that the human brain can never “hold” the entire picture. Only the divine sees what is best for us. Image used in conjunction with Fair Use Principals.

Rather, pray for the only outcome that truly matters: greater understanding of and commitment to what God has in mind for you. Pray for God to be made manifest in you.

What is the bottom line for all of us here today that wish the world would come to reside in peace? Let me read you the invocation with which we started this service. Let yourself hear these words from Isaiah 2 from the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament.

God will judge between the nations, and settle disputes of mighty nations. Then they will beat their swords into iron plows and their spears into pruning tools. Nation will not take up sword against nation; they will no longer learn how to make war.

Understand that it is not your job to end war in the world. It is your job to end war in your own space, should you take on this challenge.

For those of you at war with yourself and others–whether or not you recognize it–and struggling with life in the trenches who want to employ the energy exchange known are prayer, let me summarize my message to you: Pray passionately, fiercely, as frequently as you desire, but direct those prayers inward. Pray for yourself, not others for a long, long time.

Your goal should be to find the peace within you in your meditations, using prayer as one important and vital pathway if you so choose. . .and then let that peace on its own volition radiate from there. You do not even need to use words, or even thoughts.

Sitting in silence with your intention and awareness of the divine is all that is required. Find a tree to lean against, or a cozy chair in an indoor space and just be. It is enough, more than enough, that you focus your attention inward while you in some form or fashion ask the Creator-of-Us-All to reside as deeply within you as you can tolerate at the present moment.

Peace of mind and heart comes to those who learn to live within their own God-given space; and let go of any need to force others to a path created by your desires for them. Image used in accordance with Fair Use Principles.

The rest will follow naturally.

Whispers From Mother Earth: Live and Let Live; Live and Let Die

October 14, 2023October 27, 2023 / Church of the Harvest

From a Sermon given at the Autumn Equinox Worship Service on September 24, 2023.

This morning we are going to be working with the energy of communication. We are going to look at this concept from the largest vantagepoint, that of spirit.

As I like to remind folks in this spiritual community, communication is central to the mission of the Church of the Harvest. According to our founding documents filed with the Secretary of the State of Washington we exist to “encourage spiritual growth in church members, the community, and the world-at-large by teaching and employing skills that enhance connection and communication with the Creative Source of the Universe.”

Communication as we are going to explore it today. . .has little to do with spoken words. Words can be completely valid in the context of examining physical events. But we are all MUCH BIGGER than that. . .and words often do not do justice to spiritual communication.

Words can often be very reassuring and helpful to our brain and the rest of our physical body. They can illuminate and guide the process of trying to make sense of what we are seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and touching. For spirit though, communication happens through images, not words. Words can slow us down and detour us from where we are trying to go.

Language can illuminate important points and guide us to inner wisdom. “Weave a Million Words,” words by Broms the Poet and art by Amie Crux used in conjunction with Fair Use Principals.

Spirit is always communicating. It is our natural state, a state that can be associated with joy and enthusiasm. There is SO MUCH communication floating around the airwaves that our bodies can easily become overwhelmed. On any given day, our bodies are the recipient and processor of billions of data interacting with and adding to our already voluminous storehouse of feelings, thoughts, and experiences. And that is just what is going on with our physical sensory systems. I don’t actually know a word for the quantity of data with which we are capable of interacting on a spiritual level. Even the descriptor “infinite” is not really enough.

Handling this amount of information with grace and ease has always been a challenge for human beings. Individuals and cultures have attempted to engage in all this communication in a variety of mostly ineffective ways. Most of us have repeatedly tried to isolate ourselves. Some have created entire lifetimes based on isolation, whether it’s choosing a career like a trapper or explorer in the wilderness, choosing to be born into an area bound by external isolative geographic factors like Mongolia, Tibet or the Artic; or becoming a part of cultures and communities committed to being cut off from the rest of the world like certain religious groups or entire countries such as North Korea.

Some of us try to remain around a multiplicity of others but find individualistic means to isolate, for example by becoming obsessed with the world of video games or social media; living with a disability to cut down the chatter; or getting lost in an addiction. On a society-wide basis various policy makers think erroneously that they can force others to isolate by banning books and access to the internet, shutting down schools financially or physically, or mandating distorted, reductionistic versions of history and culture in the schools and venues that are allowed to operate.

These are short term “fixes” for a bigger problem. You have only to examine the “lone wolves” of our societies who are increasingly turning to violence; or witness the suffering of a person struggling with mental illness because they are tortured by more data than they have the ability to process, to realize these “fixes” are illusionary. They are fragile and temporary and can easily make things worse in the end.

Folks, it’s the information age on Mother Earth. It’s the data revolution, the apocalypse when all that is hidden is revealed. It’s the time of AI where machines can work with more of the tangible than humans can; of 4G and stronger communication pathways being hijacked by commercial forces jamming up the collective airwaves in their battle over who is going to control space itself. It’s the time of weird new microorganisms in the very soil beneath our feet, popping into our awareness along with variations of more familiar old ones, sometimes viruses trying to restructure DNA in help us keep up.

We are shifting from the linearity of being obsessed with things; to the circularity of relationship to all of life, requiring a new focus on the basic organicity of nature.

To handle this shift and the increased volume of information that we must negotiate in order to make it, we are going to be required to learn to TRULY communicate. This means that we not only we need to learn to use words constructively with people; but also that we need to learn ALL the ways spirit engages with itself. We need to greatly level up our spiritual communication skills with ourselves, with each other, with all life forms animate and inanimate, with the Creator-of-Us-All and all created order.

