Tag: I AM

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Do You Know What Truth Is?

The Current State Of Truth

For a moment, let’s look at the current state of “truth” in the world today. All the countries of the world have highly paid specialists devoted to spinning the events of the day. They are hired to spin as truth whatever places their country in the best possible light. When they do actually announce something that actually is what is happening, nobody believes it. Fake news is the order of the day.

Politicians, bless their little conniving hearts, are experts in saying whatever is necessary to maintain their power and status. Whatever is the actual state of events doesn’t matter. It is irrelevant to them. If actual events do not coordinate with their own position on any matter, it is labelled “fake news”. The controllers then make up what they want to feed the public. Then they relentlessly dish it out. They then call the truth of the matter “fake news”. Let’s do an “opposites Rorschach test.” Cold…..Hot. Upper…..Lower. North…..South. Politicians…..Truth.

Now let’s go to the real rulers of the world – corporations. Corporations have two appointed missions. The first is to suck every last dollar that they can out of the public. The second is to suck the very life out of all the minions under its control. When a corporate representative says that they are making a change to “better serve the public”, watch out. Hold on to your wallet because they are really saying “to better serve the corporation.” Mitt Romney says a corporation is a person. If so, a corporation is a person without a soul.

Sigh. Truth is twisted every which way in today’s world. It’s a royal mess. You may find yourself echoing the words of the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, when he said, “What is truth”?

A Well Known Story

In the book of John, there is related the following well known story. Jesus was arrested by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. The charge was blasphemy. They brought him to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of that area.

Pilate asked the leaders, “What are the charges against this man”? When he did not get a clear cut answer, he disgustedly told them to go away. He told them to handle the matter under their own laws.

The leaders then answered Pilate. They told him that they wanted Jesus executed. Only Pilate had the authority to allow an execution.

Pilate had the guards bring Jesus in his chambers in the palace. He asked him point blank, “Are you the King of the Jews”?

Jesus replied, “Is that your own idea or did others talk to you about me”?

Pilate replied, “Am I a Jew? Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it that you have done”?

Jesus replied, ” My kingdom is not of this world. If it were my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by Jewish leaders. But now my Kingdom is from another place”.

“You are a king then”! exclaimed Pilate.

Jesus answered, ” You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into this world was to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

To which Pilate gave his famous retort, “What is truth”?

The Rest Of The Story

Ah yes. What is truth? The billion dollar question. Did Pilate say it philosophically? Jestfully? Cynically? Rhetorically? We may never know. But it sure is one helluva question.

To finish the story within the eighteenth chapter, Pilate went out again and told the leaders, “I find no fault in him at all.” Pilate continued, “You have a custom that I should release someone to you at Passover. Do you therefore want me to release to you the ‘King of the Jews’?

Then they all cried again saying, “No, not this man, but Barabbas.” Now Barrabbas was a robber.

The Question Of All Questions

The question “What is Truth”? is indeed the question of all questions. Scripture clearly states that knowing and living the truth will set you free. Free of what you say? Free of the dozens of personal prisons that encapsulate the overwhelming majority of human beings in the world. If it is clearly stated that the truth will set you free, then, it is of paramount importance to you to understand what truth is.

First, let’s see what the Webster dictionary says about the definition of truth. Of course, the first definition that they give is completely useless. It defines truth as, “the state of being true.” Going on to the secondary definition, we see truth being defined as “the body of those events, things and facts that are judged as real.”

Going over to Wikipedia, we find truth defined as “the property of being in accord with accepted fact or reality.”

Various themes, essays and viewpoints of truth have been vigorously debated over the centuries by scholars, philosophers and theologians. Mountains of pages of literature have been written addressing the simple question “What is truth”? Kant. Hegel. Schopenhauer. Nietzsche. Swedenborg. Heidegger. Fromm. And the list goes on and on. Just to read a concise summary of all the themes and viewpoints about the nature of truth is enough to make your head spin.

An Ever Increasing Illumination

Truth is an ever increasing illumination. All things in the world are subject to the imaginative power of mankind. Moses wanted to know what the name of God was. He is told the following (in the book of Exodus): “And God said to Moses, I AM THAT I AM. Say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.”

