What would happen if George Costanza was the relevance guy at VeryBigSearchEngine.com. Why then a search for major celebrations during December would likely place Festivus at the very top of the results page and Christmas might not place at all. Now this could be simply because the calendar editor placed the birth of Jesus in August and ignored the tradition of celebrating it in December.

Suppose someone posted an article on the Life of Jesus. The relevance rankings would determine your ability to find it using a search service. These rankings are conditioned by the search algorithms, some group’s doctrine concerning reliable sources and of course the quality of the subject article. The essay may not even be indexed depending on the editor’s attitude towards religion or the editorial policies of the search service provider. 

A large thesaurus could contain tens of thousands of synonyms and hundreds of thousands of cross references. And, while one would think the content of an article would itself be the primary relevance factor; naming, tagging and formatting also affect placement in search results to varying degrees. It very much depends on the person authoring, packaging, and submitting the article. 

Jesus touched on this with the question: “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

In the days before its Declaration of Independence in what is now the United States, Edmond Burke wrote a Report to King George. He described the colonist’s ability to recognize an ill principle in this way. “Here they anticipate the evil and judge the pressure of the evil by the badness of the principle. They honor misgovernment from a distance and snuff out the approach of tyranny in every tainted breeze.” 

Clearly the “tainted breeze” in our day, and throughout our world, is that of the special interest that would eclipse or discount the interests of average citizens. It was the unmitigated selfishness of those living high while demanding increased revenue that brought the global economy to the edge of oblivion in 1929 and 2008. Such individuals should not be seen as somehow more respectable than the person robbing a convenience store; also in the interest of “increased revenue.” In the first case, the revenue supported the pampered executive’s featherbedding, and in the latter case, it was likely used for the most basic elements of survival.

Throughout history, and during our present time, information is power. One of Martin Luther’s greatest challenges was a priesthood insistent on playing the Judeo-Christian scriptures close to the vest. Slaves, in the early United States even found it necessary to hide their bibles. Freedom of the press has always been limited to the guy that owned the press. And today, the question of net-neutrality will be pivotal to future societal evolution.

The Internet will either be free and unfettered, the self-interested will determine what information is conveniently presented to you in accordance with their priorities. Implicit to the consent of the governed is informed consent. Tampering with factual accounts has serious democracy implications. So does the ability to get a handle on information free of someone’s dollar skew. 

We must learn to see beyond individual or institutional attitudes, beyond vestings and bias factors. To the content spewing and trolling broadcaster, if it bleeds it leads. To the next-gen fisher of men, engaged in precisely directed, full duplex narrowcasting, we are inclined to fine tune our offerings. The consumer of information relevant to the Gospel has lots of choices. And consumers of all types are becoming increasingly annoyed by irrelevant stuff that clutters their screens; distractions that are thrown in their faces just when they are trying to focus on the subject at hand.

The avenues of spiritual, intellectual and practical reality merge into the narrow road. That road leads to a door that can only be unlocked with sincerity. And such sincerity is the product of faith that is tempered through experience. It is the Master Key to the Kingdom. 

Where wisdom is clearly lacking; where humility lessons are everywhere, there is new opportunity for those willing to bring a historical perspective and learn from history. It is important to keep the kind of perspective that will support services rendered on behalf of those Jesus called “the least of my brethren.” We are often surprised to discover that so much of what we know today was known by our ancestors. Their grasp of rudimentary chemistry and physics, the taming of fire and the industrial technique of early man suggest a science of sorts. It would appear that a substantial investment was made in pooling the experience of more than one generation. We can draw from an even greater experience, for Our Father in Heaven is the First Source of all Reality.

They will blow any energy density comparison out of the water, lasting anywhere from a decade to 28,000 years without ever needing a charge. 

The nano diamond battery has the potential to totally upend the energy equation.

The graphite is rich in the carbon-14 radioisotope, which undergoes beta decay into nitrogen, releasing an anti-neutrino and a beta decay electron in the process. NDB takes this graphite, purifies it and uses it to create tiny carbon-14 diamonds. The diamond structure acts as a semiconductor and heat sink, collecting the charge and transporting it out. Completely encasing the radioactive carbon-14 diamond is a layer of cheap, non-radioactive, lab-created carbon-12 diamond, which contains the energetic particles, prevents radiation leaks and acts as a super-hard protective and tamper-proof layer.