That is where meditation comes to play. Those of us in this community and those elsewhere who practice some form of meditation have an edge, a head start, so to speak.

The great thing about sitting down and closing your eyes and turning within, no matter what type of meditation you are using, is that you are placing your physical systems in the back seat as you learn to communicate. Sure, it can be confusing for a while, maybe even a long time, maybe even painful at some points, as one begins to recognize how out-of-touch we have become in our collective groups that do not validate spiritual communication. If you keep going with the practice of turning within though, eventually that ability to communicate naturally begins to develop. You sort out which internal voices are your own, which belong to other beings, both those with physical bodies like family and friends, and those existing purely as spirit. . .and you figure out what you truly have to say.

These days a lot of people are using the phrase “speaking my truth” as a means of inserting their perspective into the conversation. Be very careful. Although this is a grand ideal, it remains out of reach for many or most. It often takes years of healing before one can truly distinguish truth from societal and familial programming. Speaking One’s Truth by Myron Dyal, used by permission of the artist.

I’d like to tell you a story now from a time when I learned a lot about the nature of spiritual communication. Twenty years ago, I was sitting at my desk in our meditation center in Lacey trying to work on some important paperwork. I was having trouble concentrating, something that was atypical for me. I tried to focus on the project but an internal dialogue was going on and building and telling me in no uncertain terms that what I really needed to do was stop working and start meditating. The various voices in my head were fighting with each other with escalating tension. I finally realized my responsibility pictures were losing the war. Not only couldn’t I complete the paperwork, I had become SO frustrated that I found myself wanting to throw something against the walls of the room. Instead, I yelled out loud to some unseen aspect of universe “I give up!” I began to meditate to see what was going on within me, what the message was that was trying to reach me.

Fifteen minutes later, after I had cleared a bunch of energy from my space and was considerably calmer, I called another church member and asked her: “What the hell is global warming? Does it have something to do with the depletion of the ozone layer?” This individual was a biologist who at the time was in charge of a large section of the Olympic National Forest. She responded that she did not know but that she had been seeing that term come through her emails recently, and she would look at the situation and get back to me.

Thus began my journey into understanding what Mother Earth had been trying to tell us/me all along. Please notice though, how spiritual communication works. When the divine needs to speak to us, first it whispers. If we do not pay attention, it sends hints. If we still do not let ourselves receive the message, it speaks more loudly and directly. Eventually if the stakes are big enough, it begins to shout.

Bhatapur, Nepal after their 2015 earthquake. Photo used in conjunction with Fair Use Principals.

When the social conversation is full of other shouting voices, the message from the one that really matters is not received. The Creator-of-Us-All then often has to pull the plug or take some other drastic measure to get us to pay attention. I have witnessed this dozens of times with my students who sometimes create what I call “crash and burn” scenarios where they have to endure a major health crisis, a car accident, a financial or relationship meltdown, or some such so they notice they have temporarily lost their way.

We’ve all done it. Multiple times. Don’t waste any time on guilt. We have all had those moments where we KNEW better because some little voice was trying tell us that the decision we were about to make, the person with whom we were about to engage, the experience we had just created, was NOT the right decision, person or experience. Nonetheless, we let that voice be drowned out by a cacophony of shoulds, perfect pictures, and various opinions and emotions from others.

Back to my story, after my own crash-and-burn moment about global warming I spent the next several months and even years trying to understand my role in the collective crisis before us. I reached out to key “ahead-of-their-times” individuals who were discussing global warming. I read everything I could get my hands on in the scientific and popular press. I had returned to graduate school in psychology. That gave me the opportunity to process my increasing panic as I came to terms with the fact that global warming was going to end life as we knew. I turned every paper or project we were required to do into one about “global heating,” (a term that was subsequently abandoned because it was not “friendly” enough for the public to stomach.) I created power points and other presentations for everyone who would listen.

A few individuals who liked to follow my story listened politely. Most did not.

This sculpture entitled “Follow the Leaders” by Spanish visual artist Issac Cordal was created nearly 15 years ago and installed in Berlin in 2011. Cordal has been frequently commenting on climate change and often depicts images of ineffectual politicians. He reminds us that we cannot wait for others in so-called positions of power to change our relationship to Mother Earth. It is up to all of us! Image used in conjunction with Fair Use Principals.

Which brings to my second point about how real spiritual communication works, as opposed to just words expressed in the physical world. Spirit is interactional. It is not linear. Both individuals and collections of individuals have free will in regards to what experiences they want to have, including what they want to hear, pay attention to, understand, and work with. If you try to force communication onto others, at best all you get is the deer-in-the-headlights response. At worst you risk invading others energetically and having to deal with physical life consequences and/or karmic ones.

This is a humorous look at the mental trajectory many have been on. Humor can bring emotional relief to very difficult subjects, and thereby open up an avenue for action. Now is the time for action. Image is used in accordance with Fair Use Principals.

After I got beat up quite a bit energetically and otherwise by my need to “rescue” the world from global warming, I eventually heard another message from Mother Earth. If I were to put it in words it would be something along the lines of: “This is not your work. This is my place. Your path is elsewhere. Leave it to me to speak with human beings about what must change for them to live in my paradise.”

