Sunday, May 20, 2012
Internet Radio Show May 20th 8PM
Hey I really have to start blogging more, since I've been working on my
book so I'm not quite sure how to separate blog post from book stuff.
Tonight I'll be on an internet radio show on www.ACIMgatherRadio.org
just go to the site and listen in. Real laid back tonight but I'll
start doing this on a weekly basis. Hope to chat with you there. Oh
download paltalk.com or tweet with us using #acimsb see you there.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Like Water
We are spiritual beings, who - being conscious of itself has chosen to
experience itself through extension. I like to tell people of a
great truth that came to me during my meditation. I have had a
number of these life altering experiences. I had the dawning that
there was not a singular voice that said "let there be.."
it was a chorus of voices that said "let there be." My
voice was in the midst of those voices, as was yours.
We have such limited perceptions of ourselves. We
some how think that we are small and powerless when in reality we are one
with all that is.
I love science today, it proves the very existence of
God in my mind. Let me see, I can describe this to you in a number
of ways, but the quickest would have to be to look at the molecular break
down of water H2O, no matter where you find it or in what
quantity you find it it's molecular structure is still the same.
Ice, steam, snow, however. Accordingly, there is a limited number of
elements found on this earth, right? At the atomic level they are
known to consist of a proton, neutron and that stuff - follow me now
because I am rusty at this stuff, its been a while.
Atoms are the
smallest basic element of the universe according to science. The universe is
made up of these tiny atoms constantly splitting and dying on and on
into infinity. Is this not the same thing that happens on the back
of your hand? Is it not the same thing that happens in your
life? People reproducing - giving birth to what will eventually
die. Is it not the totality of all God. G-O-D is the subatomic
structure back of all of life, the energy that orders and animates
life. Not just sub-atomically but it is the totality too.
So the analogy I use is that we are to God as a drop
is to the ocean. Oh and here is another thought - if you could
capture a wave, a single wave, out of the ocean and brought it on land
maybe put it in a tub or pool. It would be just be water
right? The ocean in combination with the moon and countless other
factors is what creates the energy that makes a wave. Apart from
which its just a puddle of water.
What is funny is that even as I write this, I realize
that so many will say that this proves nothing. Is that not what
faith is for? Faith is visionary, knowing what is
without vision or proof.
Anyway those are my thoughts for the day. Well
probably just my reflections for the moment. I may revisit this
again or may not who knows. Here's my disclaimer.
This is brain drain for me and the thoughts are just that thoughts.
Sorry, I hadn't planned to polish them for you with a good editing
job. I realize that I don't own thoughts but like anyone else I like
credit for what comes through me. I had a friend who said to me that
everyone who shares their great gifts receives great gifts by
acknowledging them as such and passing them along. You know how it
goes - a gift is not a gift until you give it away and in your giving you
open yourself up to receive more and therefore to give more. There
is truly a flow, a rhythm to life.
Copyright© 2001 By Sandra Bishop
Ministries
Monday, March 5, 2012
Give Me God
I want to have a gripe session today. I don't know exactly why this bothers me, maybe you will after I explain. I have found that many people have a "gimme" relationship with God.
I constantly talk to people who see God merely as an ATM machine. "How do I put the right code or energy in, so I can get out what I want?" It is as if the entire relationship is built upon satisfaction of a need. "Need a healing?" "Need money?" "A relationship?" "In trouble?" Whatever you need turn to God! Don't get me wrong, it works, but the question is: "is that all it's about?" Tell me this, would you want to deal with a person whose sole reason for interacting with you was because they want something all the time?
