Peace is Here and Now, so Be Here Now

The topic for today is Here and Now.

It’s about the perfect stillness, peace, and silence at the center of all being.

Reminder:  Silence is not the absence of noise, although that helps.  It's not in a particular location, although 

It’s something inside – and available all the time in all places

A friend told me her favorite place to practice the Silence is at airports – everyone caught up, late, rushing, and multiple announcements competing for attention.

She walks, mindfully, slowly, serenely, unhurriedly taking conscious note of any tendency her body has to tense up and comes back to the quiet presence within.

Reminded me that we can’t always have the perfect outer environment and that ought not to always stand in the way of inner peace.

What knocks you off your Center?

I was having a conversation with a friend whom I love.

And as she was talking I realized, 

I hadn’t heard the last five sentences

I was anxiously going over a distressing situation that had happened

While I was reviewing multiple possible outcomes

And I missed the beautiful things she was saying.

Instead I was using my mind for negative visualizations.

Which has the effect of kicking my brain into fight/flight mode

Releasing stress hormones into my body

Elevating anxiety, loss of focus, reduction in motivation

My blessings to you,

What knocks you off your Center?

And what do you do to get back?

Rev. Edward Viljoen, DD (hon.)
Spiritual Leader

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A moment of peace for our nation and our world.

In this week's virtual service, Dr. Edward shares a meditation from Science of Mind about peace as the power at the heart of the Divine. To see this week's video on YouTube and to meet Dr. Edward's new family member, click this link.

Peace Is the Power at the Heart of God

My peace is found at the heart of God. The heart of God, for me, is found at the very center of my being. It does not matter how closely the confusion of the outer world presses against me, I am not even disturbed by the confusion in my immediate environment. I know that the only way to counteract confusion is to bring peace into play. "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you." These words of assurance stay with me, and I hear them re-echoing in the depths of my being.

I surrender all of my fears-those nameless fears which have beset me for such a long time, dulling my pleasure and clouding with misery and apprehension all of my days. I am now through with fear. What, indeed, is there for a divine and immortal being to fear. Certainly not people, for as I am a divine and immortal being, so is every person, and every person is my family. I recognize the one Life Principle, working in and through and inspiring the motives of everyone I contact.

My Peace Is Found at the Heart of God

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The Miracle is You, with Rev. Cynthia James

There are spiritual codes within you that help you remember, and our work is to decipher them to live a thriving life.  Rev. Cynthia James, a guest speaker at the Center, helps us to remember what a miracle you are.

To see the video below on YouTube, click here.

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Cultivate the Light

Light plays such an important role in human ceremony, whether a candle on a cake, or in a candelabra in a Kwanzaa celebration, or a fire in the darkness to celebrate the winter solstice, or a flame lit on a menorah to commemorate a miracle, light has marked occasions of human significance time began… and still do.

Try this: Light a candle every morning and for five minutes be still and look at it.  In your mind state firmly “There is a bright, luminous, magnificent light at the Center of my being, I did not create it, it creates me, I did not turn it on, I recognize it and through its brightness, I see the truth and walk the path that is mine to walk on."

Or Try this, next zoom meeting you have… Light a candle and notice the difference. Next time you have a meal - Light a candle, and notice the difference.  Next time you meditate and notice the difference.  

Or you can even light a candle next time you feel sad, lonely, disconnected, or hopeless

I do, because it reminds me of Spirit.  Try it and notice the difference. 

To see this week's video on YouTube, click here.

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Preparing the Way, an Optimistic View of Our Future as a Spiritual Community

I’m extremely optimistic about our future because there is a backlog of people like you and me
who love each other and long to connect, hug, commune, and be together…and we will have that again.

I’m extremely optimistic about our future because of the pandemic we now know things
that we never knew before. We now know that yes, we can adapt, connect in new ways, and evolve quickly and learn fast.

And what we knew before has been strengthened…now we know the value of community
like we never knew it before. We now know how important it is for us to get up, dress up, get out, connect, share, argue, interact, hug, laugh, cry, mourn and celebrate together.

I’m extremely optimistic about our future because I know that the consciousness I develop and reside in shapes the future for me, for each other, for the world. I’m extremely optimistic about our future because there is power for Good in the universe and we can use it. Indeed we are using it right now in a constructive, creative, powerful way, to imagine a post pandemic community reality where we are together again.

To see this week's video on YouTube, click here

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Welcoming the Shadow and Shining the Light

Whether you do so in a brightly lit garden, or the dark of midnight on Solstice Eve, or a Channukah, Christmas, or Kwanzaa celebration, or somewhere else, take a moment in this Holy Season to pause and imagine a light in and around you that you did not create, but that shines as a permanent reminder of what lives in you.

To see this week's video on YouTube, click here.

INVITATION TO YOU BELOW THE VIDEO

Join more than 500 million people from an array of faith traditions and philosophies, across seven continents, meditating simultaneously on DECEMBER 31, 2020.

The gatherings begin at precisely the same moment all around the world in all the many languages, to pray in the ways of their own traditions.

Here's how to join: 

Time: 12:00 p.m. UTC/GMT
(4:00 a.m. PST, 5:00 a.m. MST, 6:00 a.m. CST, 7:00 a.m. EST)
To determine your local time, visit https://www.timeanddate.com/time/map/
Date: December 31, 2020
Locations: Wherever you are …


You, your families, and friends are invited to join the Heart of Peace Committee Members online Zoom


Meeting HERE.
https://csl.zoom.us/j/97891890353

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Reclaiming Time to Think, with Edward and Kevin Viljoen

This week's message is inspired by Margaret Wheatley's book, Turning to One Another, Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future. Did you know that you can order our recommended books of the month through our Stepping Stones Books and Gifts?  You can.  We'll mail the book to you, or you can arrange for a curbside pickup.  Of course, you could order from one of the giant online stores, or you can support our local Center bookstore!  We'd love that.  It's in keeping with the idea of turning to one another, I think. 

The chapter assigned for this week is about reclaiming time to think.  Thinking is one of the powerful, creative powers we humans have, and in an increasingly fast-paced society, time to think is something we have to mindfully, and consciously choose.  No one, Margaret Wheatley suggests, is going to carve the time out for us.  We get to do that for ourselves, and when we do, from our thinking comes creative solutions, new ideas, and the inspiration we need to live a thriving life.  

Don't be surprised though, if you encounter resistance to taking time to think. The resistance shows up in ourselves in the same way we sometimes resist starting a new diet or exercise plan, and, it shows up in those around us who prefer to keep things exactly the way they have always been, because thinking creates, changes, and inspires.

To see this week's message on YouTube, click here

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What Do I Believe About Others?

Today's message is brought to us by Dr. Edward Viljoen, from 2019, in a message addressing how we shall communicate with people who have conclusions about how life works that are radically different from yours.

To see this week's video on YouTube, click this link.

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