Holy man attempting to honor the Hindu god Ganesh through the polluted waters of the river Yamuna in New Delhi, India where inhabitants do their laundry. In the Indian pantheon, Ganesh is known to be the “remover of all obstacles.” Photo used in conjunction with Fair Use Principals.

Which brings us to the present time frame. Mother Earth is busy whispering to some, speaking loudly to others, and shouting to many. What I have found fascinating to witness is not so much the collective crash-and-burn scenarios themselves, but the uniqueness of how they are actually received and experienced. Have you noticed that in addition to all the horrific mass casualty events lately that go as expected, there are also plenty of extreme weather events that somehow end up differently than they should “logically?” For example, we have huge destructive tornados that touch down destroying hundreds of homes but leaving a couple of houses or a church nestled in the midst, untouched in a way that cannot be explained by different building materials or landscaping. There are epic hurricanes that total all existing physical structures but against all odds do not harm a single human, even when large numbers of people are silly enough to stay behind.

Without the expanded perspective made possible by a full range of communication, people typically see themselves as separate from Mother Earth. Not so. This image of a mountain range that overlooks Cooper Lake in Woodstock, New York by Mighty Xee is used in accordance with Fair Use Principals.

I am in awe of the ability of the universe to craft individual stories within powerful, huge collective events.

As I watch all this, our human destiny has been a major subject in my ongoing conversations with the Mother Earth aspect of the divine. I know many of you are angry at what humans have chosen to do in our time on the planet; and many of you are pessimistic or even fatalistic about our survival as a species. I have heard the telepathic skepticism when I have failed to endorse the idea that it’s game over on Planet Earth for human beings.

On the other hand, I also know that many of you remain willfully ignorant at what humans have chosen to do in our time on the planet. Some of you who are rigidly optimistic or somehow convinced that our survival as a species is a given, have not appreciated my messages that humans may not survive climate change.

For myself, I have been waiting to hear what Mother Earth herself has to say on the matter. I come to you this morning with the whispering that I have begun to hear from her very recently. Of course, I can’t articulate much of this message, both because it transcends words and because each of you need to and will hear a different version of the message according to the dictates of your heart.

But here is my best attempt:

It’s not too late. It is very late. Humans still stand a chance to remain in the paradise I have created for you, but you must embrace my mystery. I want you to live and let others live. I want you to die and let die. If enough of you can do that, my grace will surround you in ways you cannot yet even imagine.

What does that mean? Again, the meaning here is different for each of us. But here are a few thoughts I have on the subject, take them as you will:

Life is not just a question of breathing in and out. Spirit is fully capable of creating the experience of have a body which is then more-or-less abandoned. Spirit is also fully capable of using the body for what it was designed–as a vehicle for great creativity as can be seen in some artists. Image used in conjunction with Fair Use Principals.

The life referenced here is not life as we know it currently. It is what some meditators label “lived experience,” which speaks to when spirit is fully or nearly fully embodied in physical form, therefore living out a life rich with creativity, joy, truth, freedom, peace, and social justice/service to others, amidst the full range of human thought and emotion.

Those who have experienced a religious background might use the terminology “born again,” if you can get beyond religious dogma into the essence of what it means to genuinely be reborn into a spiritual perspective.

For this kind of life, one must extend one’s aliveness to every other aspect of the whole. The life talked there is about making every mundane choice an act of sacred worship.

The practice of meditation increases one’s ability to communicate with all life, as this Buddhist practitioner and teacher demonstrated. Image used in accordance with Fair Use Principals.

Live and let live requires full engagement with all aspects of what God has created. It involves waking up the morning and being grateful for each breath, appreciative of the body giving form to and making possible one’s ability to experience the natural world, despite aches and pains, warts and physical imperfections.

It involves taking good care of the physical form—humans and nonhumans alike–while transcending the limits of said physicality with consistent ongoing awareness of and communication with spiritual reality.

The death referenced here is not death as we fear it. It is the other part of eternal life, the shedding of old forms in order to make way for rebirth. There will continue to be many other human beings that choose to leave the Planet at this time; and start again afresh another time if they can. It is celebrating their departure, albeit awash with the grief and tragedy of it, and wishing them well in their next steps.

Most of this community know at least theoretically that death of the body is a temporary shift of state. Can you really embrace that truth?

The Old World is Dying but it still can offer solace to those who are attempting spiritual rebirth. Art by Alexandria Dvornikova used in accordance with Fair Use Principals.

Die and Let Die has also to do with shedding the old collective forms we have developed over the centuries, those that are in conflict with Mother Earth which is almost everything. That is what is new about this time frame. Most everything has to go, or at least be destroyed and reinvented: political and economic systems, health care, housing, transportation and city infrastructure, food generation and delivery, everything.

When our current world order is dead, then we stand a chance. Then Mother Earth can return us to the living Paradise that awaits us. Why? Because creation and destruction are intimately connected.

Human beings can be at their best during moments of great destruction. This 2015 photo by Vladsylav Musiienko entitled “The Human Spirit,” used in conjunction with Fair Use Principals, was taken in Ukraine.

The Planet itself, of course, will continue in any case. The living heart that is the Earth itself will be here for the created order. It is just a question of whether human animals, the species that was given the learning opportunity of leading the world forward in conjunction with the divine can keep pace in this time of re-ordering.

It’s our move.

Raise your glass and give a toast to more communication as we sort out what is possible and what we will ultimately choose. Let’s talk.