Let me digress for a moment, I want to stick in a quick story here. A few years ago I decided that I needed a financial planner. (It is the "in" thing these days.) He was going to help me find ways to make the little money I have work for me. He assessed my expenditures. He talked about everything from how much I tipped my hair stylist to how much groceries should cost for a single person. Then he really got personal. He asked me about my dog "Hani." How much on the vet? On boarding? On food? (Now, I don't know if you have pets, but he was treading on thin ice, and this was before I got my two aquariums.) He said, "Sandra, as often as I have come to your house I don't think I have ever heard Hani bark." To which I replied "he never barks when I'm at home, if someone is at the door he jumps to his feet and starts running back and forth between me and the door until I get there. He gets excited because we have company." Personally I thought it was cute. He jots something down on his note pad. The he says "I think you may come out cheaper with a home security system, because your dog really doesn't serve much of a purpose here. Let's be rational, (he saw my face) Hani can't help around the house, he doesn't seem to protect the house and probably is more trouble than he is worth since you have to feed, clean and pay for all those other miscellaneous things that vary from month to month." I am going to stop there because my reaction is not the point here. Let me go back to what I was writing about.
People often maintain relationships because they think they can benefit from it in some tangible way. Some of us have friends more so for what we perceive the advantages of the friendship may be rather than for the shear pleasure of the friendship itself. This would be precisely how some of us view a relationship with God. Serve out self-interest. Examples:
- To get their prayers answered. "God gimme" like He's an ATM machine.
- It makes them a good person. Belong to this group and you too will be good and everyone else is bad.
- They can get into heaven in the end.
This example may piss you off but. . .Let's take my dog for example. No matter what I do. If I scream at him, hit him, not feed him, stay out all night or any of a thousand other transgressions - he still loves me. It is unconditional! I've learned a lot about love from having a big family yes, but I have also learned a great deal from my dog too. I love my friends the same way. Not because of who they are, what they have or what they can do for me but simple because. People are not simply a means to an end neither is God. ACIM says something like man is generous out of self interest but check this out. .
God loves us all through extension. We are what God is. God express Itself as us. I love God by loving me, which means loving you. Seeing you as wrong or flawed or seeing you as anything less than a perfect expression of God means that I am not loving myself or God, since that would make God flawed. Get it?
Leading the spiritual life is about seeing the face of God - yes! Know that that face is everywhere, in whatever your eyes can see and in what they can not see too. We are immersed in God. Knowing that despite what you think God does or does not do for you, love anyway, be thankful anyway because God is You! Gimme God? Gimme Me!
Oh and for those of you that were wondering. Hani is still with me, I have about 20 beautiful fish in two tanks, a bunch of plants, I feed the birds and hug the trees, but the tree thing is free. What I don't have now is a financial planner.
Copyright© 2001 By Sandra Bishop Ministries
The Encounter
I have to tell about something that happened to me
recently. I was out with one of my students from my ACIM class. We'd
gone to eat and were taking a walk in order to finish our conversation before
going our separate ways. I smiled and spoke to a small group of people
sitting on a bench as he continued to talk. I didn't think he even noticed
the group because we had passed them when he suddenly stopped, turn around, and
said to one of the men, "I know you." In fact it was a man he'd
not seen in twenty plus years. So there was a warm embrace, quick catch-up
info exchanged and then introductions.
I was introduced as a minister. It happens
sometimes because of what I do, I rarely introduce myself as such. I don't
like the barriers that titles like minister or talk show host elicit.
Others become overly self-conscious and often change the level of their
conversation. It is not as if I am offended by the respect or reverence
that they may be trying to show, its that authenticity goes out the
window. Try as I might to just be my fun loving self when someone
adds a title, it is as if there is an expectation that I'm judging, assessing or
desire to have the last word. I don't claim to be an authority or think
that I have some corner on God.
Most of friends know that at best they'll
be fodder for a show or a sermon topic at some point, that's it.
Back on the bench normal conversation continued for a
few moments while each person tried to establish themselves given the
introduction of my "so-called" title. One was a pianist for a
Baptist church, raised Apostolic and now attending a Pentecostal church with ministerial
aspirations, his girlfriend and the guy my friend knew who use to do radio back
in the early seventies. Uh-oh I thought - two talkers one of which was what
I call a holy-roller here we go, so I said a quick prayer surrendering the
conversation and its outcome to God. Suddenly, it was as if I was consumed
in a haze as I heard the aspiring minister ask both of us were we born again
Christians?
