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"We
can visualize Jesus standing in the midst of a multitude who were  clamoring
for healing, bringing their sick and lame and blind to him, and as he
looked out over this vast sea of faces, perhaps the question came to
him: "Can I make these people whole?" ... But we know
what his answer was, for he said: "I can of mine own self do
nothing ... but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the
works." We can almost sense that triumphant concept that
arose in his consciousness - the realization that one man with God is
supreme; that he, as a human being, had no power of himself at all, but
that all power was given to him in heaven and on earth because he had
acquired all love and because he had become intimate with the Divine
Presence which flows through everything. The power that Jesus
manifested was Divine. It was not the will of an individual, but
his willingness to believe that gave him power. It was not a
concentration of spiritual forces that Jesus exercised, but rather, a
childlike and implicit faith in the reality of the Spirit in human
affairs..”
– Ernest Holmes, The
Philosophy of Jesus
My Jesus is radically different from the Jesus of religion. Even
radically different than Deepak Chopra's Jesus. My Jesus is a
spiritual genius, both in practice and philosophy. When he
mentally tapped into the Spirit, he knew he was tapping into
Intelligence. We know this because this is what he demonstrated.
He demonstrated Cause, not effects, because he knew that there is only
one Power, one Presence, and one Intelligence. By embodying the
Truth that all is G-d and all is Good, he practiced his faith with
confidence and assurance that G-d, the Father, would always respond to
him affirmatively. His teachings affirmed the ever-lasting Love of
the Divine and he assured us that as we embodied this same trust and
faith in this Love that the Father, G-d, would respond to us in the same
way It responded to him. "Don't call me good, he said, only
the Father is good." His confidence and assurance was not
filled with arrogance, but with intelligent knowing.
"Judge not, lest ye be judged,"
he taught, and still to this day this
instruction continues to be distorted by those who attempt to gain power
over others. But, the Master Mind Jesus knew that whatever we hold
in our mind, will out-picture in our experience. In other words,
Jesus knew that our judgments are always against ourselves ... good or
bad ... always. A mind filled with negative judgments will, at
some point, negate the good that we enjoy.
I can imagine that if the Master Mind Jesus were to speak to the
multitudes today, he might say something like this: Love one
another. It is not so hard to do when we consider that each of us
have made mistakes, faced disappointments and rejections. And in
these moments, and I do mean moments, our reactions were not who we are,
but simply our complexity of feelings in the moment. Yet, in these
things we have grown in wisdom and in the knowledge that what we have in
common is far greater than our differences. Our Father, G-d, has
created each one of us uniquely, yet so many want to label us into
groups; by race, by nationality, by religion, by gender and even by
sexual orientation. We are all of one Spirit ... this Spirit is
the life of everyone you will ever meet. Don't let the color of
their complexions fool you ... you are One in Spirit. Don't be put
off by languages that are different than your own ... the Intelligence
that created you knows every language, spoken or otherwise, and it will
always provide a way for you to communicate with everyone that you need
to communicate with. Make your best effort to see the spark of the
Divine in every one you meet, for it is there for you to discover not
only within your self but within all others who enter into your
experience of Life. Become aware of the power of G-d within you
and try your best to understand that this power is part of G-d, it is
not yours, but yours to use for the good. You must love the Lord
your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind
... and this means that you must not self-depreciate ... even jokingly,
for the love that you have for yourself is eternally drawn from G-d, the
Creator of All ... and G-d always loves you with an ever-lasting Love
... and this is no joke. If you choose to participate in religion,
make sure it is a religion grounded in the Love of G-d and does not deny
the divinity of anyone. Never deny your divinity, no matter what
you may do, say or become. Feel the air against your skin ... G-d
is closer to you than that. You can't see G-d, but you can't see
the air against your skin either ... believe as much in G-d as you
believe that you inhale air into your lungs. I call G-d, Father,
because that makes this Infinite Presence more personal to me ... you
don't have to do the same. You don't even have to use the word
"God" ... but whatever word you use, make the Almighty
personal to you. Never allow yourself to believe that money is
your security, it is not. G-d is your security, today and always.
Money, as with all things good, come to you through your awareness of
G-d's infinite Good that is available to you. Know within yourself
that you are always drawing from an infinite Source, G-d ... whatever it
is that you call good, including money. You are not separated from
your good ... decide to accept the gift. G-d will give it to you
if you truly accept it. Would a father or mother give a child a
stone if he asked for bread? ... what then, would G-d, the Good, do?
Ask and you will receive ... but ask yourself first, do you truly love
G-d as G-d loves you? If not, begin to love G-d by loving everyone
you meet ... and as you do, you are expressing the Life of G-d within
you.
I am grateful for
the Master Mind Jesus and in gratitude I participate in the celebration
of Christmas. Not because I believe it is Jesus' birthday, or
because of tradition. I do so because no one can deny that this
man we call Jesus possessed a powerful consciousness and awareness of
our One-ness with the Infinite and with each other. And this
consciousness continues to out-picture in this Season of gift giving and
sharing G-d's abundance with those we love, and those we don't even know
... in the awareness of Jesus' teaching, "give and be given
to."
AND
SO IT IS!
Keep
the faith!
Rev.
Dr. Henry Lee Bates
Visit Rev. Bates BLOG: Living
the Science of Mind
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