May 2011 - Spring into Vision

Four week series on Visioning; an essential spiritual practice, inspired by The Life Visioning Kit, by Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith D.D. from Sounds True, www.soundstrue.com

May 1 – What is Seeking to Emerge in My Life?

This is the opening Sunday talk in our Spring into Vision series, which will establish a visioning practice for our community members in four weeks of Sacred Circles. See our website for details on the Sacred Circles beginning the week of May 1, 2011.

We will explore the inspired work of Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith’s “Four Stages of Spiritual Evolution” as well as some of the differences between Visioning and visualization. Discovering the power of allowing God to inspire us from within, instead of telling God what to do for us, affects a beautiful transformation in consciousness. We open ourselves to receive the highest intention for our lives, and ask the following question in several different ways: what is spirit’s intention for my life? What must be birthed in me now? What is seeking to emerge in my life?

May 8 – Letting Go of the Lesser

To embody our best life, a life of fulfillment, we must release the limitations that hold us back. It is so obvious, one of those simple but often not easy admonitions to achieve. In our Visioning practice this week we focus on letting go of those beliefs, habits and traits that keep us in the smallness of our past. Manifester consciousness is the second stage of spiritual evolution and we will explore how to use the tools of affirmative prayer, visualization and affirmations to let go of the lesser to attain the greater…

May 15 – Becoming a Channel for the Divine

This Sunday we explore a mature state of spiritual evolution, called stage three in the Life Visioning Kit by Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith. In stage three we maintain intention and surrender to that which wants to express itself through us. We become a channel and an instrument for a level of good that’s beyond our wildest imagination. This is the crux of our entire spiritual journey – to discover, activate and express our unique gifts and become a beneficial presence on the planet.

At the beginning this can feel inflating to the personality as it cannot help but identify with the power and presence that flows through, and can claim it as its own. However, as we progress, a dawning sense of ordinariness, or of how spirit in all its magnificence, is flowing through all alike. There is nothing special about it, or about being the channel. We have reached the zone of effortless expression in giving our gifts to life. We recognize the innate perfection in events, people and circumstances. This is the Tao.

May 22 – Being Consciousness

Guest musician: Chase Arevalo

“A human being is a part of the whole called by us 'the universe,' a part of limited time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest — a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us ... Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of understanding and compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. “ ~ Albert Einstein

This Sunday we present the final talk in the Visioning series. We will explore fourth stage soul evolution which is a non-dual (or oneness) state of awareness. Great sages, saints, and avatars have described this state for us and we will draw our inspiration from them. Attaining this level of awareness is very rare in the human experience but we each can be inspired and uplifted by the reports of those who have experienced it.

The teachings of the Science of Mind are based on a non-dual experience of reality and are a practical application of oneness in our daily lives.

May 29 – Celebrating Vision with Rev. Deborah Gay

This Sunday we will enjoy a talk by Rev. Deborah Gay, who was part of the interim ministry team in Olympia from 2006 to 2010. She will share with us her experience of visioning, visioning as a spiritual practice, and her experience of the Center for Spiritual Living - Olympia.

A special celebratory potluck after the service will allow each of us to share with Rev. Deborah.