A.R.E. Meeting for 12/22/14

Leader: John (for Cindi)

The group read up to Chapter 27 of Exodus.

A.R.E. Meeting for 12/15/14

Leader:  Cindi

After reading chapters from Exodus in the Bible last week, we turned to Cayce’s Story of the Bible this week. Cindi determined we could read up to page 136 to catch up, but we only made it to “A Discussion” on page 126.

A.R.E. Meeting for 12/8/14

Leader:  Cindi

After going over our homework assignments, we started reading Exodus from the Bible, going through at least Chapter 8. Next week we will try to read the equivalent from Cayce’s Story of the Bible. 

A.R.E. Meeting for 12/1/14

Leader:  Cindi

We read Chapter 8 from Edgar Cayce’s Story of the Bible about Joesph. Next week we start the Exodus. 

A.R.E. Meeting for 11/24/14

Leader:  John

We did not read in Edgar Cayce’s Story of the Bible. Instead we read Chapters 37 through 50 in Genesis (the story of Joseph). 

A.R.E. Meeting for 11/17/14

Leader:  John

We read chapters in Genesis from the late 20’s to the mid 30’s to correspond with the Cayce book. In Edgar Cayce’s Story of the Bible we read up to Chapter 8 (Joseph: Forerunner of the Christ) on page 109.

A.R.E. Meeting for 11/10/14

Leader: John

Thanks to the brave entities that showed up in inclement weather, we are now up to page 102 (Jacob’s First Born) in Edgar Cayce’s Story of the Bible.

A.R.E. Meeting for 11/3/14

Leader:  John

In Edgar Cayce’s Story of the Bible, we started Chapter 7 (Abraham, Issac, Jacob) and read up to page 97 (Abraham and Issac: The Sacrifice). Our group has no discipline.

A.R.E. Meeting for 10/27/14

Leader:  John (for Eric)

In Edgar Cayce’s Story of the Bible, we finished Chapter 6, and are ready to begin Chapter 7 (Abraham, Issac, Jacob) on page 81. There was no discussion of a discipline.

A.R.E. Meeting for 10/20/14

Leader:  Eric

In Edgar Cayce’s Story of the Bible, we read up to page 75, right after the first reading (281-4) at the top of the page. There was no discussion of a discipline.

A.R.E.Meeting for 10/13/14

Leader: Nancy

At the meeting, we got to page 68, the family of Japeth.  We did not pick a discipline. 

A.R.E. Meeting for 10/6/14

Leader:  Nancy (for Eric)

In Edgar Cayce’s Story of the Bible, we read up to page 59, and are ready to start Chapter 5.

We have an experiment, and if I understood correctly, we are to think about the choices we make each day. We constantly have to make decisions and should consciously think about why we make the choices we do.

A.R.E. Meeting for 9/29/14

Leader:  Martinaya

In Edgar Cayce’s Story of the Bible, we got two more pages read, going from page 48 to page 50. We are at the start of the section “The Vocations of Man.”

A.R.E. Meeting for 9/22/14

Leader:  Martinaya

In Edgar Cayce’s Story of the Bible, we read up to the paragraph after the first reading on page 48.

A.R.E. Meeting for 9/15/14

Leader:  Martinaya

In Edgar Cayce’s Story of the Bible, we read two whole pages to make it out of Chapter 3. We are now on page 43, ready to start Chapter 4.

A.R.E. Meeting for 9/8/14

Leader:  Martinaya

In Edgar Cayce’s Story of the Bible, we read to the middle of page 40, stopping at the section “The First Adam and the Last Adam.”

A.R.E. Meeting for 8/25/14

Leader:  Greg

In Edgar Cayce’s Story of the Bible, we finished Chapter 2, and started Chapter 3, reaching the top of page 37. Thanks to Cindi for the guided “mindful” meditation from Robert Blond, and to Eric for the Edgar Cayce timeline of events.

