A.R.E. Meeting for 7/24/17

Hello All.  We had an interesting discussion of how owning things can reverse so that the belongings soon seem to own the person, as well as considerations for disposing of them. We questioned where the term "Cross and Crown" may have originated, and how to reframe the situation if treasures are stolen or taken from us unexpectedly.

We read the "Cross and Crown" to the experiment on page 108:

Try the three step approach described on page 108 that leads to Freedom. Select and write down a situation in life in which you feel trapped. Determine and write down an illusory image of yourself or a misconception about life that may have created this situation. Finally, seek to understand and accept the reality or purposefulness that lies beneath this difficulty. Keep a record of your experiences which come from the acceptance of this cross.

We missed you. See you next Monday when we can learn more about the Cross and Crown.

Sylvia

A.R.E. Meeting for 7/17/17

Let's welcome Jim, who once lived in Virginia Beach, and finally discovered Cayce after he moved to California, and has studied Cayce independently for 55 years.  He's ready for discussion with us  now.

Our experiment for the coming week is to consciously practice the presence by preparing ourselves to be in the presence with a reverie. And then consciously holding onto the feelings and awareness of truly being a part of the scheme of things attained in the reverie throughout each day.  This can be done before or after our regular meditation period.

Mark Thurston suggested a reverie such as :

Imagine yourself under a high blue sky on vast grassland where all of mankind is actively building a great cathedral. Everyone is working on a place where all could come to worship and know God.  Each person is to cut and place only one stone in this great effort. So there is no competition among workers. 

You walk to a giant quarry, tools in hand, and mark off the stone that you will cut. With the greatest care and precision you mark off and cut your stone. Its sides are polished smooth. It symbolizes the wholeness and love within your soul. With feelings of anticipation and joy, you pick up your stone.  You have super-human strength and carrying it is not difficult.

You begin your walk toward the building site. All around you are others carrying their stones. Tremendous feelings of brotherhood fill your heart and mind. All of the people are working together with cooperation and joy. All sense the beauty of what they are creating together.

"You arrive at the building site and you find the exact spot where your stone is needed. With great care you put it in place. Then you sit down and have a brief period of prayer. You pray that GOD'S WILL shall direct this common effort of all mankind. And you pray that all will come to the full awareness of his presence."

We discussed how our experiment went:  in sharing with others our experiences of God's working in the earth, and our beliefs and our Spiritual experiences.

Scott is going to check out a group dream experiment and get more information in the event we may want to try it at a future time. We discussed the importance of tests, and adversity to keep us strong.

We missed those of you unable to make it.  See you next Monday!

Ever in Divine Presence,

Sylvia

A.R.E. Meeting for 7/10/17

Our leader for July, Cindi, lead our opening meditation by reading "Seven Gates" by John Van Auken. It is selected text from THE COMING FORTH BY LIGHT, published as The Egyptian Book of the Dead, and published this quarter in the ARE member's magazine Venture Inward. He suggested using it ceremoniously in preparation for meditation, adding other aids, such as bells, incense, candles, and music. Some of you missed a good meeting and meditation, but you can try this preparation for meditation for yourselves at home by reading the magazine article yourself (as I am repeating myself today).

We had an interesting discussion on the last experiment, on whether, how much, when, why we should/should not share our personal experiences of being in the presence and our faith journey; a discussion of connections with and presence within animals and personal beliefs and experiences.

We read in the experiments book the entire page 104  to the ending of our experiment on page 105: 

Be willing to share your awareness of GOD's working in the earth, especially with those who don't have this perspective. Express your feelings to others.  Speak of your own experience, as opposed to lecturing to them about what they ought to believe.  Brief statements are usually best.  Don't be attached to some expectation about how they should respond to your words.  Simply be open and honest about your beliefs.  Trust that a seed is planted by what you do.  Record (1) situations in which you do this, and (2) situations which, in looking back, you realize would have been good opportunities for this kind of sharing.

      

Cindi announced a program upcoming in Denver on Oct. 14th. "After we die:  an exploration of Death, Heaven, Ghosts, and the Souls Journey Beyond Death" presented by author, speaker, psychic, trainer Echo Bodine. Greg gave me her book on her psychic experiences, and lent me his video of her teaching us how to do our own reading. We can be thinking about whether we want to attend this exciting program by a quite good speaker.

  

May I add, I, Sylvia, am so very grateful for each of you. I'm so glad when each of you comes to share sacred space, presence, experiences, and loving healing thoughts, in our common search for meaning in life and greater awareness of the presence of God, within, without, everywhere present. Another member expressed gratitude and happiness to those who came and for coming last night. Speaking for all of us, we hope next Monday you can and will join us at Ruth a Holly Library!

Recognizing the presence,

Sylvia 

A.R.E. Meeting for 7/3/17

Happy Independence Day!

Cindi is back, and as agreed back in the spring, is our leader for the month of July.

We read the remainder of our lesson from the heading "Let Us Remember That Our Guard is Ever In His  Presence." We read to the end of the last section in this lesson.

We also read page 103 in our experiments book from "Thought vibrations go out, words are spoken, deeds are done, and all carry to others their influences and their impressions of our understanding of God" down through our experiment for this week.

Experiment:  Whenever you find yourself talking about another person, speak as if God and the soul of that person were present in that place in the moment.

We discussed our results of our experiment for the week past, as well as our experiment for this week.

See you next week!
Briefly absent from your presence,
Sylvia