Day 24: 40 Day Abundance Meditations -- 4 snouts up for Lincoln

 Through my consciousness of my Godself, the Christ within, as my Source, I draw into my mind and feeling nature the very substance of Spirit.  This substance is my supply, thus my consciousness of the Presence of God within me is my supply.*

I have to confess something:  I really want to write a review of the movie Lincoln today.  I don't feel like meditating on this.  So I'm going to relate Lincoln to this meditation--and it works, it really does.  I saw Lincoln last night and I liked it much more than I thought I would.  I'd give it 4 (out of a possible 5) snouts up.  I also read the book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin, a page and half of  which, as has been said, Spielberg/Kushner based this picture upon.

I liked the film (as I liked the book) because it provided a context for understanding the man Lincoln was as well as the President.  In a surprisingly light way (for Spielberg), you see Lincoln (here comes the connection with the meditation) draw into himself the intuition he needed to make the choices he did.  Nowhere is this more evident than the scene in the middle of the night where he is crafting a telegram to Grant regarding the disposition of the confederate delegation.  He crafts it and then he sits with it.  He, like generations of rabbis before him (let's face it, he's got a long beard and hat and he's brilliant) tells stories as a way of accessing and sharing his Truth.  In this moment he tells a story about his self-taught understanding of Euclidian geometry and equality and it leads him to alter the telegram in such a way that (if any of this is true) he may have altered history.   History was supplied because Lincoln was supplied.  

Yet, there must have been a limit to Lincoln's ability to hold the stress he was holding and to use his access to his limitless Higher power.  This displays an important truth, while I am mainly a conduit, and only a conduit for what God wants to do through me, if I believe that it is all on me  and if it feels that way, that weighs on me and my body greatly.   What else would explain Lincoln looking 80 years old when he's under 60 (I know people looked older in 1865 than they do now but come on)?  

This is poignant and instructive to me:  I also work in a political context.  Sometimes I can tell that the actions and choices I'm making are making a significant difference in the outcome of a given law.  When that happens, I hold a miniature version of the same tension Lincoln displays in this movie: I am humbled but I am also stressed.  This meditation invites me to let go of that stress and be really clear that my supply is my consciousness of my Godself.

The relationship with his complicated wife (flawlessly played Sally Field) seemed to provide both solace and stress.  Likewise the relationships around me do the same, every single person I'm close to is both my greatest joy and at times my greatest struggle.

People told me I would love this movie because of the lobbying shenanigans--while those were fun, they were almost a cartoonish distraction from what interested me: the relationship between Lincoln and his family and himself.  

*If you are just joining our show in progress, meditate on this for 15 minutes today.  You can start the meditations any day, don't worry about the day it says it is, but then do it for 40 days.  At any time you can look ahead or behind and see how it works by going to this link:  How to do the 40 day Meditation Program

Day 23: 40 Day Abundance Meditations -- what makes my flame burn stronger?

 I am conscious of the Inner Presence as my lavish Abundance.  I am conscious of the constant activity of this Mind of infinite Prosperity.  Therefore, my consciousness is filled with the Light of Truth.*

What is the Light of Truth?  A couple of years ago I had a powerful dream in which I was taken to a place that from the outside seemed like hell itself--hundreds of naked cold skinny bodies writhing in pain in an old broken down building.  I didn't want to go in.  I was terrified but somehow the taxi driver pulled me out of the car and shoved me towards this horrific mass.  As I entered the throng, suddenly it transformed and I was surrounded by the deepest love I had ever felt.  The people were happy, clothed, well-fed and in harmony with each other.  I was at one with them.

When I awoke, I realized that this is capital T Truth.  My mind plays immense tricks on me and I am often afraid of what is most wonderful for me.  Indeed, Mary Morrisey has been one of the spiritual teachers who has shown me that fear is just the electrical fence that keeps me trapped in my current comfort zone.

So what I am coming to know is that this Light of Truth is always available to me somehow, somewhere but the key is going within, past the worries, doubts and fear, to a place that can access Truth.  One of the things that helps me is to picture a candle flame in my chest and see whether when I contemplate one thing or another it flickers like it will blow out or burns stronger.

