An Experience

A few months ago, I was on a plane heading to back home to Michigan to visit my family. It was a time of great personal turmoil for me. I was making difficult life choices, and wasn't sure if they were the right ones. A few months earlier, I had begun putting greater emphasis on spiritual development, and had started a daily regimen of prayer and meditation. While these practices helped to calm and focus me during these tumultuous times, I was still feeling lonely, frustrated, and unsure of myself. I sat fidgeting in my seat, by turns staring out the window and thumbing through a Bible. About halfway through the flight, the flight attendant approached me with a book in her hand.

"I don't know why," she said, "but I feel like I need to show you this." She opened the book to a particular page and handed it to me, then quickly hurried away down the aisle.

I looked at the book. It was a daily devotional. Each page featured a different section of scripture, with some comments beneath it. This particular passage was from the Book of Revelation - the Letter to the Church of Philadelphia. I read:

These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

When I read the words, I was amazed and almost moved to tears. The passage couldn't have been more appropriate if an angel had stood next to me and spoken the words. The "open door," I knew, was a reference to the prayer and meditation practices I had recently begun. As for the last sentence, it gave me profound encouragement. "I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name." Although I was mentally, physically and spiritually exhausted, I had tried to be true to the ideal of Christ. His example, in fact, was the light that guided me through those dark days. And here was the acknowledgement that my efforts were not in vain; they were witnessed by God, and here was His word to comfort me in my time of distress.

When the stewardess came by again, I handed her the book back and thanked her. She was too busy to talk, although I wished later that I could have told her the significance of her simple act.

These are the sorts of occurances that await those who follow Christ's ideals and seek to grow spiritually through prayer, meditation, and service. A door will be opened for you which no one can shut. For me, it was profound event - one which I will never forget.

Whiz-dumb

Be humble. Even the greatest fool in the world knows something you don't.

Mercy

Do you doubt the mercy of the Infinite?

Consider that each moment of your existence is a mercy. It is an opportunity to learn, to grow, to enjoy, and to atone for past mistakes. Time and space are manifestations of God's mercy; they are the canvases on which we can express ourselves. All around us are forces that could destroy our fragile bodies: the Earth is balanced a perfect distance between the all-incinerating heat of the sun and the frigid void of outer space; comets and asteroids whiz past us, leaving us unscathed; even at the center of the Earth magma boils so hot it could turn flesh to vapor. All these are held at bay by the mercy of the Creator.

What will you do with this day that, in mercy, has been given to you?

Money

Are you tired of not having enough money? I'm sure you are. Everyone is! But beware self-help books that teach you to misuse the power of God to become rich. (For all power is the power of God, used either for good or for ill.) Misuse of the power of God within us for selfish ends is the heart of black magic.

Say rather, "God, let thy will be done in my life." Indeed, if you are poor, you may be poor by God's will. Perhaps you have something to learn from your poverty. If so, becoming rich prematurely will only set you back in soul-growth. The choice is always before us: would you rather be rich in materiality, or rich in spirit? One sort of wealth is sure to decay, to devalue with inflation, or to be stolen from its owner; the other cannot be taken from you, and will endure for eternity. Therefore let any prosperity you receive be a result of following God's path, not your own. Remember, as long as you faithfully follow the Spirit of Light, you will never be without the things you need. I can attest to that from personal experience. As for the things you want? Learn to want what God wants for you. That alone is wealth.

"No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." - Luke 16:12-14

"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." - Mark 10:24-26

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Matthew 6:25-33

Golden Rule

"Replace the rule of gold with the golden rule."
-unknown

http://www.sfheart.com/golden_rule.html

Opening

Open your mind

Open your heart

Open your hands

There are six billion people in the world, and that means six billion unique paths and six billion unique relationships with the infinite. Be open to the wisdom others possess. Open your mind.

Be aware of the needs and hurts and wants of others, for they are the needs and hurts and wants of your Creator. Open your heart.

Everything you hold on to, you will lose. Everything you give away, you will keep. Before we can be redeemed, every fist must be unclenched. Open your hands.

A Beginning

For the past 10 months, I've been practicing daily meditation, seeking whatever esoteric answers can be found by a starving writer living through the tumult of his youth in a modern, urban city. Perhaps surprisingly, quite a few wonderful revelations have come to me. While personal spiritual growth is fantastic, I've also felt compelled to share some of the thoughts that have come to me with others - thus, this blog was born. My hope is to imbue it with as much wisdom, humor, and truth as I can muster. In all likelihood, no one but my mom will ever read it. (Thanks, Mom.) But perhaps a few other people will find it, too. Perhaps something I say in it will strike a chord with one of them. And that is a kind of magic, isn't it? to impact even one person in this world? Cheers to that.

I hope you'll keep reading.