Sunday Message for October 3, 2021

ONCE YOU SAY YES, THEN WHAT?

Prayer: Father, Mother, God; please help me to find rest within your happiness. Make my smile linger upon my lips as I think back to an amazing memory of a sunlit place. Help me to awaken each morning with hope for everything that the world has to offer. Guide me so that I can discover life in all its infinite varieties. Help me to discover the joy in each day and the beauty of your creation. As I go through each day, help me to touch each soul I encounter, and be thankful for every person in my life. Amen.

In her wonderful book, Your Invisible Power, Genevieve Behrend wrote: "As you grow in understanding as to who you are, where you came from, what the purpose of your being is, and how you are to fulfill the purpose for which you are intended, you will become a more and more perfect center through which the Creative Spirit of Life can enjoy Itself."^a

Isn't that a great concept? Here's how I would paraphrase it: The more we know who and whose we are and the more we live the life we are meant to live; the more God has fun.

That's what she is saying, right!?

Let me repeat that because it is very juicy! The more we know who and whose we are and the more we live the life we are meant to live, the more God has fun.

And that is our theme for the month - Being the more perfect Center through which the Creative Spirit of Life can enjoy Itself!

So, let's set the tone for this month by saying together: The more I know who and whose I am . . . . and the more I live the life I'm am meant to live;. . . . the more God has fun.

This month, in a variety of ways, we will explore becoming more and more the Perfect Centers!

Sound good? Then let's get started by seeing what happens once you say "yes" to knowing who and whose you are and to living the life you are meant to live. But, first, let's back up and take a look at the "yes."

THEN WHAT
The spiritual truth is that the Universe is forever calling us into greater understandings of who and whose we are and into greater fulfillment of our reason for being, otherwise called our purpose.

Or said another way, Life is always inviting us to come into a greater expression of Itself, which means greater joy, greater love, greater peace, greater flow, greater understanding, greater connection.

Charles Fillmore wrote in the Revealing Word under the definition of Spirit: "One should give attention to this faint whispering of Spirit in man. It is the development in man of a greater capacity to know himself and to understand the purpose of creation."^b

Our mission here on this earth plane is to say "yes" to expanding and enlarging our capacity to know who and whose we are and to experiencing our reason for being here!

There was once a young couple on their first date and at the end of it, they arrived at her front door. With bravery and courage, he decided to try for that important first kiss.

So, he places his hand against the doorjamb, leans in and whispers, "I really had a great time tonight; may I kiss you goodnight?"

Horrified at the prospect of getting caught, she replies, "Are you mad? My parents will see us!"

"Oh come on! Who's gonna see us at this hour?"

"No, please. Can you imagine if we get caught?"

"Oh come on, there's nobody around, they're all sleeping!"

"No way. It's just too risky!"

"Oh please, please, I really had a great time and I like you a lot!"

"I like you too, but I just can't!"

"Oh yes you can. Please, please, just say YES!"

With that, the porch light goes on, the front door flies open and the girl's younger sister, standing there in her pajamas, hair a mess, in a sleepy voice says:

"Dad says to go ahead and just say yes and kiss him! Or I can kiss him. Or if need be, Dad will come down himself and do it. But for crying out loud somebody kiss him, so he'll take his hand off the doorbell!"

God is constantly ringing our doorbell inviting us to say "yes" to expanding and to enlarging our capacity to know who and whose we are and to experiencing our reason for being here! Can we say "yes" to it?!

Say this with me, will you: I am a perfect center of the Creative Spirit of Life! . . . I say yes to who I am! . . . I say yes to why I'm here!

Thirteenth century poet, Rumi, once said, "You can accomplish a hundred other things but if you do not accomplish the one thing for which you have been sent, it will be as if you have done nothing."^c

As if you have done nothing. That's a pretty powerful statement, isn't it?

We could amass great wealth, we could demonstrate great authority and power, but if we miss knowing who and whose we are and if we miss sharing our own unique gift with the world, it will be as if we have done nothing.

Author Sandi Daly, in her book, Successfully Midair, writes: "We all have a Purpose, which is intertwined with our Dream, and one can't exist without the other."^d

If I were to ask you right now, "What is your purpose, what is your [current] dream and what are your Divinely-guided action steps to get there?" Would you be able to answer those questions?

