Infinite Possibilities with Infinite Intelligence

by admin | Sep 17, 2016 | sermon

Rev. Lelia Cutler, NST, Memorial Spiritualist Church, Norfolk, VA

We know God as Infinite Intelligence, the creative energy of the universe.  With this creative force, there is no limit to the possibilities that can be manifested through desire, visualization, thoughts, and our actions.  Since I like acronyms, the following are some of the possibilities available through interaction with our own God spark and our connection to the Infinite.

P – Prayerful Life
O – Obvious growth
S – Sincerity
S – Self-Responsibility
I – Ingenuity
B – Being Strong
I – Intelligent Usage
L – Loving Relationships
I – Inquiring Mind
T – Total Awareness
I – Ideology
E – Enduring
S – Spiritual Growth

When we have a connection with God through meditation or through knowingness, we have a prayerful life because we are constantly in touch with our source.  We are not pleading with God, we know that  we manifest our needs and our desires by the Law of attraction and the law of compensation.  We work with natural law to create.  There is no need to be in want at any time when we have this connection to God.

This knowing that God is a part of our life generates growth in our lives.  It becomes obvious to others around us, and they want to know what we have that they do not.  They start to watch and emulate.  This brings about greater growth through the relationships we create in life.  The possibility of growth is a great potential when we practice what we believe.

In this part of life, we need to be sincere in our desire to be more at one with God, and to be more spiritual in our outlook on life.  Sincerity is a product of the connection to God, but it is also a trait that we should cultivate, for it is a part of our self responsibility.  We repeat our 7th principle “We affirm the moral responsibility of individuals and that we make our own happiness or unhappiness as we obey or disobey nature’s physical and spiritual laws.”  We cannot depend on anyone else to atone for any of our actions, thoughts, or deeds.  For that reason, we are different from religions that depend on a savior to help the individual to achieve a heaven.    Sometimes, we must use our ingenuity to achieve self responsibility.  We can find ourselves in challenging situations, and we have to ask what is for the greater good of those involved.  It may take some ingenuity to come up with an answer.   When we find an answer, then we must be strong and carry through.  It may not always be comfortable, but we need to listen to our spirit helpers and to our inner voice.

We have been given a wonderful intelligence that we use when needed—most every day in every way.  As we show intelligent usage of our knowledge and our connection to the spiritual side of life, we become light beaers to others who may be in similar situations.   This recognition of our own abilities and intelligence can lead to more loving relationships and help us in recognizing the beauty and wisdom in others.  Use your inquiring mind to determine whether you are in a relationship that is healthy for you.  Search further if needed, and know that you are being led to what is for your greater good.  That leads to total awareness of your being, your surroundings, and your actions and reactions with others.  All of these attributes, intelligence, loving energy, an inquiring mind, and total awareness of your life, can lead to a happy, peaceful life that is God-centered.

Spiritualism is a philosophy and a way of living.  Our ideals are to be at one with our own God spark, open to communication from those on the other side, and to release all fears of life and death.  This will lead to enduring goals and ideals for a productive and successful life, progressing to a higher understanding of life and preparing for the next stage when we make the transition to spirit.  All of this is a part of our spiritual growth.  Therefore, remember:

Anything and Everything is Possible with Infinite Intelligence.

Law of Attraction

by admin | Sep 17, 2016 | sermon

Rev. E. Ann Otzelberger, NST, New Vision Spiritualist Center, Orlando, FL

Using the book “Jack Canfield’s Key to Living the Law of Attraction”

Understanding the Law of Attraction is the key to creating the life of your dreams.  The Law of Attraction is the most powerful law in the universe.  Just like gravity, it is always in effect, always in motion.  It is working in your life at this very moment.

The universe, through the Law of Attraction, will respond enthusiastically to either your positive feelings of excitement, enthusiasm, passion, happiness, joyful, appreciative, or abundance; Or your feelings of boredom, anxiousness, stress, anger, resentfulness, and sadness.  You see the universe does not decide which one is better for you, it just responds to whatever energy you are creating, and it gives you more of the same.  You get back exactly what you put out, whatever you are thinking and feeling at any given time is basically your request to the universe for more of the same.