A.R.E. Meeting for 8/18/14

Leader:  Greg

In Edgar Cayce’s Story of the Bible, we are still in Chapter 2, still in the section titled “A Soul Group,” and now at the top of page 33. We had a lot of discussion on the creation of souls, whether Adam was an individual or a group of souls, and how Adam’s “helpmeet” came about.

Understanding Soul and Spirit

We had a discussion in our study group about the differences between soul and spirit, and although I thought I could describe the differences, when I see Cayce say "body, mind, and spirit" and then other time say "body, mind, and soul," I'm not so sure. Here is an article that may help.

Understanding Soul and Spirit

By John Van Auken
From: http://www.edgarcayce.org/ps2/soul_life_soul_spirit.html

From Edgar Cayce’s deep attunement to the Universal Consciousness, he saw a clear distinction between spirit and soul; something most of us do not see. Cayce felt that it would be “best that these be classified, that these be not misunderstood in their relations one to another.” Let’s consider these two aspects of our being, which are so often overshadowed by our physical aspect.

According to Cayce, spirit is the life force, the élan vital that animates life. He said, “Spirit is the spark, or portion of the Divine that is in every entity.” But spirit is not just a force. It is a consciousness with individualness, though not nearly as individual as we are in our physical condition. Jesus tells the woman at the well that “God is a spirit, and seeks same to worship Him,” a call for us to get into our spirit if we would really connect with God.

According to Cayce, our spirit self is, has been, and always will be “before the throne of God.” It is perfect, unblemished, made in the image of Elohim, as recorded in Genesis 1. Cayce says that it is “a thing apart from anything earthy,” and does not descend into the realms of Earth unless we lift ourselves up to it and connect with it. Even then, it remains shielded from earthly influences.

That “spark” Cayce spoke of is the light and life of mind, or consciousness. Within the one, universal, collective mind of God are infinite points of consciousness, spirits like the Great Spirit. The consciousness of our spirit is the superconscious, a level of consciousness that is nearly indistinguishable from God’s consciousness. Psalm 82 expresses the situation in the spirit realm this way: “God stands in the congregation of God; He judges among the gods”; and later, “You are gods, sons of the Most High.” It’s important to realize that these “sons” are spirits, not bodies; male and female energies are combined. As Jesus explained, “In heaven there is neither marriage nor giving in marriage.”

The phrase the congregation of God reflects how intimately connected the godlings are to their Creator. This collective nature of the Creator is also expressed in the use of the plural word Elohim for the name of God. The Creator includes all of life; nothing exists outside of the Whole. Fascinatingly, the author of Genesis changes the name of God in the second chapter to Yahweh Elohim, which most English Bibles translate as “Lord God.” It is this aspect of God that creates our soul self, different from the spirit self that Elohim made in Genesis 1:26. Yahweh Elohim forms us from the dust of the ground and breathes the breath of life into us, and we become living souls (Genesis 2:7).

SOUL

Cayce sees soul as the developing portion of our whole nature. It is ever changing, growing, and learning, and uses free will to explore, create, test, discover, and more. Soul is the ultimate companion to the Creator; a true companion, because it has the free will to choose to be a companion  or not. The soul is also uniquely able to bridge the gulf between the spirit realms and the physical realms, between our divine, godly self and our earthly self. The mind of the soul is the subconscious. It may operate independently of the Collective Consciousness of the Creator. (At least, it is allowed to think it does. After all, there is no way to actually be outside of the Whole.) Or, it may act in harmony and conscious at-one-ment with the Collective Consciousness.

“Q: Mr. Cayce, what is the soul of a body? A: That which the Maker gave to every entity or individual in the beginning, and which is seeking the home again or place of the Maker. All souls were created in the beginning, and are finding their way back to whence they came. Q: Where does the soul go when fully developed? A: To its Maker.”

From Cayce’s perspective, “the study of subconscious, subliminal, psychic, soul forces, is and should be the great study for the human family. Through self man will understand his Maker when he understands his relationship to his Maker. He will only understand that through himself. What one thinks continually, they become; what one cherishes in their heart and mind they make a part of the pulsation of their heart, through their own blood cells, and build in their own physical, that which his spirit and soul must feed upon.”

