Welcome to Tomorrow....
"God's Word Applied" blogspot.com
16 December 2012
Hello, dear hearts! Yes, the good news is that the world is not going to end on the last day of the long count of the Mayan Calendar (12-21-12). Sadly you will have to continue your personal work which you hope will bring you to the end of a journey - unless you believe that the real importance of life is the journey itself. Either way, the sun will come up for many more millennia to come. Unless you currently believe in a God that is in total control of everything and has an agenda. In that case, may I remind you of the naughty and nice list?
What I want to share in this Sunday's Service is that you will have a tomorrow as long as you want to have one. The only true statement I can make for you regarding your life is that you own a part of the Divine Energy Signature that we call God; perhaps it is indwelling in your DNA, I don't know. As an Independent New Thought Minister I believe that God is indwelling, which to me implies that I am totally responsible for what I create in my life. The 'Big G' God is otherwise engaged and I am trusted to learn through experience what works best for me when it comes to living my life. I am willing to learn, love, suffer, and grow out of belief's that no longer serve me because I am expanding my consciousness as my lessons show up.
As we were told in Louise Hay's work, you create in your body as dis-ease something that has an emotional counterpart. Just as I keep stressing that energy will follow the direction your thoughts and words take (as a command to the universal energy to act) there is an emotional counterpart that drives the engine. The engine can be a slow growing tumor of indifference and depression, or an instant death in a car accident because you have achieved the goal you came to earth with, whatever that might mean to you, to your Soul, or both. When your Soul decides that the time is right, your body responds with preparing the way for you to exit this life; physically, mentally, and emotionally. You may have noticed that I didn't say 'spiritually'. That is because the whole of your ability to be conscious of yourself is very possibly what we call the Soul or the Spirit. So says a friend of mine: The Soul is the whole of you. That works for many.
I, on the other hand, am satisfied with knowing my Soul to be a convenient old-fashioned word that is referring to the spark of Divinity which is God, indwelling. I don't need to separate any of my parts or add another part in order to find peace in how I am manifesting my life. Starting today I am going to make an effort not to use the different parts of me to make a point. When I am speaking of my emotions, or my mental fixations I will remember that there is only God, expressing itself as Cassandra and Cassandra expressing herself as she sees appropriate. And, I don't worry about some upcoming judgement for something I have done wrong while in this incarnation. I have done wrong in the past and will undoubtedly do wrong in the future. How else would I learn to be more sensitive?
The only thing that has changed for me since I acknowledged that there is a spark of Divinity in me, is my compassion and willingness to understand that I am still a work in progress. I don't blame myself for my mistakes so much as look for a way to learn from them. And, I don't call negative events 'karma' anymore because I am able to take personal responsibility for those things which I have helped create through thought, word and deed. You've heard me say before that we are very much in charge of tipping the balance and direction our path takes us. What we have trouble understanding is why we need to experience such acursed events in our lives that cause unbearable pain. I would suggest to you that there is no such thing as unbearable pain, but there is pain without understanding. Why would such horrible events visit us? My question to you is why would you ask, "Why me, God, Why me"?
If you were told by your parents that everything in life was wonderful and you would never fall and hurt yourself, then I could understand why it would be a shock to you when you fall down. But what incentive do you have to learn something new, or expand your ability to suffer, and to love yourself and the ones who have had a role in your drama if life is wonderful? Do you think that, maybe, you've learned everything you need to learn so this lifetime is a reward? Of course you don't. You would not be as far along your spiritual path way as you are if you were still in beginners-mind.
I offer this Sunday Service to you not to be harsh and critical but hoping that I can help you break down the victim tendancy inherent within the collective human consciousness, an energy that affects us all. Think about how powerful the energy is that still exists in the essense of our world because trillions of people who have gone before us and experienced similar or identical pain also added their emotions to the collective collection. Your emotions don't just dissapear after you've experienced them, dear ones. Energy can be recycled, but that takes the use of intention and I can only speak for myself - before I realized what I was doing I was sending just as much pain into the collective as everyone else.
I have to take the side of Carl Jung who taught us that we have a psychic inheretance in the form of his collective unconsious (field of energy) stage of awareness. From this field comes the teachings of the different Archetypes which, it is said, we all embrace at least a few of while living our life. Several Philosophers have believed in a cosmic consciousness and a global consciousness, and other forms of expanded consciousness which they say we can connect to and better live our lives by knowing, because we will have a tendency to be less 'me' oriented and more 'we' oriented.
Therefore the thing I want you to think about for yourselves is where do my thoughts, and my emotions go once I've experienced them and moved on. Do they have a life of their own? Do they travel as energy out into some no-place of being or are they somehow absorbed by the consciousness which may be called the Divine Energy Signature of Space (DESS) or God's energy inherent within everything that is matter.
If like me you come to the conclusion that there are different dimensions which possibly hold all of this energy which has not evaporated, we could lable them in order to make our advanced learning possible. But science hasn't looked for anything remotely like what I'm addressing. The one I am personally afraid of is the place where all of our fears would reside. If I am right and it is impacting us in ways that we don't yet understand then the energy of the fears of trillions of people who have walked this planet can be said to be powerful enough to bring on the 'end times'. Isn't that one of the largest thought-forms we humans have fed through-out time? Every time there was a millennial shift the people of that age believed the world was going to an end.
This then should make us question if there is tremendous power in our thoughts, words and actions. If you want to be a part of the solution instead of the problem of humanity's untrained mind and emotions you would do well to create your life day by day from a gentle more compassionate and self-loving point of view. You would not have to ask "Why me, God, Why me"? You would know that God had nothing to do with your misery. Better to say to yourself, "let me do the best I can today because tomorrow will be better, even though I can not see the light yet."
The Light is there for you, the Light is all encompassing of your many lifetimes, you just have to find the Light that is inside of you so that you can flip the switch 'on'. That switch has been charged already and when it knows you are ready to activate the power that is yours because you are a part of God, indwelling, it will turn you on just like a star turns into a sun at its perfect moment of evolution. I believe that we can turn that light on when we realize that we are part of everything and separate from nothing. Or to put it another way, when you recognize your own divinity and cultivate it every day.
We are all children of a Mystical Some-Thing/No-Thing that is impossible to understand until we better understand ourselves. Live long and prosper, by friends. How you manage your thoughts, words and deeds is the first step in moving forward into a world that we can actually change for the better. As you've always known, it starts within you.
Fear not, the world is not going to end on a certain day. But your world can begin anew today.
Get ready to catch the ball of energy I am sending your way. It is filled with loving good will. Ready? 1...2...3...
Reverend Cassandra Martin
Oh, I forgot to tell you that I am starting a radio show on December 21st. It is called The Multiple You Universe: Sacred-Science for the 21st Century and you can find it on blogtalkradio.com
Hello, dear hearts! Yes, the good news is that the world is not going to end on the last day of the long count of the Mayan Calendar (12-21-12). Sadly you will have to continue your personal work which you hope will bring you to the end of a journey - unless you believe that the real importance of life is the journey itself. Either way, the sun will come up for many more millennia to come. Unless you currently believe in a God that is in total control of everything and has an agenda. In that case, may I remind you of the naughty and nice list?
What I want to share in this Sunday's Service is that you will have a tomorrow as long as you want to have one. The only true statement I can make for you regarding your life is that you own a part of the Divine Energy Signature that we call God; perhaps it is indwelling in your DNA, I don't know. As an Independent New Thought Minister I believe that God is indwelling, which to me implies that I am totally responsible for what I create in my life. The 'Big G' God is otherwise engaged and I am trusted to learn through experience what works best for me when it comes to living my life. I am willing to learn, love, suffer, and grow out of belief's that no longer serve me because I am expanding my consciousness as my lessons show up.
As we were told in Louise Hay's work, you create in your body as dis-ease something that has an emotional counterpart. Just as I keep stressing that energy will follow the direction your thoughts and words take (as a command to the universal energy to act) there is an emotional counterpart that drives the engine. The engine can be a slow growing tumor of indifference and depression, or an instant death in a car accident because you have achieved the goal you came to earth with, whatever that might mean to you, to your Soul, or both. When your Soul decides that the time is right, your body responds with preparing the way for you to exit this life; physically, mentally, and emotionally. You may have noticed that I didn't say 'spiritually'. That is because the whole of your ability to be conscious of yourself is very possibly what we call the Soul or the Spirit. So says a friend of mine: The Soul is the whole of you. That works for many.
I, on the other hand, am satisfied with knowing my Soul to be a convenient old-fashioned word that is referring to the spark of Divinity which is God, indwelling. I don't need to separate any of my parts or add another part in order to find peace in how I am manifesting my life. Starting today I am going to make an effort not to use the different parts of me to make a point. When I am speaking of my emotions, or my mental fixations I will remember that there is only God, expressing itself as Cassandra and Cassandra expressing herself as she sees appropriate. And, I don't worry about some upcoming judgement for something I have done wrong while in this incarnation. I have done wrong in the past and will undoubtedly do wrong in the future. How else would I learn to be more sensitive?
The only thing that has changed for me since I acknowledged that there is a spark of Divinity in me, is my compassion and willingness to understand that I am still a work in progress. I don't blame myself for my mistakes so much as look for a way to learn from them. And, I don't call negative events 'karma' anymore because I am able to take personal responsibility for those things which I have helped create through thought, word and deed. You've heard me say before that we are very much in charge of tipping the balance and direction our path takes us. What we have trouble understanding is why we need to experience such acursed events in our lives that cause unbearable pain. I would suggest to you that there is no such thing as unbearable pain, but there is pain without understanding. Why would such horrible events visit us? My question to you is why would you ask, "Why me, God, Why me"?
If you were told by your parents that everything in life was wonderful and you would never fall and hurt yourself, then I could understand why it would be a shock to you when you fall down. But what incentive do you have to learn something new, or expand your ability to suffer, and to love yourself and the ones who have had a role in your drama if life is wonderful? Do you think that, maybe, you've learned everything you need to learn so this lifetime is a reward? Of course you don't. You would not be as far along your spiritual path way as you are if you were still in beginners-mind.
I offer this Sunday Service to you not to be harsh and critical but hoping that I can help you break down the victim tendancy inherent within the collective human consciousness, an energy that affects us all. Think about how powerful the energy is that still exists in the essense of our world because trillions of people who have gone before us and experienced similar or identical pain also added their emotions to the collective collection. Your emotions don't just dissapear after you've experienced them, dear ones. Energy can be recycled, but that takes the use of intention and I can only speak for myself - before I realized what I was doing I was sending just as much pain into the collective as everyone else.
I have to take the side of Carl Jung who taught us that we have a psychic inheretance in the form of his collective unconsious (field of energy) stage of awareness. From this field comes the teachings of the different Archetypes which, it is said, we all embrace at least a few of while living our life. Several Philosophers have believed in a cosmic consciousness and a global consciousness, and other forms of expanded consciousness which they say we can connect to and better live our lives by knowing, because we will have a tendency to be less 'me' oriented and more 'we' oriented.
Therefore the thing I want you to think about for yourselves is where do my thoughts, and my emotions go once I've experienced them and moved on. Do they have a life of their own? Do they travel as energy out into some no-place of being or are they somehow absorbed by the consciousness which may be called the Divine Energy Signature of Space (DESS) or God's energy inherent within everything that is matter.
If like me you come to the conclusion that there are different dimensions which possibly hold all of this energy which has not evaporated, we could lable them in order to make our advanced learning possible. But science hasn't looked for anything remotely like what I'm addressing. The one I am personally afraid of is the place where all of our fears would reside. If I am right and it is impacting us in ways that we don't yet understand then the energy of the fears of trillions of people who have walked this planet can be said to be powerful enough to bring on the 'end times'. Isn't that one of the largest thought-forms we humans have fed through-out time? Every time there was a millennial shift the people of that age believed the world was going to an end.
This then should make us question if there is tremendous power in our thoughts, words and actions. If you want to be a part of the solution instead of the problem of humanity's untrained mind and emotions you would do well to create your life day by day from a gentle more compassionate and self-loving point of view. You would not have to ask "Why me, God, Why me"? You would know that God had nothing to do with your misery. Better to say to yourself, "let me do the best I can today because tomorrow will be better, even though I can not see the light yet."
The Light is there for you, the Light is all encompassing of your many lifetimes, you just have to find the Light that is inside of you so that you can flip the switch 'on'. That switch has been charged already and when it knows you are ready to activate the power that is yours because you are a part of God, indwelling, it will turn you on just like a star turns into a sun at its perfect moment of evolution. I believe that we can turn that light on when we realize that we are part of everything and separate from nothing. Or to put it another way, when you recognize your own divinity and cultivate it every day.
We are all children of a Mystical Some-Thing/No-Thing that is impossible to understand until we better understand ourselves. Live long and prosper, by friends. How you manage your thoughts, words and deeds is the first step in moving forward into a world that we can actually change for the better. As you've always known, it starts within you.
Fear not, the world is not going to end on a certain day. But your world can begin anew today.
Get ready to catch the ball of energy I am sending your way. It is filled with loving good will. Ready? 1...2...3...
Reverend Cassandra Martin
Oh, I forgot to tell you that I am starting a radio show on December 21st. It is called The Multiple You Universe: Sacred-Science for the 21st Century and you can find it on blogtalkradio.com
Making a Kindness Casserole
01 December 2012
I like reading articles written by others if they are the kind that will inspire me, and one of the places I go to check out posts is to the on-line version of the Huffington Post. It was there that I read an article written by Jane Ratcliffe, entitled "Making a Kindness Salad" (9/25/2012). She tells us her story, which I won't ruin for you, except to share that she received spiritual advice from her religious mentor in which he told her to be kind to someone who was making her feel emotionally distanced from them.
Because her mentor knew she was partial to beautiful salads, he suggested she make this person a salad, which she finally reasoned out really meant that he was telling her she should do an act of kindness for the one she was having this difficulty with. An act of kindness, she knew, would make her feel better and perhaps a salad meal would be a good one to talk their feelings over.
So, here we are at a moment in her life which we can use as an example. How might we handle a moment in our life when we are uncomfortable with the way a friend is acting or they've done something that offends us? Let's say that both parties are equally responsible for the outcome of this opportunity to grow, neither of them being wrong, just stubborn. Now we'll use this emotion as the one that is distancing them, but it could be any emotion: anger, jealousy or betrayal of a trust, for instance. What we are looking at is stubborness because it isn't as strong an emotion on the surface, but it does have the capacity to wound a friendship.
Have you ever stubbornly held your position in a fight or a disagreement with a friend or family member? Then you know that it is one of the trickiest emotions to resolve. It isn't as hurtful as anger, some would say, but it is the most obstructive defense mechanism we can use to stay in "our" position without a willingness to look at "theirs". Stubborness brings each person to an impasse; neither side is winning the argument. What then could possibly move both people off the mark they've clearly drawn between them?
Our first guess would be the need for each to forgive the other; not possible when you are holding the line because neither of you think you've done anything wrong, or worth forgiveness. Okay, let's turn to the Way Shower's answer: love. I'm sorry, it isn't likely that the emotion you are feeling in the moment is even close to love; embarrased that everyone is seeing you go through this spat, perhaps. Remember, you are stubbornly resisting admitting that you may have been wrong (even a wee little bit) and you are holding on to your opinion of this person who you've judged is not being a very good friend.
"Oh, so-and-so said things to our friends that made me look bad", you complain to another friend who asks you if you've cleared up the problem between the two of you. Or she says, "so-and-so has deliberately misrepresnted what I said to her". Words. Words. Words. And none of them are true. Oh, there might have been a conversation that led to the two sides of this example I've been giving, but the words they claim are the problem aren't even close to being the real reason they are moving out of synch with each other.
Let me ask you what your favorite salad dressing is. Mine is basalmic & olive oil with garlic and sun dried tomatoes.
The reason I ask this is that if I am going to make you a kindness casserole I want to drizzle something really delicious on top of it before I put it in the oven to bake.
The two people having this problem with each other are now going to be respresented by our delicious casserole. They are the yummy vegatables and other fancy goodies we want to serve up for dinner, in that, each of them is more than just one item in the pot. We are complex human beings who are living life and responding to life the way we do because of past experiences. You've got the idea now. Therefore the thing that will blend the flavors of everything in this casserole will be the dressing you drizzle on top, right?
What if that dressing has a big dash of fear in it, but nobody saw who put it in the bottle. Stop! Don't put that dressing in the casserole, it will ruin the whole dish. Exactly why defense mechanisims are so tricky, my friends. The stubborness we've been talking about is just like the dash of fear that has the potential to ruin the salad dressing. Fear is at the root of the impasse between our two friends, masquerading as 'stubborness'. The truth between them that is sadly pulling them apart is an important lesson in life that we all have to learn at one time or another. Each of them knows they have contributed to the lesson they've engaged, but they are still to close to see what they can do to make it right. The truth is seen differently from each of their perspectives.
To have a good friend you have to be a good friend. None of us are perfect in our ability to understand why we each react the way we do, but you can be assured that we are reacting to some perceived threat when we fight with a friend or family member. Something they have said about you, or to you has triggered your defenses. Are either of these people being a good friend to each other? Not if they continue to hold on to their wounded perceptions of each other. The truth is bigger than their perception of the truth. The word 'perceived' here could be called the salt and pepper of our kindness casserole.
A perfect mix of salt and pepper will make the casserole taste better than anything you've ever eaten before in your life! But what is salt and pepper if not two spices of different flavors? For our kindness casserole meal we can say that they represent the positive or negative perceptions held by our participants. But something more is at stake here, and that is the reality of the intentions of the people who are having the disagreement we've been dissecting today.
Let's ask the two people what their intentions were before they had words that hurt those feelings and started this dis-cussion we are having today. The original position or opinion that each person had involved their perception of each other's intention for getting involved in some sort of situation. We can guess that much about what caused this to begin, right? OK. So now let's look at the power that is inherent within the energy of our intentions - our intentions will set the direction an experience will follow.
The lesson here is that each of these stubborn friends are holding an opinion about the other that can not possibly be based in fact because neither of them can be 100% sure of the intention of the other if they didn't ask before volunteering to help each other accomplish their shared task. In other words, this dissagreement would never have begun had they done the sensible thing and talked through their intentions first.
Each brings their perception of the other to the Feast of the Kindness Casserole, too. They are already nervous around each other, so up close and personal their perceptions of each other look more like oil and water. Therefore, they can't taste the delightful meal (kindness casserole) because the dressing drizzle on top is ruined by the dash of fear they brought to the table. Both of them checked their intentions at the door to the party, so they couldn't even take a time out and talk to each other from the heart before the rest of the meal arrived. As you have no doubt guessed, neither of them had much of an appetite for the rest of the evening.
To bad about that since the party was for them! And, so goes life. We engage in lessoning - one and all. It is always a challenge when the emotions are involved, but when you add stubborness to the mix it delays the arrival of dessert!
I am sending you all loving good will, and a wish for you that the next time you and a friend have a dissagreement you think about the Feast of the Kindness Casserole. With few exceptions, friendship can be fixed if you can see your way clear to speak your truth from your heart. It may be a different truth than that of your friend, but at least it is somewhere to start talking without blame entering into the conversation.
Rev. Cassandra Martin, Independent New Thought Minister
I like reading articles written by others if they are the kind that will inspire me, and one of the places I go to check out posts is to the on-line version of the Huffington Post. It was there that I read an article written by Jane Ratcliffe, entitled "Making a Kindness Salad" (9/25/2012). She tells us her story, which I won't ruin for you, except to share that she received spiritual advice from her religious mentor in which he told her to be kind to someone who was making her feel emotionally distanced from them.
Because her mentor knew she was partial to beautiful salads, he suggested she make this person a salad, which she finally reasoned out really meant that he was telling her she should do an act of kindness for the one she was having this difficulty with. An act of kindness, she knew, would make her feel better and perhaps a salad meal would be a good one to talk their feelings over.
So, here we are at a moment in her life which we can use as an example. How might we handle a moment in our life when we are uncomfortable with the way a friend is acting or they've done something that offends us? Let's say that both parties are equally responsible for the outcome of this opportunity to grow, neither of them being wrong, just stubborn. Now we'll use this emotion as the one that is distancing them, but it could be any emotion: anger, jealousy or betrayal of a trust, for instance. What we are looking at is stubborness because it isn't as strong an emotion on the surface, but it does have the capacity to wound a friendship.
Have you ever stubbornly held your position in a fight or a disagreement with a friend or family member? Then you know that it is one of the trickiest emotions to resolve. It isn't as hurtful as anger, some would say, but it is the most obstructive defense mechanism we can use to stay in "our" position without a willingness to look at "theirs". Stubborness brings each person to an impasse; neither side is winning the argument. What then could possibly move both people off the mark they've clearly drawn between them?
Our first guess would be the need for each to forgive the other; not possible when you are holding the line because neither of you think you've done anything wrong, or worth forgiveness. Okay, let's turn to the Way Shower's answer: love. I'm sorry, it isn't likely that the emotion you are feeling in the moment is even close to love; embarrased that everyone is seeing you go through this spat, perhaps. Remember, you are stubbornly resisting admitting that you may have been wrong (even a wee little bit) and you are holding on to your opinion of this person who you've judged is not being a very good friend.
"Oh, so-and-so said things to our friends that made me look bad", you complain to another friend who asks you if you've cleared up the problem between the two of you. Or she says, "so-and-so has deliberately misrepresnted what I said to her". Words. Words. Words. And none of them are true. Oh, there might have been a conversation that led to the two sides of this example I've been giving, but the words they claim are the problem aren't even close to being the real reason they are moving out of synch with each other.
Let me ask you what your favorite salad dressing is. Mine is basalmic & olive oil with garlic and sun dried tomatoes.
The reason I ask this is that if I am going to make you a kindness casserole I want to drizzle something really delicious on top of it before I put it in the oven to bake.
The two people having this problem with each other are now going to be respresented by our delicious casserole. They are the yummy vegatables and other fancy goodies we want to serve up for dinner, in that, each of them is more than just one item in the pot. We are complex human beings who are living life and responding to life the way we do because of past experiences. You've got the idea now. Therefore the thing that will blend the flavors of everything in this casserole will be the dressing you drizzle on top, right?
What if that dressing has a big dash of fear in it, but nobody saw who put it in the bottle. Stop! Don't put that dressing in the casserole, it will ruin the whole dish. Exactly why defense mechanisims are so tricky, my friends. The stubborness we've been talking about is just like the dash of fear that has the potential to ruin the salad dressing. Fear is at the root of the impasse between our two friends, masquerading as 'stubborness'. The truth between them that is sadly pulling them apart is an important lesson in life that we all have to learn at one time or another. Each of them knows they have contributed to the lesson they've engaged, but they are still to close to see what they can do to make it right. The truth is seen differently from each of their perspectives.
To have a good friend you have to be a good friend. None of us are perfect in our ability to understand why we each react the way we do, but you can be assured that we are reacting to some perceived threat when we fight with a friend or family member. Something they have said about you, or to you has triggered your defenses. Are either of these people being a good friend to each other? Not if they continue to hold on to their wounded perceptions of each other. The truth is bigger than their perception of the truth. The word 'perceived' here could be called the salt and pepper of our kindness casserole.
A perfect mix of salt and pepper will make the casserole taste better than anything you've ever eaten before in your life! But what is salt and pepper if not two spices of different flavors? For our kindness casserole meal we can say that they represent the positive or negative perceptions held by our participants. But something more is at stake here, and that is the reality of the intentions of the people who are having the disagreement we've been dissecting today.
Let's ask the two people what their intentions were before they had words that hurt those feelings and started this dis-cussion we are having today. The original position or opinion that each person had involved their perception of each other's intention for getting involved in some sort of situation. We can guess that much about what caused this to begin, right? OK. So now let's look at the power that is inherent within the energy of our intentions - our intentions will set the direction an experience will follow.
The lesson here is that each of these stubborn friends are holding an opinion about the other that can not possibly be based in fact because neither of them can be 100% sure of the intention of the other if they didn't ask before volunteering to help each other accomplish their shared task. In other words, this dissagreement would never have begun had they done the sensible thing and talked through their intentions first.
Each brings their perception of the other to the Feast of the Kindness Casserole, too. They are already nervous around each other, so up close and personal their perceptions of each other look more like oil and water. Therefore, they can't taste the delightful meal (kindness casserole) because the dressing drizzle on top is ruined by the dash of fear they brought to the table. Both of them checked their intentions at the door to the party, so they couldn't even take a time out and talk to each other from the heart before the rest of the meal arrived. As you have no doubt guessed, neither of them had much of an appetite for the rest of the evening.
To bad about that since the party was for them! And, so goes life. We engage in lessoning - one and all. It is always a challenge when the emotions are involved, but when you add stubborness to the mix it delays the arrival of dessert!
I am sending you all loving good will, and a wish for you that the next time you and a friend have a dissagreement you think about the Feast of the Kindness Casserole. With few exceptions, friendship can be fixed if you can see your way clear to speak your truth from your heart. It may be a different truth than that of your friend, but at least it is somewhere to start talking without blame entering into the conversation.
Rev. Cassandra Martin, Independent New Thought Minister
America's Need for a New Take-Away in the Middle East
Taken from the Space Station
18 November 2012
Rev. John is retired from the Navy, after 24 years of service, so when he and I are watching world news on cable television we are inclined to have different points of view about what is really going on. This November we've seen the resignation of General Petreus as the Head of the C.I.A.
because of an extra marital affair and the escalation of bombing between the Palestinians and Israelies.
In November, 2006, I wrote an affirmation which was, "May we act on behalf of those who are unjustly treated, abused or denied civil liberties." This has pretty much been the whole of my social justice campaign, but now I realize that I have changed my perspective and I'd like to show you how I changed it. Perhaps you are in the middle of a personal change, too.
The reason I have shifted my perception is because I believe that the United States is not capable of winning our war in Afghanistan or in most of the Middle East if we continue to go about it the same way as we have gone after war since WWII. We are still using 18th century war strategies which come from even older war campaigns, and the older standards of warfare led by mediocre Generals, with only a few exceptions, will not be able to successfully lead our troops to victory - which is the only reason to engage in warfare. Isn't it?
It is only my opinion, but I think we have defined our idea of victory in the Middle East as two fold: the destruction of the terrorists who have attacked Americans and our allies, and an opportunity to champion Democracy around the world so that our global interests are safe. Actually, that might be three folds of the policy napkin: kill the terrorists, champion democracy, and perserve our interests around the world.
Sadly, it may boil down to failure on all counts if our leaders do not re-think how they are trying to accomplish their goals. You see, democracy is not the only form of government that will work around the globe. In 2,000 years we may have a world-order which does not allow unstable governments to develop weapons of mass destruction because everyone agrees that our collective safety is more important to the whole of our species.
What does any of this have to do with my spiritual blog on this website? Actually, it fits perfectly because we have been exploring the role of expanding our consciousness in order to achieve our personal goal of enlightenment. We've also been exploring how powerful the collective energy field of thought-forms can be because we see the results of them manifesting every century. They are written in our global history.
Enlightenment does not belong solely to the spiritual minded man and woman. It has a group component, which we have been considering over this last year. Have you ever wondered if we are still doing the same old thing over and over again still thinking that the end result will be better? There's a word for that which is harsh but accurate. The word is: crazy.
A global and collective mind-shift occurs when enough of us 'get it', whatever 'it' may be. And, in this case we are looking at the need for our leaders to recognize that not only do we need good Generals to lead whatever war efforts we may be engaged in as a country, we need to shift our understanding to include the psychology of nation-building so that we can help the people in the Middle East to fight for their own version of government holding sway against 'Tribal and Religious Potentates'.
Re: General Petreus - he used poor jugement in his personal choice to have an affair with his biographer and so he resigned because it was the honorable thing to do. Was it? I don't think I agree with this premise for a couple of reasons. The first is that I cannot endorse a moral standard that does not allow for people to make mistakes and learn by them. I do wish that our President had refused to accept his resignation. It would have been a gutsy move, but one that honored a higher sensibility; don't throw away your best Generals when you still need them. You don't want to cut your nose off to spite your face!
Petreus has probably been the highest functioning General we've had during our years in Afghanistan, although I didn't know that until this morning after I watched a show on MSNBC with my husband. We enjoy two shows on this channel, Up with Chris Hays and The Rachel Maddow Show. This is not an endorsement, it is only my way of letting you know that I enjoy people who are smarter than me and can help me form my own 'take-away' from the information they share each week.
A take-away in the field of media is like a lesson learned in your life, only it comes faster and with less mental and emotional issues involved. Well, on some shows anyway. Every television show you watch is going to attempt to give you a memorable take-away, which is why they pick their guests so carefully; if only they would choose their topics as carefully. S-o-r-r-y.
So now, back to my intuitional realization about the take-away of American Policy which needs to shift its perspective in three areas: The function of the FBI, the function of the CIA, and our real acceptance of a spiritual law which boils down to this observation- if others have to fight for you you will never earn your freedom, not in the truest sense of the word. And it is my opinion that the loss of American life for a freedom that is not attainable is something we should reconsider. But, I could be wrong. What do you think?
Re: The FBI - it stepped over the line and handled the Petreus affair badly - the people of the United States should consider our need to dial back the power that is inherent in their Agency and re-define the lines of 'do not cross'. If they were concerned about 'Intelligence Issues and Leaks' because of the women involved in the events, they had alternative courses of action which they could have taken and did not do in a timely enough manner.
The excesses allowed by the different agencies which are tasked with keeping us safe have yet to understand that we can virtually eliminate the true threat of future attacks as humanity evolves from a fearful society into one of peace. Hold on and I'll get to why I think that way shortly.
Next let's ask our leaders, but also ourselves, how they might fix the old-paradigm problems in the FBI and the CIA, each one is supposed to have separate functions but they have never really been successfully separated. The abuses of power in both houses has brought us to a lesson we can all learn. The FBI and The CIA have never played nice. Our leaders have let these willful children run unsupervised for such a long time that they've grown into war lords - and unfortunately resemble their counter-parts in Afghanistan.
Somebody has to remind our leaders that our nation has a higher set of standards and if we can not meet them, we need to re-define them. There is no shame if we are seriously evolving our national identity to allow for a review of old roles and revision of our policy. There is no shame in realizing that we have let fear lead our policy making choices when we could have been leading with our strengths instead. The strength of our democracy lies in its valuable belief in equality of all its citizens. Oh, we had earlier strengths but sadly those turned to dust as I'll share with you shortly.
This thought led me to wonder why we are not able to wage the right kind of war against the terrorists and the war lords. We want the dictators to be replaced by governments that are democratic even if they are not willing to be democrat-light. Do we not know what the problem is with this plan? We should stop trying to make over everyone else to be just like us so that we can feel safer. That, by the way, was the justification for the abuse of civil liberties in America during our recent past. So fear is part of our reaction to others who are not like us.
The real fuel pushing this war forward is the vengence in the hearts of the people of the world which have now created a powerful thought-form lust for victory over their enemies.
The answer is not in weapons of mass destruction, but in the realization that fear has finally led us down a road that is mined with IEDs which we taught the terrorists to make. And, FEAR is at the heart of all of our pain and suffering around the world. Someone is always using fear to polarize positive shifts in our collective psyche. That is partly why Rev. John and I decided that we needed to start this website as a fear-free zone even though I talk about fear so that you can personally choose what to do when you feel it.
Over this past year those of us on this website have been looking at the potential for a shift in the type of energy which has always had the power to create and sustain conflict- FEAR. Our collective consciousness influences the subconscious of all of us on the planet, but especially the psyches of those whose shared thoughts have created the negative results of that energy form in the first place.
This is true because we have seen this same power fluctuate in the field of quantum physics. Physicists have noticed that there appears to be an intelligence-at-large that is able to affect the smallest particles and the largest energy systems in existance and it appears to do this from within the particles themselves as if they are co-creating their reality. It will likely take a lot of time for scientists to prove the existance of these thought-forms which inform all particles of their collective state of affairs, but it appears to me that humans are doing the same thing on a larger scale.
This is the energy I have been talking about on my website; it is the power inherent within the human to create both positive and negative thought forms. What this means to us on this blog page is that we should evaluate the truth of this potential and be careful what we empower in our lives, in our groups, and in our governments. One such truth is that Americans cannot move on until we release our desire for revenge against the terrorists. At that point our government can seek out a better way to bring our global governments into alignment without suffering any more deaths from injustice.
The current situation in the Middle East is fear based and it can only be resolved through enlightened action on the part of the players and the world's other nations in support of them and their desire to attain freedom in their lives; building governments that strive for excellence on behalf of all of their citizens.
This last statement of understanding stems from the shift which I had this Sunday morning, leading me to a change of heart and shift in perspective about America's need for a new take-away in reference to the Middle East Crisis. I think that the true threat of terrorism abroad can be eliminated as we allow them to solve their own conflicts - as messy as that might be. And, we cannot interfere with this regional conflict even if our ally Israel is attacked because it can defend itself very well without our help. And, I am grateful for that.
I argue that the real truth is that we are not vulnerable as long as we stay true to our reason for being who we are. It is not the loss of our global strength which has made Americans vulnerable, it is the loss of our highest standards that is responsible for what we have begun to endure. Some of you aren't going to like this but I offer this observation with the gift of loving good will for my country: America became a great country in a dishonorable fashion and is now reaping the rewards of those actions. We laughingly refer to the Robber Barons of our historic past, and yet those same actions have betrayed our nobelist gift to humanity over the long run - that of the necessity for equality in order for a country to thrive. And if countries around the world are thriving they are less likely to engage in war.
We have already tried to change the situation in the Middle East without success. It is time for us to accept that it is not our job to fight for the freedom fighters in the Middle East. They must want it so badly they are willing to do what we did in the early formation of our own great country.
We do not appear (as a government) to think that they are able to do this so we rush to help them and preserve our interests in the Middle East by putting American boots on the ground. No and no, I say. We have no legitimate interests in the 'Middle East Political Restructuring' that is in the process of their evolution and it is the essential right of every group to take their own positions on how growth should be accomplished.
Over simplified? Not really, my dears. The simplest truth is always the most elusive because it usually goes against what we think of as our best interest.
As the spiritual law says, you cannot help someone by doing their job for them. They must learn how to navigate a new system of government on their own. But, how can we support them? By doing what the rest of the world is doing as far as relief aid for those brave warriors for freedom against tyranny: vehicles for transportation against changing lines of engagement, food and safe refugee camps for those displaced, and medical theatre supplies to help them live another day. Some countries are choosing to arm the freedom fighters and that is their choice, too. How we participate in this collective lesson called warfare is part of our free will. I would like to see us put more value on life than on war.
Just as the people who have been abused need to stand firm against the factions in-country who are still old-paradigm 'control' oriented, the people who have cried out for freedom with their blood and loss of life have left a clear referendum. It is finally time for people in the Middle East to shift their collective story to one that is victorious over their previous victimhood.
Now I want to say that we can no longer believe the national lie that American interests are best served because we rely upon imported oil in America. No and no, I say because securing oil is not a legitimate national interest, it is only an interest to the companies that are involved in developing more oil trade. During past decades the old-paradigm included an unhealthy relationship between business and government. At best, this approach seemed to be at odds and at worst it can now be seen to have reduced itself down to greed and power for only 1% of our population. Wher's the equality in that?
In our country we have enough wind to create electricity for our power plants. There are new advances down the pike that will be able to free us from an outside need for fuel. We should quickly begin to re-think our need for nuclear energy because of the recent disaster in Japan. Aren't all of our nuclear plants in heavy earthquake faultline locations?
We must respect the rights of other countries to strive for excellence but we must also have a Parliment of Peace, if you will, to uphold the global choice for Security around the world. This will eventually mean the end of nuclear power.
Why do the governments of the world stay locked in the global energy cycles of the old-paradigm when they will ultimately lead us toward global disaster anyway? For that matter, when elections roll around, why do we allow our governments to continue in such a vain and dangerous fashion? We can, as a global society, initiate a new world order that is not based upon FEAR and CONSPIRACY.
All of the belief's I am addressing are old-paradigm 'truths' that were never of benefit to the whole of our society and need to change because we, as ONE SOCIETY, must eventually begin to envision a new and respectful way to move forward that is based upon the equal right for all peoples to live in safety.
Nuclear weapons on our planet are not healthy for anyone. It is my prayer that we get there sooner than later, but we will not get there unless we change the way we do business around the world. That, however, is another Sunday Service. I may just let that opportunity pass.
I've stretched our Sunday Service to include some of the signs of a world run amuck but I want to emphasize that the real problem facing all global citizens is that we are not changing our perspective fast enough to see why we are moving so slowly toward global peace.
1. Fear is the only motivator that has ever caused war.
2. Our thoughts are powerful engines which run the reality machine.
3. Without change in the collective thought forms that our global society has created there is little change possible in the lives of us all.
4. If we think only as Americans we miss the whole point of surviving.
Therefore, my last thought for you is this: begin with yourself. You are a powerful part of the collective whole of the consciousness of humanity, which knows no borders. Do your best to shift your own perspective and it will begin to shift the awareness within us all so that we can reclaim the real truth that we are spiritual beings who are reclaiming their Highest Good. If you have any influcence with the leaders of the countries around the world, talk to them from your heart. We are, after all, in this together.
I am sending you loving good will because you deserve it. We all do. Try sending loving good will out to all life on our planet, especially those we may privately consider our enemy. They really aren't, they are just playing their part as we are playing ours. The rush to the finish line isn't really for our personal enlightenment so much as the enlightenment of our species. Luckily we know that change fosters reality when enough of us 'get it'. Did you get it?
Rev. Cassandra Martin, Independent New Thought Minister
(Edited 11-19-12)
Rev. John is retired from the Navy, after 24 years of service, so when he and I are watching world news on cable television we are inclined to have different points of view about what is really going on. This November we've seen the resignation of General Petreus as the Head of the C.I.A.
because of an extra marital affair and the escalation of bombing between the Palestinians and Israelies.
In November, 2006, I wrote an affirmation which was, "May we act on behalf of those who are unjustly treated, abused or denied civil liberties." This has pretty much been the whole of my social justice campaign, but now I realize that I have changed my perspective and I'd like to show you how I changed it. Perhaps you are in the middle of a personal change, too.
The reason I have shifted my perception is because I believe that the United States is not capable of winning our war in Afghanistan or in most of the Middle East if we continue to go about it the same way as we have gone after war since WWII. We are still using 18th century war strategies which come from even older war campaigns, and the older standards of warfare led by mediocre Generals, with only a few exceptions, will not be able to successfully lead our troops to victory - which is the only reason to engage in warfare. Isn't it?
It is only my opinion, but I think we have defined our idea of victory in the Middle East as two fold: the destruction of the terrorists who have attacked Americans and our allies, and an opportunity to champion Democracy around the world so that our global interests are safe. Actually, that might be three folds of the policy napkin: kill the terrorists, champion democracy, and perserve our interests around the world.
Sadly, it may boil down to failure on all counts if our leaders do not re-think how they are trying to accomplish their goals. You see, democracy is not the only form of government that will work around the globe. In 2,000 years we may have a world-order which does not allow unstable governments to develop weapons of mass destruction because everyone agrees that our collective safety is more important to the whole of our species.
What does any of this have to do with my spiritual blog on this website? Actually, it fits perfectly because we have been exploring the role of expanding our consciousness in order to achieve our personal goal of enlightenment. We've also been exploring how powerful the collective energy field of thought-forms can be because we see the results of them manifesting every century. They are written in our global history.
Enlightenment does not belong solely to the spiritual minded man and woman. It has a group component, which we have been considering over this last year. Have you ever wondered if we are still doing the same old thing over and over again still thinking that the end result will be better? There's a word for that which is harsh but accurate. The word is: crazy.
