Dear Disciple of Love,

“In the Center of all Love I stand……”

We are Light and draw our power and existence from light: sunlight, starlight, the light of mind. What about love?  Love in Christ: God is Love.  Love is attraction, unity, wholeness.  I stand at the center of all Love and draw to myself those who love and Those Who Are Love.

Not just ‘sending’ love but Being love in action.  Light is the outer expression of Love.  Love is the inner substance of Light.  Things dreamed of but not seen: things hoped for, desired, but not admitted.  Stand at the center of love and those Who are love will come and assist.

“Thou shalt love the Love thy God with all thy heart, with all thy mind and with all thy Soul….and thy neighbor as thyself.  On these two commandments hang all the laws and the prophets.”  Love is the power of the angels and the greatest in heaven and on earth.  Thou shalt love…..   In the center of all love I stand… naught can truly harm me.  Love comes before service for if you love, you serve purely and truly.

Love is the female – the under pinning of matter.  When we “run out of power” it is because we have run out of love.  This love is the ‘substance’ of Light.  Light ‘emits’ itself but the fuel it uses is love.  The skin of the universe is Love; the substance is Light.  This also makes light – matter.  Light is the power to emit strength, energy.  From whence do these come?

As a babe comes from the womb of its mother, light, strength, energy comes from Love.  It is not that we       ‘do or perform’ love… it is that we ‘are’ love in action.  Once in action we become effulgent light and expel it as power.  All things grow from the mother – Love.  The Mother is not just someone we pray to…it is us in prayer.  We are our prayer in action: remaking the universe – matter; reshaping it and giving it form.

If light is a ‘creation’ then Lucifer is the ‘fallen angel of Light’.  Is light the ‘matter’ of Love?  Is Love the “matter” of Being?  Is Being the “matter”  of Consciousness?  Then what is consciousness?  We could answer “God” – a three letter word that explains nothing – or “No Thing”: The Void from which emerges all creation.

It is not important who we love, what we love, where we love or how we love.  What is important is “That we love and That we ARE Love.”  Life gives us many opportunities to express this essence of our Being.  It is said that we cannot hate something that we have never loved.  However, sometimes it is difficult ascertaining what it is that we love.  Do we love our personality self more than …….?  This can be a person, place, situation or some area in our life.  Do we love blindly or do we see that which we love through the eyes of truth?  Are we briefly physically attracted by something or someone? (puppy love, temptation, whims, sale items, etc.)  Or do we jump in with both feet and with eyes wide open into a situation or arrangement?

All of the above only goes to prove that we are human: eyes open, eyes closed, aware, sleep walking, ignoring everything.  All phases of love in our daily lives which we pass through.  “And then there is Love which makes the universes sing: the song of the stars in their courses and the bird on the wing……”

This is the Love which creates the beauty, the balance, and the salvation of tomorrow.  It is the Love of the Master of Love, the giving and granting of power and privilege so that another can be transformed through the action of love.  There is the great love of the Angel of Death as she guides those of the light and those of the darkness each to their destination.  There is the love of a human mother for her child: the tenderness and love (hopefully) which created the child at the beginning.  There is the love and the trust of the young child for his or her parents, and the love of optimism in the young which opens doors to them for their futures.

Love runs with the young, love embraces the experienced and walks slowly with the elderly as memories, stories, tears and laughter.  All these and thousands more expressions are the qualities of Love.  Without it we are nothing: within it we are all that there is.

And yet it is an essence of our being of which we understand little.  A world ‘without love’ is an area in which a conscious entity has excluded his/her best qualities.  We each live in our own worlds…. All attached to the many worlds around us… and yet all so separate.  The world of a coal miner; the world of a college professor; the world of an astronaut; the world of a secretary; the world of a CEO.  All so different, and yet all so human.

In what world do you live?  How do you arrange your thoughts for today, for tomorrow?  What is important to you?  What do you avoid?  What do you Love?  Who do you Love?  Why do you Love him/her/it/them….? Do you know you ARE love in action?   You are beloved and loved……remember….. you are LOVE.