I don't recall what was actually said because there was
another scene being played out in my mind. As the man I was with stepped
forward and began talking, a scene of Star Wars proportions rolled in my
head. Like a Jet-I knight he pulled out his light saver sword, and began
batting down and blocking every bullet they shot in my direction. Their
bullets were in fact just scriptures, shouted out like machine gun fire. I
watched not saying a whole lot, but simply asking questions what I got back was
more scripture. The man I was with seemed engaged by the
banter. I, on the other hand, watched and listened a lot, bewildered
that the woman seemed upset and that the aspiring minister never expressed
a single independent thought. Everything was "the bible
says."
As we walked away I was struck that this man from my
class wanted to protect me. I learned a lot during that exchange, but also
used it as a teaching tool as well. First thing I said to him was that God
does not need soldiers, contrary to popular belief. While I appreciated
his gallantry I did not need protection. To respond to someone as if I am
being attacked means that I believed I could be attacked. That's self
attack. Only in my defenselessness can real strength be found. I had
no investment in being right or trying to sway their opinion. If I have a
ministry it is a love ministry, that does not mean I focus on where we are
different but rather where we are one. Therefore it matters not to me
whether one is Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu or Atheist bottom line is
LOVE. The second thing I told his was all minds are joined, so I
need not say a word. If I make the correction in my mind it can't help but
effect theirs. Talk is just a bunch of words its our works that matter,
what are you doing he kept asking them.
When the one man had stood up, the scripture thrower,
he puffed up as if to stand taller and be bigger. I myself was caught up
in and awed by my own thoughts. I felt love for this man not the
condescending kind that would say he'd get it one day. No, it was the kind
that wanted to simply bow down and wash his feet.
Love waits on an invitation, not a time.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Are You Pregnant?
Ever felt pregnant? No, not with a child
pregnant, with possibilities pregnant. It's like going through a gestation
period of growth - say nine months of darkness. You're sustained during
those dark periods because you know its for your greater good. Yea, that kind of pregnant. I've felt like I was
there. Ironically, now that I feel like I'm about to give birth - I realize
that my sister-in-law Sonia is in her ninth month and actually about to give
birth too. All minds are connected, right?
Well a lot has transpired in the last nine months for
me. As I look back over it, its transformational stuff. Its
interesting, because in the midst of these life changes we don't always
recognize them occurring. Just like a pregnancy we simply trust that the
process is taking place as it should. We plant the seeds of our desire
into womb of life and await the manifestation of that desire. The process
often takes time to come to fruition because we are not always ready to receive
what we want, so we wait.
What's born is a new vision, a new level of
knowing, a new level of loving. What's born is God in man, a new
savior. No not a savior for the world but a savior for ourselves. If
we each must be born again or anew then we are born anew in mind.
Consciousness lifted from where it was before into new levels of being. We
are empowered not to be better, but rather to recognize how good we already
are.
To begin let's start by seeing ourselves as God sees us. The sky really has
opened up and God really did say "you are my beloved child in whom I am
well pleased." I know, you heard the needle scrap across the record
or someone yell "cut," but it wasn't God. Your ego is trying to
keep you in hell. Where is hell you ask? Its that spot where you
believe God is not, where you think you are separate from God. In reality
it doesn't exist. Your ego telling you
you're not good enough, that something is wrong with you, that God has judged
against you and found you wanting. Trust me, if God loves you and sees you as good,
all your little thoughts of inadequacy can't prevail against what God knows to be
true.
Funny, it just popped into my mind that Sonia says on
her voicemail "don't forget to push, (pray until something
happens)." A pregnant woman telling us to push. Good advice, if
you want to give birth to your new self PUSH!!!
