May
7, 2006
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THE MERRY MONTH OF MAY:
JOYOUS REUNION
Wow! It
is so wonderful to see all of you here today. Isn’t it
great to know you’re not alone? And I want you to know
we are growing. I don’t just mean The Maine Beacon, but
this New Thought Movement is moving! It’s evolving. It’s
drawing in more and more people, because it’s what the
world needs. It’s what we need.
So what
an incredible way to begin this series on joy, The Merry Month
of May. And what a beautiful month it’s been this week!
Anyone here
feel like they could experience a little more joy in their
life? Or a lot more joy? Well, we’ll be focusing on joy
all this month. Joy isn’t just a feel-good thing. It’s
very important. Religion has been too heavy, don’t you
think? We need to lighten up. Laugh! So I hope you’ll
plan to be with us as we explore the possibilities of joy this
month.
In fact, let’s just take a moment right now to think of a time in your
life when you felt the greatest joy. If you would, just bring to mind a time
or two when you experienced belly-laughing joy. Now you can laugh by yourself,
of course. But I would be willing to bet that the most happy, deep, hearty
laughing times were with at least one other person, probably more than one.
Is there anyone here who doesn’t like to laugh? I remember when I was
about 10 years old and had just had my appendix removed, someone had sent me
a get-well card that struck me so funny and made me laugh so hard that I had
to not look at it because it hurt to laugh. But still I loved that card. We
love to laugh. We love to be happy. We love to be in the experience of joy.
Because joy is our natural state.
So today I want to talk about joy, and I want to consider it in a particular
context. And that is the joy of spiritual community. Joyous Reunion. Because
spiritual community is very important and it brings us a great deal of joy..
There was a man named Joe whose car broke down just as he was driving past
a beautiful, old monastery. Well, it was late, and he was kind of out in the
middle of nowhere, so he walked up the drive of the monastery and knocked on
the front door.
A monk answered, and after listening to Joe's story, graciously invited him
to spend the night. The monks fed him and showed him a tiny chamber where he
could sleep. Joe thanked the monks, crawled into bed, and slept serenely. .
. until he was awakened by a strange, beautiful sound.
The next
morning, as the monks repaired his car, Joe asked about the
sound that woke him.
The monks said, "We're sorry. We can't tell you about the sound. You're
not a monk."
Joe was disappointed, but eager to be gone, so he thanked the monks for their
kindness and went on his way. But during quiet moments afterward, Joe kept
pondering the source of the alluring sound.
Several years
later, Joe happened to be driving in the same area, and on
a whim he decided to stop at the monastery and asked admittance.
He explained to the monks that he had so enjoyed his previous
stay, he wondered if he might be permitted to spend another
night under their peaceful roof. The monks agreed and Joe stayed.
And late
that night, he heard the sound again. The next morning, he
begged the monks to explain the sound.
But the monks said, "We're sorry. We can't tell you about the sound. You're
not a monk."
By now, Joe's
curiosity had turned to obsession. He decided to give up everything
and become a monk if that was the only way to learn about the
sound. So he informed the monks of his decision and began the
long and arduous task of becoming a monk himself.
Seventeen
years later, Joe was finally established as a true member of
the order. And when the celebration ended, he humbly went to
the leader of the order and asked to be told the source of
the sound.
Silently,
the old monk led the new monk to a huge wooden door. He opened
the door with a golden key. That door swung open to reveal
a second door of silver, then a third of gold, and so on until
they had passed through twelve doors, each more magnificent
than the last.
The new monk's eyes filled with tears of joy as he finally beheld the wondrous
source of the mysterious sound he had heard so many years before.
But, sorry.
I can't tell you what it was. You're not a monk.
You see,
that’s how it is when you’re not part of a spiritual
community. Spiritual community is very important.
Well, it
is important. Notice as you were laughing, the difference between
laughing with a group of people all laughing at once, and how
it might have been for you if you had, say, read this story
in a magazine by yourself? There’s a group energy that
happens that is more than the sum of all the individuals’ energy.
Because it’s exponential, not accumulative. 2+2=more
than 4. It’s synergism.
But obviously,
we’re not here in spiritual community just to laugh,
although I have to tell you, that’s not a small thing—laughing.
Laughter heals. And joy, bliss, is the highest experience we
can have of God, of our Source Energy. So let’s not take
it too . . . lightly. . .
I love the
way Pam Grout puts it in her book, God Doesn’t Have Bad
Hair Days. She says,
“Even though Cosmo K [a name she calls God after Cosmo Kramer] is always
with us, always guiding us, sometimes it helps to have someone with a body to
remind us. And heaven knows, we could use the company.
Because,
quite frankly, you’re going to hit a wall. You’ll
begin to have second thoughts. Start to fall back into your
old patterns. Even though you’ve made the decision to
seize your spiritual destiny. Even though you’ve seen
glimpses of the available majesty, you’ll start to lag
in determination, to struggle to stay on task.” Anyone
relate to that?
