Matthew 19:26 is the backdrop of the platform at the Unity church I attend in Palo Alto, California. Aside from the great teachings at the church, I think this verse keeps drawing me back.
"With God, All Things ARE Possible!"
When I first entered the church in 1988, I was touched to see the verse highlighted in raised, white letters on the stone backwall. Even as the church went through a major renovation several years later, it was that verse that kept me feeling "at home," despite all the upheaval.Today, without a doubt, I can say that Matthew 19:26 has been at the foundation of my faith that helped me to move the mountains in my life.
With God ALL THINGS are POSSIBLE!
I have seen it.
I have lived it.
I have breathed it.
I have no doubt!
Lest you do, I suggest you take a look at the headline of this story that posted online the morning of Tuesday, August 2, 2011:
"Gabby Giffords Returns To Congress and Helps Pass The debt Compromise."
I can't imagine Gabriel Gifford's thoughts today. But "I know for sure" that even if before the incident on January 8, 2011, Gabby didn't believe in God, today, she certainly believes in something greater than herself!
Without speaking to her, without knowing about her or her family's faith, I can tell you with certainty that they have a solid foundation of trust in something greater than themselves.
They have to know the Truth Now, even if they didn't before.
As for the other part of the headline...the part about compromise on the national debt...that, too, and all the chaos before and after that's happened, is happening now and will happen around the debt and Medicare and Social Security...something greater is at work.
I don't care what those guys and gals in Washington think they are doing...I know the TRUTH about life: God is...and always will be...in charge!
So, forget the madness and get on with the business of living.
Get on with the purpose that you were brought to this Earth to fulfill.
Get in touch with yourself...with your real self...with your Soul...and
let it guide you...step by step.. each and every moment of every day.
You see, we have so many illusions about our lives.
We believe that our little plans for our sweet little lives is what it's all about.
In truth, those sweet little plans are good to have. They give us a focus and a purpose for getting up and moving forward every day.
But the truth is...that until we go to the center of our being...
until we get past all the superficial barriers we have put up to getting to know ourselves...
then, we truly are not fulfilling our life's purpose.
We were born to come into wholeness like Jesus did.
I love the example set by this figure...and whether you're Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Jehovah's Witness or Catholic...you can't deny that Jesus personifies the example of wholeness we all are striving for each day.
How would you LOVE to love your enemies? I mean...for REAL...really, truly LOVE the people who hate you and spit venom in your face each day you try to embrace them in love.
I'm not there...yet...
I'm never gonna get there...in this lifetime. Of that, I'm sure.
But I'm trying.
Leo Tolstoy, my favorite life guide, in "Wise Thoughts for Everyday:"
"It is difficu;lt to love everyone all the time, but this does not mean you shouldn't make an effort. Every good thing is difficult."
I try each and every day...in each moment...to overlook the slights that we all encounter from personalities, operating solely from their humanity, fully unconscious of their spiritual selves. Those truly are moments for "Namaste'!"
I try not to react, and instead, to respond to any sure sign of venomous behavior.
The way I do it is to pause...take a deep breath...and with that breath, KNOW, that I'm inhaling the Spirit of God within me.
When I release that breath...I "try" to release LOVE into my response.
So, life for me now has become "moment by moment."
An excerpt from Unity's Daily Word on Aug. 11, 2011:
That truly is the only way for me to live.
AFFIRM: "Centered in the present moment, I claim my power."
"I quiet my mind and become fully aware of all this moment has to teach me. All the wisdom I need is here, now. My thoughts may drift to the past or future, but I needn't remain there. I can choose instead to immerse myself in the power of the present moment. It is here that I connect with divine wisdom."
"Anchored in the here and now, I find the answers I seek. My decisions are wise and thoughtful, because I am grounded and centered. Right here and now, I claim my power."
I've learned this truth...because like everyone else, I had plans...or at least thoughts, about how I thought my life would unfold.
I laugh now...at my illusions.
I laugh now...at how little I knew about the GOD of my life and what he had in store for me!