Consider the Source

 Consider the First Source!

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word choreographed an assembly of amino acids into an exquisite array of specific proteins. Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.” In so doing God demonstrated a penchant for genomic writing, preceeded by an amazing series of prebiotic events, in a highly orchestrated presentation of evolutionary overcontrol.

More about God’s Handiwork!

Ever try throttling back a nuclear power plant? Yeah right! Failing that, what would you do with the excess capacity? Engineers with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) faced these same challenges in the late 1960s.

Their solution was to build TVA’s largest hydroelectric facility on the top of a mountain. What??? No really, the top of the mountain. Construction began in 1970 and was completed in 1978. The Raccoon Mountain project uses excess nuclear capacity for pumping water to a reservoir on top of the mountain.

Then, when demand is high, they can tap the potential of 107 billion gallons of water, held back by a 230 foot high and 8,500 foot long dam, to generate up to 1,616 megawatts of electricity.

What can the homesteader on a hill learn from this example? Could we build home-scale Raccoon Mountains to help in balancing our own electricity generating potentials and demands? Fact is, we could. We have more options than ever before.

With the right combination of solar, wind, and hydro generators, together with a great variety of new battery solutions, we can develop more dependable ways of powering energy efficient home appliances.

In the meantime, that compost pile over there is outgassing. Any ideas?

Consider the Source

 Consider the First Source!

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word choreographed an assembly of amino acids into an exquisite array of specific proteins. Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.” In so doing God demonstrated a penchant for genomic writing, preceeded by an amazing series of prebiotic events, in a highly orchestrated presentation of evolutionary overcontrol.

More about God’s Handiwork!

What if the excess heat produced for a greenhouse was used to heat the soil that’s in the surrounding area? Raised beds could have transparent caps that protect the early plantings from a late frost. I love the way the raised beds in this image have contours.

This is a parable about prayer. It is based upon the 1912 movie Falling Leaves.

5ER is shorthand for The Fifth Epochal Revelation. This article describes five revelations to our planet that are of epochal significance. 5ER refers to The Urantia Book, published by The Urantia Foundation in 1955.

Of course God is still talking. But in the wide range of revelationary literature, only one book is described by its authors as “epochal.” The Urantia Book addresses this in Paper 101, The Real Nature of Religion. It states: “Revelation as an epochal phenomenon is periodic; as a personal human experience it is continuous.”

In Paper 92 the Revelatory Commission further states:

There have been many events of religious revelation but only five of epochal significance. These were as follows:

^{92:4.5 (1007.5)} 1. The Dalamatian teachings. The true concept of the First Source and Center was first promulgated on Urantia by the one hundred corporeal members of Prince Caligastia’s staff. This expanding revelation of Deity went on for more than three hundred thousand years until it was suddenly terminated by the planetary secession and the disruption of the teaching regime. Except for the work of Van, the influence of the Dalamatian revelation was practically lost to the whole world. Even the Nodites had forgotten this truth by the time of Adam’s arrival. Of all who received the teachings of the one hundred, the red men held them longest, but the idea of the Great Spirit was but a hazy concept in Amerindian religion when contact with Christianity greatly clarified and strengthened it.

^{92:4.6 (1007.6)} 2. The Edenic teachings. Adam and Eve again portrayed the concept of the Father of all to the evolutionary peoples. The disruption of the first Eden halted the course of the Adamic revelation before it had ever fully started. But the aborted teachings of Adam were carried on by the Sethite priests, and some of these truths have never been entirely lost to the world. The entire trend of Levantine religious evolution was modified by the teachings of the Sethites. But by 2500 B.C. mankind had largely lost sight of the revelation sponsored in the days of Eden.

^{92:4.7 (1007.7)} 3. Melchizedek of Salem. This emergency Son of Nebadon inaugurated the third revelation of truth on Urantia. The cardinal precepts of his teachings were trust and faith. He taught trust in the omnipotent beneficence of God and proclaimed that faith was the act by which men earned God’s favor. His teachings gradually commingled with the beliefs and practices of various evolutionary religions and finally developed into those theologic systems present on Urantia at the opening of the first millennium after Christ.

^{92:4.8 (1008.1)} 4. Jesus of Nazareth. Christ Michael presented for the fourth time to Urantia the concept of God as the Universal Father, and this teaching has generally persisted ever since. The essence of his teaching was love and service, the loving worship which a creature son voluntarily gives in recognition of, and response to, the loving ministry of God his Father; the freewill service which such creature sons bestow upon their brethren in the joyous realization that in this service they are likewise serving God the Father.

