July 2023 Theme: Speaking Truth to Circumstance
In person Meditation at 10:00am, in person and Facebook Live Services begin at 10:30.
This is a reboot of the phrase “Speaking Truth to Power.” Spirit is the only Power. What people really mean when using this phrase is speaking to control or circumstances. Circumstances are never the Truth. So, we begin by looking them in the face, as the “monsters” they seem. But like in the movie of the same name, they are not what they seem. Next, we’ll look at how we have accepted the media and cultural conditioning (hypnotized) so we can free ourselves from reaction into authentic action. In the third week, we remember and stand in Truth, as Shiva did by throwing himself under the blood-crazed Kali to bring her back to center. Finally, we look at what being an authentic, Spirit-centered “spiritual warrior” means. For the fifth week, we’ll take a little side trip and listen to the Standing Stones.
July 2023 Weekly Themes
July 2nd • Monsters, Inc.
Turn the mean monsters into friends. That “out there” has no power – unless you give it power. Truth replaces the hold of circumstances like light replaces darkness.
“Power” is a word that triggers many reactions in people. But there is really only One Power. And there’s no need to “speak truth” to that Power because Truth and Power are one in the spiritual realm. What we’re really facing is the smoke and mirrors of circumstance, and fear based attempts at control masquerading as “power.” Those crumble in the face of Truth.
July 9th • Got Me Hypnotized
Time to wake up! The alarm is sounding, calling you to a new and more wonderful day! But ya gotta wake up! Songwriter Bob Welch, while he was with Fleetwood Mac, wrote a song called “Hypnotized.” The last verse closes with: “Now you know it’s a meaningless question to ask if those stories are right, ’cause what matters most is the feeling You get when you’re hypnotized.” Don Miguel Ruiz refers to it as “domestication.” New Thought refers to it as “the collective unconscious.” It is the collective dream in which we are all so enmeshed that we don’t even know it’s a dream. All around us, we are being called to wake up. Let us say yes, even if we’d rather stay hypnotized in the dream, because it feels so good. “Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see.” John Lennon
July 16th • Standing on Shiva
When we find the Truth, we will be troubled; then, being troubled, we will be amazed, and will rule over the entirety. (From The Gospel of Thomas, V2) There is a Hindu story of a battle taking place between the gods and demons. The demons were winning, and the gods turned to Durga, known as the goddess of compassion and mothering to do something. Out of her forehead sprang the fierce warrior goddess Kali. Kali proceeded to destroy the demons, but in her frenzy then began killing everyone. Shiva, the destroyer of illusion, threw himself under her feet, allowing her to come to herself and stop mindlessly killing.
When we go to war with conditions, we can get lost in the battle, forgetting our real purpose. Grounding in Truth brings us back to remembering.
July 23rd • The Wise Warrior
The wise warrior is focused and does not get ensnared by smallness. They are going for greatness. Like the well trained martial artist, when the wise warrior walks into the bar of life, no one picks a fight with them. Their presence is enough. The Greek philosopher Plotinus said, “I do not argue, I contemplate, and as I contemplate, I let fall the seeds of thought into the mirror of mind, which then becomes the mirror of matter.” The way of the world is the unpeaceful, unwise warrior. They joust at every windmill that comes along. The wise warrior is already anchored in peace and poise. They are focused on what needs to happen without needing to fight. They recognize that all is one already. All they bring is a recentering into that oneness. “One, alone in consciousness with the Infinite, constitutes a complete majority.” (SOM 184.3)
July 30th • The Standing Stones
Sometimes we face what seem to be walls of circumstances made of stone. They speak to us. Let’s listen, then speak back to them. Circumstances can seem very real, like stone walls in our path. But Ernest reminds us “…to think independently of any existing circumstances. This is what is meant by entering the Absolute.” (SOM 417.2) By entering this realm of thinking, we connect with the Infinite Power, from which all circumstances spring, but which is greater than any circumstance.