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"...
Our Father ... who
art in heaven, Hallowed is thy name. Thy kingdom is come. Thy will be
done, as in heaven, so on earth."
- Words from the
Lord's Prayer attributed to the Master Mind Jesus, Matthew 6:9-10
(modified)
"We get right back to the old thought, so simple yet so direct, and
one of the most exalted concepts the human mind has ever conceived - in
Him (in God) we live, and move, and have our being."
- Ernest Holmes,
Living the Science of Mind (pg. 257)
Our celebration of
and honoring our physical fathers takes nothing away from G-d, and I
want to be clear about this. Every father on Earth has been used
as an instrument of the Spirit to bring forth a greater measure of
Itself into physical form and so we honor our fathers for their role in
revealing more of the Life of G-d in the here and now. And
although this is not the role in which all men are called, it is
nonetheless one to be revered and respected without judgment. Does
this mean that all fathers have chosen this role consciously? Of
course not. But, "Thy will be done," as the Master Mind
Jesus stated, and so all fathers whether consciously choosing the role
or not, are part of the Divine Plan to bring heaven to earth ... in
other words, to manifest more of the Spirit on this plane of existence.
So, congratulations to all the fathers for fulfilling their role, and
happy Father's Day.
His choice of "Our Father" as
the first two words of what we refer to as the "Lord's Prayer"
were deliberately chosen by the Master Mind Jesus to emphasis the Truth
of our relationship with the Divine. These two words, wisely
understood and put into practice, will prevent us from separating
ourselves from G-d and from our Good. To write that these two
words contradict the Christian viewpoint that Jesus is the "only
son of God" would be an understatement. Why would the
"only son of God" refer to G-d as "Our Father" if
this could possibly be true? And so we realize that the Master
Mind Jesus was speaking for all of us, recognizing that the Infinite is
incarnate within each of us ... that we are all a part of G-d. Not
only are we all a "part of G-d" but we are infinitely part of
each other. We have a "sacred" relationship with each
other as infinitely individualized expressions of the One Life, G-d.
And so we realize
that in choosing the words, "Our Father" the enlightened Jesus
was instructing us to realize when we pray that we are all sons and
daughters of the the Most High G-d, and therefore whatever we expect to
receive from G-d must also be available to everyone: "give
"us" this day, "our" daily bread," is evidence
that we are to pray that All may enjoy the same good that we seek.
The genius in the mind of Emerson revealed:
"Prayer that craves a particular commodity,
anything less than all good, is vicious. Prayer is the contemplation of
the facts of life from the highest point of view. It is the soliloquy of
a beholding and jubilant soul. But prayer as a means to effect a private
end is meanness and theft. It supposes dualism and not unity in nature
and consciousness. As soon as the man is at one with God, he will not
beg. He will see in prayer all action."
Our world has
suffered because we have not understood the Truth ... that we are all of
One Father. And even though there are people of differing
religious theologies that believe that there is only "One God"
... few have transcended the race-mind belief in separation and fully
accept that this God is "Our Father" ... the Father of us all.
Instead we have learned to hate and distrust people because of their
race, their religion, their nationality and a myriad of other
"labels" that man has used to deny the Divine in one another.
It is no wonder that people have not realized that the Master Mind
Jesus' call to "love one another" was not something he had on
his "wish list" ... but a spiritual principle.
Jesus was compelled to give us this principle as he knew that as long as
we hold anything against anyone, we are holding something "against
G-d" ... for we are all a part of G-d. And as long as we hold
something "against G-d" we cannot receive the fullness of the
Spirit in our experiences. There will always be that something
missing, a fragment of dis-ease, that only the recognition that we are
One and of One Father, will eliminate.
This is why the
"Golden Rule" has been persistently taught throughout the
ages; The Master Mind Jesus, the renowned Jewish sage and scholar
Hillel, and the great Chinese philosopher Confucius used it to summarize
their ethical teachings: "Do unto others as you would have
others do unto you." We can ask ourselves: "Do I
do unto others as I would have others do unto me?" No one
else knows the answer to this question for us. But let's be honest
with ourselves so that we can align ourselves more perfectly with the
Law of Reciprocity and eliminate the nonsense that negates our good.
AND
SO IT IS!
Keep
the faith!
Rev.
Dr. Henry Lee Bates
Visit Rev. Bates BLOG: Living
the Science of Mind
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Bates on the Radio