You can learn to manage your thoughts and emotions and maintain a vibrational match for what you want to attract by learning to respond instead of just reacting to the situations in your life.  In order to create a positive outcome, you must learn to consciously respond in a positive way.

You can choose to respond differently to the situations that arise during your day.  You can choose to think differently.  You can choose to focus and think about the things you want more of in your life.  You can choose to experience more of the things that make you feel good.  You can choose to deliberately participate in the creation of your future by managing your thoughts and feelings.

The Law of Attraction allows for Infinite possibilities, Infinite abundance, and Infinite joy.  It knows no order of difficulty, and it can change your life in every way.

You are Energy. Everything is energy.  All matter is energy.  Energy cannot be created or destroyed.  It is the cause and effect of itself.  It is evenly present in all places, at all times.  Energy is in constant motion and never rests.  It is forever moving from one form to another. ENERGY FOLLOWS THOUGHT.

You are connected to everything and everyone.  You are a completely unique piece of a much greater whole, an integral part of the cosmos.  You are a ball of energy in a much larger energy field.  You are part of a much greater power; you are part of Infinite Intelligence, God.  The wisdom of the entire universe is yours for the asking.

Have you ever found that with people you are close to, you can sometimes finish a sentence for them, or that you both say the same thing at exactly the same time?  This is not coincidence, it’s connection!  This is a perfect example of how connected we really are to those around us.

We’ve all had the experience of starting to think about someone, maybe someone we haven’t seen or spoken to in years, and in several minutes the phone rings, and it is them, I was just thinking about you,” we exclaim in wonder.  Actually we were picking up on their intention to call us before they had even acted upon it.  Our thoughts travel through time and space at an amazing speed.  With your connection you were able to pickup on their intention to call, or maybe you were thinking about them and that stimulated them to call you.

THOUGHTS ARE THINGS.

Your thoughts are not just wispy little clouds drifting through your head.  You thoughts are things.  They are actually measurable units of energy.  Thoughts are biochemical electrical impulses.  They are waves of energy that, as far as we can tell, penetrate all time and space.

Your thoughts are powerful.  They are real, they are measurable, they are energy.

Every single thought you have is a statement of your desires to the universe.  Every single thought you have generates a physiological change in your body.  You are a product of all of the thoughts you have thought, feelings you have felt, and actions you have taken up until now.  The thoughts you think today, feelings you feel today, and actions you take today will determine your experiences tomorrow.  So it is imperative that you learn to think and behave in a positive way that is in alignment with what you want to be, to do and to experience in life.  You can see the importance of learning to think as positively as possible.

Most of us are aware of our conscious thoughts, but it is important to become aware of our subconscious thoughts as well.  You must learn to reprogram your subconscious mind and transform your negative internal thoughts into healthy, positive ones.  By looking closely at your beliefs and self-image, you can work on eliminating any limiting or negative ideas.

Beliefs are just your habitual thoughts, and they can be changed through:
AFFIRMATIONS, POSITIVE SELF-TALK, BEHAVIORAL CHANGES, AND VISUALIZATION TECHNIQUES.

These are all extremely effective tools in releasing the old negative thought patterns.

Research has shown that what you feel is actually more important than what you are thinking or saying.  You emotions never lie.  Don’t ignore your emotions or try to reason your feelings away.  FIRST, just notice them.  If they are not in the positive range (hope, expectation, acceptance, appreciation, love, and joy) either release them or simply choose a better thought. Choose a thought that creates a better feeling, or that changes what you are doing, to something you enjoy instead.

FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE

Make a conscious decision to focus on the positive.  The Law of Attraction does not filter out the information we provide.  It doesn’t decide what is better for us.  We have free will to focus our energy on the positive.