^{92:4.9 (1008.2)} 5. The Urantia Papers. The papers, of which this is one, constitute the most recent presentation of truth to the mortals of Urantia. These papers differ from all previous revelations, for they are not the work of a single universe personality but a composite presentation by many beings. But no revelation short of the attainment of the Universal Father can ever be complete. All other celestial ministrations are no more than partial, transient, and practically adapted to local conditions in time and space. While such admissions as this may possibly detract from the immediate force and authority of all revelations, the time has arrived on Urantia when it is advisable to make such frank statements, even at the risk of weakening the future influence and authority of this, the most recent of the revelations of truth to the mortal races of Urantia.

In the year 2090, America has walled itself off from the rest of the world!

Order The Seclusion at Amazon or browse the list of retail stores at Good Reads.

Listen to the author, Jacqui Castle, discuss and read from her timely new book at the launch party in Asheville, North Carolina. This event occurred on September 4, 2018 at Malaprop’s Bookstore and Cafe.

Introductory Remarks by the Author.

Excerpts – Read by the Author.

More Excerpts – Read by the Author.

Questions and Answers

Read the Reviews.

Kirkus Reviews names The Seclusion as one of “The Best Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Books of September

All the New Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books You Need to Put On Your Radar This Fall

Author Jacqui Castle discusses her debut dystopian novel

Malaprop’s celebrates NC heritage food, explores life behind border walls

The Seclusion is officially available through all major online retailers, and at bookstores nationwide!

One thing is certain. When it comes to protecting our children, there are no easy answers. Sure, we could do a better job of flagging those that are correctly or incorrectly perceived as a danger to themselves and others. Although the powers that be would likely do so with the kind of coercive labeling that may outcast them for life. We could arm our teachers and administrators. That is until such time as one of them, holding a gun, is shot by a uniformed and adrenaline charged police force bursting into a chaotic active shooter situation. Then, of course, there’s always the solution of making it more difficult to obtain guns, as if someone blocked from buying one won’t be able to 3D print one.

We could home school our kids. But just how do we do that without depriving them of healthy socialization challenges? And, on that point, just what is a “healthy” socialization challenge? Our schools clearly have other problems. There are the mean kids whose chief delight is bullying the most awkward, socially challenged, or vulnerable of their peers. There are teachers that are fond of saying “There is no such thing as a stupid question.” Then, a small percentage of these very same teachers give condescending answers in ways that embarrass or shame a student before their classmates.

There are parents, so marginalized through a lack of education, a loss of legal standing, or some other impediment to participation, that they fail their kids in ways not thoroughly understood. There is a counterfeit wisdom that pervades the judiciaries, the legislatures, and the executive mansions. It is one that angers our youth while also offending the finely tuned hypocrisy detector that is an integral part of the critical thinking skillset essential to the process of education. We have taught our children well. And we can be assured that, when they call BS, it is because the Emperor has no clothes and that the prostituting politician is a BS artist first and foremost.

By contrast, statesmanship demands that the problem solver is precisely focused on mitigating the causes and not just the effects. Joseph Malin’s 1895 poem, The Ambulance Down in the Valley, underscores the kind of shortsightedness that costs lives. There’s no shortage of politicians advocating for the inclusion of anyone, who suffers from any form of mental disharmony, in a database that is designed to operate at the core of, what is in essence, a sophisticated shunning system. These same politicians have not come to grips with the fact that their efforts to gut every promising health care initiative, one that might even chance to include comprehensive mental health services, weakens the fence at the top of the cliff.

During the dark ages human knowledge and most of its derivatives were largely under the control of other retardant forces, at that time operating in the name of an institutionalized church. During the enlightenment, a great humanity began to view the fresh flow of information as trifurcated. Facts, meanings, and values as they are effectively streamed through the complementary intellectual disciplines of science, philosophy, and religion are surprisingly synergistic. It became readily apparent, the technique of isolating one’s self from the totality of objective reality is a dead end.