In order to create the reality that you desire, you must choose. You must make the choice to walk, to live, to breathe, in the full feeling of I AM. Do you desire good health? Then feel I AM healthy. If you wish to experience success, then feel I AM successful. Want to experience what it is to be a conduit of God’s love, then feel I AM loving. How about desiring some of your God-given power, then feel I AM powerful. And so on in keeping with whatever you desire to experience. The more you feel your I AM to be true, the more natural it becomes to you.

Stay with it. Grow in it. When you get to the point where your I AM is completely natural, it is truth. Truth then materializes into external circumstances. When I say natural, here is what I mean. It is a natural belief of yours that your nose is attached to your face, your hands are attached to your arms, your feet are attached to your legs. You do not have to think or reason or wonder about these things. These beliefs are completely and totally natural to you.

One of the most mind blowing utterances of Jesus is the following” Whatsoever things you desire, when you pray, believe that you have them, and you shall have them.”

Deeper Meaning To The Pontius Pilate Story

Jesus stated with crystal clarity how you can receive every good desire. Every. What he stated is truth. This truth, when absorbed into your inner being, will indeed set you free from all the various prisons of this world.

A very large majority of people on this planet cannot bear to part with what they do not want, long enough to be able to receive what they do want. It is unfortunate. Ultimately however, truth will prevail. It always does. In the book of Hebrews it states that faith (imaginative belief) is in fact the very substance (truth) of what you long for. Faith is the concrete substance of that which your senses do not see. It is the indisputable evidence of that which the five senses simply are not able to perceive.

The Jesus/Pontius Pilate story represents the level of Caesar (reason). In that level of truth, only external facts are classified as truth. Barabbas was a known robber. Barabbas represents the external facts of life. These are what the world at large primarily live by. This is what they want. Barabbas, the robber, the evidence of your senses, robs you of the substance of your true faith.

I leave you with this beautiful slice of a poem from Robert Browning, the great nineteenth century poet and playwright:

Truth is within ourselves; It takes no rise from outward things, whatever you may believe.

There is an utmost center in us all; where truth abides in fullness.

Conceive. Believe. Receive.

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How Do You Stack Up On The 80/20 Scale

The History Of Pareto Scale

Have you ever heard of a concept called the Pareto Principle? If not, it is possible that you may have heard about it under another name- The 80/20 Rule. Management consultant Joseph Juran developed the concept of the Pareto Principle. He developed it for the purposes of organizational quality control and improvement. He picked up on the concept after reading from the works of Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto. Pareto noted that 80% of the land in Italy is owned by 20% of the population.

In simple terms, the 80/20 Rule means that 80% of your beneficial results comes about from just 20% of available time resources. You get a lot of stuff accomplished in 20% of your time. You get a little bit of stuff done with 80% of your time.

Some Examples of the Pareto Principle

Let’s look at some examples of the Pareto Principle in the world today.

In the business world, there is the axiom that 80% of sales are generated by 20% of clients.

A United Nations report revealed that 80% of the world’s wealth is held by 20% of the population.

In computer science, 80% of software errors and crashes come from 20% of reported bugs.

Software developers have found that 80% of the time people use 20% of a program’s functions.

In baseball, there is a statistic that is kept called “wins above replacement”. This stat basically shows how many wins a team has with a certain player in the lineup as opposed to that player not being in the lineup. Roughly 80% of a team’s wins are achieved with 20% of the roster in the lineup.

In workplace safety, studies via the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, show that 20% of workplace hazards account for 80% of workplace injuries.

In healthcare, 20% of patients use approximately 80% of healthcare resources.

Criminal justice statistics reveals that 80% of the crimes that are committed are committed by 20% of the criminal population.

A 1988 report regarding video rental stores (remember them?) disclosed 80% of sales come from 20% of videotapes.

In my own career experience as a union representative, I definitely can attest that 80% of grievance litigation work came from 20% of the union members (who we used to refer to as “the usual suspects”).

Why Should It Even Matter To You

OK, if you were not familiar with the Pareto Principle, now you have an idea of what it is. If you already had heard of it, this was a super condensed refresher. It is possible your response may be – “So what, who cares? How does all this jazz affect me and my life”? That is a valid question.

Being continually aware of the 80/20 Rule is important to you because it can be applied to a person’s lifetime as well. Almost everybody has “stuff” that they want to accomplish in this lifetime. It matters not what the “stuff” is. You know what it is. It could be money, relationships, career, health or intercession ability or any combination thereof. Even the guy who just wants to get laid. That would fall under the category of relationships (and after he gets an STD, regaining good health).

