Thursday, April 15, 2010

Spiritually Empowered Wholeness

Moving Mountains                                                                                               
A first rate teacher seems irreplaceable, but a truly great teacher sets His students free to grow into their full potential.  Jesus was such a teacher.  He taught parables,  precepts and by example.  He sent them out to teach and to heal, to practice the principles He taught them.  But more was required.

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Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Where We Live

Ask someone where they live and you'll receive answers ranging from the name of their hometown to their street address to a description of their neighbor and their home.  Take a step back from the personal point of view and we claim planet Earth as our home, a home shared with all living beings, irrespective of creed, culture or degree of sentience.

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Thursday, March 18, 2010

A Light Shining in the Dark           
                                                                            
One of our primary goals during Lent is the release of mental, emotional and spiritual baggage.  An inexplicable sense of exhaustion or lack of meaning and purpose in life may be the warning signs of     an over burdened spirit.  Unexpected and irrational anger is also a warning signal we should never  ignore.  In Matthew 11:30, Jesus said: 

"Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  For my yoke is        easy and my burden is light."

It's easy to go through a whole cleansing process and feel a tremendous sense of relief and lightness of spirit.  And then, one day, you realize you've begun imitating a mini volcano, spewing angry fire works at random intervals.  And when you begin to pay attention to the running dialog just beneath the surface of awareness,  you discover an 'old tape' bubbling up and disrupting your peace of mind.

The first response is No way, I already dealt with that!  It's finished!  Not. Obviously, the first step must be to release and let it go, again, and feel the vacancy with a wonderful new energy immediately.  Then,  schedule regular maintenance.  Think of it as Spring Cleaning, also known as Lent. Think about the windows on your house--if they're smudged or cloudy, your view of the world becomes distorted.  And just because you gave them a really good cleaning back in 1998 doesn't mean that something else must be at fault this time.

Rev. Claudia Naylor

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Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Lent Season

Take Up Your Bed & Walk
Lent is a time of seeking personal transformation.  Easter is a celebration of that transformation.  The story told in John 5:1-15 about the man healed at the Pool of Bethesda represents far more than a simple physical healing.  This story demonstrates a transformation in consciousness which then manifests as a physical healing.


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Thursday, February 25, 2010

Lenten Season

The Metaphysics of Hope
Life without hope is no life at all!  When disappointments come, it is all too easy the give up and lose our way in the world.  This week,  I felt a great surge of hope and expectation as we explored the possibilities for a new church home in Decatur.  That hope suffered a set-back yesterday.  Even so,   I know that there is a right and perfect place in which  this ministry can thrive and serve an ever growing community.

This morning’s Lenten Study Guide by Sue Sikking reminded me of the power of hope linked with vision:

The new world will be brought forth by men and women who have the courage to look through appearances to the impossible dream, by those who will know that the dream is possible.

Learning to say “Yes I Can!” in the face of obstacles, refusing to doubt my God-self and stretching beyond that which I thought was possible to that which is infinitely possible sets me on the road to Easter morn and my own personal resurrection experience.   Hope is a seed which springs up into the light when the perfect conditions for that seed are met.   Just because the desert appears barren, does not mean that it is barren.   Let the rains fall and watch what happens!

My personal affirmation for this Lenten Season is:

I center my attention and the deepest desires of my heart in God, the good, and manifest only good   in my life!
Rev. Claudia Naylor

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