I found Cayce’s comments on death and communicating with the dead to be helpful in understanding spirit and soul. For example, consider this reading: “When the soul passes from the physical body, the subconscious mind, which never forgets, is then as the sensuous mind of the soul body; the spirit or superconscious mind” becomes “the subconscious” of the soul. While incarnate, the sensuous mind is what we call the conscious mind. But after death or, for that matter, even during sleep (for Cayce says, “sleep is a shadow of death”), the active mind becomes the soul’s mind, the subconscious.

“Q: Is it possible for this body, Edgar Cayce, in this state to communicate with anyone who has passed into the spirit world? A: The spirit of all that have passed from the physical plane remain about the plane until their development carries them onward or are returned [reincarnated] for their development here. When they are in the plane of communication or remain within this sphere, any may be communicated with. There are thousands about us here at present.” That’s an unsettling thought, isn’t it? But the key point here is the phases of development that may lead us back into incarnate life or on beyond this sphere altogether and out of the reach of communication. I remember a reading he gave to Mort Blumenthal in which Mort was regularly communicating with his deceased father through his dreams. On one occasion, Cayce informed Mort that his father had actually moved beyond this world, but Mort could still use the dream image of his father as a symbol for good advice. In another reading for Mort, Cayce explained that the waxen figures Mort had seen in one of his deeper dreams were the remnant casings left behind by entities that had moved beyond this world and the realms around it.

EXPERIENCING SOUL

A few years ago I decided to follow Cayce’s example and try to get into a deep attunement to the Universal Consciousness to better understand the difference between my soul and me. Over a period of a month I came to “feel” (that’s the best word I can use to describe how the knowing or understanding came to me) what the difference was. It was paradoxically a significant difference, and yet these two aspects of myself were very, very close to one another. One morning as I was awaking from a dream, I experienced firsthand the difference between my outer self and my soul self. I’ve shared this many times, but it seems appropriate to repeat here.

I was dreaming a fascinating dream. As I came closer to waking consciousness, I realized how full my bladder was and decided to go empty it, then come back to bed and process the dream. Of course, when I returned to bed, the dream was gone. I had absolutely no recollection of its content. As I lay there, wondering how this could be possible, the dream content returned! At that very moment I knew I had slipped back into my soul-self, my subconscious, and there was the dream. So subtle was the veil between my inner and outer self that I did not notice when I moved from one to the other. Yet, so opaque was the veil that I could not see back through it to my dreaming soul-mind. That was a great breakthrough for me. From that day on I worked at developing my ability to distinguish when I was shifting from conscious self to subconscious self, from earthly person to soul. But I also wanted to know firsthand the difference between my soul self and my spirit.

EXPERIENCING SPIRIT

A Cayce reading explaining the biblical book of the Revelation helped me understand the nature of our spirit. In his explanation Cayce noted that twice in the revelation the disciple John saw an angel appear, whom he bowed down to worship. But the angel would have none of this, saying, “Do not do that. I am one of your brothers in this work. Worship God.” Cayce explained that that godly-looking being, that angel, was in fact the spirit-self of Peter, who had promised John that he would endeavor to contact him after his demise. If we could see one another in our true spirit-self, we would appear so godly that we would bow down and worship. Yet, our spirit-self would retain enough of its individualness to speak to and guide us, as Peter did to John. Amazing, isn’t it? Of course, it is just this kind of talk that gets the evangelical Christians upset with us. We are saying that some aspect of us is in the image and likeness of God and is a godling within the one Most High God. The subtle but key point here is that we are not saying that we are God. Rather, we are a portion of God, our Creator. Cayce put it this way for Mort: “Know that not only God is God, but self is a part of that Oneness.”

