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.