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 Dear Disciple Standing at the Gateway to a New Year,

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied:  “Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”        

                                                                                            Minnie Louise Haskins          

That which we think of as “Light” -- the next step of our evolution -- is but it too is a veil to the worlds yet beyond it.  We cannot see into the light of pure Truth, pure Life, or pure Essence for we yet stand on this world of heavy matter.  The light we see seems so ethereal that we believe that it is the end all of the journey.  It is not….. it is but another veil which hides yet the next step in our path, our journey ‘homeward’.  To our understanding, all things are created from and in the light.  This is true… however light is but a thinner gossamer of matter and substance.  The closer we travel toward Deity, our divine heritage, the finer the matter until the next level of ‘substance’ is perceived.

What is this ‘next level’?  That is yet to be discovered… not only by our Souls but eventually by our science.  It is spoken of as existing in the spiritual gleanings of the Ancient Wisdom, and yet, there are no words to describe that which has no form within our world or our abstract mind.  There is a ‘knowing’ to be acknowledged – but that which is believed to be known by some is merely an illusion. How can we even formulate that which has no existence within our environment or mentality?

For now, we seek the Light of Life.  This is as ancient a Mystery as humankind can conceive.  The Magi of the East, when seeking the Christ Child sought the Light and followed the Star.  We awaken to the morn and welcome the daylight for activity.  Our awareness includes the sun within our galaxy and its light and life giving properties.  The dawn of a new day, a new year, a new cycle is always greeted as a new beginning.  It is light in action and taking form.  Perhaps we, with our experiences, our fears, our hopes and our dreams are, in part, the ones who give birth to this new beginning.  Perhaps it is not the ‘outer light’ of Life we seek – but our inner light flowing outward into the world and giving birth, creation, to the new cycle.

Ebb and flow control our worlds: ocean tides, moon tides, sun and seasonal cycles.  We too are born and die, we come and go until we need not come again to this level of perception.  And we come here not from fear or hatred but to learn, to share, to help one another – and in so doing we help lift all humankind.  For as we are a part of humankind, we draw forth from within ourselves the essence of change, of evolvement, of creation and it is again ‘to ourselves’ that we apply the reaction, the remedy, the healing balm of our life and dreams and hopes.

These processes are not difficult to understand.  “As we do unto others, we do unto our self”: words so well know to us – and yet the full impact of their meaning is so often lost in the mediocrity of life.  Words are losing their ‘voice’ in our modern times.  We create short-cuts, meaningless chatter,  self-made grammar, and non-communicative messages throughout our days so many times, that the Spirit of Truth and the Voice of Reason can hardly make any inroads into our speech patterns.  Millions of words on the Internet and in cyberspace… but to what end?  Are we really communicating anything truly important?  Life changing?  Spiritually or mentally uplifting to others?  Even a really good idea once in a while that can be acted upon?  One fleeting moment of one thought or a ‘juicy tidbit of gossip’ and the next moment it is completely gone and forgotten – replaced by another tidbit of gossip.  What has been accomplished?  What has been created or improved upon?

Is not Life more than passing comments, fashion critiques, or repeated rude remarks by others?  Where is the ‘big picture’?  Where is the quality, the dignity, the beauty in communication, in livingness, and in everyday mannerisms?  What is the appeal of rudeness, uncaring actions, and the lack of dignity toward self and others? The Ancients had two axioms: Be True To Thyself…  and…  Do No Harm.  The Internet seems to be erasing both of these paradigms from the masses.  (Perhaps I’m showing my age here, but these are qualities of consciousness active in these modern times which are counterproductive to fellow human beings and to the planet in general.)  How can these be transformed?:  Realigned toward balance and symmetry?

In myths and legends of times past, a man’s word was his ‘bond’.  He was bound by his affirmation and pledge.  The knights of old gave their lives in fulfillment of their pledge.  The Grail Legends speak of this as do the tales of King Arthur’s Court.  In today’s readings Harry Potter is pledged to removing evil, even that part of the evil (he whose name cannot be spoken) from within himself – choosing his own death to do so.  Our young service men and women take the pledge, “I pledge allegiance to the flag…..”.  Cannot we, of our humble humanity, not called to ‘duty’ make a pledge/vow/promise to our self - to be true in the things we say and do?  Can we not pledge ourselves to doing the best we can toward the betterment of consciousness and life in our hearts, homes, country, and planet?  How do we do this?  Perhaps by following the Light and placing our “hand within the Hand of God” … for this is better than a known way……..

The Choice and the Blessings are yours…. May they come full circle to you…..