She goes
on to say,“That’s why it’s vital to find
some partners in crime, some fellow spiritual warriors who
are willing to listen, to cheer, and to remind you just why
you’re doing this. . . it’s important to enlist
others who will help you keep three things in mind:
1. You are awesome. . . a tremendously powerful spiritual being.
2. The Great God of your being has big plans for you. [That’s you—your
own Higher Self.] All it takes is a little dedication. And a lot of resolve.
Make mind training a daily part of your life and your life will take care of
itself. Guaranteed.
3. We’re all in this together. If we take care of one another, and go
the extra mile to keep each other motivated and on track, we all gain. If we
reach out with compassion whenever someone is struggling, we’re all lifted
up. Sure, we could walk alone to the finish line. But the real joy comes from
tackling the journey together, from raising our voices in one mighty, unified
yeehaw.” (pp. 213-214)
She couldn’t
help it. She’s from Kansas.
So how many
of your coworkers will tell you you’re awesome, you’re
magnificent, you can do anything, you are a divine being, you
are pure energy, you are not bound by the laws of this earth,
you are perfect just as you are, you are a powerful spiritual
being? Or even your friends or family members?
Even the
great Jewish teacher Jesus of Nazareth didn’t go it alone.
He had his disciples, a spiritual community.
The 20th Century was amazing for all the technological advances we made. But
it also left us isolated, feeling very separate and alone. The irony is that
television and computers, the great communication systems which gave us the
Information Age, actually stifled real communication between individual people.
But I believe
this 21st Century is the Intuition Age. And we must find a
way to open our hearts to listen to the soul messages they’re
telling us, and we must listen to each other. We must go beyond
the Lone Ranger mentality of the 20th Century. It’s a
paradox to be sure, that spirituality is an inside job, yet
we need other people to do it. Why? Because we are one.
Conversations with God, Book 1 says, “. . . relationship is the greatest
gift God ever gave to you. . .” (p. 24) And later on it says, “It
is only through your relationship with other people, places, and events that
you can even exist (as a knowable quantity, as an identifiable something) in
the universe.”
How can this
be true? It says, “Relationships are constantly challenging;
constantly calling you to create, express, and experience higher
and higher aspects of yourself, grander and grander visions
of yourself, ever more magnificent versions of yourself. Nowhere
can you do this more immediately, impactfully, and immaculately
than in relationships. In fact, without relationships, you
cannot do it at all.” (p. 121)
Our founder
Dr. Ernest Holmes said, “People are dying for real human
interaction, for genuine friendship, for someone to tell them
they are all right.” (Science of Mind, p. 233) He also
said, “If we seek the Divine in [people], we shall find
it, and be entertaining angels unawares.” (Science of
Mind, p. 491:4)
So let me
tell you right now, you are all right—ALL RIGHT. Right
now, just as you are.
And spiritual
community is not only important for us personally, but it’s
imperative for the world. We need spiritual community. We need
it for ourselves and we need to make sure it’s available
for the world.
Mary Trammell in an editorial article in a past November issue of the Christian
Science Sentinel said:
Today, as the world faces terrorism, warfare, and disease, people are groping
for spiritual stability. They are demanding to know if and how an understanding
of God can keep humanity from self-destructing. They are searching for the
spiritual commonality that will unite, rather than further polarize, the world’s
religions. And they are turning, as they haven’t for the past half-century,
to the institution of Church as a focus for their urgent quest.
This is clearly
a moment of unique demand on churches and mosques and temples
worldwide to reflect the highest, holiest, and most all-inclusive
ideals of Church. . .
Fulfilling
this ideal is not only achievable, it is imperative. Humankind
is literally begging to be healed and saved. . .
But to do
this will require unprecedented commitment from those who love
[this teaching]. We’ll need more than ever to work together–and
to love each other–as brothers and sisters. . .
How important
it is for our spiritual center to keep the doors open. What
an opportunity for the revelation of Truth in the lives of
people who are hungry for it and sense in the depths of their
beings that there is something better, a better way of living,
a better way of being. And you are making that happen just
by filling a seat. If you never did another thing but be here
on Sunday mornings filling a seat, that’s enough, because
there are so many people who are looking for a spiritual community
but want to be anonymous, a little hidden until they’re
sure. So just by being here filling a seat, you’re doing
a great work.
We must see that we really are one. That we do “form a tapestry, woven
from one life, one creation, undivided. . . [that] We come together in one
accord.”
We’re
all angels, and we need each other to fly. And what a joyous
flight it is when we fly together, just like the geese Sue
read about earlier. And as we do, we not only lift up each
other, but all those who would come to be lifted up.
Give yourself this joyous, jubilant gift of spiritual community. Remember how
this feels today to be here in the energy of so many like-minded people. Let
the joy of this reunion fill you this week.
