February, 2016

Treatment by Rev. Faith Woods,

Dear Community,

I trust you have felt prayers coming your way for about 72 hours now. The day before, and the day of, and then today Celebration Center and Centers for Spiritual Living congregants have been high in my thoughts.  While my physical schedule shifted and changed over the hours, if what is known at one point in the universe is known at all points in the universe, then I relax and trust the prayers in my heart have reached each of you.

I continue to know the Presence of light and love is at the center of all life.  Knowing it cannot be divided, I know it is the great connector – truly the golden thread of all life.

Therefore all persons and Centers are connected though this creative power and there is no separation.

I speak my word for clear sight, enhanced understanding and unbroken awareness of this energy of Love in all our activities.

I speak my word that the power of love works through all, and the clarity of that love enhances our Centers for Spiritual Living communities, and the recognition of love in individuals spreads beyond the boundaries of walls of our communities.  I speak that the love of Spirit becomes a focal point in individual lives through words deeds and actions  in communities, families, schools and work places.  I speak my word of acceptance of love, so the circle of giving and receiving is complete.

I am grateful for timelessness and the now moment that produces this prayer at the perfect time in physical form.  I am grateful that we can feel, see and witness love in so many ways in this world.  I am grateful that Centers for Spiritual Living practices Love.

I release this prayer to the law and know it is complete, here and now. God is on the field and love is present.

And so it is

Treatment for February 20, 2016

Treatment by Caron Ward, RScP

Dreams….I am dreaming…not of a white Christmas but of sunny skies and warm breezes coming off the ocean….

I know that where there is cold, there is also warmth; just as where there is dark, there is light and where there is conflict, there is peace…and in it, all is G-d because G-d is all there is.  How blessed we are to know that this loving, giving, and forgiving Presence surrounds us,  moves through us, lives as us….  G-d, Spirit, Love, Joy, Divine Wisdom, immeasurable Abundance, our Light …eternal, powerful, magnificent!

I sit by the window, watching the falling snow from the coziness of my home, grateful for this Presence that is with us and within us…grateful for the beauty that Spirit creates outside, and the comfort that Spirit brings inside.   I am grateful to know that wherever we are, this comfort is always with us, for the Source of this comfort is G-d and It is always present.  So in this moment, and every moment, we simply allow …allow ourselves to be fully present, to recognize G-d as our Source and accept that although it may not look like what we dreamed of, the good, the comfort is here right now.   The warmth may not arise from ocean breezes, yet it is here in the comfort of our home, in the comfort of the knowing that G-d is our Source and will always provide.

I am grateful to experience the cold, so that I know the warmth;  and so I am grateful for all that is, for knowing that it is all G-d.

With this gratitude, I release these words into Law, knowing that all is so….

And so it is.

Treatment for February 15, 2016

Treatment by Tim Phares, RScP

Because I know that time is always time
And place is always and only place
And what is actual is actual only for one time
And only for one place
I rejoice that things are as they are — T. S. Eliot, Ash-Wednesday

   Treatment by Ed Preston, RScP

I remember as a child growing up in Michigan, I often got to see the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) when I went out at night, especially at this time of year.  Now, in Virginia, I never see them, except on the big wall calendar I have here in my den.  The month of February shows a beautiful picture of the Northern Lights over Iceland, in February.  Next month, my calendar shows a beautiful night sky with the Milky Way overhead.  That was also a familiar sight in childhood.  I loved, and still love, them both.

Now, I’m older, and when someone approaches with a stern face and says, “Let’s talk about the real world!!!”, I smile and say, “You mean the Northern Lights and the Milky Way?”

So, I now recognize God above and here below, also.  I hold the peace and beauty above and the turbulence here below jointly in consciousness.  It’s not “one or the other”; it’s a “both/and” world that I live in.   It is all God: the glory of shooting stars, and the concern over balancing bank statements, and getting ready to do income tax.  I accept it all, loving the simple fact that I can sit here and open TurboTax while looking at the Aurora Borealis before me.

I know we all have the power to blend our lives into a beautiful mixture of the busy turmoil and peaceful beauty of life here on earth, here right where we are at this moment.  We each have the power to find the perfect blend of life’s realities at any moment.  We can juggle and balance and walk the tight rope of each day knowing we have a beautiful sky overhead.  It is all ours as our life.

I know my own power and the power of all around me to see what is, all that Is.  We celebrate our power to choose in any moment what is, for that moment.  That power is the power to make peace.  We simply realize the peace, moment to moment, as a beautiful blend of all that Is.

I  am so grateful for memories of childhood, for calendars on the wall, for tools like TurboTax and for the power of my word as I speak my choices moment by moment and day by day.  I can simply choose gratitude and the things for which I am grateful moment by moment.  I say “Thank you, Spirit, for that power.

