As far as I am concerned, this is an interfaith service, in the sense that we honor the forms of all faith and all true teaching and true practice—anything that brings human awareness closer to Reality. And in the end, there is only One Faith for all of us as human beings, One Faith for humankind. And I do not mind whatever you want to call it. I do not mind whatever names you have for God, for the source of Life, Reality, Spirit. It is important to me that those names are meaningful to you and bring you to a greater knowing of what is true. And that is my attitude regarding my own spiritual practice.
So here we are, a week later after what we shared in service last Sunday. I want to play the role here this morning of a priest of the one faith and ask you, How you are doing? How are things unfolding for you? Is there anything that got blocked for you since our time together last week? Anything that got shut down, closed off, or retracted for you, perhaps without you being fully aware of it? Are there new places where your spirit wants to go, new expression to open up through you, fresh creative juice to unleash through your human capacity? If so, let us do that together here this morning, shall we? I trust that what we are doing here together serves that purpose for each of us in a unique way—for you in a way that only you will know, and the same is true for me. So good to be with you in that process.
I would like to consider with you what is really happening here, and enter a contemplation of Reality. I looked it up: How many atoms do you think there are in the human body? Seven octillion! There are probably none of us in this service who know what an octillion is. Seven octillion is seven times ten to the twenty-seventh power (7×1027). That’s how many atoms in the human body. That is a lot of atoms! In each of those atoms, there is atomic energy. We know, if we split the atom, we can unleash its power in a highly destructive way. And yet, in our human body, that atomic energy is amazing. It becomes chemical energy, and there are all kinds of chemical energies moving in our body and many chemical processes. Chemicals become cells. There are about 37 trillion cells in the human body. And cells become tissue, glands and organs, and all the anatomy of the human body. Chemical processes become biological processes that we categorize as life, as if all the rest of Creation is not.
But that isn’t all that is happening, because all of that energy that is bubbling up to higher and higher levels of complexity—from the atom to chemical compounds and processes, to biological structures and biological processes—creates consciousness. And we are here with an awareness of our physical bodies and the world around us, where there is more atomic structure, more chemical processes, and more biological processes. And yet, there is consciousness all around too. We are in a field of consciousness that includes a field of heart. It is not a heartless world in which we live. It is a field of beauty and a field of awareness. We imagine that the animal world has some kind of awareness, for sure, which we do not fully understand. But it is there—undeniable in my little puppy as she frolics through the hills. And there is consciousness held in its own way in the rocks, in the Earth itself, and certainly in other people. And we are in this field of consciousness here on Planet Earth with our fellow human beings.
We become aware of powerful energies that are constellating in consciousness. They constellate in our awareness and in the psychic and spiritual powers that we have, which we hardly understand but we know are there. We have a psychic ability to affect each other and affect the conscious field in which we live. We have spiritual power, which is the power of Love within us that profoundly impacts the world. And, of course, we are not isolated here on Planet Earth. Even at the atomic, chemical, and biological levels, we rely so much on the power of the sun. There would not be life as we know it on this planet, or in us, without sunshine every day. And then we could question, Is it just energy that emanates from the sun? Is there perhaps psychic energy that it emanates? Or spiritual energy?
In a recent article for the Journal of Consciousness, biologist Rupert Sheldrake suggests that the sun is conscious. And perhaps there is spiritual energy that comes from the sun, as well as the photons that it emanates.
And how about the light of distant stars? Uranda said that there are spiritual powers coming from the Pleiades and Orion, which are instrumental to what is happening on this planet. The ancients certainly understood that we, as humankind, live in the context of the stars, which have great creative influence on what happens here on the planet. They even gave the names of gods and goddesses to the planets and stars to signify that they are not only energy and matter but that they are Beings. The universe is an expression of Being.
The very essence of the power of Creation, which is the power of the Creator, is Love. That power is loving our human soul at all times, just as the sun is shining on Planet Earth at all times. And yet, while, at an atomic level, that power is ever-present and unavoidable, the way it constellates at a conscious level in us relies on our conscious openness to receive it and express it. We have choice.
The word ignorance might seem to be an unkind word, especially if we characterize someone else that way. But when it comes to spiritual awareness, it is a compassionate word too, because it is really saying that a person simply doesn’t know. Perhaps unconsciously, they are ignoring Love, the quintessential power of Creation. They can be ignorant of it inside themselves and unaware of it as it emanates from another person. And because they are ignorant, they do not receive it.
