Spiritual Awareness

As a Reiki III Master I have practice positive healing energies on both myself and others for many year but the Spiritual awareness class had made me aware of other channels of energy as well and how to work with them.  Often what appeared at first to be heath issues has turned out to be negative energies draining the body that are being sent by others.  Thus now I cleanse the negative energies before I even start to use healing energies, often this alone restores health to the body. When I find this the case then I teach the person to do this for themselves for if we have enemies they continue sending us these negative energies as long as they have them their selves and want to blame others for it.  Using the system taught in this class I have coupled it with a positive energy of love to aid the negative person to gain healing too if they so choose.  I find seldom does the negative energy stop by just telling it to stop thus I send back what they have received and triple it if necessary so they feel the pain the are sending but then I place a crown of thorns around that individual where the thick energy is trapped from being sent out again but then I go a step forward and send an energy of white light and love through the thorns as love energy is light and can move easily and the negative is a heavy, thick energy and cannot pass through the thorns.  Thus for a while the person sending out this negative energy is weakening themselves to the point they must stop sending it out, for it only rebounds and then in the weakened stage they become still and can finally feel the strength of the love energy I am sending to them and thus not only is the person I am working with finds healing the other person does too if they are willing to let go of their anger and do so.  Often these are not bad, mean people but folks who feel trapped in life and cannot find a way out and  thus they find others to blame and send out this pain to them as a sub conscious call for help themselves. This new Spiritual Awareness has served me well and hopefully will do so for the many I am called on to help, as well.  Rev. Linda Francis ******************************* The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button. The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary. Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Prayer

Doctor of Spirituality Mid-Term Essay

      This course on the miracle of prayer has totally changed my view on prayer.  I had always thought that prayer was talking with God but never realized that prayer is also a way we show love to God and how God shows love to us.  I did not realize that we have free will to listen to God, but at some point we will all listen to God.  The revelation of love was something totally new to me.  I thought that this section would explain what love is but could not explain the meaning of love and used the analogy of breathing as why love could not be loved.  Learning that love is all-encompassing and that there is no opposite of love really shocked me since I think it terms of opposite like good/evil, wealthy/poor, etc.  I learned that we cannot have any fear if we are to show true love.  Any self-doubt and/or fear takes away from any true love we try to show.

    The way that God is described is a new concept of God to me.  I grew up in a non-denominational Christian family and had a pretty traditional of God.  To me, God looked like us, was punishing, and to be feared.  Like a lot of people, I also thought there was a heaven and hell.  Heaven was where the good people went to be with God and the bad people would spend eternity in Hell.  The concept of God being all love and all encompassing was a radically different way to look at God.  I liked how the love of God is described as pure, perfect, abundant, changeless, limitless, indestructible, joy, and peace.  Before taking this course, I never had considered myself a son of God, but now I do.  Also, I never considered Gods purpose for me which is to extend love.  I have always lived life the way I wanted to and if I didn't spread love, I didn't care.  I didn't even care if I had spread hate or other ill-will with other people.  Now I know that God's love is all-encompassing and that I need to spread it around this planet.

      The blood sacrifices in Lesson 3 got me thinking quite a bit.  How and why would God need blood sacrifices to atone for sins?  This lesson answered these questions by telling me that blood sacrifice was a human invention.  Before this lesson, I thought that God had already condemned this world for all its transgressions that have occurred and God would punish us all.  I had never considered the fact that God has already forgiven us.  The fact that this course has altered my thinking about is great because now I think that God is a loving and merciful God.  I liked how Jesus was used in the course on how perfect innocence cannot be destroyed because perfect innocence is indestructible which gave Jesus the power to overcome death.  I liked how Jesus is described as a son of God, like us, and not part of God, unlike some Christian sects who say Jesus is part of the Trinity.  Just the fact that Jesus is our brother and will help people bridge the gap between themselves and God is reassuring to me.  I too, have prayed in Jesus name and have not understood why we always said "In Jesus name we pray. Amen."   Now I know that we are calling on the power of God and remembering and calling on Jesus' promises to us.

