Beauty

September 1, 2013 – From Beauty to Christopher Robin to Presence

by

9/1/13 Rev. David McArthur
From Beauty to Christopher Robin to Presence

One morning on my back deck I stopped and observed the beauty of the early sun and of shadow, colors, and textures all around me, and I felt something more, something greater. In prayer, I call this The Presence. At times it is so alive, but it is not seen “out there”, it is in here, inside. Then I got it: the questions and thoughts in my mind from years of exploring great teachers and scriptures are about going through an experience but are not the experience itself. This experience that we call “God”, which makes us all misunderstand but which we’ve all felt—this beautiful sacred presence in us which lives through us, is us. Beauty opens us and is part of the journey.

In Winnie the Pooh the images are so pure. One morning Pooh is singing a rhyme and sees a hole in a bank. Could it be Rabbit’s hole? “Is there anybody home?” he asks. “Nobody home!” is the reply. Rabbit is a great picture of mind, always asking “What if…?” and when he lets Pooh in he says, “You can’t be too careful.” He offers Pooh bread and honey. When all the honey is gone, Pooh makes his goodbyes, but cannot get back out through the rabbit hole. He is stuck. Pooh is an excellent image of the soul’s journey—entering into the world and then getting stuck. Christopher Robin is the Christ Self; it’s his Hundred Acre Wood and all the animals are under his care. He said Pooh had to stay stuck until he got thinner. So he reads to Pooh every day until he’s thin enough to get out of the hole. It’s like that moment for us of being with the One, conscious of the relationship with that Presence in our lives. This is a picture of life, with all the things that go down, all the struggles and conflict; there is the intelligence and care there right in the middle of life, which responds. Knowledge supports us in our journey, but it’s not important. What is important is the relationship with the divine.

In the experience on the deck I became aware that I was grateful. “Thank you Father!” for the beauty, for the experience of being in it, of it. My response was “I am grateful!”—one with the gratitude and tremendous beauty that unfolds. I am grateful! I am grateful! I am grateful! In this moment you are immersed in beauty! It is in the people all around you (although sometimes very cleverly disguised). I am grateful for all that’s there! You are beautiful, and for that I am grateful!

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September 1, 2013 – From Beauty to Christopher Robin to Presence

by

9/1/13 Rev. David McArthur
From Beauty to Christopher Robin to Presence

One morning on my back deck I stopped and observed the beauty of the early sun and of shadow, colors, and textures all around me, and I felt something more, something greater. In prayer, I call this The Presence. At times it is so alive, but it is not seen “out there”, it is in here, inside. Then I got it: the questions and thoughts in my mind from years of exploring great teachers and scriptures are about going through an experience but are not the experience itself. This experience that we call “God”, which makes us all misunderstand but which we’ve all felt—this beautiful sacred presence in us which lives through us, is us. Beauty opens us and is part of the journey.

In Winnie the Pooh the images are so pure. One morning Pooh is singing a rhyme and sees a hole in a bank. Could it be Rabbit’s hole? “Is there anybody home?” he asks. “Nobody home!” is the reply. Rabbit is a great picture of mind, always asking “What if…?” and when he lets Pooh in he says, “You can’t be too careful.” He offers Pooh bread and honey. When all the honey is gone, Pooh makes his goodbyes, but cannot get back out through the rabbit hole. He is stuck. Pooh is an excellent image of the soul’s journey—entering into the world and then getting stuck. Christopher Robin is the Christ Self; it’s his Hundred Acre Wood and all the animals are under his care. He said Pooh had to stay stuck until he got thinner. So he reads to Pooh every day until he’s thin enough to get out of the hole. It’s like that moment for us of being with the One, conscious of the relationship with that Presence in our lives. This is a picture of life, with all the things that go down, all the struggles and conflict; there is the intelligence and care there right in the middle of life, which responds. Knowledge supports us in our journey, but it’s not important. What is important is the relationship with the divine.

In the experience on the deck I became aware that I was grateful. “Thank you Father!” for the beauty, for the experience of being in it, of it. My response was “I am grateful!”—one with the gratitude and tremendous beauty that unfolds. I am grateful! I am grateful! I am grateful! In this moment you are immersed in beauty! It is in the people all around you (although sometimes very cleverly disguised). I am grateful for all that’s there! You are beautiful, and for that I am grateful!