It is really important to focus on what you do want, not on what you don’t want.  State your desires in a positive way.  Your mind works in pictures, so if you say,  “I don’t want to be mad,” you are creating the picture and the vibration of being “mad.”  The universe only receives the frequency of “mad” and responds to that.  You must focus on the opposite of what you do not want.

Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.

AFFIRMATIONS

Instead of thinking I don’t want to be late.
Think I want to be on time.
Instead of thinking I don’t want to forget.
Think I want to remember.
Instead of thinking I can’t….
Think I am beginning to…
Instead of saying don’t slam the door.
Say please close the door gently.
Instead of saying your room is a mess.
Say please keep your room clean.
Instead of saying stop making so much noise.
Say please be a little more quiet.

Think about this, if you tell someone don’t knock the glass of milk over, you’ll spill the milk.  What is the image you have pop into your mind? You see the glass being knocked over and the milk in a puddle.  Avoid creating the images and thoughts you don’t want, keep focused on thoughts and images that are in harmony with what you do want to create in your life.

It is OK to notice what you don’t want.  Just use it as a first step in the process of deciding what you do want, and try to get out of the habit of giving it so much of your energy and attention.  Think about what you don’t want just long enough to help identify what it is that you do want.  This will tell you by comparison what it is that you would rather have and help provide you with some clarity.  Remember to redirect your focus back to the positive, and move on.

Focus on the light and the beauty in your life.

Guidelines for your affirmations.

Affirmations are positive.
Avoid using the work “not” in your affirmation.
Affirmations are stated in the present tense. (believe it is already so)
Affirmations are fairly short.
Affirmations are specific.
Begin your affirmations with “I am… or “We are…
Affirmations use action words. (feel the emotions when you say the affirmation)
Affirmations are personal. (make affirmations for your own behavior, not others)

ABUNDANCE

Anything you wish for can flow effortlessly into your life if you understand and apply the Law of Attraction.  We live in a world that seems to emphasize scarcity and lack, and yet the truth is, this is an abundant universe.  There is no scarcity, there is no lack.  There is more than enough food, money, joy, happiness, spiritual fulfillment, and love for everyone.

If you are willing to invest yourself wholeheartedly in your dreams, then all the necessary resources, including the money will follow.

There is no order of difficulty in the universe; and there is no scarcity of money in the world.  If you are currently in debt, then figure out a payment plan, commit to it, and then shift your focus away from the debt, and start focusing on the wealth you are creating instead.

Basically, the universe will respond abundantly to the vibration of whatever you are passionate about, focused upon, committed to, and to that which you truly believe is possible.  Whatever you focus on expands; so don’t allow yourself to entertain any limiting thoughts or beliefs.  Focus your thoughts, feelings, and energy instead on expansiveness and on the unlimited possibilities before you.  Use the power of your conscious and subconscious mind to create a vibrational match for the abundance you desire and deserve.

Be sure to also take the time to appreciate all of the amazing abundance that is already present in your life, and open yourself up to receiving all the good that the universe has to offer.  Through the Law of Attraction, the universe will respond to the vibration of your sincere gratitude and appreciation with even greater abundance.

Use the Law of Attraction to attract abundance in every area of your life.  This is an abundant universe.  There are no limits.  Just as the ocean does not care if you come to it with a thimble, a cup, a bucket, or a tank car for water, neither does the universe.

Abundant love, joy, health, wealth, and happiness are yours for the asking.  They are your natural right.  All you have to do is claim them.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN SAID: “People are just as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

Surround yourself with the most positive, nourishing, uplifting, people whenever you can.  Spend your time with spiritually evolved people who love and support you in healthy ways, those who encourage your growth and applaud your successes.  Wrap yourself in a support network of inspirational people with positive attitudes and energy.

Have gratitude and appreciation.  The best attitude you can possibly aspire to is one of gratitude and appreciation.

