GOOD NEWS!

Posted on March 21, 2018 by thoughtsmjdisler

Jesus Christ brought the good news (the gospel) that there was a higher law than the law of Karma–and that that law transcends the law of Karma. It is the law of grace, or forgiveness. It is the law which frees man from the law of cause and effect–the law of consequence. ‘Under grace, and not under law.’
We are told that on this plane, man reaps where he has not sown; the gifts of God are simply poured out upon him. ‘All that the Kingdom affords is his.’ This continued state of bliss awaits the man who has overcome the race (or world) thought.
In the world thought there is tribulation, but Jesus Christ said: ‘Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ …

Man would no longer throw off his body in death, it would be transformed into the ‘body electric,’ sung by Walt Whitman, for Christianity is founded upon the forgiveness of sins and ‘an empty tomb.’

 – Florence Scovil Shinn, “The Law of Karma and The Law of Forgiveness,”
The Game of Life and How to Play It, 1925.

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said,
“I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness,
but will have the light of life.”

John 8:12, New International Version of the Bible

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MESSENGER of JOY

Posted on March 14, 2018 by thoughtsmjdisler

“…hope is a silent, truthful messenger of joy from [one’s] real self.”

“The purpose of being is to unfold all its latent energies. He who approaches most nearly to this has solved the great problem of life. Not that his real work stops there–only then can it truly begin. With the strength thus developed he enters life’s eternal school to teach others and to work for others, that they too may learn the majesty of man.”

 – Floyd B. Wilson, Through Silence to Realization, or The Human Awakening, 1906

The righteous flourish like the palm tree,
and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
They are planted in the house of the Lord,
they flourish in the courts of our God.
They still bring forth fruit in old age,
they are ever full of sap and green,
to show that the Lord is upright;
He is my rock,
and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

Psalm 92:12-15
The Bible, Revised Standard Version

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THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT

Posted on March 6, 2018 by thoughtsmjdisler

All of Scripture has many references to the role of one’s mind – therefore one’s thinking. Learning to be conscious of tricks the mind can play and taking control of unproductive, unwholesome, and negative thinking – rejecting such thoughts and replacing them with the glowing promises of life abundant is a practical gateway in the journey of the spirit.

– mjd

Then one of the scribes approached him. He had been listening to the discussion [with Pharisees and Sadducees in the temple], and had noticed how well Jesus had answered them, and he put this question to him,

What are we to consider the greatest commandment of all?
The first and most important one is this, Jesus replied,
‘Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one:
and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul,
and with all thy mind,
and with all thy strength.’
The second is this,
‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.’
No other commandment is greater than these.
Mark 12:28

Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould,
but let God re-make you so that your whole attitude of mind is changed.
Thus you will prove in practice that the will of God is good,
acceptable to him and perfect.
Romans 12:2

– The New Testament in Modern English, Revised Edition
translated by J. B. Phillips

“It should be considered right to live and to enjoy living. To be well, happy, and to express freedom, is to be in accord with Divine Law and Wisdom.”

“The one who wishes to demonstrate some particular good must become conscious of this particular good, if he wishes to experience it. Therefore he must make his mind receptive to it and he must do this consciously. … It is always definite, conscious, concrete and explicit. We are dealing with Intelligence, and should deal with It intelligently.

Simplicity should mark our every effort and positivity should accompany all statements that we make into the law of Good.”

 – Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind, 1938

“We have the mind of Christ, the Messiah,
and hold the thoughts of His heart.”
I Corinthians 2:16b

 

 

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TEN FLOWERS

Posted on February 24, 2018 by thoughtsmjdisler

“If we gather, and give away a flower from the plant of love in our garden, ten flowers spring up where one has been. There is no pause in the blossoming of love. The reward of love is increased power of loving.”

“It is wonderful with what small means love does great things. There are people whose very presence makes joy all round them, whose smile lightens sorrow and refreshes pain, whose very being breathes peace. They have often nothing of gifts to give, not even the widow’s mite, but they give their heart away at every moment of their lives.”

“Your gift, made rich by the aid of love you bring with you, is infinite; it creates and enchants a world.”

“Those who love have no leisure to complain of God or of men, or to make themselves unhappy. They have only time to give thanks.”

 – The Rev. Stopford Brooke, “The Law of Giving,”
(a sermon on Luke 21:1-4, the widow’s offering at the temple)
The Spirit of the Christian Life, 1881.

Thank God for his gift that is too wonderful for words!
2 Corinthians 9:15

The Bible, Contemporary English Version

 

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SEEKING

Posted on February 13, 2018 by thoughtsmjdisler

“What we seek, seeks us.”
– Marsha Sinetar, Ordinary People as Monks and Mystics:
Lifestyles for Self-discovery,” 1986.

“And I love whoever loves me,
And who earnestly seeks me shall find.”
Proverbs 8:17
The Bible in Modern English, Fourth Edition, 1906
translated by Ferrar Fenton

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure,
then peaceable,
gentle,
and easy to be entreated,
full of mercy and good fruits,
without partiality,
and without hypocrisy.