A global and collective mind-shift occurs when enough of us 'get it', whatever 'it' may be. And, in this case we are looking at the need for our leaders to recognize that not only do we need good Generals to lead whatever war efforts we may be engaged in as a country, we need to shift our understanding to include the psychology of nation-building so that we can help the people in the Middle East to fight for their own version of government holding sway against 'Tribal and Religious Potentates'.
Re: General Petreus - he used poor jugement in his personal choice to have an affair with his biographer and so he resigned because it was the honorable thing to do. Was it? I don't think I agree with this premise for a couple of reasons. The first is that I cannot endorse a moral standard that does not allow for people to make mistakes and learn by them. I do wish that our President had refused to accept his resignation. It would have been a gutsy move, but one that honored a higher sensibility; don't throw away your best Generals when you still need them. You don't want to cut your nose off to spite your face!
Petreus has probably been the highest functioning General we've had during our years in Afghanistan, although I didn't know that until this morning after I watched a show on MSNBC with my husband. We enjoy two shows on this channel, Up with Chris Hays and The Rachel Maddow Show. This is not an endorsement, it is only my way of letting you know that I enjoy people who are smarter than me and can help me form my own 'take-away' from the information they share each week.
A take-away in the field of media is like a lesson learned in your life, only it comes faster and with less mental and emotional issues involved. Well, on some shows anyway. Every television show you watch is going to attempt to give you a memorable take-away, which is why they pick their guests so carefully; if only they would choose their topics as carefully. S-o-r-r-y.
So now, back to my intuitional realization about the take-away of American Policy which needs to shift its perspective in three areas: The function of the FBI, the function of the CIA, and our real acceptance of a spiritual law which boils down to this observation- if others have to fight for you you will never earn your freedom, not in the truest sense of the word. And it is my opinion that the loss of American life for a freedom that is not attainable is something we should reconsider. But, I could be wrong. What do you think?
Re: The FBI - it stepped over the line and handled the Petreus affair badly - the people of the United States should consider our need to dial back the power that is inherent in their Agency and re-define the lines of 'do not cross'. If they were concerned about 'Intelligence Issues and Leaks' because of the women involved in the events, they had alternative courses of action which they could have taken and did not do in a timely enough manner.
The excesses allowed by the different agencies which are tasked with keeping us safe have yet to understand that we can virtually eliminate the true threat of future attacks as humanity evolves from a fearful society into one of peace. Hold on and I'll get to why I think that way shortly.
Next let's ask our leaders, but also ourselves, how they might fix the old-paradigm problems in the FBI and the CIA, each one is supposed to have separate functions but they have never really been successfully separated. The abuses of power in both houses has brought us to a lesson we can all learn. The FBI and The CIA have never played nice. Our leaders have let these willful children run unsupervised for such a long time that they've grown into war lords - and unfortunately resemble their counter-parts in Afghanistan.
Somebody has to remind our leaders that our nation has a higher set of standards and if we can not meet them, we need to re-define them. There is no shame if we are seriously evolving our national identity to allow for a review of old roles and revision of our policy. There is no shame in realizing that we have let fear lead our policy making choices when we could have been leading with our strengths instead. The strength of our democracy lies in its valuable belief in equality of all its citizens. Oh, we had earlier strengths but sadly those turned to dust as I'll share with you shortly.
This thought led me to wonder why we are not able to wage the right kind of war against the terrorists and the war lords. We want the dictators to be replaced by governments that are democratic even if they are not willing to be democrat-light. Do we not know what the problem is with this plan? We should stop trying to make over everyone else to be just like us so that we can feel safer. That, by the way, was the justification for the abuse of civil liberties in America during our recent past. So fear is part of our reaction to others who are not like us.
The real fuel pushing this war forward is the vengence in the hearts of the people of the world which have now created a powerful thought-form lust for victory over their enemies.
The answer is not in weapons of mass destruction, but in the realization that fear has finally led us down a road that is mined with IEDs which we taught the terrorists to make. And, FEAR is at the heart of all of our pain and suffering around the world. Someone is always using fear to polarize positive shifts in our collective psyche. That is partly why Rev. John and I decided that we needed to start this website as a fear-free zone even though I talk about fear so that you can personally choose what to do when you feel it.
Over this past year those of us on this website have been looking at the potential for a shift in the type of energy which has always had the power to create and sustain conflict- FEAR. Our collective consciousness influences the subconscious of all of us on the planet, but especially the psyches of those whose shared thoughts have created the negative results of that energy form in the first place.
This is true because we have seen this same power fluctuate in the field of quantum physics. Physicists have noticed that there appears to be an intelligence-at-large that is able to affect the smallest particles and the largest energy systems in existance and it appears to do this from within the particles themselves as if they are co-creating their reality. It will likely take a lot of time for scientists to prove the existance of these thought-forms which inform all particles of their collective state of affairs, but it appears to me that humans are doing the same thing on a larger scale.
This is the energy I have been talking about on my website; it is the power inherent within the human to create both positive and negative thought forms. What this means to us on this blog page is that we should evaluate the truth of this potential and be careful what we empower in our lives, in our groups, and in our governments. One such truth is that Americans cannot move on until we release our desire for revenge against the terrorists. At that point our government can seek out a better way to bring our global governments into alignment without suffering any more deaths from injustice.
The current situation in the Middle East is fear based and it can only be resolved through enlightened action on the part of the players and the world's other nations in support of them and their desire to attain freedom in their lives; building governments that strive for excellence on behalf of all of their citizens.
This last statement of understanding stems from the shift which I had this Sunday morning, leading me to a change of heart and shift in perspective about America's need for a new take-away in reference to the Middle East Crisis. I think that the true threat of terrorism abroad can be eliminated as we allow them to solve their own conflicts - as messy as that might be. And, we cannot interfere with this regional conflict even if our ally Israel is attacked because it can defend itself very well without our help. And, I am grateful for that.
I argue that the real truth is that we are not vulnerable as long as we stay true to our reason for being who we are. It is not the loss of our global strength which has made Americans vulnerable, it is the loss of our highest standards that is responsible for what we have begun to endure. Some of you aren't going to like this but I offer this observation with the gift of loving good will for my country: America became a great country in a dishonorable fashion and is now reaping the rewards of those actions. We laughingly refer to the Robber Barons of our historic past, and yet those same actions have betrayed our nobelist gift to humanity over the long run - that of the necessity for equality in order for a country to thrive. And if countries around the world are thriving they are less likely to engage in war.
We have already tried to change the situation in the Middle East without success. It is time for us to accept that it is not our job to fight for the freedom fighters in the Middle East. They must want it so badly they are willing to do what we did in the early formation of our own great country.
We do not appear (as a government) to think that they are able to do this so we rush to help them and preserve our interests in the Middle East by putting American boots on the ground. No and no, I say. We have no legitimate interests in the 'Middle East Political Restructuring' that is in the process of their evolution and it is the essential right of every group to take their own positions on how growth should be accomplished.
Over simplified? Not really, my dears. The simplest truth is always the most elusive because it usually goes against what we think of as our best interest.
As the spiritual law says, you cannot help someone by doing their job for them. They must learn how to navigate a new system of government on their own. But, how can we support them? By doing what the rest of the world is doing as far as relief aid for those brave warriors for freedom against tyranny: vehicles for transportation against changing lines of engagement, food and safe refugee camps for those displaced, and medical theatre supplies to help them live another day. Some countries are choosing to arm the freedom fighters and that is their choice, too. How we participate in this collective lesson called warfare is part of our free will. I would like to see us put more value on life than on war.
Just as the people who have been abused need to stand firm against the factions in-country who are still old-paradigm 'control' oriented, the people who have cried out for freedom with their blood and loss of life have left a clear referendum. It is finally time for people in the Middle East to shift their collective story to one that is victorious over their previous victimhood.
Now I want to say that we can no longer believe the national lie that American interests are best served because we rely upon imported oil in America. No and no, I say because securing oil is not a legitimate national interest, it is only an interest to the companies that are involved in developing more oil trade. During past decades the old-paradigm included an unhealthy relationship between business and government. At best, this approach seemed to be at odds and at worst it can now be seen to have reduced itself down to greed and power for only 1% of our population. Wher's the equality in that?
In our country we have enough wind to create electricity for our power plants. There are new advances down the pike that will be able to free us from an outside need for fuel. We should quickly begin to re-think our need for nuclear energy because of the recent disaster in Japan. Aren't all of our nuclear plants in heavy earthquake faultline locations?
We must respect the rights of other countries to strive for excellence but we must also have a Parliment of Peace, if you will, to uphold the global choice for Security around the world. This will eventually mean the end of nuclear power.
Why do the governments of the world stay locked in the global energy cycles of the old-paradigm when they will ultimately lead us toward global disaster anyway? For that matter, when elections roll around, why do we allow our governments to continue in such a vain and dangerous fashion? We can, as a global society, initiate a new world order that is not based upon FEAR and CONSPIRACY.
All of the belief's I am addressing are old-paradigm 'truths' that were never of benefit to the whole of our society and need to change because we, as ONE SOCIETY, must eventually begin to envision a new and respectful way to move forward that is based upon the equal right for all peoples to live in safety.
Nuclear weapons on our planet are not healthy for anyone. It is my prayer that we get there sooner than later, but we will not get there unless we change the way we do business around the world. That, however, is another Sunday Service. I may just let that opportunity pass.
I've stretched our Sunday Service to include some of the signs of a world run amuck but I want to emphasize that the real problem facing all global citizens is that we are not changing our perspective fast enough to see why we are moving so slowly toward global peace.
1. Fear is the only motivator that has ever caused war.
2. Our thoughts are powerful engines which run the reality machine.
3. Without change in the collective thought forms that our global society has created there is little change possible in the lives of us all.
4. If we think only as Americans we miss the whole point of surviving.
Therefore, my last thought for you is this: begin with yourself. You are a powerful part of the collective whole of the consciousness of humanity, which knows no borders. Do your best to shift your own perspective and it will begin to shift the awareness within us all so that we can reclaim the real truth that we are spiritual beings who are reclaiming their Highest Good. If you have any influcence with the leaders of the countries around the world, talk to them from your heart. We are, after all, in this together.
I am sending you loving good will because you deserve it. We all do. Try sending loving good will out to all life on our planet, especially those we may privately consider our enemy. They really aren't, they are just playing their part as we are playing ours. The rush to the finish line isn't really for our personal enlightenment so much as the enlightenment of our species. Luckily we know that change fosters reality when enough of us 'get it'. Did you get it?
Rev. Cassandra Martin, Independent New Thought Minister
(Edited 11-19-12)
The Spoken Word & Consciousness
01 November 2012
There are quite a few ways that I can illustrate just how prayer, affirmations, and sacred chants will expand your personal consciousness. But my real hope is that you will join me and those who are doing affirmations on behalf of humanity for the year 2013. I am giving you Affirmations starting this month because it is "November" that has been targeted with negative thought-forms surrounding the Mayan Prophesy.
Since you already know that energy follows thought it isn't a large jump to the conclusion that your energy affects your consciousness. How we use our thoughts, and direct our energy will help or hinder our personal goals.
We have seen the great conflicts of 2012 around the world. This has manifested, in part, because people are energizing different thoughts. All of these thougths are affecting the collective consciousness field of energy that is directly linked into each human on earth. How this is accomplished is purely speculation right now because science has not been able to create a measuring device that can measure intelligence as it may well be interconnected mentally and spiritually, and/or through our DNA.
Today, I am going to share with you what I have been "receiving" from the Higher Octaves via thoughts and their collective power to affect our dimension and you are free to accept or reject my premise. I can only tell you that I resonate to this teaching so deeply that I have literally been changed (for the best) in a short time frame, having finally received the last of the message just this year. Or, I should say what I assume to be the last part that has been arriving since about 2011.
1. The value of the spoken word is its power to affect energy.
2. Raw energy is intelligent and it is omnipresent throughout the Cosmos. I call this Intelligence the Divine Signature Energy of Space (DSES) because it is everywhere; outerspace and innerspace, within everything that has form.
3. Everything is composed of vibrating energy and this energy is interconnected with everything in the cosmos, therefore the saying that we are all ONE, is accurate. Energetically speaking there is no separation between us.
4. Vibrations are interacting on the sub-atomic and atomic level, which simply means that the premise of a collective consciousness is very valid on the sub-atomic level or in some manner we do not yet understand. Psychiatrist Carl Jung first called this the Collective UnConscious and its name has been changing slowly as our theories of quantum physics have been growing.
5. Vibrations are visible to the naked eye when using an oscilloscope, or a machine called the tonoscope. Dr. Hans Jenny spent decades on this subject and created a tonoscope machine
that allowed him to see what was being heard from the energy/vibrational
perspective. Those wave-forms of sound magically appear on the surface in a pattern. And many of these patterns form sacred "yantra's"; sand patterns of spiritual power.
6. The importance of this wave-form news is that the same thing is happening when you are speaking, in general, but more powerfully when you add the intention of loving good will into your affirmations and prayers. As you are speaking an energy pattern is vibrating out into the universe. What metaphysicians call the Universal Flow and I now identify as the DSES, then takes up the "message" of your prayer/affirmation and begins sorting through what it is asked to create for you. Your loving good will goes out and begins to manifest immediately, folks!
Never again should you think that your words don't count. As one of my energy friends named Daniel once told me: " Every Thought is a Prayer.... Pray Well... for the good of all life."
I hope you will join me, my readers, and others whose intention is to send loving good will out into the Collective Conscious Field of Energy of Humanity. If you don't like saying affirmations, I have an easy way that you can help by saying just one thing: I send loving good will to ___________ so that her/his Highest Good is served.
Blessings to all of you, all around the world, and of all faith practices. Rev. Cassandra Martin, Independent New Thought
P.S. You may print and share this Prayer List as long as it has the website address on it. Thanks.
Prayer List for 2013
Created by Rev. Cassandra Martin at http://God-In-Action.org
November 2012- I will practice staying in the present moment today; the past and future will have no power over me.
December 2012- Each act of kindness I offer another will help humanity heal its collective wounds. I am happy to serve.
January 2013- This year I will open my heart to the vulnerability I fear. I will thrive & prosper as I heal.
February 2013- I will find a way to help others in my community, in ways small or large.
March 2013- I will do no harm to those who have harmed me. I will learn to forgive someone every day.
April 2013- I will love myself even more when I slip and fall from my own expectations.
May 2013- I will pay attention to my thoughts and feelings each day. If I can change them for the better, I will.
June 2013- I will cherish my quiet moments: my mind is willing to receive transmissions of light, and loving good will from the Highest Octaves.
July 2013- Just because I feel a certain way does not mean that I am stuck with that choice.
August 2013- Forgiveness is a part of my spiritual path. First I will forgive myself so that I know I am capable of forgiving others.
September 2013- I release the past in order to expand my future potential.
October 2013- I will keep my mind open. I will not give up any chance to expand my consciousness.
November 2013- No one is a stranger to me. I will smile at everyone I meet this month.
December 2013- This month I will give up one of my favorite vices for as long as I can. I will teach myself self-mastery in this loving way.
There are quite a few ways that I can illustrate just how prayer, affirmations, and sacred chants will expand your personal consciousness. But my real hope is that you will join me and those who are doing affirmations on behalf of humanity for the year 2013. I am giving you Affirmations starting this month because it is "November" that has been targeted with negative thought-forms surrounding the Mayan Prophesy.
Since you already know that energy follows thought it isn't a large jump to the conclusion that your energy affects your consciousness. How we use our thoughts, and direct our energy will help or hinder our personal goals.
We have seen the great conflicts of 2012 around the world. This has manifested, in part, because people are energizing different thoughts. All of these thougths are affecting the collective consciousness field of energy that is directly linked into each human on earth. How this is accomplished is purely speculation right now because science has not been able to create a measuring device that can measure intelligence as it may well be interconnected mentally and spiritually, and/or through our DNA.
Today, I am going to share with you what I have been "receiving" from the Higher Octaves via thoughts and their collective power to affect our dimension and you are free to accept or reject my premise. I can only tell you that I resonate to this teaching so deeply that I have literally been changed (for the best) in a short time frame, having finally received the last of the message just this year. Or, I should say what I assume to be the last part that has been arriving since about 2011.
1. The value of the spoken word is its power to affect energy.
2. Raw energy is intelligent and it is omnipresent throughout the Cosmos. I call this Intelligence the Divine Signature Energy of Space (DSES) because it is everywhere; outerspace and innerspace, within everything that has form.
3. Everything is composed of vibrating energy and this energy is interconnected with everything in the cosmos, therefore the saying that we are all ONE, is accurate. Energetically speaking there is no separation between us.
4. Vibrations are interacting on the sub-atomic and atomic level, which simply means that the premise of a collective consciousness is very valid on the sub-atomic level or in some manner we do not yet understand. Psychiatrist Carl Jung first called this the Collective UnConscious and its name has been changing slowly as our theories of quantum physics have been growing.
5. Vibrations are visible to the naked eye when using an oscilloscope, or a machine called the tonoscope. Dr. Hans Jenny spent decades on this subject and created a tonoscope machine
that allowed him to see what was being heard from the energy/vibrational
perspective. Those wave-forms of sound magically appear on the surface in a pattern. And many of these patterns form sacred "yantra's"; sand patterns of spiritual power.
6. The importance of this wave-form news is that the same thing is happening when you are speaking, in general, but more powerfully when you add the intention of loving good will into your affirmations and prayers. As you are speaking an energy pattern is vibrating out into the universe. What metaphysicians call the Universal Flow and I now identify as the DSES, then takes up the "message" of your prayer/affirmation and begins sorting through what it is asked to create for you. Your loving good will goes out and begins to manifest immediately, folks!
Never again should you think that your words don't count. As one of my energy friends named Daniel once told me: " Every Thought is a Prayer.... Pray Well... for the good of all life."
I hope you will join me, my readers, and others whose intention is to send loving good will out into the Collective Conscious Field of Energy of Humanity. If you don't like saying affirmations, I have an easy way that you can help by saying just one thing: I send loving good will to ___________ so that her/his Highest Good is served.
Blessings to all of you, all around the world, and of all faith practices. Rev. Cassandra Martin, Independent New Thought
P.S. You may print and share this Prayer List as long as it has the website address on it. Thanks.
Prayer List for 2013
Created by Rev. Cassandra Martin at http://God-In-Action.org
November 2012- I will practice staying in the present moment today; the past and future will have no power over me.
December 2012- Each act of kindness I offer another will help humanity heal its collective wounds. I am happy to serve.
January 2013- This year I will open my heart to the vulnerability I fear. I will thrive & prosper as I heal.
February 2013- I will find a way to help others in my community, in ways small or large.
March 2013- I will do no harm to those who have harmed me. I will learn to forgive someone every day.
April 2013- I will love myself even more when I slip and fall from my own expectations.
May 2013- I will pay attention to my thoughts and feelings each day. If I can change them for the better, I will.
June 2013- I will cherish my quiet moments: my mind is willing to receive transmissions of light, and loving good will from the Highest Octaves.
July 2013- Just because I feel a certain way does not mean that I am stuck with that choice.
August 2013- Forgiveness is a part of my spiritual path. First I will forgive myself so that I know I am capable of forgiving others.
September 2013- I release the past in order to expand my future potential.
October 2013- I will keep my mind open. I will not give up any chance to expand my consciousness.
November 2013- No one is a stranger to me. I will smile at everyone I meet this month.
December 2013- This month I will give up one of my favorite vices for as long as I can. I will teach myself self-mastery in this loving way.
Perspective For the 21st Century...
15 October 2012
This photo circulated on the internet years ago. I was so moved by this natural rock formation that I tucked the photo into my computer files. Finally I have the perfect time to use it. This Sunday Service is about our perception, and what can happen to us when we expand our consciousness.
If you just glanced at the photo you might have missed the magnificence indwelling within the rock. This photo is a representation of "God indwelling" within the rock formation. I do not care if this is a photoshopped rock, or if it is real- it is a metaphor for my deepest belief that we are all carrying the energy signature of the Intelligent Creator we call God, by so many different names, within us from the moment we are born.
This rock formation also honors the Divine Feminine, which energy I understand from previous channeled sessions, will expand throughout this century as humanity begins to dimantle its propensity to live in and create more fearful thought-forms. The Feminine energy of the cosmos is found in men and women to various degrees, and it is always a part of any healing work we wish to bring forth for ourselves, even if we do not consciously call it into the sacred-space of our healing practices .
This is not necessarily because women usually have psyche's balanced toward nurturing, but more because the female is the life bringer and has more personal practice with the flow of energies in her body. Her timing will usually be just a bit more precise in an energy flow session. But, let's take a moment to celebrate the many men who are healers and able to navigate the connection to life-force energy. Psychically they are just as capable of traveling the energy flow within each person. Timing can be developed; switching from one chakra to another, telling the client when to put attention on the DNA for a specific part of the healing to commence, and other ques that we get when we are working with someone's mind, body, emotions and spiritual ability to shift old blockages; always with the intention of helping the client to heal themselves.
How do we develop these gifts for ourselves? PERCEPTION. It is not always what you see that is important but how you see something that reveals an important message for you and possibly others. How you relate to the potential improvement in any situation you encounter, or the shift in consciousness you have by recognizing something that no longer seems right for you is important. When you give permission to yourself to let go of an old way of practicing your sacredness and explore something new you are actually a blessing to all of us. Change in our collective conscious energy field is important for humanity. As one of us changes for the better, so will others.
This is what will change the foundation of the 22nd century; because we in the 21st are waking up to the fullest potential available to humanity in millenium. And, this is no accident, or secret. Ancient texts have alluded to the time when wisdom would prevail on earth instead of the wars, famines and tragedies we have seen as we look back in history. The time we live in now is THE time for change on our planet; change for the better. It is already manifesting if you know how to see it. Just shift your perception from fearfull to open minded. Just, you say? Yes. Fear is the only thing that is keeping us stuck in 3D.
Again, it takes perception to see that we are changing the way we think, feel and act around the globe. The middle eastern countries have started to have a perception shift: dictators have been removed, elections are being held, the Taliban members who shot a young activist are being hunted down, and she is recovering in England. More and more every day people are no longer willing to live under a supressed regime. Women especially are uniting, quietly for the most part, but influencing their communities in positive ways so that change can come and stay in their homeland. It's up to the people to take on this task and they are motivated.
Authors are writing about their changes of perception and incredible information is beginning to surface for humanity to evaluate. One of my favorite realizations came from reading "The Twelve Layers of DNA (An Esoteric Study of the Mastery Within) in which Lee Carroll channels KRYON. I don't want to spoil the book for you if you choose to read it, but my heart resonated to KRYON's message that we can each communicate with our DNA and have sacred experiences.
By changing our perception to include the possibility that there might be invisible layers of DNA that are actually quantum energy linked to our human blueprint - our consciousness expands a little and a doorway opens a lot! I have been praying/speaking to/giving gratitude to/ and acknowledging the God, indwelling of my own DNA for weeks and it is amazing the physical improvement and actual feeling I get in my heart chakra region when I am in prayer. The glow lasts for quite a long time after I've finished, too. Something is happening, and I surrender what it is to my Highest Good.
Over ten years ago I wondered out loud to my husband, "do you think that our emotional scars are also damaging to our physial bodies?" I just know I had a seed thought and I am confident that millions of others had the same thought because there is now healing work which uses this premise as a guideline. And, it is work that has been developing upon the work of others since the early 20th century.
What area of interest are you compelled to study?
For me, it's sacred-science, as you know if you've been reading my Sunday Services and know about my book "The Multiple You Universe".
Each of us is going to help humanity awaken to our quantum body, mind, emotions and spirit; our new awareness in the 21st century. If we allow ourselves to turn our perception skills inward we just might find that there is information awaiting release into the world; something that only you have thought of and are curious about; or that your friends have talked about but didn't understand very well. You see where I'm going with this. In my case I realized that I hadn't seen a book that would help laypeople and beginners along their spiritual paths to see the dynamic link between the sacred and the scientific areas of study and experience. I used my own mystical experiences to draw proving lines back into quantum physics and some of the soft sciences so that I could show readers that they can also do it.
Perception is changing for all of us, but some of us are using our skillset to ride the energy waves that are becoming part of the quantum body of our planet. We are communicating with the collective energy field of consciousness in positive ways that we hope will help birth the new New Age gently. You have a part. It's up to you to look inside and find the clues that will point you to an important shift in your current perspective about what is real and resonates as truthfull.
In the meantime, I am sending you loving good will and the same for all life forms in Cosmic Creation. I don't like to limit the effects of energy doing its best possible job. We are carrying the energy signature of God, indwelling and nothing is impossible for us to accomplish.
If you live in Tulsa, OK, I am speaking at the 7th Annual Tulsa Holistic Health Fair on Sunday, October 21st at 5PM. My subject is the power of prayer and affirmation to expand your consciousness.
Tulsa Elks Club: 5335 S. Harvard; Free Admission, Free Parking, Free Lectures.
Hope to see you there!
Rev. Cassandra Martin
This photo circulated on the internet years ago. I was so moved by this natural rock formation that I tucked the photo into my computer files. Finally I have the perfect time to use it. This Sunday Service is about our perception, and what can happen to us when we expand our consciousness.
If you just glanced at the photo you might have missed the magnificence indwelling within the rock. This photo is a representation of "God indwelling" within the rock formation. I do not care if this is a photoshopped rock, or if it is real- it is a metaphor for my deepest belief that we are all carrying the energy signature of the Intelligent Creator we call God, by so many different names, within us from the moment we are born.
This rock formation also honors the Divine Feminine, which energy I understand from previous channeled sessions, will expand throughout this century as humanity begins to dimantle its propensity to live in and create more fearful thought-forms. The Feminine energy of the cosmos is found in men and women to various degrees, and it is always a part of any healing work we wish to bring forth for ourselves, even if we do not consciously call it into the sacred-space of our healing practices .
This is not necessarily because women usually have psyche's balanced toward nurturing, but more because the female is the life bringer and has more personal practice with the flow of energies in her body. Her timing will usually be just a bit more precise in an energy flow session. But, let's take a moment to celebrate the many men who are healers and able to navigate the connection to life-force energy. Psychically they are just as capable of traveling the energy flow within each person. Timing can be developed; switching from one chakra to another, telling the client when to put attention on the DNA for a specific part of the healing to commence, and other ques that we get when we are working with someone's mind, body, emotions and spiritual ability to shift old blockages; always with the intention of helping the client to heal themselves.
How do we develop these gifts for ourselves? PERCEPTION. It is not always what you see that is important but how you see something that reveals an important message for you and possibly others. How you relate to the potential improvement in any situation you encounter, or the shift in consciousness you have by recognizing something that no longer seems right for you is important. When you give permission to yourself to let go of an old way of practicing your sacredness and explore something new you are actually a blessing to all of us. Change in our collective conscious energy field is important for humanity. As one of us changes for the better, so will others.
This is what will change the foundation of the 22nd century; because we in the 21st are waking up to the fullest potential available to humanity in millenium. And, this is no accident, or secret. Ancient texts have alluded to the time when wisdom would prevail on earth instead of the wars, famines and tragedies we have seen as we look back in history. The time we live in now is THE time for change on our planet; change for the better. It is already manifesting if you know how to see it. Just shift your perception from fearfull to open minded. Just, you say? Yes. Fear is the only thing that is keeping us stuck in 3D.
Again, it takes perception to see that we are changing the way we think, feel and act around the globe. The middle eastern countries have started to have a perception shift: dictators have been removed, elections are being held, the Taliban members who shot a young activist are being hunted down, and she is recovering in England. More and more every day people are no longer willing to live under a supressed regime. Women especially are uniting, quietly for the most part, but influencing their communities in positive ways so that change can come and stay in their homeland. It's up to the people to take on this task and they are motivated.
Authors are writing about their changes of perception and incredible information is beginning to surface for humanity to evaluate. One of my favorite realizations came from reading "The Twelve Layers of DNA (An Esoteric Study of the Mastery Within) in which Lee Carroll channels KRYON. I don't want to spoil the book for you if you choose to read it, but my heart resonated to KRYON's message that we can each communicate with our DNA and have sacred experiences.
By changing our perception to include the possibility that there might be invisible layers of DNA that are actually quantum energy linked to our human blueprint - our consciousness expands a little and a doorway opens a lot! I have been praying/speaking to/giving gratitude to/ and acknowledging the God, indwelling of my own DNA for weeks and it is amazing the physical improvement and actual feeling I get in my heart chakra region when I am in prayer. The glow lasts for quite a long time after I've finished, too. Something is happening, and I surrender what it is to my Highest Good.
Over ten years ago I wondered out loud to my husband, "do you think that our emotional scars are also damaging to our physial bodies?" I just know I had a seed thought and I am confident that millions of others had the same thought because there is now healing work which uses this premise as a guideline. And, it is work that has been developing upon the work of others since the early 20th century.
What area of interest are you compelled to study?
For me, it's sacred-science, as you know if you've been reading my Sunday Services and know about my book "The Multiple You Universe".
Each of us is going to help humanity awaken to our quantum body, mind, emotions and spirit; our new awareness in the 21st century. If we allow ourselves to turn our perception skills inward we just might find that there is information awaiting release into the world; something that only you have thought of and are curious about; or that your friends have talked about but didn't understand very well. You see where I'm going with this. In my case I realized that I hadn't seen a book that would help laypeople and beginners along their spiritual paths to see the dynamic link between the sacred and the scientific areas of study and experience. I used my own mystical experiences to draw proving lines back into quantum physics and some of the soft sciences so that I could show readers that they can also do it.
Perception is changing for all of us, but some of us are using our skillset to ride the energy waves that are becoming part of the quantum body of our planet. We are communicating with the collective energy field of consciousness in positive ways that we hope will help birth the new New Age gently. You have a part. It's up to you to look inside and find the clues that will point you to an important shift in your current perspective about what is real and resonates as truthfull.
In the meantime, I am sending you loving good will and the same for all life forms in Cosmic Creation. I don't like to limit the effects of energy doing its best possible job. We are carrying the energy signature of God, indwelling and nothing is impossible for us to accomplish.
If you live in Tulsa, OK, I am speaking at the 7th Annual Tulsa Holistic Health Fair on Sunday, October 21st at 5PM. My subject is the power of prayer and affirmation to expand your consciousness.
Tulsa Elks Club: 5335 S. Harvard; Free Admission, Free Parking, Free Lectures.
Hope to see you there!
Rev. Cassandra Martin
Fear Is The Illusion...
30 September 2012
In our last Sunday Service the topic was the importance of embracing change in our lives instead of resisting it, thereby postponing an opportunity to break an old pattern of thought, or a core belief that no longer serves you because it is an illusion. Since I wrote that service I had a moment of clarity about fear which I want to share with you. Thankfully I journal so I am going to transcribe the actual entry for you because it was Spirit speaking through me and not me speaking about my understanding of the message.
1. Only God is eternal, i.e. real and indestructible.
2. Evil is really an illusion that is created and sustained by the mind, and empowered by your wounded emotions.
3. Once you really understand that evil is an illusion it is impossible to be affected by it. It isn't real and has no independent power source to feed it other than your willingness to stay attached to it, or society's willingness.
I am not nearly this eloquent when it is me at the helm, so I recognized the force behind the words which I heard in my head as my God-Nature. I had been contemplating the effects of fear/evil in the world for days. That isn't hard to do when you watch world news every day. But, the reason I was trying to understand how fear/evil has recently reached fever pitch is because the authentic God-self in me knows (resonates deeply with the belief) that the power we believe to exist behind the outpicturing of negativity in the world isn't real. It is a concept that we agree, as society, to believe until we awaken to the truth.
Let's look at just one of society's belief's which is front and center, and therefore popular at the moment, . It will act as a mirror that can show us why what we call evil/fear is an illusion. I welcome your thoughts on this, too. Just give me your feedback at my new email address: cassandrathemystic@gmail.com
Re: Extremism (the quality, state or habit of going to extemes in views or actions) which is at the core of our fear of terrorism is the soup de jour today. What do you think is feeding terrorism?
Loss of control is a fearful thing to a civilized society (not to say that we are as civilized as we pretend to be). Anger that quickly ignites to rage that is uncontrollable is painful to watch and it frightens us because we cannot imagine a way to make it stop from afar. We see barbarians in the Middle East instead of victims who are suffering because of their own emotional and mental psyche's.
Who and what is inciting them to such vile and violent actions? Would you be surprised to know that your fear of them is keeping them alive and helping them grow their ranks? Would you take responsibility for some of their hatred directed at Christians because they believe Christianity is trying to wipe Islam from the face of the earth? Imagine how fragile their faith is that they do not turn inward to communicate with God, indwelling, because their only "north star" is the words and teaching of their beloved Prophet, Mohamad. How can they know their own God-Nature then?
How about the erroneous belief that the American government is supporting the message in the disrespectful movie about Islam that has supposedly caused the recent riots in Muslim countries? Is there any doubt in the minds of the people of the world that passions are riding high in the emotional make-up of our Middle Eastern brothers and sisters? Could they sustain that passion if it wasn't being fed from outside of themselves? No, they could not. Anger, resentment and personal pain must be fed continuously in order to perpetuate terrorism (against others and ultimately against your own soulful growth). So this is how I know that evil/fear is an illusion if I haven't had a personal message from Spirit: it cannot sustain itself, whereas love and its component parts does nurture itself.
Here is my challenge to you. Consider that if everyone, and I do mean everyone who is honestly afraid of terrorists, were to stop feeding the thought-form of terrorism, it would weaken its power and people would be less distracted by extremism and move away from vindictiveness into constructive actions like rebuilding their society and creating a government in the countries that recently overthrew their dictators. Other good things would begin to manifest as well if we could train ourselves to love more than fear.
I do know that it isn't going to happen overnight, but I want to point out how flimsy evil/fear is in the overall balance of power. There are more countries in the world who are not empowering terrorism than who are. The balance of power is still on the side of temperance. Truthfully, as I mentioned earlier, evil/fear is an illusion but for this Sunday Service I am giving it some power because you are giving it some power over you if you are feeling afraid of "what's the world coming to?" Are you stockpiling food and supplies? Are you nesting more and going out less into the world? Are you afraid that the "end times" are here and terrible cataclysims are coming?
Dear reader, I am not mocking anyone. I recently said to my husband, I need to stock the pantry for winter because the word is that this winter will be rough. We've had several huge snow and ice storms since we moved to Oklahoma. I've recently said, "can you believe how the Extremist Right Religious faction in America is trying to move government towards a theocracy?" I said that before I had my recent message from Spirit. Now I know that reason, and not extremesim will prevail.
For myself I am going to do two things so that I can personally quit feeding negative thoughts, fears, and actions taking place around the world. I am going to continue to cultivate the belief that God is indwelling in every life form on the planet and therefore only God is real and everything else that humanity creates is suspect if it feeds what we perceive of as evil/fearful in the world. This persistence is because I know that only the attributes of love are real and enduring, everything else is temporary.
And two, I am going to vote a straight Democratic ticket this year so that the American extremists of a religious nature can be choked off at the ballot box. Yes, we have our own extremists who are just as much terrorists as those living in other parts of the world and believe in a different version of religion. American terrorists are home-grown jihadists in that they are willing to kill abortionists, take away all women's right to privacy in matters of birth control, and their lawful right to self-determination, and America's terrorists are just as determined to make Christianity a global religion as their Middle Eastern counterparts are in making Islam the religion of all the people in the world.
If you want to fight extremism don't feed it. If you want to help the energy decay around people who thrive on creating evil/fear and chaos in the wake of their actions and point of view which is non-inclusive, then pray for them and the world to awaken to a new truth: evil/fear is an illusion.
The 21st century is a time to expand our consciousness and claim our personal mastery in regards to what we create and support with our thoughts, words and deeds. I have written in the past about the power inherent in repeated thought-forms. I have written about the simple truth that you can embrace the seeds of change in your life and create a future that you will thrive within. It is up to us to join together, in loving good will, and collectively change the negative outpicturing existing in the energy field of our collective consciousness. That subject is also in the archives on this website.
For now, I am going to to send you your psychic hug of loving good will with the hope that your highest good will be served, and that you will have a moment of knowing you are important in the whole wide world. Wake up, you master, you.
Rev. Cassandra Martin
In our last Sunday Service the topic was the importance of embracing change in our lives instead of resisting it, thereby postponing an opportunity to break an old pattern of thought, or a core belief that no longer serves you because it is an illusion. Since I wrote that service I had a moment of clarity about fear which I want to share with you. Thankfully I journal so I am going to transcribe the actual entry for you because it was Spirit speaking through me and not me speaking about my understanding of the message.
1. Only God is eternal, i.e. real and indestructible.
2. Evil is really an illusion that is created and sustained by the mind, and empowered by your wounded emotions.
3. Once you really understand that evil is an illusion it is impossible to be affected by it. It isn't real and has no independent power source to feed it other than your willingness to stay attached to it, or society's willingness.
I am not nearly this eloquent when it is me at the helm, so I recognized the force behind the words which I heard in my head as my God-Nature. I had been contemplating the effects of fear/evil in the world for days. That isn't hard to do when you watch world news every day. But, the reason I was trying to understand how fear/evil has recently reached fever pitch is because the authentic God-self in me knows (resonates deeply with the belief) that the power we believe to exist behind the outpicturing of negativity in the world isn't real. It is a concept that we agree, as society, to believe until we awaken to the truth.
Let's look at just one of society's belief's which is front and center, and therefore popular at the moment, . It will act as a mirror that can show us why what we call evil/fear is an illusion. I welcome your thoughts on this, too. Just give me your feedback at my new email address: cassandrathemystic@gmail.com
Re: Extremism (the quality, state or habit of going to extemes in views or actions) which is at the core of our fear of terrorism is the soup de jour today. What do you think is feeding terrorism?
Loss of control is a fearful thing to a civilized society (not to say that we are as civilized as we pretend to be). Anger that quickly ignites to rage that is uncontrollable is painful to watch and it frightens us because we cannot imagine a way to make it stop from afar. We see barbarians in the Middle East instead of victims who are suffering because of their own emotional and mental psyche's.
Who and what is inciting them to such vile and violent actions? Would you be surprised to know that your fear of them is keeping them alive and helping them grow their ranks? Would you take responsibility for some of their hatred directed at Christians because they believe Christianity is trying to wipe Islam from the face of the earth? Imagine how fragile their faith is that they do not turn inward to communicate with God, indwelling, because their only "north star" is the words and teaching of their beloved Prophet, Mohamad. How can they know their own God-Nature then?
How about the erroneous belief that the American government is supporting the message in the disrespectful movie about Islam that has supposedly caused the recent riots in Muslim countries? Is there any doubt in the minds of the people of the world that passions are riding high in the emotional make-up of our Middle Eastern brothers and sisters? Could they sustain that passion if it wasn't being fed from outside of themselves? No, they could not. Anger, resentment and personal pain must be fed continuously in order to perpetuate terrorism (against others and ultimately against your own soulful growth). So this is how I know that evil/fear is an illusion if I haven't had a personal message from Spirit: it cannot sustain itself, whereas love and its component parts does nurture itself.
Here is my challenge to you. Consider that if everyone, and I do mean everyone who is honestly afraid of terrorists, were to stop feeding the thought-form of terrorism, it would weaken its power and people would be less distracted by extremism and move away from vindictiveness into constructive actions like rebuilding their society and creating a government in the countries that recently overthrew their dictators. Other good things would begin to manifest as well if we could train ourselves to love more than fear.
I do know that it isn't going to happen overnight, but I want to point out how flimsy evil/fear is in the overall balance of power. There are more countries in the world who are not empowering terrorism than who are. The balance of power is still on the side of temperance. Truthfully, as I mentioned earlier, evil/fear is an illusion but for this Sunday Service I am giving it some power because you are giving it some power over you if you are feeling afraid of "what's the world coming to?" Are you stockpiling food and supplies? Are you nesting more and going out less into the world? Are you afraid that the "end times" are here and terrible cataclysims are coming?