      In Lesson 4, I learned that I was one of the many people who was using forgiveness to destroy.  I would forgive people for harming me because I felt that they were below or inferior to me.  Also, I would forgive people if they did something in return such as I will forgive you if you stop stealing from me or give back what you have stolen from me.  I have also forgiven people because I felt that they were just like me or were very similar to me and what I had done to others.  I also had used the third type of forgiveness described in this lesson as the martyr.  I would suffer in silence at the hands of other people and then have people look at what I have to go through.  I realize that these types of forgiveness are not true forgiveness because I will be expecting something in return for my forgiveness, will be letting myself still feel guilty about forgiveness, will be self condemning myself, or will be trying to destroy another person.  I never knew that true forgiveness involved mercy from God or help from God.  Also, I never considered that true forgiveness changes us and not the other person with whom we are forgiving.  I also had a real problem with forgiving people who had committed really bad acts or bad behavior.  I remember growing up and being in 6^th grade when a school shooting took place at an elementary school in our school district in Winnetka, IL.  After the shooting happened, the person that had been killed was a person that I had met the night before at a baseball game because his older brother was on my team.  I was unable to forgive the person who did the shooting because of all the harm that it caused the people involved and the community.  The family of the young boy that had been killed was very distraught and was in shambles.  This shooting scared me and robbed me of my peace but have learned in this lesson that I need God to help me forgive myself and the shooter.  Also, I let this shooter rob me of my peace of mind at the time too.  I liked how this lesson teaches how there is no sin and that we have to look through Christ's vision instead and respond with love.  I loved the 3 steps of forgiveness in this lesson too which I am working on incorporating into my life right now.

            The Holy Spirit is a concept that I have always had a problem getting.  I have always been trying to figure out what the Holy Spirit really means to me.  This course has helped a lot because it gives some symbolism of what the Holy Spirit is, such as fire being purification and wind being inspiration.  I realize now that the Holy Spirit can be represented by different symbols.  I liked the section on how the Holy Spirit functions.  I never knew that the Holy Spirit functions as a completion of the redemption of mankind or for healing our mistaken perception.  I learned also that the Holy Spirit is a mediator between our illusions and the truth and also helps us with our separation with God.  I know that there are a lot of illusions that I see and need help seeing God's truth in what is happening.  Also, I know that for myself, I need the Holy Spirit to help me bridge the separation between God and myself since I definitely am not living the Godliest life possible.  I know that the Holy Spirit is teaching me more about love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, honesty, and much more since I am allowing the Holy Spirit to work within me.  As a kid, I was really impatient, angry, hateful, and would flat out lie to people.  As I have gotten older and since taking this course, the Holy Spirit has been teaching me patience, peacefulness, love, and honesty.  I still have a long ways to go and still have a lot of teaching from the Holy Spirit, but I am making good progress.  I definitely need the Holy Spirit in prayer to bridge the separation between myself and God and also for taking up my false thoughts that I have.  During prayer now, I try to be one with God instead of telling God how things need to be done and when to be done.

            In this course, I have also learned what true prayer is.  I grew up thinking that prayer was when I asked something from God and always thought that prayer began with me.  Growing up, I would ask God for many things just like asking Santa Claus to bring me many gifts for Christmas.  I never thought that prayer began with God and is a way of communicating with God and being in communion with God.  Also, I thought that my prayers were often not answered or heard by God because I never received what I had prayed for.  Now I know that prayer is to fix me and my issues and will be done in God's time.  Also, my prayers are heard by God and are also answered by God in his way and most likely the answer isn't what I wanted like a fancy car showing up in my driveway or a lot of money appearing in my bank account.  Substitution is something I also learned too.  I thought that having money or material things would bring me happiness and would often pray for money and material things but realize that I am just substituting things here for real happiness which already exists within me.

