This is the month of healing and we're using a great book.
I love this book.
So get your copy It is get over it thought therapy for healing the hard stuff How many of us have hard stuff that we want to heal and this book gives us this thought therapy that we can think about But to have an embodiment of what we're thinking See,
I know people who can talk about Transformation and then I look and see if there has been a full transformation in their life those who live these principles are the ones who are moving forward and who are really approaching spiritual growth as an Embodiment of what we are learning the first week.
We had a healing Retreat and y'all that healing retreat still stays with me.
We talked about Areas in your life that's calling forth for healing and I believe that there's not a disease There's a dis ease within our minds within our spirit So there is a practice of healing and the first week we talked about the practice of healing It is a not just a decision that I want to heal,
But we have to practice the healing Last week we celebrated Ramadan Passover Easter we celebrated the life of our dear beloved of Darlene Pfeiffer And we talked about letting go of the old skin the things that we hold on to when we come out of hibernation There is a time that we got to shed the old self so we can move into the fullness of life Today we're talking about spiritual wellness and it is a pathway to wholeness I believe this journey to wholeness is something that you just don't get to tada overnight.
It is a practice It is what we put into place that we remember what spiritual wellness is all about So when I say wellness,
The first thing that might come to your mind is the wellness of the body Like health wholeness fitness,
But there is also a term called spiritual wellness So today we're going to discuss what is spiritual wellness Why do we consider this a journey and what is this idea around the mindset of wholeness?
So when I think about a Spiritual journey to wholeness or I think about our spiritual wellness.
I think about it is a state of being It's not something that we can do although we do things that allow us to get to the state of being the things that we do the practices that we do is meditation,
I believe meditation is the first thing that will open us up to a realization of who and what we are There is visioning and today we start our monthly visioning core Everyone's welcome Everyone's welcome to come into the community room and sit and be in meditation a contemplative meditation To catch God's idea for the Center for spiritual living.
This is a spiritual practice I'm inviting us all to do the other Practices is prayer and I love the reading that we had today about prayer and why prayer is so important Another practice that's very near and dear to my heart is yoga Listen,
I believe that most of us forget the physical practice because it's easy to go.
Oh,
I'll do it later I'll do it later.
I'll do it later next thing.
You know,
You're waking up.
You're 59 years old going what happened to later?
Where did it go?
We have to take care of this body.
Why because this is the body of spirits and We have the practice of community fellowship Sacred study.
We've got to get into classes.
Why classes is going to change your life See we can talk and we can sit here and listen about all the things that are happening in science of mind We can give you the principles But until you get into a class and you sit down you begin to go through your exploration.
Will it ever become living?
So when we talk about spiritual wellness,
I'm talking about a state of peace a State of inner peace.
I'm talking about healing.
Of course one of our core values Joy,
How many of us want more joy in our life?
Yeah,
I think we all should be raising both hands at a couple of feet Feeling connected Serenity Lord have mercy if I can have a little bit more serenity in my life and that is a spiritual practice How about love and when we talk about love?
Do you know the love that we're talking about?
I'm not talking about the romantic love I'm talking about Unconditional love love that just is love that's created everything When we talk about oneness really having a sense of what oneness really is Being free to accept ourselves.
This all comes from our spiritual wellness our spiritual wellness our journey to wholeness When we're saying yes to wholeness,
We're saying yes to being grounded being fulfilled having a purpose in our life the other part about spiritual wellness,
Which I believe we don't really talk about is Aligning your life with your beliefs and your values so you we can say oh I believe in oneness But am I practicing am I living oneness every single day in my life?
What does it mean to live a life of unconditional love that is the embodiment of core values that were created by our community?
What does it mean to live a life that you know that you're connected to the divine source that is love some people call it God I call it both love and God Our core value is healing.
What does it mean to live a life of healing?
What does it mean to be in the practice of healing of oneness of abundance of spiritual growth?
Sacred service.
Why do we serve because we know that this is going to sustain us in this building in our community Service is key because we believe in service Diversity and inclusivity when I got here the core value was diversity.
I said to dr.