The Humanist Societies of England, as well as Humanist Manifestos One and Two, defined their value proposition as “Religious Humanism.” The secularization hypothesis denies this provable fact and thereby places its own value proposition on a plane of unreality. It resides at the heart of chaos. The faulty belief, that as societies progress through modernization and rationalization, faith loses its authority in all aspects of social life and governance, relies on revisionist history and a definition of religion that betrays the reality of its etymology as well as the great majority of contemporary use cases.

The term religion stems from the Latin religiō, meaning conscientiousness. Regina Westcott-Wieman, in her 1935 book Normative Psychology of Religion, wrote “The characteristics of religious behavior find their differentia in the basic definition of religion: Religion is devotion to what one holds to be supremely worthful not only for himself but for all human living. As has been pointed out, the two elements which persist and stand out strongly are devotion and supreme value. Where religion is genuine, we shall find these two elements in the functioning relationship between the devotee and his operative situation.”

As the term is used today one can be religious about auditing their bank statement, washing their car, and clipping their toenails. To the secularist and the materialist, religion refers almost exclusively to a stained glass faith. Although, it is only the religion of final value that asks the question “Is there a God? And, if so, what is my relationship with this God?” Whether or not one embraces a religion of final value, religion is the domain of values and the substance of goodness. The religionist advocates something.

The intellectual disciplines feature a triune relationship that is indissolubly linked. This intellectual triad has been knocked off balance, in the minds of some, through the attempted transformation of our society away from close identification and affiliation with religious values. True religion is always personal and always positive. Materialistic counselors that fail to recognize this fact are self-limiting to the point where they can offer very little of value or be, for that matter, truly effective.

The remedies we often depend upon are not only half baked, they are half baked without leavening. They fail to differentiate between gravity laden physical realities and the uplifting value of spiritual realities.   The brain is an electrochemical mechanism. The mind is en-circuited on a higher level. It is a spiritual endowment that precisely interfaces with a healthy material brain. Whether one’s concept of spirituality refers to the collective consciousness of a great humanity, or it places its faith in an approachable God, the Latin term spīritus, refers to an activating and breath imparting force.

When spiritual growth is stunted, maladjustment occurs. Emotional cascades are often the result of rumination which focuses attention upon the symptoms of one’s distress. This may be accompanied by a fixation on the possible causes and consequences, as opposed to the search for a solution. Often one becomes self-loathing or directs their hatred towards others. At this juncture certain cognitive distortions may also come into play such as dwelling on the negatives and disqualifying anything positive. A de-facto preference for faulty perception could result with what psychometrician Renée Grinnell described as leading to systematized delusions constructed to protect the coherence of a single central delusion.

A unified personality is dominated by love and that promotes a fermentation of those things that serve to nourish the soul. A loving person tends to cultivate an appreciation for the enduring value of individual advancement in one’s self as well as one’s friends. The qualities of a spiritual person include loving service, enthusiastic appreciation, enduring peace, forgiving tolerance, sincere fairness, unfailing goodness, courageous loyalty, merciful ministry, unselfish devotion, undying hope, confiding trust, and enlightened honesty.

Just why do you suppose such a predictable array of positive qualities presents whenever spiritual growth occurs? Could it be that such a maturing individual is exhibiting an affinity for the same golden rule that is embraced by each of the world’s major religions? How would you like to be treated? True wisdom is not dependent upon a stagnant collection of negative injunctions. It is rather, continually refreshed through experiential growth complemented by a series of positive admonitions.

Health, mental health, is always dependent upon continual growth. Such growth may occur independent of intellectual understanding, philosophic acumen, social level, cultural status, or other acquirements. But it must be conversant with reality. Accordingly, growing individuals inevitably seek to align themselves with their highest and best understanding of reality. Such trueing only takes place in light of actual conditions. For only then can an individual become the arbiter of their own destiny and become effective in improving those conditions.

When politicians are focused upon funding their next campaign, they turn their attention to special interests while catering to their every indulgence. A self-serving, money grubbing politician exemplifies all that is wrong within a seriously diseased system of governance. As with any cancer, such interstitial malignancies must be excised if altruistic service, in the form of true statesmanship, is ever to take hold.

As we examine causes and effects, it becomes abundantly clear that there is no positive change in the absence of that spiritual idealism that serves to advance an individual or group from one level of attainment to the next. At the heart of true statesmanship is a fervent desire to serve a greater good. The true leader must be service motivated. The statesman is occupied exclusively with the highest and best interests of a broad constituency. By this means, he or she becomes a remedy for a variety of concerns, an emissary of social uplift, and a leavening that serves to inspire the next generation of leaders.