Dear reader, I am not mocking anyone. I recently said to my husband, I need to stock the pantry for winter because the word is that this winter will be rough. We've had several huge snow and ice storms since we moved to Oklahoma. I've recently said, "can you believe how the Extremist Right Religious faction in America is trying to move government towards a theocracy?" I said that before I had my recent message from Spirit. Now I know that reason, and not extremesim will prevail.
For myself I am going to do two things so that I can personally quit feeding negative thoughts, fears, and actions taking place around the world. I am going to continue to cultivate the belief that God is indwelling in every life form on the planet and therefore only God is real and everything else that humanity creates is suspect if it feeds what we perceive of as evil/fearful in the world. This persistence is because I know that only the attributes of love are real and enduring, everything else is temporary.
And two, I am going to vote a straight Democratic ticket this year so that the American extremists of a religious nature can be choked off at the ballot box. Yes, we have our own extremists who are just as much terrorists as those living in other parts of the world and believe in a different version of religion. American terrorists are home-grown jihadists in that they are willing to kill abortionists, take away all women's right to privacy in matters of birth control, and their lawful right to self-determination, and America's terrorists are just as determined to make Christianity a global religion as their Middle Eastern counterparts are in making Islam the religion of all the people in the world.
If you want to fight extremism don't feed it. If you want to help the energy decay around people who thrive on creating evil/fear and chaos in the wake of their actions and point of view which is non-inclusive, then pray for them and the world to awaken to a new truth: evil/fear is an illusion.
The 21st century is a time to expand our consciousness and claim our personal mastery in regards to what we create and support with our thoughts, words and deeds. I have written in the past about the power inherent in repeated thought-forms. I have written about the simple truth that you can embrace the seeds of change in your life and create a future that you will thrive within. It is up to us to join together, in loving good will, and collectively change the negative outpicturing existing in the energy field of our collective consciousness. That subject is also in the archives on this website.
For now, I am going to to send you your psychic hug of loving good will with the hope that your highest good will be served, and that you will have a moment of knowing you are important in the whole wide world. Wake up, you master, you.
Rev. Cassandra Martin
The Seeds of Change...
Indian Corn
15 September 2012
Like Indian Corn, the seeds of change come from multi-cultural backgrounds. Like many of you I have benefited from several modalities learned from others whose practices I didn't learn growing up. I have been enriched, like a stew that is delicious because of the different spices, vegetables and seeds I might use that originated in India, instead of my back yard.
Our human seeds of change are mental, emotional, and spiritually expansive so that our perceptions of reality can bring us to a more enlightened state of being. In order to achive our spiritual goals we need to embrace change and let go of our fears. We all know that, but that doesn't make it an easy thing to do. Changing our point of view is going to be a big part of the answer we seek today.
Why do we experience fear? Is it a reaction to something occuring in our lives, or is it embedded in our mental landscape? Is it ego-driven, without the possibility of moderation? When we move between fear and fearlessness is this a mental change or does it include emotions? Is fear simply a spiritual lesson which we must all face down until we believe in our magnificence? Let's consider all of these questions from a mystical perspective. Until we understand fear we can waste years of our valuable time walking a path that doubles back on itself getting smaller and smaller until we are stuck in a thought-form of no value. Fear is like glue. We are light, resonating in mind, body and spirit.
Why do we experience fear? Fear is a teacher of sorts, and that is why we cultivate it like a garden, growing different varieties from childhood to elderhood. In order to uncreate something in our world, it must first exist. If our brains did not have hard wiring for "fight or flight" we would not have developed very quicky as a species, but we do and we did. Let's address our fear of the unknown; it is a weed with incredibly deep roots by the time we get into adulthood. If we believe that fear is a negative thought we will forever be recreating it. If we make a friend of our fear we will befriend ourselves. That is what the mystic knows.
Understand yourself and you will have the key to befriending fear thereby making it powerless. What is lacking in your mental make-up which makes you believe that you can't believe in yourself? If you did 'know thyself', fear would have no fertile ground. If you are confident, fear is fleeting, a mere thought without substance. However, I've have never met anyone who was born confident. We have to grow within ourselves.
Fear is not a one answer issue, and you know that it would take a thesis to do the subject justice, but you are capable of the personal journey to truth. Do you have diaries that you can re-read from a shifted perspective? Are you able to see yourself as "then" and not "now" and "change" the past through creative re-imagining? Clues about your attachment to fear instead of your confidence in yourself will leap off the page, or into your mind when you are sincerely seeking to understand your previous conditioning.
Develop a set of personal questions to guide you closer to how you really see yourself in this big old world. You already know that you need to spend time thinking about yourself in order to change what no longer serves you. My only advice is to develop a language of loving kindness when doing this self-talk. Mystics speak gently with no jugement.
Is fear caused by a reaction or is it embedded in our mental landscape? Truthfully, it is both at different stages of our growth. As children it is mostly reaction. These memories are embedded in our mental landscape, but if we grow up in a positive environment we are given emotional support to overcome our childhood fears. Very few of us grew up in this idillyc setting, though, so we served ourselves by doing inner-child work if we were inclined, or have saught out ways to release ourselves from core beliefs and conditioning which are fear based.
Our mental landscape is the key to coping with fears of any shape or form. And, our mental energy field prefers facts to fiction. The problem with fear is that it is fiction. Fear itself cannot hurt you, it cannot scare you to death, but it can make you feel like you're dying. Learn the difference between anxiety and fear. It is a life lesson of value. Cultivate a spiritual language that differentiates between fear, anxiety, uncertainty, and your lack of confidence that you can cope with anything that comes your way. Know what each of these words feels like in your body when you are experiencing them in your mind. Only then, can you create seeds of change to soothe body, mind and emotions.
Is fear ego-driven and without the possibility of moderation? Never. Everything is going to change in your life. Hopefully the changes are gradual, but it is really the difficult changes that serve us best. If you understand this, and welcome the pain inherent within ego-driven fears (you are less than, or more than...both are lies) you will navigate your lessoning with more ease. Change is the spiritual answer to stagnation. Embrace it, and love your ego into submission. Yes submission. You don't want to have too much or too little self esteem, right? The ego is inclined to exaggeration, folks. A mystic seeks balance in his or her opinion about self.
Since we can move between fear and fearlessness in very little time if we are able to affect it as a state of mind which drives our emotions; "I don't believe in myself, therefore I am afraid " (thought and emotion) then to unthink fear is easier than you may believe. It may take a tremendous effort to succeed, but it is worth the time you put into getting to know yourself better. I went to bed exhausted for weeks at a time while working on this premise for myself because of the many ways I was feeding the fear monster. Everytime I had a fearful thought I would work through it. I found my way to do it, you will find your way. It will take you as long as it takes for you to no longer buy into the story you have told yourself about your weakness' or your inflated opinion about self. A mystic is inventive and knows themselves well.
Is fear really a spiritual experience we are asked to face down and be done with?
Let me encourage you here. The more you resolve to develop self esteem in a healthy portion the less power fear will have over you. The magnificence of who you really are is the one belief you have the most trouble with over your whole life time. This is usually because we so often confuse the magnificence of our Spirit self, or God-Nature, with the thought that we can only achieve enlightenment if we are perfect. Nothing could be further from the truth. The beauty of living our life is in the experiential journey and how much we are able to embrace the seeds of change that life (Spirit) presents on our path with the greatest intention of loving us into our highest good. Notice I did not say perfect good because the belief in human perfection is a lie.
Fear is often generated from the belief in an achievable perfection, but it is still a lie. I hope you are reading between the lines of this Sunday Service.
I can sum up my own simple truth this way: I am the only one who stands in the way of my spiritual, mental and emotional happiness. I don't strive for perfection anymore. I strive to cultivate a garden with seeds of change that are all kernels of loving good will which I share daily with myself when life gets in the way of my plans.
Love yourself as opposed to admiring yourself. Speak gently and kindly and listen well to others. Forgive yourself, and others when you feel abused because you really are looking through a cloudy lens if you think you are the only one hurting. These are all gentle shifts in perspective which can help you attain peace in your life. And peace is indwelling the heart of every mystic.
Here comes your psychic hug of loving good will.
Rev. Cassandra Martin
Like Indian Corn, the seeds of change come from multi-cultural backgrounds. Like many of you I have benefited from several modalities learned from others whose practices I didn't learn growing up. I have been enriched, like a stew that is delicious because of the different spices, vegetables and seeds I might use that originated in India, instead of my back yard.
Our human seeds of change are mental, emotional, and spiritually expansive so that our perceptions of reality can bring us to a more enlightened state of being. In order to achive our spiritual goals we need to embrace change and let go of our fears. We all know that, but that doesn't make it an easy thing to do. Changing our point of view is going to be a big part of the answer we seek today.
Why do we experience fear? Is it a reaction to something occuring in our lives, or is it embedded in our mental landscape? Is it ego-driven, without the possibility of moderation? When we move between fear and fearlessness is this a mental change or does it include emotions? Is fear simply a spiritual lesson which we must all face down until we believe in our magnificence? Let's consider all of these questions from a mystical perspective. Until we understand fear we can waste years of our valuable time walking a path that doubles back on itself getting smaller and smaller until we are stuck in a thought-form of no value. Fear is like glue. We are light, resonating in mind, body and spirit.
Why do we experience fear? Fear is a teacher of sorts, and that is why we cultivate it like a garden, growing different varieties from childhood to elderhood. In order to uncreate something in our world, it must first exist. If our brains did not have hard wiring for "fight or flight" we would not have developed very quicky as a species, but we do and we did. Let's address our fear of the unknown; it is a weed with incredibly deep roots by the time we get into adulthood. If we believe that fear is a negative thought we will forever be recreating it. If we make a friend of our fear we will befriend ourselves. That is what the mystic knows.
Understand yourself and you will have the key to befriending fear thereby making it powerless. What is lacking in your mental make-up which makes you believe that you can't believe in yourself? If you did 'know thyself', fear would have no fertile ground. If you are confident, fear is fleeting, a mere thought without substance. However, I've have never met anyone who was born confident. We have to grow within ourselves.
Fear is not a one answer issue, and you know that it would take a thesis to do the subject justice, but you are capable of the personal journey to truth. Do you have diaries that you can re-read from a shifted perspective? Are you able to see yourself as "then" and not "now" and "change" the past through creative re-imagining? Clues about your attachment to fear instead of your confidence in yourself will leap off the page, or into your mind when you are sincerely seeking to understand your previous conditioning.
Develop a set of personal questions to guide you closer to how you really see yourself in this big old world. You already know that you need to spend time thinking about yourself in order to change what no longer serves you. My only advice is to develop a language of loving kindness when doing this self-talk. Mystics speak gently with no jugement.
Is fear caused by a reaction or is it embedded in our mental landscape? Truthfully, it is both at different stages of our growth. As children it is mostly reaction. These memories are embedded in our mental landscape, but if we grow up in a positive environment we are given emotional support to overcome our childhood fears. Very few of us grew up in this idillyc setting, though, so we served ourselves by doing inner-child work if we were inclined, or have saught out ways to release ourselves from core beliefs and conditioning which are fear based.
Our mental landscape is the key to coping with fears of any shape or form. And, our mental energy field prefers facts to fiction. The problem with fear is that it is fiction. Fear itself cannot hurt you, it cannot scare you to death, but it can make you feel like you're dying. Learn the difference between anxiety and fear. It is a life lesson of value. Cultivate a spiritual language that differentiates between fear, anxiety, uncertainty, and your lack of confidence that you can cope with anything that comes your way. Know what each of these words feels like in your body when you are experiencing them in your mind. Only then, can you create seeds of change to soothe body, mind and emotions.
Is fear ego-driven and without the possibility of moderation? Never. Everything is going to change in your life. Hopefully the changes are gradual, but it is really the difficult changes that serve us best. If you understand this, and welcome the pain inherent within ego-driven fears (you are less than, or more than...both are lies) you will navigate your lessoning with more ease. Change is the spiritual answer to stagnation. Embrace it, and love your ego into submission. Yes submission. You don't want to have too much or too little self esteem, right? The ego is inclined to exaggeration, folks. A mystic seeks balance in his or her opinion about self.
Since we can move between fear and fearlessness in very little time if we are able to affect it as a state of mind which drives our emotions; "I don't believe in myself, therefore I am afraid " (thought and emotion) then to unthink fear is easier than you may believe. It may take a tremendous effort to succeed, but it is worth the time you put into getting to know yourself better. I went to bed exhausted for weeks at a time while working on this premise for myself because of the many ways I was feeding the fear monster. Everytime I had a fearful thought I would work through it. I found my way to do it, you will find your way. It will take you as long as it takes for you to no longer buy into the story you have told yourself about your weakness' or your inflated opinion about self. A mystic is inventive and knows themselves well.
Is fear really a spiritual experience we are asked to face down and be done with?
Let me encourage you here. The more you resolve to develop self esteem in a healthy portion the less power fear will have over you. The magnificence of who you really are is the one belief you have the most trouble with over your whole life time. This is usually because we so often confuse the magnificence of our Spirit self, or God-Nature, with the thought that we can only achieve enlightenment if we are perfect. Nothing could be further from the truth. The beauty of living our life is in the experiential journey and how much we are able to embrace the seeds of change that life (Spirit) presents on our path with the greatest intention of loving us into our highest good. Notice I did not say perfect good because the belief in human perfection is a lie.
Fear is often generated from the belief in an achievable perfection, but it is still a lie. I hope you are reading between the lines of this Sunday Service.
I can sum up my own simple truth this way: I am the only one who stands in the way of my spiritual, mental and emotional happiness. I don't strive for perfection anymore. I strive to cultivate a garden with seeds of change that are all kernels of loving good will which I share daily with myself when life gets in the way of my plans.
Love yourself as opposed to admiring yourself. Speak gently and kindly and listen well to others. Forgive yourself, and others when you feel abused because you really are looking through a cloudy lens if you think you are the only one hurting. These are all gentle shifts in perspective which can help you attain peace in your life. And peace is indwelling the heart of every mystic.
Here comes your psychic hug of loving good will.
Rev. Cassandra Martin
Sacred-Science is a Key to the Expansion of Consciousness
01 Sept. 2012
Just as this opening door is a metaphor for expanding our consciousness, the tools that we have available to us as individuals are just a doorstep away when we realize that we have been opening and closing doors all of our lives.
For many people in America, Christianity was one of the first doors we walked through with out parents.
One of the newer doors available to people in the 20th century began with the expansion from traditional Christian practices into New Thought Christianity. I invite you to google Barbara Marx Hubbard, of Unity fame, and look for her upcoming event/film in September about "Humanity Ascending". This is Unity's current effort to help expand human consciousness. Better yet, go to www.birth2012.com and learn about this movement for yourself. It is an opportunity for my readers to help raise their consciousness and the collective consciousness of us all. Share with your friends and we can really get this idea out there before December 22, 2012, okay?
One of the newer doors opening to those of you who are not affiliated with Unity, is also about the need to collectively cultivate expanding consciousness. A new way to explore this is through Sacred-Science; the opportunity to see the connection between spirituality and quantum physics, and many soft sciences as well. Quite a few authors have been speaking about the power of Intention (Lynne McTaggart), How God Changes Your Brain (Dr. Andrew Newberg and Mark R. Waldman), frequencies- the Power of Personal Vibration (Penny Pierce), and Ken Wilbur's development of a lifestyle he's called Integral Life.
Now I am joining the group with the hope that we will evolve ourselves via the expansion of our consciousness and be able to co-create a better 21st century. My contribution is under the heading of sacred-science, as mentioned. These two fields of study have been changing as steadily as humanity has been. In my manuscript, The Multiple You Universe, I help my reader recognize the different ways we can expand our personal consciousness in order to directly affect the collective human consciousness (collective unconscious) detailed by Carl Jung.
I am excited to share with you the things I learned while researching both hard (emperical) and soft sciences like philosophy, psychology, and psychiatry; the most well known which deal with consciousness. It may sound strange but I now realize that I was born with a mystic's gifts. They have developed slowly except when my learning cycle was in crash-course mode, and my curiosity was like an engine that made me push through the difficulties of development. I was often inspired by the ideas of others, but found a need to adapt their techniques to fit my own energy signature.
This is one of the shifts that will happen in our consciousness, we learn to improvise and trust that our guidance has our best interest at heart. Right now I know that a massive effort is taking place on earth to guide people into their highest good. How do I know that? I'm seeing signs of it in the lives of everyone I know. Even the smallest group of people experiencing the same energetic shift of consciousness is a telling sign that this is happening to everyone. I say this because I consider the universe to be rather like a holograph. Each tiny part of the whole, contains the energy of the whole of the hologram. Keep in mind that the universe is probably so much more complex than a mere holograph, but I will use this metaphor in order to move us through progressive energy band widths with ease of mind, body and spirit.
Over the past two weeks two outstanding things have happend in our home. My husband's ex-girlfriend has communicated with him in a way which illustrated her willingness to forgive him. They were both in pain when they broke up. That she had shifted enough for her to answer previously unanswered messages of loving good will was our shared blessing.
And, I reached out to a beloved "released" friend because I couldn't let her think that I didn't still love her - we shared so many wonderful things over several years. She in turn, accepted my flower of loving good will. We both realized it would need to be nurtured, but we accepted the chance to start afresh. Does this sound minimal to you? Over the period of about six weeks I have kept hearing people speak of their "change of heart" with people in their own lives. Have you had such an experience over August/September?
Many of the things that I learned early in life (metaphysically) have shown me aspects of potential growth that were not inherent within the original teachings. This, too, is a sign that as humanity's ability to accept lessoning gracefully grows, we are all in a cycle that is shifting one's perspective for the better. We are all expanding the collective conscious field of energy. The importance of this expansion is due to the thought-forms that we create each time we have a strong reaction, and continue reviewing the incidents that have kept us in the rut of that strong emotion. Here are two examples of strong emotions that have adversely affected the thoughts of humanity. I encourage you to also think of your top two emotional untruths.
1. Love hurts.
2. Violence is the only way to protect oneself.
These are both thought-forms that have gained power over millennium. Neither of them is accurate. Think about it for yourself. Does love hurt during all of its stages? Only unrequited love hurts. But you both loved each other when you got together, right? Did you really? Love, true love, takes time to develop and it is multi-layerd, and even all inclusive. Passion for instance, is the initial connector between two people. You have an attraction. But then, for what ever reason, the two of you decide to go your separate ways. You believe that one or both of you have fallen out of love.
Is it even possible to fall out of love? You either love or you don't, and that is where the unrequited part comes in. I say that because we (collectively) want so desperately to be loved, and to love in return. And, importantly, we want that feeling of love to continue indefinitely. Yet, those who've been in long-term relationships all say the same thing; there is a cooling off period. If it cools to completion, then you weren't really in love. That, my friends, is just fine because it give you another opportunity to engage the lessons of life that revolve around the word love.
Often the person you attract is meant to be your partner solely because you will learn something about yourself in the relationship that you would have waited years for otherwise. Statistics have shown that the majority of humanity believes themselves unable to experience the kind of love that they dream of. They want the kind of love that brands your soul, the kind in which you want that person's happiness as well as you want your own. You become disillusioned time after time because you think the fault is yours or theirs. Divorce rates grow. And our younger generation's receive conflicting messages about love.
If you are still laboring under the illusion that love hurts, I tell you plainly that it cannot. Your soul, your highest self, your god-nature, has orchestrated these events in your life with the greatest of love. Divine Love is true love. Personal love is an opportunity to grow. You can be happy or miserable along the path which the two of you take, it is up to you. I have found that my lessoning always depends upon my need to evolve some core belief about myself that no longer serves me.
Lastly, we do not need violence to protect us against others, by so believing we are allowing violence to continue growing year after year; and fear after fear. Protecting yourself is an emotional 'value' in my state. Rev. John and I both have guns and we've taken the classes for the concealed-carry license. Yet, we haven't gone down to the Sherrif's office to register. Why might that be? Prioritizing time has been part of it, but for me something more important is at the heart of the matter. The only time I have been afraid of others and believed myself to be unable to cope with strangers has been when I've been fearful, in general.
We know what make's us feel less safe: we see images on t.v. which are about violence against each other; we consider ourselves ill prepared for daily life; we are isolated from others for whatever reason; or our concept of humanity is one that is bordering on the edge of barbaric again. In face, much that is inside of us in preparing to accellerate change.
In WWI and WWII those called "consciencious objectors" were allowed to abstain from enlisting in the war effort. They were pacifists. Humanity has made many, many attempts to build unity around positive models of peacekeeping. The sorry truth is that part of the equation is our overall lack of self-control. Self-control is hard. Society has not modeled the importance of self control within and for humanity. War will fade as we face the weakness of our minds. My point is that if something can morph into something else, that means it is not static and should not be considered a truth that we accept and repeat for the rest of our lives. Truth is always shifting in its reality. As we become more enlightened we become less reactionary; our version of truth shifts. People are not basically evil, which would be thought by someone casually observing the frequency of wars on our planet.
Something we need to shift our consciousness comes to you in a simple statement from Neale Donald Walsch's book, 'Tomorrow's God Our Greatest Spiritual Challenge'. God tells Neale that one of the lies humanity still believes is that there is not enough of everything for everyone's needs. Think about that, if you will.
Today gangs fight for territory. This is old school. Shift global consciousness and suddenly we have cooperation between people whose needs must be met constructively. More tolerance is required for civilization to continue. Violence occurs in each instance because there exists the fear of a lack of something we need, or perceive as need. You don't believe that fear is an illusion? If we start to understand that we are - in essense - all one family we will shift our perspective. You are only threatened when you can't look into an aggressor's eyes and see yourself.
So, back to the importance inherent within all thought-forms; they are stored collectively in the band of energy that we often call the collective unconscious, or the collective conscious mind. They gain power and become stronger with time. The energy of these thought-forms influence our personal and collective belief's to the point that we can be irrational in the case of the negative ones, and unrealistic within our yearning for instant change. The only thing instant in life should be oatmeal.
Beginning with 2000 AD I have been sending constructive energy into this field of energy which has the potential to shift our perspective for the better.
If you,too, have felt a lightening in your emotional energy field and have experienced something wonderful in the recent weeks that shifted your perception and willingness to live within the service of love; then those of us (and we are millions) who pray, or affirm, or in any way do ceremony for the benefit of humanity, have opened one of the doors for you to walk through.
You have many keys to open many doors (practices for spiritual growth); take your key and change your outlook on life. Perception shifts and you gain momentum on your personal journey because you suddenly realize that love never hurts us even when the lessons we are learning are self-love based.
Once again, I send out to all of you the Blessings of Loving Good Will. Please review the archives if you are interested in searching out varying methods or "keys" that have been offered in previous Sunday Services.
Rev. Cassandra Martin
Edited: 9/4/2012
Just as this opening door is a metaphor for expanding our consciousness, the tools that we have available to us as individuals are just a doorstep away when we realize that we have been opening and closing doors all of our lives.
For many people in America, Christianity was one of the first doors we walked through with out parents.
One of the newer doors available to people in the 20th century began with the expansion from traditional Christian practices into New Thought Christianity. I invite you to google Barbara Marx Hubbard, of Unity fame, and look for her upcoming event/film in September about "Humanity Ascending". This is Unity's current effort to help expand human consciousness. Better yet, go to www.birth2012.com and learn about this movement for yourself. It is an opportunity for my readers to help raise their consciousness and the collective consciousness of us all. Share with your friends and we can really get this idea out there before December 22, 2012, okay?
One of the newer doors opening to those of you who are not affiliated with Unity, is also about the need to collectively cultivate expanding consciousness. A new way to explore this is through Sacred-Science; the opportunity to see the connection between spirituality and quantum physics, and many soft sciences as well. Quite a few authors have been speaking about the power of Intention (Lynne McTaggart), How God Changes Your Brain (Dr. Andrew Newberg and Mark R. Waldman), frequencies- the Power of Personal Vibration (Penny Pierce), and Ken Wilbur's development of a lifestyle he's called Integral Life.
Now I am joining the group with the hope that we will evolve ourselves via the expansion of our consciousness and be able to co-create a better 21st century. My contribution is under the heading of sacred-science, as mentioned. These two fields of study have been changing as steadily as humanity has been. In my manuscript, The Multiple You Universe, I help my reader recognize the different ways we can expand our personal consciousness in order to directly affect the collective human consciousness (collective unconscious) detailed by Carl Jung.
I am excited to share with you the things I learned while researching both hard (emperical) and soft sciences like philosophy, psychology, and psychiatry; the most well known which deal with consciousness. It may sound strange but I now realize that I was born with a mystic's gifts. They have developed slowly except when my learning cycle was in crash-course mode, and my curiosity was like an engine that made me push through the difficulties of development. I was often inspired by the ideas of others, but found a need to adapt their techniques to fit my own energy signature.
This is one of the shifts that will happen in our consciousness, we learn to improvise and trust that our guidance has our best interest at heart. Right now I know that a massive effort is taking place on earth to guide people into their highest good. How do I know that? I'm seeing signs of it in the lives of everyone I know. Even the smallest group of people experiencing the same energetic shift of consciousness is a telling sign that this is happening to everyone. I say this because I consider the universe to be rather like a holograph. Each tiny part of the whole, contains the energy of the whole of the hologram. Keep in mind that the universe is probably so much more complex than a mere holograph, but I will use this metaphor in order to move us through progressive energy band widths with ease of mind, body and spirit.
Over the past two weeks two outstanding things have happend in our home. My husband's ex-girlfriend has communicated with him in a way which illustrated her willingness to forgive him. They were both in pain when they broke up. That she had shifted enough for her to answer previously unanswered messages of loving good will was our shared blessing.
And, I reached out to a beloved "released" friend because I couldn't let her think that I didn't still love her - we shared so many wonderful things over several years. She in turn, accepted my flower of loving good will. We both realized it would need to be nurtured, but we accepted the chance to start afresh. Does this sound minimal to you? Over the period of about six weeks I have kept hearing people speak of their "change of heart" with people in their own lives. Have you had such an experience over August/September?
Many of the things that I learned early in life (metaphysically) have shown me aspects of potential growth that were not inherent within the original teachings. This, too, is a sign that as humanity's ability to accept lessoning gracefully grows, we are all in a cycle that is shifting one's perspective for the better. We are all expanding the collective conscious field of energy. The importance of this expansion is due to the thought-forms that we create each time we have a strong reaction, and continue reviewing the incidents that have kept us in the rut of that strong emotion. Here are two examples of strong emotions that have adversely affected the thoughts of humanity. I encourage you to also think of your top two emotional untruths.
1. Love hurts.
2. Violence is the only way to protect oneself.
These are both thought-forms that have gained power over millennium. Neither of them is accurate. Think about it for yourself. Does love hurt during all of its stages? Only unrequited love hurts. But you both loved each other when you got together, right? Did you really? Love, true love, takes time to develop and it is multi-layerd, and even all inclusive. Passion for instance, is the initial connector between two people. You have an attraction. But then, for what ever reason, the two of you decide to go your separate ways. You believe that one or both of you have fallen out of love.
Is it even possible to fall out of love? You either love or you don't, and that is where the unrequited part comes in. I say that because we (collectively) want so desperately to be loved, and to love in return. And, importantly, we want that feeling of love to continue indefinitely. Yet, those who've been in long-term relationships all say the same thing; there is a cooling off period. If it cools to completion, then you weren't really in love. That, my friends, is just fine because it give you another opportunity to engage the lessons of life that revolve around the word love.
Often the person you attract is meant to be your partner solely because you will learn something about yourself in the relationship that you would have waited years for otherwise. Statistics have shown that the majority of humanity believes themselves unable to experience the kind of love that they dream of. They want the kind of love that brands your soul, the kind in which you want that person's happiness as well as you want your own. You become disillusioned time after time because you think the fault is yours or theirs. Divorce rates grow. And our younger generation's receive conflicting messages about love.
If you are still laboring under the illusion that love hurts, I tell you plainly that it cannot. Your soul, your highest self, your god-nature, has orchestrated these events in your life with the greatest of love. Divine Love is true love. Personal love is an opportunity to grow. You can be happy or miserable along the path which the two of you take, it is up to you. I have found that my lessoning always depends upon my need to evolve some core belief about myself that no longer serves me.
Lastly, we do not need violence to protect us against others, by so believing we are allowing violence to continue growing year after year; and fear after fear. Protecting yourself is an emotional 'value' in my state. Rev. John and I both have guns and we've taken the classes for the concealed-carry license. Yet, we haven't gone down to the Sherrif's office to register. Why might that be? Prioritizing time has been part of it, but for me something more important is at the heart of the matter. The only time I have been afraid of others and believed myself to be unable to cope with strangers has been when I've been fearful, in general.
We know what make's us feel less safe: we see images on t.v. which are about violence against each other; we consider ourselves ill prepared for daily life; we are isolated from others for whatever reason; or our concept of humanity is one that is bordering on the edge of barbaric again. In face, much that is inside of us in preparing to accellerate change.
In WWI and WWII those called "consciencious objectors" were allowed to abstain from enlisting in the war effort. They were pacifists. Humanity has made many, many attempts to build unity around positive models of peacekeeping. The sorry truth is that part of the equation is our overall lack of self-control. Self-control is hard. Society has not modeled the importance of self control within and for humanity. War will fade as we face the weakness of our minds. My point is that if something can morph into something else, that means it is not static and should not be considered a truth that we accept and repeat for the rest of our lives. Truth is always shifting in its reality. As we become more enlightened we become less reactionary; our version of truth shifts. People are not basically evil, which would be thought by someone casually observing the frequency of wars on our planet.
Something we need to shift our consciousness comes to you in a simple statement from Neale Donald Walsch's book, 'Tomorrow's God Our Greatest Spiritual Challenge'. God tells Neale that one of the lies humanity still believes is that there is not enough of everything for everyone's needs. Think about that, if you will.
Today gangs fight for territory. This is old school. Shift global consciousness and suddenly we have cooperation between people whose needs must be met constructively. More tolerance is required for civilization to continue. Violence occurs in each instance because there exists the fear of a lack of something we need, or perceive as need. You don't believe that fear is an illusion? If we start to understand that we are - in essense - all one family we will shift our perspective. You are only threatened when you can't look into an aggressor's eyes and see yourself.
So, back to the importance inherent within all thought-forms; they are stored collectively in the band of energy that we often call the collective unconscious, or the collective conscious mind. They gain power and become stronger with time. The energy of these thought-forms influence our personal and collective belief's to the point that we can be irrational in the case of the negative ones, and unrealistic within our yearning for instant change. The only thing instant in life should be oatmeal.
Beginning with 2000 AD I have been sending constructive energy into this field of energy which has the potential to shift our perspective for the better.
If you,too, have felt a lightening in your emotional energy field and have experienced something wonderful in the recent weeks that shifted your perception and willingness to live within the service of love; then those of us (and we are millions) who pray, or affirm, or in any way do ceremony for the benefit of humanity, have opened one of the doors for you to walk through.
You have many keys to open many doors (practices for spiritual growth); take your key and change your outlook on life. Perception shifts and you gain momentum on your personal journey because you suddenly realize that love never hurts us even when the lessons we are learning are self-love based.
Once again, I send out to all of you the Blessings of Loving Good Will. Please review the archives if you are interested in searching out varying methods or "keys" that have been offered in previous Sunday Services.
Rev. Cassandra Martin
Edited: 9/4/2012
Thank You For This Good Day & This Good Way...
15 August 2012
Most of us cherry-pick our spirituality, even Christians, as some are Jesus focused, and others are God focused. As an Independent New Thought Minister I have deliberately kept my options open on how I will express my beliefs to my readers, because this website isn't about me, but about you and your beliefs. I'm simply here to share with you techniques, and recommendations based upon my personal experience; which by the way is still an on going effort, although my life is getting better all the time.
I am taking a moment out of my day to give thanks for this good day and this good way that I am creating with the help of my beloved Divine Self, god indwelling. None of us journey alone, even if we think we do. Within you is the communication network to solve all of your perceived problems, to bounce back after a dissappointing event in your life, or to quiet the wounded-self created by your own choices.
As a woman who is only 1/32nd Cherokee it is amazing to me how strong the attraction is to the simple beauty of earth based religious practices. I go elsewhere for community experiences, but when it comes to my personal healing, I always come home to The Mother, earth. I don't do anything fancy. I usually make a little bed on the Mother's sacred ground and lie down to listen to her story. She always reminds me of the good things in life, and how connected I am to her and her children. Because we are all basically frequency, even if I take a little nap during my visit with her, I awaken refreshed and ready to get back on 'the good red road'. If you are an Indian you know what I am saying. Our minds are easily broken by the pressures of the world, but our hearts are filled like a reservoir with all the good things of life and available for us to drink from, deeply. Choice is the important difference. If you are reading this, you have a choice to make.
You can take as long as you want to realize that being happy is humanity's natural state of being. You can change your life with the snap of your fingers, have you ever done that? Try changing something about yourself that you believe is true but it is causing you alot of pain and sorrow. You don't need an example. If you are currently unhappy about something in your life, look at it and figure out the root of that unhappiness. You have the time.
I have been reaching out to you since 2010, and sending you loving good will because we are all in this paradigm shift together. I am writing about it in my way, others in theirs, some are leading seminars, and others are holding discussion groups, or channeling groups in order to strengthen our connections to what we know as 'Oneness Consciousness'. Ministers around the world are here to remind you that gratitude is a great way to create a good mood, and benefits in life that may have been slow in showing up on your doorstep. Just keep in mind that God is Good, and you are god-in-action. This obviously means that you, too, are good - in this moment and every moment- even if you miss the mark upon occasion.
Rev. Cassandra Martin
Most of us cherry-pick our spirituality, even Christians, as some are Jesus focused, and others are God focused. As an Independent New Thought Minister I have deliberately kept my options open on how I will express my beliefs to my readers, because this website isn't about me, but about you and your beliefs. I'm simply here to share with you techniques, and recommendations based upon my personal experience; which by the way is still an on going effort, although my life is getting better all the time.
I am taking a moment out of my day to give thanks for this good day and this good way that I am creating with the help of my beloved Divine Self, god indwelling. None of us journey alone, even if we think we do. Within you is the communication network to solve all of your perceived problems, to bounce back after a dissappointing event in your life, or to quiet the wounded-self created by your own choices.
As a woman who is only 1/32nd Cherokee it is amazing to me how strong the attraction is to the simple beauty of earth based religious practices. I go elsewhere for community experiences, but when it comes to my personal healing, I always come home to The Mother, earth. I don't do anything fancy. I usually make a little bed on the Mother's sacred ground and lie down to listen to her story. She always reminds me of the good things in life, and how connected I am to her and her children. Because we are all basically frequency, even if I take a little nap during my visit with her, I awaken refreshed and ready to get back on 'the good red road'. If you are an Indian you know what I am saying. Our minds are easily broken by the pressures of the world, but our hearts are filled like a reservoir with all the good things of life and available for us to drink from, deeply. Choice is the important difference. If you are reading this, you have a choice to make.
You can take as long as you want to realize that being happy is humanity's natural state of being. You can change your life with the snap of your fingers, have you ever done that? Try changing something about yourself that you believe is true but it is causing you alot of pain and sorrow. You don't need an example. If you are currently unhappy about something in your life, look at it and figure out the root of that unhappiness. You have the time.
I have been reaching out to you since 2010, and sending you loving good will because we are all in this paradigm shift together. I am writing about it in my way, others in theirs, some are leading seminars, and others are holding discussion groups, or channeling groups in order to strengthen our connections to what we know as 'Oneness Consciousness'. Ministers around the world are here to remind you that gratitude is a great way to create a good mood, and benefits in life that may have been slow in showing up on your doorstep. Just keep in mind that God is Good, and you are god-in-action. This obviously means that you, too, are good - in this moment and every moment- even if you miss the mark upon occasion.
Rev. Cassandra Martin
What We Must Know About Ourselves To Expand Our Collective Consciousness...
01 August, 2012
Do you remember looking at the clouds when you were younger? Some of my best childhood memories are of laying upon the golf course grass and just looking up. Oh, there was alot of rolling down the slopes, too, because it was so much fun; yet looking at the clouds took me places I couldn't even name back then. In school we learned about the weather. As adults we can know we are looking at nothing more than atmospheric interactions, but even knowing that, it can still catch your breath when you see a beautiful sunrise, or sunset. Some people whom I know also see clouds as cover for the ships of off-world visitors. I'm good with that. We each have our own interpretation of reality, and Rev. John and I both love to watch the TV series 'Ancient Aliens'. It's thought-provoking.
Today's Sunday Service is about expanding our consciousness and I chose clouds as the metaphor. They are thought provoking because our imagination can see so many things in the formations of the clouds. We see a face and it reminds us of something, so our mind takes us on a mini journey, or we see the head of a horse and we think about how fun it would be to learn to ride horses. Perhaps we lay there and day-dream about becoming an Olympian Equestrian. My point is that imagination is a very important ally for consciousness.
If we look around the world at current affairs it is easy to see that humanity is in need of consciousness raising, however, it must start with each of us individually. As our consciousness rises our passions arise. In time we join groups or start them, participate in ways that make us feel connected to others, and keep chasing our passion. Until one day when we look around the world again and see that things haven't changed much. Don't worry, this reaction is normal.
So what I want you to say is that it just takes a shift in your perspective to understand that energy (for the better) is moving us forward toward the goal we have connected to. Yes, it is. That is because energy always follows thought; and the more action you put into creating the changes you want to occur in your life, the more you personally facilitate the change in the collective lives of mankind.
Here's another thought: emotion is the engine driving your consciousness. The more passionately you approach your goals for change- you first and then your goals for humanity- the quicker your Divine Spark will facilitate you.
Now ask yourself what you need to change in your life so that you can be part of the collective change for the planet. Just choose one thing for this experiment.
Now, consider this: as we expand our consciousness we are able to reach more enlightened levels of living. To live as an enlightened person means that we understand that everything else that exists is linked consciously to us, even if we can't telepathically communicate with everything yet.
As we gain momentum because more and more of us are living authentically, we impact the collective human consciousness. This builds momentum and soon we are able to see how others on the planet are also the authors of change - for themselves and for what we New Thought-ers refer to as the 'Oneness principle'. You may call it something else, but if it has the word oneness in the concept, it is the same consciousness that we are linked into.
The funny thing about being god, indwelling and collective, is that you don't have to know it, or believe it, or accept it as true. Your connection to all of the people in the world is real on both common, and very sophisticated levels. This version of God does not require you to do anything to gain its approval. It needs nothing from us or any other form of life because it is complete in and of itself. Think about that when you have time. For one, I am grateful to have finally gotten to this point of view.
Like clouds, we don't have to think about them in order to gain the benefit they bring to our planet, and therefore to us. But I ask you, have you ever considered that clouds have consciousness, too? I can tell you that scientists (quantum physics) have looked into the sub-atomic level and found that particles do appear to be intelligent in many of their experiments. They also appear to be linked together no matter how far apart the particles may be in the space-time-continum. So if you have never considered that clouds, and rocks, and trees and all things that fly, swim, or have two/four legs are all intelligent and consciously aware of themselves and therefore also aware of the greater whole of 'oneness', you might want to reconsider your thought. Exciting, isn't it?
I invite you to take a couple of days just to touch everything that is safe to touch, and try to sense its energy. Everything that exists resonates to a frequency. Practicing this 'getting to know you' as often as you can for as long as you can will help you develop your skillset.
If you are skeptical by nature that is lovely. For you the payoff will be greater than for the one who has some sense of what I am talking about today.