Permit me to extrapolate the 80/20 Rule. The average person spends approximately 20% of their non-sleeping, non-working, non-eating, non-showering, non-shitting (well, you get the idea) time achieving 80% of the “stuff” that they want to achieve. The grim reaper is a particularly uncompromising fellow. You do not know when he is going to come for you. You do know that there is a limit on the amount of time that you have here in this world.

Now, applying this to the 80/20 Rule, if you get an achievement rate of 80% of what you were going for by using only 20% of your available time, what do you think would happen if, during your entire lifetime, you just as productively used 25%, 30%, even 35% of your available time over your lifetime. You more than likely would surpass what you ever imagined was possible.

Yeah, But…….

“Yeah but” you say, “I need some down time, some goofing off time in my life. I’m not a robot or something”. Even if you pushed up effective usage of your available time to 35%, that would still give you almost two thirds of all the available time in your life to goof off. The Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said many moons ago, “To say I don’t have time is to say I don’t want to”.

Time Use Defines Who You Are

Which type are you? Are you the one who says, “God did not give me a spirit of fear, but of love, of power and of discipline”. Or are you the one who says, “I wonder what’s new on Tik Tok?” Are you fully engaged in the disciplined process of clarifying your desires and creating an inner crystal clear image of them? If so, you must prioritize your spending of time in the direction of your heart’s desires rather than the thousand and one distractions that the world throws at you. Ultimately, the way in which you use your available time defines who you are.

For every decade that you live in this earth dimension, your perspective on time changes. In your youth you go through the “I’m going to live forever” stage. In middle-age, you notice time moving faster and say to yourself, “Seems like only yesterday that I was 20, but I still have time to work with”. In your old age, you say to time, “Damnit, slow down, you’re driving too fast”!

The thing about time is this – It is completely free, but at the same time it is beyond putting a value on it. You can spend every “penny” of time that you get but you can’t store any of it away. Once you have spent your hour, your day, your year, your decade, you can never get it back, it’s gone.

Alright let’s say that you have lived your designated amount of years. The grim reaper is walking up the sidewalk to your front door. You did achieve some stuff but other stuff was left undone or you screwed up. You had successes. You had failures. How much of your life conformed to the 80/20 Rule? How much could you have done that was left undone through a misuse of time? Start today to really look at how you are spending your available time. The substance of your life depends on it.

Dammit, Can I get a Re-Do?

When your body stops functioning and your spirit moves on to the next realm, you will have an opportunity to review your life here on earth from start to finish. Everything in your life will be reviewed from several different perspectives. You will not only see happenings and events from your viewpoint. You will also see and feel how your thoughts, words and actions affected all the primary people in your life. You will see how careless words negatively affected a human soul. You will see how a seemingly insignificant kind action on your part positively affected a human soul. You will see and feel – everything. The entire process will be monitored by higher evolved spirits (No, they won’t be piping in and saying, “You jerk, why did you do that”.).

After a certain point in my own life review, I can imagine myself blurting out, “Dammit, can I get a re-do or something”? Whereupon the monitor smacks my hand with a ruler saying, “We don’t swear around here”. That image reminds me of that scene in the movie, The Blues Brothers when Belushi and Ackroyd are visiting the nun. She explains that the orphanage is in a bind and needs help in the form of money. The Belushi character offers to help and his offer is rejected by the nun. Belushi then says, ” Well, I guess your up shit creek”. She promptly smacks him on the hand with a ruler. This causes him to curse again in pain which then causes the nun to continue smacking him. This goes on hilariously until while attempting to retreat back to his car, he tumbles down the stairs while still seated in a way too small for him school desk. She tells both of them not to return until they have redeemed themselves. Thereupon is the basis for his and Ackroyd’s further adventures.

Strait Is The Gate

Have you ever heard someone use the expression, “From now on I’m going to stay on the strait and narrow”. You may see it spelled “straight and narrow” but strait is the correct word. Strait means narrow or constricted. It is where we get the words straitjacket and straitlaced.

What this phrase means is that when someone follows the strait and narrow, they are making every effort to conduct their life according to Universal Law. Universal Law which has been set into action by God.

The actual phrase is taken from the biblical text in the book of Matthew – “Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat; because strait is the gate, and narrow the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it”.

