“Teach men that each generation begins the world afresh, in perfect freedom; that the present is not the prisoner of the past, but that today holds captive all the yesterdays, to judge, to accept, to reject their teachings, as they are shown by its own morning sun.”
Emerson
“I am of God’s generation. My habitation is eternity, and my continuity is beyond question. Time is my own measurement, and God knows only the now. I accept myself as free from the past, creative in the present and rejoicing in the future. I inherit the ideas of God, and I dispense them with order and efficiency. Fresh impulses come to me, and new experiences unfold before me. God’s man is never of the past, for God knows no past. God‘s man is the man of the hour, the moment, the split second. I am that man now. Unconditioned by mistakes, I can make none. Unconditioned by disease, I am health. The world does not determine my prosperity, I alone determine it. God is all that I am.“
Ernest S. Holmes and Raymond Charles Barker - Richer Living - Page 155
So...LET'S TALK!!
So many of us have been conditioned from birth with limiting, useless, and even harmful ideas. Because of our youthful gullibility, we swallowed just about everything we were taught. For the purposes of this Reflection, let’s assume that most of the things we were conditioned to believe were well-meaning, and the best that was available at the time. (Frankly, I think that is very generous, given what we have come to know.) But this reflection is about beginning "afresh", and ridding ourselves of conditioned thinking which no longer serves us. I love Holmes’ and Barker’s approach. “I am of God’s generation”. Darn, that is so good. Cut’s right thru all the BS and baggage, and delivers us as “Heirs to The Kingdom”!
Every person I know, including yours truly, has so much baggage that we need to unload. Not one single person I know is free of “Conditioned thinking” from one source or another. Just listen to the comments of political jargon and news of far-right radical groups, and you’ll get the drift. So, what’s the solution? I suggest the following:
As Emerson suggests: ”Begin today in your world afresh.”
Start your day with a dip in “The Waters of The Holy Spirit” (by reading Richer Living)
Purge yourself of "Self-Righteousness", (confess your sins to one another)
Make every effort to love your neighbor. (I left off “…as yourself.”, given that might be disastrous.)
Please re-read both the Emerson quote above and Raymond and Ernest's excerpt from Richer Living for our "So, Let's Really Talk..." session on August 13th.
And, let's all work on the four points above. If we can do this, we will find ourselves ever being born again, unconditioned by mistakes, unconditioned by disease, and in control of our own prosperity!
GOD is ALL we ARE!
Love,
Rev Lloyd