Labels:
ACIM,
Course in Miracles,
ego,
empowered,
expectancy,
inspiration,
pregnant
Location:
Cleveland, OH, USA
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Separate & Not Equal
I was riding along in my car the other day listening to
a broadcast of a Christian Talk show the name escapes me. It seems that
the focus of the show was to bastardize everything and everyone who didn't fit
their definition of "Christian" including other Christians. As a
result my Sunday radio broadcast dealt with prejudice.
I think it is interesting how people pay lip service to
not being prejudice. Unfortunately, that does not hold true across the
board with all forms of prejudice. Most people hate to be discriminated
against but fill perfectly justified when they project their opinions and
prejudices onto others. It is as if our ego plays this game telling us
that it is alright. I have to chuckle because at one of my discussion
groups this man who was homeless talked about another man who was also homeless
but came over and asked me for some change. Both of them are homeless but
the one before me felt superior enough to point out that he was not
begging.
You see our ego plays this trick on us. It makes
us believe that we are all separate and that we must compare ourselves to
others. So somehow you are better or worst, right or wrong based on some arbitrary
form of assessment.
The Christian broadcast spoke out against the
homosexual community, against the evolution of family, and certain other
denominations. They have judged against various groups and found them
wanting. Imagine that! Does that not totally go against what
Christianity is all about? Some Christians get into the habit of
demonizing the rest of the world.
Maybe one day they will come to realize that it is
really them that are the wolves in sheep clothing. Maybe one day they will
see how they have castrated God and rendered him impotent by second guessing the
order of it all. Maybe one day they will discover the message of love that
was being shared, not tolerance but love. Maybe one day they will no
longer need to see separation but will declare the at-one-ment.
Just a thought!
Friday, February 24, 2012
Bringing Meaning by Bringing You!
Have you ever asked yourself are you ready for
something? If you are like most people, I am sure that you have, about
something. Unfortunately, most people think that we "ought" all
be on the same page, this is simply not possible. Not everyone is ready or
interested in the same paths of development. Learning to be respectful of
that can be a part of your own spiritual growth.
We have a tendency to think that everyone should be a
certain way, the way that we define spiritual. When a person does not
display the particular matrix that we see as spiritual, there's an
inclination to judge them as being the opposite.
I was always intrigued by the idea that Jesus shared; not everyone will be able to hear what he was saying. Certainly everyone heard
the words, but for some the words would inspire judgment, in others fear and
others unconditional love.
A quick example would be to put 10 people in
a room and have someone read them 2 sentences. Now ask them what they heard. It's likely each person would walk away with
a different interpretation of what was said. According to our experiences
and our soul's intention we hear what we hear.
Jesus said he
who has an ear let him hear what spirit says. We each hear the same
message but bring meaning from our own perspective colored with our own experiences and
interpretation. We think of ourselves as right, and we are - from our
perspective. That is one of the reasons it is important for each of
us to realize that the experience of God is not something that can be taught to
us by another. We are each responsible to go within. To have
that understanding for ourselves. Not Sandra's experience, not your pastor's
version, but your own.
This weekend I had a wonderful experience with
something just like this. I went out of town with a friend of mine.
We each met the same people and we each saw our mission with them
differently. Sometimes our purpose is simply to show up and be who we are,
nothing more, nothing less. In our being-ness there is a lesson. I
have no need to make you see as I do or to convince you of my rightness.
When I do so, I am wrong. Some people need what they perceive of as the
"security" of traditional thought forms that tell you what to do or
what not to do. There is a comfort in that for them, I respect that.
When we learn to simply be, we can inspire others through our actions, not
just our words. They may see that it is possible to be one with God, in
good favor with God, without being boxed in by their thoughts about God.
Talk truly is cheap when we don't know how to practice
what we preach. If we speak of non-judgment then that means to not judge
against another's beliefs. If we trust that God gives us exactly what we
need, then that means She will send the examples, teachers and experiences
necessary to get the job done. That teacher may or may not be you.
Just know that there is no struggle, only love. Everyone is not ready for
what we think they should be ready for, learning to accept that is a part of our
spiritual growth. Trust the process.
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