Chris It's not complete because diversity means difference Inclusivity means I'm welcoming you to the table Come on Have a seat with me and then there is another part of it that we even talked about when you start up recognizing diversity inclusivity we move to equality See we want to create a world that works for Everyone not just one percent not just the women not just the men everybody That is why these core values are so important are we living a life of equality and If you've heard this before I want you to listen as if you're hearing this for the very first time This is what we believe at CSR CSL we believe in one God expressing itself through every living being We believe that God is a is personal to everyone and makes itself known to all who realize its presence we believe that God is love and Only creates out of the desire to express more love We believe and trust that God has in mind the highest and greatest good for every person and is Always seeking to bring the good into their life We believe that our thoughts is creative and that how we choose to think creates our personal experience We believe that by changing the way we think we can affect our lives in a positive healing way We believe in the unity of all life the immortality of the individual soul forever unfolding We believe in the internal excuse me the internal goodness the internal loving-kindness and the givingness of life to all That is what we believe that is why I'm up here because I believe this So once we get into our mind of what we believe we go on this journey I want to believe that life is giving the goodness to everyone.
It is a journey So we are aligning our core values and our beliefs in this journey of life The Journey that we're on has no destination Sometimes in my yoga class at the end of a hard pose We'll go boom and we'll come back here and I'll say what do y'all say and they all go tada That is the response and that is a mantra tada,
You know tada is short for tata Anyway,
But Thank you.
Somebody got that house.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
I'll be here all week But as we go on this journey once we hit tada in yoga,
Guess what?
There is more to learn in that pose spiritual practices and spiritual Unfoldment it's about what else can I learn here?
There is even a belief that once we cross over to life after life,
There'll still be more to learn in another dimension It is a journey with no destination it is spiritual growth This is why classes are so Important.
This is why you get a chance to grow spiritually once you start to read about it Dissected in your life and see where it drops into you This journey that I'm talking about is a journey of self love Some of us don't understand what self love is and why it's so important because if you don't love yourself You can't fully love somebody else.
This is a journey of self realization that we are loved When we're on this journey,
It's about gaining wisdom.
And what I mean by wisdom is the experience of time in Experiencing with God with spirit with love we can only gain wisdom by being into the space With spirit it takes time in this journey.
We will gain understanding What does it truly mean to be one with everything being one with people?
We like people we don't like How about being one with the trees and that that storm we had that flood We were one with the flood and some of us didn't want to be one with the flood,
But we were What does it truly mean to have an understanding about God as your life?
What about clarity on this journey?
We're gaining clarity clear thinking Here's one.
I love I call it my personal truth because I believe there's a spiritual truth.
There's spiritual principles that just is Period but then you have your personal truth.
My personal truth is as a minister I'm going to be openly gay man up on the pulpit being myself so I can show other people you can be yourself On this Journey that we're on.
I know people who know about God.
I know people who know God It is the unfolding this journey will teach you who and what you are And as we are moving forward on this journey,
It is always coming back to one simple thing We are whole and complete from the start.
Our spirit is whole and complete from the start There is nothing missing out of any of you There is no throwbacks in the bunch.
Your spirit is complete and whole now.
Sometimes we have the experience of In our body temple in our knees and our back.
We have that experience,
But your spirit can never be harmed change or Damage our spirit is a spirit of God This is a state of consciousness I always go back to this whole idea of what wholeness is wholeness is a state of consciousness when we are in harmony with God in harmony with everything Your mind body and spirit are one that's another form of wholeness This journey is understanding that we are spiritual beings first and our mind is here to support our spirit our body is here to support our spirit,
But they work as one as a representation of the one What I love about this journey to wholeness that we've been talking about through healing through meditation through visioning through all the things that we are Experiencing here.
It's always about going back to that place of wholeness Everything everything is designed for our highest good to wake up to our divinity Panastasi says this that our humanity is a journey to our divinity.
This is why we're here.
We're here to wake up So I want to leave you with this Those Parts of yourself that you want to hide Those parts of yourself that you don't like those parts of yourself that you think that people don't like Those are the ones that require you to embrace into love Love those parts of yourself that you don't like because guess what?
Those two are God those two are part of you.
Those two are a part of this experience You Gotta love every part of yourself You gotta love what you consider your strengths what you consider your weaknesses your vulnerability The ego only the ego once they eradicate the ego So let me tell you something your ego was divinely given to you And even in that we have to learn to love the ego.
We don't live by the ego We use the ego to support our spirits This journey that we're on this healing journey is really about coming back to our true self our nature our love We get to wake up we get to wake up here and now so we can continue to create it a Community where other people can come and wake up So I want you to take your spiritual wellness.
I want you to Utilize that I want you to go into your practices.
I want you to take it to heart your spiritual wellness is key Understand that you're on a journey Your life is a journey and continue to be willing to wake up to your wholeness and to your true nature You are God in the flesh.
Are you with me CSL?
Then my job is done.
And so it is You