In my effort to personally experience my spirit self, I used the methods and maps that Cayce gave for going from physical consciousness through dimensions of consciousness to spiritual consciousness. I published an article on this in Venture Inward several years ago, subsequently wrote a book about it (Spiritual Breakthrough), and later wrote an illustrated manual (Passage in Consciousness). By practicing these methods I did experience what I perceived to be superconsciousness, a level of consciousness in proximity to or in oneness with God’s Universal Consciousness. During these sessions, which can be compared to deep meditation, I at times retained a sense of individualness while in the collective, universal condition. But at other times, I lost all sense of individualness  and only after attempting to regain a sense of myself did I realize that I had lost individual consciousness, which caused me some concern about this practice. However, Cayce reassuringly explained to the practitioners he guided that they would indeed lose consciousness at times but that if they kept practicing, they would ultimately maintain semi-consciousness or even full consciousness during the transitions into the higher states of consciousness.

For me, it was as if my consciousness turned off a gravitational force that somehow maintained selfness, allowing my mind to slip into an infinite vacuum  much like the difference between a contained planetary atmosphere and infinite, airless outer space. I assume this is what the Eastern seekers mean by entering “the Void.”

Miraculously, I was somehow able to turn the gravitational force of self-consciousness back on and recompose myself in a relatively sane and Earth-relevant condition. But, as so many near-death-experience people report, once having touched the dimensions beyond this world, you are never quite the same.

Some sessions contained imagery  beautiful, ethereal imagery. But some sessions were simply a matter of feeling a shift from individual, finite perception to universal, infinite awareness. Some sessions were quite energizing, invigorating, and inspiring; while other sessions were as still, quiet, and lifeless as death. Coming out of one of these death-like sessions required long transition times before normal consciousness and physical activity could be regained. It could take me from twenty minutes to two days to get back to my normal self again, depending, I suppose, on many factors, including how much I really wanted or needed to get back to my normal self.

The effects of these practice sessions were profound. Though I still had my daily personal issues to deal with  my weaknesses and strengths, and certainly my karma  I always felt that I had seen the other side of the mountain. Therefore, nothing could keep me from knowing that all was going to work out well in the end, despite how hard or disappointing the journey might be now. Paradise did exist. I knew it firsthand.

Stuart Dean, the manager of A.R.E.’s Study Group department, had a similar experience. He explained that he simply wanted to attune to the Source, had about ten different ways to describe that, but decided to just ask God to do it for him. And He did. Dean described what happened.

“I immediately found myself in a beautiful place, right next to the Light and Presence of God, where we are all living traces of His movement, yet still Him in essence. We are ourselves, yet also Him. I could feel it! All unique, but still Him. We all were open both to God and to connecting with each other, and there was nothing else except this! This was prior to inner and outer worlds, prior to space and time, prior to existence itself! This is the place where there are no limits, where peace is not yet disturbed, where surrender is natural, and where our life is wholly our relatedness to each other and to God. Then it came to me that these are our spirits, as opposed to our souls, which grow and develop. As spirits, we are eternally young, perfect, innocent, and happy. We are completely light and completely love. I felt like the first generation of the Sons of God, and that we still are, at our core, these spirits ‘around the Throne.’ Creative energies before creation; with feelings of perfect willingness to cooperate with every other spirit, knowing that we are all units of One Love.

“I have always felt fairly close to my soul, but I never thought I would actually connect with my spirit. Now that I have, I can hardly get over how childlike and unafraid my spirit is, and how perfectly open it is to other people, recognizing them as Pure Selves, like itself. This is like having a little piece of God with me all the time.”

I think this is the distinctive difference between the spirit and the soul. The soul is on a journey with many twists and turns in the road of life. But the spirit is high above the road, overarching it from beginning to end, and knows the peace that passes understanding, the contentment that is never shaken, the Paradise that is ours to enjoy forever. The great thing about this is that we may experience the Paradise while still on the road! The flesh is heavy and weak, but the spirit is willing and waiting. With a few simple techniques, a longing heart, and trust in God’s promise to meet us if we seek Him/Her, we can take a break from the often lonesome road and enter into “the congregation of God.”

