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Archive for the ‘Good Morning’ Category

Our Father

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on August 21, 2012| Leave a Comment »

            This simple statement fixes clearly the nature and character of God. It tells all that man needs to know about God, and about himself, and about his neighbor. Oliver Wendell Holmes said: “My religion is summed up in the first two words of the Lord’s Prayer.”
“Our Father.”In this clause Jesus lays down once and for all that relationship between God and man is that of father and child. This eliminates any possibility that the Deity could be the relentless and cruel tyrant. The majority of men and women are at their best in dealing with their children. Speaking of the same truth elsewhere, Jesus said:
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?(Matthew 7:11).
As we spend the next few days examining the Lord’s Prayer, please keep in mind that “Our Father” desires that we have life and have it abundantly. If we are to please God, we should rejoice and be glad in each day. Praying is the best way to live in that way, and our Father will ensure our gladness if we commune with him.
Today, we can all rejoice that the creator of the universe is our loving Father who will ensure our best good if we abide in his will. And, whatever difficulty we face, God will turn it into a blessing if we follow his way.
Thank you Father,
Z gardener

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The Imprisoned Splendor

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on August 15, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Truth is within ourselves; it takes no rise
From outward things, whate’er you may believe.
There is an inmost center in us all,
Where truth abides in fullness; and around,
Wall upon wall, the gross flesh it in,
This perfect, clear perception—which is truth.
A baffling and perverting carnal mesh
Binds it, and makes all error; and to know,
Rather consists in opening out a way
Whence the imprisoned splendour may escape,
Than in effecting entry for a light
Supposed to be without.
—Robert Browning, “Paracelsus.” Part I
…Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (John 8:32).
Father, let the light that you placed within us; shine in on us and out on others so that darkness is swallowed up in its radiance. And let that light guide our paths to the Eden waiting on us. As within, so without.
Shining on,
Z gardener

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Blessing and Cursing

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on August 14, 2012| 4 Comments »

Life is a reflex of mental states. As far as you are concerned, the character that things will bear will be the character that you first impress upon them. Bless a thing and it will bless you. Curse it and it will curse you. If you put your condemnation upon anything in life, it will hit back at you and hurt you. If you bless any situation, it has no power to hurt you, and even if it is troublesome for a time it will gradually fade out.
Bless your body. If there is anything wrong with a particular organ, bless that organ. Bless your home. Bless your business. Bless your associates. Turn any seeming enemies into friends by blessing them. Bless the climate. Bless the town, and the state, and the country.
Bless a thing and it will bless you.
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11).
So, who wants to bless a cold, a stumped toe or major hurts and challenges in our lives. Probably not very many of us want to bless negative situations. Neither do we really want to forgive those who wrong us or threaten us. Yet, that is exactly what the Bible proscribes as the required response.
In all  this writer’s experience, blessings things always led to more blessings, and cursing things led to more cursing. We may not feel like blessing a thing or person. But we should ask ourselves, “would we prefer more blessings or more curses?”.
Now which do we want more of; the choice is ours. 
Choosing blessings,
Z gardener

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Let God Have Your Burden

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on August 13, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Once you have contacted the Power within, and have allowed it to take over your responsibilities for you, it will direct and govern all your affairs from the greatest to the least without mistakes. The government shall be upon his shoulder. You are tired, and driven, and worried, and weak, and ill, and depressed, because you have been trying to carry the government upon your own shoulder; the burden is too much for you, and you have broken down under it.
Now, immediately you hand over yourself-government, that is, the burden of making a living, or of healing your body, or erasing your mistakes, to the Child. He, the Tireless One, The All-Powerful, the All Wise, the All Resourceful, assumes it with joy; and your difficulties have seen the beginning of the end.
Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee… (Psalm 55:22).
Oh, what wonderful news! Our heavenly Father walks with us, waiting to carry our burdens. Ever present in times of trouble and fear, God is there to help and to lift us. When we have fallen, when we hurt or when we fail, God is there to pick us up and share our load. He is there whispering, “lean on me when your not strong and I’ll be your friend. I’ll help you carry on.”
Leaning on God,
Z gardener