There are many forms of consciousness and over the last months of this year we will be visiting this subject often. I am following my own path and spontaneously writing about what I know. If you know it too, that's great. If you don't, you'll have a chance to think about the subject and see if it resonates to you as worth your time.
In the meantime, I am sending everyone loving good will to serve your life because your life is also God's life, and your process is also part of God's process, and on and on, and on, forever; amen.
Rev. Cassandra
Do you remember looking at the clouds when you were younger? Some of my best childhood memories are of laying upon the golf course grass and just looking up. Oh, there was alot of rolling down the slopes, too, because it was so much fun; yet looking at the clouds took me places I couldn't even name back then. In school we learned about the weather. As adults we can know we are looking at nothing more than atmospheric interactions, but even knowing that, it can still catch your breath when you see a beautiful sunrise, or sunset. Some people whom I know also see clouds as cover for the ships of off-world visitors. I'm good with that. We each have our own interpretation of reality, and Rev. John and I both love to watch the TV series 'Ancient Aliens'. It's thought-provoking.
Today's Sunday Service is about expanding our consciousness and I chose clouds as the metaphor. They are thought provoking because our imagination can see so many things in the formations of the clouds. We see a face and it reminds us of something, so our mind takes us on a mini journey, or we see the head of a horse and we think about how fun it would be to learn to ride horses. Perhaps we lay there and day-dream about becoming an Olympian Equestrian. My point is that imagination is a very important ally for consciousness.
If we look around the world at current affairs it is easy to see that humanity is in need of consciousness raising, however, it must start with each of us individually. As our consciousness rises our passions arise. In time we join groups or start them, participate in ways that make us feel connected to others, and keep chasing our passion. Until one day when we look around the world again and see that things haven't changed much. Don't worry, this reaction is normal.
So what I want you to say is that it just takes a shift in your perspective to understand that energy (for the better) is moving us forward toward the goal we have connected to. Yes, it is. That is because energy always follows thought; and the more action you put into creating the changes you want to occur in your life, the more you personally facilitate the change in the collective lives of mankind.
Here's another thought: emotion is the engine driving your consciousness. The more passionately you approach your goals for change- you first and then your goals for humanity- the quicker your Divine Spark will facilitate you.
Now ask yourself what you need to change in your life so that you can be part of the collective change for the planet. Just choose one thing for this experiment.
Now, consider this: as we expand our consciousness we are able to reach more enlightened levels of living. To live as an enlightened person means that we understand that everything else that exists is linked consciously to us, even if we can't telepathically communicate with everything yet.
As we gain momentum because more and more of us are living authentically, we impact the collective human consciousness. This builds momentum and soon we are able to see how others on the planet are also the authors of change - for themselves and for what we New Thought-ers refer to as the 'Oneness principle'. You may call it something else, but if it has the word oneness in the concept, it is the same consciousness that we are linked into.
The funny thing about being god, indwelling and collective, is that you don't have to know it, or believe it, or accept it as true. Your connection to all of the people in the world is real on both common, and very sophisticated levels. This version of God does not require you to do anything to gain its approval. It needs nothing from us or any other form of life because it is complete in and of itself. Think about that when you have time. For one, I am grateful to have finally gotten to this point of view.
Like clouds, we don't have to think about them in order to gain the benefit they bring to our planet, and therefore to us. But I ask you, have you ever considered that clouds have consciousness, too? I can tell you that scientists (quantum physics) have looked into the sub-atomic level and found that particles do appear to be intelligent in many of their experiments. They also appear to be linked together no matter how far apart the particles may be in the space-time-continum. So if you have never considered that clouds, and rocks, and trees and all things that fly, swim, or have two/four legs are all intelligent and consciously aware of themselves and therefore also aware of the greater whole of 'oneness', you might want to reconsider your thought. Exciting, isn't it?
I invite you to take a couple of days just to touch everything that is safe to touch, and try to sense its energy. Everything that exists resonates to a frequency. Practicing this 'getting to know you' as often as you can for as long as you can will help you develop your skillset.
If you are skeptical by nature that is lovely. For you the payoff will be greater than for the one who has some sense of what I am talking about today.
There are many forms of consciousness and over the last months of this year we will be visiting this subject often. I am following my own path and spontaneously writing about what I know. If you know it too, that's great. If you don't, you'll have a chance to think about the subject and see if it resonates to you as worth your time.
In the meantime, I am sending everyone loving good will to serve your life because your life is also God's life, and your process is also part of God's process, and on and on, and on, forever; amen.
Rev. Cassandra
Facing Fear, Finding Courage, Part IV
tl-faceback.jpg from Bing Free Photos
15 July 2012
Sarah Quigley and Marilyn Shroyer, Ph.D, gave my readers quite alot to think about in their book, Facing Fear, Finding Courage: Your Path to Peace of Mind. This week's Sunday Service will be the last five recommendations they give their readers. I hope you enjoy the conclusion of this series.
Ground yourself in a safe spot.Even if you are paralyzed and cannot physically move, your imagination can take you anyplace you want to go. Think of your mind as a blank screen and just sit quietly until something begins to form on that screen. Allow it to be a place that represents safety if at all possible. Now, as a metaphysician I would add a few thoughts to their original suggestion: use any grounding technique used by spiritually minded people. A Cosmic tree is one such imaginary image, we'll talk about that soon; or use your body as the means to ground yourself into the safe environment of 'earth mother' at any beautiful, peaceful and safe environment you might choose; finally, you can ground yourself in mantras which remind you that you are a powerful person and fear cannot own your thoughts unless you give it permission.
1. The Cosmic Tree is the symbol of life. It's roots in the earth keep it save from wind and storms. It's branches keep the living ones on the ground beneath sheltered from a storm. It's trunk, like a ladder, gives us access to climb higher in case danger is approaching. This symbol is very powerful in the collective consciousness of humanity.
2. See yourself, arms gently curved outwardly, legs shoulder width apart, and head relaxed upon your neck and shoulders. There are seven (eight) traditional 'chakras' or energy wheels that have alot to do with our mental, emotional and physical well being. There are many more chakras but we don't have to go there in this service. Now see a sun over your head and allow a beam of light to enter your crown and gently fill your body with its protective light. The light exits at your hands and at your feet, grounding you into the earth mother by the light that you have just shared with her. Some people practice a more complicated way of grounding oneself, but this is an effective way that does not require much time or thought.
3. Affirmations that remind you that it is your choice to allow fear to have power over you are imporant to all of us. Make yours up. Begin simply with concepts that you already know, like - Love is stronger than fear - so you might say, that l know love's stonger than my fear. Today I send, (the situation), (the place), (the others involved) loving good will that you may heal according to your highest good. Fear will eventually have less of an influence upon you.
Learn how to live with fear. Many situations will continue to evoke fear in us, again and again, as long as certain circumstances continue to exist. You must learn to be very firm with your thoughts when they are fear-based. Persistence will help in the long run, but fear will continue to plague you until you are able to take back your personal power from the fears that are your teachers. And the way I do that is to recongize that fear is trying to teach me to love myself more than I do when I let fear manage my choices, and lifestyle. If you are interested in some of my own affirmations or comments on fear, tweet me @RevCisiMartin.
Keep making brave efforts. The ladies say that cultivating courage takes effort, as in relaxed daily or even hourly effort when you are plagued by your fearful thoughts. I have found that when I am trying to change an old belief that no longer serves me because it holds me back from moving forward, I go to bed exhausted sometimes because I've said, "No, you have no power over me. From now on I believe _____." Then I spend time reprogramming my thinking to this new belief I am cultivating which is stronger and better than the old one.
Be willing to do the hard work of courage. Do you realize that all courage starts out as fear? Every time you reach a setback, or an inevitable stall in your progress, courage will be needed to move another step forward. Understand that you are more than a puny human being, you are a spiritual being living through opportunities to grow and enhance your relationship with everyone and everything that exists on this planet and off-world.
Step into the darkness to find the light. Share your fears with others whom you can trust to have your best interest at heart. Now, I must say that stepping into the darkness to find the light may be an oxymoron. It is an old addage that has been a driving force in healing work for more years than I can count. I understand what they are trying to explain, but for myself I would word it differently. "Within the darkness is the light of victory."
This last thought then, ends this Sunday Service and we will begin a whole new avenue of study in August. In the meantime, I send you loving good will. May your highest good be served each and every time you love yourself more than the day before.
Rev. Cassandra "Cisi" Martin, Independent New Thought Minister
Sarah Quigley and Marilyn Shroyer, Ph.D, gave my readers quite alot to think about in their book, Facing Fear, Finding Courage: Your Path to Peace of Mind. This week's Sunday Service will be the last five recommendations they give their readers. I hope you enjoy the conclusion of this series.
Ground yourself in a safe spot.Even if you are paralyzed and cannot physically move, your imagination can take you anyplace you want to go. Think of your mind as a blank screen and just sit quietly until something begins to form on that screen. Allow it to be a place that represents safety if at all possible. Now, as a metaphysician I would add a few thoughts to their original suggestion: use any grounding technique used by spiritually minded people. A Cosmic tree is one such imaginary image, we'll talk about that soon; or use your body as the means to ground yourself into the safe environment of 'earth mother' at any beautiful, peaceful and safe environment you might choose; finally, you can ground yourself in mantras which remind you that you are a powerful person and fear cannot own your thoughts unless you give it permission.
1. The Cosmic Tree is the symbol of life. It's roots in the earth keep it save from wind and storms. It's branches keep the living ones on the ground beneath sheltered from a storm. It's trunk, like a ladder, gives us access to climb higher in case danger is approaching. This symbol is very powerful in the collective consciousness of humanity.
2. See yourself, arms gently curved outwardly, legs shoulder width apart, and head relaxed upon your neck and shoulders. There are seven (eight) traditional 'chakras' or energy wheels that have alot to do with our mental, emotional and physical well being. There are many more chakras but we don't have to go there in this service. Now see a sun over your head and allow a beam of light to enter your crown and gently fill your body with its protective light. The light exits at your hands and at your feet, grounding you into the earth mother by the light that you have just shared with her. Some people practice a more complicated way of grounding oneself, but this is an effective way that does not require much time or thought.
3. Affirmations that remind you that it is your choice to allow fear to have power over you are imporant to all of us. Make yours up. Begin simply with concepts that you already know, like - Love is stronger than fear - so you might say, that l know love's stonger than my fear. Today I send, (the situation), (the place), (the others involved) loving good will that you may heal according to your highest good. Fear will eventually have less of an influence upon you.
Learn how to live with fear. Many situations will continue to evoke fear in us, again and again, as long as certain circumstances continue to exist. You must learn to be very firm with your thoughts when they are fear-based. Persistence will help in the long run, but fear will continue to plague you until you are able to take back your personal power from the fears that are your teachers. And the way I do that is to recongize that fear is trying to teach me to love myself more than I do when I let fear manage my choices, and lifestyle. If you are interested in some of my own affirmations or comments on fear, tweet me @RevCisiMartin.
Keep making brave efforts. The ladies say that cultivating courage takes effort, as in relaxed daily or even hourly effort when you are plagued by your fearful thoughts. I have found that when I am trying to change an old belief that no longer serves me because it holds me back from moving forward, I go to bed exhausted sometimes because I've said, "No, you have no power over me. From now on I believe _____." Then I spend time reprogramming my thinking to this new belief I am cultivating which is stronger and better than the old one.
Be willing to do the hard work of courage. Do you realize that all courage starts out as fear? Every time you reach a setback, or an inevitable stall in your progress, courage will be needed to move another step forward. Understand that you are more than a puny human being, you are a spiritual being living through opportunities to grow and enhance your relationship with everyone and everything that exists on this planet and off-world.
Step into the darkness to find the light. Share your fears with others whom you can trust to have your best interest at heart. Now, I must say that stepping into the darkness to find the light may be an oxymoron. It is an old addage that has been a driving force in healing work for more years than I can count. I understand what they are trying to explain, but for myself I would word it differently. "Within the darkness is the light of victory."
This last thought then, ends this Sunday Service and we will begin a whole new avenue of study in August. In the meantime, I send you loving good will. May your highest good be served each and every time you love yourself more than the day before.
Rev. Cassandra "Cisi" Martin, Independent New Thought Minister
Facing Fear, Finding Courage Part III
30 Jun 2012
Do you remember how you felt the first time you were out in nature, alone? This picture is a forest in Africa and when I look at the pathway I can imagine early man and woman on their journey out of their homeland. For the first time in their lives they would leave what was familiar and somewhat safe, considering survival in the wild. Their fears had to be overcome in order for them to flourish.
The authors of the book we are using, Sarah Quigley with Marylyn Shrover, Ph.D., have given us hints about facing fear and finding courage. In Parts I and II we looked at eight ways to do this, and we have ten more suggestions to go. While using their work as an outline, I am including mystically oriented points of view and suggestions to help you see that there is alot of wiggle room in the way you approach your feelings about fear and courage. Keep that in mind as we move on with their suggestions.
Be courageous just for this moment. They tell us to trust the reality that you are alive and therefore you can tap into your courage. And, they suggest that you develop a courage ritual, or series of courage rituals, if necessary. By this they mean that doing any ritual will bring your mind into focus right away, and your emotions will follow where your mind leads.
Rituals are not just spiritual in nature. You can tap a ring on your finger to remind you that you are in the present moment and you are in control of your next decision. People who are on a diet can use this technique: tap the ring when you are tempted to stray off target. You'll gain some time in between the desire for that delicioso delicacy and the act of eating it. That time allows you to think about the consequences, and bolsters your courage to fight the temptation.
That same simple ritual can be used when you are in the middle of a stressful situation with collegues at work, or with friends and relatives. Tapping or touching the ring gives you a time out to breathe. If you take several deep breathes you will begin to calm, moving out of the stressful 'fight or flight' response because you really dislike confrontation and feel challenged by it.
A courage ritual is any regular focused effort that does one, or all of three things: gains you time to cope with the moment, think about the fear that is associated with the moment, or give yourself permission to think about the fear and your feelings of self-doubt another time.
I might also add that indulging in "monkey mind" (eee-eee-eee chatter) like "I should have said....I'm so stupid... next time I'm going to slap him/her...and all the other garbage that our ego drives us to think and therefore feel about the recent situation will do you no good in the long run. You will want to figure out why you respond in a conditioned way when you feel threatened. Once you understand the why of it, you can practice a different response. Practice it until you are confident that you will say exactly what you want to say, and feel good about ourself for speaking up for yourself.
Part with pessimism. This sounds simple enough. Folks, we live surrounded by pessismistic people and situations that would challenge any "Pollyanna". Parting with pessimism is like saying I'll simply ignore a situation when it comes up for me to participate in, or change my response. You can't wish it away. But you can begin to lessen its impact upon you immediately.
Turn your attention outside of yourself and look at those in the world who are truly suffering. Then do something for them. Remember that we've already discussed the power of thought and how energy will actually follow your thoughts into manifestation. Do you pray? Do you like affirmations? Do you use visualizations like sending white light to people you know are in distress, or into disasters affecting whole regions, like during Katrina?
First send white light into an outside situation and then give it to yourself. Light is said to be a frequency of Love. Loving yourself will help melt pessimistic thought forms, which is exactly what we are creating when we repeat a negative response about ourselves that is pessimimistic and hurtful.
Tell fear where to go. Yeah! But, then it will return because you haven't yet taken control. Now I'm not talking about adrenelin based fear responses here. I'm talking about the garden variety of fear that is a weed to our personal and soulful growth and enlightenment. Fear is ego based. Your assumption is that you are less than someone else, or unloveable deep down inside, or stupid, or ugly, or....
It isn't that we dont need ego to help us survive and to face fear when it greets us, but the trick is to realize that fear is not the enemy; allowing fear to rule your life is a problem. Here is what I do when my mind just won't stop the loop of negative thoughts and fears surrounding a current situation. I gently say to myself, 'Stop, there is a better way'. I turn the previous thought around and see myself as successfully having overcome it, or I use what ever other technique comes to me.
Now I have to tell you folks that during one very long (months) retreat in which I was mostly isolated, I would go to sleep exhausted almost every day because all I had done was battle my fears and lack of self-confidence. It was draining, and it was exhilarating at the same time. Each time I noticed that an old fear had less and less power over me, and I knew this because it didn't pop into my mind as often, I would celebrate with a victory dance. Oh, I'm big on victory dances because they are so much fun to do!
I still have occasional bouts of fear when I feel my reputation is threatened, or I have to fight for my point of view to be heard in a group, and other such silliness. However, I have less and less occasions where I feel a lack of self confidence because I am standing up for myself when I have to, and being at peace with my growing pains when a new situation comes knocking at my door. I don't blame myself, I just get back to the business of cleaning house, and you know what I mean by that. Try zen sweeping, it's kind of like meditation :)
Cultivate calmness. This is one of my favorite things to do when I feel myself beginning to spiral into an emotional state. The more you cultivate calmness in yourself the more that calmness will become your default state of mind and feelings. However, one of the biggest obstacles we face when we begin to cultivate calmness is that calmness doesn't feel normal to us. We are just not used to it and so we may well resist our good attempts to do something constructive instead of engaging the chaos of our negative thoughts and feelings.
Meditation in motion is a good way to start to reverse an impulse to move into anger, or jealousy, and other draining emotional feelings but let's face it, it isn't always possible to walk away from the person you're feeling angry with. But if you make walking a regular part of your lifestyle you will have begun to reverse your initial instinct to react quickly when you feel the need to defend yourself.
Look in your area for beautiful scenery, or a labrynth, or flowing water and as soon as you can disengage the person who has triggered your feelings, take a walk and practice deep breathing. You don't have to meditate per se, just allow yourself to feel the energy of nature as it washes over you. Everything is energy. Everything. Take advantage of knowing that and practice being in all different types of energy so that you become familar with how it feels. Obviously, don't put yourself in emotional or physical danger, but do push your comfort zone. Are you afraid to go somewhere alone? I'm talking about me now. But let's all think about it: what do we deny ourselves that could bring us tremendous pleasure in life?
Make prayer a habit. Or affirmations, or quiet walks, or anything that makes you feel connected to the world at large. Spontaneous prayers are my personal favorite. I like to sing to the elements during a storm, or sing songs of gratitude to all the different types of life on our planet. Walkings quietly using no words at all is just as powerful a prayer as any of the more obvious versions. Praying for others often brings you reciprocal benefits, too. Enjoy how good it feels when you build-up your energy through simple acts of kindness, which are also a form of prayerfulness.
Thank you for allowing me to offer you, my readers, a special energetic hug of loving good will. If you, in turn send out energy hugs of loving good we will all be strengthening the "good, good, good, good vibrations" (Beach Boys). Can't help myself, I love musical references.
I'm going to publish this Sunday Service and go for a lovely walk, just because I can and it always makes me feel better.
Rev. Cassandra Martin, Independent New Thought
Do you remember how you felt the first time you were out in nature, alone? This picture is a forest in Africa and when I look at the pathway I can imagine early man and woman on their journey out of their homeland. For the first time in their lives they would leave what was familiar and somewhat safe, considering survival in the wild. Their fears had to be overcome in order for them to flourish.
The authors of the book we are using, Sarah Quigley with Marylyn Shrover, Ph.D., have given us hints about facing fear and finding courage. In Parts I and II we looked at eight ways to do this, and we have ten more suggestions to go. While using their work as an outline, I am including mystically oriented points of view and suggestions to help you see that there is alot of wiggle room in the way you approach your feelings about fear and courage. Keep that in mind as we move on with their suggestions.
Be courageous just for this moment. They tell us to trust the reality that you are alive and therefore you can tap into your courage. And, they suggest that you develop a courage ritual, or series of courage rituals, if necessary. By this they mean that doing any ritual will bring your mind into focus right away, and your emotions will follow where your mind leads.
Rituals are not just spiritual in nature. You can tap a ring on your finger to remind you that you are in the present moment and you are in control of your next decision. People who are on a diet can use this technique: tap the ring when you are tempted to stray off target. You'll gain some time in between the desire for that delicioso delicacy and the act of eating it. That time allows you to think about the consequences, and bolsters your courage to fight the temptation.
That same simple ritual can be used when you are in the middle of a stressful situation with collegues at work, or with friends and relatives. Tapping or touching the ring gives you a time out to breathe. If you take several deep breathes you will begin to calm, moving out of the stressful 'fight or flight' response because you really dislike confrontation and feel challenged by it.
A courage ritual is any regular focused effort that does one, or all of three things: gains you time to cope with the moment, think about the fear that is associated with the moment, or give yourself permission to think about the fear and your feelings of self-doubt another time.
I might also add that indulging in "monkey mind" (eee-eee-eee chatter) like "I should have said....I'm so stupid... next time I'm going to slap him/her...and all the other garbage that our ego drives us to think and therefore feel about the recent situation will do you no good in the long run. You will want to figure out why you respond in a conditioned way when you feel threatened. Once you understand the why of it, you can practice a different response. Practice it until you are confident that you will say exactly what you want to say, and feel good about ourself for speaking up for yourself.
Part with pessimism. This sounds simple enough. Folks, we live surrounded by pessismistic people and situations that would challenge any "Pollyanna". Parting with pessimism is like saying I'll simply ignore a situation when it comes up for me to participate in, or change my response. You can't wish it away. But you can begin to lessen its impact upon you immediately.
Turn your attention outside of yourself and look at those in the world who are truly suffering. Then do something for them. Remember that we've already discussed the power of thought and how energy will actually follow your thoughts into manifestation. Do you pray? Do you like affirmations? Do you use visualizations like sending white light to people you know are in distress, or into disasters affecting whole regions, like during Katrina?
First send white light into an outside situation and then give it to yourself. Light is said to be a frequency of Love. Loving yourself will help melt pessimistic thought forms, which is exactly what we are creating when we repeat a negative response about ourselves that is pessimimistic and hurtful.
Tell fear where to go. Yeah! But, then it will return because you haven't yet taken control. Now I'm not talking about adrenelin based fear responses here. I'm talking about the garden variety of fear that is a weed to our personal and soulful growth and enlightenment. Fear is ego based. Your assumption is that you are less than someone else, or unloveable deep down inside, or stupid, or ugly, or....
It isn't that we dont need ego to help us survive and to face fear when it greets us, but the trick is to realize that fear is not the enemy; allowing fear to rule your life is a problem. Here is what I do when my mind just won't stop the loop of negative thoughts and fears surrounding a current situation. I gently say to myself, 'Stop, there is a better way'. I turn the previous thought around and see myself as successfully having overcome it, or I use what ever other technique comes to me.
Now I have to tell you folks that during one very long (months) retreat in which I was mostly isolated, I would go to sleep exhausted almost every day because all I had done was battle my fears and lack of self-confidence. It was draining, and it was exhilarating at the same time. Each time I noticed that an old fear had less and less power over me, and I knew this because it didn't pop into my mind as often, I would celebrate with a victory dance. Oh, I'm big on victory dances because they are so much fun to do!
I still have occasional bouts of fear when I feel my reputation is threatened, or I have to fight for my point of view to be heard in a group, and other such silliness. However, I have less and less occasions where I feel a lack of self confidence because I am standing up for myself when I have to, and being at peace with my growing pains when a new situation comes knocking at my door. I don't blame myself, I just get back to the business of cleaning house, and you know what I mean by that. Try zen sweeping, it's kind of like meditation :)
Cultivate calmness. This is one of my favorite things to do when I feel myself beginning to spiral into an emotional state. The more you cultivate calmness in yourself the more that calmness will become your default state of mind and feelings. However, one of the biggest obstacles we face when we begin to cultivate calmness is that calmness doesn't feel normal to us. We are just not used to it and so we may well resist our good attempts to do something constructive instead of engaging the chaos of our negative thoughts and feelings.
Meditation in motion is a good way to start to reverse an impulse to move into anger, or jealousy, and other draining emotional feelings but let's face it, it isn't always possible to walk away from the person you're feeling angry with. But if you make walking a regular part of your lifestyle you will have begun to reverse your initial instinct to react quickly when you feel the need to defend yourself.
Look in your area for beautiful scenery, or a labrynth, or flowing water and as soon as you can disengage the person who has triggered your feelings, take a walk and practice deep breathing. You don't have to meditate per se, just allow yourself to feel the energy of nature as it washes over you. Everything is energy. Everything. Take advantage of knowing that and practice being in all different types of energy so that you become familar with how it feels. Obviously, don't put yourself in emotional or physical danger, but do push your comfort zone. Are you afraid to go somewhere alone? I'm talking about me now. But let's all think about it: what do we deny ourselves that could bring us tremendous pleasure in life?
Make prayer a habit. Or affirmations, or quiet walks, or anything that makes you feel connected to the world at large. Spontaneous prayers are my personal favorite. I like to sing to the elements during a storm, or sing songs of gratitude to all the different types of life on our planet. Walkings quietly using no words at all is just as powerful a prayer as any of the more obvious versions. Praying for others often brings you reciprocal benefits, too. Enjoy how good it feels when you build-up your energy through simple acts of kindness, which are also a form of prayerfulness.
Thank you for allowing me to offer you, my readers, a special energetic hug of loving good will. If you, in turn send out energy hugs of loving good we will all be strengthening the "good, good, good, good vibrations" (Beach Boys). Can't help myself, I love musical references.
I'm going to publish this Sunday Service and go for a lovely walk, just because I can and it always makes me feel better.
Rev. Cassandra Martin, Independent New Thought
Facing Fear and Finding Courage, Part II
Japanese Lion Statue
16 June 2012
Sarah Quigley and Marilyn Shroyer, Ph.D, wrote a book, Facing Fear, Finding Courage which is a layman's guide to their interpretation of how best to conquer fear. If you are walking a spiritual path you understand that it isn't so much an active energy that will help you release your fears, but one that is as powerful as meditation is to a troubled mind. However, they have some good tips for everyone so I am utilizing their suggestions with a spin of my own to help us move ever closer to understanding that fear is at the root of everything which is not love expressing itself in our lives. I have used a photo of an animal totem of courage, the lion, which is stylized as only the Japanese can do. There he sits, surveying all around him, or her, confident that being alert is a natural stance to take in a world which appears to be full of threats and horrors.
"Do" courage no matter how you feel. Once I attended a motivational meeting where the speaker told us to "act enthusiastic to become enthusiastic". Most of us grimaced. He asked us to get to our feet, and put animation to the mantra he had just shared with us. Reluctantly we follwed his lead, he looked like a gooney bird trying to take flight (they can't fly) but his arms were flapping and he was bobbing up and down while he shouted out, "act enthusiastic and you'll be enthusiastic". We were all laughing at ourselves when we finished, and sat back down. Our cheeks were flushed, our mood was lighter, and we actually had a group shift in our consciousness from slightly jaded to relaxed and receptive.
I am not suggesting that you fake it until you make it, because that mantra comes from a more cynical mind-set; but "act" courageous until it comes more naturally to your emotional library of responses. It isn't hard to do if you treat it as a game. Simply tilt your head up slightly, square your shoulders, survey the scene in front of you just as our totem lion is doing, take a few deep breaths and smile. It will be easier to engage the emotional energy of courage if you are willing to present yourself to the world as someone who is confident. The true confidence will come as you continue to engage your inner lion's courage, first in bodily cues, as you slowly realize that the only person you are afraid of is you - and your percieved lack of ability to feel safe in this world. Using the metaphor of the library again, each time you open the book of an emotional reaction that is habitual ( avoidance, insecurity, an unrealistic expectation) those reactions will have less power over you. The more familiar you become with why you react to an emotional trigger like fear, the more loving and compassionate toward yourself you will become.
Make meditation appointments with yourself. In order to allow yourself to feel your feelings and become a more authentic person (and therefore more courageous) the more important it is to add some spiritual tools to your toolbox. Most westerners live a lifestyle that is so hectic with "have to do's" and "gotta get this done's" and so many other distractions that they hardly have time to sit and breathe properly. Let me ask you, when I say the word meditation, what do you think of?
Does a wall of resistance come up because you may have tried to 'quiet your mind' and failed? Did you get frustrated when you couldn't sit still for more than 5 minutes, or even less, without your chattering "monkey mind" distracting you? Here are a few tips that you might find will nurture you each day without making meditation a ritual, yet still gaining the benefit of meditation.
1. Stop what you are doing several times a day and breathe deeply allowing your belly to expand so that the air is drawn down into the bottom of your lungs. Then exhale at a normal rate. Your shoulders will drop down into a natural posture, and the muscles in your body will relax without any effort.
2. A short walking meditation is easy to do at any time of day or night. Pick your location for safety, of course, and if there is a labrynth in your area, use it as a great tool to help you slow down your pace naturally without effort. While walking, be mindful of your surroundings. Really look at everything. Just allow it to be in your world in a non intrusive way and continue your walk. Your pace will naturally slow your thoughts so keep your pace deliberately slow without getting run over by the person behind you! This short walk will help you calm your chattering mind without putting any emphasis on trying to calm your thoughts.
3. You have to go to the restroom several times each day so take advantage of being in that stall, or closed door and close your eyes. Just close your eyes, shutting out stimuli, and as you relieve your body's need to eliminate waste consider that you have toxic thoughts that need elimination, too. Those thoughts are keeping you from being courageous in the face of confrontation and more personally, keeping you chained to the belief that fear is in control of you when the exact opposite is the truth. I use a simple mantra that I want to share with you today, "I am releasing my toxic thoughts and feelings right now". Consider it adult potty training, folks! If you hear someone giggling in the stall next to you, it might be me.
Befriend your orphaned feelings. The power that drives any of our self-help practices is the power of our feelings, and how they empower or weaken us during life's daily experiences with other people, and ourselves if we are courageous enough to be honest with ourselves when our emotional temperature begins to rise in anger or frustration with someone or something that we perceive as a block to what we want. Feelings can eventually become neutralizing in a hostile situation, instead of inflamatory once you start to befriend your orphaned feelings. By hostile situations I am not talking about someone threatening you, I'm referring to the nature of any negative ego-driven situation that can escalate out of control. Ego wants what it wants: power, to always be right, to have social and physical security, friendships, attention and a mate. Of course there's more it wants, but it wants it often to the detriment of others. What we want to do is slowly retrain our ego to be inclusively directed instead of selfishly directed.
If you keep putting your real feelings (the ugly ones) down the rabbit hole, so to speak, like Alice you won't recognize the true "you" anymore. What ever the nature of an emotional response may be at the time you feel it, you have to own that you have been conditioned to feel this way in order to make progress. And, if you have been conditioned to overdo your feelings instead of simply observe them and move forward, they do have power over your responses until you getter the upper hand.
No one enjoys confrontation unless they are seriously wounded, and if they are they deserve our compassion. But you, dear friends, deserve to treat yourself with the greatest love and compassion when you let yourself down, or lose control of your emotions and allow people to see a side of you that is also wounded and needy. We have all lost control, and even when we eventually get to a mindfullness state of oberving more and reacting less, we can still be triggered to retreat into our fearful thoughts under the right circumstances. Practice, practice, practice.
Our orphaned feelings only create more energy like feelings of isolation and "badness" within ourselves- which means that we are judging ourselves harshly when we have a feeling that is not socially valued. Orphans need love and a place to live that is safe. Your feelings need to be acknowledged and forgiven because none of us are perfect, but we can break old habits and we can increase our value to ourselves by feeling what we are feeling and then thinking about why we feel that way. Teach yourself to follow the clues that are there for you when you have "acted out". When did you first feel threatened by someone having authority over your security? When did you first emulate someone who seemed to have more power than you even though they were obnoxious or mean? You can see where I'm going with this. It's up to you. While you are "feeling" these "feelings" you will need our next tip.
Blow panic away with your breath. "Panic shrinks in the fresh air of conscious breathing and pales in the light of careful scrutiny". Sarah and Marilyn have said this so beautifully that there is nothing I can add to their thought. However, there is much more to be said about panic, how we get there, and what we can do when we get there - I have found in my own life that panic is always an unconscious response to fear. Fear is at the heart of every negative thought we have about ourselves: people won't like us, I don't want my boss to know that I'm having trouble doing my job because I'll get fired, or I'm just going to become the quirky one who makes people laugh because I'm really depressed about everything in my life, I don't want to be alone. We each have our own reason for hiding our authentic feelings from ourselves and others.
Mechanically, panic occurs when adrenalin is released suddenly- it's that fight or flight response that is hard wired into us. Body stress is nature's cure for sudden action, we become alert, our blood pumps faster raising our blood pressure. In some people this creates "the incredible Hulk", in others, the "wiley coyote", and in me the " Annie get your gun" mentality that is good if you are physically threatened but harmful if your perception is the problem. Still, true panic comes from a subconscious response to a perceived threat. How can we reason with the subconsious?
By slowly changing our habitual responses to fear, we create a tonic for the subconscious; it knows that we are more confident in our ability to cope with whatever comes our way so that in time it becomes less reactive to the inappropriate situations which stress us and saves that chemical whollop for when we truly need help. Now this is a spiritual observation of mine that comes from experience with panic attacks, so don't look for verification in the medical text books, we're talking wholistic here and not an allopathic cure for panic attacks. By the way, I always blow my breath forcefully as my first course of action when I feel a panic attack coming on...it helps.
All panic attacks have what is commonly called an "aura". It's how you respond to the adrenalin dumping into your body. Mine started at the base of my spine and moved upward bringing panic that flooded my perception. These attacks would come if I was driving and trucks blocked me in temporarily, I had to cross a bridge that made me light-headed, or I was sitting at my work, tired and depressed because I hated my job. The emotional state of depression is the feeding ground for some of us. It didn't always take a fight or flight situation for me to feel that panic coming on. And, because I didn't have control over the chemicals that were manipulating my emotions, I felt helpless to stop it for a long, long time. However, I did observe in myself a lessening of the frequency as I began to practice techniques that helped me feel more confident over-all. You will, too, when you are finished with this series of Sunday Services if you take what you like and apply it to your own life. Just remember to breathe if you start to panic in any situation. It will help.
As usual, I am sending you an energetic hug charged with loving good will. I hope it helps you realize that you have all of the abilities within yourself that you need to access your highest good in any situation. It is your true nature - your god nature, your God, indwelling. You, my friends, are God-In-Action as you live each day of your life. The more you recognize this within yourself the more others will start to realize that you have changed. You might even have people asking you what's so different about you now?
Now is the time to reinforce the positive and heal the learned responses which are holding you back. Good luck on your personal journey of divine empowerment!
Rev. Cassandra "Cisi" Martin, and Independent New Thought Minister
Sarah Quigley and Marilyn Shroyer, Ph.D, wrote a book, Facing Fear, Finding Courage which is a layman's guide to their interpretation of how best to conquer fear. If you are walking a spiritual path you understand that it isn't so much an active energy that will help you release your fears, but one that is as powerful as meditation is to a troubled mind. However, they have some good tips for everyone so I am utilizing their suggestions with a spin of my own to help us move ever closer to understanding that fear is at the root of everything which is not love expressing itself in our lives. I have used a photo of an animal totem of courage, the lion, which is stylized as only the Japanese can do. There he sits, surveying all around him, or her, confident that being alert is a natural stance to take in a world which appears to be full of threats and horrors.
"Do" courage no matter how you feel. Once I attended a motivational meeting where the speaker told us to "act enthusiastic to become enthusiastic". Most of us grimaced. He asked us to get to our feet, and put animation to the mantra he had just shared with us. Reluctantly we follwed his lead, he looked like a gooney bird trying to take flight (they can't fly) but his arms were flapping and he was bobbing up and down while he shouted out, "act enthusiastic and you'll be enthusiastic". We were all laughing at ourselves when we finished, and sat back down. Our cheeks were flushed, our mood was lighter, and we actually had a group shift in our consciousness from slightly jaded to relaxed and receptive.
I am not suggesting that you fake it until you make it, because that mantra comes from a more cynical mind-set; but "act" courageous until it comes more naturally to your emotional library of responses. It isn't hard to do if you treat it as a game. Simply tilt your head up slightly, square your shoulders, survey the scene in front of you just as our totem lion is doing, take a few deep breaths and smile. It will be easier to engage the emotional energy of courage if you are willing to present yourself to the world as someone who is confident. The true confidence will come as you continue to engage your inner lion's courage, first in bodily cues, as you slowly realize that the only person you are afraid of is you - and your percieved lack of ability to feel safe in this world. Using the metaphor of the library again, each time you open the book of an emotional reaction that is habitual ( avoidance, insecurity, an unrealistic expectation) those reactions will have less power over you. The more familiar you become with why you react to an emotional trigger like fear, the more loving and compassionate toward yourself you will become.
Make meditation appointments with yourself. In order to allow yourself to feel your feelings and become a more authentic person (and therefore more courageous) the more important it is to add some spiritual tools to your toolbox. Most westerners live a lifestyle that is so hectic with "have to do's" and "gotta get this done's" and so many other distractions that they hardly have time to sit and breathe properly. Let me ask you, when I say the word meditation, what do you think of?
Does a wall of resistance come up because you may have tried to 'quiet your mind' and failed? Did you get frustrated when you couldn't sit still for more than 5 minutes, or even less, without your chattering "monkey mind" distracting you? Here are a few tips that you might find will nurture you each day without making meditation a ritual, yet still gaining the benefit of meditation.
1. Stop what you are doing several times a day and breathe deeply allowing your belly to expand so that the air is drawn down into the bottom of your lungs. Then exhale at a normal rate. Your shoulders will drop down into a natural posture, and the muscles in your body will relax without any effort.
2. A short walking meditation is easy to do at any time of day or night. Pick your location for safety, of course, and if there is a labrynth in your area, use it as a great tool to help you slow down your pace naturally without effort. While walking, be mindful of your surroundings. Really look at everything. Just allow it to be in your world in a non intrusive way and continue your walk. Your pace will naturally slow your thoughts so keep your pace deliberately slow without getting run over by the person behind you! This short walk will help you calm your chattering mind without putting any emphasis on trying to calm your thoughts.
3. You have to go to the restroom several times each day so take advantage of being in that stall, or closed door and close your eyes. Just close your eyes, shutting out stimuli, and as you relieve your body's need to eliminate waste consider that you have toxic thoughts that need elimination, too. Those thoughts are keeping you from being courageous in the face of confrontation and more personally, keeping you chained to the belief that fear is in control of you when the exact opposite is the truth. I use a simple mantra that I want to share with you today, "I am releasing my toxic thoughts and feelings right now". Consider it adult potty training, folks! If you hear someone giggling in the stall next to you, it might be me.
Befriend your orphaned feelings. The power that drives any of our self-help practices is the power of our feelings, and how they empower or weaken us during life's daily experiences with other people, and ourselves if we are courageous enough to be honest with ourselves when our emotional temperature begins to rise in anger or frustration with someone or something that we perceive as a block to what we want. Feelings can eventually become neutralizing in a hostile situation, instead of inflamatory once you start to befriend your orphaned feelings. By hostile situations I am not talking about someone threatening you, I'm referring to the nature of any negative ego-driven situation that can escalate out of control. Ego wants what it wants: power, to always be right, to have social and physical security, friendships, attention and a mate. Of course there's more it wants, but it wants it often to the detriment of others. What we want to do is slowly retrain our ego to be inclusively directed instead of selfishly directed.
If you keep putting your real feelings (the ugly ones) down the rabbit hole, so to speak, like Alice you won't recognize the true "you" anymore. What ever the nature of an emotional response may be at the time you feel it, you have to own that you have been conditioned to feel this way in order to make progress. And, if you have been conditioned to overdo your feelings instead of simply observe them and move forward, they do have power over your responses until you getter the upper hand.