December 9, 2012 – Angels – Real and Symbolic. Feel the Beauty

by

12/9/12 Rev. David McArthur

Angels—Real and Symbolic. Feel the Beauty

We are about to enter into a Christmas like no other we have experienced. We are already into the new paradigm, and are witnessing a heightened spiritual energy humankind has not had before. It deepens our attune-ment. Now we are able to bring in harmony by living it.

And we have so much help from the beings in the angelic realm. A little four year old girl, running across the lawn, suddenly stopped. At that same time, with a loud crack, a heavy limb fell from a tree directly onto the spot where the girl would have been had she continued running. Her mother swept her up, and later asked what made her stop so suddenly. The child replied that “the tall beautiful lady told her to wait”. Another young mother, not knowing she would die that day, began the day by remarking that the house was “full of angels”.

The angels support each of us in the purpose for which we have come. They have very specific work to do. It is powerful. Their purpose is to hold a consciousness and energy which really touches our lives. The level of support for you in every way is absolutely amazing.

The symbolic angel is what you have within yourself to receive all the wisdom, power, and strength you need to go on about the business you came here for. It’s the ability and understanding to say yes, knowing you’ll have the strength to go forward to accomplish what you need to. It is a capacity within yourself. It is always a part of you.
In the Christmas story, Mary was a young unmarried, pregnant woman in a time when such women were normally stoned to death. We don’t know if Mary really saw an angel with wings or whether it was that place within which brought forth the support, peace, and strength she needed to accomplish what she came to do.

Whether or not you know what it is doesn’t matter. How do you open to it? You feel it within. You feel the beauty. Open your heart. Feel the beauty, the power, the clarity. Ask for the presence of the angelic realm. Let it touch you. Say, “I feel the beauty! I feel the beauty! I feel the beauty!” It is easy to do, because you are the beauty!

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December 9, 2012 – Angels – Real and Symbolic. Feel the Beauty

by


12/9/12 Rev. David McArthur

Angels—Real and Symbolic. Feel the Beauty

We are about to enter into a Christmas like no other we have experienced. We are already into the new paradigm, and are witnessing a heightened spiritual energy humankind has not had before. It deepens our attune-ment. Now we are able to bring in harmony by living it.

And we have so much help from the beings in the angelic realm. A little four year old girl, running across the lawn, suddenly stopped. At that same time, with a loud crack, a heavy limb fell from a tree directly onto the spot where the girl would have been had she continued running. Her mother swept her up, and later asked what made her stop so suddenly. The child replied that “the tall beautiful lady told her to wait”. Another young mother, not knowing she would die that day, began the day by remarking that the house was “full of angels”.

The angels support each of us in the purpose for which we have come. They have very specific work to do. It is powerful. Their purpose is to hold a consciousness and energy which really touches our lives. The level of support for you in every way is absolutely amazing.

The symbolic angel is what you have within yourself to receive all the wisdom, power, and strength you need to go on about the business you came here for. It’s the ability and understanding to say yes, knowing you’ll have the strength to go forward to accomplish what you need to. It is a capacity within yourself. It is always a part of you.
In the Christmas story, Mary was a young unmarried, pregnant woman in a time when such women were normally stoned to death. We don’t know if Mary really saw an angel with wings or whether it was that place within which brought forth the support, peace, and strength she needed to accomplish what she came to do.

Whether or not you know what it is doesn’t matter. How do you open to it? You feel it within. You feel the beauty. Open your heart. Feel the beauty, the power, the clarity. Ask for the presence of the angelic realm. Let it touch you. Say, “I feel the beauty! I feel the beauty! I feel the beauty!” It is easy to do, because you are the beauty!

November 11, 2012 – Reveal the Beauty

by


11/11/12 Rev. David McArthur

Reveal The Beauty

The accomplished pianist Komiko tells that when she was 13, she went snorkeling, and a trio of dolphins came and played all around her. Imagine the joy, the beauty, the very quality of life in that moment! Thereafter she awakened nightly to music. She could see the notes and would write them down. It was a mystical experience. She could see more clearly the amazing beauty of life itself. She saw the experience of the presence of God as beauty, and was transformed.
You know the only thing that is there is the presence of God, so the only thing to see is the beauty. Like Harry Potter, use your magic wand to direct the intention of both your mind (which focuses) and the power of your heart (which transforms). Focus your intention. Then, when you are ready, use the very special incantation “Reveal the Beauty. Reveal the Beauty. Reveal the Beauty”. It isn’t often instantaneous. Sometimes you have to try pretty hard, but it is always there. It transforms barriers.