A.R.E. Meeting for 8/11/14

Leader:  Greg

In Edgar Cayce’s Story of the Bible, we are in Chapter 2 in the section titled “A Soul Group,” at the top of page 29.

A.R.E. Meeting for 8/4/14

Leader:  Greg

In Edgar Cayce’s Story of the Bible, we finished Chapter 1, and are up to page 22 in Chapter 2, at the section “Adam.”

A.R.E. Meeting for 7/28/14

Leader:  Sylvia

In Edgar Cayce’s Story of the Bible, we are in Chapter 1, at the top of page 11 and the section “The Six Days of Creation.”

One discussion we had was whether man was higher or lower than the angels. The answer is as follows:

For a man is a little lower than the angels, yet was made that he might become the companion of the Creative Forces; and thus was given--in the breath of life--the individual soul, the stamp of approval as it were of the Creator; with the ability to know itself to be itself, and to make itself, as one with the Creative Forces--irrespective of other influences.

           Reading 1456-1

A.R.E. Meeting for 7/21/14

Leader:  Sylvia

In Edgar Cayce’s Story of the Bible, we finished the Introduction and started Chapter 1, making it up to page 5, and the section “And Dry Land Appeared.”

For an experiment, we will reflect on the following Cayce reading:

For the universe, God, is within. Thou are His. Thy communion with the cosmic forces of nature, thy communion with thy Creator, is thy birthright! Be satisfied with nothing less than walking with Him. 1297-1

A.R.E. Meeting for 7/14/14

Leader:  Sylvia

We started our new project: Edgar Cayce’s Story of the Bible. We read the Foreword, Preface, and reached to the top of page xix in the Introduction. It was suggested that we finish reading the Introduction on our own during the week.

In lieu of an Experiment, it was suggested we read the Bible (particularly Genesis) or record our dreams during the week.

A.R.E. Meeting for 7/7/14

Leader:  Sylvia

We finished reading the chapter on “Spirit” in the Experiment book and are thus finished with SFG Book 2. Next week we will start on Edgar Cayce’s Story of the Bible. In the meantime, pick one of the last two experiments for the week, like this one:

Put concern and love for people first in your life. Try being with people and really enjoying their company and the sharing and love which is possible in being together.

A.R.E. Meeting for 6/30/14

Leader:  Bob

We finished reading the chapter on “Spirit” in the SFG book. We also read one more section in the Experiments book (to the middle of page 145), and the experiment is:

Observe how you think and speak about this country and its leaders. Take responsibility yourself for living more fully some of the ideals upon which the nation was founded.

A.R.E. Meeting for 6/23/14

Leader:  Sylvia (for Bob)

Due to a lot of discussion on the experiments, and a brief audio from Gregg Braden on receiving through prayer, we only got one section read in the Experiments book. We are currently near the top of page 144, and the experiment is:

Use the first few minutes of each new day to get started with the right consciousness.

A.R.E. Meeting for 6/16/14

Leader:  Bob

We caught up with our reading in the Experiments book for the “Spirit” chapter by reading four sections from page 137 to the midpoint of page 143. Pick any one of the experiments, like this one:

Make it a discipline as many times as you can throughout the day to remember your real self. Take note of your free will. Continually try to move yourself from living as if you were in a dream to living as if you were truly conscious.

A.R.E. Meeting for 6/9/14

Leader:  Bob

We started the last chapter in the SFG book on “Spirit,” and read four sections. Next week we will start with the section titled “Time, Space and Patience.”  In the Experiments book, we read one section, and can work the following experiment:

Be alert for signs of the spirit of our changing times. Try to act and think in such a way that you cooperate with and help to build a new world. Be especially aware of how to talk to others about the challenges and difficulties of the times. Let your words bespeak the consciousness of hope.

A.R.E. Meeting for 6/2/14

Leader:  Bob

We listened to Elsie Sechrist discuss happiness, but we did not get any further in our reading of the Experiments book, so we have a homework assignment to read the last two sections to finish the Happiness chapter, and pick an experiment. If you happen to choose the last experiment, then you’ll:

Make special efforts to sow seeds of good in the lives of others. Do not be concerned whether or not you will be around to observe the results.