No one enjoys confrontation unless they are seriously wounded, and if they are they deserve our compassion. But you, dear friends, deserve to treat yourself with the greatest love and compassion when you let yourself down, or lose control of your emotions and allow people to see a side of you that is also wounded and needy. We have all lost control, and even when we eventually get to a mindfullness state of oberving more and reacting less, we can still be triggered to retreat into our fearful thoughts under the right circumstances. Practice, practice, practice.
Our orphaned feelings only create more energy like feelings of isolation and "badness" within ourselves- which means that we are judging ourselves harshly when we have a feeling that is not socially valued. Orphans need love and a place to live that is safe. Your feelings need to be acknowledged and forgiven because none of us are perfect, but we can break old habits and we can increase our value to ourselves by feeling what we are feeling and then thinking about why we feel that way. Teach yourself to follow the clues that are there for you when you have "acted out". When did you first feel threatened by someone having authority over your security? When did you first emulate someone who seemed to have more power than you even though they were obnoxious or mean? You can see where I'm going with this. It's up to you. While you are "feeling" these "feelings" you will need our next tip.
Blow panic away with your breath. "Panic shrinks in the fresh air of conscious breathing and pales in the light of careful scrutiny". Sarah and Marilyn have said this so beautifully that there is nothing I can add to their thought. However, there is much more to be said about panic, how we get there, and what we can do when we get there - I have found in my own life that panic is always an unconscious response to fear. Fear is at the heart of every negative thought we have about ourselves: people won't like us, I don't want my boss to know that I'm having trouble doing my job because I'll get fired, or I'm just going to become the quirky one who makes people laugh because I'm really depressed about everything in my life, I don't want to be alone. We each have our own reason for hiding our authentic feelings from ourselves and others.
Mechanically, panic occurs when adrenalin is released suddenly- it's that fight or flight response that is hard wired into us. Body stress is nature's cure for sudden action, we become alert, our blood pumps faster raising our blood pressure. In some people this creates "the incredible Hulk", in others, the "wiley coyote", and in me the " Annie get your gun" mentality that is good if you are physically threatened but harmful if your perception is the problem. Still, true panic comes from a subconscious response to a perceived threat. How can we reason with the subconsious?
By slowly changing our habitual responses to fear, we create a tonic for the subconscious; it knows that we are more confident in our ability to cope with whatever comes our way so that in time it becomes less reactive to the inappropriate situations which stress us and saves that chemical whollop for when we truly need help. Now this is a spiritual observation of mine that comes from experience with panic attacks, so don't look for verification in the medical text books, we're talking wholistic here and not an allopathic cure for panic attacks. By the way, I always blow my breath forcefully as my first course of action when I feel a panic attack coming on...it helps.
All panic attacks have what is commonly called an "aura". It's how you respond to the adrenalin dumping into your body. Mine started at the base of my spine and moved upward bringing panic that flooded my perception. These attacks would come if I was driving and trucks blocked me in temporarily, I had to cross a bridge that made me light-headed, or I was sitting at my work, tired and depressed because I hated my job. The emotional state of depression is the feeding ground for some of us. It didn't always take a fight or flight situation for me to feel that panic coming on. And, because I didn't have control over the chemicals that were manipulating my emotions, I felt helpless to stop it for a long, long time. However, I did observe in myself a lessening of the frequency as I began to practice techniques that helped me feel more confident over-all. You will, too, when you are finished with this series of Sunday Services if you take what you like and apply it to your own life. Just remember to breathe if you start to panic in any situation. It will help.
As usual, I am sending you an energetic hug charged with loving good will. I hope it helps you realize that you have all of the abilities within yourself that you need to access your highest good in any situation. It is your true nature - your god nature, your God, indwelling. You, my friends, are God-In-Action as you live each day of your life. The more you recognize this within yourself the more others will start to realize that you have changed. You might even have people asking you what's so different about you now?
Now is the time to reinforce the positive and heal the learned responses which are holding you back. Good luck on your personal journey of divine empowerment!
Rev. Cassandra "Cisi" Martin, and Independent New Thought Minister
Can We Be Fearless In A World Like Ours?
01 June 2012
While living in the Mohave Desert Region of California in the middle of nowhere I began to realize that fearless actually can be a learned attribute. My husband had taken a job in Ridgecrest, CA so we moved from the lush greens and water of Eastern Oklahoma to the bare and wind whipped desert town that felt like it sucked me of my juices. Once confident and creative, now shrivelling up; once part of a spiritual group, now meeting only a few people who were spiritually available; once able to be ready to go on a spontaneous trip in 15 minutes, now reduced to 700 sq. feet that felt like prison. It was actually the beginning of a new cycle for me, I just didn't know it yet.
I soon stumbled upon a little book entitled Facing Fear, Finding Courage, written by Sarah Quigley with Marilyn Shroyer, PH.D. I took it to heart and began to feel better about myself. Over the next year I designed a workshop of the same title and shared it with about ten other women I had met who were open to the conversation. I offer the workshop for you over the next four services because it is apparent to me that people sense that something has gone terribly wrong in the natural order of things. By that I simply mean that society is outpicturing more violence, depletion of natural resources is very likely real on all the continents, politics and government itself is more polarized than every before, people are hardly capable of having civil conversations about their differences, and desperately intolerant of people who are different, all the while being afraid the world is going to end this year. Of course there's much more in the negative column that I could list, but I am actually here to show you constructive ways to move out of the negative pole of fear and build strength within yourself to master fearlessness. In my first tweet to the world I wrote that fear is actually our friend, because it challenges us, asking for more love instead of more fear.
You can catch my twitter messages @RevCisiMartin if you are interested in the little affirmations I am sending out into the collective consciousness through social media.
Now let's begin by looking at the first thing we must do if we want to become authentic and fearless. DARE TO GREET YOUR FEAR. The basic truth of overcoming anything unpleasant in life is to be willing to look it in the face. Fear wins if we do not confront it and have a good look at its background. Can you remember the first time you felt a fear? Choose a fear and ask yourself: when did this first enter my life? If you can't find that moment, work backwards until you get some insight on this particular fear because before it visited you were living life more fully. So, the importance of discovering what type of fear this is, and the circumstances around how it appeared in your life are important for you to understand. Unfortunately fear is self defeating. The longer you let it rule you, the stronger fear becomes: when you remodel yourself without that fear that so devastated you in the past you win.
I'll give you an example from my life. I was in the 1st or 2nd grade and I really liked this boy in class but so did other girls, they were just to bashful to talk to him. Not me! At playtime I followed him around until I got his attention and he turned around to look at me. He asked me what I wanted, so I told him "I want you to be my boyfriend". So, there I was smiling at him, waiting for him to say O.K. when instead he said "But I don't like you like that. I like someone else." He walked away and went to play with the other boys and I didn't know what to do or say. I don't think that anyone else heard our conversation, so I wasn't embarrassed, and I wasn't mad at him or the girl that he liked better. It was just the fact that he liked someone better than me. I didn't have the word "inferior" in my vocabulary, but I felt less than something I had been in that moment.
What was my fear trying to teach me? It is how you handle rejection that bespeaks of your character. Did I get that lesson? No, it took me years to learn not to take it personally, rejection is just a matter of personal preference and we are not always going to meet people who are natural fits to our personality, etc. But what happened to that self-assured little girl who wasn't afraid to tell a cute boy that she liked him alot? She never did come back 100%. In fact, during my 30s I was outrageously aggressive when I wanted to get some bad boy's attention! I lived during the sex, drugs and rock 'n roll decades so you can appreciate the temptations of the timeframe.
I was in my 40s before I felt safe enough to confront someone who was undermining my status at work, and to speak up about another one who was talking about me behind my back...not by gossiping back, but by going to the person involved and standing up for myself in the face of their criticisms. Sadly, my first response to a perceived attack or critisism is still that young girl's deflated reaction to a small extent. My answer now is to sit in peace with my feelings and after I've come to the middle of the emotional spectrum, I look for a solution that utilizes positive emotions and a willingness to forgive everyone involved (including myself for the initial feeling of inferiority) - one which will allow me to stand in my power without trying to make the other person wrong. Anyone who must make someone else wrong for any confrontation is simply not getting it. Right and Wrong are both words that reinforce judgement. It is only when you move out of judgement that you can regain your strength and go on with your journey. This last understanding came to me in my late 50s, so the message here is that you are never to old to learn something about yourself, and change your perspective for the better.
DEPEND ON YOURSELF - always. Your journey on this planet is giving you the opportunity to change aspects in your life that no longer serve you, be they mental or emotional beliefs and prejudices, or situations that you have walked into, seemingly with your eyes closed. At some point you will realize that although others can help you see the issues surrounding your current problem, the only one who can get you out of a bad situation is yourself, you have to depend upon yourself in order to take care of yourself and those who are dependent upon you such as your children.
If we are deeply wounded in any area of our lives, we cannot trust that we will have the courage to take action which will help us remove ourselves from people, situations, jobs, addictions, and the like; UNLESS we actively seek to heal those wounds. Seeking to heal ourselves from the mental, and emotional scars of combat and survival will always take outside help even though we begin the journey alone. Whom we align ourselves with will be very important in the quality of our success. On the other side of your process is the knowledge that you now have all the tools you need to successfully depend upon yourself. This brings trusting yourself back into the game. Once you know that you can trust yourself not to engage the wounded behaviours which took you into the shadow you may even, like me, understand that the shadow was your ally. It led me back into the light of day when I was in deep, dark emotional pain.
LISTEN TO ALL OF YOUR FEELINGS and understand that by feeling the full range of emotions you are commiting to your lifetime and becoming an authentic person if you are not yet able to allow yourself to feel. You know, feel is just a four letter word, but the power inherent in your actual feelings make us unsure of ourselves. How do we act around others when we are grieving the loss of a beloved? When you are angry and haven't yet set down to work through the situation that brought the anger forefront, we might feel like destroying the target of that emotion. Obviously, the authors of Facing Fear, Finding Courage knew how out-of control we feel when we are in the venting stage but it is absolutely essential that you find the courage to vent those emotions. Why? Because they are linked to different stages of mental health.
Lastly for today's Sunday Service: LET YOUR WORST FEAR OUT OF THE CLOSET
Gulp! Yes, dear hearts, the majority of us have had, or still have a secret fear that we are convinced would destroy our lives, our relationships, our ability to lead any kind of "good life" if we admit to the way we are feeling about what will make us happy, or successful, or satisfied with ourselves. The worst fear can be one of exposure, for instance, if you are keeping a secret about something you did in your lifetime that could get you in deep trouble. The worst fear can be about your sexuallity, as society is only now slowly moving out of its polarity, even though it looks like we're not at all tolerant. Society has made some progress in America. What if you had a child when you were young but left town and never told anyone that you let your baby be adopted because you just couldn't deal? These are examples of 'big" fears, but sometimes our worst fears are less dramatic. Sometimes we have built up a little fear to become a monster in our eyes that we believe can never be controlled. And here is the root of fear's power over us until we dig the root up. The world "control" must be eliminated from this part of our quest. You are smart enough to know that fear, until you master it, will usually come to visit you again and again because it has control over you!
My mother's previously undetected paranoid schitzophrenia shattered our lives when she was sent to a hospital for shock treatment and drug therapy. Her children were between 1 -19 years old when it happened.. Each of us children dealt with this as best we could. I don't think any of us felt ashamed of her condition, but all of us were probably afraid that one of us might be next. At the time of her breakdown schitzophrenia was thought to be either hereditary or brought on by life long issues with emotional instability. I can say with certainty that it was not heredity as none of us became schitzophrenic, but all of us have had depression to battle and all of us became addicted to one or more substances. However each of us came to the understanding that escaping our demons (drugs, etc.) was only possible when we admitted we had some terrible fear that we had to let out of the closet: we all had problems that we could not fix by ourselves. Once the door was open for each of us, we were able to get the help we needed.
If your fear is a little one, but it has interferred with your ability to lead a productive and healthy life, it is just as devastating as the big monsters mentioned first. Humans should strive for balance, confidence, compassion and love for themselves and others. Think about what other important attributes would help you live a meaningful life?
In the meantime, I am going to continue to send each of you who reads my Sunday Services a special energy hug of loving good will; and the rest of humanity the hope that they will be able to love themselves enough to begin their personal work to become fearless, or if they are already almost there, that they succeed. We really can release our dependence upon fear to be the stimulai that moves us forward, ever ready to find love and happiness in our lifetime. A full life is one in which each step we take fills us with the spirit of adventure.
Rev. Cassandra "Cisi" Martin, Independent New Thought Minister
While living in the Mohave Desert Region of California in the middle of nowhere I began to realize that fearless actually can be a learned attribute. My husband had taken a job in Ridgecrest, CA so we moved from the lush greens and water of Eastern Oklahoma to the bare and wind whipped desert town that felt like it sucked me of my juices. Once confident and creative, now shrivelling up; once part of a spiritual group, now meeting only a few people who were spiritually available; once able to be ready to go on a spontaneous trip in 15 minutes, now reduced to 700 sq. feet that felt like prison. It was actually the beginning of a new cycle for me, I just didn't know it yet.
I soon stumbled upon a little book entitled Facing Fear, Finding Courage, written by Sarah Quigley with Marilyn Shroyer, PH.D. I took it to heart and began to feel better about myself. Over the next year I designed a workshop of the same title and shared it with about ten other women I had met who were open to the conversation. I offer the workshop for you over the next four services because it is apparent to me that people sense that something has gone terribly wrong in the natural order of things. By that I simply mean that society is outpicturing more violence, depletion of natural resources is very likely real on all the continents, politics and government itself is more polarized than every before, people are hardly capable of having civil conversations about their differences, and desperately intolerant of people who are different, all the while being afraid the world is going to end this year. Of course there's much more in the negative column that I could list, but I am actually here to show you constructive ways to move out of the negative pole of fear and build strength within yourself to master fearlessness. In my first tweet to the world I wrote that fear is actually our friend, because it challenges us, asking for more love instead of more fear.
You can catch my twitter messages @RevCisiMartin if you are interested in the little affirmations I am sending out into the collective consciousness through social media.
Now let's begin by looking at the first thing we must do if we want to become authentic and fearless. DARE TO GREET YOUR FEAR. The basic truth of overcoming anything unpleasant in life is to be willing to look it in the face. Fear wins if we do not confront it and have a good look at its background. Can you remember the first time you felt a fear? Choose a fear and ask yourself: when did this first enter my life? If you can't find that moment, work backwards until you get some insight on this particular fear because before it visited you were living life more fully. So, the importance of discovering what type of fear this is, and the circumstances around how it appeared in your life are important for you to understand. Unfortunately fear is self defeating. The longer you let it rule you, the stronger fear becomes: when you remodel yourself without that fear that so devastated you in the past you win.
I'll give you an example from my life. I was in the 1st or 2nd grade and I really liked this boy in class but so did other girls, they were just to bashful to talk to him. Not me! At playtime I followed him around until I got his attention and he turned around to look at me. He asked me what I wanted, so I told him "I want you to be my boyfriend". So, there I was smiling at him, waiting for him to say O.K. when instead he said "But I don't like you like that. I like someone else." He walked away and went to play with the other boys and I didn't know what to do or say. I don't think that anyone else heard our conversation, so I wasn't embarrassed, and I wasn't mad at him or the girl that he liked better. It was just the fact that he liked someone better than me. I didn't have the word "inferior" in my vocabulary, but I felt less than something I had been in that moment.
What was my fear trying to teach me? It is how you handle rejection that bespeaks of your character. Did I get that lesson? No, it took me years to learn not to take it personally, rejection is just a matter of personal preference and we are not always going to meet people who are natural fits to our personality, etc. But what happened to that self-assured little girl who wasn't afraid to tell a cute boy that she liked him alot? She never did come back 100%. In fact, during my 30s I was outrageously aggressive when I wanted to get some bad boy's attention! I lived during the sex, drugs and rock 'n roll decades so you can appreciate the temptations of the timeframe.
I was in my 40s before I felt safe enough to confront someone who was undermining my status at work, and to speak up about another one who was talking about me behind my back...not by gossiping back, but by going to the person involved and standing up for myself in the face of their criticisms. Sadly, my first response to a perceived attack or critisism is still that young girl's deflated reaction to a small extent. My answer now is to sit in peace with my feelings and after I've come to the middle of the emotional spectrum, I look for a solution that utilizes positive emotions and a willingness to forgive everyone involved (including myself for the initial feeling of inferiority) - one which will allow me to stand in my power without trying to make the other person wrong. Anyone who must make someone else wrong for any confrontation is simply not getting it. Right and Wrong are both words that reinforce judgement. It is only when you move out of judgement that you can regain your strength and go on with your journey. This last understanding came to me in my late 50s, so the message here is that you are never to old to learn something about yourself, and change your perspective for the better.
DEPEND ON YOURSELF - always. Your journey on this planet is giving you the opportunity to change aspects in your life that no longer serve you, be they mental or emotional beliefs and prejudices, or situations that you have walked into, seemingly with your eyes closed. At some point you will realize that although others can help you see the issues surrounding your current problem, the only one who can get you out of a bad situation is yourself, you have to depend upon yourself in order to take care of yourself and those who are dependent upon you such as your children.
If we are deeply wounded in any area of our lives, we cannot trust that we will have the courage to take action which will help us remove ourselves from people, situations, jobs, addictions, and the like; UNLESS we actively seek to heal those wounds. Seeking to heal ourselves from the mental, and emotional scars of combat and survival will always take outside help even though we begin the journey alone. Whom we align ourselves with will be very important in the quality of our success. On the other side of your process is the knowledge that you now have all the tools you need to successfully depend upon yourself. This brings trusting yourself back into the game. Once you know that you can trust yourself not to engage the wounded behaviours which took you into the shadow you may even, like me, understand that the shadow was your ally. It led me back into the light of day when I was in deep, dark emotional pain.
LISTEN TO ALL OF YOUR FEELINGS and understand that by feeling the full range of emotions you are commiting to your lifetime and becoming an authentic person if you are not yet able to allow yourself to feel. You know, feel is just a four letter word, but the power inherent in your actual feelings make us unsure of ourselves. How do we act around others when we are grieving the loss of a beloved? When you are angry and haven't yet set down to work through the situation that brought the anger forefront, we might feel like destroying the target of that emotion. Obviously, the authors of Facing Fear, Finding Courage knew how out-of control we feel when we are in the venting stage but it is absolutely essential that you find the courage to vent those emotions. Why? Because they are linked to different stages of mental health.
Lastly for today's Sunday Service: LET YOUR WORST FEAR OUT OF THE CLOSET
Gulp! Yes, dear hearts, the majority of us have had, or still have a secret fear that we are convinced would destroy our lives, our relationships, our ability to lead any kind of "good life" if we admit to the way we are feeling about what will make us happy, or successful, or satisfied with ourselves. The worst fear can be one of exposure, for instance, if you are keeping a secret about something you did in your lifetime that could get you in deep trouble. The worst fear can be about your sexuallity, as society is only now slowly moving out of its polarity, even though it looks like we're not at all tolerant. Society has made some progress in America. What if you had a child when you were young but left town and never told anyone that you let your baby be adopted because you just couldn't deal? These are examples of 'big" fears, but sometimes our worst fears are less dramatic. Sometimes we have built up a little fear to become a monster in our eyes that we believe can never be controlled. And here is the root of fear's power over us until we dig the root up. The world "control" must be eliminated from this part of our quest. You are smart enough to know that fear, until you master it, will usually come to visit you again and again because it has control over you!
My mother's previously undetected paranoid schitzophrenia shattered our lives when she was sent to a hospital for shock treatment and drug therapy. Her children were between 1 -19 years old when it happened.. Each of us children dealt with this as best we could. I don't think any of us felt ashamed of her condition, but all of us were probably afraid that one of us might be next. At the time of her breakdown schitzophrenia was thought to be either hereditary or brought on by life long issues with emotional instability. I can say with certainty that it was not heredity as none of us became schitzophrenic, but all of us have had depression to battle and all of us became addicted to one or more substances. However each of us came to the understanding that escaping our demons (drugs, etc.) was only possible when we admitted we had some terrible fear that we had to let out of the closet: we all had problems that we could not fix by ourselves. Once the door was open for each of us, we were able to get the help we needed.
If your fear is a little one, but it has interferred with your ability to lead a productive and healthy life, it is just as devastating as the big monsters mentioned first. Humans should strive for balance, confidence, compassion and love for themselves and others. Think about what other important attributes would help you live a meaningful life?
In the meantime, I am going to continue to send each of you who reads my Sunday Services a special energy hug of loving good will; and the rest of humanity the hope that they will be able to love themselves enough to begin their personal work to become fearless, or if they are already almost there, that they succeed. We really can release our dependence upon fear to be the stimulai that moves us forward, ever ready to find love and happiness in our lifetime. A full life is one in which each step we take fills us with the spirit of adventure.
Rev. Cassandra "Cisi" Martin, Independent New Thought Minister
The Tears of Tyranny: Theocracy Instead of Democracy?
christianitychat.com- wallpaper
15 May 2012
There is no way that our forefathers could have forseen that their dreams for a fair and strong Republic would break down over the centuries to become a polarized and weakened version of itself. 2011 was the year that the Republicans launched a blitz of laws in as many states as would join the Evangelical push for rescinding or undermining the Roe v. Wade law of 40 years ago. Check the facts if you can't trust my word. Or better yet, catch Rachel Maddow's show on MSNBC. She's great at debunking the junking of the minds of people who don't realize that politicians really do lie to us. It is an election year, afterall, so I energetically encourage you to do your own research when told by either political party that such-and such is true. Misrepresentation is the name of the political game - usually.
This year, however, it is critical that you, the voter, look for people who represent "equality" for everyone, especially those whom they may not agree with in our society. Folks, it isn't about the individual this election, it is about the "tampering with freedom" hit our society has taken over the past decade and how important it is for us to be putting people in office who will be able to help reverse the damage done by Congress as a whole, The Supreme Court, and the Executive Branch over the past decade.
Truthfully, our current president was elected because people like you and I were so terribly angry at the direction our country was heading, don't you remember? Both parties have had people who jumped ship during the aforementioned 10 years because they began to see that the Republicans were more interested in serving their "friends" than their constituents at large. I'm not saying that it is only the Republican party that has failed the American Dream, but the Democrats still fight for equality and recognize the need of the government to help people who need a hand up, or have contributed to Social Security and Medicare all of their working lives and who are not getting an "entitlement" when they ask for their money and services to be supplied. They did contribute to the system, which is in desperate need of reform and an intense restructuring of the laws currently on the books which negatively impact the citizens of our country.
Corruption exists in every part of our Government, I am saddened to point out. Recently another news story ran that said J.P. Morgan has lost another 2 million dollars in investment capital and more losses are expected. We citizens thought this couldn't happen again, but the laws that were passed to regulate the financial industry have not been put into action because THE LOBBYISTS and LAWMAKERS have not finished nailing down the details of how to make these laws work. I'll give you one guess as to which party played the role of obstructionist in this sad situation. Politics should be a business of give and take, but at the present time it is not. All of the good steps we have taken forward since the 2008 election have been manipulated by "those friends across the aisle" from the party that won.
Americans are held hostage in that we cannot improve our lives or move forward because of injustices which are still taking place against Citizens: a woman's privacy is under attack again, people of color are still discriminated against, citizens are denied the status which other citizens hold when it comes to a refusal by some states to sanction the right to MARRY a BELOVED because they are a COUPLE of the same-sex. Additionally, the business segment, not small business per se, but corporations registered in America continue to reap benefits and will until legislation is made which brings our society back into balance again. Our forfathers could not have clearly seen into the future so they did not give the right to vote to Women (Amendment XIX- 1920); nor did they abolish slavery until a terrible war was fought and President Lincoln saw that he had to push for slaves to be free (Amendment XIII- 1865). Congress did not envision that slaves should be able to vote either (Amendment XV- 1870) when it was first ratified. What our forefathers did do was to take into consideration the problems of their time and write laws into our most precious documents based upon challenges that already existed. Therefore we have The Articles of Confederation, The Declaration of Independence, and The Constitution of the United States. It is up to us now to update the Government and its policies which exist to the detriment of its citizens.
As a minister I can tell you that no matter how hard I try I cannot get my Services right 100% of the time, but I can sew seeds that will make you think for yourself and that is what I am doing today. That is also what our forefathers did for us while establishing the government for the United States. They may have tried to see into the future, but they were coming from an imperfect place whose government and religions held more power over society than was healthy according to their individual belief's of the day.
When you hear Christians, especially those who lean very far to the right, claiming that America was founded as a Christian nation they are actually obscuring the truth. The first Amendment to the Constitution only says that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of Grievances."
It is in the Declaration of Independence where we have the famous, and often quoted passage which religionists like to point to as saying that we are a nation of people who believe in a Christian God. But here is the truth written clearly for you to see without having to go to your library:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness - That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that where ever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness..."
This section continues but does not again mention the rights of any religious movement; especially one whose goal appears to the majority of our citizens to attempt to usurp the Governmental Laws that benefit freedom to its citizens by the manipulation of the legal system. I think religionists consider that they know when "Life" begins, who should have "Liberty" to choose for themselves how they will live, and the Pursuit of Happines only applies to Christians who proport to live by a code of ethics instituted by God Almighty. The problem with this arrogance is that we are not a country of one religion, as was England when our forefathers came to America because of the religious intolerance which existed at that time.
Let this Sunday Service serve as a cautionary reminder my dear friends of God-In-Action.org, it reflects a cautionary tale that we should all note when we look back at 2011 and the number of laws passed by the powerful lobbying of the proudly called Christian Right. They continue to work toward the usurping of the rights of all individuals to determine what they can and cannot be allowed to do with their own bodies, because of the Declaration of Independence (From England) also guarantees a citizens right to equality under the law, without discrimination such as has been partially rectified in the creation of Amendments to the Constitution of the United States. But we still have to ask who let the dogs out when it comes to the religious insistance that equality not extend to everyone such as applies to DOMA, the main reason for the title of this Sunday Service.
DOMA is the federally adopted Defense of Marriage Act passed by Congress in 1996 (under President Clinton, a Democrat) which defined that marriage would now be considered a legal union between a man and a woman; and it passed because the State of Hawaii's State Constitution allowed (before admitted as a State) for same-sex marriage which put into arms Christians in our country who lobbied Congress to guarantee that just because one state practiced civil rights for the GLBTs in their state, other states did not have to recognize them as legal in theirs.
Our President, Barack Obama has now instructed his administration to publicly avoid support for DOMA because he and his legal advisers believe that this Act is unconstitutional. Remember that Mr. Obama's credits include a thorough knowledge of our Constitution, so I would lean toward his interpretation before I would question his decision to support equal rights for our Gays, Lesbians, Bi-sexual and Trans-sexual citizens who have the right to the same privledges I enjoy with my husband as a hetrosexual couple. The polls now show that most citizens are reasonable in understanding that we may be different from each other but we are all entitled under the law to the pursuit of happiness which obviously includes marriage, without undermining the rights of religions to believe as they will when it comes to whom they will sanction with marriage vows under their roofs.
I AM now, and will always be willing to support equality in whatever form is necessary because I will never again shed tears because of the tyranny by the religionists in our country who believe themselves to be superior to other citizens and capable of pushing legislation which undermines the truths we hold dear and self-evident: " that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. As a minister of the Independent New Thought community I do not discriminate against your right to choose for yourself how you will form a relationship with the Divine, or not form one if you don't believe in any type of Divinity. I allow you to make what ever moral decisions you will make for yourself during your lifetime.
I personally know God to be an intelligence Creator who has brought everything into existance with no judgement on how they will outpicture themselves during their lifetime. My God is not the God of the Written Word but the God of All Life and you are equal in my eyes and I believe in your right to choose your own manifest destiny without interference.
As always, I send you loving good will. However today, I am adding a new type of energy which I send out for all of America's voters: truth needs to be fact checked during an election year! Please make sure your right to vote has not been compromised in your state. Register and vote because each vote counts.
Rev. Cassandra "Cisi" Martin
There is no way that our forefathers could have forseen that their dreams for a fair and strong Republic would break down over the centuries to become a polarized and weakened version of itself. 2011 was the year that the Republicans launched a blitz of laws in as many states as would join the Evangelical push for rescinding or undermining the Roe v. Wade law of 40 years ago. Check the facts if you can't trust my word. Or better yet, catch Rachel Maddow's show on MSNBC. She's great at debunking the junking of the minds of people who don't realize that politicians really do lie to us. It is an election year, afterall, so I energetically encourage you to do your own research when told by either political party that such-and such is true. Misrepresentation is the name of the political game - usually.
This year, however, it is critical that you, the voter, look for people who represent "equality" for everyone, especially those whom they may not agree with in our society. Folks, it isn't about the individual this election, it is about the "tampering with freedom" hit our society has taken over the past decade and how important it is for us to be putting people in office who will be able to help reverse the damage done by Congress as a whole, The Supreme Court, and the Executive Branch over the past decade.
Truthfully, our current president was elected because people like you and I were so terribly angry at the direction our country was heading, don't you remember? Both parties have had people who jumped ship during the aforementioned 10 years because they began to see that the Republicans were more interested in serving their "friends" than their constituents at large. I'm not saying that it is only the Republican party that has failed the American Dream, but the Democrats still fight for equality and recognize the need of the government to help people who need a hand up, or have contributed to Social Security and Medicare all of their working lives and who are not getting an "entitlement" when they ask for their money and services to be supplied. They did contribute to the system, which is in desperate need of reform and an intense restructuring of the laws currently on the books which negatively impact the citizens of our country.
Corruption exists in every part of our Government, I am saddened to point out. Recently another news story ran that said J.P. Morgan has lost another 2 million dollars in investment capital and more losses are expected. We citizens thought this couldn't happen again, but the laws that were passed to regulate the financial industry have not been put into action because THE LOBBYISTS and LAWMAKERS have not finished nailing down the details of how to make these laws work. I'll give you one guess as to which party played the role of obstructionist in this sad situation. Politics should be a business of give and take, but at the present time it is not. All of the good steps we have taken forward since the 2008 election have been manipulated by "those friends across the aisle" from the party that won.
Americans are held hostage in that we cannot improve our lives or move forward because of injustices which are still taking place against Citizens: a woman's privacy is under attack again, people of color are still discriminated against, citizens are denied the status which other citizens hold when it comes to a refusal by some states to sanction the right to MARRY a BELOVED because they are a COUPLE of the same-sex. Additionally, the business segment, not small business per se, but corporations registered in America continue to reap benefits and will until legislation is made which brings our society back into balance again. Our forfathers could not have clearly seen into the future so they did not give the right to vote to Women (Amendment XIX- 1920); nor did they abolish slavery until a terrible war was fought and President Lincoln saw that he had to push for slaves to be free (Amendment XIII- 1865). Congress did not envision that slaves should be able to vote either (Amendment XV- 1870) when it was first ratified. What our forefathers did do was to take into consideration the problems of their time and write laws into our most precious documents based upon challenges that already existed. Therefore we have The Articles of Confederation, The Declaration of Independence, and The Constitution of the United States. It is up to us now to update the Government and its policies which exist to the detriment of its citizens.
As a minister I can tell you that no matter how hard I try I cannot get my Services right 100% of the time, but I can sew seeds that will make you think for yourself and that is what I am doing today. That is also what our forefathers did for us while establishing the government for the United States. They may have tried to see into the future, but they were coming from an imperfect place whose government and religions held more power over society than was healthy according to their individual belief's of the day.
When you hear Christians, especially those who lean very far to the right, claiming that America was founded as a Christian nation they are actually obscuring the truth. The first Amendment to the Constitution only says that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of Grievances."
It is in the Declaration of Independence where we have the famous, and often quoted passage which religionists like to point to as saying that we are a nation of people who believe in a Christian God. But here is the truth written clearly for you to see without having to go to your library:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness - That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that where ever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness..."
This section continues but does not again mention the rights of any religious movement; especially one whose goal appears to the majority of our citizens to attempt to usurp the Governmental Laws that benefit freedom to its citizens by the manipulation of the legal system. I think religionists consider that they know when "Life" begins, who should have "Liberty" to choose for themselves how they will live, and the Pursuit of Happines only applies to Christians who proport to live by a code of ethics instituted by God Almighty. The problem with this arrogance is that we are not a country of one religion, as was England when our forefathers came to America because of the religious intolerance which existed at that time.
Let this Sunday Service serve as a cautionary reminder my dear friends of God-In-Action.org, it reflects a cautionary tale that we should all note when we look back at 2011 and the number of laws passed by the powerful lobbying of the proudly called Christian Right. They continue to work toward the usurping of the rights of all individuals to determine what they can and cannot be allowed to do with their own bodies, because of the Declaration of Independence (From England) also guarantees a citizens right to equality under the law, without discrimination such as has been partially rectified in the creation of Amendments to the Constitution of the United States. But we still have to ask who let the dogs out when it comes to the religious insistance that equality not extend to everyone such as applies to DOMA, the main reason for the title of this Sunday Service.
DOMA is the federally adopted Defense of Marriage Act passed by Congress in 1996 (under President Clinton, a Democrat) which defined that marriage would now be considered a legal union between a man and a woman; and it passed because the State of Hawaii's State Constitution allowed (before admitted as a State) for same-sex marriage which put into arms Christians in our country who lobbied Congress to guarantee that just because one state practiced civil rights for the GLBTs in their state, other states did not have to recognize them as legal in theirs.
Our President, Barack Obama has now instructed his administration to publicly avoid support for DOMA because he and his legal advisers believe that this Act is unconstitutional. Remember that Mr. Obama's credits include a thorough knowledge of our Constitution, so I would lean toward his interpretation before I would question his decision to support equal rights for our Gays, Lesbians, Bi-sexual and Trans-sexual citizens who have the right to the same privledges I enjoy with my husband as a hetrosexual couple. The polls now show that most citizens are reasonable in understanding that we may be different from each other but we are all entitled under the law to the pursuit of happiness which obviously includes marriage, without undermining the rights of religions to believe as they will when it comes to whom they will sanction with marriage vows under their roofs.
I AM now, and will always be willing to support equality in whatever form is necessary because I will never again shed tears because of the tyranny by the religionists in our country who believe themselves to be superior to other citizens and capable of pushing legislation which undermines the truths we hold dear and self-evident: " that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. As a minister of the Independent New Thought community I do not discriminate against your right to choose for yourself how you will form a relationship with the Divine, or not form one if you don't believe in any type of Divinity. I allow you to make what ever moral decisions you will make for yourself during your lifetime.
I personally know God to be an intelligence Creator who has brought everything into existance with no judgement on how they will outpicture themselves during their lifetime. My God is not the God of the Written Word but the God of All Life and you are equal in my eyes and I believe in your right to choose your own manifest destiny without interference.
As always, I send you loving good will. However today, I am adding a new type of energy which I send out for all of America's voters: truth needs to be fact checked during an election year! Please make sure your right to vote has not been compromised in your state. Register and vote because each vote counts.
Rev. Cassandra "Cisi" Martin
If God is Energy, Does it Leave a Fingerprint in our DNA?
Kirilian Fingerprints from www.webpan.com
Since the early 1950s, when DNA was first identified and studied, the field of genetics has been able to map the DNA in ways that helped scientists better understand the inner dialogue of creation, if I may use a metaphor here. Understand that the field of study is still ongoing and we have not come close to mastery, but we are beginning to prove that there is definitely a 'design' in the patterns of DNA which may be said to be powered by a source of energy that is within the human, or otherwise physical, structure. It takes energy for cells to grow, following the outpictured patterning of the DNA, etc. It takes energy for the body to run efficiently. These are different types of energy, but I want us to strip it all down to just the words "energy", "fingerprint", "God", and "humanity", for this Sunday Service. My painting is made with long strokes so that the details are not as important to you as the context of the theory.
For me, God exists within the very space between, within, around, and throughout every form of creation that we see or know. I am God's creation. You are God's creation. Scientists don't see it this way, because they can't measure space for a signal of intelligent energy that would be capable of being the Divine Creator of All That Is, but metaphysicians can, and usually do. We fine-tune our minds, meditate, envision, receive thought-forms that explain certain creation principles, and many other ways of utilizing the intelligence that exists throughout the universe. I have been shown this concept of intelligent space, and seen it expand in my mind, all the while as I worked out the details in laywoman's language. This concept is a big-un!
So let me ask you what I asked myself: if it's true that God is the intelligent energy that created everything, and it leaves behind an energetic fingerprint in the "created", wouldn't that then mean that we are all carring the energy of our creator? And, that if we are able to reconnect to it via mind, emotions and spirit, we will be able to touch our God-Nature, the very best part of ourselves, at will?
Well this thought has been an aspiration for seekers within major religions for eons. In the East, the place of enlightenment, yogies and yoginis have saught to train their mind, body and spirit to meet their creator on some level, be it through personal enlightenment, through the receival of powerful mantras, or teachings to help laypeople better understand the close connection of God to its created. Not to belabor the point, but all spiritualism is a form of seeking a closer connection to the Divine, known by many names. For millenium we have moved like a wave, up and down, in our ability to fathom the great mystery of creation.
Now that science (as a whole) is where it is, I am hopeful that by simplifying our language to describe energy as a wave of frequency which moves indefinitely, and is afffected by its surroundings, we may be able to take an intuitive leap of faith and try to prove that the wave, made of space, may well be intelligent and THAT IS A DESCRIPTION OF A GREAT AND MYSTERIOUS GOD that can be in all places at once, affect everything at will, and can understand our desires (which also express as energy) so that our prayers are heard.
Personally, I just can't go with a God in the Sky mentality. But billions of people on the planet need to believe that God hears their prayers. It's a comfort to think of God as a parent, but I need to move into the age of science and lovingly allow the energy we have named God, to be what it is, or isn't. For me, because of the complexity and perfection of the universe when not messed with by humanity, the big IT can be anything and everything, or better yet, nothing that can be definied if that is its true essence. I won't mind being wrong. My job as a mystic is to quest. And that is what I am doing. I am Spirit Questing, looking for ways to understand what my higher intelligence tells me, what my spiritual intelligence tells me, and what my physical intelligence hints at, day by day.
You may think I mean "Self" instead of "Intelligence" in the above sentence, but I don't. I already know and feel, and intuit that I am an energy field that is vibrating at various levels of efficiency, that my consciousness and my sub-conscious mind are also vibrating at higher and higher levels of efficiency as I put the puzzle pieces together to form a theory to my questing. However, I am not attached to the outcome because if it is different than I believe it to be, I still exist until I don't. And, every day that I exist I AM able to follow the hints that come from my Divine God-Nature, which I know to be indwelling: somehow. As stated I like to think of it as the space between the sub-atomic particles in my personal body energy field. I like to see myself as frequencies of color, sound, light, electro-magnetically influenced, et al. We don't even have names for the depth of the unified field of consciousness in which we all exist. But, we will, someday.
Oh, science has a few wonderful theories such as Higgs Invisible Energy Field that acts like Cosmic Molasses * (Time Magazine, Science, page 16, March 26, 2012) slowing down protons, electrons, bosons, because they would all have varying levels of mass, etc. Others call it the Unified Energy Field upon which quantum mechanics and theory can dance and sing the most entertaining of duets. I see it simply as this: space is intelligent because it is the God-Glue that holds everything together. There, I've reduced my theory, which took years for me to work out and to understand, into a short sentence.
If it is true that God is magnificently simple and elegant, and that IT is energy which is intelligent and creative, and capable, like the computer program in the Matrix trilogy, of both affecting and being effected by itself, then there is no limit for humanity to expand into evolved status, thereby becoming a blessing to all of life that lives on our planet. "You may think I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one..." (Thanks to John Lennon for that thought.)
In the meantime, I AM sending you loving good will because you deserve it, we all need its energy to help us, day to day, and it's free. I just have to think of how wonderful humanity can be when it is able to make its connection to God's energetic fingerprint. In part, we all understand the concept. Now is the time for each of us to do what we were born able to do, energize and enlighten ourselves with loving good will.
