Celebrate Your Harvest

Fall is a beautiful time of the year.  The leaves are changing into beautiful reds and yellows, and the cotton blooms are bursting and ready to be harvested.

Some folks may be saddened that the weather is turning colder and we are looking at at barer landscape. But in Exodus 23:16 it states that we should "Celebrate the Festival  of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field."

We should celebrate the opportunity to rest after our hard work.

In Exodus the fourth commandment reads "Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy.  Six days you shall labor and do all  your work.  But the seventh day is a Sabbath  to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work..."

In Webster the word Sabbath means "a time of rest."  A Sabbath, then, is a period of cessation from effort in order to rest and relax for the purpose of gathering strength and power for a new period of activity.

In the natural  world, the period of rest allows all forces of nature to gather strength for a new burst of activity.  In our physical bodies, which are so closely connected to the natural realm, a period of rest enables our cells to store up reserve energy.  Mentally,  a period of rest becomes a time of peace and quiet, enabling  our minds to indulge in  reflection on the things of the Spirit. This spiritual infilling is absolutely crucial in all cycles of normal growth of the individual.

In every demonstration, there must be resting periods, times of cessation from outer activity, while one dwells in complete trust on God and on the operation of His absolute laws.

In the New Testament we find many instances showing us how Jesus was consistent with the idea in this commandment in making his great demonstrations.  He would go apart to pray, and after such a period  of infilling, he would move through a period of intense activity of teaching and healing; then he would go apart to rest while. He would pray, work, rest, then repeat the cycle.

Celebrate this time of rest for we are renewing physically, mentally,  emotionally and spiritually for our rebirth.  As Spring brings us a burst  of activity in nature; we, too, will burst forth feeling renewed and rejuvenated so that we may do God's good works.

Namaste!

Living Love-Centered

Valentine's Day is next week and all around us are candies, flowers and hearts.  It is a day to celebrate
Love!  But we don't need a special day to celebrate Love, we can celebrate Love or live Love-centered everyday!

Jesus' two commandments were Love-centered: "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all you mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment.  And second is equally important: 'Love you neighbor as yourself.' All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments." (Matthew 22: 37 - 40)  In John 13:34 - 35 Jesus said " So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples."

Jesus lived Love-centered.  He may have had disagreements with others, but he Loved All.  He even got into trouble with the Jewish leaders because he did not discriminate his Love to others.  When we live Love-centered, our decisions and actions are Love-centered.  We choose to love, not hate; we choose to help, not hurt; we choose to live in faith, not in fear.  Not only does this effect us, but it effects are all  around us. We are changing the race consciousness when we live Love-centered - one person at a time.

Let us begin each day connecting to  the Divine  within each of us; connecting to the Love, connecting to
the "Kingdom of God...".   As we go through our day, we express love, effecting all around us.

Live Love-Centered each day, not just for one day in February. Let's change the world!!

Namaste