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Dear Gamer in the Cosmos,

  Children on the playground of Life,  what is your game?  We all play constantly.  Some of our games are thought provoking, kind, gentle, helpful to others and loving.  Other games are violent, pain producing, angry, and deadly to the physical, emotional and spiritual forms of others as well as to ourselves.

Seen from one perspective, everything we do in life is a game.  We observe the ‘playing field’, we plot out the rules of the game, we choose the course,  we step into character and begin the action  .We play our part with stern resolve…. for at this point we often forget that we are playing a game which we have chosen and believe that the ‘game’ (Life) is playing us.  ‘Tis true that once we have laid the groundwork for the game, ‘something else’ sometimes seems to step in and take a hand.  Some might call this ‘something’ a referee or an umpire …. Others might call it Karma or Fate.  In any event, we don’t always finish the game by our own rules, our own merit, or our original choice.

It is said that, “If you want to see God smile, tell Him what your plans are”….  Personally, I believe that He/She just laughs our loud … I’ve heard it!  

The games we humans play are amazing.  We can see the movie stars in their various fiascos in the headlines; need I say anything about politics?; countries and governments of the world literally ‘dance’ in routines to their own bands; and as the band plays on, us ‘little people’ observe the sway to the right, the sidestep to the left, the leap forward and the drop-back freeze position.  All while the music of illusion and misdirection plays on.

We structure our own games: something as simple as a kindergarten graduation or induction ceremony into an organization.  There are rules which we formulate, write down, practice, believe to be ‘the ONLY way to do something’ and then act upon it. Yes, we convince ourselves that this is correct, binding, and perfect for the occasion.  Robert’s Rules of Order for Meetings are empirical, however, even good old Robert has a section in his Rules that states that one may choose not to follow them if one announces this and discloses this at the public gathering. 

We write our own rules, we march to the beat of the drum which we create and then beat.  Is this good?  Bad?  Important?  Unimportant?  These are some of our choices… but the most important thing to remember is that we are usually playing in a self-constructed game.  We decided the main rules and abide by the unnamed minor rules which seem fair or beneficial to us. 

In most instances, we have formulated the ground rules for the game based upon our likes and dislikes: what gives us pleasure or does not make us uncomfortable.  Pain, when felt, has a tendency toward avoidance of some of the constructed ground rules.

We attend a Ritual: be it a Mass in a church, a graduation ceremony, a tea ceremony, our morning shower and dress ritual, meeting a client for the first time ritual, first date ritual, the Emmy or Oscar Awards, or military funeral.  All have their ‘ground rules’ – what is expected, what actions are to be taken, proper etiquette in each situation: action and response.  You stand there, I stand over here, he walks this way, she presents that, she responds thusly, they assist in that movement, etc.  Such planning and execution in our daily life,  and we are – most of the time, completely unaware that we are walking the walk, talking the talk, and acting our part in each ritual.

Stop and observe – smell the roses --some say.  How many ‘games’ are we involved in?  Games are games, not assessing them good or ‘bad’… just observable.  Social interaction is so much a part of our lives that we forget we are the game pieces.  We forget that we can make and dissolve, create and un-create, the ground rules.  We don’t have to play all the time. Sometimes we need a ‘time out’ from the play.  A time to step back, step out of the playing field, and just enjoy the game as it progresses with other lead players and actors. These games are how we ‘learn’ the lessons from our Loving Teacher – Life.  Don’t hit little Timmy; be nice to the new girl, Sally; be kind to the dog; learn to pet the cat gently, walk softly on the Earth, and do no harm……..   Even these basics are often overlooked in the wild scramble of daily living. 

Yes, we love to win!  It often hurts to lose… but it really is…. HOW we play the game.  On a planet of 7 billion individuals, some of the game rules have changed over the millenniums, but the basics still hold true.  “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you…”  

It’s cold outside.  The fire is warm, the chair is comfortable, and the tea is hot.  ‘Tis the time to re-evaluate the game currently in progress in this life being lived by each of us.  Do we like the ‘ground rules’?  Are we playing ‘fairly’ with others and our self?  Are we really playing the game we think we are playing?  Or are we trying to keep up with someone else’s game?  ‘Tis a time for choice.  A new year lies before us.  Let us not waste it.  Let us enjoy the beauty of a new cycle of Light, of Play, of Love and of Peace.