Rev. Cassandra "Cisi" Martin, Independent New Thought
For me, God exists within the very space between, within, around, and throughout every form of creation that we see or know. I am God's creation. You are God's creation. Scientists don't see it this way, because they can't measure space for a signal of intelligent energy that would be capable of being the Divine Creator of All That Is, but metaphysicians can, and usually do. We fine-tune our minds, meditate, envision, receive thought-forms that explain certain creation principles, and many other ways of utilizing the intelligence that exists throughout the universe. I have been shown this concept of intelligent space, and seen it expand in my mind, all the while as I worked out the details in laywoman's language. This concept is a big-un!
So let me ask you what I asked myself: if it's true that God is the intelligent energy that created everything, and it leaves behind an energetic fingerprint in the "created", wouldn't that then mean that we are all carring the energy of our creator? And, that if we are able to reconnect to it via mind, emotions and spirit, we will be able to touch our God-Nature, the very best part of ourselves, at will?
Well this thought has been an aspiration for seekers within major religions for eons. In the East, the place of enlightenment, yogies and yoginis have saught to train their mind, body and spirit to meet their creator on some level, be it through personal enlightenment, through the receival of powerful mantras, or teachings to help laypeople better understand the close connection of God to its created. Not to belabor the point, but all spiritualism is a form of seeking a closer connection to the Divine, known by many names. For millenium we have moved like a wave, up and down, in our ability to fathom the great mystery of creation.
Now that science (as a whole) is where it is, I am hopeful that by simplifying our language to describe energy as a wave of frequency which moves indefinitely, and is afffected by its surroundings, we may be able to take an intuitive leap of faith and try to prove that the wave, made of space, may well be intelligent and THAT IS A DESCRIPTION OF A GREAT AND MYSTERIOUS GOD that can be in all places at once, affect everything at will, and can understand our desires (which also express as energy) so that our prayers are heard.
Personally, I just can't go with a God in the Sky mentality. But billions of people on the planet need to believe that God hears their prayers. It's a comfort to think of God as a parent, but I need to move into the age of science and lovingly allow the energy we have named God, to be what it is, or isn't. For me, because of the complexity and perfection of the universe when not messed with by humanity, the big IT can be anything and everything, or better yet, nothing that can be definied if that is its true essence. I won't mind being wrong. My job as a mystic is to quest. And that is what I am doing. I am Spirit Questing, looking for ways to understand what my higher intelligence tells me, what my spiritual intelligence tells me, and what my physical intelligence hints at, day by day.
You may think I mean "Self" instead of "Intelligence" in the above sentence, but I don't. I already know and feel, and intuit that I am an energy field that is vibrating at various levels of efficiency, that my consciousness and my sub-conscious mind are also vibrating at higher and higher levels of efficiency as I put the puzzle pieces together to form a theory to my questing. However, I am not attached to the outcome because if it is different than I believe it to be, I still exist until I don't. And, every day that I exist I AM able to follow the hints that come from my Divine God-Nature, which I know to be indwelling: somehow. As stated I like to think of it as the space between the sub-atomic particles in my personal body energy field. I like to see myself as frequencies of color, sound, light, electro-magnetically influenced, et al. We don't even have names for the depth of the unified field of consciousness in which we all exist. But, we will, someday.
Oh, science has a few wonderful theories such as Higgs Invisible Energy Field that acts like Cosmic Molasses * (Time Magazine, Science, page 16, March 26, 2012) slowing down protons, electrons, bosons, because they would all have varying levels of mass, etc. Others call it the Unified Energy Field upon which quantum mechanics and theory can dance and sing the most entertaining of duets. I see it simply as this: space is intelligent because it is the God-Glue that holds everything together. There, I've reduced my theory, which took years for me to work out and to understand, into a short sentence.
If it is true that God is magnificently simple and elegant, and that IT is energy which is intelligent and creative, and capable, like the computer program in the Matrix trilogy, of both affecting and being effected by itself, then there is no limit for humanity to expand into evolved status, thereby becoming a blessing to all of life that lives on our planet. "You may think I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one..." (Thanks to John Lennon for that thought.)
In the meantime, I AM sending you loving good will because you deserve it, we all need its energy to help us, day to day, and it's free. I just have to think of how wonderful humanity can be when it is able to make its connection to God's energetic fingerprint. In part, we all understand the concept. Now is the time for each of us to do what we were born able to do, energize and enlighten ourselves with loving good will.
Rev. Cassandra "Cisi" Martin, Independent New Thought
Personal Apotheosis and Resurrection
16 April, 2012, edited 18 April, 2012
Today I am writing about apotheosis and resurrection because Easter Sunday has come and gone and it started me thinking of the many belief’s people hold about these two words. What you will read here is unconventional, by today’s standards because organized religions are more involved in teaching morals to their congregants instead of helping them connect more personally to God, and the essence of God which is indwelling. I identify myself as a mystic because I understand that “the mystic makes contact with the god inside in order to become that god” (Morrison, 1998). I have been a spiritual seeker all of my life and have discovered some amazing talents that I assure you did not come from my personality; rather from the opening power of the "signature" of God that is my guiding light.
While researching this service I went to the Urantia Book as one source, so I want to share with you a few thoughts about God-within which are different than some Christian studies, but still similar enough as to be complementary
and thought-provoking.
“The divine spirit makes contact with mortal man, not by feelings or emotions, but in the realm of the highest and most spiritualized thinking. It is your thoughts, not your feelings that lead you Godward. The divine nature may be perceived only with the eyes in the mind. But the mind that really discerns God, (and) hears the indwelling Adjuster, is the pure mind…” (Urantia Book, 101:1.3)
Someone casually observing this sentence in the Urantia material and also reading Christian materials that refers to the “Holy Ghost or Spirit” as the indwelling part of God might see the description of the Holy Ghost
and the Indwelling Adjuster as both being able to serve humanity and the essence of God most High on a very personal level.
Consider this from I Corinthians, Ch. 6:19
–20
“…do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit that dwells within you, which you have of God, and you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in
your spirit, because they belong to God.”
I think these two verses help us see the similarities in the role of the Thought Adjuster and the Holy Ghost/Spirit. But, now I want to move back into my spiritual roots before I realized I was following the path of a mystic and share with you a Native American understanding that I first heard when I was living on a land co-op named Chewena, which I believe is no longer functioning.
I loved my time in Taos, New Mexico, and I received many gifts
from Spirit as I learned to channel my Divine Nature with help from enlightened
beings of God’s Light and the communications I shared with Nature and Earth
Mother. The beauty in the simplicity of earth based spirituality is that it is inclusive and helps us to see ourselves as part of a whole that has been created by a power too mysterious for us to claim to understand. We simply accept with gratitude the many blessings that we receive day after day.
Mankind’s ego, on the other hand, is famous for complicating life. I’m not talking about the lower ego, or life surviving mechanism which our bodies need to survive, I am talking about the ego which is inclined to seek glorification for its works. Take a moment to feel the power in the following simple phrase which has several levels of intention attached to the single idea.
“Grandfather, make me like hollow bone, fill me and use me for your good”. This was often part of the ceremonial language used by the Suquamish elder of my spiritual community. People of different tribes use this concept, too, sometimes using the word “reed” instead of “bone” but realizing that the hollow object symbolizes an understanding that the essence of God can become indwelling when it meets no obstructions. Put aside your mental obstructions. Open your heart to your “good heart”, or "spirit heart", which is naturally part of the essence of your being because you have been created by the goodness of God/Goddess/Great Spirit.
“Living in holiness is living as a hollow bone, through which creator can pour information and guidance into the world. You become a conduit for the highest and finest,” says Brooke Medicine Eagle. (Eagle, 2000)
Earlier I did a service using President George Washington’s “apotheosis” as an example of how earlier American’s had no trouble seeing that the Divine Father God encouraged everyone to do their best, be in service to others, and remain humbled by the powerful accomplishments that could be achieved when one was working toward the greater good of our nation, for instance. George Washington was a humble man when it came to receiving accolades. He preferred to be called “Mr. President” than a ridiculously fancy title that some of the first congressmen preferred. To this day our presidents, past and present, are called "Mr. President". This little side note may be the only example we have, historically speaking, of our public leaders keeping it simple!
The artist Constantino Brumidi created a fresco on the Capital Rotunda Dome in 1865 entitled, “The Apotheosis of George Washington.” Our citizens were so grateful to George Washington that they appreciated the work of art that showed him flanked by Ladies Liberty, and Justice and then also surrounded in a circle by ladies who represented the original 13 colonies. There are also pagan gods and goddesses in this same fresco but this wasn’t a problem during the time of the installation because the upper ruling classes were classically trained and understood the significance of showing George surrounded by powerful supporters, so to speak. Come to think of it, artistic nudity wasn't immoral either. But now back to Brumidi's intent to honor our first president in the fresco.
The definition “apotheosis” classically means that someone has become god-like, a process that is achieved because the personality has move out of selfishness and in turn has proven themselves to be a champion for excellence in mind, body and spirit. I will not go so far as to say that the leaders of the times understood the principle of God, indwelling, because religion was much more about hellfire and damnation in early America.
However, through the centuries as life became less of a daily burden, we have had time to reflect upon the importance of our spirituality and our connection to whomever we consider to be our diety. We have slowly been able to build a bridge between mankind and God. Even more exciting is the spiritual awakening which began in the 1800s, gained strength and more clarity in the 1970s and has now evolved into New Thought doctrine which states that God is indwelling, or immanent within humanity. I find it easier to do the "right" thing these days because I understand that my basic god-nature is the light shining on my pathway.
Regarding the word “resurrection” I want to encourage you to do some reading about the early religions on the planet whose god’s and goddess’ participated in “resurrection” ceremonies – some I’ve already described in my earliest services so I don’t want to rehash the information.
Let’s leave it at this: religions and spiritual practices all over the world before the time of Jesus believed that life was either eternal, (reincarnation), ruled by destiny or karma, controlled by the leading gods and goddess’ of their society, or that brave men championed the sorrows of mankind (similar to the quest archetype) and died for them, only to be lifted up in a pre Christian version of resurrection, which inspired humanity and reminded them that action for the greater good is always honored.
Additionally, Demi-god’s were built into the mythos of many societies so that it was not unusual to think of a man-god combination so much as it was impossible in the early days to realize that God could be immanent. The gods of the ancient cultures were still feared and I suspect it wasn't until man reached the age of science before humans realized that we could be as vengeful as the gods of old.
Thankfully with time, and with the collective evolution of our consciousness our better instincts became dominant. Once we were able to reach an age of reason that allowed us to move beyond survival mode, our minds became more active. The New Thought religious movement began to clarify for us that God is immanent. I have come to understand that the energy "signature" of the God of creation is the same thing so, I am comfortable with seeing god in both the sacred and scientific fields of study. I hope the old paradigm of enemity is dying.
As we open to the unknown, we are inviting spirit into our mind in ways that are more creative than in the past. Sadly this doesn't mean that your path to your divinity is going to be a walk in the park. How else could we learn to appreciate the choices we have made which lead us to higher understandings about life in general and our union with the Divine in particular? Therefore, your spiritual quest isn’t impossible, just challenging.
Change requires you to forgive and eliminate the parts of your human nature that are self-destructive, and to open your heart, your tender and vulnerable heart, to a life that is often challenging and painful. If we look back at all of the examples sacred men and women of the world have left for us to understand, we would notice one thing in particular: they cared less about their wellbeing than they did about serving the wellbeing of the people in the world.
When you find the essence of God within you and you love and honor that essence with every thought, word and action you take for the rest of your life, it is like saying to the world that you consider yourself to be holy. And, it is like being resurrected from a painful dimension into a glorious one that knows no earthly comparison. Resurrection can be defined as a transition from one state to another, not just code for 'born-again'.
When we break a bad habit we are changing ourselves for the better. When we make amends to the people we have harmed, we open the door for self forgiveness which is one of the hardest levels of growth to achieve. When we begin to act in harmony with our god-nature, our god indwelling is revealed to us, and with that revelation comes resurrection to another stage of spiritual development. And, often a more intense relationship with God.
It is the energy "signature" of God that remains in the physical body which is responsible for awakening us to our indwelling Divinity. Each of us awakens when we are ready, and not one second before, but by changing our perception just a tiny bit we are able to expand our consciousness, and this is always a good beginning.
Think about how powerful our minds are – they are both friend and enemy to our spiritual progress. Travel inward, my friends and listen for the still small voice of the Holy Spirit, or the Indwelling Adjuster as it is sometimes called. It becomes less about what we think we know in the world, and more about what we discover when we strip away all of the illusions.
Something fantastic is happening here on our planet, and in this time of the 21st century. People are slowly breaking away from what they have been taught and asking themselves why don’t I resonate with this old teaching any more? What am I missing in this life that would make me feel so much better? What do you think this means?
The Holy Spirit and the Indwelling Adjuster are just helping us move forward in the soulful evolution of mankind. Time is bringing change into the psyche of the collective consciousness of man. It is up to us if we want to begin changing our lives individually, or if we want to fight the experience.
Shift your consciousness now, my friends. Baby steps are just fine. It is time for all of us to journey inward and discover what is and is not resonating with us anymore.
For me, God is indwelling, the energetic signature of a creator God that I can never know personally, but who has built in a plan for me to evolve enough so that I may go to the next level of awakening. The essence of God is my salvation, not because I need to be saved due to 'sin', but because the real God does not require me to worship it, only to love myself. When I am in the "energy field" of love, I am also acknowledging it (God) as the most beautiful part of creation.
As usual, I am sending you loving good will – forever. Rev. Cassandra
Martin
Today I am writing about apotheosis and resurrection because Easter Sunday has come and gone and it started me thinking of the many belief’s people hold about these two words. What you will read here is unconventional, by today’s standards because organized religions are more involved in teaching morals to their congregants instead of helping them connect more personally to God, and the essence of God which is indwelling. I identify myself as a mystic because I understand that “the mystic makes contact with the god inside in order to become that god” (Morrison, 1998). I have been a spiritual seeker all of my life and have discovered some amazing talents that I assure you did not come from my personality; rather from the opening power of the "signature" of God that is my guiding light.
While researching this service I went to the Urantia Book as one source, so I want to share with you a few thoughts about God-within which are different than some Christian studies, but still similar enough as to be complementary
and thought-provoking.
“The divine spirit makes contact with mortal man, not by feelings or emotions, but in the realm of the highest and most spiritualized thinking. It is your thoughts, not your feelings that lead you Godward. The divine nature may be perceived only with the eyes in the mind. But the mind that really discerns God, (and) hears the indwelling Adjuster, is the pure mind…” (Urantia Book, 101:1.3)
Someone casually observing this sentence in the Urantia material and also reading Christian materials that refers to the “Holy Ghost or Spirit” as the indwelling part of God might see the description of the Holy Ghost
and the Indwelling Adjuster as both being able to serve humanity and the essence of God most High on a very personal level.
Consider this from I Corinthians, Ch. 6:19
–20
“…do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit that dwells within you, which you have of God, and you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in
your spirit, because they belong to God.”
I think these two verses help us see the similarities in the role of the Thought Adjuster and the Holy Ghost/Spirit. But, now I want to move back into my spiritual roots before I realized I was following the path of a mystic and share with you a Native American understanding that I first heard when I was living on a land co-op named Chewena, which I believe is no longer functioning.
I loved my time in Taos, New Mexico, and I received many gifts
from Spirit as I learned to channel my Divine Nature with help from enlightened
beings of God’s Light and the communications I shared with Nature and Earth
Mother. The beauty in the simplicity of earth based spirituality is that it is inclusive and helps us to see ourselves as part of a whole that has been created by a power too mysterious for us to claim to understand. We simply accept with gratitude the many blessings that we receive day after day.
Mankind’s ego, on the other hand, is famous for complicating life. I’m not talking about the lower ego, or life surviving mechanism which our bodies need to survive, I am talking about the ego which is inclined to seek glorification for its works. Take a moment to feel the power in the following simple phrase which has several levels of intention attached to the single idea.
“Grandfather, make me like hollow bone, fill me and use me for your good”. This was often part of the ceremonial language used by the Suquamish elder of my spiritual community. People of different tribes use this concept, too, sometimes using the word “reed” instead of “bone” but realizing that the hollow object symbolizes an understanding that the essence of God can become indwelling when it meets no obstructions. Put aside your mental obstructions. Open your heart to your “good heart”, or "spirit heart", which is naturally part of the essence of your being because you have been created by the goodness of God/Goddess/Great Spirit.
“Living in holiness is living as a hollow bone, through which creator can pour information and guidance into the world. You become a conduit for the highest and finest,” says Brooke Medicine Eagle. (Eagle, 2000)
Earlier I did a service using President George Washington’s “apotheosis” as an example of how earlier American’s had no trouble seeing that the Divine Father God encouraged everyone to do their best, be in service to others, and remain humbled by the powerful accomplishments that could be achieved when one was working toward the greater good of our nation, for instance. George Washington was a humble man when it came to receiving accolades. He preferred to be called “Mr. President” than a ridiculously fancy title that some of the first congressmen preferred. To this day our presidents, past and present, are called "Mr. President". This little side note may be the only example we have, historically speaking, of our public leaders keeping it simple!
The artist Constantino Brumidi created a fresco on the Capital Rotunda Dome in 1865 entitled, “The Apotheosis of George Washington.” Our citizens were so grateful to George Washington that they appreciated the work of art that showed him flanked by Ladies Liberty, and Justice and then also surrounded in a circle by ladies who represented the original 13 colonies. There are also pagan gods and goddesses in this same fresco but this wasn’t a problem during the time of the installation because the upper ruling classes were classically trained and understood the significance of showing George surrounded by powerful supporters, so to speak. Come to think of it, artistic nudity wasn't immoral either. But now back to Brumidi's intent to honor our first president in the fresco.
The definition “apotheosis” classically means that someone has become god-like, a process that is achieved because the personality has move out of selfishness and in turn has proven themselves to be a champion for excellence in mind, body and spirit. I will not go so far as to say that the leaders of the times understood the principle of God, indwelling, because religion was much more about hellfire and damnation in early America.
However, through the centuries as life became less of a daily burden, we have had time to reflect upon the importance of our spirituality and our connection to whomever we consider to be our diety. We have slowly been able to build a bridge between mankind and God. Even more exciting is the spiritual awakening which began in the 1800s, gained strength and more clarity in the 1970s and has now evolved into New Thought doctrine which states that God is indwelling, or immanent within humanity. I find it easier to do the "right" thing these days because I understand that my basic god-nature is the light shining on my pathway.
Regarding the word “resurrection” I want to encourage you to do some reading about the early religions on the planet whose god’s and goddess’ participated in “resurrection” ceremonies – some I’ve already described in my earliest services so I don’t want to rehash the information.
Let’s leave it at this: religions and spiritual practices all over the world before the time of Jesus believed that life was either eternal, (reincarnation), ruled by destiny or karma, controlled by the leading gods and goddess’ of their society, or that brave men championed the sorrows of mankind (similar to the quest archetype) and died for them, only to be lifted up in a pre Christian version of resurrection, which inspired humanity and reminded them that action for the greater good is always honored.
Additionally, Demi-god’s were built into the mythos of many societies so that it was not unusual to think of a man-god combination so much as it was impossible in the early days to realize that God could be immanent. The gods of the ancient cultures were still feared and I suspect it wasn't until man reached the age of science before humans realized that we could be as vengeful as the gods of old.
Thankfully with time, and with the collective evolution of our consciousness our better instincts became dominant. Once we were able to reach an age of reason that allowed us to move beyond survival mode, our minds became more active. The New Thought religious movement began to clarify for us that God is immanent. I have come to understand that the energy "signature" of the God of creation is the same thing so, I am comfortable with seeing god in both the sacred and scientific fields of study. I hope the old paradigm of enemity is dying.
As we open to the unknown, we are inviting spirit into our mind in ways that are more creative than in the past. Sadly this doesn't mean that your path to your divinity is going to be a walk in the park. How else could we learn to appreciate the choices we have made which lead us to higher understandings about life in general and our union with the Divine in particular? Therefore, your spiritual quest isn’t impossible, just challenging.
Change requires you to forgive and eliminate the parts of your human nature that are self-destructive, and to open your heart, your tender and vulnerable heart, to a life that is often challenging and painful. If we look back at all of the examples sacred men and women of the world have left for us to understand, we would notice one thing in particular: they cared less about their wellbeing than they did about serving the wellbeing of the people in the world.
When you find the essence of God within you and you love and honor that essence with every thought, word and action you take for the rest of your life, it is like saying to the world that you consider yourself to be holy. And, it is like being resurrected from a painful dimension into a glorious one that knows no earthly comparison. Resurrection can be defined as a transition from one state to another, not just code for 'born-again'.
When we break a bad habit we are changing ourselves for the better. When we make amends to the people we have harmed, we open the door for self forgiveness which is one of the hardest levels of growth to achieve. When we begin to act in harmony with our god-nature, our god indwelling is revealed to us, and with that revelation comes resurrection to another stage of spiritual development. And, often a more intense relationship with God.
It is the energy "signature" of God that remains in the physical body which is responsible for awakening us to our indwelling Divinity. Each of us awakens when we are ready, and not one second before, but by changing our perception just a tiny bit we are able to expand our consciousness, and this is always a good beginning.
Think about how powerful our minds are – they are both friend and enemy to our spiritual progress. Travel inward, my friends and listen for the still small voice of the Holy Spirit, or the Indwelling Adjuster as it is sometimes called. It becomes less about what we think we know in the world, and more about what we discover when we strip away all of the illusions.
Something fantastic is happening here on our planet, and in this time of the 21st century. People are slowly breaking away from what they have been taught and asking themselves why don’t I resonate with this old teaching any more? What am I missing in this life that would make me feel so much better? What do you think this means?
The Holy Spirit and the Indwelling Adjuster are just helping us move forward in the soulful evolution of mankind. Time is bringing change into the psyche of the collective consciousness of man. It is up to us if we want to begin changing our lives individually, or if we want to fight the experience.
Shift your consciousness now, my friends. Baby steps are just fine. It is time for all of us to journey inward and discover what is and is not resonating with us anymore.
For me, God is indwelling, the energetic signature of a creator God that I can never know personally, but who has built in a plan for me to evolve enough so that I may go to the next level of awakening. The essence of God is my salvation, not because I need to be saved due to 'sin', but because the real God does not require me to worship it, only to love myself. When I am in the "energy field" of love, I am also acknowledging it (God) as the most beautiful part of creation.
As usual, I am sending you loving good will – forever. Rev. Cassandra
Martin
Your Diamond Light Body
30 April 2012
The Light Within Me Knows and Loves the Light Within You" is a salutation which has great power and is an ancient way of showing others that you come to them in peace. You will find this and similar statements in many languages around the world. In essence you are saying that you recognize the God indwelling, or Buddah indwelling, or other Sacred Energies indwelling within both of you; allowing for an equal field of play and dialogue.
While researching my new book, "The Living Language of Light", Spirit brought me to Penny Pierce's book "Frequencies: The Power of Personal Vibration", and I want to share with you an excercise that she suggests for her readers. First, I want you to know you can access your personal vibration in many, many ways, so don't think that this is the only chance you will have to balance and harmonize your energetic body. However, I think that this is a good one to do because it relies upon the basic scientific understanding that eveything that exists is really some form of energetic frequency which manifests in an, as yet, unprooven manner. So, if you enjoy Penny's activating your diamond light body excercise, you will probably advance your own understanding of how energy works.
1. Enter the form of meditation that is most comfortable for you and think about some of your happy experiences for a few minutes. Penny implies that being in your happy place is like being on a launch pad.
2. Behind you, see your light body. It is diamond bright, with no flaws or negative energy attached to it. You might think of your diamond light body as your Soul, or your Highest Good, or your Divine Nature. It is flawless and powerfully resonating with the energy of love, compassion and other high energy qualities. It will likely come to you in a very understandable form, so be comfortable through this experience.
3. Your diamond light body now puts its hands on your shoulders (from behind you) and you feel this higher vibration. Allow this vibration to move into your meditating body, and you will be able to better attune to its frequency which is going to be much faster and clearer than yours at first.
4. You and your diamond light body are a perfect match. Feel comfortable to scan your two bodies which are now one and breathe deeply so that you can maintain a comfortable calmness. Know that this is not just an imaginary exercise, by joining your energies you are enhancing the frequencies of your physical body even after the exercise is finished because energy follows thought and thereby manifests a new reality for you via imagination and affirmations, etc.
5. Ask your diamond light body to help you move into the highest potential for your spirit, mind, and body. Continue to encourage the enlightening of yourself, but if you are feeling the least bit uncomfortable, stop and resume this exercise another day. If you are fine, continue because Penny says, "An odd thing happens; as you let your diamond light body take over to guide you, a saturation point is reached where you "flip" and you realize you are the diamond light body." You may now hear the voice of your light body and realize it's your voice. This experience is a melding of frequencies.
6. If you are able to let it, allow the diamond light body to saturate all of your bodies: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. The melding of your frequencies allows for in-debth healings and better understanding of what is possible for you when you are involved in energy work. Be with this energy that flows through you as much as you can in comfort. Make any notes you need to about specific realizations about your four bodies. You are now in a state of expanded consciousness and it is best to reinforce it with silence for a while, but taking notes is also good until you feel it is time for the next step, the tuning fork.
7. Imagine a tuning fork and strike it against your newly merged diamond light body so that you can hear and feel the frequency vibration through every nook and crany of your awareness. Let this note, this tone, expand through you and out of you - as it continues into the universe as far as it wants to go. It will take as long or as short a time as it takes.
8. Realize that your diamond light body is now travelling and intersecting with other essences in other dimensions. You are truly an endless being of sublime energy - existing in an energy of oneness - all is harmonic- and all the frequencies you encounter are compatible. Your light frequencies are able to blend. There is nothing that exists that can harm you in this state of expanded consciousness. Now, listen for your note. As you journey towards the collective energetic field of light (like the collective consciousness of all life forms) you will begin to hear your personal "home" note. It is sweeter than anything else you've ever heard.
Enjoy this meditation for as long as it lasts, and revisit it as often as you are called to do so. And, if you want to change parts of this exercise, I think Penny will agree with me that it is a very personal journey and there is no wrong way to envision your experience. As I said there are records from other cultures with similar meditations which are all about introducing you to your Highest Vibration and Frequency. Some rituals allow you to travel through space and time, and others through fields of consciousness. It is all good.
Sending you loving good will, today, tomorrow and forever because we are eternal beings of light!
Rev. Cassandra "Cisi" Martin
The Light Within Me Knows and Loves the Light Within You" is a salutation which has great power and is an ancient way of showing others that you come to them in peace. You will find this and similar statements in many languages around the world. In essence you are saying that you recognize the God indwelling, or Buddah indwelling, or other Sacred Energies indwelling within both of you; allowing for an equal field of play and dialogue.
While researching my new book, "The Living Language of Light", Spirit brought me to Penny Pierce's book "Frequencies: The Power of Personal Vibration", and I want to share with you an excercise that she suggests for her readers. First, I want you to know you can access your personal vibration in many, many ways, so don't think that this is the only chance you will have to balance and harmonize your energetic body. However, I think that this is a good one to do because it relies upon the basic scientific understanding that eveything that exists is really some form of energetic frequency which manifests in an, as yet, unprooven manner. So, if you enjoy Penny's activating your diamond light body excercise, you will probably advance your own understanding of how energy works.
1. Enter the form of meditation that is most comfortable for you and think about some of your happy experiences for a few minutes. Penny implies that being in your happy place is like being on a launch pad.
2. Behind you, see your light body. It is diamond bright, with no flaws or negative energy attached to it. You might think of your diamond light body as your Soul, or your Highest Good, or your Divine Nature. It is flawless and powerfully resonating with the energy of love, compassion and other high energy qualities. It will likely come to you in a very understandable form, so be comfortable through this experience.
3. Your diamond light body now puts its hands on your shoulders (from behind you) and you feel this higher vibration. Allow this vibration to move into your meditating body, and you will be able to better attune to its frequency which is going to be much faster and clearer than yours at first.
4. You and your diamond light body are a perfect match. Feel comfortable to scan your two bodies which are now one and breathe deeply so that you can maintain a comfortable calmness. Know that this is not just an imaginary exercise, by joining your energies you are enhancing the frequencies of your physical body even after the exercise is finished because energy follows thought and thereby manifests a new reality for you via imagination and affirmations, etc.
5. Ask your diamond light body to help you move into the highest potential for your spirit, mind, and body. Continue to encourage the enlightening of yourself, but if you are feeling the least bit uncomfortable, stop and resume this exercise another day. If you are fine, continue because Penny says, "An odd thing happens; as you let your diamond light body take over to guide you, a saturation point is reached where you "flip" and you realize you are the diamond light body." You may now hear the voice of your light body and realize it's your voice. This experience is a melding of frequencies.
6. If you are able to let it, allow the diamond light body to saturate all of your bodies: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. The melding of your frequencies allows for in-debth healings and better understanding of what is possible for you when you are involved in energy work. Be with this energy that flows through you as much as you can in comfort. Make any notes you need to about specific realizations about your four bodies. You are now in a state of expanded consciousness and it is best to reinforce it with silence for a while, but taking notes is also good until you feel it is time for the next step, the tuning fork.
7. Imagine a tuning fork and strike it against your newly merged diamond light body so that you can hear and feel the frequency vibration through every nook and crany of your awareness. Let this note, this tone, expand through you and out of you - as it continues into the universe as far as it wants to go. It will take as long or as short a time as it takes.
8. Realize that your diamond light body is now travelling and intersecting with other essences in other dimensions. You are truly an endless being of sublime energy - existing in an energy of oneness - all is harmonic- and all the frequencies you encounter are compatible. Your light frequencies are able to blend. There is nothing that exists that can harm you in this state of expanded consciousness. Now, listen for your note. As you journey towards the collective energetic field of light (like the collective consciousness of all life forms) you will begin to hear your personal "home" note. It is sweeter than anything else you've ever heard.
Enjoy this meditation for as long as it lasts, and revisit it as often as you are called to do so. And, if you want to change parts of this exercise, I think Penny will agree with me that it is a very personal journey and there is no wrong way to envision your experience. As I said there are records from other cultures with similar meditations which are all about introducing you to your Highest Vibration and Frequency. Some rituals allow you to travel through space and time, and others through fields of consciousness. It is all good.
Sending you loving good will, today, tomorrow and forever because we are eternal beings of light!
Rev. Cassandra "Cisi" Martin
The Singing Shaman
16 March 2012
Within my family on my mother's side ran a streak of various paranormal abilities that appear to have been passed down through the generations. Other people I've met over the years have acknowledged this trait in their families. Family stories are usually the way we learn about this uncommon ability, unless we witness it directly. Consider that all of the nations of the world kept oral histories before they developed a written language so our collective memory goes back to the beginning if we consider mankind to be one consciousness. How exciting that is when we start to recall the mythos of our ancestors!
Maybe Aunt Lilly's special gift was one of long distance healing, or Grandpa Jerry's was his uncanny ability to know when someone was about to, or had just transitioned their lifetime. The gifts can be great or small, but they seem to make an appearance in generation after generation. And, the gifts are not always the same. My gifts are different from my grandmother's, and so on. Now in my family it never occured to these women to get more training in order to enhance their abilities, they just accepted them as God given and were grateful when they could help another person. I sought help from others to understand my gifts and slowly developed skill with time.
The combination of courage and curiosity are powerful attributes when added to special abilities that may take you into the shamanic field of studies. However there is confusion about what shamanic practices are and aren't because the term has been distorted and confused with that of a tribal medicine person. I take full responsibility for my interpretation of the terms and want you to know that if your description is different I do not have an argument with you, but I will continue to use what my heart tells me to be true as my personal north star.
Shamans are able to expand their awareness to the degree that they can journey out of body and seek the answer to a problem that will help save the tribe during dangerous times, for instance, or to sensitively probe the psyche of another person to determine what "gifts" that person might possess which are worth developing. There is more to shamanic abilities, but these two examples are worth using to help us separate the generic differences between a shaman and a medicine person.
A medicine person is much more common in tribal living because a shaman may not be born into every generation. And although you may have one out of body experience in your lifetime, this would not make you a qualified shaman. A medicine person was valued for their ceremonial leadership, often for their dream interpretation and even envisioning if they have that gift. Some medicine people are taught ceremonies which also require envisioning, which is usually a shaman's gift. I would guess that the strong medicine people of the Americas would have had such training, as we can seek out techniques that help us free the mind today. But, a medicine person was really specialized in healing those who were sick in body or depressed in mind, not mentally ill. If a shaman was in a nearby tribe of the same family of native peoples, then mental disorders would fall to his techniques of healing because he would likely travel in spirit form to see the sick person's spirit- possibly seeing what is wrong and coming back with a ceremony to heal the problem. It is easy to see how the two terms have been used to represent one special area of study. So over the years, I have learned to separate the various abilities of shamans and medicine people like this: a Shaman would heal spiritual illness, and the medicine person would heal physical illness and tend to the ceremonies of each tribe as their spiritual leader. I have never heard of both a shaman and a medicine person in the same tribe, so I would be interested to know if this is common.
In a vision one night I saw a third type of medicine/shaman person and she told me she was known as a Beloved Woman in her tribe. She was a strong leader in peace and war and she was more like a shaman than a medicine woman. There was a war chief in her tribe but the elder woman's council also had great input, as did the Beloved Woman, because one wasn't born into the tribe very often. And, by that, I mean hundreds of years could pass according to what I have since learned. She fought along side the warriors. She tended the wounds. She helped with the strategy by visioning. You get the idea. She was multi-skilled and purposeful. My vision showed me this woman with her hair tied back in a knot and simple clothing but she was wearing a silver gorgette (quarter moon shaped) whose symbols engraved upon the necklace were flashing with light and moving in space in front of her. The aura of this woman wasn't showing me colors so much as pulsing power.
She came to me when I was first learning about my tribal connection to native peoples and the Indian blood in my veins which came down from the matriarchal side. I have been told by a cousin that my great grandmother was half Cherokee, but I have also seen her family on the Indian census as Creek. This could have been through marriage because all of the other family stories align us with the Cherokee. I cannot say with certainty and I am not a part of the Cherokee Nation.
I am also not telling you that I am a shaman or a medicine woman, I am a minister, mystic and a mentor to a few women but I use a wide range of spiritual tools from my toolbox to help people in whatever way they need. I am also a singer. I pray with melodies that I just seem to know when I need them, and I have good fortune with the natural elements and animals. I have a snake chasing song that has never failed me when I go out into the grasses. You may laugh, but trust me, my husband used it one day on a rattler whose head popped out of the tall grass one day. Rev. John says the head of this rattler was as big as his fist and the grass was a good 5-6 feet tall. So, my friends, I am very sure that the native blood running in my veins (itsy bitsy though it is) has given me some of the abilities I have, the rest I have learned in a good way.
So please understand that I am not using the title "The Singing Shaman" to talk about me. What I am talking about is a resonating vibration that fills you full-up when you experience something that is truly paranormal. It is a sign, song-like in its feeling, that you are gifted with expanded consciousness and are probably courageous for the most part. More importantly, it is like a telescope or radio that hones in on a frequency of light or sound. Since light is also sound I need to make that clear for anyone who is beginning to, or has already begun to develop their special gifts. If you can see light around a person you can get an idea if they are truthfull or exaggerating their skillset. Sometimes you get to see more and I'll leave it at that. You don't have to be able to see a fully developed aura, it can be flashing symbols, outlines of fire or any other elemental symbol, etc. If you are interested in extra-terrestrial life forms it can be much broader scoped than my first two examples. Also using the power of sound to work with energy is another indication that you have a special gift and should seek training. Spirit, or your true God Nature as I like to refer to it, has gifted us with thousands of modalities which will bring you healing. Just go out and find yours. And, don't be surprised if you study more than one modality. It's common in spiritual circles.
The thing is, being able to "see" light, and "hear" or "know" someone's cell song- which comes from beyond the physical spectrum- is a sacred gift. But you are not your gift. Let me say that again: you are not your gift. If you learn that in the beginning you will avoid certain pitfalls inherent in working with spiritual "medicine". Please do not think of yourself as a shaman unless you are a tribal member and/or have been taught by the tribal holy man or an indiginous person as it is disrespectful and it makes you look foolish to others who might have helped you if you had not been so boastful.
I say this with love because I have run into so many out-of-tune healers, visionaries, mystics and "teachers". The real person will make your heart sing and you will know that he or she is resonating from a place of sacredness and respect for your situation. As I said to a friend recently who hoped to find a shaman for his father, "don't worry, he will know when he sees the right person...he may just go up to them and say 'may I talk with you?' That is usually how it starts.
I have never known a medicine person to criticize someone because he or she knows that the person is being eaten up by their own inability NOT TO LOVE or REPECT THEMSELVES enough to practice forgiveness and compassion, because heated emotions will cause disease. Disease can also manifest as confusion, so be gentle.
Many people chose to empower their woundedness. Many others empower themselves with self love and possess a desire to see humanity heal itself with unconditional love. This is never easy, mind you, but it is possible as is evidenced by some of the holy men and women of the world who have gone before us. And, those of us who have had sacred space held for us while we struggled to see the beauty within ourselves can appreciate just how much we need people around the world to do this for humanity in general.
I sincerely hope that you will become such a healer. This year I am sending prayers and the energy of affirmations and songs into the belt of the collective human consciousness that enfolds us all. My intention is that humanity shall let go of the negative outpicturing that has been growing stronger and stronger for millenia: greed, jealousy, hatred, bigotry, etc. Instead, we will outpicture the belief that all of humanity can attain their highest good in life: everything they need to live, selfless love, compassion, a willingness to forgive and help those who have been physically or psychologically damaged by another. As my Indian friends would say, that everyone live in their good heart.
I am sending you loving good will today, tomorrow, and forever. Pass it along if you feel this "loving good will" resonate with you. As always, I AM, Rev. Cassandra "Cisi" Martin
Within my family on my mother's side ran a streak of various paranormal abilities that appear to have been passed down through the generations. Other people I've met over the years have acknowledged this trait in their families. Family stories are usually the way we learn about this uncommon ability, unless we witness it directly. Consider that all of the nations of the world kept oral histories before they developed a written language so our collective memory goes back to the beginning if we consider mankind to be one consciousness. How exciting that is when we start to recall the mythos of our ancestors!
Maybe Aunt Lilly's special gift was one of long distance healing, or Grandpa Jerry's was his uncanny ability to know when someone was about to, or had just transitioned their lifetime. The gifts can be great or small, but they seem to make an appearance in generation after generation. And, the gifts are not always the same. My gifts are different from my grandmother's, and so on. Now in my family it never occured to these women to get more training in order to enhance their abilities, they just accepted them as God given and were grateful when they could help another person. I sought help from others to understand my gifts and slowly developed skill with time.
The combination of courage and curiosity are powerful attributes when added to special abilities that may take you into the shamanic field of studies. However there is confusion about what shamanic practices are and aren't because the term has been distorted and confused with that of a tribal medicine person. I take full responsibility for my interpretation of the terms and want you to know that if your description is different I do not have an argument with you, but I will continue to use what my heart tells me to be true as my personal north star.
Shamans are able to expand their awareness to the degree that they can journey out of body and seek the answer to a problem that will help save the tribe during dangerous times, for instance, or to sensitively probe the psyche of another person to determine what "gifts" that person might possess which are worth developing. There is more to shamanic abilities, but these two examples are worth using to help us separate the generic differences between a shaman and a medicine person.