I now release myself into whatever is next, knowing I can take the Milky Way and the Northern Lights with me to light my way.  I release these words into the law of life, the law that rules all here, and out in the Milky Way, and Northern Lights of the sky.  I let it be.

And so it is.   Amen

Treatment for February 9, 2016 

Treatment by Caron  Ward, RScP

I awoke this morning to a world that looks like a winter wonderland.  With blue skies above and sun shining, the snow lays like a brilliantly white blanket across the yard.  It is perfect, unmarred, still …awaiting the activity of our neighborhood….

As you awaken to this brand new day, I share this reading with you….The theme is ‘a world that works for everyone’ and it is quoted from Werner Erhard.

“Sometime around now – it may have happened five years ago or fifty years ago – but sometime around now the rules for living successfully on this planet shifted.  We can no longer hope to live meaningful, purposeful lives using the rules of a you or me world.  It’s becoming clearer and clearer to those who will look that in order to live successfully on this planet we must discover and live by the rules of you and me.

Each of our lives is shaped by a basic principle which we adopt when we are young , and which thereafter determines the scope and boundaries of our lives.  This fundamental principle is not what we think or feel, rather it sets the limits of our thinking and feeling…It is the lens through which we unwittingly look at every aspect of our lives, it is the box we live in….examples are  ‘be careful’, or ‘you’ve got to win’.

We need an entirely new way of thinking, an utterly different set of rules for living.  Furthermore, we need to get back in touch with our own nobility, courage, and compassion – qualities which seem archaic today which we are more likely to find in our legends and fairy tales than in our daily lives.  Being noble persons possessing a noble purpose is no longer the exclusive domain of a few extraordinary individuals; rather it is a choice that is available to everyone.

It takes courage to approach living from a you and me context.  It is audacious to create your life making a difference in a world. It takes a lot of heart – openness to your own magnanimity, compassion for yourself, for your own pettiness when it shows itself.  Even in the face of failure you need to be willing to accept yourself as an evolving master in the issue of making the world work for everyone, and to hold the failures, doubts, fears, and uncertainties within the context that you are evolving in mastery.”

And I offer you this prayer…..

I am grateful, as this day begins, to know that there is One Magnificence; a powerful creating energy that I call G-d.  This Presence exists in all that there is – in the beauty of fresh fallen snow; in the  joyful laughter of children taking delight in this newly created playground; as the abundance of Divine love that surrounds us; as the light that is within each of us.  There is nowhere that this Magnificence, this G-d, is not present.

I am grateful that G-d lives, moves, and breathes as the expression of Life with and within each One of us.   Just as we look upon the covering of snow and know that there are uncountable individual, unique snowflakes that make up this winter wonderland, we see them all as one beautiful blanket spread upon the earth.  And so I know that for all of humanity,  there is no separation – we are all One with the One Presence- regardless of race, gender, height, or any other unique qualities that we possess individually – and we join together to let our light shine brilliantly throughout the universe.

Our light is G-d’s light, for we know that G-d the source of all that is, the source of good and greater good.  We know that as we set our intention for this day, and for our lives, we call to this creative power that acts without discrimination, to allow each of us to recognize the nobility of ourselves and of each person we share this planet with.  We let go of fears and doubts and accept that each one of us can truly make a difference; we allow our own unique magnificence to show up in the world and we join together, bringing our individual gifts into the world to create a world that works for everyone….a world that is full of love peace, harmony, and compassion.

I am grateful for this Presence; for the Source of our light; for my faith in the activity of G-d, showing up in expression in each One of us.

I allow these words to be acted upon by the Law, that acts for each one of us equally, and so I know that as I write them, the creating is already taking place.

I simply release, let go…

And so it is!

Be safe, stay warm, and enjoy this gorgeous day!

Treatment for January 24, 2016

Treatment by Tammi McKinley, RScP

As I write this, I see the snow falling outside my windows. It’s so beautiful. So pure.

I choose to stick to the truth that it is all God. No matter what the appearance of what this storm might bring, God’s got this covered, as I heard a minister say. I choose to stay true to the beauty and peace and harmony of life and nature. At the end of the storm, I will feel gratitude for all that has happened – helping neighbors out; having time to catch up on things that the downtime allowed for; having had enough to eat and drink. Being warm. No matter how this storm plays out, I remain grateful.

And so knowing that there is only one God. That God is all there is. That I am a perfect expression of that Being. That each one of us here and throughout the world are perfect expressions of the divine, all expressing from the One.

I speak my word that each one of us returns to the Truths that God expresses this weekend. That in any appearance, we choose joy and thanksgiving. We are grateful. We know and we acknowledge the gifts that Spirit entrusts to us this weekend. There is no fear, because there is God. We are not alone. God is expressing in, as, through, and with each one of us right here, right now. This is so.

And I am so grateful for this knowing. I relax into Spirit, knowing that all is well.

I release my word into the Law where it is already known in the One Mind.

I let it go. I let it be.

And so it is.

Treatment for January 22, 2016