January 7, 2007

Martin Luther King, Jr., in being asked to publish some of his sermons, wrote in the preface to his book, “. . . a sermon is directed toward the listening ear rather than the reading eye. . . I offer these discourses in the hope that a message may come to life for readers of the printed words.” This is my hope for you, dear reader.——Rev. Linda

January 7, 2007

EXPERIENCE HEAVEN IN 2007:

Gold Streets, Harps and Other Myths

So picture this. Complete meltdown. Oh, I’m not talking about ice. I’m not talking about butter. I’m not talking about a nuclear facility. I’m talking about . . . me.

Me with a new computer in my office, the Center’s office; our other computer, which is still pretty new, in the other room which we’re in the process of setting up as our home office—chaos; things not going well, after just having the technician there that morning getting both computers hooked up to the internet. Then after he left, thinking all was well, being on hold with the internet provider for 20 or more minutes just waiting to talk to a person, then finding out I called the wrong place; then, when I finally get to talk to someone, not having a clue as to what she’s saying. Calling someone else for answers; going around in loops on the phone.

And all the while, wondering how in the world I’m going to get everything done when I can’t get anything to work. E-MIND-ers need to go out. Class work needs to get done. Clients need to be supported. Reports need to be written and sent, this Sunday service prepared for.

Oh, yes, and then there are the other things I’m dealing with . . . family issues, housework I can’t get done, exercises I’m supposed to be doing, and. . . HERE I AM WITH THIS #^@$%@ COMPUTER THAT WON’T WORK RIGHT!!!

And then something in me just let go. My frustration level went totally out of control—shot through the roof. If I were a thrower, that notebook computer would have been toast. But instead I slammed a door, and threw tear-soaked tissues across the floor as I hung my head in my lap. . . sobbing—uncontrollably.

That was Friday. I went to my dance lesson that night with swollen, red eyes and a head that couldn’t get my feet to do anything right. This was truly an experience of hell. And get this, all week I’d been setting my intention to experience heaven. What happened?

Well, I did have a heavenly experience the night before at the dance lesson on Thursday. It was sheer joy that night. But in less than 24 hours, I went from heaven to hell.

Well, it’s 2007. It rhymes with “heaven,” so it seemed like a good idea to use it as our theme. And since we’re doing these demonstration planners, it just fits to include experiencing heaven as part of our demonstrations, doesn’t it?

But what does that really mean—to experience heaven?

In the New Thought Dictionary our founder Dr. Ernest Holmes says heaven is “Harmony – Wholeness – Health – Physical Well-being – Happiness --- Mental peace, poise, and well-being.” (p. 58.8)

And in Questions and Answers on the Science of Mind he says, “ . . . the kingdom of heaven is that place within ourselves where there is universal and individual peace at all times, peace that holds no doubt of our abiding good and wise, divine protection. To enter, we must simply recognize that this ‘kingdom’ exists, and exactly where Jesus taught us to seek it -- within ourselves.” ( p. 11.2)

Sure doesn’t sound like what I was experiencing.

He goes on to say, “Heaven is lost merely for the lack of a perception of harmony. Hell is the phantom abode of our morbid imaginations. Heaven and Hell are states of consciousness.” (Questions and Answers on the Science of Mind, p. 124.2)

Where was my consciousness, my perception? I was completely focused on that “phantom abode of [my] morbid imagination.” “I’ll never get it all done. I can’t figure it out. I can’t do it. There’s not enough time. There’s not enough know-how. There’s not enough support. There’s not enough. I can’t.” ‘Round and ‘round my brain was going with its victim-hood scenario. And no way out, like a vicious cycle, it all seemed totally hopeless.

Yet, when I got home from our dance lesson at 8 o’clock Friday night, Bill went to bed and I stayed up to see if I could get something done. By then, of course, I’d calmed down. And for 3 hours I worked successfully getting all kinds of things done. Where did all the problems go? I don’t think any little elf came in and fixed everything while we were gone.

In Words That Heal Today Ernest Holmes says, “The Kingdom of God on earth is just as real as the Kingdom of God in heaven, because heaven is here when we see it. This Kingdom of Heaven includes our physical bodies, our physical environments, and everything we are doing that is good, right and just.” (p. 153.2)

It wasn’t so much that I opened my eyes to see it as it was that I stopped closing my eyes, closing my mind, and then I could see it. I stopped refusing to see it. But, you see, I couldn’t bring myself to stop while I was in the middle of it, while I was so completely focused on the problem. I could only open my mind to see heaven, to move beyond the morbidity of the experience, by stepping away from it, by turning away from it, going to my dance lesson.

This was a very valuable lesson for me. And I’m sharing it with you in hopes that maybe you’ll be able to benefit from my experience without your having to go through what I did. Or that if you do find yourself going through something like this, that you’ll be able to move from the hellish experience to the heavenly one much faster than I did.

One thing I learned was where my short fuse is. You know how some people have a short fuse when it comes to anger—they get angry easily and they’re advised to take a walk or count to ten or take deep breaths? My short fuse is with frustration. When something frustrates me, my fuse is only about this long.