In consciously manifesting into this physical world your dreams and desires, be aware of this: that the majority of the world’s population productively uses but 20% of their available precious time to bring about most of what they want to accomplish. The other 80% of available time is by and large wasted. Is just observing and appreciating a bird or a flower or a cloud wasting your time? No. Is gossip and backbiting and jealousy and worry and violence and spite wasting your time? Yes.

Each day requires you to go to work, to school, to attend to family needs, to attend to personal needs, to eat, to sleep. After all the necessaries are done however, comes your available time. In the next twelve months, endeavor to take that 20% effective usage of your time and bump it up to 25% or even 30%. Take that additional time and devote it totally to thoughts, words and actions which will lead you to consciously manifest your inner greatness. Within you is the Kingdom of God which patiently awaits your arrival.

Who knows? If you devote enough of your allotment of time to aligning yourself with Universal Intelligence, the I AM, you may not even be required to have to do a re-do like me.

Believe. Receive.

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A Beautiful Mystical Dwelling Place

Your Power To See The Unseen

Faith is the solid reality of what you hope for.

Faith is the solid proof of what is unseen.

What is hope? The dictionary defines hope as: “a feeling of confident expectation for a certain thing to happen”. Faith is your power to see the unseen. Faith is available to every single human being on the face of the earth. You do need to activate your faith however. You do this by going to a beautiful mystical Dwelling Place every day. This Dwelling Place is the Kingdom of God within.

For any problem, for any situation, for any decision, for any manifestation – dwell on the only true power – God, the universal I AM. Dwelling on God is dwelling within your place of power – the Kingdom of God within. Do not search for God up on Mt. Olympus nor do you have to travel to the peaks of the Himalayas. It is not mandatory to travel to an ecclesiastical building of some type. God is not some Jack and the Beanstalk giant with a long white beard peeking at you from behind the clouds or up on the planet Mars. The Kingdom of God is within you, right now, The price of admission is to focus your mind and your heart on what you are able to perceive about God.

Visiting the Kingdom of God within is about seeing only God if even for only a few minutes a day. Go beyond your problem or situation, whatever it is. Keep going until you arrive at the feeling that the problem does not even exist, you know nothing about it. “How can I do this”?, you ask, “I can’t stop worrying. I’ve tried”. You not only can stop worrying but you must stop worrying. Focus your mind on God. Dwell on God. Dwell in God. You were not created by Original Source in order to demonstrate worry and fear. You were created by Universal Intelligence so that you can bring to fruition in the 3D world the majesty and glory and attributes of the energy of Original Source. Fear and worry do not demonstrate the glory of God Almighty. All humans experience some degree of worry at times. To stubbornly continue however in a state of worry and fear about a problem is sin. It is a falling short of what God created you for. Valid concern is one thing. Prolonged worry is quite another. It is a “holding on” to your lack of faith.

The Photo Shoot

I am grateful over this lifetime to be the father of three precious children, two males, one female. Back when the youngest one, the daughter, was about three or four years old, we decided to take advantage of a big box store “photo shoot special” for all three children. The store had a small room that served as a photo studio. A professional photographer took a photo that was subsequently enlarged and suitable for framing.

In order to keep small children occupied while others were getting their photo taken, there were a few toys and what not there. Included was a lightweight, colorful ball, about the size of a basketball. While waiting, my daughter became enthralled with this ball. When it was her turn to get her photo taken, she steadfastly refused to let go of the ball. The photographer said that it would interfere with the quality of the photo. When we went to take the ball out of her hands, she started crying. Well, we did not want to pay a photographer for a photograph of a crying child so we let her have the ball and the photo was taken.

So it is with free will, faith and choosing to dwell on God. We can choose to just let go (for our benefit) and place our focus on God or we can stubbornly hold onto worry and fear (to our detriment). God allows us the total freedom to make either choice.

OK, So How Do You Get There?

The route to take in order to get to your mystical Dwelling Place is also the simplest route. Whatever your problem, whatever your frustrated desire, refrain from dwelling on it. Refrain from hanging around in that thought neighborhood. Instead, dwell on God. Whatever it is that you are desirous of manifesting, you place roadblocks in your path when you fret and fuss over how in the world you are going to satisfy that desire. Leave the details to God. Be sure that you are paying attention when Universal Intelligence subsequently provides you with the details.