There is another way that we become blocked. Yes, we can be ignorant and unaware, but we can also begin to become aware and yet be obstinate and refuse to receive. We can defy the power of Love in one of its many guises to enter us. And for most of us, there is at least some level of awareness, some level where we have not been totally unaware, and the question becomes this: Do we deny what we have become aware of? Do we recognize it? Do we accept it? And do we receive it?
So here we are, experiencing this interfaith service, which is an opening to the spiritual powers available to us in this field of conscious awareness. I was thinking this morning of all the beautiful sacred scripture in the world—all the sacred poetry, sacred stories, and the sacred teaching. Sometimes I read from it, and I could almost cry at its beauty. I think of the amazing spiritual teachers who have walked the earth. I read some of the sayings of Jesus, and in one sentence he changes the world. I think of the Bhagavad Gita, and the story of Krishna’s revelation—absolutely breathtaking! Uranda called it one of the most exquisite portrayals to be found in all literature. There are many holy texts we could reference.
And yet, I had this thought this morning: What if we never read another piece of sacred scripture again? What if we did not have it to rely on and had to rely on ourselves and each other to produce sacred scripture today? It would be such a loss, on the one hand. And yet, perhaps there would be the gift of self-reliance. Perhaps we would feel that need more keenly for us to come up with our poetry, our praise, our reception, our glorying in what has been given to us. It is the glory of ending the ignorance, and then not defying and not saying no, but receiving and appreciating with great praise the gift of Life itself, the gift of Love, and the gift of consciousness.
How about this: that we write our own sacred scripture in the chat here this morning together. And that we do it in harmony, each of us writing a short line of verse or a line of praise. I want to encourage you to write your line with all the passion you have in you, with all the poetry of your heart. And if you think it comes out corny, be corny. Do not let that stop you. Just speak with all the poetry of who you are and the Love that is in your heart. And with this beloved community, share your passion for the way you have been loved by the Source of Life. You have been loved by the Source of Life so much that you were given Life—perhaps the greatest gift of all. That is how much you are loved this day: you were given Life.
So, I welcome you to write in the chat, and I will read.
Let the full flow of love spread across the face of the whole earth.
We have been gifted, and now we bring the gift of sacred scripture in our living, beautiful blossoming of brilliance basking in the Beloved.
Blessed are those who know that they are blessed.
Breathing in, again and again, each time is like the first. I dine upon your beauty, your love to quench my thirst.
In awe of life I celebrate. Bless the cornucopia of all Being, Jehovah.
All is given for Love’s purpose and Life’s celebration.
Through strength of mind, balance of speech, and peace in the heart, we allow spirit to move fully into love.
To all my friends, I dance with you, sing with you, praise with you the highest.
Love is everywhere and in everyone and everything. Love IS.
Let all that is Love, Life, and Truth penetrate your inner core so we may experience the oneness that we are.
I bow upwards to your heart of sacred love.
Love is come and stays with abundance, and swirls all around.
I am alive. We are all alive. We are Love and now share it fully.
Love is lit by the unceasing wonder that is with us in each moment.
I welcome this substance of revelation and new meaning that love flows from heart to hand to airways.
We are surrounded by the fire of Love. Holy, holy, holy. Holy, holy, holy. Holy.
My heartstrings tumble in joy and hunger to bring the aliveness of my spirit to you, now, and now, and even more as I receive these sounds and energies of your heart.
I am the eternal spark of All That Is.
The peace that comes from ages past fills me and surrounds me so I may rest in the midst of immense chaos.
Everything is ascending and I am ascending with it.
Trembling in joy.
May love and truth fly into your heart and spirit on the wings of angels.
We each have keys to unlock the universal love in each other and amongst us. This includes spiritual scriptures for this time we live in now, inspired from the breath of the Divine.
I dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
The life flowing through me is the one life flowing through all Creation, singing praises to the Most High.
Let love guide us to heal our earth.
There are no words to describe your beauty. But I feel you flowing through me. I know love.
When I do not feel you moving in me, still I know you are here.
May we all be free of any afflictions of body, mind, and emotion that interfere with a solid Attunement with the divine intelligence.
The river of life flows through my soul into the cosmos, returning to my Beloved.