Try to be grateful for even the difficult and challenging situations that arise in your life.  It is often through these situations that we experience the most profound spiritual and emotional growth.  You can learn to view each apparent obstacle as an opportunity to develop a new quality, strength, skill, insight, or wisdom and be grateful for the lessons.  Each and every challenge is another opportunity for growth and expansion.

Attend a Spiritualist Church.  You would want to go to a place of worship where other people are in alignment with your desires for personal growth.

Tools of Life

by admin | Sep 17, 2016 | sermon

Peter Berg, First Spiritualist Church of Austin, Austin, TX

Many of you will think that Tools Of Life are tools for doctors, surgeons and rescue tools.  The tools I will be telling you about are all the tools that we use, yes even BOOKS!  Tools are objects that we use to get a particular job done. In the Stone Age they used rocks to smash coconuts open or hammering an object to get the job done.

Like everything else, we can sometimes use these tools in a way that is not pleasing, such as a knife killing someone.  Now right away you thought of murder.  No, this is not what I mean.  Most deaths are caused by accident, using that knife in a wrong way, or carrying it unsafely, by not putting it in a sheath etc.  I could go on and on giving different examples but I think you got my drift.  I’m a person that likes to come right to the point.

So, how many of us used a tool in a wrong way? How many of us backed a car up and hit an object behind us? How many of us tripped over an object that was misplaced in front of us?  Most accidents are not all our own fault. In fact accidents can happen that are not any one’s fault, such as when the wind blows a tree on someone’s car.

Now why do you think these accidents happen?  Well, we are not perfect beings; we are on this earth plane to learn.  Knowledge stays with us when Spirit calls us. If everything went smoothly all the time we would not have challenges in our life and I think it would be pretty dull.  Ohh! When I used the word dull I thought of that knife again. Did you know most people hurt themselves on dull knives? That’s right. So like the knife, we also have to keep ourselves sharp, so that we can do that job easier and more safely.  You know what I mean?  Read more, keep on top of things. Use the modern tools, a hammer instead of the rock. Now they even have power hammers, did you ever see them being used in the new construction of houses? It sounds like a machine gun. This is what life is all about, constructing.  Yes, we are here to construct our own lives.  We can use the tools that are available to us. Got to get out of using that old typewriter and use a computer with spell-check. See, we have machines to help us correct our mistakes. Search the web, there is so much information out there but you have to be careful and make sure you are getting the right material. You know you do not want to put cardboard on your roof of your house, even though it is cheaper, but when it rains it will get wet and cave in.

This is what we all have to think of when building our spiritual life, to use the correct material that will allow us to grow.  If you have someone telling you what to believe, that is not coming from you. If you had someone giving you answers on you finals and they were wrong, you also will get them wrong, plus you did not learn the lesson! When it comes to our soul growth, lessons are import for us to learn. When I go out and talk to someone about Spiritualism I do not tell them that this is what you have to believe in order to be saved.  Our religion is one of knowing not believing.  I know that Spirit talks to me and watches over me.

I have to tell you this story.  I was attending Spiritualist church years ago and I didn’t know if I believed in Spirit intervention or not.  I heard it talked about a lot, but couldn’t get myself to believe it.  I was burnt severely in believing in what a religion taught me and it didn’t work out for me. It was like a knife stabbing me in the gut.

Accidents can sometimes be good! I was working in my workshop, cutting a notch out of a piece of wood and I used a circular saw instead of saber saw.  Well, when I went to use it I tried it and it didn’t work.  I looked down and it was unplugged.  I said to myself, “that’s funny I just used it a second ago”. Anyway, I plugged it back in again and I went to use it the second time and the same thing happened,  I said to myself jokingly “Spirit are you trying to tell me that I should not use this saw?” So I went back and plugged the saw in again and when I used it the saw backed over my thumb and cut it off.  Wow!  What a lesson to learn!  Spirit gave me the message, “learn to listen!”  That is when I knew about Spirit! You do not fool around when it wants you to do something.