One road that you can use to get to your Dwelling Place is this: once a day, or more if you choose, say to yourself, “I am turning this whole thing (name the specific problem or desire) over to God. Then for at least a few minutes, think of God and only of God. You can do this by making some statement of absolute fact over and over again with the utmost of earnestness.

Some examples of statements of fact that you can use are: “There is only one true power. It is God”; “God is with me, now and always”; “God is guiding me and directing me with love”; “I am grateful that God is with me now”; “Thank you Father, I thank you with all that I am”, “I am a child of the Most High God”; “The peace and presence of God fills me now”. No matter how mechanical it seems at first, keep at it. Commit fully, heart and soul, to the process. It will work, if you work at it. Refrain from struggling. If a fear or worry enters your mind, acknowledge it, then with quiet but firm insistence, substitute that thought with your thought of God. There is not room enough there for both of them. Whenever your mind starts wandering, just gently guide it back to the Dwelling Place.

Another Road You Can Use To Get There

Sometimes, the urge to think about the problem or frustrated desire can be quite powerful. The urge can be so bullying that you cannot even come up with the words of your chosen statement of fact. If you find this to be the case, here is another road that you can take to get to your Dwelling Place. Just say the word “God” and follow that up immediately with a word that describes an attribute of God. Since you are a child of God, created to manifest the I AM in 3D reality, they become your attributes as well by channeling through God. God is demonstrated through your faith.

A favorite acronym that I use to instantly recall a dozen of attributes that I can demonstrate through God and by God is “LILT*BAPC*ICIJ”. The acronym stands for “Love. Intelligence. Light. Truth. Beauty. Abundance. Power. Compassion. Imagination. Creativity. Impartiality. Joy”. When your mind just does not want to let up in conjuring up the problem or frustration, just say loudly in your mind (or out loud if you prefer), “God, Love”; “God, Intelligence”; “God, Light”; “God, Truth”, and so on for all of the attributes. If you have “let go” and allowed God to fill up your thoughts, you are allowing God to channel those attributes through you. In effect, you are those attributes as long as you dwell on God.

Some Further Details

How long per session should I actively use the Dwelling Place technique? A few consecutive minutes are sufficient as long as you are focused and not dealing with distractions.

How many times a day should I practice this form of scientific prayer? When you get to the point where you can go a few consecutive minutes very quickly, feel free to repeat the prayer several times a day with a period of time separating each session. It is important however, that after you have prayed in this manner, that you completely drop all thought of the matter until the next session. This is important to remember as this “in-between respite” gives your manifestation a chance to grow.

How many days should I continue with this technique with regard to a specific desire? Until its materialization is complete. This can range from a few days to a few years depending on the size of the manifestation and the fullness of your faith. Be alert and pay attention to what is going on around you. Be prepared to take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves. Be thankful when you receive encouraging signs and signals. Refrain from thinking of the probable means of achieving your desired end. Ironically, this will slow things down. Just consistently go to your Dwelling Place and when things present themselves, follow through appropriately on your end.

Can I use this technique to manifest more than one pressing need at the same time? While there is nothing per se to prevent you from doing so, if you can, focus on one thing at a time. Try to come up with one manifestation that will solve both problems at once. The greater the manifestation, the more elongated the time factor. That time lag is what really puts your faith to the test. The more elongated the time factor, the greater the temptation to lose faith. If you never used this manner of scientific prayer before, start small. Then as your results yield success, it will strengthen your faith, which is the fuel to your “rocket ship”. If you have two equal and critical desires, then go ahead but just name one desire at the outset of each Dwelling Place session.

You Are A Scientist

Put on your imaginary white lab coat, get your imaginary clipboard and run your own scientific laboratory experiment. Every day, like clockwork, for the next six months, spend some of your daily allotment of time going to your mystical Dwelling Place. Whatever your religious beliefs, from the very start, just check your doubt at the door. Better yet, throw it in the large trash can outside the door. Dragging around a duffel bag of doubt for this experiment will just be a self fulfilling prophecy for negative results.

In my personal experience in praying in this manner, the time frame for manifestation was longer than I originally anticipated but the manifestations were indeed created. I think my “backsliding” into subtle episodes of doubt served to delay the receiving of my order. In any case, this technique will not cost you anything but some moments of your daily time. As you faithfully await answer to your prayer, how can it possibly hurt you to spend time each day dwelling on God?

Believe. Receive.