Listening to the Mountains; Honoring Mother Earth

March 29, 2020 / Church of the Harvest

From a Sermon given Spring Equinox Worship Service March 22, 2020

In Greek mythology there is a story about how the seasons came to be created that is worth retelling this morning. According to early Greek culture, Demeter, the Goddess of Harmony and Fertility, had a child with Zeus, God of the Sky, King of all the Gods. Their daughter Persephone was a beautiful young woman, if somewhat naïve. Demeter was overprotective and usually kept her daughter very close.

One of the other Gods, Hades, who ruled the underworld, fell in love with Persephone. Zeus had promised Hades that he could wed one of Zeus’s daughters but Hades knew that Demeter would never allow the marriage. . .so one day when Persephone was in a field picking flowers by herself, Hades showed up, kidnapped her and took her to his kingdom beneath the earth.

Demeter didn’t know what had happened to her daughter and was extremely distraught. She spent all her time weeping and searching endlessly. As the months went on, all the plants and animals on Earth withered and died because Demeter completely neglected her duty to tend to them. In order to save humanity who depended on the plants and animals Zeus realized he had to intervene so he brokered a deal between Hades and Demeter.

In this classic 1891 painting from Frederic Leighton entitled “The Return of Persephone,” the Goddess is returned by Hades to the arms of her mother so that spring and new life can come again to the Earth. Painting used in accordance with Fair Use principals.

From then on Persephone lived with her mother six months out of the year which is when the Earth experiences spring and summer; and with the husband she eventually fell in love the other six months, which is when we experience fall and winter.

Origin stories are always rich conveyers of spiritual truth, using symbols to remind humans of what we need to understand to act as spirit in the material world. Greek and Roman mythological tales are particularly important to those of us in the United States since they reflect the thought forms upon which Western civilization was founded.

There are many important messages imbedded in the story of Demeter and Persephone but the one I want to direct your attention to this morning is the theme of the Earth dying; and being resurrected again when fertility in the form of the Goddess of Spring returns after a period underground.

We are indeed loved by thousands. Not only do we “stand on their shoulders” in regards to any movement we make forward, we also have them always with us and accessible to us if we know how to tune into the spiritual world. Spirit knows no time or place. Image used in accordance with Fair Use principals.

Persephone spent time in Hades but Hades was not an evil place like we Westerners might assume. To the Greeks, Hades was simply a resting place for the dead. Death itself was not resisted and rejected in the same way we approach it in the “New World.” Hades was a place for the ancestors and also for the unseen. From a psychological perspective, one might say that Hades was the residence of the collective unconscious, a place where thoughts and feelings reside until they can be acknowledged and brought back into the light.

So here we are on Planet Earth. In the calendar year 2020 we have just entered springtime. This isn’t the usual springtime of daffodils and baby bunnies, though, because in this calendar year we are also beginning a new phase of human consciousness.

Many are still in Hades, struggling to find their way out of the depth of unconsciousness represented by that formidable location. Those who have been working to become aware of and heal uncomfortable aspects that in our guilt and shame we previously buried, have a heads start on emerging from the underworld into the fertility that is Gaia.

Many of us have even been focused on our healing long enough that we are beginning to effectively work more consciously with the ancestors, angels, saints and other non-embodied spiritual presences that have always lived alongside of us, been available and been waiting for our invitation to join us in the abundance that is Mother Earth. Some of us are even on the threshold of learning to bend time, a necessity for the human race to persevere.

One of the ways I find myself thinking about the world right now is that our illusions are being forcefully stripped away so we can find our way back to Mother Earth if we so choose. For many this is a violent and painful process, in part because their individual foundation for changes of the magnitude of this kind is not yet in place.

Many people are finding it very emotionally difficult to shelter-in-place, a key component of physical safety right now. It has been a wake-up call for them to discover how much they have depended on busyness to distract them. Loneliness is one of the most painful kinds of intrapsychic pain. The good news though, is that it is also one of the biggest lies on Planet Earth. You are never alone, even if you live by yourself. Loneliness is one the illusions that is being stripped from those who have been avoiding turning within.

For some the resistance to change is too entrenched, and/or the pain is too great and the choice is being made to leave the Planet altogether, in hopes for a new beginning at another time.

People who are waiting to be rescued by others are learning they must find the creativity within themselves and their immediate surrounding community to withstand the ongoing forces of hurricanes and tornadoes, fires and floods and famine and the like. Some folks like those of us in the Pacific Northwest who have been privileged to avoid the worst of climate change are discovering that we don’t get to fail to connect the dots to other people and retreat into “life as usual” mode when things get overwhelming. We might not yet have the same level of extreme weather events, but we are increasingly impacted by what the rest of the world’s population is going through.

The “new normal” is that nowhere is there normality. Nor is there going to be when the coronavirus crisis is handled. Our old way of life is toast. Our new way of life involves a vastly different lifestyle.

People like the professionals in our health care system who are used to casting themselves in the role of rescuer are learning that to survive, we must all dig deeper into our soul to find those parts of our psyche and prioritize rescuing ourselves so we may re balance in a new place. Additionally we must learn to serve others under the direction of the divine, rather than ego.

I guarantee you as we move forward into this year nothing substantive in our physical world is going to ever look the same again. The corona virus pandemic is giving many a taste of what is further to come. Don’t hold your breath waiting for vaccines or whatever to eliminate it; and then expect your world to return to the way it was previously.