May the Blessings of Christ surround you, imbue you this Season,

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Dear One Standing in the Shadow of Christ,

We always tend to think of the Light of Christ… the Blazing Glory of the Holy One.  What about His Shadow?  Is it a ‘shield’ on the material plane?  Or is it something deeper?

What we know of the physical universe is that there is always an opposite of all things: Real and unreal; light and darkness; male and female; left and right’ up and down’ love and hate; good and evil; dead and alive (at least to our left and right hemispheric brain.)  These two aspects in all of creation constitute what we can understand of life.

The mind of humankind takes these “two” and creates third in the balance which is enabled to perform an action.  One hand cannot clap – the other hand cannot clap – but together they can applaud.  One side of our brain is creative and the other side is analytical – either side is ‘too much of a good thing’ – but together our race, as a species, can create and plan for the present and the future.

If “God” is the Light – then “God” seems to also be the Shadow.  A Balance has to be established to transcend both aspects and mutate into the Trinity – the Third.  All three can then work together.  This begs the question which ‘comes in the night’: Is “Evil” always evil?  And is “Good” always good”?   Each of us has been divinely gifted with the ability to choose what seems to be the best (within the scope of our limited experience.)  Each of us chooses what seems to be the best possibility of choice at any given point of time.  Time flows on into eternity and the opportunity is gone.  The crossing/merging of energies which create a point of choice or contention in our fragile daily life maximizes and ebbs at a specific crux and then dissipates.  The exact same situation will never come again.  Or as in the business world: one can never make a first impression at a second time.

Is the “Shadow of Christ” a reflection His glory… or something else?  Can we linger there and heal from the blinding Light of Truth?  Are “we” the Shadow of Christ?  Against what portion of our Self does His Light create a shadow? 

The universe which God created is filled with brilliant stars, planets, ice moons, asteroids, comets, empty space, and black holes which draw the essence of mega-stars and ancient suns into themselves, dissolving them into nothingness – which we can detect.  Perhaps there are ‘white holes’ on another side of our dimension into which they flow???

Science is now saying that there is a neutrino which can travel faster than the speed of light – it gets to a destination before it leaves its starting point.  Our scientists are beginning to venture into the realms of Cosmic Consciousness and the “Spiritual” implications of modern “Science” are tantalizing in their observations.  Awareness is coming to this round of humankind as it has to the predecessors of previous rounds of creation.

We are obviously not the first of our kind on a warm, green planet.  We can dwell on the thought the, perhaps the ‘big bang’ our current scientific community is so adamant about, is but one ‘big bang’ in a series of big bangs…. (a pulse?) Suppose the ‘big bang’ is but a type of cosmic ocean wave starting from one point in this dimensional universe and exploding onto the other side of this universal dimension?  Then comes the ebb tide or backflow and perhaps we pick-up another wave.  All this could be but a normal occurrence – as one inhales, rests, exhales, and rests again.  Our days are but cycles within greater cycles.  Our “God” is the very Life Force of Creation: breathing, living and building worlds within worlds.  The creations themselves become creators within this scheme and rhythm.  These creations are “fruitful and multiply” throughout this galaxy and universe.  We are all descendents of “The One”.

Are we along in this universe?  Do we have a soul? Does the soul have weight? Is there life beyond the loss of this physical form?  Are we the meeting point between the cosmos and the world of the atom?  As above – so below is the axiom.  Questions… always questions from the human mind.  Who or What is really asking the questions?  A Cosmic Father/Mother Mind, Who has eons before, forgotten more than we can cognize?  Are we the dream?  Or are we the Reality?  Both or Neither?  Good thought to meditate on in the coming months of winter – before a warming fire….

And as we look into the bright flames of the fire, we remember that we are both enlightened by the light from the fire and yet, we create the backdrop for the shadow of the dancing flames of the fire.  Again we contemplate our stance before the Light and in the Shadow of Christ.  But unlike earth shadows, we can emit and project this Light into the worlds around us.  We can stand in the center of Light and Love and Power and ground these qualities on Earth and into the hearts of Humanity.  We can take our place as ‘creators’ to bring about and manifest love, beauty, truth, and goodness for all the worlds.

In the healing of humankind, we create healing for our planet, our galaxy and allow this to reverberate into the universe of which we are apart.  “In the Center of all Live, I stand… and outward move” in creation.