A.R.E. Meeting for 5/19/14

Leader:  Marsha

We read two more sections in the Experiments book (to the bottom of page 131) and you can choose to do one of those two experiments, like this one:

Observe the moments in which you let the turmoils and uneasiness of these times get to you. It may be the hectic pace or the continual state of things changing. Whenever you begin to feel troubled or tense that certain things may be blocked which you feel you need to get done, then use the affirmation: "If God needs me to get this thing done, He will provide the means." Let the affirmation lift you to a new attitude of faith, trust and happiness about your life.

A.R.E. Meeting for 5/12/14

Leader:  Marsha

In the SFG book, we finished the chapter on “Happiness.” We read two sections in the Experiments book (to the middle of page 129) and you can pick to do one of those two experiments, like this one:

Work with an attitude of surrender in relation to the various people in your life whom you love. Grant them (by your words and your actions) a sense of freedom to grow in the way they think best. Put their relations with themselves before their relationship with you.

A.R.E. Meeting for 5/5/14

Leader:  Marsha

We started the chapter on Happiness. In the SFG book, we read the first section (What is Happiness?) and about half of the second section (Who are Happy?). We also read the first section in the Experiments book and will work on this one for the week:

Bring God into the happy moments of your life. During the day, when you have periods of feeling happy, remember the role that God is always playing in your life. With this recognition and remembrance, or with the words of a short prayer, be thankful.

A.R.E. Meeting for 4/28/14

Leader:  Cindi

We listened to Elsie Sechrist speak on wisdom, and read the last two sections in the Experiments book to close out the Wisdom chapter. Next week we start on Happiness. In the meantime, pick one of the last two experiments in the Experiments book. The last one seems a little more difficult and says:

 Where in your life have you honestly explored your capabilities and discovered the boundaries or limits which are unique to you (e.g., in physical exercise, areas of intellectual study, capabilities in your work, talent and skill in the home, etc.)? For those areas where you know of the boundaries which are now best for you, try living within them as best you can without any sense of inadequacy, self-criticism or comparison with others.

A.R.E. Meeting for 4/21/14

Leader:  Cindi

We finished reading the Wisdom chapter in the SFG book, and read two more sections in the Experiments book.  You can do the experiment on pages 121 or 122. If you choose the one on page 122, it is thus:

Make only those decisions which need to be made today. If you find yourself worrying about a future decision, try to reorient your attitude. Trust that when the time comes when you really will have to choose, then you will know what to do. Pray that experience and necessary guidance will be shown to you between now and the time you have to decide.

A.R.E. Meeting for 4/14/14

Leader:  Cindi

We read two more sections in the Experiments book.  You can do the experiment on page 119 or 120. If you choose the one on page 119, it is thus:

With you thoughts bring God and your spiritual ideal into one area which you may have thought was too trivial or too human for His concern. One way to do this is simply to have short periods of prayer while you are involved in that activity.

A.R.E. Meeting for 4/7/14

Leader:  Cindi

We finished the Knowledge chapter in the Experiments book, and read the first section (Introduction) of the Wisdom chapter in the SFG book. Most of the group wanted to do the last experiment from the Knowledge chapter:

 Consider the relationships in your life about which you have the most knowledge. These are probably ones of trust in which the individuals have been able to share with you deep and important things about themselves. It is likely that they are also the relationships in which you can most easily hurt the other person. For a week make a special effort to be kind – in word and action – to one of these people.

A.R.E. Meeting for 3/31/14

Leader:  John

We read three sections in the Experiments book, through the experiment at the top of page 115. That was the experiment we chose:

 Identify three or four specific groups of which you are a member (e.g., your family, your work group, your study group, your circle of friends). Try to be a leaven to the consciousness and awareness of the group. Through what you say and do help to direct the flow of energies of each group in the most constructive, hopeful way possible.