Human history has had multiple times in which viruses and other smaller forms of life break down our man-made defenses when we become seriously out of balance with Nature. The Bubonic Plague that killed 200 million people in the 1300s, smallpox that disseminated 56 million in the 1500s and the Spanish flu that killed close to 50 million in 1918-1919 are just a few such episodes. These figures of “Plague Doctors” were done by Susan Reisner and are used in accordance with Fair Use principals.

This “novel” form of a biologically-based organism that has been around for years is only the tip of the iceberg. Technically it may have been named after its shape as a virus but it is no coincidence that energetically it reflects a “new crown” chakra tying together all of humanity, which in some people is attacking the part of their physicality most closely aligned with their fourth chakra—the energy center that at its best, connects us with ourselves, each other, and the God/Goddess within each of us.

Even as the virus currently isolates us, so too is it going to demand that we abandon our ways of working in isolation from each other and from the environment. Humans are no longer going to be allowed to live cut off from ourselves, from each other, from other life forms and from Mother Earth itself.

Earth is ever the planet of dichotomies and paradox. The ironical dichotomy here is that response to the pandemic is requiring us to separate ourselves from others aka “social distancing” and at the same time is bringing us into the awareness that “we are all in this together.” In the external material world we are working through a seeming conflict between the fact that we are all of one spirit and at the same time we each have a physical body that separates us from all other spirit. As embodied spirits evolve, we come to realize that these are not incompatible truths for the All-That-Is. Image by Jennifer Wagner is used in accordance with Fair Use principals.

Get real about this. The universe has just given us a cosmic slap down, a means to slow down, look around us, and smell the roses. Use your time wisely. The corona virus will be contained eventually, but the main impact of the economic tsunami associated with it will be arriving shortly; and there are lots of other challenges laying in wait for human animals, including some much more dangerous ones in the long term, should we continue to try to bury our awareness in Hades as we have been doing for such a long time.

What does “use your time wisely” look like? Of course it will be different for each of us. Here are a few “practice tips” to help you brainstorm what that might look like in your life:

1. Ground. Persephone aka in Greek as Kore, she who became the Goddess of the Underworld, was sometimes referred to as the Goddess of Rooted Things.

Persephone is sometimes referred to as the Goddess of Rooted Things. This nomenclature not only reinforces the mythological storyline but also reflects the underlying spiritual truth of Mother Earth being a safer haven for life when we connect the spiritual and material dimensions. Image used in accordance with Fair Use principals.

Grounding to Mother Earth itself allows you as spirit to manifest yourself in the physical realm as safely as possible; and as a bonus round, gives you a relatively painless means to release what you need to release right now. If you do know how to ground your energy system from your first chakra, do so with awareness several times a day. If you don’t know how to ground from your first chakra, find someone who can teach you how. If you can’t find someone, go sit among big trees and ask the universe to help you match them.

2. Rest/Recharge. We are in a lull between storms of change. The universe answered our prayers and pulled the emergency break. Thanks be to God. The corona virus is not something to be battled, shunned, ignored or feared. It is something to be thanked and gently but firmly put back in its proper place in the created order. Show as much gratitude as you can muster. Consolidate whatever gains you have made in your spiritual awareness to date and prepare for the next round of wake-up calls. Help those who are ill and/or terrified and rest up for the next challenge. Have as much fun as you can right now not from a place of escapism but from a desire to follow the divine’s lead into the place of joy, peace and abundance that is our birthright, should we choose it.

3. Prepare for a Global Economy. Here I am not talking about prepping. Prepping is just an extension of the same obsolete thinking that consumerism will fix everything. It’s hoarding on steroids. What the universe has in mind for humans is not something that can be waited out with a few months or even years of dried food. By all means, stockpile some supplies for those inevitable times when our old infrastructure is not useable for while. But don’t stop there.

I’m talking about making the deep economic transitions that we can expect after a global monetary system that has been dependent on fossil fuels comes to a grinding halt abruptly and permanently, not just because of a temporary health threat. The illusion there is value based on domination over nature has been destroyed. The world is currently downsizing to make room for a place where nothing is real unless it is grounded in human kindness.

The “All-American buck” has no intrinsic value. It is simply a symbol of a transactional agreement containing energy from a monetary system heavily based on profits from fossil fuels and the combined experience of many to use said system for greed and domination. Like all symbols its underlying meaning can be changed but not quickly or easily. Energetically, the world-wide economy based on “dirty” energy, i.e. energy that has been so harmful to Mother Earth has been destroyed. Greed and exploitation are also on their way out, but on an individual rather than a collective basis. The most likely scenario at this point is that some paper money will be around for awhile, but in increasingly smaller quantities as societies all around the world return to more life-affirming methods of exchange.

What would you do if overnight all the money that normally comes to you and all the money that normally you pay out to others disappeared? What kinds of goods and services would you still really want to have in your life; and what kinds of activities would you engage in with others? Figure that out and then make it happen NOW before the choices around the transactional nature of real relationships is made for you.

What I am talking about is MUCH more difficult than just buying a few extra supplies.

One critical component of the world-wide growth period that is going on right now is in regards to action versus contemplation. Many well-intentioned people have been sorely out of balance with this dichotomy. Effectively being spiritual in a material world in the present time frame requires both body and mind. Action without direction from the indwelling divine is busy work. Focusing one’s mental energy on spiritual goals is very important but not sufficient. We are being called to act in conjunction with and at the behest of Mother Earth and our fellow inhabitants. Image by Brian Andreas used in accordance with Fair Use principals.