— by Robert H. Kalk
© 2018 Used by Permission

Our cabin fever is soon to break and, as our minds turn to thoughts of spring, these hills are very much alive with the sound of music. Julie Andrews taught us the “Do-Re-Mi” song as children. If we can understand that, we’ve already learned the basics of an Appalachian tradition akin to what was carried by the circuit riding singers and preachers of the early 1800’s. It is known as either sacred harp or shaped note singing where the “harp” is the voice you were given at birth.

In shaped note music notation, each interval of the standard musical scale has a different name and shape. It’s easy to memorize the shapes and the intervals they represent which makes old time music more accessible, while its enthusiasts are more agile, able to sing and read music in any key.

The late Quay Smathers was born in 1913, just west of Asheville. He is remembered as a fine example pointing to the lasting legacy of shape note singing. Family and friends recall that Smathers exuded a warmth through his music. One reminisced “It’s as if each note came with a flickering tongue of the Holy Spirit . . .”

This spring, on April 14, 2018, the Quay Smathers Memorial Singing School will hold its third annual gathering in Clyde, North Carolina devoted to carrying on Quay’s work of raising up shaped-note singers. The school teaches using The Christian Harmony songbook. This book, published in 1866, featured additional notation that effectively upgraded the “fa so la” system of four syllables and introduced the seven-syllable “do re mi” system that is used throughout Western North Carolina. The Seattle Voice Lab is where one can go to get help with their voice training.

It is for those who long to sing in the traditional style, originally heard throughout the Blue Ridge mountains.
The singing school is taught by leaders in the Blue Ridge style of shaped-note singing. The faculty includes Quay’s daughters as well as his son-in-law. They will be joined by the Christian Harmony Singers. Those who attend will gain a deeper understanding of the sacred harp tradition plus a proficiency in singing shaped-notes as they were originally sung in the Southern Appalachians.

Consider the Source

 Consider the First Source!

When we align our objectives with the Divine will, when we strive for the attainment of a worthy goal, when we begin our work with a well defined plan, and when we have ability to work together with others effectively, we have already achieved the trajectory for success. For we know that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Learn how to enjoy boundless opportunity and unlimited progress!

“Gazing past the planets, looking for total view.”  With this lyric from the popular sixties album To Our Children’s Children’s Children, a Moody Blues tribute band opens a unique celebration of creation spirituality with the Jubilee Community  in downtown Asheville, North Carolina. It was on a warm night in late May last year, that Jubilee hosted the debut performance of The Lost Chord. And the band would sing on. “Wonders of a lifetime, right there before your eyes.”

Mike Parvin attended the Friday night gathering and said “At the end of the concert I found myself standing, applauding and cheering this band.” I then realized that I was also standing, applauding and cheering the sounds and songs of the Moody Blues. This is what a tribute band is for – celebration! Were they good? Yes. Did they succeed? Yes…YES!”

The group performs in and around Asheville carrying a message that resonates with the Jubilants as well as anyone else looking for a brand of spirituality that is a bit more cosmic in scope. To contact the band visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/thelostchordmoodybluestribute/

While a Sunday morning celebration within Jubilee’s diverse community draws liberally from the Judeo-Christian scriptures for inspiration, participants might also enjoy insights from the Beatles or Dylan. At times the congregation is held, enraptured, by the sound of a Buddhist bowl. At other times they will engage with a highly versatile house band that offers a little something of everything, from Bach to Zulu. For any newcomer, it quickly becomes apparent the Jubilants are a wildly independent lot. But, when it’s time for celebration they are all in, just as they were admonished to be as the Moody Blues and the Lost Chord sang “Baby there’s no price upon your head, sing it, shout it!”

“Eighty percent of what we do is music” according to Howard Hanger. It was this same Reverend Hanger who, in May of 1984, commenced a gathering of creative people to develop an artistic interpretation of eight “Seeds of Celebration.” The group shared stories, songs, dance, poetry, paintings, and other expressions in a highly interactive, participatory way. From these humble beginnings the Jubilee Community was born.

From the time of its inception, Jubilee has enjoyed the support of area Baptist, Buddhist, Jewish, Methodist, Episcopal, Unitarian-Universalist, and United Church of Christ congregations. It has borrowed from these traditions together with Sufi, Native American and others while fostering a “Creation Spirituality” that honors all of creation as a “Holy Gift.” Among the many affirming messages displayed within Jubilee’s Earth friendly building is the statement that “Diversity of faith enriches our community.”