I’ve been told I’m a very patient person. People have told me they’re amazed at my patience. And in many areas of my life it’s true. Most things don’t frustrate me. But when I do get frustrated, watch out. It was a great lesson for me because now I know that whenever I start feeling frustration, I need to walk away. I need to go somewhere, get away from it, do something else, completely forget about it for a while. Completely turn away from it, turn away from the fear of it—the false evidence appearing real—and thereby render it powerless.

I went dancing. And when I returned, the “devil” was gone.

So what was operating in this situation? What principle could we look at to understand this situation, to make sense of it?

Let’s go back to the basics. January has traditionally been a time to go back to the basics in our Religious Science churches, now our Centers for Spiritual Living. So this morning I want to talk a little bit about “The Thing Itself,” as Ernest Holmes called It. Of course he’s referring to . . . what? The Presence, Consciousness, the Ground of All Being, Creative Intelligence, the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, the Universe.

Our first Core Concept says “There is One Cosmic Reality Principle and Presence in the Universe—God. All creation originates in this One Source. God is. God is all there is. . . Each human being is a creation of God, made of the God-substance, a unique, individualized incarnation of Spirit. This incarnated Spirit is my Essence and the Essence of every human being.”

And the second one goes on to say that “God is triune, or threefold, in nature, having three aspects or modes of Being within the One: Spirit, Soul, and Body. This is God as macrocosm. . . Each human being is a projection of God in microcosm, thus is endowed with the triune nature of God, and expresses that nature in all three aspects or modes of his/her bing–spirit, soul, and body.”

And if you look on the back of your program, you’ll see the We Believe statement written by Ernest Holmes for Science of Mind magazine many years ago. The first one says, “We believe in God, the Living Spirit Almighty; one, indestructible, absolute, and self-existent Cause. This One manifests itself in and through all creation but is not absorbed by its creation. The manifest universe is the body of God; it is the logical and necessary outcome of the infinite self-knowingness of God.”

“We believe in the incarnation of the Spirit in everyone and that all people are incarnations of the One Spirit.”

Isn’t that beautiful? I love this We Believe statement. But does this sound a thing, anything at all like the situation I’ve been describing here this morning of my experience? You see, there’s just this tiny little catch.

Ernest says, “In principle and in potential we are immersed in good for we are in the Mind of God. But. . . “ Don’t you just love that little word but? “But. . ., “ he says, “. . . we have freedom, or volition, to create in our own experience, out of the possibilities of life with which we have been endowed, the prerogative of heaven or hell. So we need to shake ourselves loose from the tyranny of fear and superstition and isolation and the emotional traditions.” (The Spiritual Universe and You, p. 21.4)

I had a choice of heaven or hell. And I chose hell. I didn’t really mean to choose it. I didn’t really want to choose it. But I chose it. And I have to fess up to it. I have to take responsibility for it.

You see, he says, “Life gives us the tools, but we have to use them. It is from the mountaintop of spiritual communion that we receive the inspiration, and we must keep the channel free and clear; we must provide a way for the ideas of Spirit to flow into our minds and out into what we are doing; and we must give our consent to them. One part of the mind is already in heaven, for there is a place in you and in me that is above confusion and fear, no matter how disturbed our thoughts may be. If we get quiet long enough and listen deeply enough, we shall hear.” (The Power of an Idea, p. 33.4)

Do you see that I had to get up on the mountaintop—I had to turn away from the problem, which the dance lesson was able to do for me because when I’m dancing, I’m in joy, I’m in a totally different mental place. I’m in heaven. I’m in spiritual communion with Creativity, with Beauty, with Harmony, with Life, with Joy. And in so doing, I allowed my mind to be cleared of the confusion, the chaos, and the frustration. By aligning with those God-qualities, I gave them permission, my consent, for them to flow through me, not only while I was dancing, but when I returned home as well.

Heaven is not a literal place with gold streets and people sitting around playing harps. Nor is hell a literal fiery pit of eternal damnation. They are states of consciousness. And we experience them both, sometimes within a 24-hour period. But you know what? I’m not so sure the hell part of my experience was all bad. I learned some things about myself, and that was very good. And there was something else that happened, too.

Usually when I get into those hell places, I really want to leave the planet. Oh, I’ve not been seriously suicidal, but there’s been a part of me that really just wants to give up. But this time, that place in me, that thing in me, was gone. It was a miracle for me, a true breakthrough in consciousness. And for the first time in a very long time, I felt, in a way I don’t even know how to put into words, that, regardless of all my perceived short-comings, that I’m not only where I’m supposed to be, but that I really want to be there, where I am, challenges and all. And that is a fabulous feeling.

And here’s the other truly encouraging note: even though I totally succumbed in the moment to being in that terrible, negative place, simply by turning away from it and turning to something where I could experience joy, I was able to go from hell to heaven with total ease and grace, seemingly effortlessly on my part. And yet what I know is that it was the result of the work I’ve done in the past. That spiritual work supported me when I really needed it. What a great realization!

And so I am convinced by my own experience that heaven is right here. That it is a state of consciousness. That I don’t have go anywhere to be in heaven. It’s right where I am. It’s right where you are. We’re walking on the gold streets right now. And if we listen in the stillness, we can hear the harps playing their harmonious melodies in our lives right now.