I knew it was my fault that the accident happened but who kept on unplugging the saw?  I had a chance to look back on my life and I saw where Spirit helped me in so many different ways, I did not recognized Spirits care as much as I did when I lost my thumb.  Now when I look at my hand and see the missing thumb, I am reminded to LISTEN TO SPIRIT!

When they carried my thumb out separately, I also learned that I’m not my body. I can live without it, my body is only a tool to learn more lessons.  Yes, my body is a tool of life; I must take care of it and keep it sharp, as Spirit told me.

Spirit blessings to all of you.

Priniciples / Happiness

by admin | Sep 17, 2016 | sermon

Rev. Bradley Gosselin, NST, Lily Dale Spiritualist Church, Lily Dale, NY

Click here to listen (audio)

Time and Patience

by admin | Sep 17, 2016 | sermon

Rev. E. Ann Otzelberger, NST, NSAC Trustee, New Vision Spiritualist Center, Orlando, FL

Good morning, well it is December.

There are only 9 more shopping days till Christmas and that includes today, next Sunday and Christmas Eve.  We must HURRY, HURRY.

The bargains will be gone.  Everything will be picked over and you will not possibly be able to find the correct sizes or colors of anything.

Are the out of town packages in the mail? Are the Holiday cards ready to go? You really must hurry or they cannot possibly be there on time.  There are so many things to do with the shopping, baking, decorating and please don’t forget your Great Aunt this year.

Yes, it is that time of year again, “Heckticksville”, when there is just not enough time in the day to get everything done.  The clocks have cut our daylight time shorter and our lists of “things to do” have gotten much longer.  Add to this the holiday season of extended working hours and you have the clear picture of good old hometown, Heckticksville.

Now, you maybe wondering what all this has to do with Spiritualism, but isn’t our religion our way of life?  And we just can’t leave the whole month of December out of it.  We cannot partition off an area where our lives are good and our intent the best for all, from another area that these intentions would be out of place.  It is so easy to feel our religion here, where everyone is concerned for each other and all try to work in harmony.  It is another thing when we are at work Monday morning and the first person to walk through the door is the “Class A” Troublemaker and they jump on us with both feet.   And so heckticksville also joins our lives.

Patience is required at this time of the year perhaps more than any other.  When we venture out to do our shopping we find the traffic heavy and slow at best.  We wait through light after light to make that left hand turn and always manage to get behind the “Nervous Nellie” who just will not go unless there is enough room for three cars to make it.

Parking is always a problem and when we spot the perfect parking place and head for it, someone gets there just before us, or there is a tiny sports car, totally out of view until we get right on it, taking the entire parking space, when it would have fit on the sidewalk.

We finally make it inside after walking the full length of the shopping center and head for our favorite shop where we saw the perfect shirt we wanted just the other day, but didn’t have time to get it then.  Of course, it is gone and there is not another one like it unless you could settle for three sizes too large.  So you settle for the wine color instead of the blue you really liked.  Now you start your slow progression in the line to the check out.  Here you soon realize that the line is taking much longer than you thought and then you see….the clerk waiting on this line is new….it is her first day to work on HER OWN.

Patience is not the only or even the best remedy for every trouble or problem that comes along, but in such situations as these, it is truly a virtue worth possessing.  Life is what we make it.  It can be tolerable or it can be beautiful.

Patience is one of the biggest lessons in life and it seems we just cannot afford to be with out it.

We will make mistakes and we will pay the price for them.  we should learn from them.  we came into this world to make mistakes; if we were perfect we would not be where we are now today.

All error must be seen as growth towards good.  We are part of an all-knowing mind.  All things are possible in our lives.  All obstacles are stepping stones of experience leading into a brighter life.  They are necessary for our growth.  Can we know our strength if we do not see a weakness?

We must learn and in learning we will grow, evolve, develop and unfold.  Life is not a constant movement upward and we do seem to regress at times.

We must persevere.   Remember what Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said, “Perseverance is a great element of success.  If you knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody.”