During the thirteenth century Thomas Aquinas wrote “We can and do relate to the universe as a whole since we are a microcosm of that macrocosm and this relationship “intoxicates” us.” Jubilant’s clearly believe that Aquinas was on to something. While this way of thinking is, perhaps, as old as humanity, it may have been best articulated in text that a scribe in ancient Egypt produced as a legacy for his son. The Instruction of Amenemope dates back to the the Ramesside Period, during which the tribes of Israel first became a unified nation. For anyone who tends to view our universe of universes in a creation spirituality context, there is one line from this text that sort of jumps out at you:

“For from the greatness and the beauty of created things their original author, by analogy, is seen.”

Pastor Hanger describes a personal awakening of sorts in this way: “I studied under Margaret Mead. She was an anthropologist.” He goes on to say: “One of the things that turned my head around when I was twenty years old was when she said “Go to any archeological site, anyplace in the world, and one of the first things you will find are sacred artifacts. We’ve always sought to connect with that which we do not understand.”” At that point Hanger recalls that he thought to himself “Yes, yes! That’s it, that’s it, that’s it! Were yearning for that.”

“So that’s really what we try to do at Jubilee We don’t try to give anybody any answers. But, we try to open them up to ask better questions about their life, about life on this planet.” Hanger goes on to say “Music is . . . We all know it’s a social lubricant. But I say it’s a spiritual lubricant too. It gets you out of your set kind of ways of thinking and being. It opens the door to other possibilities.”

“The whole western church is built on music.” Hanger said. “The only reason we have Bach is because he was hired by a church and he had to write all these things. And so, music is crucial, absolutely crucial in Jubilee. Many people are attracted to Jubilee because of the the music. It offers such variety.”

At one point in our interview, Pastor Hanger described the way he came into possession of a Buddhist bowl saying “A guy at Jubilee had a store, called Far Away Place. He told me “I want to give you a Buddhist bowl, but you’ve got to come in and let it pick you.” So I go to his store and he says “Now shut your eyes and I’m going to start playing them and you’ll know when it’s your bowl. You’ll just know that.” So I’m thinking, ok, I can play this game. I close my eyes and he plays fifteen or twenty of them and I’m like, this is not working. I’m getting kind of embarrassed, you know, for him. And he tells me “Just keep on, your bowl may not even be here.”

Hanger continues: “So he gets one, gets one, gets one and then, all of a sudden I said “That’s it!” Well, I don’t know. It sounded like all the other bowls, but there was something about it, the overtones that just, whew! And so, maybe the tone of that just spoke to me, cut through the crowd. That’s the bowl we use on Sunday. I don’t know if it speaks to the other people there, but it gets me there.” He said.

Pastor Hanger is in awe of the musical talent at Jubilee “We have wonderful drummers.” He said. “And there’s something about that drum. I’m a big student of ritual and, as far as we know, our first human ritual was done with drum and dance. That was our first connection to the Spirit world.” Jubilee’s schedule of celebrations is available on their website at www.JubileeCommunity.org and they will host an International Conference on Creation Spirituality in April.

In a world of competing ideas we are each searching for answers. And, there is no shortage of people with good ideas they hope will go viral, folks who sincerely believe their idea is the one whose time has come. Even so, there are many highly diversified groups like these, composed of people thoroughly jazzed by diversity and what now appears to be a new unification of contrasts, people who seem to value spiritual unity over any form of theological uniformity.

They have brought a powerful contagion into our midst. It is through this enthusiasm (en-theos), that they are truly united as they strive to be ever more responsive to the Divine leading that brings us together. Some will hum along as they find resonance in the cosmos and each other. Some will sway as they share the sound of singing bowls. Still others will raise their voices heavenward in a full throated expression of gratitude. When all is said and done, it is the common quest of searchers that make us a house undivided for, and far beyond, itself. “I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed.”

Consider the Source

 Consider the First Source!

When we align our objectives with the Divine will, when we strive for the attainment of a worthy goal, when we begin our work with a well defined plan, and when we have ability to work together with others effectively, we have already achieved the trajectory for success. For we know that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Learn how to enjoy boundless opportunity and unlimited progress!