“You are cordially invited to let 2020 be the year that you awaken, truly awaken, to the life of beauty and wonder that Spirit intends for you.”
This is the invitation I extended this past Sunday to all. The question I asked is: Are you ready to RSVP with a resounding “yes”? I put that to all who are reading this as well.
The theme for our ministry this year is “Perfect Vision 2020 – Deepening Our Spiritual Journey.”
The message on Sunday is the beginning of us doing a deep dive into how we are living this spiritual life. It began with The Four Kingdoms of Awakening.
These stages of spiritual consciousness have been called kingdoms, and this definition of “kingdom” fits with this message, “a realm or region in which something is dominant.”
I ask you to observe where you might be in these stages… I say observe ,not beat yourself up.
The first stage of spiritual consciousness is “The Why Me or The Mortal Stage.” This is the stage where the question is usually “Why is this happening to me again?” or some variation of this. It is when we are feeling separate, disconnected, powerless, a victim.
The opportunity for awakening at this stage or kingdom is huge! It is the opportunity to give up blame and to begin to take personal responsibility for our own lives.
The second stage of spiritual consciousness or kingdom of awakening is the “By Me or Metaphysician Stage.”
In this stage, we learn that we are not victims of circumstance. We begin to understand that we are a part of something bigger than we are and that there is a law or a precise and specific way this something bigger works, and we can work in harmony with it.
At this stage we learn that things don’t just happen to us, they happen according to what’s in our belief system; we learn we can change our thinking and change our lives. In this stage, we learn that we are creative beings!
This is the stage where we learn amazing tools like affirming and visualizing and vision boards and spiritual mind treatment/affirmative prayer. We learn that if we can see it with our mind’s eye, and feel that it is done, we can create it. And, my friends, we can!
This third stage is where we learn to MAKE THINGS WELCOME. It is “Through Me or the Mystic.”
In this third stage, we begin to release control and replace it with the sense of a personal relationship with something much more powerful than we are. This stage of our evolution of consciousness is a place where we surrender more and more to the Divine, where we desire to simply be an open vessel for God.
We find we are not so attached to a particular outcome. Yet, in this relaxed receptivity, we are more available to our greatest good.
The fourth stage is “As Me or Master.”
The Christ, the Buddha… is the combination of the metaphysician and the mystic. An absolute union with the Divine. No sense of separation. No division.
Joel Goldsmith wrote: “Do not pray to God for things; pray to know God and all the things will simply appear.”
When a Master sees lack, he/she knows it’s just a place for calling forth more of God in expression. It’s just an opportunity to experience more of God.
I think this sums up what these stages call forth… a prayer from MLK… ”Use me, God. Show me how to take who I am, who I want to be and what I can do and use it for a purpose greater than myself.”
Next week on this spiritual journey we will “Awaken to Grace.”
You are a blessing in my life,
Rev. Patricia Bessey
P.S. The Season for Nonviolence begins on January 30, which is the anniversary of the assassination of Mohandas Gandhi. Each day from then until April 4, which is the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., I will be posting quotes and other information pertinent to nonviolence on our Facebook page. I hope you check it out.
Labyrinths are ancient geometric figures. One leaves one’s worries and stress at the entrance and walks meditatively to the middle. As one walks to the center she/he becomes centered within her/himself, calmer, and more grounded. 