Sometimes, it takes an act of God to release us from the prison of our former ways.
Sometimes, it takes an enemy's "bullet" to wake us up!
Sometimes, it takes our deep and abiding faith and love for God to keep on reaching... to keep on searching to keep on keeping on ...in the midst of the most dismal...the most trying...the most heart wrenching circumstances...to wake up and know that "With God ALL Things are Possible."
As we become still...absolutely still...as we're urged to do in Psalm 46:10: "Be still and know that I am God"...then, we begin to learn the truth about ourselves and the power within us that's greater than everything else in the world.
Jesus tried to teach us this, "It is not I, but the Father within me, he doeth the work." -John 5:19
Did we learn? Did we learn? Did we LEARN?
Most of us...even the most diligent of spiritual scholars...are still learning..still reaching...still striving...to get this FULLY.
The world is our testing ground. For me, the current leadership crew of the Republican Party and the Tea Party truly would test my faith and my trust in God....if I didn't know better!
I look past all the shenanigans of these two groups, which I believe to be so rife with hate and lack of human decency, much less love, and know the TRUTH of my being: God IS in charge!
This sets me free from reacting to anything that's being said on the airwaves.
I know the TRUTH...
As a Unity student, I was taught to "look past appearances to the certainty" of the truth within me.
I reach for those lessons each and every day when life would seem to suggest otherwise: that God simply is not in charge...that an impossible situation will not be turned around...that with all the stumbling blocks, hurdles, U-turns posted ...things will not work out the way I hope and pray.
"With God, All Things are Possible."
Dhammapada, a book of Buddhist Wisdom:
"Only your inner self can damn you and only your inner self can save you."
I read those words in Tolstoy's Calendar of Wisdom on Aug. 11, as I was preparing to write this post.
Only you...can still yourself...and know the truth about you.
Whatever is in you is greater than any circumstances that you face in the world.
But ONLY you can search for and find the truth...Only you can uncover and discover this greatest of pearls within your SOUL!
Only YOU can know the truth that ultimately will set you "FREE," as Jesus urged in John 8:32.
"Every person has a depth to his inner life, an essence that cannot be explained. Sometimes you want to explain this essence to people, but you will see that it isn't possible to explain it to another person so that he understands.
Hence the need for your own channel of comunication with God. Establish this channel and do not seek anything else."
Leo Tolstoy
This is the absolute truth, as I've come to discover it.
So, I urge you to get to know this truth. Don't wait for a negative circumstance to occur, before you discover the source of your being. Don't let it wait any longer. It has been patiently waiting to catch your attention all of your life!
Be Still. And Know.
America's favorite preacher, Joel Osteen, and his wife, Victoria, wrote on Aug. 11, 2011:
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Father God, today I praise You and honor You because You are God. I put my faith and trust in You knowing that You are working behind the scenes in my life. Thank You for making a way when there seems to be no way and opening doors of victory in my life. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
— Joel & Victoria Osteen
Amen. And Amen. AND ...Amen!
Namaste',
Che'
2 comments:
Reposted by Che' from email:
"Thank you for all that is here. I look forward to savoring it all week!
Maduke:
LOVE the words you wrote,"how can we NOT be STILL?"
THAT is the question.
Thing is...think of how LONG the road you've traveled has been and know the TRUTH about you: you have walked the walk of faith and triumphed in the most desperate of circumstances. Yes, you now are STILL and KNOW...because you have taken the time to journey and got to know the TRUTH.
The journey carries the message. Without a life of "overcoming" and "becoming," we're making a mockery of the PROCESS of living.
You've seen me write previously about those who "insulate" themselves. Well...they are cheating themselves of life, as those who think they can "cheat" death...
Continued blessings on the journey to YOU! Be proud of the strength you have demonstrated by your willingness to keep on going...keep on becoming...keep on keeping on.
May God carry you ever so gently in his arms...NOW you know the TRUTH ...of your being.
Namaste',
Che'
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