*If you are just joining our show in progress, meditate on this for 15 minutes today.  You can start the meditations any day, don't worry about the day it says it is, but then do it for 40 days.  At any time you can look ahead or behind and see how it works by going to this link:  How to do the 40 day Meditation Program

Day 22: 40 Day Abundance Meditations -- I lift my eyes to the hills

 I lift up my mind and heart to be aware, to understand, and to know that the Divine Presence, I AM is the Source and Substance of all my good.*

We've looked a bit at "I AM" and the inner presence, now let's look at the part of this meditation that is about "lifting up my mind and heart."  This makes me think of Psalm 121 which says, in the New International Version, 

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills-- where does my help come from? 2 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot slip-- he who watches over you will not slumber; 4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The LORD watches over you-- the LORD is your shade at your right hand; 6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD will keep you from all harm-- he will watch over your life; 8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

This is such a beautiful and restful psalm to dwell upon.  I live in the Sacramento Valley.  The high Sierra is just 50 miles away, well within my field of vision.  Yet so often, my field of vision is confined to work, my to do list, worrying about family, health.  I forget that one of the most beautiful sights in the world is available to me.  If I take a breath and lift my eyes to the hills, both literally and figuratively, I see grandeur, I see peace, I see endurance.  I am safe.

*If you are just joining our show in progress, meditate on this for 15 minutes today.  You can start the meditations any day, don't worry about the day it says it is, but then do it for 40 days.  At any time you can look ahead or behind and see how it works by going to this link:  How to do the 40 day Meditation Program

Day 21 (1): 40 Day Abundance Meditations -- God is my stem cell

 God is lavish, unfailing Abundance, the rich omnipresent substance of the Universe.  This all-providing Source of infinite prosperity is individualized as me—the Reality of me.*

So it's Day 21.  That means that we're just starting our third time through this series of 10 meditations.  It also means that this is a good time for you to start the whole series if you haven't started.  If you're are starting today (or if you're restarting) click on the How to do the 40 day Meditation Program link below and see the special thing you have to do Day 1 only.

In many ways, although it's the shortest, I find this meditation the least understandable of the 10--at least the second part.  I get that God is Abundance and the very substance of the Universe.  But how is this the Reality of me?  I guess the way I can understand it is that if God is the substance of the Universe, that means that there is nothing and no place which is not God.  Therefore, since I am part of the Universe, that means that this stuff is poured into my body and meat suit and it means that this that's what I am.  I am this great malleable stuff.

This makes me think of stem cells.  Have you read much about them? As I understand it, stem cells (which may be located in our bone marrow and are certainly the first cells of embryos) are these fundamental cells that can replicate and grow to become any kind of cell.  in your body.

There is literally nothing that a stem cell can't be.  That's what all the fuss is about.  This is part of the science that shows that we really are in an abundant limitless universe.  Think about it, if stem cells can be anything, that means that there really are no limits to the repair our bodies can do.  Every cell can be anything, we can be anything.  

*If you are just joining our show in progress, meditate on this for 15 minutes today.  You can start the meditations any day, don't worry about the day it says it is, but then do it for 40 days.  At any time you can look ahead or behind and see how it works by going to this link:  How to do the 40 day Meditation Program

Day 20: 40 Day Abundance Meditations -- You are safe: there's no cliff and it isn't fiscal

 I keep my mind and thoughts off “this world” and I place my entire focus on God within as the only cause of my prosperity.  I acknowledge the Inner Presence as the only activity in my financial affairs, as the substance of all things visible.  I place my faith in the Principle of Abundance in action within me.*

Happy New Year, everyone!  I just returned from my trip to Argentina and don't quite know which end is up.  This and the "fiscal cliff" are good reminders to keep our minds and thoughts off "this world."  Actually, the prevalent over-used metaphor of the "fiscal cliff" provides a powerful reminder of how we can tell ourselves stories, whether as a society or in the confines of our mind, that somehow seem real (when they're not).

Let me say this very clearly:  there never was and never be a "fiscal cliff."  There is no cliff and it's not fiscal.  There are some tax cuts that technically expired last night.  There are some other considerations.  "Fiscal cliff" is just a story (name) (chairman of the Federal Reserve) Ben Bernake came up with and the press picked up and ran wild with.  If it's a huge terrible cliff that we're racing toward, then we must be afraid and we must act from fear and do anything at all that we can to avoid that cliff.

This is no different from the stories (names) we tell ourselves when we say we're "under stress."  To paraphrase money and coaching genius Maria Nemeth (who happens to be one of my formative influences), if there is not an anvil on our chest, then chances are we are not under "stress."  When our pulse races and our blood pressure soars and we have trouble sleeping, our body is showing a reaction of extreme fear.  One of the most commonly reported sources of "stress" or fear in our lives is perceived financial difficulties.

This meditation is a reminder that all is well right here and right now no matter what the story I'm telling myself.  Unless I'm wet and cold and don't know where my next meal is coming from or am being chased by a tiger, I am safe and there is nothing to fear.  If I focus on the Inner Presence, I can feel that all is well.  I can feel that I am alive and safe.  That is my true abundance and my true source.

  

*If you are just joining our show in progress, meditate on this for 15 minutes today.  You can start the meditations any day, don't worry about the day it says it is, but then do it for 40 days.  At any time you can look ahead or behind and see how it works by going to this link:  How to do the 40 day Meditation Program