This is the time for ACTION. And the action involves changing your entire lifestyle to suit the new economy in which money will be stripped of its illusionary nature. Don’t misunderstand me. There is ENOUGH FOR ALL that engage in real relationships. There is just not enough of frivolous purchases based on ego. Find out what makes the God of your heart really sing and let go of the other unnecessary temptations offered by your now-out-of-present-time materialistic urges.

4. Listen to the Mountains, the rivers, the oceans, the trees and other plants and nonhuman animals. There is a reason why people have always sought to connect to our Creator by immersing themselves in the natural world; and have often gone to the highest terrain on Mother Earth for our deepest conversations with God. There are many other sacred areas as well.

Pablo Neruda was a Nobel-prize winning writer and diplomat who is sometimes considered the national poet of Chile. He passed away in 1973. This image used in conjunction with Fair Use principals.

You don’t have to journey to a mountaintop or anywhere else to find your truth. You can just shut your eyes where you are and find everything you need there. All of Gaia is sacred and your body was designed to be an extension of that sacredness, a finely tuned instrument of access to everything you really need. Find the places that have absorbed the purest intentions of the human spirit both within you and outside of you.

Human survival, both individual and collective, is now in a furious evolutionary dance that requires us to match our inward essential nature with the outward physical manifestation of Nature. This self portrait by Cuban-born surreal artist Jorge Ignacio Nazabal is used in accordance with Fair Use principals. Butterflies are a universal symbol of inner transformation

Choosing the best natural settings helps expedite the optimal outcome. Go to the mountain or another sacred site nearby either in your physical or your astral form if you are so inclined. And then LISTEN.

Most people need to actually learn what it means to pray; and stop mistaking God for Santa Claus. It is the time to let go of the arrogance of telling God what we want done. Talk/dream if you want, but the real challenge right now is for all of us to up our skills at hearing from the Source as reflected in our gorgeous physical homeland. Many of the planetary changes that are occurring right now are beyond our imagination. Let the Cosmic Consciousness show us the way.

The Creator gives us the frame. We fill in the canvas. Any viewpoint that human animals have the only or the final word in the process of creating on Planet Earth is misguided hubris. Image used in accordance with Fair Use principals.

Gaia is screaming at us right now because we have forgotten how to listen to her. For all of our sakes, heed her call.

Dreaming of Things to Come; Bring On the New World in the New Year!

December 31, 2018January 1, 2019 / Church of the Harvest

From a Sermon given Winter Solstice Worship Service December 23, 2018

Almost exactly one year ago today, this meditation community had its Winter Solstice Service here. We explored the topic of moving towards a world based on Love rather than the corruption of power. I talked about how corruption is a word that not only refers to political processes but at its essence just means something that is changed from its original intended use to something that is used incorrectly, and in doing so, is debased.

I talked about the fact that God is Love; and as the children of God we are meant to create our lives and the world around us through Love. . .but that too many of us had succumbed to the temptations of the material world, and forgotten that all true Power comes from the divine and all energy is meant to be used in the service of the divine.

So here it is a year later. I think we can all agree that it’s been quite a year. I imagine we could also agree that the year has been characterized by a society and a world absolutely awash in the vibration of hatred. In our country and around the world hatred has far too often been the key driver of our interactions with each other.

Many spiritual forces are praying that we get over our need to hate each other.

Hate has always had a big presence on Planet Earth, of course. But people saying and doing hateful things towards each other has never been more common.

The difference lately has been that it has taken center stage in the human drama. It was looking like hatred had become acceptable as a social convention, as a way for people to engage with each other. Acting in a hateful manner towards another person was no longer being seen as a maladjustment for a few aberrant individuals. It was increasingly being accepted as an open and unrepentant option for segments of our society to use in opposition to other segments.

This year women have moved into national leadership in a dramatic way but more importantly, the female energy that every human has, irrespective of the gender of their body has been moving into the foreground.

Fortunately, this year has also seen the rise of influences from other energy streams in human society to counterbalance the hatred, energy streams that are more prone to unification than the kind of disintegration that happens with the vibration of hatred.

Chief among these has been the amazingly rapid shift from the male to female perspective. Each of us is capable of allowing our sacred female to lead the way, no matter what gender body we hold; and vast numbers of us decided to do so, almost overnight.

We have also seen the phenomenally sudden stepping-up-to-the-plate of younger generations who have grown up in the digital age where diversity and inclusion are more the norm.

For many centuries human animals have labored under a tribal-based paradigm that had one group in competition with and striving for domination over other groups. This corruption of power has been breaking down as the digital age makes it easier for us to understand we are all in this world together. Posted in accordance with fair use principles

Again, children have always led the way energetically. We tend to forget our spiritual nature as we age so children have always quietly protected our rightful heritage, almost always in an invisible manner.

These children from Thailand reflect their more recent arrival from the spiritual world in many ways, but one of which is their joy in the natural world. Children everywhere are universally attracted to play which they recognize as one of the truest faces of the divine.,

This year, the younger ones among us began to step out of the shadows and told the adults to share the leadership of the material world. I can’t wait to see how this plays out.