In every moment the sacred One of blessing is breathing, blessing me with liquid love, light.
I welcome thy fire of love deep inside each breath to purify the heart, mind, soul, spirit, and strength. May every ounce of this being serve thee in thy ever-new love.
The leaves turned brown and fell with February’s freeze. Now, after two months of brown branches, the hope of these precious plants shows and shares their hope in their new green leaves.
From spiritual nomad, wandering in the wilderness, we find the deep, whole-hearted connection and become the expression of divinity. And the glory shines from within. I surrender myself to you, my Divine Mother, to let in the generosity of your love. So my presence can love all in my world.
The breathlessness of the eternal moment is ever-present.
May this knowing fill every cell of your infinite beingness as you reveal your sacred yes more fully into this life.
I am the cosmic joy, Divine Mother.
Thank you all for that ecstasy—that joy, that opening of the inner portals of the human soul that allow the powers and energies of Creation to break through in human awareness in this field of consciousness and power that we share. Is that important? Is that nothing? Yes, there is a physical world, an atomic, chemical, and biological world. And then there is this field of energy and power that moves at the level of consciousness that profoundly affects human culture, human experience, and which in turn profoundly affects all of Creation on Planet Earth. And so, the powers that move here in this field that we share end up being significant and, in fact, crucial to everything.
And becoming conscious of the activating powers that are available to us, and then opening to them and reciprocating, something happens. We become more fully ourselves, not only someone who responds to the activating power but a living expression of the power. That is the law of reciprocity. Yes, it is giving back; yes, it is praise; yes, it is gratitude. But it is also a Law of Becoming. We are becoming what we love. The heart that appreciates and responds to the safe harbor of Love becomes the safe harbor of Love. The human being who responds to the Life that is energizing it becomes Life in living expression.
Through the power of our reciprocity, there is what we receive from the Invisible, as if it dropped down out of the sky—from the Beloved within and above. That is far less complex than the reception of what comes from other human beings. In this human world, there is all of the complexity of personality, is there not? So most human beings are a mixed bag. And you receive something beautiful, and yet there can be something painful that ends up getting mixed in somewhere along the line. So we get cautious, and we end up not receiving fully from each other. And then, few there are who learn the art of giving purely, so that they are not burdening the people around them with all the distortions and constraints that human personalities tend to put on the purity of spirit that could be brought as a gift by the individual. So it gets complex, does it not, amongst each other as human beings?
And that is why it is so important to us to commit ourselves to the art of giving purely; to accept the call to be perfect in our giving, and yet forgiving of ourselves when we do not, and forgiving of each other when we do not. And then there is the art of receiving—taking all that is limited and hurtful or painful, all that may be distorted that comes from another person, and setting it to one side. No, that is not for me. But here is what is for me: the purity of who you are, and I want that, more than ever.
So give me your gold, give me your silver, give me your gifts. Let me not be ignorant or unaware of those gifts. Let me not be in denial of them or obstinate about accepting them. Let me receive them wholeheartedly, deeply into my soul, and let me be activated by them. And then let us have the dance of reciprocity between us, which is the dance of generation—powerful creative energies at the core of which is always the Highest Love, but which breaks forth in the never-ending complexity of Creation and creative energy that we share with each other. It comes as creative thought, enthusiasm, blessing, creative action, encouragement, and empowerment. All these gifts that we have to give, and then receive from each other!
I grew up with black and white TV. That’s how it was. I remember my father at the dinner table saying that we would have colour television in the future. I remember thinking, how could that be; TV is black and white! I held a fixed view. Dad was right!
How many fixed views do I have? It serves me to have things fixed, it feels safe that way. Life is often easier in black and white, no grey areas to contend with or to think about. And yet, the world is ever-changing.
I am part of change, I change every day, every moment and every day evokes change in all dimensions. In fact, nothing is fixed in creation, there is constant motion. That’s what makes it miraculous.
So, what about belief? Is my belief fixed? Is mine better than yours? Can I change, or bring change?
History if full of strife regarding belief – religion. How about a world which is beyond belief, one which exists out of motion and modification and wondrous creation. Can I exist in all that and be free to be me? Can I trust in the executive powers of that which brings coherence – that which we call God.
Psalm 118:24 “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
“we” will rejoice. We are in this together, beyond belief.