Center for Spiritual Living Midtown

How can a minister of the 1700’s have something to do with our everyday living? Everything! It is the theory that a subjective degree of belief rationally changes to account for evidence. This is the basis of Religious Science, so we will explore how this one man’s thinking changed the world then in the 1700’s and how it is still working in our lives today

As we head into the kick off of the Summer, I ask, “What are you looking for to happen in your life this summer?” Once you name what you are looking for, the world around you conspires for you to make it happen. Then I ask, “What are you looking for in a Spiritual Center?” Again, Once you name what it is the Center does for you, the world again conspires. Finally, the deeper question, “What are you looking for within yourself?” The answer is no different…. Whatever it is you are looking for within yourself, the world conspires to show you what it is.

The first thing our mothers teach us is how to love unconditionally. No matter what we do, they will continue to love us. They have to; it’s in the contract. You can be an ax-murderer, you can start a war, you can bankrupt a corporation. Mom doesn’t care; she’ll still love you. That doesn’t mean she won’t put her two-cents-worth in to tell us what she thinks of our behavior. But she’ll never disown us, even if we try to disown her. It’s a bond that may get strained, but it will never break. That’s a lesson that will stand us in good stead when we start creating loving relationships with other people. It keeps us from bailing out the first time they do something we don’t like.

Since Sunday is Cinco de Mayo, I thought we could celebrate that day reminding ourselves of our Five Spiritual Truths. We are wealthier, healthier, more successful, and more loved than we think we are. We seem to measure these four aspects of our lives by outside circumstances, but the Truth about ourselves is that these four aspects are already ours beyond imaginable limits. It’s just that our imagined limits keep us seemingly locked up in a bound world. When we realize these four spiritual Truths that we are wealthier, healthier, more successful, and loving, a long with a fifth spiritual Truth that will be discussed Sunday, do we then unlock the imagined limits placed on ourselves

Sometimes, when we decide to step off the beaten path, we get much more than we bargained for. A moment of inattention, one chance conversation, a left turn instead of a right, and our whole life can be completely transformed. The unexpected events we encounter on the scenic route may suddenly reveal to us a greater plan for our life, something we never dreamed of before, which is exciting. Or they may completely undo the plans we've already made, leaving us completely adrift until we choose a new direction, which is also exciting, only in a different way. In either case, we always have the choice whether to listen or not. If we listen, and follow our intuition, everything may change. But if we ignore what we feel, and continue to ignore it, our life will never change, which means our next life will look a lot like this one.

Rev. Dr. John Waterhouse, president, Centers for Spiritual Living, is our guest speaker this Sunday.

He has inspired thousands of people around the world with his unique, humorous, heartfelt approach to the teaching.  Here is a personal description of himself:

I describe myself as a teacher, guide, mentor, and leader. My life has long been about revealing the power that dwells within each person I meet. With this as my foundation, I have created a variety of expressions through which I contribute to the human experience. Today, the central focus of my life is serving with my wife Barbara as co-minister of our Science of Mind spiritual community, the Center for Spiritual Living. Barbara and I founded the Center in our home in January 1995. Today, we occupy a ten thousand square foot teaching facility, which was designed and built largely with the support of volunteer friends and members of the Center. We are located at Two Science of Mind Way in Asheville,  North Carolina and have a growing community of more than 300 members. Providing clear guidance and strong, yet flexible leadership to individuals and organizations is what my life is about. I bring these skills and abilities along with a passion for the full expression of all ideas and possibilities to every endeavor in which I embark."

Like any other tool, some people are able to use money much better than others. It’s not because they’re special. It’s just because of what they’ve learned, and how they have chosen to apply it. No one is ever born knowing how to make incredible amounts of money, just like no one is born knowing how to use a screwdriver. Making money is simply a skill that must be learned, combined with a consciousness of prosperity that needs to be developed. And every single one of us is born with the ability to do both. How we apply that ability is what determines whether or not we end up with enough money in our bank account to live the way we want to live.

Following up with Paul’s True meaning of Easter….. Once we ‘roll away the stone’ and step out into our new life, we can choose our old way of thinking, making decisions based on past or present experiences and future worries, OR we can turn to the greater idea of ourselves that we just learned about through the True meaning of Easter. It takes Faith to step out into the new world with a new idea about ourselves, an idea that we are greater than we appear to be, that we are more powerful than we think we are, and that we have the Wisdom and the power of the Universe with us as we step out into the new world.

It’s really too bad that the great teacher Jesus, who taught us so much about the power of Life, would be remembered forever by the symbol of his physical death --- the cross. The significance of the Easter story, whether or not it happened exactly the way we are told it happened, shouldn’t be that pain and suffering brings salvation. The truth is, we’re all already saved, because we were never lost. Easter really symbolizes the ultimate spiritual experience, which is the regeneration of our consciousness. No matter what darkness or pain or difficulty we may put ourselves through by our own mistaken thinking, we are always able to emerge stronger, clearer, and more aware of how to use the power of Life in our life.

This week is Passion Week and a vast majority of the world will be in observance of this holiday week. While the rest of the world is looking at the Passion in one way, I choose to look at it in another way. I choose to look at the Passion of Life itself, and how it is always at the rush to come through each of us. The only problem is, is that we are too busy with our human lives to allow the Divine Life to come through. So what needs to fall away for the new passionate Life to come through? Believe it or not, the choice is ours.