So where are we now that 2018 is coming to an end? I know that most of us are still feeling a kind of vertigo as the vibrations continue to transform the air around us, the Earth beneath our feet and the very molecules of our bodies. Many of us are at best uneasy, at worst sick at heart at what is happening to our world. As I have mentioned previously, just in recent memory the planet itself has begun running kundalini energy in increasing amounts to help human animals wake to our true nature.

Lately I’ve been noticing how many people are physically getting sick and experiencing confusing and often painful symptoms in their body, symptoms with which medical professionals are having trouble understanding or addressing, in part because of this massive influx of kundalini.

The powerful healing of kundalini energy has been recognized for centuries, primarily in the Eastern parts of the globe and shamanic traditions. It is often depicted as intertwining snakes, as is seen in the caduceus symbol for Western medicine. Contrary to popular belief, one does not have to “work at” running kundalini. It runs on it’s own when one’s energy system is working well; and recently has begun to be triggered by the Earth itself as it enters the human body through the feet.

Most of the time people seem to just see their illness processes and discomfort as just their individual situation. A lot of people chalk their symptoms up to some ubiquitous process called “stress.” Many judge themselves as having made stupid choices about their health status, or being otherwise somehow flawed.

Little do they know that the “growing pains” that they are experiencing is a requirement, a mandatory edict from Mother Earth if you will. Kundalini energy brings to the surface all that has been contained. It’s not a judgment but it is a very high vibration that is hard for many physical beings to experience if they are not used to vibrating at such a frequency. In other words, it does require action to weather it in a way that minimizes suffering. It’s part of the kicking-us-on-our-ass that is happening worldwide. The universe is over it, in regards to the human learning curve. We will either be taking a huge leap forward in our consciousness, or we will be invited to go elsewhere. We will not be remaining the caretakers of this gorgeous planet unless we can do better by it.

But here’s the rub: many of us are indeed waking up. This year-2018—the year I have been calling the Year of Transformation–has done its thing. The energy has indeed transformed.

I’m not talking here about the chaos of our political and economic systems falling apart. That spectacular amount of destruction is ongoing, with plenty more to come. I’m talking about the underlying energy. I’m talking about the fact that in just the last few days, a scant few weeks, the energy of what is called the “consensus reality” has shifted dramatically.

The “consensus reality” is not an easy concept to understand, so I thought at this point in the presentation, we should step back and take a moment to review it.

This is the “Universal Mind Lattice” as painted by visionary artist Alex Grey, the organic human aspect of universal consciousness. It is the energetic field where all that is human and all that manifests in the physical connects to itself; and as such, can be changed by any shift created by any human being. The “consensus reality” is this field made manifest in a snapshot of time. Posted in accordance with fair use principles

Each of us as an individual soul creates our own reality. Ultimately we decide everything about our life. On a spiritual level we establish a game plan before we are born, and then we get here and see if we can carry it out. We learn lessons as we go, and may make adjustments as we need. This is the precious gift of free will that our Creator gives us.

Sometimes challenges look really interesting to us before we incarnate, and then when we get into the body, things look very different. Sometimes those same challenges don’t look nearly as interesting. We are like the kid who decides we want to be a doctor, a professional athlete or a famous musician when we grow up. And then as we grow older, we discover that it actually takes hundreds of hours of tedious study, cramping body parts and boring repetitive scales before our mind or muscles or fingers will produce the desired results. Creating as spirit in the material world requires much more effort and all-too often body turmoil than it would seem from a purely spiritual perspective.

When the lessons we are trying to learn require interactions with other humans, as most do, then free will dictates that we have to enter into an agreement with that other person or persons with whom we are trying to create. This process can be very complicated and take considerable time, particularly if the lessons involve large numbers of individuals. Luckily time does not exist on the spiritual level but some individual souls have to create a number of experiences in the physical world before they can sign on to a larger spiritually based group contract, and that does take time.

In the United States there were lots of individuals who knew right off the bat that we did not want to create a world based on hatred when we were encouraged to do so by certain political and religious leaders. But there were also lots of individuals who had to create some up-close-and-personal encounters with hatred in their personal life to make a more clear decision that this was not what they wanted to experience. Many knew better “intellectually” than to support the vibration of hatred. . .but old karmic influences or energy from traumatic childhoods still needed to be cleared before they could definitively opt out of creating a world based on hatred. Thus, it took nearly two years for the “consensus reality” in the United States to shift to an agreement that we were not going to choose hatred as a way of life.

The good news, the very good news in my mind, is that the energy of the consensual reality has shifted. As a group of humans who have been given seniority by our Creator, or what is called in religious circles dominion over life on Earth, we’ve decided something big. I’m not sure what it is. . .exactly. But I’m pretty sure it has to do with Love.

So congratulations, folks. Congratulations to all of us. Congratulations to those of us who were here a year ago helping the consensus reality shift by together imagining a world based on Love and not corruption of power. Congratulations to those of you who were not here a year ago but were part of getting the Church of the Harvest to that point previously or are creating a connection now to continue this critical work. (After all, spirit knows no time).

And congratulations to all the millions of other people in the world, particularly in the United States where the battle involving hatred has been at it’s most intense. Congratulations to the many Americans who may have had sufficient resources but who have nonetheless emotionally gone through a kind of virtual hell on Earth this past couple of years, in order to work through what they had to work through for all of us to make it to this point.

We all contributed to the place we are in now. We made a decisive, life-affirming choice. Now we just have to figure out what that choice is all about. And begin to shape it, fine tune it so to speak.

