November 2020 Divine Authority to Choose - La capacidad Divina para elegir

It seems to be that through our ability to choose, we are sometimes more and sometimes less in alignment with that creative Power flowing through us. 

It is one thing to know we are vehicles through which divine Creativity may be expressed, and it is another thing to rise, choose, and act on that knowledge. We do so through kindness, philanthropy, and good works in the world. By acting, we set up a generative force of circulation and move even closer to our ultimate fulfillment of using the creative power of our minds to channel and magnify the ultimate goodness, the Divine. The more we act in the world, the greater our capacity to be a conduit of the infinite, creative Power.

To view this week's videos in English or Spanish, follow the links below:

• November 1, 2020 – Divine Authority to Choose

• Semana 1: La capacidad Divina para elegir

October 25, 2020 – Bridges That Last - • Semana 4: Puentes que perduran

"No greater good can come to you than to know that the Power already within you is the power to live, the power to create. Not only to create for yourself, but for others -- the power to do good, the power to heal, the power to prosper. You are to realize that the Power within you is a Divine Authority. It is a dispenser of the Divine Gifts. It is a giver of life, of joy. It proclaims the Kingdom of Heaven, the harmony of the soul, and the unity of all being."  

Dr. Ernest Holmes 

The key words in that are “not only to create for yourself, but for others,.”

The power we have to do good

The power we have to reveal wholeness

The power we have to prosper

Is not for ourselves alone, but for others.

October 25, 2020 – Bridges That Last 

Semana 4: Puentes que perduran

October 18, 2020 – Bridge Over Troubled Water - • Semana 3: Un puente sobre aguas turbulentas

To explore our connections to each other requires that we embrace an important idea, that there is something in you that is just like it is in me. That though we may be different, and those differences to be appreciated, raised up, and celebrate, nevertheless, there is something that is in you just the same way that it is in me.

This week the content creators invite us to explore the role that forgiveness work plays in taking down barriers that prevent us from seeing each other through the filter of shared experience.

They present us with these compelling questions:

• Is there an area in my life where I withhold love and caring?
• Is there something that is calling for forgiveness?
• What would happen if I were to set aside real or imagined injury and behaved as I did before?
• What would happen if I was to return to the love that was the original source of this connection?
• Would I be willing to listen and hear what is said with an open mind and an open heart?

To see the video in English or Spanish, click the link below:

• October 18, 2020 – Bridge Over Troubled Water

• Semana 3: Un puente sobre aguas turbulentas

October 11, 2020 – Inextricably Connected - Semana 2: Inexorablemente conectados

Dr. David Suzuki, the environmentalist describes it as a web of life, that must become the foundation of the way we live, and he says that

We must work from dominance to partnership

From fragmentation to connection

From insecurity to interdepencence.

I get that.

And an elder of the Chippewa Tribe, Sun Bear, said it like this: "I do not think the measure of a civilization Is how tall its buildings of concrete are. But rather how well its people have learned to relate To their environment and fellow humans."

To see the video in Spanish or English, click the link below:

October 11, 2020 – Inextricably Connected

Semana 2: Inexorablemente conectados

October 4, 2020 – Just Like Me = • Semana 1: Igual que yo

Centers for Spiritual Living provides content for our Centers and Study groups worldwide In the form of suggested monthly themes. This month’s content is brought to us by our Virtual Ministries and Focus Ministries and the topic is Cosmic Connections.

Rev Donna N. Smith, and Rev. Ann Thacker propose this idea:

“Knowing that we are each a reflection of the Infinite Self, we can move towards an understanding that everyone around us reflects ourselves. And just like me, everyone is doing the best they can, with what they have, in the time that they have. When we can find compassion for ourselves in doing the best that we can, we are able to transfer our compassion to those around us.”

What a beautiful and challenging idea for these times. Can I make more generous assumptions about other people. Can I make those generous assumptions based on the idea that we are connected on a cosmic level? Can I stay in true to that idea that we – spiritually speaking – share the same heritage?

To see the video in English or Spanish, click on the link below.

• October 4, 2020 – Just Like Me
• Semana 1: Igual que yo

Spiritual Guide to Voting from Centers for Spiritual Living

Centers for Spiritual Living Guide to Voting
Prepared by the Spiritually Motivated Social Engagement Committee 

The world is perhaps at the point of the greatest crisis in all human history, and there seem to be two attitudes we can assume. One is calmness, faith, and conviction; the other would be despair. And despair is unthinkable. Let each, in [their] own way, dedicate [their] time, service, hope, and spiritual conviction to the common cause of liberty and justice for all. And let's work without tiring and pray without ceasing.

Dr. Ernest Holmes The Essential Ernest Holmes, p. 179 

PREAMBLE 

The Spiritually Motivated Social Engagement Committee of Centers for Spiritual Living offers this voting guide for the first time as support for voters from our spiritual communities in applying our vision and values when making electoral choices. Centers for Spiritual Living, a nonprofit religious organization headquartered in the United States, does not endorse any candidates for public office. Instead, we encourage our spiritual community to apply Science of Mind teaching, vision, and values in making choices. 

We do encourage everyone eligible to vote to register and to vote prayerfully, considering each candidate, ballot initiative, and policy in the light of our vision and values when selecting those who will serve in public office. Although references throughout this guide are made to nonprofit regulations and voting resources in the United States, the spiritual guide to voting may be applied to voting worldwide by adjusting content and nonprofit regulations to local laws and resources.


Click the link below to download the Spiritual Guide to Voting from Centers for Spiritual Living

https://cslsr.org/csl-guide-to-voting/

For more information about Centers for Spiritual Living, click here: https://csl.org/en/

Just Do it

When faith inspires, we are called into action of some sort. It could be prayer, pastoral care, service to the community, or other creative action. The point is, when we block, hinder, and are outside of the flow of faith, we stagnate rather than flourish and thrive. Faith without works is dead. Faith with works of love, service, and Truth, therefore, is life!

And, we may not always know clearly what to do exactly…

And, what actions we commit to may not always work out perfectly

And, we may feel conflicted and self doubting when we do act

And, still, we must act.

Global Vision Videos - September week 4 from Centers for Spiritual Living on Vimeo.

Do You Have Faith?

 

It’s all about getting clear with yourself about what faith means.

Here are some ideas that might help.

First, faith is not the same as bargaining, begging, manipulating or pleading. It is a calm assurance that all is well, even when we are experiencing distressing events.

Faith is not the same as superstition – it doesn’t require ceremonies, or rituals. It’s deepened, rather, by confidence in the nature of the Divine. Trust, in what is.

Faith is not static, it takes practice having calm assurance, especially during times when things are going well, so that when they are not, we’ve built a faith fitness. Can I respond to the world with love and compassion in good times and in stressful times? Can I go with the flow trustingly when things are good and when things are not so good?

Global Vision Videos - September week 3 from Centers for Spiritual Living on Vimeo.

Faith: Skepticism, Doubt, and Fear

 

My grandmother had faith that all things work out in time. I realize now that it took great strength for her to proclaim that faith - when life disproved it frequently. She would, nevertheless, resolutely declare that she expected good to come about, and then she would wait for things to work out as expected. I doubted sincerely that she was right, and yet…..she was.

Global Vision Videos - September Week Two (1) from Centers for Spiritual Living on Vimeo.