Carve out a Place of Peace

At this moment, I’m heading for Assisi on a fast train in Italy. Tomorrow I will meditate in the quiet place, Eremo delle Carceri, a monastery 2 ½ miles east of the town. This tranquil place has not changed since the time of Saint Francis. When I get to this peaceful, holy place, I will go within to my own sacred place in consciousness. 

This spiritual place of refuge within is universal and changeless – available to all – but needs to be discovered and nurtured. Here is the place to hide away in times of trouble – a place where you can be still and strong while the wildness of stress-producing incidents or circumstances nag or rage. 

Stress hits. Best to have a solid place carved out and ready in consciousness – a place in which to resort and take refuge. Make it a place of stillness. Make it quiet. Fill it consciously with the Christ-presence, with soft and gentle Light. Prepare this sacred place ahead for challenging times always come.

Stress strikes fast, and when it’s an intense situation with no way to physically escape, you need a place within to be safe. Psalm 91:1 calls it the “secret place of the Most High.” This is especially wonderful for one who tends to be sensitive, shy, or introverted, and is the best place to go universally. This “secret place” or “kingdom of heaven” that Jesus said is “within you,” provides secureness amidst stress-producing inharmonious events or situations. Go there mentally and take a deep calming breath of Spirit, Soul.

Remember, only what your heavenly Father thinks of you is important, not what other people might perceive, and He looks on the heart. If you wish that someone would totally understand you, it is done. The Father, divine Mind, the all-knowing, knows you entirely and understands. 

So what does the Father see when He looks at you? His own “image and likeness,” minus the flaws, sins, and errors – and this truth of your being consciously realized to any extent has power to purify, transform, uplift, and forgive. It enables you to express the true qualities of good that have their source in God, and to awaken to your actual eternal and spiritual selfhood in His image.

Carve out that quiet still tranquil place in your consciousness through prayer and feeling after divine Love. Carve it out hard because when you need it in extreme temptation or stress, it will be there prepared and strong.

Two-thirds of God's Name Moves You Forward

I write this Joy-Restoration blog as I fly over the ocean to Italy. I will soak up some of the rich spiritual atmosphere in many of its ancient churches. The young man sitting in the seat beside me on this wonderful Lufthansa flight is going to Italy to preach. He has given me the memorable idea reflected in the title of this post -- "Two-thirds of God's name is GO."

This makes me think of the all-action of God --Go -- that "man" (in His likeness) reflects! This changes the ordinary sense of being busily "on the go." All action (divine action) is good and is peaceful. There is no rush, no hurry. The divine action, expressed in man, is harmonious and uplifting.

It is our nature as God's "image and likeness" to express action -- good action, forward-moving and positive. We cannot be stuck or suffer inertia because God's name, beginning "go," is expressed in each one of us forever.

We can prayerfully affirm the truth of one action, all harmonious (which makes us free from the various impositions of action being too fast or too slow, or stopped or clogged, etc.).

To "go" in Spirit is effortless action. There is no backward step for any one of us -- ever.

We can move forward -- "go" -- after sad events, loss, or even disasters. Moving forward cannot be avoided. Let's move forward from here then, preserving all the good, and advancing in Love. The best thing to move forward to is in the spirit of unselfish love for others, and prayer for all mankind.

So far as "coming and going" in any sense of that phrase -- the reality is that we "live, move, and have our being" in the Infinite One. We are eternally in the Life that is God, in the kingdom of heaven that is "within us," as Jesus taught. As we spiritualize our thought we are more and more aware of where we truly dwell in Spirit (even now).

You are the blessed child of Spirit, Love, under the "shadow of the Almighty."

In Despair? "Come unto me."

He who has given us the best model for living life through tough times and challenges, Christ Jesus, nonetheless offered (and still offers) encouragement and powerful help -- "Come unto me," he implores. In the midst of opposition, trickery, and hatred ("they hated me before they hated you"), the Master affirmed that "[his] burden was light."

If you have a lot to deal with right now and feel heavy, take your consciousness and heart to the Savior, to the Christ, and lay it down. Put all your cares, sorrows, and worries at the feet of the Christ. Let it go. Stop carrying the burdens, the fears, the what-ifs, around with you. Put them at his feet. Empty your hands.

Pray as Jesus taught, "Our Father..." The Father is divine Love. You are the child. The Parent-Love, the eternal One, your Creator, is present holding you right now. Prayer is that mental state of spiritualized consciousness where you are still enough to let the divine presence manifest and be felt. It is so powerful. Just be still and it will come. This is how you "Come unto me," to the Christ -- within your very being. He is in you, and you are in Him.

Despair is heavy and dark; it would block the light and lightness of Love's care that is ever present and ready to lift you up. Come to that place in your heart where you feel you can do nothing, and lay all down at the feet of Christ. Be as an infant that trusts its mommy.

The worse the situation, the more childlike you should be. Jesus' worst time was in the Garden of Gethsemane. He knew that they were coming for him, that he would be tortured, crucified, killed -- but would rise again on the 3d day. Even so, he prayed to know if they was any way that he would not have to do that. No. His crucifixion and resurrection were the way for him to teach an eternal and unforgettable lesson -- the lesson that Life overcomes death, and Love is supreme over hatred, jealousy, envy, bitterness, resentment, and any other negative emotional or psychical thing.

In Gethsemane Jesus prayed, "Father, Abba..." Abba means "daddy." See how childlike he was. He is our example. If you are in despair, if thought is half-frozen, if shock has set in -- follow the example. Pray to our Father by turning to "daddy." Feel yourself as an infant in His tender arms. Wait.

Wait. Be still. Feel. Jesus' burden is light. You are light. You are being lightened and enlightened. Stay in the stillness of the center of Love's Being. Just that. Right there. Quiet. He will come and heal you -- this is "Come unto me."