|
Welcome to OneLife Ministries. This site is designed to lead you prayerfully into a heart experience of Divine Presence, Who is Love. While it focuses on Christian teaching, I hope persons of varied faiths will find inspiration here. Indeed, "God" can be whatever image helps us trust in the Sacred, by whatever means Grace touches us each. Please share this ministry with others, and please return soon. There is a new offering daily. And to be placed on the daily OneLife email list, to request notifications of new writings or submit prayer requests, write to briankwilcox@yahoo.com .
Blessings,
Brian Kenneth Wilcox MDiv, MFT, PhD
Interspiritual Pastor-Teacher, Author, Workshop Leader,
Spiritual Counselor, and Chaplain.
Scripture
Now I tell you to love each other, as I have loved you.
*John 15.12, CEV
Affirmation
Love is flowing through me to the world.
Spiritual Teaching
Richard and Mary-Alice Jaffola, in The Quest: A Journey of Spiritual Rediscovery, has a segment titled “Even Scrooge Learned to Love.” I share this section with you.
Scrooge, the protagonist of Dickens' classic tale A Christmas Carol, was an unloving, mean-spirited, unfeeling, cruel, utterly distasteful man who was completely unloved and, ostensibly, unlovable. He hoarded everything, not giving of himself, his feelings, or his possessions.
However, when he finally was forced to recognize his greater self, he made a complete turnaround. He began loving everyone and found such joy in giving to and helping others that his life took on new significance. Although his love was not immediately reciprocated, he was so caught up in releasing the love that he had, that it didn't matter if anyone loved him in return. It didn't stop him nor did it discourage him from loving.
Scrooge felt good, not because he felt loved, people were too suspicious of his motive to love him. He felt good simply because he loved. Suddenly, Scrooge loved loving! The very act of loving others was satisfaction for him.
In this wonderful novel and this extraordinary character, Dickens has communicated the great lesson of love: Love is not a commodity that we can acquire and hoard. Love can only be released.
The Jaffola's share an important question, to remind us of this releasing: “The real question is not, 'How may I get more love?' It is, 'How can I express more of the love that I already have?'”
Responding
A practice in feeling the joy of releasing and receiving love, I offer you this exercise of meditation. First, go into your usual meditation posture and preparation by calming down through your breathing.
The heart center is the area often associated with love. After getting relaxed, let your awareness-energy gather in the heart area. Breathing in and out, repeat silently the following: in-breath, I AM; out-breath, LOVE. Remind yourself on the in-breath that you are a cell in the Body of God, the Universal Ground of everything seen and unseen – thus, your I AM is part of the I AM called by many names. On the out-breath, be aware that LOVE is an attribute flowing into you, into all existence, from the I AM. Continue this exercise, allowing the sensation of LOVE to move through your body.
Now, move to the second stage of this exercise. While meditating, allow your mind to move into the past, to scenes in which you received LOVE. See each situation, each face, ... Be aware that this is the I AM LOVE. Do this as long as you wish.
In this third stage, let your mind move, while you keep with the meditation, to the past, and scenes in which you shared LOVING. See each situation, the faces, … Be aware that this is the I AM LOVE. Do this as long as you wish.
Last, come slowly out of the meditation. Say a prayer, before getting up.
* * *
*OneLife Ministries is a ministry of Brian Kenneth Wilcox, SW Florida. Brian lives a vowed life and with his two dogs, Bandit Ty and St. Francis, with friends and under a vow of simplicity. Brian is an ecumenical-interspiritual leader, who chooses not to identify with any group, and renounces all titles of sacredness that some would apply to him, but seeks to be open to how Christ manifests in the diversity of Christian denominations and varied religious-spiritual traditions. He affirms that all spiritual paths lead ultimately back to Jesus Christ. He is Senior Chaplain for the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, Punta Gorda, FL.
*Brian welcomes responses to his writings or submission of prayer requests at briankwilcox@yahoo.com . Also, Brian is on Facebook: search Brian Kenneth Wilcox.
*Contact the above email to book Brian for preaching, Spiritual Direction, retreats, workshops, animal blessing services, house blessings, or other spiritual requests. You can order his book An Ache for Union from major booksellers.
|
