Dear Spiritual Family,
On this Memorial Day Weekend, we remember all who have given so much to make and keep our Nation free and safe. God bless each one and God bless our Home, Sweet Home!
We are dedicating this message to the memory and lives of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, the two Israeli Embassy workers who were killed in Washington, DC on May 21.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, there was a song made popular by a number of recording artists. It was called Two Different Worlds. Though it was unmistakably a love song, my (Rev. Steve’s) father saw it through more metaphysical or even mystical eyes. To him, it represented the world of illusion, what the Eastern teachings refer to as “maya,” and the world of Reality.
Jesus cautioned us to be in the former but not of it. Two thousand years later, through the teachings of A Course in Miracles, he makes clear, again and again that all our troubles arise when we confuse the two.
When we are grounded in a consciousness that recognizes and does its best to live from this Truth, we are lifted above the clamor and the drama of one world and we bring the Heaven of the other, closer.
We have witnessed over our decades in ministry, in general, and New Thought in particular, an attempt to dilute the efficacy of spiritual principles. At its core, this dilution occurs from attempts to make sense of the world of illusion, a virtually impossible task. When we, on the other hand, through forgiveness, raise into the Light of Love whatever confronts us or concerns us, we find true peace and understanding and a large measure of compassion.
We opened with a desire to honor these two young people, deeply in love and on the verge of an engagement to be married. They were suddenly confronted and mortally wounded by a gunman who acted out of hate.
As was the case for most, the incident touched Mary and me very deeply. Our first reaction was anger toward their assailant, and grief for Yaron, Sarah and their families. And anger for the antisemitism that is pervasive in our country and much of the world. In this scenario, we found ourselves very much “in” the world and “of” it as well. To do our best to find peace in this situation, let’s look at it from a higher view.
Yaron and Sarah, before they incarnated, formed a soul agreement to come together at a point in their lives as Yaron and Sarah, fall in love and serve together in important roles. The assailant had his part to play as well. He would represent the face of antisemitism and his actions would call international attention to a systemic problem in our global society.
Truth reminds us of our immortality. We know that these two souls were warmly welcomed into their next experience of life. And we thank them for their willingness to give in such a profound manner as they have. From the “world” of Reality we are able to view the man who wielded the weapon with empathy and light. And we can, if we choose, use this experience to enfold in love, all those with whom we hold grievances.
It is completely counter-productive to place blame as much as we want to do so, as good as it might feel, and as popular as it may be in this world. This includes blaming our leaders, blaming society, and blaming each other.
And because we live in this world, we must, in Jesus‘ words, “Render unto Caesar that which is Caesars.” In other words, obey the laws of the land. It is not counter-Spirituality to expect others to obey these laws or for us to obey them as well.
Across the world’s landscape, the “calls for love” are broad and deep. And each of us, with God’s ever-present help, are up to the task of giving it from the Higher Ground of our Hearts.
We hope that the visualization prayer at the conclusion of our video message will be helpful in experiencing what has been shared today.
Happy Memorial Wekend!
We love you and bless you,
Rev. Steve and Mary