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The Lost Corot

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on August 10, 2012| Leave a Comment »

There is a quaint old legend that is firmly believed in the artists’ colony in Paris. It appears that many years ago a poor struggling artist was so hard up that he did not have even enough money to buy a piece of canvas upon which to paint what he felt sure would be a masterpiece. Going along the quays he saw an old daub selling for a few sous, frame included. It was supposed to represent Napoleon III in full dress uniform, and doubtless had adorned some wall in the days of the Second Empire. That artist decided that he could clean off the picture and use the canvas for his own work.
Arrived home, he proceeded to remove Napoleon III, not a difficult task, and to his astonishment found that there was another picture underneath. The last artist had not even removed the original but simply worked over it. When the last traces of Napoleon III had disappeared, the student was amazed to discover what looked to him like a very fine Corot. Of course, his days of poverty were ended.
Whether this story be truth or fable, it is a perfect allegory of the nature of man as we know him. Outside we find the “marred image” showing limitation, sin, sickness, and inharmony—the unskilled daub; but underneath is the masterwork of the Great Artist, and our prayers act by clearing away the false accretions—the “many inventions” of the carnal mind—that the already existing Truth and harmony may appear.
Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions (Ecclesiastes 7:29).
God did make mankind upright, yet we chose to separate ourselves from God. All of our “many inventions” that we call sin result from that separation. When we reunite with God in thought, prayer and obedience, all the marred images are wiped away and our true nature can again manifest communion with God. Then, in harmony with God once again, we can return to that Eden in which we were created to live with God.
Cleaning the canvas,
Z gardener

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The Law of Growth

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on August 8, 2012| Leave a Comment »

             What you think upon grows. This is an Eastern maxim, and it sums up neatly the greatest and most fundamental of all the laws of mind.
Whatever you allow to occupy your mind you magnify in your own life. Whether the subject of your thought be good or bad, the law works and the condition grows. Any subject that you keep out of your mind tends to diminish in your life, because what you do not use atrophies.
The more you think about your grievances or the injustices that you have suffered, the more such trials will you continue to receive; the more you think of the good fortune you have had, the more good fortune will come to you.
This is the basic, fundamental, all-inclusive law of mind, and actually all psychological and metaphysical teaching is little more than commentary upon this.
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things…. (Philippians 4:8).
                What are we growing in our gardens? That which occupies our thoughts and feelings. How many times a day do we think about our blessings, our joys and our successes? Do we stop and think about the life-giving breaths we take, a good night’s sleep or being surrounded by friends and loved ones. How about the world’s beauty, our intellect or the many times we are saved from harm each day.
While we also must think upon certain unpleasant or tragic circumstances, even in the face of worst case scenarios, we can still cultivate a garden that grows hope, peace and joy by thinking on them. So today, let us focus our thoughts on the good things in life. And, take a moment to share those thoughts with those who may be struggling under the weight of pain and loss that are a part of every existence. Then our gardens will bloom with truth, goodness, honesty, purity, love and virtue. It is the law.
Planting love,
Z gardener

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The Dual Law of Thought

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on August 7, 2012| Leave a Comment »

                       Every thought is made up of two factors, knowledge and feeling. A thought consists of a piece of knowledge with a charge of feeling, and it is the feeling alone that gives power to the thought. No matter how important or magnificent the knowledge content may be, if there is no feeling attached to it nothing will happen. On the other hand, no matter how unimportant or insignificant the knowledge content may be, if there is a large charge of feeling something will happen.
It makes no difference whether the knowledge content is correct or not as long as you believe it to be correct. Remember that it is what we really believe that matters. A report about something may be quite untrue, but if you believe it, it has the same effect upon you as if it were true; and that effect again will depend upon the quantity of feeling attached to it.
When we understand this law we see the importance of accepting the truth with joy in every phase of our experience.
Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy…(Psalm 16:11).
What we believe and what we feel shapes the reality we experience. Everyone has had that feeling of falling while dozing off. Of course, we are not falling, but we experience falling as if it were real. Think about that for a moment. Now, think about the parable of the mustard seed. If faith the size of a mustard seed can move a mountain, surely our beliefs can effect our reality in many ways. That is why it is called the “law” of thought. What we believe always affects what we perceive. That is why so much importance is placed on our faith (that which we believe about God). It is what determines our relationship with God and with the world God created. That’s the law.
We must be discerning about what we allow ourselves to believe. Once we determine the truth (such as the laws we have been discussing), then we must decide whether to believe them or not. To believe is not to accept a fact or truth. To believe is to act upon those facts as if they were true. For instance, if we accept the truth of the “dual law of thought”, we would change our behavior and priorities to reflect that truth. If our behavior does not change, then we must re-examine if we really believe it to be true.
Believing and perceiving,
Z gardener