We must persevere, remember there are only 9 days left. And it is so difficult to get in the Holiday Mood with warm weather.

Remember good deeds, kind thoughts, words and actions towards others will never be regretted.  And likely as not, neither will such deeds bring you the slightest pain or cost you more than a moment of your time.

What, of all things in the world is the longest and the shortest, the swiftest and the slowest, the most divisible and the most extended, the most neglected and the most regretted, without which nothing can be done, which devours all that is little, and enlivens all that is good?

The answer is TIME.

Nothing is longer, since it is the measure of eternity.  Nothing is shorter, since it is insufficient for the accomplishment of your projects. Nothing is more slow to him that expects; nothing is more rapid to him that enjoys.

In the greatness it extends to infinity, in smallness it is infinitely divertible.  All men neglect it; all regret the loss of it; nothing can be done without it.  It consigns to oblivion whatever is unworthy of being transmitted to posterity, and it immortalizes such actions as are truly great.

Time is one of man’s most priceless assets.

Patience and time is the foundation for success.  We are responsible for patience and understanding  with each other.  We must learn to be patient with our selves.

Few of us possess an impersonal view of ourselves so we can see the causes of our misjudgments.  If we did the problem would have been avoided in the first place.

Sometimes the situation gets out of focus and we don’t think clearly.  We take on more problems than the particular situation actually merits.  Even with all our modern systems and convinces of our life styles. We find it difficult to look at our problem squarely and face stressful situations directly.

To conquer any situation we must learn to be patient, to give ourselves a chance to find the correct way of handling our problems.

Some things are beyond our control, such as the slow new check out girl.  We must learn to have patience and make the best of the situation.

The most important task in life is to learn how to live.  That is, how to Live So as to make the most and best out of the opportunities life affords.  As a Spiritualist we give purpose to our lives because we build it for tomorrow.

All things of the daily life and activities are to be lived.  We want to make a place in our lives for all which is in accord with the goodness of life.

We are in tune daily with those in the unseen side of life.  They work constantly to assist us in our daily routine.

Lord Chesterfield said, “Know the true value of time, snatch, seize and enjoy every moment of it.  No idleness, no laziness, no procrastination.  Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.”

Andrew Jackson Davis said, “Growth begins with balance.  We must strive to keep our physical, mental and spiritual houses in perspective thus giving proper due to the true value of life.”

Each day brings new opportunity, and growth.  But often it accompanies trial and pain.  We must learn to keep everything in tune. To keep emotions free of high points and low depression.  We must learn the importance of taking one day at a time and living it fully.

Meditation helps keep the proper balance in all things of life, particularly when one begins and ends his day on a note of simple, but godly contemplation.  Pausing during these few moments slows everything down and gives order where problems once reigned.

Meditation even guides us into a better understanding of ourselves. It frees us of false realities and puts things in order.

It never hurts to talk about things even if we must commit ourselves.  Action without purpose or plan breeds failure and contempt. So give each side of your daily life its due, set time for the spiritual values, find enjoyment in the physical activities of life and put them in proper perspective through meditation.

I always talk about things that concern me or that I find myself involved in, so you know the kind of situation I am in right now.  So if you join me or are just a spectator, remember, patience, balance, meditation, a kind  word or thought.  Oh sweet December, you only happen once a year, and there are only 9 days left before Christmas!

What Spiritualism Teaches

by admin | Sep 17, 2016 | sermon

Rev. Lelia Cutler, NST, NSAC President, Memorial Spiritualist Church, Norfolk, VA

I have been a teacher all of my life—in so many ways.  When I was a child, other kids would ask:  “Teach me to…  could be bake a cake, crochet a doll dress, draw a picture, or do homework.  Teaching Spiritualism has been my joy for the last thirty-five years.  There is a list of “What Spiritualism Teaches” from the 1994 Centennial Book.   It covers basics, but they are so elementary to the new seeker on our path.