Dear Spiritual Family,
Today is the Second Sunday of Advent and the week when Peace is our focus. It seems appropriate that the word, adventure begins with “advent.” For when we embrace at a heartfelt level the feelings of Faith and Peace, Love and Joy, we are certainly on an adventure into a higher consciousness.
So, for today and this week, how do we find such Peace? In the Book of Isaiah, we read, “Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee.” Staying present to God requires a practice of that Presence. If we could begin our day in deep prayer, richly feeling God’s Love and Peace and more of What God is, that would be a great start. But we must also be willing to do our very best to reveal the evidence of this peace, this love, this joy in our daily encounters – willing to see the face of Christ in others – the Truth beyond appearances.
To commit and to recommit to such an “adventure” is why we have taken birth. And the Master who took such birth two thousand years ago in Bethlehem has given us the Great Example of what an impact we can have when we remember Who we are and Whose we are.
Another gift shared in this week’s video message is from our friend, Dr. Roger Teel in This Life Is Joy. He uses the acronym, G.I.F.T. to help guide us in richly practicing God’s Presence – setting our minds and hearts on the Divine. In brief:
- Step #1: God Consciousness. We begin with the realization that God is all there is, feeling this “Divine Reality in and all around you as all Love, Light, Possibility, Power, Wholeness, Beauty, Joy and Peace. Staying with this step until you are experiencing the feeling of its peace and empowerment.”
- Step #2: Identification – I Am. “From the foundation of the first step, intensify your realization of the Truth of your Being. I and my Source are One. I am Pure Spirit. The I Am of me is the Wholeness, the Completeness, Love and Light of God. Feel a deep peace within you, an integrity of being, and claim this fully.”
- Step #3: Formulation. “In the beauty, peace and power of the first two steps, you are now ready to formulate clear ideas of your accepted Good. Craft a clear concept of your ideal experience, remembering that before you ask, It is already given. Establish the clear idea of your Good and affirm that it is yours now. In the Mind of God, it is yours now. Affirm: I am guided…prospered…healed and uplifted…inspired and fully blessed. You are crystallizing the higher idea-seed and bringing yourself to a full acceptance of it in this powerful moment of prayer.”
- Step 4: Thanks…and Take Over – “Having owned your idea as Substance in the high consciousness of your prayer, it is now time to celebrate this creative process and turn the prayer over to the infinite Power of the all-creative Law.”
Thank you, Dr. Teel, for this great “Gift.” And to our friends, we encourage you to devour This Life Is Joy. It is one of the most important works of our modern age.
As we endeavor to richly move through this Advent Season, it can provide for us a Great Adventure in rising in consciousness and bringing our gifts to the world to bless and to heal.
We Love You,
Rev. Steve and Mary