We often spend more time planning what to eat for dinner than we spend planning our lives. But if we don't have a dream/a vision, then we will create the life we have always known. If our dream or vision isn't anchored in our purpose, then we will get off track.

And our Divinely-guided action steps are the means by which we reach our dreams and vision.

Are you saying YES to your purpose, yes to your vision and yes to your action steps?

If so, there's a parable that describes what just might happen after you say yes. It's in a book entitled The Dream Giver by Bruce Wilkinson. It goes like this.

Once upon a time, there was a Nobody named Ordinary who lived in the Land of Familiar. One day, Ordinary received a very Big Dream from the Dream Giver. He said YES to the dream, which meant that he had to leave the Land of the Familiar to pursue it. [Now notice if you see yourself in this anywhere!]

The story goes on as Ordinary gets to the edge of the Comfort Zone of the Land of Familiar and sees the Wall of Fear. He struggles with his deep fears and then finally realizes that he can actually step through the Wall of Fear. He didn't think he could but tries and he does it!

As he steps through the Wall of Fear, Ordinary then enters Border Land. There he meets the Border Bullies and has to keep them from determining who he is and what he can accomplish.
But he is successful, so he continues on.

Next on his journey, Ordinary enters Wasteland. This is a time of loneliness, emptiness and separation with no apparent guidance from the Dream Giver. He feels all alone and scared. But he keeps walking, putting one foot in front of the other!

By putting one foot in front of the other, he eventually gets out of the Wasteland and then he reaches the Valley of Giants and finds all these Giants which he must defeat! He feels small and weak, but the Dream Giver suddenly reappears and reminds him that any Nobody who can get this far is actually a Somebody and all the truths he's learned and all the experiences he has had will serve him well!

So Ordinary perseveres, and when he defeats the Giants in the Valley, he accomplishes his Big Dream.^e

As this story tells us, saying yes to your purpose, yes to your vision and yes to your action steps isn't the end. When you say yes to those, you have to stay with it and most likely will then need to:
* Face your fears as you leave your zone of comfort.
* Encounter opposition from those around you.
* Endure a season of difficulty that tests your faith (more on that topic next week!).
* Fight the Giants that stand between you and the fulfillment of your Dream.
* And then, and only then will you reach your full potential as you achieve your Big Dream and, as Genevieve Behrend suggests, bring great joy to God.
* And then, guess what? You get to do it all again.

Let me remind you what the first thing is on that list: * Face your fears as you leave your zone of comfort.

But listen to the words of the Master Teacher Jesus as discussed in the Revealing Word by Charles Fillmore: "Jesus said: 'Fear not little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.'^f Fear is one of the most subtle and destructive errors that the carnal mind in man experiences. Fear is a paralyzer of mental action; it weakens both mind and body. Fear throws dust in our eyes and hides the mighty spiritual forces that are always with us. Blessed are those who deny ignorance and fear and affirm the presence and power of Spirit."^g

To overcome fear is the greatest adventure of the mind of humankind.

And, here's a little secret. You wouldn't be having the adventure if you weren't up for it!

Say with me,

"I am up for the adventure!"

I want to leave you with a story of a poet who was very ill. He went to his doctor to discover the cause and the cure, but his doctor could find nothing physically wrong with him.

The doctor then said to the poet. "Sir, might it be that you have a poem in you that needs to be written, but that has not yet been?"

And the poet replied, "why yes, doctor, I believe I do, but I am afraid it isn't very good, so I haven't yet put in on paper."

The doctor then said, "Go home and write your poem. After you do that, come back and see me if you need to."

The man had no need to return.

We have to do the same. We have to express ourselves in the ways in which we are intended to express.

And Genevieve Behrend tells us how we were intended:
To grow in understanding as to who we are;
To know where we came from;
To glow with the purpose of our being; and
To flow that purpose into fulfillment . . .
. . .thereby becoming a more and more perfect center through which the Creative Spirit of Life can enjoy Itself!

My charge to you this morning is to go out and give God one terrific time!

I would like to end with a Celtic Blessing
May flowers always line your path and sunshine light your day.
May songbirds serenade you every step along the way.
May a rainbow run beside you in a sky that's always blue.
And may happiness fill your heart each day your whole life through.
Amen to that!!!