The Navajo pray:

In beauty may I walk; All day long may I walk
Through the returning seasons may I walk…
On the trail marked with pollen may I walk
With grasshoppers about my feet may I walk
With dew about my feet may I walk; With beauty may I walk.
With beauty before me may I walk; With beauty behind me may I walk
With beauty above me may I walk; With beauty all around me may I walk
In old age, wandering on a trail of beauty, lively, may I walk…
It is finished in beauty; It is finished in beauty

It is the heart of the mystical experience. You experience the touch of the divine. Your homework this week is to use the spell, the intention to transform, to reach through and see that beauty. And treasure the result! Then turn that wand inward upon yourself and “Reveal the Beauty” there, for you are the presence of that beauty, the presence of the divine!

November 11, 2012 – Reveal the Beauty

by

11/11/12 Rev. David McArthur

Reveal The Beauty

The accomplished pianist Komiko tells that when she was 13, she went snorkeling, and a trio of dolphins came and played all around her. Imagine the joy, the beauty, the very quality of life in that moment! Thereafter she awakened nightly to music. She could see the notes and would write them down. It was a mystical experience. She could see more clearly the amazing beauty of life itself. She saw the experience of the presence of God as beauty, and was transformed.
You know the only thing that is there is the presence of God, so the only thing to see is the beauty. Like Harry Potter, use your magic wand to direct the intention of both your mind (which focuses) and the power of your heart (which transforms). Focus your intention. Then, when you are ready, use the very special incantation “Reveal the Beauty. Reveal the Beauty. Reveal the Beauty”. It isn’t often instantaneous. Sometimes you have to try pretty hard, but it is always there. It transforms barriers.

The Navajo pray:

In beauty may I walk; All day long may I walk
Through the returning seasons may I walk…
On the trail marked with pollen may I walk
With grasshoppers about my feet may I walk
With dew about my feet may I walk; With beauty may I walk.
With beauty before me may I walk; With beauty behind me may I walk
With beauty above me may I walk; With beauty all around me may I walk
In old age, wandering on a trail of beauty, lively, may I walk…
It is finished in beauty; It is finished in beauty

It is the heart of the mystical experience. You experience the touch of the divine. Your homework this week is to use the spell, the intention to transform, to reach through and see that beauty. And treasure the result! Then turn that wand inward upon yourself and “Reveal the Beauty” there, for you are the presence of that beauty, the presence of the divine!

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January 22, 2012 – Beauty and the Beast

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01/22/12 Rev. David McArthur

Beauty and the Beast is a picture of major spiritual transformation. Every character shows us a part of our self. The father represents the adult male part in all of us that seeks after truth through the mind. Beauty is that feeling part of us which is appreciation, love.

In a snow storm one night, the father arrives at a great castle where his every need is provided. The storm is the veil which keeps us from seeing ourselves, our true riches. The castle pictures the divine presence which provides and sustains us. Leaving the castle, the father picks a rose from the castle garden for Beauty. The Beast appears and declares the man’s life is now forfeit. (The rose stands for understanding, and once you have that, your life up to then is over, because you can’t go back to the way you were.) Beast lets the father go if Beauty (the ability to touch goodness) will come in his place.

Beauty appreciates everything about the castle except that she must dine with the ugly Beast every evening. The Beast is also something within us, that part where we see ourselves as ugly and frightening. It might be addiction, low self esteem, hurt expressing as anger and violence, or fear that keeps us from living our life. It is legitimate to see it as ugly and to be afraid. Going into the castle is growing into a greater knowledge of ourselves and we have power then to see that ugly painful part of our self. We have to get to know it, to see it and to become consciously aware of our self.

Beauty is allowed to go home for two months, but then doesn’t want to return to the castle. (We fall back asleep, finding comfort where we had been.) Beauty dreams (dreaming is awareness coming into our “sleep”) that the Beast is dying. With great compassion for him, she goes back. Compassion awakens us to truth. Her tears (tears of forgiveness) revive him. (Tears of forgiveness wash away the ugly, painful part which was a constant cry to be touched by the love that heals. The forgiveness comes from feeling that love.) The Beast’s ugliness falls away and the young man comes forth filled with power, wisdom– a receptivity which lets divine presence and power flow.

In this tale abundance and ugliness represent God and the Devil. But you know there is no truth in that! You know There is only One presence and One power in the universe and in your life, the all loving goodness of God. One presence! One power! And you do know “they lived happily ever after”!