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Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on August 6, 2012| Leave a Comment »

The Law of Forgiveness
             It is an unbreakable mental law that you have to forgive others if you want to demonstrate over your difficulties and to make any real spiritual progress.
The vital importance of forgiveness may not be obvious at first sight, but you may be sure that it is not by chance that every great spiritual teacher from Jess Christ downward has insisted so strongly upon it.
You must forgive injuries, not just in words, or as a matter of form, but in your heart—and that is the long and the short of it. You do this, not for the other person’s sake, but for your own sake.
Resentment, condemnation, anger, desire to see someone punished are things that rot your soul. Such things fasten your troubles to you with rivets. They fetter you to many other problems that actually have nothing whatever to do with the original grievances themselves.
Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing; but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing(1 Peter 3: 9).
Now this is a really tough one, but there is no way around this law if we are to live in the Eden God created for us. And, hard as it is, the rewards are exponentially greater than the cost. When we forgive, we free ourselves of the offense, our reaction to it and the negative fallout that results from it.
Today, we can begin a life of forgiveness. We can lay down all the hurts, the injustices and unfairness of life. We can trade in the hurt, anger and resentment for healing, peace and reconciliation.
Brothers and sisters, let us drop our backpacks weighed down with the baggage of unforgiving, so we can run freely in the light; instead of trudging wearily in the dark.
Running freely,
Z gardener

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The Law of Practice

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on August 3, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Practice makes perfect. This familiar proverb embodies one of the great laws of human nature and—being a law—it is never under any circumstances broken.
There is simply no achievement without practice and the more practice, provided it is done intelligently, the greater will the proficiency be and the sooner will it be attained. It is true in every conceivable branch of human endeavor. Practice is the price of proficiency.
In metaphysics the effects of this law are particularly striking. Thought control is entirely a matter of intelligent practice. And true religion may well be summed up as the Practice of the Presence of God.
…be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only…(James 1:22).
As a popular commercial sez. “Just do it!”
Perfecting through practice,
Z gardener

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The Law of Subconscious Activity

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on August 2, 2012| Leave a Comment »

                        As soon as the subconscious mind accepts any idea, it immediately begins trying to put it into effect. It uses all its resources (and these are far greater than is commonly supposed) to that end. It uses every bit of knowledge that you have ever collected, most of which you have totally forgotten, to bring about its purpose. It mobilizes the many mental powers that you possess, most of which you never consciously use. It draws on the unlimited energy of the mind. It lines up all the laws of nature as they operate both inside and outside of you, to get its way.
Sometimes it succeeds in its purpose immediately. Sometimes it takes a little time, sometimes it takes a long time; but if the thing is not utterly impossible, the subconscious will bring it about—once it accepts the idea.
This law is true for both good and bad ideas. This law, when used negatively, brings sickness, trouble, and failure; and when used positively, brings healing, freedom, and success. We give the orders—the subconscious does the work.
…his secret is with the righteous (Proverbs 3:32).
So, we must be very careful of those which we accept and send to the sub-conscious for acceptance. We must be sure of the validity accompanying our observations and experiences that lead us to accept something. To be 100 % sure of this validity, all we need to do is compare these observations and experience to the truths revealed by God.
Some things that feel bad are good for us, while some things that feel good are really bad for us. The way to know the difference is to trust God’s word. When we accept those truths, then we can know with certainty that we are feeding the right things to our subconscious and that it is working out things for our best good.
Accepting good,
Z gardener

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