A.R.E. Meeting for 3/24/14

We read two sections in the Experiments book, up to the middle of page 111. You can choose any experiment, but the one we read that seemed most popular was:

Each day try to find a tempo of acting, thinking and feeling which puts you in touch with the tempo your soul wants to get done what it needs. Use that resultant extra energy which becomes available in a creative way.

A.R.E. Meeting for 3/17/14

Leader:  John

We read one section in the Experiments book, to the middle of page 108, and chose this experiment:

 Make it a discipline to take some time each day to really listen to what is concerning one or two people. You do not have the answer to their questionings. Just express your love through your attention as they open up and share.

A.R.E. Meeting for 3/10/14

Leader:  John

We read through the whole chapter on “Knowledge” in the SFG book. In the Experiments book, we read the first section on pages 105 and 106, and chose its experiment:

 Try spending the first five minutes of your daily meditation period in prayer for others. Use it to orient your mind so that your following period of silence will be more in keeping with an ideal of love and service.

A.R.E. Meeting for 3/3/14

Leader:  John

We finished reading the chapter on ”Glory,” and also the Experiments book. We also listened to Elsie Sechrist talk about Glory. Next week we start the chapter on “Knowledge.” You are free to do any experiment and the last one in the Experiments books for this chapter is:

 Give of yourself and your resources to others without expectation of something back. Find ways to be of loving service to others without their knowing who has been the source or the aid.

A.R.E. Meeting for 2/24/14

Leader:  Martinaya

We read two sections in the SFG book and are up to the last section: “Conclusion.” We read one section in the Experiments book (to the top of page 103), and our experiment is:

 What is some seemingly unrewarded effort you have been making for good—something you have recently been considering giving up? Try for one week just “carrying on” even though it may go against common “practicality” to do so, and see what happens.

A.R.E. Meeting for 2/10/14

Leader:  Martinaya

We did not read from the “Glory” chapter this week in the SFG book. Instead, we caught up in the Experiments book, where we read to the bottom of page 101. The decision was made that everyone should pick their own experiment, and if you chose the last one we read (page 101), it is as follows:

What is something seemingly “evil” or “bad” in the personality or behavior of one person with whom you interact? What is the essence of good—good misapplied or misconstrued—that is in that apparent flaw? Try reinforcing or reflecting the essential good which is there.

A.R.E. Meeting for 2/3/14

Leader:  Martinaya

We started the Chapter on “Glory,” and read two sections in the SFG book (up to “Glory of the Body”) and two sections in the Experiments book.

The experiment for this week is on page 97:

Recognize and respect the unique ways in which people around you are able to serve. Even if you are not directly aided by such service nor are you normally interested in such types of action, notice others in this way. If possible, find ways to reinforce these people with a word of support or appreciation.

A.R.E. Meeting for 1/27/14

Leader:   Greg

We finished the chapter on the “Destiny of the Soul” in both the SFG book and the Experiments book. Next week we should be starting the chapter on “Glory.”

The experiment for this week is on page 90:

If you find yourself being disappointed in conditions or others, change your attitude by using this affirmation: ‘For every apparent disappointment, God has an appointment for me with something greater’ and look for the gift that can come your way with a change of attitude and new receptivity.

A.R.E. Meeting for 1/13/14

Leader:   Greg
Reader:   Greg

We did not read in the “Destiny of the Soul” chapter, so we are still at the “Conclusion.“ In the Experiments book, we read two sections and are at the middle of page 91. The experiment is:

Work on being more sincere in your relationship with others, with God, and with yourself. Be clear about your singleness of purpose in relationships. Demonstrate more clearly to others just what that purpose is.

A.R.E. Meeting for 1/6/14

Leader:   Greg
Reader:   Greg

In the “Destiny of the Soul” chapter, we read one section and are up to the “Conclusion.“ In the Experiments book, we read one section and are down to the bottom of page 88. The experiment is:

Select a resentment you have been holding for something which another person said or did to you. What aspect of your self-image was undermined or called into question by what the person did. As a tool to make forgiveness easier and more natural, do some specific thing to strengthen that particular part of your self-image.