A medicine person is much more common in tribal living because a shaman may not be born into every generation. And although you may have one out of body experience in your lifetime, this would not make you a qualified shaman. A medicine person was valued for their ceremonial leadership, often for their dream interpretation and even envisioning if they have that gift. Some medicine people are taught ceremonies which also require envisioning, which is usually a shaman's gift. I would guess that the strong medicine people of the Americas would have had such training, as we can seek out techniques that help us free the mind today. But, a medicine person was really specialized in healing those who were sick in body or depressed in mind, not mentally ill. If a shaman was in a nearby tribe of the same family of native peoples, then mental disorders would fall to his techniques of healing because he would likely travel in spirit form to see the sick person's spirit- possibly seeing what is wrong and coming back with a ceremony to heal the problem. It is easy to see how the two terms have been used to represent one special area of study. So over the years, I have learned to separate the various abilities of shamans and medicine people like this: a Shaman would heal spiritual illness, and the medicine person would heal physical illness and tend to the ceremonies of each tribe as their spiritual leader. I have never heard of both a shaman and a medicine person in the same tribe, so I would be interested to know if this is common.
In a vision one night I saw a third type of medicine/shaman person and she told me she was known as a Beloved Woman in her tribe. She was a strong leader in peace and war and she was more like a shaman than a medicine woman. There was a war chief in her tribe but the elder woman's council also had great input, as did the Beloved Woman, because one wasn't born into the tribe very often. And, by that, I mean hundreds of years could pass according to what I have since learned. She fought along side the warriors. She tended the wounds. She helped with the strategy by visioning. You get the idea. She was multi-skilled and purposeful. My vision showed me this woman with her hair tied back in a knot and simple clothing but she was wearing a silver gorgette (quarter moon shaped) whose symbols engraved upon the necklace were flashing with light and moving in space in front of her. The aura of this woman wasn't showing me colors so much as pulsing power.
She came to me when I was first learning about my tribal connection to native peoples and the Indian blood in my veins which came down from the matriarchal side. I have been told by a cousin that my great grandmother was half Cherokee, but I have also seen her family on the Indian census as Creek. This could have been through marriage because all of the other family stories align us with the Cherokee. I cannot say with certainty and I am not a part of the Cherokee Nation.
I am also not telling you that I am a shaman or a medicine woman, I am a minister, mystic and a mentor to a few women but I use a wide range of spiritual tools from my toolbox to help people in whatever way they need. I am also a singer. I pray with melodies that I just seem to know when I need them, and I have good fortune with the natural elements and animals. I have a snake chasing song that has never failed me when I go out into the grasses. You may laugh, but trust me, my husband used it one day on a rattler whose head popped out of the tall grass one day. Rev. John says the head of this rattler was as big as his fist and the grass was a good 5-6 feet tall. So, my friends, I am very sure that the native blood running in my veins (itsy bitsy though it is) has given me some of the abilities I have, the rest I have learned in a good way.
So please understand that I am not using the title "The Singing Shaman" to talk about me. What I am talking about is a resonating vibration that fills you full-up when you experience something that is truly paranormal. It is a sign, song-like in its feeling, that you are gifted with expanded consciousness and are probably courageous for the most part. More importantly, it is like a telescope or radio that hones in on a frequency of light or sound. Since light is also sound I need to make that clear for anyone who is beginning to, or has already begun to develop their special gifts. If you can see light around a person you can get an idea if they are truthfull or exaggerating their skillset. Sometimes you get to see more and I'll leave it at that. You don't have to be able to see a fully developed aura, it can be flashing symbols, outlines of fire or any other elemental symbol, etc. If you are interested in extra-terrestrial life forms it can be much broader scoped than my first two examples. Also using the power of sound to work with energy is another indication that you have a special gift and should seek training. Spirit, or your true God Nature as I like to refer to it, has gifted us with thousands of modalities which will bring you healing. Just go out and find yours. And, don't be surprised if you study more than one modality. It's common in spiritual circles.
The thing is, being able to "see" light, and "hear" or "know" someone's cell song- which comes from beyond the physical spectrum- is a sacred gift. But you are not your gift. Let me say that again: you are not your gift. If you learn that in the beginning you will avoid certain pitfalls inherent in working with spiritual "medicine". Please do not think of yourself as a shaman unless you are a tribal member and/or have been taught by the tribal holy man or an indiginous person as it is disrespectful and it makes you look foolish to others who might have helped you if you had not been so boastful.
I say this with love because I have run into so many out-of-tune healers, visionaries, mystics and "teachers". The real person will make your heart sing and you will know that he or she is resonating from a place of sacredness and respect for your situation. As I said to a friend recently who hoped to find a shaman for his father, "don't worry, he will know when he sees the right person...he may just go up to them and say 'may I talk with you?' That is usually how it starts.
I have never known a medicine person to criticize someone because he or she knows that the person is being eaten up by their own inability NOT TO LOVE or REPECT THEMSELVES enough to practice forgiveness and compassion, because heated emotions will cause disease. Disease can also manifest as confusion, so be gentle.
Many people chose to empower their woundedness. Many others empower themselves with self love and possess a desire to see humanity heal itself with unconditional love. This is never easy, mind you, but it is possible as is evidenced by some of the holy men and women of the world who have gone before us. And, those of us who have had sacred space held for us while we struggled to see the beauty within ourselves can appreciate just how much we need people around the world to do this for humanity in general.
I sincerely hope that you will become such a healer. This year I am sending prayers and the energy of affirmations and songs into the belt of the collective human consciousness that enfolds us all. My intention is that humanity shall let go of the negative outpicturing that has been growing stronger and stronger for millenia: greed, jealousy, hatred, bigotry, etc. Instead, we will outpicture the belief that all of humanity can attain their highest good in life: everything they need to live, selfless love, compassion, a willingness to forgive and help those who have been physically or psychologically damaged by another. As my Indian friends would say, that everyone live in their good heart.
I am sending you loving good will today, tomorrow, and forever. Pass it along if you feel this "loving good will" resonate with you. As always, I AM, Rev. Cassandra "Cisi" Martin
As God, Indwelling the Personhood Laws Become Clearer
The pomegranate has been used as an ancient symbol for fertility, and the power of the sacred goddess which is why I am starting out this essay with a photo signifying the importance of life from early times. Although I am not considered a Pro-Life Minister, it is always important when writing an essay or a service to try to be fair. The subject of the Personhood Laws which are attempts by Pro-Life advocates to establish legal personhood status to a fetus, is an obvious attempt to interfere with a woman's right to privacy in matters of health and choice of her reproductive rights.
In 1973 the United States Supreme Court held in the case of Roe v. Wade that government cannot legislate a woman's constitutional right to privacy. A Texas law outlawing abortion was at the root of the legal case, if you remember. Well a great many of the southern states are engaging in round two of this fight, hoping to undermine lealized abortion in America.
This offends me as a woman, as a minister who believes we are given the right to choose our destiny by God, indwelling, who is all the counsel we need to make an appropriate decision, and as an Oklahoman because my state is the newest to engage in this newest test of the principles of the separation of the issues of church and state. I am fine with a woman's choice to not have an abortion. And, I am equally fine with a woman's choice to have such a medical procedure. I am against government interference in the privacy of a person or couple's choice to do either of these things. And that, my friends, is why I ask you to consider the importance of helping to shift an old paradigm that is really a battle between church and personal rights to choose your own moral code; and a battle between political fractions who are interested in stripping us of our privacy rights.
It would take several essays to fairly outline the postions of everyone who has a finger in this pie. A short review might include: the political investment in the issues of privacy vs. legislated morals; the recorded history of how women have treated unwanted pregnancy; the physical necessity of aborting unhealthy fetus'; the rights of an individual to make personal choices without social and legal consequences in a free society; and of course the one I am most familiar with, Religious Codes on both sides of the question.
It would be fair to say that in my opinion the real problem begins, as do most moral choices, with the dogma inherent in religious teachings. That is why Rev. John and I are so adamant that until we begin to own our personal divinity, we will be slaves to others. Our God is a loving God, just as is the God of all peoples. The difference for us is simply that we understand that God's design for humanity included an inner connection with our God Nature, the only authority we would ever need when faced with a question that caused us to struggle.
Speaking for myself again, I encourage you to read your holy books from a new perspective; one of history. We have a tendency, around the world, to believe what we are told by our parents and our clergy as irrefutable. This is the reason religion in its current form has outlived its beautiful origins. It wasn't enough that we took the writings of all of the philosophers, mystics, testaments to the lives of the holy men and women of the times and edited them throughout the ages; yes, history shows this statement is accurate- but when this has been proven, so many of us have refused to review the teachings of the many religions around the globe. This indicates that we are stuck in an old paradigm of belief and that advancing our understanding of the holy scriptures is likely to flounder.
What if instead, we (the collective historians) had taken every scrap of wisdom left for future generations and encouraged people to sort through them in order to choose for themselves what they wanted to believe? Oh, friends, what a different world it would be. There are so many beautiful and profound widoms shared throughout time that we would literally have hundreds of holy books to chose from. And that is the major problem I have with organized religion in general: you really don't have a choice to live your life without fear of breaking some unpardonable law. You are discouraged from learning the sacred ways of others around the world, other than how it may make your religion look better. And the majority of religious people feel that they are obligated to convert others to their way, as the "only way", and that of course would have been offensive to Jesus as a Jew, and Jesus as an enlightened teacher who knew that we are all children of God. There is not written proof that Jesus ever said that we have only to seek the God within to find the answer, but the Bible does have a few bread crumbs which I will encourage you to find for yourself.
If you are reading this Sunday Service with disbelief that a minister would say these "heretical" things out loud, you are not understanding the message. It is simply this: man has knowingly and unknowingly changed the original words attributed to the holy men and women throughout time; and God has always offered us different levels to appreciate the materials that have come down through the ages. How do I know this? Spirituality has begun to inspire people to seek the simple truth of God's desire for us to ultimately understand that we are all part of a sacred ONENESS of reality, which includes all people of all faiths, of all practices, and all stages of relating to the possibility that there is an intelligence inherent in all of life that comes from God Almighty.
I believe, and have had this verified in my own mystical experiences, that God always planned for us to evolve from the very primitive spirituality of ancient times, to the more modern spirituality available when we, as "seekers" awaken to a need to move inward, where God's Nature awaits us and reveals all. This often happens between the ages of 40-45, but it is happening more often at a younger age as the pressure to leap forward into higher initiations of understanding becomes stronger across the planet. Why else would there be such strife on the planet if not to shake us out of what we think we know (about everything and how it should be) in order to encourage us to solve the problems together, through the human qualities of compassion, unconditional love, patience, respect and freedom to choose how we will live our lives?
Fear is at the base of all of the laws that have ever come into being: fear that something will happen, or that it won't. Think about that and look into your own spiritual, cultural mores, and national legal system. And, this brings me to another observation I've made over the years as I've advanced on my own spiritual path. I am equally against political parties who claim to have a platform that they conveniently ignore when it is popular as is the case for both the Republicans and the Democrats in the matter of Personhood/Legalized Abortion.
Republicans say that they believe in less governmental involvement in the lives of American citizens. Yet, they are advocating Personhood rights and undermining the law of the land which is legalized abortion. Since I am not a republican I will leave it at this. If you are one, please review your party's platform for other discrepencies.
Democrats say that they believe American citizens should be able to choose what is best for them but still have available help in many forms that also encourage free choice in matters of privacy. Yet, in the southern states we have a term that more truthfully applies: Dixiecrats. I went to the women's Democratic club meetings when I first moved to Oklahoma. This is what made me uncomfortable: they only endorsed candidates with Christian values (such as pro-life) and the prayer they began each meeting with was always Christian.
My objection was not really to the wording of the opening prayer, it was that I am a believer that religious prayers should be alternated so that if other members, in a public setting, want to pray their way they are given equal respect. I would have prayed as a Native American asking God/Great Spirit to help us all to be in our good minds, good hearts, and willing to hear the words of one another during the meeting.
In the hearts of the Amerian people there is a desire for freedom, but sadly the desire is for their individual versions of freedom and not true equality for all of us. There is so much misinformation about the founding fathers and their personal spiritual practices that I wish there was a segment of school history classes detailing the truth of the matter. Found in their personal writings are clues that they abhored religious intolerance, yet isn't that what our society is so proud of today?
Ignorance is reversable and I am asking you, my beloved reader, to consider your position on the matter of the Personhood/Legalized Abortion. Use this thought to make up your mind about your position and if you feel that you want this dialogue to continue, go to the Social Services page of this website and tell me what you are thinking.
Here is the thought: All around the world the creation myths involve God creating first man and first woman. Christian belief records nothing about Adam and Eve's first breath. He simply created man and woman in his image according to the text; except for the part about creating Eve from Adam's rib. But in several verses in the Bible there are teachings that God blew breath into the newly formed humans; in other words animating life through the power of God's breath. (See Old Testament: Job 33:4 or Ezekiel 5 (The resurection of the Bones) or in the New Testament, Acts 17: 23-28.) Therefore, is it not reasonable to argue that life does not begin until the first breath of the crying baby after it comes out of the womb instead of life at conception? Life at conception is not guaranteed to result in a viable human child. If a child takes its first breath a miraculous thing happens. It lives outside of its mother's body. If it lives, it is a person with all the rights attached to everyone.
For my part, I consider that life begins with the first breath. What do you think?
I AM always sending you loving good will no matter which side of this debate you believe in.
Rev. Cassandra "Cisi" Martin
NOTE: On 3/1/12 I made some editorial changes to the version that
appeared 2/29/12 so that I could include the Biblical references to the breath
of God.
In 1973 the United States Supreme Court held in the case of Roe v. Wade that government cannot legislate a woman's constitutional right to privacy. A Texas law outlawing abortion was at the root of the legal case, if you remember. Well a great many of the southern states are engaging in round two of this fight, hoping to undermine lealized abortion in America.
This offends me as a woman, as a minister who believes we are given the right to choose our destiny by God, indwelling, who is all the counsel we need to make an appropriate decision, and as an Oklahoman because my state is the newest to engage in this newest test of the principles of the separation of the issues of church and state. I am fine with a woman's choice to not have an abortion. And, I am equally fine with a woman's choice to have such a medical procedure. I am against government interference in the privacy of a person or couple's choice to do either of these things. And that, my friends, is why I ask you to consider the importance of helping to shift an old paradigm that is really a battle between church and personal rights to choose your own moral code; and a battle between political fractions who are interested in stripping us of our privacy rights.
It would take several essays to fairly outline the postions of everyone who has a finger in this pie. A short review might include: the political investment in the issues of privacy vs. legislated morals; the recorded history of how women have treated unwanted pregnancy; the physical necessity of aborting unhealthy fetus'; the rights of an individual to make personal choices without social and legal consequences in a free society; and of course the one I am most familiar with, Religious Codes on both sides of the question.
It would be fair to say that in my opinion the real problem begins, as do most moral choices, with the dogma inherent in religious teachings. That is why Rev. John and I are so adamant that until we begin to own our personal divinity, we will be slaves to others. Our God is a loving God, just as is the God of all peoples. The difference for us is simply that we understand that God's design for humanity included an inner connection with our God Nature, the only authority we would ever need when faced with a question that caused us to struggle.
Speaking for myself again, I encourage you to read your holy books from a new perspective; one of history. We have a tendency, around the world, to believe what we are told by our parents and our clergy as irrefutable. This is the reason religion in its current form has outlived its beautiful origins. It wasn't enough that we took the writings of all of the philosophers, mystics, testaments to the lives of the holy men and women of the times and edited them throughout the ages; yes, history shows this statement is accurate- but when this has been proven, so many of us have refused to review the teachings of the many religions around the globe. This indicates that we are stuck in an old paradigm of belief and that advancing our understanding of the holy scriptures is likely to flounder.
What if instead, we (the collective historians) had taken every scrap of wisdom left for future generations and encouraged people to sort through them in order to choose for themselves what they wanted to believe? Oh, friends, what a different world it would be. There are so many beautiful and profound widoms shared throughout time that we would literally have hundreds of holy books to chose from. And that is the major problem I have with organized religion in general: you really don't have a choice to live your life without fear of breaking some unpardonable law. You are discouraged from learning the sacred ways of others around the world, other than how it may make your religion look better. And the majority of religious people feel that they are obligated to convert others to their way, as the "only way", and that of course would have been offensive to Jesus as a Jew, and Jesus as an enlightened teacher who knew that we are all children of God. There is not written proof that Jesus ever said that we have only to seek the God within to find the answer, but the Bible does have a few bread crumbs which I will encourage you to find for yourself.
If you are reading this Sunday Service with disbelief that a minister would say these "heretical" things out loud, you are not understanding the message. It is simply this: man has knowingly and unknowingly changed the original words attributed to the holy men and women throughout time; and God has always offered us different levels to appreciate the materials that have come down through the ages. How do I know this? Spirituality has begun to inspire people to seek the simple truth of God's desire for us to ultimately understand that we are all part of a sacred ONENESS of reality, which includes all people of all faiths, of all practices, and all stages of relating to the possibility that there is an intelligence inherent in all of life that comes from God Almighty.
I believe, and have had this verified in my own mystical experiences, that God always planned for us to evolve from the very primitive spirituality of ancient times, to the more modern spirituality available when we, as "seekers" awaken to a need to move inward, where God's Nature awaits us and reveals all. This often happens between the ages of 40-45, but it is happening more often at a younger age as the pressure to leap forward into higher initiations of understanding becomes stronger across the planet. Why else would there be such strife on the planet if not to shake us out of what we think we know (about everything and how it should be) in order to encourage us to solve the problems together, through the human qualities of compassion, unconditional love, patience, respect and freedom to choose how we will live our lives?
Fear is at the base of all of the laws that have ever come into being: fear that something will happen, or that it won't. Think about that and look into your own spiritual, cultural mores, and national legal system. And, this brings me to another observation I've made over the years as I've advanced on my own spiritual path. I am equally against political parties who claim to have a platform that they conveniently ignore when it is popular as is the case for both the Republicans and the Democrats in the matter of Personhood/Legalized Abortion.
Republicans say that they believe in less governmental involvement in the lives of American citizens. Yet, they are advocating Personhood rights and undermining the law of the land which is legalized abortion. Since I am not a republican I will leave it at this. If you are one, please review your party's platform for other discrepencies.
Democrats say that they believe American citizens should be able to choose what is best for them but still have available help in many forms that also encourage free choice in matters of privacy. Yet, in the southern states we have a term that more truthfully applies: Dixiecrats. I went to the women's Democratic club meetings when I first moved to Oklahoma. This is what made me uncomfortable: they only endorsed candidates with Christian values (such as pro-life) and the prayer they began each meeting with was always Christian.
My objection was not really to the wording of the opening prayer, it was that I am a believer that religious prayers should be alternated so that if other members, in a public setting, want to pray their way they are given equal respect. I would have prayed as a Native American asking God/Great Spirit to help us all to be in our good minds, good hearts, and willing to hear the words of one another during the meeting.
In the hearts of the Amerian people there is a desire for freedom, but sadly the desire is for their individual versions of freedom and not true equality for all of us. There is so much misinformation about the founding fathers and their personal spiritual practices that I wish there was a segment of school history classes detailing the truth of the matter. Found in their personal writings are clues that they abhored religious intolerance, yet isn't that what our society is so proud of today?
Ignorance is reversable and I am asking you, my beloved reader, to consider your position on the matter of the Personhood/Legalized Abortion. Use this thought to make up your mind about your position and if you feel that you want this dialogue to continue, go to the Social Services page of this website and tell me what you are thinking.
Here is the thought: All around the world the creation myths involve God creating first man and first woman. Christian belief records nothing about Adam and Eve's first breath. He simply created man and woman in his image according to the text; except for the part about creating Eve from Adam's rib. But in several verses in the Bible there are teachings that God blew breath into the newly formed humans; in other words animating life through the power of God's breath. (See Old Testament: Job 33:4 or Ezekiel 5 (The resurection of the Bones) or in the New Testament, Acts 17: 23-28.) Therefore, is it not reasonable to argue that life does not begin until the first breath of the crying baby after it comes out of the womb instead of life at conception? Life at conception is not guaranteed to result in a viable human child. If a child takes its first breath a miraculous thing happens. It lives outside of its mother's body. If it lives, it is a person with all the rights attached to everyone.
For my part, I consider that life begins with the first breath. What do you think?
I AM always sending you loving good will no matter which side of this debate you believe in.
Rev. Cassandra "Cisi" Martin
NOTE: On 3/1/12 I made some editorial changes to the version that
appeared 2/29/12 so that I could include the Biblical references to the breath
of God.
Apotheosis as Cultural Acceptance
Fresco by Constantino Brumidi in 1865 on the Capital Rotunda Dome
I have't seen this magnificent image in person but when I go to our Nation's capital I will most definitly take the time to view "The Apotheosis of George Washington". The word Apotheosis is defined as "highest level of glory or power", and even "the transformation into diety" as is the case with General Washington shown here with Ladies Liberty and Justice, and then the circle continues with female beauties representing the 13 colonies/states. There is much more to learn about the mystic and mythological symbols used in this artwork, but my point for today is
that it was considered perfectly natural for early American citizens to consider George Washington a demi-god if not an outright saviour sent from God to our country when we needed an inspired leader most. What has intrigued me, however, is that Apotheosis of an individual is considered sacrilegious by today's standard. It is almost heretical to refer to someone as a sacred being, a child of God, or worse as an equal to Jesus and the righteous prophets of the past. Why is it that we shy away from considering ourselves sacred and able to communicate with God? Christians believe that God breathed life into Adam. As the children of Adam wouldn't that mean that we also contain the divine energy of God placed in our DNA because of that original breath? That's just an example. I do not know if there is a God Gene in the DNA, although I did hear that science believes it has discovered a God-Gene. Time will tell.
Do you believe that God does not want all of us to become enchristed? Or to find the Buddahood within ourselves, or to worship the Energy of God Almight known by thousands of names? Why would the ONE GOD refuse us an understanding of itself if we are born and raised in a culture that doesn't know the biblical teachings, but who have prohpets who created teachings that pretty much share the same message. 1. Do good and respect all life. 2. Turn the other cheek if you are slapped out of anger. 3. One of my favorites, "treat your neighbor as you would yourself". But truthfully, the only spiritual commandment that I live by is "First, Do No Harm". To the people who insist that Christianity is the only religion that will 'save' you from hell, I must respectfully decline to trust your judgement. I must take the position that you are forgetting that you also believe that God created everything that exists, and that inherent in that belief is the context that God is Good. Hell is an imaginary place, created by frightened humans eons ago.
There is so much infighting in the Christian ranks that the majority of religious leaders (I call them servants) are always on the look for some sign that their competitors have become corrupt in the word of the law (as found in the Holy Bible). I think perhaps they have forgotten the many times that Jesus the Christ said to his followers that (paraphrased) what I can do, you can do and even better" Why would Jesus say that if he didn't already know that we are all God, indwelling as was he? Of course I am not interested in a Biblical debate per se, but I am interested in reminding people that depending upon the culture you are raised in, and the year or era that you learn your spiritual foundation, plus the tolerance of your own parents whom are likely to affect your understanding about the actual religious texts, there is a lot of room for interpretation. Please people, God does not need you to prostletize teachings that people have written in the name of God and those called God's Prophets and Messiah. Do you really think that God pays attention to life on earth? Rather you might consider that God made you in its likeness (sacred) and allows you to create as you will. There is no God in the Sky (heaven), because God already left you with its signature "mark" - your divinity. And if what I believe is true, " why don't we cultivate our personal relationship with that part of God that is personally indwelling?
The answer is usually "I'm afraid of what others will say/think/repeat about me if I claim to be Divine, too." I do understand how you feel, it isn't easy for me to leave my original teachings either, but we are not on this planet to stay in the same dualistic rut. We are here, I believe, to advance the species and connect to our Collective Consciousness that is modeled on the Divine Blueprint originated at the beginning of our universe. You will take as long as you need to eventually see yourself and everyone you meet as God, indwelling. I just hope that you are able to love yourselves as much as our creator loved you when life was first introduced to our planet.
Furthermore, I believe that God is now moving us all forward to claim our Divinity. I do not pretend to understand the enorimity of the changes which are aligning in time and space, but something is afoot and I am happy to be born in this era. My true God Nature is telling me that humanity is about to have a leap in consciousness raising, and my heart is singing. However you get to your place of peace, and love for humanity even when they are acting out terrible atrocities against each other, it will have to include an awakening to the power of love; and most of us have at the core of our belief system this thought: God Is Love.
Living my life during the 1980s was terribly painful because of the tsunami of wrong choices I made and my belief that someday I was going to go to hell. I was underwater more than I could float. But I did find land. And that land that I walked upon was shored up by words like "compassion", "self forgiveness", "love", "courage", "justice", "mystic" and also by the people who went before me explaining that spirituality is not religion, it is more and it is personal and it is part of ALL THAT IS. In the 1990s I began to understand that we are all, everyone of us, part of the Divine Nature of God which God manifested within multiverses too many to count. By the new millenium I had identified a channel which led me to communion with my God Nature and saw the wisdom of God's plan for us to claim our own divinity in order to bring peace to the world.
I do not believe that we are running out of time to learn the truth about God, that there really is an intelligent substance that is capable of creating everything that has ever been manifested. Sacred-science is about to unfold into new dimensions of understanding which will out pace our first attempts to understand life and God (i.e. sacred writings) because over the next millenium we are likjely to discover just how magnificent life really is, and how fascinating and complex - so much so that we will be able to prove that the essence of God is indwelling.
Getting back then to what it takes to move from an old 'truth' to a newer more powerfully sacred 'truth, let's start by asking ourselves to reveal our true nature so that we can begin to experience apotheosis. You might want to start your sacred quest by saying: "I am the apotheosis of God-In-Action". Correct yourself when you use negative language that limits your ability to express your highest good. Speak from your God Nature, your Divine Heart which always empowers another person instead undermining or ignoring their sacred authority as God, indwelling. You already know how to do this, you were born knowing, but just as we are babies first, so was our Divinity hiding from us until we could be prepared to undertake a new journey - the exploration of our highest good stemming from the sacred connection we have with a Divine Power unknowable to us except knowing it through the exploration of others.
I want to leave you with one of my personal sacred experiences that occurred about 1964 which will show you just how ready your Godhead is to communicate with you:
I had attended a Christian party where we talked about having a good relationship with Jesus. I was deeply distressed because all I could think of was how painful his death had been and that he had been called by God to die for our sins. I no longer believe this interpretation of the life of Jesus, but at a young age I believed what I had been taught. My cousin dropped me off at my grandmother's place and I quietly went to bed. I was crying, and covering my hands over my eyes to wipe away the scenes of torture I was seeing in my mind's eye because I am an empath and feel emotions deeply.
I don't know if I "felt" a shift in energy, but suddenly I was looking at a clock and each number was the face of one of the disciples, Jesus being the number 12 at the top. The hands of the clock said 12:50. I looked into the loving face of Jesus and absorbed the beauty radiating from his presence. Then in my mind I heard him say, "No matter what happens to you (in your lifetime) I will always be with you." I drifted into a peaceful sleep knowing that I would never be alone when it counted.
Just a dream, right? The next morning my grandmother questioned me about when I had gotten home from the party. I told her 12:30 am or thereabouts. She said that wasn't possible because she had come to check on me at 12:50 and I had not been in my bed. I had not been in my bed? I was in the midst of a sacred experience with Jesus and she couldn't see me? God does work in mysterious ways. I cannot explain this experience, I can only report it.
Like the Apotheosis of George Washington during a time where he was being acknowledged as the very best of the Generals and the First President of our Country, everyone who sees the fresco in Washington D.C. knows that a tremendous amount of love and respect went into the creation of this piece of art by Brumidi and that it was meant to honor the part of George that was open to God's Guidance and Assistance. For those who do not see that George was acting from his En-Christed Self, or his Divinity, I do not pick a fight with you. I simply wish you the future ability to see that we truly are all connected to each other by a higher purpose than by religions that do not acknowledge that God lives in its creations, from the smallest cell to the multi-universes of creation.
I AM sending you loving good will and blessings of peace and prosperity.
Rev. Cassandra "Cisi" Martin
that it was considered perfectly natural for early American citizens to consider George Washington a demi-god if not an outright saviour sent from God to our country when we needed an inspired leader most. What has intrigued me, however, is that Apotheosis of an individual is considered sacrilegious by today's standard. It is almost heretical to refer to someone as a sacred being, a child of God, or worse as an equal to Jesus and the righteous prophets of the past. Why is it that we shy away from considering ourselves sacred and able to communicate with God? Christians believe that God breathed life into Adam. As the children of Adam wouldn't that mean that we also contain the divine energy of God placed in our DNA because of that original breath? That's just an example. I do not know if there is a God Gene in the DNA, although I did hear that science believes it has discovered a God-Gene. Time will tell.
Do you believe that God does not want all of us to become enchristed? Or to find the Buddahood within ourselves, or to worship the Energy of God Almight known by thousands of names? Why would the ONE GOD refuse us an understanding of itself if we are born and raised in a culture that doesn't know the biblical teachings, but who have prohpets who created teachings that pretty much share the same message. 1. Do good and respect all life. 2. Turn the other cheek if you are slapped out of anger. 3. One of my favorites, "treat your neighbor as you would yourself". But truthfully, the only spiritual commandment that I live by is "First, Do No Harm". To the people who insist that Christianity is the only religion that will 'save' you from hell, I must respectfully decline to trust your judgement. I must take the position that you are forgetting that you also believe that God created everything that exists, and that inherent in that belief is the context that God is Good. Hell is an imaginary place, created by frightened humans eons ago.
There is so much infighting in the Christian ranks that the majority of religious leaders (I call them servants) are always on the look for some sign that their competitors have become corrupt in the word of the law (as found in the Holy Bible). I think perhaps they have forgotten the many times that Jesus the Christ said to his followers that (paraphrased) what I can do, you can do and even better" Why would Jesus say that if he didn't already know that we are all God, indwelling as was he? Of course I am not interested in a Biblical debate per se, but I am interested in reminding people that depending upon the culture you are raised in, and the year or era that you learn your spiritual foundation, plus the tolerance of your own parents whom are likely to affect your understanding about the actual religious texts, there is a lot of room for interpretation. Please people, God does not need you to prostletize teachings that people have written in the name of God and those called God's Prophets and Messiah. Do you really think that God pays attention to life on earth? Rather you might consider that God made you in its likeness (sacred) and allows you to create as you will. There is no God in the Sky (heaven), because God already left you with its signature "mark" - your divinity. And if what I believe is true, " why don't we cultivate our personal relationship with that part of God that is personally indwelling?
The answer is usually "I'm afraid of what others will say/think/repeat about me if I claim to be Divine, too." I do understand how you feel, it isn't easy for me to leave my original teachings either, but we are not on this planet to stay in the same dualistic rut. We are here, I believe, to advance the species and connect to our Collective Consciousness that is modeled on the Divine Blueprint originated at the beginning of our universe. You will take as long as you need to eventually see yourself and everyone you meet as God, indwelling. I just hope that you are able to love yourselves as much as our creator loved you when life was first introduced to our planet.
Furthermore, I believe that God is now moving us all forward to claim our Divinity. I do not pretend to understand the enorimity of the changes which are aligning in time and space, but something is afoot and I am happy to be born in this era. My true God Nature is telling me that humanity is about to have a leap in consciousness raising, and my heart is singing. However you get to your place of peace, and love for humanity even when they are acting out terrible atrocities against each other, it will have to include an awakening to the power of love; and most of us have at the core of our belief system this thought: God Is Love.
Living my life during the 1980s was terribly painful because of the tsunami of wrong choices I made and my belief that someday I was going to go to hell. I was underwater more than I could float. But I did find land. And that land that I walked upon was shored up by words like "compassion", "self forgiveness", "love", "courage", "justice", "mystic" and also by the people who went before me explaining that spirituality is not religion, it is more and it is personal and it is part of ALL THAT IS. In the 1990s I began to understand that we are all, everyone of us, part of the Divine Nature of God which God manifested within multiverses too many to count. By the new millenium I had identified a channel which led me to communion with my God Nature and saw the wisdom of God's plan for us to claim our own divinity in order to bring peace to the world.
I do not believe that we are running out of time to learn the truth about God, that there really is an intelligent substance that is capable of creating everything that has ever been manifested. Sacred-science is about to unfold into new dimensions of understanding which will out pace our first attempts to understand life and God (i.e. sacred writings) because over the next millenium we are likjely to discover just how magnificent life really is, and how fascinating and complex - so much so that we will be able to prove that the essence of God is indwelling.
Getting back then to what it takes to move from an old 'truth' to a newer more powerfully sacred 'truth, let's start by asking ourselves to reveal our true nature so that we can begin to experience apotheosis. You might want to start your sacred quest by saying: "I am the apotheosis of God-In-Action". Correct yourself when you use negative language that limits your ability to express your highest good. Speak from your God Nature, your Divine Heart which always empowers another person instead undermining or ignoring their sacred authority as God, indwelling. You already know how to do this, you were born knowing, but just as we are babies first, so was our Divinity hiding from us until we could be prepared to undertake a new journey - the exploration of our highest good stemming from the sacred connection we have with a Divine Power unknowable to us except knowing it through the exploration of others.
I want to leave you with one of my personal sacred experiences that occurred about 1964 which will show you just how ready your Godhead is to communicate with you:
I had attended a Christian party where we talked about having a good relationship with Jesus. I was deeply distressed because all I could think of was how painful his death had been and that he had been called by God to die for our sins. I no longer believe this interpretation of the life of Jesus, but at a young age I believed what I had been taught. My cousin dropped me off at my grandmother's place and I quietly went to bed. I was crying, and covering my hands over my eyes to wipe away the scenes of torture I was seeing in my mind's eye because I am an empath and feel emotions deeply.
I don't know if I "felt" a shift in energy, but suddenly I was looking at a clock and each number was the face of one of the disciples, Jesus being the number 12 at the top. The hands of the clock said 12:50. I looked into the loving face of Jesus and absorbed the beauty radiating from his presence. Then in my mind I heard him say, "No matter what happens to you (in your lifetime) I will always be with you." I drifted into a peaceful sleep knowing that I would never be alone when it counted.
Just a dream, right? The next morning my grandmother questioned me about when I had gotten home from the party. I told her 12:30 am or thereabouts. She said that wasn't possible because she had come to check on me at 12:50 and I had not been in my bed. I had not been in my bed? I was in the midst of a sacred experience with Jesus and she couldn't see me? God does work in mysterious ways. I cannot explain this experience, I can only report it.
Like the Apotheosis of George Washington during a time where he was being acknowledged as the very best of the Generals and the First President of our Country, everyone who sees the fresco in Washington D.C. knows that a tremendous amount of love and respect went into the creation of this piece of art by Brumidi and that it was meant to honor the part of George that was open to God's Guidance and Assistance. For those who do not see that George was acting from his En-Christed Self, or his Divinity, I do not pick a fight with you. I simply wish you the future ability to see that we truly are all connected to each other by a higher purpose than by religions that do not acknowledge that God lives in its creations, from the smallest cell to the multi-universes of creation.
I AM sending you loving good will and blessings of peace and prosperity.
Rev. Cassandra "Cisi" Martin
Can You Hear Me Now?
01 February 2012
So asks the Still Small Voice Within which many people around the world have heard. How can a voice so softly spoken, yet vibrating with a glow that casts the sun's light to shadow be ignored? If you have had a moment of connection like this, I believe you have begun to access your true nature, your God Nature. For clarity's sake, I am not speaking about personal intuitions which have warned you away from a dangerous practice, or event in your life. Or a moment of mental clarity that tells you that you are wasting your time with certain people, or jobs, or spiritual studies. Rather I am asking you if you've been given a mystical encounter from which you received guidance, or an understanding that profoundly changed the way you have understood "reality" before. In the case of the former, I believe that our Spiritual guides, or our Higher Self, or our Psychic antenna have alerted us to an energetic shift which we needed to become aware of; while in the latter example you are entering an opportunity to have a two way conversation with the unknowable mystery we have labled as "God".
Do I think this conversation takes place with the whole of the creation that GOD IS? Don't be silly. God, as a concept is to immense for the human mind to grasp, much less understand or communicate with. But the part of us that IS the Spirit of God, does have a living connection to the Master of the Universe, if you will. Imagine it how you will. I encourage freedom of thought.
We have been told by most Religious Leaders that the Days of the Prophets are gone, and that people are no longer able to have a direct link to the Rhealm of the Divine because mankind is such a sinful species. Really? It didn't take me long to realize that this last message had an agenda for those who wanted me to need their ministering so that I could claim my ticket to heaven. I did start my spiritual quest in Christianity. But my friends, that "Still Small Voice" kept telling me that everyone had it wrong. It has never been true that the standard religious statement: "We are the true path to God and ours is the only way..." message came from God. This pseudo message shocked me at a very early age, and as I matured I realized that the deeper truth was my first message from my own God Nature, a one on one communication that asked me how that statement could be true. So over my lifetime I have continued to contemplate that simple question, one that originated from a vision of life that considers the world as the only place of life in the universe. Keep in mind I was only an adolescent when I got the message so my messages were less complex then. Check out the field of sacred-science for more enlightened understanding of the search for life in multi-verses.
I learned though years of seeking my connection to the Divine Nature which is my God-In-Action (energy) that if we stop questioning our leaders when they lay down their version of the law, especially God's Law, then it is inevitable that we will see the decline of our society over a fairly predictable timeframe. America, for instance, is showing the truth of my observation right now. Not one Department of Government has not been touched by corruption, or scandal of some kind, the most common being that they don't protect the interests of American citizens, but do allow questionable studies to be conducted by money backed industries who should have no part in the research of product-testing; you see where I'm going, right? Nor has even one religion escaped tragic examples of religious clergy abusing the power they hold over their congregants through actions, or through sermons that keep us in constant anxiety, as we are told that those who are different from "God's Children" are to be brought down to their knees. Racism, Class-ism, and the Monopolies created in business and finance are also places that are dark and murky so that the sun/son don't shine.
Our legal system is reflecting how easily "special interest" has become law whereas personhood status has only been compromised by the minds and messages of our lawmakers. Folks, corporations should not be legal persons, but they are. Personhood laws should not be introduced to secularism if they are born in bibilical teachings, but rather, we should recognize that no one has the right to tell us what we will do with our own bodies, such as is the case in the option to have stem cell treatments which may overturn the effects of the terrible diseases of our age. Are you able to see that the miscarriage of justice, so sorry for the pun, has been prevalent in our society since the founding of America as a country? The separation of Church and State in our country is eroding, and it must be re-shored in order for us to survive the tsunami of pain that we allow to be inflicted in the name of God and a Corrupted Government. I look for leaders who are willing to expose corruption and revamp broken down systems of government. Who do you look for to help change the national playing field? Do you ever look to yourself? If so, you would be a blessing to everyone else in America over the coming decade.
You don't have to agree with my observations, but I would ask if you are willing to research my statement by going through the news archives of the past 50 years first. Then let me know if I've erred in formulating my opinion. The thing is, I am not willing to let someone else tell me how to think, or how to live my life, or how to make a lasting connection with the Magnificently Dynamic energy we call God Almighty. I think that I have a small streak of anarchy running up my spine, and I am fine with that because it makes me ask questions of myself, of my ego's own motivations, and of the egos of others, too. You won't see me acting in a dangerous and disrespectful manner toward our current system even though I find it deeply flawed. But you will find me asking you if you are at the point where you can understand that society is on the verge of an incredible shift, a paradigm shift, regarding our relationship with ourselves, as a collective society, and our religious practices and spiritual stance to uphold the freedom of humans to search for their personal/spiritual enlightenment as they deem necessary.