James 3:17
The Bible, King James Version

Blind Bartimaeus Receives His Sight

They came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout,

“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more,
“Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”

So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.
The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”
“Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.”
Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

Mark 10:46-52
The Bible, New International Version

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CONTAGIOUS PEACE

Posted on February 6, 2018 by thoughtsmjdisler

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee.” [Isaiah 26:3a]
What is this Peace which is promised to us, if we indeed ‘stay our minds’ on God?

It is first, the result of a unity of our nature.

Make God the Center of your life, and see how naturally all other things will fall into a more symmetrical order. Nothing else can serve as a center for a peaceful life.

Peace is very contagious. … We can both give it and catch it. Nothing is more delightful than to be near a person from whom we can catch it. Don’t wait to meet such a person, but BE one. … Start to put your house in order, with God’s help.

We can get a little of it, at first, and then let it grow; it is the quality, not the quantity of the peace we have that counts. All spiritual gifts are like seeds, and have a great way of growing steadily toward perfection.

Give up part of your meditation time to physical and mental relaxation, letting the thought of God as your Father of Love sink into you like water into dry land. Later, the rivulet may become ‘a deep flowing river’ as Isaiah says. And then between times, try to trust your affairs to His guidance. ‘Be of good comfort–be of one mind… and the God of Love and Peace shall be with you.’

 – Edith Armstrong Talbot
excerpts from “The Gentle Art of Peace,”
Lessons in Meditation, 1912

Be perfect,
be of good comfort,
be of one mind,
live in peace;
and the God of love and peace shall be with you.
II Corinthians 13:11

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The REAL FACE

Posted on January 31, 2018 by thoughtsmjdisler

“Nothing is adequate for man which stops short of binding the human and the divine together into one single life-process. It is not a different life from this human life of ours that we seek; it is not an ‘other’ world somewhere beyond this one that we desire. We seek rather this wonderful human life opened out in all dimensions…”

“We are certainly potentially infinite and the very fact that we are always transcending ourselves and trying endlessly to find the rest of ourselves means, I think, that we are made for God, that we cannot help seeking Him because we have in some measure found Him already…”

“We want to feel a real heart beating somewhere through things; we want to discover through the maze a loving will working out a purpose; … We can not get on here with substitutes; we must have the reality itself. … It is God we want and not another, the Real Face and not a picture.”

– Rufus Jones, Religion as Reality, Life and Power, William Penn Lecture, 1919.

“Let me hear of Your mercy at dawn,
For on You is my trust.
Oh! teach me the road I should go,
For to You I have handed my life!
Free me, O Lord, from my foes,
With you let my shelter be found.
Teach me to accomplish Your will;
For Your spirit is pleasant, my God,–
It can lead to the land that is safe.”

Psalm 143: 8-10

translation of Ferrar Fenton
The Bible in Modern English
Fourth Edition, 1906.

 

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“i” – “I”: TWO SELVES

Posted on January 24, 2018 by thoughtsmjdisler

Spirituality is always in reference to two “I”s, two selves. The “i” of the person and the “I” of the Universe. It is religion in a personal mode, religion from the point of view of the “i” of yourself and from the point of view of the “I” of the Universe. … Spirituality is the presence of God … Most of the time that presence is very quiet, so quiet it can be drowned out by the slightest noise or lost to the slightest distraction. Indeed, God’s presence already permeates all creation. We name it when we are born with our first cry and whisper it as we die with our last breath. It wants only to be made tangible through our hands.

We are agents, instruments of God’s presence. We are not at odds with the Self of the Universe; we are part of it. And to be aware of this is to give our lives ultimate meaning and purpose. To realize that we are servants, through everything that we do, with or without our consent, is to be able to do anything; it is our empowerment and fulfillment. Spirituality is a dimension of living where we are aware of God’s presence. It is being concerned with how what we do affects God and how what God does affects us.”

 – Lawrence Kushner, God was in this Place & I, i did not know;
Finding Self, Spirituality and Ultimate Meaning. 1991.

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RECEIVING PRAYER

Posted on January 17, 2018 by thoughtsmjdisler

“Prayer is a conscious decision to realign ourselves with divine right order.”

“That which extends outward to bless others automatically extends inward as well.”

 – Marianne Williamson, Everyday Grace:
Having Hope, Finding Forgiveness, and Making Miracles, 2002.

Let thy work appear unto thy servants,
and thy glory unto their children.
And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us:
and establish thou the work of our hands upon us;
yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.

Psalm 90:16-17
King James Version

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BLESS the DAY

Posted on January 6, 2018 by thoughtsmjdisler

“Let us bless the day through which we are about to walk and lift it up into the light of His love. Let us invoke His blessing on everything that we intend to do during the coming day … And if we do not know what we should do that day let us offer it to Him, asking Him to use it accordingly to His will. Sometimes He has His own plan for the day, and for that reason we have been unable to make one.”

 – Agnes Sanford, The Healing Light, 1947.

This is the day which the Lord hath made;
we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24

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