SYNTHESIS

If you begin with the idea that your beliefs strongly influence your perceptions (as I do), you open significant possiblities for new ways of looking at the big questions of life.

One thing that becomes apparent is that there is some kind of Intelligence at the center of everything. The incredible complexity, beauty, and synchronicity of our universe is obviously (my bias) the result of Something pretty smart.

The difference between most orthodox religious beliefs about the nature of this Intelligence and New Thought beliefs are mainly about the "humanness" and the "physicality" aspects of this Intelligence. Traditional western viewpoints posit a "God" who has a form, lives in a physical place called "Heaven," and generally acts like a human being. He gets angry, has his moods, punishes with vigor and can be very unfair and unloving.

The New Thought God or "Spirit" or "Universal Intelligence" has no person, nor any personality. It (rather than He) is First Cause, the Creator of all, Infinite Intelligence - containing all of creation within Itself. More like "The Force" in Star Wars, Spirit is the energy and intelligence that is Infinite and inclusive of all that exists. You and I exist within this Spirit, this God as It exists within us - we are not and can never be, separate from It.

This description of a deity, one that is Pure Potential, unfolding as the physical universe and all of its creatures, is one that many scientists can embrace, because this viewpoint allows for all scientific discovery. In fact, scientific exploration and discovery are the Creative Expression of Spirit in action - totally in accord with a viewpoint of an Infinite, Intelligent Spirit and the evolving and unfolding universe of Its creation.

So evolution becomes the natural and divine method of expression to bring the physical universe into increasing levels of complexity - Spirit does not "direct" evolution, Spirit IS evolution. Scientist Ervin Laslo calls this "The Informed Universe," that is, a universe that contains the seed of God, the seed of Intelligence, within every particle.

This viewpoint also allows the end of the false duality between matter and spirit. When you think of everything as infused with the spark of divinity, then everything suddenly has divine potential and divine value. No one is left out, nothing is "less than." There is no more Satan - no power in opposition to the One Power. Our difficulties flow from our failure to see ourselves as part of something magnificent, and as worthy of good and joyful lives. While we will struggle within the biological level of existence, we can release the emotional and relational struggles which are all based on ignorance and fear that is based on that ignorance.

As we celebrate nationalistic freedom this Memorial Weekend, can we not also celebrate a more essential freedom as well? I am talking about the essential freedom to live from the deep realization of your own divine nature - a nature that you share with every person, animal, plant, planet, and particle in the universe.

Love and Light,

RevLockard

Are We Entering a Sea Change?

I have been very restless lately - at least for a couple of years. This restlessness has included my professional and personal lives. It has led me to significant changes, including moving across country, a new position in a new church, a new marriage. Lots of changes, and as I settle into my "new life" the sense of restlessness persists. It is a sense that something is ready to open, to emerge, to take flight; something just beyond the visible horizon of my experience, something I can't quite touch or visualize.

It's not just me. I can't tell you how many of my colleagues in ministry have shared their own sense of restlessness with me in recent months. They keep feeling that their situations are inadequate for what they have to express, and they are increasingly open to new situations, to moving, to changing - although they do not know exactly toward what.

There are a number of marriages and other long-term relationships in my circle of friends and aquaintences that are breaking up. Not because of abuse or the usual negative aspects that bring relationships to an end - but because one or both parties have developed a strong sense of restlessness - and seek to move on to something greater, even though they do not know exactly what that "something greater" may be.

Last week at the Westlake Church, Barbara Marx Hubbard spoke about humans as evolutionary souls on the verge of opening to a new way of being. She said that a review of the evolutionary history of the universe reveals that great changes occur in jumps, that something that did not exist comes into form, and that such events are preceded by times of uncertainty and chaos.

In modern human beings, restlessness or dissatisfaction, are evolutionary drivers - pushing us forward into higher levels of consciousness and conscious awareness. The human species seems to be entering a period of great change - perhaps one of those momentous jumps is coming and we are realizing it at a deep level, like some animals sense a coming storm or an earthquake.

This sense of restlessness or dissatisfaction will come to each one according to his or her level of being, or world-view. I know that I and many of my friends and associates are very much involved in personal growth and change, so our restlessness brings a strong desire to move into something more expansive - a life that is a larger container for our desire to express, if you will. Others, more involved in a consciousness of protection of the status quo, feeling safe, or maintaining stability, might be manifesting more dissatisfaction than restlessness. For them a more conservative, even fundamental, response is emerging.

One thing seems clear - the world, humanity, is heading for a very uncertain future. No one can predict what is emerging - the changes come to quickly and the world has become so complex. The question is not whether we are changing, but what are we changing into. Are we going to consciously evolve toward a greater level of humanity - or will be take the species into a tailspin out of fear and a refusal to embrace the changing nature of our experience on this planet?

There is a sense on the macro level that the wisdom and institutions which have taken us to this point in our evolution are not up to the task of taking us to the next level. We are moving into uncharted territory. This is also the sense for many on the personal level . . .

I happen to believe that there is an Inner Intelligence which both joins all of us into a single human organism, and which contains the blueprint for our success. But that Intelligence cannot override the individualized intentions of human beings - It responds to us by corresponding to our accepted beliefs about who we are and the nature of our reality - whether those beliefs are true or not.

Maybe it is a good idea to search within yourself. Is that restlessness present within you? What is it urging you toward? What is it's meaning for you and for your future? Asking these and other questions is an important step in designing your life to be the highest expression that is possible for you.

Love and Light,
RevLockard

THE RELIGIOUS SCIENCE MOVEMENT

Hello:

I just returned from a Visioning Bridge Meeting - a committee of people from Religious Science International (RSI) and the United Centers for Spiritual Living (UCSL) - formerly the United Church of Religious Science (UCRS). The purpose of the 3 year-old committee is to explore ways to be one presence for Religious Science in the world. (If you don't know what Religious Science is, you can go to www.rsintl.org, or www.wikipedia.com, among other sites.)

The meeting was a wonderful experience of loving people committed to a powerful teaching coming together to facilitate a new expression of that teaching in the world. The ideas ranged from the creation of a single organization in the near term to remaining as separate bodies but collaborating more on projects and activities. What arose from our visioning together is an intention to discover the "Greater Purpose" for our presence as organizations. That purpose can be described as serving the planet from a position of love and acceptance.

We feel that out of that purpose will come the form necessary to bring the gifts of Religious Science to the global community. This is a time of emerging crisis, which indicates that it is also a time of a new birth of consciousness. It is both a dangerous and an exciting time filled with great potential.

If you are a part of the Relgious Science community, whether part of RSI or UCSL or not, you can support your local spiritual community in developing programs that open the community outward in service to all. We must move from a teaching that is inwardly faced toward our own personal growth, toward one that faces outward and connects with the global consciousness.

If you are a person who believes that our thoughts create our reality and that we have the power to direct our destiny, you might want to locate a Religious Science spiritual community near you to find kindred souls.

As we grow as a movement, and more people become familiar with the loving and powerful truths of our teaching, the planet will become a friendlier place. It all begins with a loving thought, a clear intention, and coherent action.

Love and Light,
RevLockard