If you are not interested in having a spiritual conversation with me, that's just fine with me. But since my whole life is based upon my connection to, and willingness to express my understanding of God; I am not willing to quit searching to expand my consciousness (for instance studying sacred-science and putting away the holy books of my ancestors, spending time each day to send "loving good will" as an energy that I can direct into the unified field of energy that we call life, and standing up for those who have been vicitimized by people without conscious because of their lack of a connection to the power of their personal God Nature, I guess I won't have much time for you.
I send you loving good will and the spirit of peace each and every day. I look forward to seeing how humanity blooms in the coming age of man because it is born from the truth that everything that exists took from in the age of spiritual manifestation. In our own way, we are each on a journey guaranteed to expand our energy field when its seed, planted when you were born on earth, comes to full realization.
I see the world from my chair like this: we are all going to shift our field of consciousness at some time in our spiritual journey so that we include the deep understanding that we are not alone, we are the spirit of God made manifest as humanity, and our one and only job (again from my limited perspective) is to become Divinely Self Realized. We are already the message God wants us to understand to life, but we haven't been able to read the text yet. Our journey from the dark canal of birth into the bright canal (interdimensional discover of our magificence) will take as long as you want it to take. I, my firends, will be holding the sacred space for you as if you have already found your God Nature. As if you have already ascended into a dimension that is only a guess on our (people who are metaphysically engaged) part, but the guess is singing its song in the hearts of millions around the world.
We are on the brink of discovering that what we have labled "the word" of God to be from the beginning is actually wrong. We have built a religious society which has seen man telling man what God wants from us, not a society able to listen to the still small voice within and live the message that God has for each of us. Think of these billions of missives as love letters from the Center of Creation. If we are of sound body, mind, and emotions we will each hold a part of a larger text message that could bring peace to earth. Think of that for a moment.
One of the messages I received was, "The truth is only learned by living your life because in a million ways I Am acting through you each day."
I pray that you are listening to that still small voice within, and then acting on the message according to your ability. As you expand your consciousness to include the thought that "I AM the essence of God manifested in my life" you are changed forever. Now tell me, where did I put my sunglasses; I think the world is going to be a brighter place from now on and I want to be prepared!
Sending you loving good will today, tomorrow and forever. Rev. Cassandra "Cisi" Martin
Photo Credit: NASA - the Sun
So asks the Still Small Voice Within which many people around the world have heard. How can a voice so softly spoken, yet vibrating with a glow that casts the sun's light to shadow be ignored? If you have had a moment of connection like this, I believe you have begun to access your true nature, your God Nature. For clarity's sake, I am not speaking about personal intuitions which have warned you away from a dangerous practice, or event in your life. Or a moment of mental clarity that tells you that you are wasting your time with certain people, or jobs, or spiritual studies. Rather I am asking you if you've been given a mystical encounter from which you received guidance, or an understanding that profoundly changed the way you have understood "reality" before. In the case of the former, I believe that our Spiritual guides, or our Higher Self, or our Psychic antenna have alerted us to an energetic shift which we needed to become aware of; while in the latter example you are entering an opportunity to have a two way conversation with the unknowable mystery we have labled as "God".
Do I think this conversation takes place with the whole of the creation that GOD IS? Don't be silly. God, as a concept is to immense for the human mind to grasp, much less understand or communicate with. But the part of us that IS the Spirit of God, does have a living connection to the Master of the Universe, if you will. Imagine it how you will. I encourage freedom of thought.
We have been told by most Religious Leaders that the Days of the Prophets are gone, and that people are no longer able to have a direct link to the Rhealm of the Divine because mankind is such a sinful species. Really? It didn't take me long to realize that this last message had an agenda for those who wanted me to need their ministering so that I could claim my ticket to heaven. I did start my spiritual quest in Christianity. But my friends, that "Still Small Voice" kept telling me that everyone had it wrong. It has never been true that the standard religious statement: "We are the true path to God and ours is the only way..." message came from God. This pseudo message shocked me at a very early age, and as I matured I realized that the deeper truth was my first message from my own God Nature, a one on one communication that asked me how that statement could be true. So over my lifetime I have continued to contemplate that simple question, one that originated from a vision of life that considers the world as the only place of life in the universe. Keep in mind I was only an adolescent when I got the message so my messages were less complex then. Check out the field of sacred-science for more enlightened understanding of the search for life in multi-verses.
I learned though years of seeking my connection to the Divine Nature which is my God-In-Action (energy) that if we stop questioning our leaders when they lay down their version of the law, especially God's Law, then it is inevitable that we will see the decline of our society over a fairly predictable timeframe. America, for instance, is showing the truth of my observation right now. Not one Department of Government has not been touched by corruption, or scandal of some kind, the most common being that they don't protect the interests of American citizens, but do allow questionable studies to be conducted by money backed industries who should have no part in the research of product-testing; you see where I'm going, right? Nor has even one religion escaped tragic examples of religious clergy abusing the power they hold over their congregants through actions, or through sermons that keep us in constant anxiety, as we are told that those who are different from "God's Children" are to be brought down to their knees. Racism, Class-ism, and the Monopolies created in business and finance are also places that are dark and murky so that the sun/son don't shine.
Our legal system is reflecting how easily "special interest" has become law whereas personhood status has only been compromised by the minds and messages of our lawmakers. Folks, corporations should not be legal persons, but they are. Personhood laws should not be introduced to secularism if they are born in bibilical teachings, but rather, we should recognize that no one has the right to tell us what we will do with our own bodies, such as is the case in the option to have stem cell treatments which may overturn the effects of the terrible diseases of our age. Are you able to see that the miscarriage of justice, so sorry for the pun, has been prevalent in our society since the founding of America as a country? The separation of Church and State in our country is eroding, and it must be re-shored in order for us to survive the tsunami of pain that we allow to be inflicted in the name of God and a Corrupted Government. I look for leaders who are willing to expose corruption and revamp broken down systems of government. Who do you look for to help change the national playing field? Do you ever look to yourself? If so, you would be a blessing to everyone else in America over the coming decade.
You don't have to agree with my observations, but I would ask if you are willing to research my statement by going through the news archives of the past 50 years first. Then let me know if I've erred in formulating my opinion. The thing is, I am not willing to let someone else tell me how to think, or how to live my life, or how to make a lasting connection with the Magnificently Dynamic energy we call God Almighty. I think that I have a small streak of anarchy running up my spine, and I am fine with that because it makes me ask questions of myself, of my ego's own motivations, and of the egos of others, too. You won't see me acting in a dangerous and disrespectful manner toward our current system even though I find it deeply flawed. But you will find me asking you if you are at the point where you can understand that society is on the verge of an incredible shift, a paradigm shift, regarding our relationship with ourselves, as a collective society, and our religious practices and spiritual stance to uphold the freedom of humans to search for their personal/spiritual enlightenment as they deem necessary.
If you are not interested in having a spiritual conversation with me, that's just fine with me. But since my whole life is based upon my connection to, and willingness to express my understanding of God; I am not willing to quit searching to expand my consciousness (for instance studying sacred-science and putting away the holy books of my ancestors, spending time each day to send "loving good will" as an energy that I can direct into the unified field of energy that we call life, and standing up for those who have been vicitimized by people without conscious because of their lack of a connection to the power of their personal God Nature, I guess I won't have much time for you.
I send you loving good will and the spirit of peace each and every day. I look forward to seeing how humanity blooms in the coming age of man because it is born from the truth that everything that exists took from in the age of spiritual manifestation. In our own way, we are each on a journey guaranteed to expand our energy field when its seed, planted when you were born on earth, comes to full realization.
I see the world from my chair like this: we are all going to shift our field of consciousness at some time in our spiritual journey so that we include the deep understanding that we are not alone, we are the spirit of God made manifest as humanity, and our one and only job (again from my limited perspective) is to become Divinely Self Realized. We are already the message God wants us to understand to life, but we haven't been able to read the text yet. Our journey from the dark canal of birth into the bright canal (interdimensional discover of our magificence) will take as long as you want it to take. I, my firends, will be holding the sacred space for you as if you have already found your God Nature. As if you have already ascended into a dimension that is only a guess on our (people who are metaphysically engaged) part, but the guess is singing its song in the hearts of millions around the world.
We are on the brink of discovering that what we have labled "the word" of God to be from the beginning is actually wrong. We have built a religious society which has seen man telling man what God wants from us, not a society able to listen to the still small voice within and live the message that God has for each of us. Think of these billions of missives as love letters from the Center of Creation. If we are of sound body, mind, and emotions we will each hold a part of a larger text message that could bring peace to earth. Think of that for a moment.
One of the messages I received was, "The truth is only learned by living your life because in a million ways I Am acting through you each day."
I pray that you are listening to that still small voice within, and then acting on the message according to your ability. As you expand your consciousness to include the thought that "I AM the essence of God manifested in my life" you are changed forever. Now tell me, where did I put my sunglasses; I think the world is going to be a brighter place from now on and I want to be prepared!
Sending you loving good will today, tomorrow and forever. Rev. Cassandra "Cisi" Martin
Photo Credit: NASA - the Sun
Time is your ally, you are changing every day...
15 January 2012
While doing my morning affirmations I realized that the topic of todays Sunday Service is going to be the importance of understanding how your personal lessons manifest day to day. Yes, I've been doing my lessoning and yes, it has gotten easier to cope with because of the tools I have ready in my spiritual toolbox. To start with is the punching glove we frequently think of as Karma. Sometimes it is such a devastating lesson that we drop to our knees. I know this one well. And, for those of you currently in this cycle of development, please take heart. You have available to you the tools you need to help yourself get through the mental, emotional, physical and spiritual strain of the big lessons.
But, a word here, even the little lessons are of value to you and the sooner you identify a pattern of thought, word and deed that no longer serves you, the happier you will be. Today, though we are going to learn about personal and collective karma because the energy of the year 2012 is gaining strength.
A bit about that before we start. You know from reading my webservices that energy follows thought, and this means that all of the people on the planet who invested in the "end times" prophesies have polluted the collective human conscious field of energy where thought-forms take shape. (See Archives for May 15, 2011, June 2nd and 15th of the same year for these services.) In using 'end times' as an example of how powerful our minds and emotions are, think of them an engine, we can recognize this situation as a karmic lesson for humanity. Would it surprise you to know that during every millenial change throughout history people have been positive that 'the end' was comming? The appointed time for 'the end' has come and gone to many millenium to count.
It is no secret that mankind is thirsty for a glimpse of the future, so much money has been made by people claiming to be able, or able to forsee what is coming, and others have accepted biblical prophesy as real and are now making big bucks each Sunday because they perpetuated this fear. Then there are those who make movies about global annihalation - again big bucks but the movies may put us into a state of anxiety and fear. All of these groups have something in common, they are feeding the thought-forms related to 'end times'; and I am not. Nor are millions of others who are planning for the year 2013, and moving forward with their personal and professional relationships which will nurture them over time. You see, time is your friend. And we, if you join me, can make a huge difference in the energy field we call the collective consciousness.
I use affirmations. You can use prayers, rituals, in fact anything positive that you want in order to send a self-correcting energy into the collective thought-forms. If we meet negative energy that is fear based, with the powerfully positive energy of love (aka lightforce) we are able to weaken the effect of the fearmongers. It's ok to have had a few queasy thoughts about end times, that does not make you a believer so much as a person who doesn't have all of the knowledge available to them. This website and others are getting the word out.
You are powerful. And this is why: this lesson does not have to visit your doorstep if you do not empower it. It is as simple as that, my friends. The more you think about something (especially something fearful) the more you are empowering it. Might I suggest that the next time a fearful thought arises to get your attention you cancel it? Take a deep breath and say the words Cancel, Cancel, Cancel - outloud or in mind. The act of taking power away from your fearful thoughts makes them clearer and better for you. This is a simple truth. You have the power you need to change your responses to any painful situation that you encounter.
I think it's a fact that most of the profound truths in the universe are simple, maybe that is why humans have such a hard time seeing it. Our complex minds what to make life more compicated than it need be. You have heard me say that sacred-science is opening doors to a more universal understanding of how life really works. My last service discussed this in part. Please consider that you are living in a cylce that is a natural progression of enlightenment, and that means that you have to shine light into the darker places of your psyche. For example, if you start redirecting your fearful thoughts about the future of 2012 right now, you will be adding to the positive result which is that it will not manifest the way the fearmongers have said.
Yes, look for changed weather patterns but recognize that we created them by allowing industrial pollution and lax laws in the manufacturing fields as it pertains to the elements of our planet. Be green conscious and you will help change this sad state of affairs. Understand that every living thing that is on our planet is part of our history and our future so we should be working towards mitigating rampant pollution and the extinction events occuring all over the planet. So have I given you something to think about? Now we're going to pull the scope of this service into our daily lives, with this challenge to you: can you love yourself enough to love everyone else on earth?
Because energy follows thought, we can change our core belief's about ourselves, and our relationships with others more easily than we have accepted in the past. It starts with a shift in our energy bodies as we gather personal power through prayers, meditation, affirmations for the betterment of ourselves and others, and prayers for our planet's resources. You gain momentum energetically and "lessons" begin to manifest which will facilitate your ability to let go of old patterns of belief that are not aligned with the acceptance of diversity in humankind, compassion, and a willingness to serve others, not just yourself.
Have you ever had your aura photographed? I have done this for quite a few years. It's fun and I have seen a change in my auric field for the better. This tells me that I am doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing and my lessons are exactly what I need for my level of spiritual study and practice. My newest photo is here for you to see. Our goal is to manifest light in colors that are coordinated with love, compassion, peace, service to others (white light) and other loving aspects of the human endeavor. My lessoning is still present, but I anticipate that its intensity is affected by my change of attitude: I welcome it. I am grateful to it. In doing so I am acknowledging that everything is in Divine Right Action. Since I know myself to be a Divine being manifesting a personal world experience, I can live with the understanding that I have all of the time I need to change my life, or as little if I really lite a fire under my psyche. Intention is a marvelous tool, too.
A word to the wise here (yes, that is you, dear godlings) your lessons are never inappropriate, not ever. If you think otherwise you are missing a point and it is this: God does not make mistakes. The essence that we collectively call God is immanent in all of life and everything that has manifested, as far as our eyes can see. It is the essence that is your principle energy. You are not going to experience something painful that does not serve you in some way. You can, however, use spiritual tools and basic understandings (Universal Laws) that will put the lessoning in perspective and you will be able to get through the karma quickly if you really work on discovering what old belief is at the core of your experience. So, think about that for a while. Your God-Nature knows what you need in order to evolve into an enlightened human being. Your lessoning is based upon what you have yet to recognize about your God-Nature and your Human-Nature. They are not really and truthfully separate, but it does feel like that when you are in the middle of an experience.
Wounded human nature is to blame others for our own character defects, or flaws. My sister shared that thought with me from her Alchoholics Annonymous experiences. So you should also be aware that you will get clues from people who have gone through something that you have not had to experience. Use your discernement of course, but do stay alert to the things you hear others say, they may be telling you what hasn't worked for them and what has, then you can choose if it also applies to you, and avoid a huge and hairy lesson, getting instead a lesson that is a few levels less intense. Yes, I believe it does work that way. The more you learn about energy and Spiritual Laws, the more you are able to co-create your life and moderate the outcome through your personal enlightenment.
Over the next few services I will bring some of the Univesal Laws to your attention so that you can choose what tool you want to add to your spiritual toolbox. I have started today with an overview of how we, as individuals, affect group karma. Then I ask this of you: Do you understand that your individual karma is as easily mastered as humanity's collective karma? , and do you understand that the 'end times scenario' that has been growing, energetically, for a couple of decades has also had a faithful league of 'white lighters' who have been peacefully changing the negative future predicted into a future of personal growth that will overpower the weaker energy of fear? This is what I have come to understand. Why don't you join me and be a white lighter? I think whte is a much more attractive color than black, so if you make an intention to move through your lessons at the pace that is ideal for you, you will begin to lighten your energy field and help others along the way.
As usual, you are invited to share your thoughts on any of these Sunday Services, just go to the social media page for a few ways to do so. And as usual I AM sending you loving good will. May you be blessed today, tomorrow and forever.
Rev. Cassandra "Cisi" Martin
While doing my morning affirmations I realized that the topic of todays Sunday Service is going to be the importance of understanding how your personal lessons manifest day to day. Yes, I've been doing my lessoning and yes, it has gotten easier to cope with because of the tools I have ready in my spiritual toolbox. To start with is the punching glove we frequently think of as Karma. Sometimes it is such a devastating lesson that we drop to our knees. I know this one well. And, for those of you currently in this cycle of development, please take heart. You have available to you the tools you need to help yourself get through the mental, emotional, physical and spiritual strain of the big lessons.
But, a word here, even the little lessons are of value to you and the sooner you identify a pattern of thought, word and deed that no longer serves you, the happier you will be. Today, though we are going to learn about personal and collective karma because the energy of the year 2012 is gaining strength.
A bit about that before we start. You know from reading my webservices that energy follows thought, and this means that all of the people on the planet who invested in the "end times" prophesies have polluted the collective human conscious field of energy where thought-forms take shape. (See Archives for May 15, 2011, June 2nd and 15th of the same year for these services.) In using 'end times' as an example of how powerful our minds and emotions are, think of them an engine, we can recognize this situation as a karmic lesson for humanity. Would it surprise you to know that during every millenial change throughout history people have been positive that 'the end' was comming? The appointed time for 'the end' has come and gone to many millenium to count.
It is no secret that mankind is thirsty for a glimpse of the future, so much money has been made by people claiming to be able, or able to forsee what is coming, and others have accepted biblical prophesy as real and are now making big bucks each Sunday because they perpetuated this fear. Then there are those who make movies about global annihalation - again big bucks but the movies may put us into a state of anxiety and fear. All of these groups have something in common, they are feeding the thought-forms related to 'end times'; and I am not. Nor are millions of others who are planning for the year 2013, and moving forward with their personal and professional relationships which will nurture them over time. You see, time is your friend. And we, if you join me, can make a huge difference in the energy field we call the collective consciousness.
I use affirmations. You can use prayers, rituals, in fact anything positive that you want in order to send a self-correcting energy into the collective thought-forms. If we meet negative energy that is fear based, with the powerfully positive energy of love (aka lightforce) we are able to weaken the effect of the fearmongers. It's ok to have had a few queasy thoughts about end times, that does not make you a believer so much as a person who doesn't have all of the knowledge available to them. This website and others are getting the word out.
You are powerful. And this is why: this lesson does not have to visit your doorstep if you do not empower it. It is as simple as that, my friends. The more you think about something (especially something fearful) the more you are empowering it. Might I suggest that the next time a fearful thought arises to get your attention you cancel it? Take a deep breath and say the words Cancel, Cancel, Cancel - outloud or in mind. The act of taking power away from your fearful thoughts makes them clearer and better for you. This is a simple truth. You have the power you need to change your responses to any painful situation that you encounter.
I think it's a fact that most of the profound truths in the universe are simple, maybe that is why humans have such a hard time seeing it. Our complex minds what to make life more compicated than it need be. You have heard me say that sacred-science is opening doors to a more universal understanding of how life really works. My last service discussed this in part. Please consider that you are living in a cylce that is a natural progression of enlightenment, and that means that you have to shine light into the darker places of your psyche. For example, if you start redirecting your fearful thoughts about the future of 2012 right now, you will be adding to the positive result which is that it will not manifest the way the fearmongers have said.
Yes, look for changed weather patterns but recognize that we created them by allowing industrial pollution and lax laws in the manufacturing fields as it pertains to the elements of our planet. Be green conscious and you will help change this sad state of affairs. Understand that every living thing that is on our planet is part of our history and our future so we should be working towards mitigating rampant pollution and the extinction events occuring all over the planet. So have I given you something to think about? Now we're going to pull the scope of this service into our daily lives, with this challenge to you: can you love yourself enough to love everyone else on earth?
Because energy follows thought, we can change our core belief's about ourselves, and our relationships with others more easily than we have accepted in the past. It starts with a shift in our energy bodies as we gather personal power through prayers, meditation, affirmations for the betterment of ourselves and others, and prayers for our planet's resources. You gain momentum energetically and "lessons" begin to manifest which will facilitate your ability to let go of old patterns of belief that are not aligned with the acceptance of diversity in humankind, compassion, and a willingness to serve others, not just yourself.
Have you ever had your aura photographed? I have done this for quite a few years. It's fun and I have seen a change in my auric field for the better. This tells me that I am doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing and my lessons are exactly what I need for my level of spiritual study and practice. My newest photo is here for you to see. Our goal is to manifest light in colors that are coordinated with love, compassion, peace, service to others (white light) and other loving aspects of the human endeavor. My lessoning is still present, but I anticipate that its intensity is affected by my change of attitude: I welcome it. I am grateful to it. In doing so I am acknowledging that everything is in Divine Right Action. Since I know myself to be a Divine being manifesting a personal world experience, I can live with the understanding that I have all of the time I need to change my life, or as little if I really lite a fire under my psyche. Intention is a marvelous tool, too.
A word to the wise here (yes, that is you, dear godlings) your lessons are never inappropriate, not ever. If you think otherwise you are missing a point and it is this: God does not make mistakes. The essence that we collectively call God is immanent in all of life and everything that has manifested, as far as our eyes can see. It is the essence that is your principle energy. You are not going to experience something painful that does not serve you in some way. You can, however, use spiritual tools and basic understandings (Universal Laws) that will put the lessoning in perspective and you will be able to get through the karma quickly if you really work on discovering what old belief is at the core of your experience. So, think about that for a while. Your God-Nature knows what you need in order to evolve into an enlightened human being. Your lessoning is based upon what you have yet to recognize about your God-Nature and your Human-Nature. They are not really and truthfully separate, but it does feel like that when you are in the middle of an experience.
Wounded human nature is to blame others for our own character defects, or flaws. My sister shared that thought with me from her Alchoholics Annonymous experiences. So you should also be aware that you will get clues from people who have gone through something that you have not had to experience. Use your discernement of course, but do stay alert to the things you hear others say, they may be telling you what hasn't worked for them and what has, then you can choose if it also applies to you, and avoid a huge and hairy lesson, getting instead a lesson that is a few levels less intense. Yes, I believe it does work that way. The more you learn about energy and Spiritual Laws, the more you are able to co-create your life and moderate the outcome through your personal enlightenment.
Over the next few services I will bring some of the Univesal Laws to your attention so that you can choose what tool you want to add to your spiritual toolbox. I have started today with an overview of how we, as individuals, affect group karma. Then I ask this of you: Do you understand that your individual karma is as easily mastered as humanity's collective karma? , and do you understand that the 'end times scenario' that has been growing, energetically, for a couple of decades has also had a faithful league of 'white lighters' who have been peacefully changing the negative future predicted into a future of personal growth that will overpower the weaker energy of fear? This is what I have come to understand. Why don't you join me and be a white lighter? I think whte is a much more attractive color than black, so if you make an intention to move through your lessons at the pace that is ideal for you, you will begin to lighten your energy field and help others along the way.
As usual, you are invited to share your thoughts on any of these Sunday Services, just go to the social media page for a few ways to do so. And as usual I AM sending you loving good will. May you be blessed today, tomorrow and forever.
Rev. Cassandra "Cisi" Martin
The Gift of God-In-Action
01 January 2012
I had a lovely opportunity to test the theory “share a smile and you get one back” while I was travelling over Christmas break. I know how well this works one to one, and in small groups, but I wondered if it would still be as effective during a difficult travel day. My faith in the basic goodness of humanity was rewarded in hearts, not spades! Twice I reached out, and twice other beautiful souls reached out to me. Our exchanges were on subjects such as social media, respect in the workplace, a shared love of God, and the
power of sharing intent with others, thereby multiplying the energetic “send” into a current situation.
I was looking out the window at the Delta plane I was about to board from Nashville, TN, destination Memphis, TN for a connecting flight home to Tulsa, OK when a beautiful young woman sat near me and immediately took out her phone. Click, click, click went her fingers over the tiny little keyboard as she settled in to a routine, waiting to board. You must know about me that I am not yet social media savvy. I waited until she had stopped and asked her if she could tell me how twitter ‘tweets’ work. That is
how our conversation began. In addition to some excellent tips on how to expand my profile for this website and
others, I discovered that she is a serious student of interior design, that her mother is a well known artist, and that she has a friend who has interpreted some of Lady Gaga’s videos and lyrical references into Biblical references-
profound and interesting to me as a minister.
Next I met a red haired young woman sitting on the floor next to my chair as she charged her phone battery.
Her fingers flew as she danced her way around what I am now calling the “gateway connection” to social media, her phone. We stumbled into a conversation about, in essence, the importance of being you. She works for the Delta airlines family and has had two years in customer service. I shared that I have a cousin who recently accepted early retirement from an airline, ultimately because the lack of respect for employees is pandemic in this field. She shared that when she started her job in customer service she was really shy and that over two years she felt that she
was much more self assured.
Sometimes customers would stand up for her when one was being a “jerk”, and that made her feel better in the moment. My new acquaintance was having a day off and would fly out of my radar field later, but she reminded me that you do not truly know yourself until you have spent time trying to help others.
My angel connection came in the form of a lovely woman travelling from Ohio to see her sister and a new niece that she had yet to meet. She had brought the family Christmas cookie recipe with her so that they could all make cookies together. I won’t go into her personal history more than that she, like me, had been given the ticket by her loving husband who wanted her to see the family she has missed seeing for a couple of years.
She and I shared a faith-based conversation that warmed each of us as we shared the chilling ‘delayed flight’ hours exchanging our histories and understanding of Divine Right Order. That’s right. Our flight out of Memphis to Tulsa was delayed because of mechanical problems for almost five hours before we boarded. We had actually boarded once, after the first round of repair, and then disembarked back to the terminal because another problem arose with the cockpit electronics. Better to be delayed and on the ground, we agreed, than in the air when mechanical failure
strikes!
Many of you will have had a similar experience and you know how quickly a person’s mood can change from reasonable to downright cranky. When you ride that roller coaster of delayed flight status changes you are up, down, and wondering if you should re-route and will you ever get off the ground? Many feelings run through you and you
can either feed the positive or the negative. We decided, at around hour 4, that we would share an intent that this time the flight would actually board and we would arrive at our destination- safely. We were close – only off by a half hour – but my point is that another traveler overhead our conversation on sharing our intent as I would soon find
out.
The Angel Connection and I shared a lovely dinner with a couple originally from South Africa who had migrated more than 20 years ago to America- I’m not sure how we picked them up but it seemed right at the time. When we were on our way back to our gate we were alerted that our gate had moved and we would be
boarding very shortly so off we dashed.
I found my seat with ease, having already sat in it once that day, and as I prepared to sit my aisle neighbor greeted me, “hello, fellow traveler”.
I recognized that she was the wonderful lady who had sat next to us when we were doing our shared intent experiment, and had participated with us, but declined our invitation to join us for dinner. My fellow
traveler is retired and enjoying her life in Tulsa and we shared some of the things we love about our town.
“What was it you said when we were sitting together waiting to board?” she asked me. I couldn’t remember exactly what we talked about, but with patient prodding she helped me remember we had shared our intent that the flight would board and we would soon be going home as opposed to the alternative and very real possibility that faced us.
We chatted and shared information about people involved in the emerging field of sacred-science – specifically Lynne McTaggart, author of The Intention Experiment which I do recommend to my readers. All in all it was a very powerful experience for me because the last two days of my 10 day sojourn to Nashville and family had been tense.
Let me tell you that ten days is to long no matter how much you love someone! My sister fully agreed so I am not speaking out of turn. But there was a tremendous shift in our relationship as a result of our honesty and willingness to share our individual perspectives of what we knew as ‘the truth’ of our family history and members. I believe we moved to a new level of love and even respect for one another and I cherish that because I only have two
sisters and one brother left in my family.
So why have I shared this long story in such detail at the beginning of this New Year? Because my story is
your story when we break it down, as follows:
1. When I smiled at strangers, they smiled back and if it felt safe I engaged some of them in
conversation, or they engaged me. By doing so we were saying, ‘the world is not such a scary place after
all.’ Fearlessness is going to be part of our future Sunday Services, so I hope you watch for them.
2. My first young friend was ready to hear that color has vibration according to its frequency on the
light scale and that these colors affect our moods. When she becomes a professional designer I encouraged her to check out the ‘subtext’ of color for her clients. Although she knew something about it, she will know more if she wants to follow through. I learned a wealth of information from her on a subject that I would have had to research when I am especially busy researching my second book. She saved me hours of time, and that is at a premium for me right now. Lesson? 'When you exchange energy with a person there is always value.'
3. I found that women are ‘getting it’ that they do not have to dress in heels and ‘get all fussy’ as my
young red haired acquaintance said. That by putting yourself into a challenging environment you can grow
leaps and bounds and occasionally cut your learning curve by years. She was truly self-assured, beautiful and comfortable in her skin, rather unusual in a modern young woman I would say, if we use public media as a yardstick.
4. I would also say that God works in mysterious ways in regards to my travelling angel and me. We are not on the same page as far as our spiritual practices but we shared a common love of our Creator and Divine Right Order. My previous experiences with traditional Christian worshippers has been less pleasant once they discover that my understanding of Christianity is as a mystical Christian or a historical Christian – sometimes called early
Gnostic Christianity – though even this is not truly an accurate description of my practices. She gave me a great
gift. She broke down my last remaining defense when she started asking me about my church family and I
explained that I am actually an Independent New Thought minister. She listened respectfully, without apparent judgment and I accorded her the same respect. And, with that she melted my heart and I felt an overflow of gratitude to her and will remember her fondly. Thank you, dear heart. 'There is hope to build a bridge between traditionalism and spiritualism'.
5. My fellow Tulsan traveler from across the aisle reminded me that life is getting better, not declining as I age. I retired and then began my ministry on this website and started my first book, now I am researching book two. She wants to follow my progress as a writer in this new field of sacred-science and so I have a renewed love of my craft. And of her, I met a teacher whose devotion to knowledge inspired me. From now on I will be 'as devoted to my readers' as I believe her to have been. She and I were in equal service, and I am grateful to her for that service to our next generations.
So, tell me, when was the last time that you smiled at a stranger?
When was the last time your faith in humanity was renewed?
When was the last time you met a ‘young one’ and smiled with gratitude because the road they travel is inspiring?
And when was the last time that a total stranger filled you with recognition that the Divine Plan is perfect the way it is when we all do our individual part.
If you do not believe the spiritual things that I do, I want to know what you do believe when we meet.
I don’t want to stay safe in my spiritual family, and I don’t want to stay safe in my home family, either.
I want to be free to tell you who I am and I want you to feel comfortable to tell me who you are, knowing that I will do my very best not to judge you if we are different. In my perspective we are not different so much as communicationally challenged! Communication is the spiritual act of communion on its highest level.
Now that I am home I can put into action all of the things I learned on my God-in-Action journey to Tennessee.
You see, Spirit planned this trip for me, down to the last detail and I learned more about myself as I learned more about others along the way. “It’s all good” my future designer acquaintance said. And, she is so right.
Welcome to 2012, the year of a potential shift in the collective consciousness of mankind.
Not because of the prophesies, but because people are waking up as evidenced by international‘freedom fighters’, the ‘99%-ers’, the political reformists, and religionists who are awakening to their higher calling: Understanding that All
is God, and God is Always Good. The old year is ending as I write this on December 30th, and the New Year is beginning. Today we will create tomorrow. May all of humanity be blessed by what we create.
In Loving Good Will, I Am
Rev. Cisi Martin
Who are you?
I had a lovely opportunity to test the theory “share a smile and you get one back” while I was travelling over Christmas break. I know how well this works one to one, and in small groups, but I wondered if it would still be as effective during a difficult travel day. My faith in the basic goodness of humanity was rewarded in hearts, not spades! Twice I reached out, and twice other beautiful souls reached out to me. Our exchanges were on subjects such as social media, respect in the workplace, a shared love of God, and the
power of sharing intent with others, thereby multiplying the energetic “send” into a current situation.
I was looking out the window at the Delta plane I was about to board from Nashville, TN, destination Memphis, TN for a connecting flight home to Tulsa, OK when a beautiful young woman sat near me and immediately took out her phone. Click, click, click went her fingers over the tiny little keyboard as she settled in to a routine, waiting to board. You must know about me that I am not yet social media savvy. I waited until she had stopped and asked her if she could tell me how twitter ‘tweets’ work. That is
how our conversation began. In addition to some excellent tips on how to expand my profile for this website and
others, I discovered that she is a serious student of interior design, that her mother is a well known artist, and that she has a friend who has interpreted some of Lady Gaga’s videos and lyrical references into Biblical references-
profound and interesting to me as a minister.
Next I met a red haired young woman sitting on the floor next to my chair as she charged her phone battery.
Her fingers flew as she danced her way around what I am now calling the “gateway connection” to social media, her phone. We stumbled into a conversation about, in essence, the importance of being you. She works for the Delta airlines family and has had two years in customer service. I shared that I have a cousin who recently accepted early retirement from an airline, ultimately because the lack of respect for employees is pandemic in this field. She shared that when she started her job in customer service she was really shy and that over two years she felt that she
was much more self assured.
Sometimes customers would stand up for her when one was being a “jerk”, and that made her feel better in the moment. My new acquaintance was having a day off and would fly out of my radar field later, but she reminded me that you do not truly know yourself until you have spent time trying to help others.
My angel connection came in the form of a lovely woman travelling from Ohio to see her sister and a new niece that she had yet to meet. She had brought the family Christmas cookie recipe with her so that they could all make cookies together. I won’t go into her personal history more than that she, like me, had been given the ticket by her loving husband who wanted her to see the family she has missed seeing for a couple of years.
She and I shared a faith-based conversation that warmed each of us as we shared the chilling ‘delayed flight’ hours exchanging our histories and understanding of Divine Right Order. That’s right. Our flight out of Memphis to Tulsa was delayed because of mechanical problems for almost five hours before we boarded. We had actually boarded once, after the first round of repair, and then disembarked back to the terminal because another problem arose with the cockpit electronics. Better to be delayed and on the ground, we agreed, than in the air when mechanical failure
strikes!
Many of you will have had a similar experience and you know how quickly a person’s mood can change from reasonable to downright cranky. When you ride that roller coaster of delayed flight status changes you are up, down, and wondering if you should re-route and will you ever get off the ground? Many feelings run through you and you
can either feed the positive or the negative. We decided, at around hour 4, that we would share an intent that this time the flight would actually board and we would arrive at our destination- safely. We were close – only off by a half hour – but my point is that another traveler overhead our conversation on sharing our intent as I would soon find
out.
The Angel Connection and I shared a lovely dinner with a couple originally from South Africa who had migrated more than 20 years ago to America- I’m not sure how we picked them up but it seemed right at the time. When we were on our way back to our gate we were alerted that our gate had moved and we would be
boarding very shortly so off we dashed.
I found my seat with ease, having already sat in it once that day, and as I prepared to sit my aisle neighbor greeted me, “hello, fellow traveler”.
I recognized that she was the wonderful lady who had sat next to us when we were doing our shared intent experiment, and had participated with us, but declined our invitation to join us for dinner. My fellow
traveler is retired and enjoying her life in Tulsa and we shared some of the things we love about our town.
“What was it you said when we were sitting together waiting to board?” she asked me. I couldn’t remember exactly what we talked about, but with patient prodding she helped me remember we had shared our intent that the flight would board and we would soon be going home as opposed to the alternative and very real possibility that faced us.
We chatted and shared information about people involved in the emerging field of sacred-science – specifically Lynne McTaggart, author of The Intention Experiment which I do recommend to my readers. All in all it was a very powerful experience for me because the last two days of my 10 day sojourn to Nashville and family had been tense.
Let me tell you that ten days is to long no matter how much you love someone! My sister fully agreed so I am not speaking out of turn. But there was a tremendous shift in our relationship as a result of our honesty and willingness to share our individual perspectives of what we knew as ‘the truth’ of our family history and members. I believe we moved to a new level of love and even respect for one another and I cherish that because I only have two
sisters and one brother left in my family.
So why have I shared this long story in such detail at the beginning of this New Year? Because my story is
your story when we break it down, as follows:
1. When I smiled at strangers, they smiled back and if it felt safe I engaged some of them in
conversation, or they engaged me. By doing so we were saying, ‘the world is not such a scary place after
all.’ Fearlessness is going to be part of our future Sunday Services, so I hope you watch for them.
2. My first young friend was ready to hear that color has vibration according to its frequency on the
light scale and that these colors affect our moods. When she becomes a professional designer I encouraged her to check out the ‘subtext’ of color for her clients. Although she knew something about it, she will know more if she wants to follow through. I learned a wealth of information from her on a subject that I would have had to research when I am especially busy researching my second book. She saved me hours of time, and that is at a premium for me right now. Lesson? 'When you exchange energy with a person there is always value.'
3. I found that women are ‘getting it’ that they do not have to dress in heels and ‘get all fussy’ as my
young red haired acquaintance said. That by putting yourself into a challenging environment you can grow
leaps and bounds and occasionally cut your learning curve by years. She was truly self-assured, beautiful and comfortable in her skin, rather unusual in a modern young woman I would say, if we use public media as a yardstick.
4. I would also say that God works in mysterious ways in regards to my travelling angel and me. We are not on the same page as far as our spiritual practices but we shared a common love of our Creator and Divine Right Order. My previous experiences with traditional Christian worshippers has been less pleasant once they discover that my understanding of Christianity is as a mystical Christian or a historical Christian – sometimes called early
Gnostic Christianity – though even this is not truly an accurate description of my practices. She gave me a great
gift. She broke down my last remaining defense when she started asking me about my church family and I
explained that I am actually an Independent New Thought minister. She listened respectfully, without apparent judgment and I accorded her the same respect. And, with that she melted my heart and I felt an overflow of gratitude to her and will remember her fondly. Thank you, dear heart. 'There is hope to build a bridge between traditionalism and spiritualism'.
5. My fellow Tulsan traveler from across the aisle reminded me that life is getting better, not declining as I age. I retired and then began my ministry on this website and started my first book, now I am researching book two. She wants to follow my progress as a writer in this new field of sacred-science and so I have a renewed love of my craft. And of her, I met a teacher whose devotion to knowledge inspired me. From now on I will be 'as devoted to my readers' as I believe her to have been. She and I were in equal service, and I am grateful to her for that service to our next generations.
So, tell me, when was the last time that you smiled at a stranger?
When was the last time your faith in humanity was renewed?
When was the last time you met a ‘young one’ and smiled with gratitude because the road they travel is inspiring?
And when was the last time that a total stranger filled you with recognition that the Divine Plan is perfect the way it is when we all do our individual part.
If you do not believe the spiritual things that I do, I want to know what you do believe when we meet.
I don’t want to stay safe in my spiritual family, and I don’t want to stay safe in my home family, either.
I want to be free to tell you who I am and I want you to feel comfortable to tell me who you are, knowing that I will do my very best not to judge you if we are different. In my perspective we are not different so much as communicationally challenged! Communication is the spiritual act of communion on its highest level.
Now that I am home I can put into action all of the things I learned on my God-in-Action journey to Tennessee.
You see, Spirit planned this trip for me, down to the last detail and I learned more about myself as I learned more about others along the way. “It’s all good” my future designer acquaintance said. And, she is so right.
Welcome to 2012, the year of a potential shift in the collective consciousness of mankind.
Not because of the prophesies, but because people are waking up as evidenced by international‘freedom fighters’, the ‘99%-ers’, the political reformists, and religionists who are awakening to their higher calling: Understanding that All
is God, and God is Always Good. The old year is ending as I write this on December 30th, and the New Year is beginning. Today we will create tomorrow. May all of humanity be blessed by what we create.
In Loving Good Will, I Am
Rev. Cisi Martin
Who are you?