Spiritually Empowered Wholeness

Connecting the Dots                                                                                             

The battle lines drawn between cats and dogs are not set in stone nor demanded
by nature.  And though I have had dogs with cat buddies, my Petey isn't one of them.  When he sees a cat, he sees an enemy.  Is there any hope for true wholeness and freedom as long as I define the 'other' as an enemy?

Howard Clinebell wrote in Spiritually Empowered Wholeness, that

Growth toward mind-body wholeness feeds and is fed by growth toward interpersonal wholeness.

If I choose to be fully alive in the now moment and open to spiritual growth, then I also choose to live conscious of every living being, no matter their politics or religion.  Jesus said in Matthew 5 that if we go to the altar and remember  a disagreement with our brother, we must first go and settle it before returning to God.  In verses 43 to 48, He says we must love our enemies and bless them if we would be the sons of God and

Therefore, you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Is He telling us that we can be perfect like the Father when we learn to love even our enemies?  The greater our realization of our inner oneness with God, the greater our ability to love ourselves and then we can love the whole family of God.    Yehuda Berg wrote in The Power to Change Everything that

Religion was intended to be a system of empowerment, a system that would allow each person to connect to God through whatever path they chose.  It occurs when we recognize the love within us, and therefore can reach out to bring peace and love to others.

If we allow anger, envy, jealousy or fear to flourish in our souls, then we are polluting the environment.  The oil spill in the Gulf has poured a toxic sludge into that body of water threatening multiple habitats and the local economy.   Yet,  toxic emotions and fears pouring out of any one individual mind can pollute the very life stream of all of us.  When I clean up my act, I clean up my world.  Accepting the love in me as the love of God in me, I open up my spirit to a loving and spiritually fulfilled life.

Rev. Claudia Naylor