You all are meditators so you have had the experience of going through a particularly gnarly growth period or two. Growth periods come in all shapes and sizes. In the biggest growth periods though, the ones that involve moving to a higher level of consciousness there is often just confusion. The old ways no longer fit at all who one is, but the new ways have not yet shown up. The fabric of one’s most essential self identity changes and we become unrecognizable.

That is kind of where we’re at right now energetically in this country and in the world. But even though we don’t really know where we are going in this new direction we are taking, it’s probably a good idea to talk with each other about what we do notice, and share our thoughts and dreams and whatever insights we have as we stumble around in the new landscape.

So along those lines I have a few insights to get the dialogue going, to hopefully help us move towards creating a world based on Love and not corruption of the power God has given us.

First of all, Keep up the dreaming. If you run across a situation involving injustice, hatred, corruption, by all means take whatever action you can to stop it. But keep in mind that right now it is Winter. Its the season to prioritize resting our weary bodies.

Its the time for letting our minds wander in whatever direction they happen to go. Do puzzles. Make art and go see good movies. Build things and craft things and exercise that incredible God-given creativity of yours in everyday life.

The direction we ultimately will need to go is not going to be clear for awhile. In all of human history we’ve never been at this point before. We will be shown by spiritual forces we cannot even imagine the best path forward when it is time. Meanwhile, give yourself permission to give your imagination free rein. Creativity can be like a muscle that needs to be exercised. Enjoy where the dreaming takes you and watch.

Second of all, Welcome in the New World in the New Year! No matter what it is. Please don’t get lost to any perfect pictures. Its not going to be clear sailing. The destruction of our world is ongoing. Horrific pain and suffering abounds and may very well intensify. In 2019 we may feel like we just went from the pan into the fire. If humans survive at all, it will be months or years or decades before things are OK.

Unfortunately as a species, human animals are still largely addicted to suffering. However, until we reach a greater acceptance of divine love, we can draw upon other sources of strength. “The Human Spirit,” Photo by Vladsylav Musiienko. Posted in accordance with fair use principles.

But the worst thing we can do is resist. You get what you resist, in greater measure and with greater suffering. You know why we have been having so much trouble with hatred this year? Hatred is simply a particularly intense form of fear. Fear of change. Fear of death. The world is changing faster than the present level of human consciousness can process. Fear levels have gone up exponentially, and thus, so has the hatred. You can make a personal contribution to cutting down the hatred simply by not resisting whatever awful as well as wonderful things come our way.

As individuals and as a society first and foremost we need to learn to lean into the change. Lean into the destruction even. Ultimately it is far easier than digging in one’s heels about what is going to change whether we want it to or not.

Third of all, along the same lines: Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. And pray for those who mistreat you. Why? Because the energy you put out comes back to you. Right now we are all needing to learn unconditional love. In the days ahead you’re going to want all the love and the good and the blessings that you can create; and you create them by giving them to others.

However, Fourth of all. Do not go gently into the night. I never really understood Dylan Thomas’s redemptive poem until recently. I thought it was about resisting death. Its not. Its about celebrating life by leaning into death. Thomas tells us to burn with life when we are near the end.

“Rage, Rage Against the Dying of the Light ….I will Never Give Up the Fight for Wholeness” by Myron Dyal. Used with permission of the artist.

We are near the end of human life on this planet. It still remains to be seen whether or not humans as a species will make it through the upcoming days. That part of things the consensus reality has yet to decide. Meanwhile, let us burn brightly as we decide where our Love will take us. Burning brightly is the way of Love.

So how do we not go gently into the night on a practical level? Astrologists tell us that we just are emerging from a very long cycle dominated by the energy of the Wounded Healer. As individuals and as a society we’ve all just gone through a deep cleaning of toxic energies. We are more poised to turn away from other people who are harmful to us. Do let’s not dirty ourselves up again with toxic people and situations. Yes, love your enemies but whenever possible from afar.

This meme is a bit on the snotty side obviously, but there is a valid point here. Maybe a few talented “jerk whisperers” can change the perspective of those who hate. . .but most of the time this is not a good use of time and energy for anyone involved

Do good for those who hate you but stop showing up for people who are indifferent about your presence. Bless those who curse you, but you don’t have to have conversations with people who deny you respect.

Enjoy the people around you with whom you can share your dreams. Be a willing vehicle through which the Love of the divine can operate.

Coming Alive, Words by Simon Gawley. Posted in accordance with fair use principles

Love God and glory in all of it’s manifestations: in nature, in plants and animals including other humans, in the rivers and oceans and most particularly in the divine dwelling within you, the God of your heart. Happy holidays everyone.

Growing Pains Question Two

June 6, 2014 / Church of the Harvest

Question:

I consider myself a “seeker after the truth.” I’m very interested in spiritual development, my own and other people’s. Sometimes, though, I get really confused about the concept of destiny. It’s like I hit a brick wall when this idea is put on the table. If we each have a destiny already outlined for us, what’s the point? Continue reading →

Growing Pains Question One

June 6, 2014 / Church of the Harvest

Question:

I really like the idea of meditation and feel intuitively like it would be a very good practice for me on a regular basis, but any time I try to engage in some kind of meditation experience, it’s a real bust. I’m uncomfortable sitting in the lotus position, can’t sit still, find my thoughts wandering to all the chores I’m not getting done, and sometimes even falling asleep. Is it hopeless for someone like me? Continue reading →