            I also learned a lot about the different levels of prayers that we use.  I never had thought about the different types of prayers as being higher or lower than another type of prayer.  I am used to using the prayer of need followed by the prayer of freedom.  I cannot recall using prayer of joining or prayers of humility when communicating with God.  With the prayer of need, I am usually asking God for help with something like helping me deal with my depression or helping someone I know that is dealing with serious illness.  I also was given a thought provoking statement about prayers for our enemies.  I never thought before that considering someone as an enemy was also reinforcing my own guilt and rejecting God since I would be rejecting one of Gods children.  Prayer of freedom is a type of prayer that I have used to help me release guilt that I have over something or to release myself from a self-imposed imprisonment of some kind.  I think I might have used some prayer of joining but not in a positive way.  I have always prayed for God to do this or that to someone who has harmed me in some way.  I now realize that this isn't something that God is going to do to one of his children.  I don't think I have used the prayer of humility because of the fear of letting things go.  For some reason, I have also felt a need to control things or a certain amount of things in my life but I know now that I have to let go and let God do his work with me so I can go do things that will be in love.

            The lesson on the power of prayer was very interesting to me.  I have read in the newspaper and have watched the news where scientific studies have shown to heal people and also increase the life expectancy of people who had strong faith and prayer.  This lesson explained to me why these studies have shown these results.  I had never considered before that each thought that I have produces a chemical reaction in the brain and that the brain does not determine between good and bad thoughts in which to produce these chemical reactions.  I also never thought about taking responsibility for my thoughts and try to change the way I think.  The sections on unanswered prayers struck home with me since I often believed that my prayers were going unanswered but now realize that my prayers are answered but not the way I wanted them to be answered.  I realize that I just maybe afraid to see Gods answer or just not be accepting of God's answer that he has provided to me.

            I liked the section on magic versus miracles since it explained the difference.  I did not realize that magic is an attempt where a person or thing would apparently use super natural powers that were exempted or overruled the laws of the universe whereas miracles appeared within the laws of the universe and are thought to be of divine origin.  I never thought that miracles were all the same.  I thought that one miracle would be greater than another but the lesson taught me the one miracle is no more difficult or harder than another miracle.  I also like how miracles can shift perception.  I could use a shift in perception from my ego's thinking to the Holy Spirits thinking.  This lesson also pointed out the miracles point out the truth and that no illusion can threaten the truth.  This lesson also pointed out that I need to be more miracle ready than I am presently ready for.  Unfortunately, I am still thinking a lot from my ego and would not recognize a miracle right now if one were to happen.

            This course so far has really jolted the way I have thought about prayer and miracles.  I have been inspired by this course to actually start reading the book A Course in Miracles.  So far, I have found this course and the book to be of great help to me and I have found it fascinating on how the book came to be.  This course is a lot easier for me to understand than the book is due to the way it is written.  I have gone to the A Course in Miracles website and now get the newsletter from the Foundation of Inner Peace.  This course has really got me thinking on how I think and pray and have located a study group that deals with A Course in Miracles.  This course is teaching me a lot and I am glad that I am taking it currently and have been incorporating things in the course into my everyday life which has been very helpful with dealing with issues such as depression, relationships, and guilt that I have.  I definitely think this course is well worth the time and effort.

******************** 

 

The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.   As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary. Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar.

Metaphysical Healing

Metaphysical Healing Course Final Essay Rev. Lindsay Baldassano I began this course a few months ago during a time when I was seeking to refresh my Reiki practice and further my knowledge and understanding of subtle energies and healing. I was very excited about the new seminary program being offered by ULC and am still excited to continue learning in this fashion. I have always been a student at heart and actually looked forward to having to do homework again and having the chance to collect my thoughts about a topic and put the words down, to both express the lesson and what I have taken from it. The range of topics and intensity of knowledge being passed on was impressive for an online course. Teaching such a physical practice as healing can be a challenge when done through a non-physical medium like the Internet. While this course could not provide every little nuance of the hand-on aspects of the healing work, it certainly provided the internal assessment tools to be able to discern when and how you are connected to the Divine energies. These are important tools for healers beginning on their first forays into the healing arts. The thought that the energy bodies and organs of a person is analogous to the physical circulatory system is an extremely important concept to grasp in modern energy medicine. There is a still a dichotomy of information types out in today's field in the States. We are still placed between purely intuitive energy medicine and the energy medicine concepts which are trying to be furthered by the scientific communities. I do feel that once we have a way to better talk about what is perceived and what science can prove with what equipment they have (our current equipment may not be able to read the types of information our bodies perceive and interpret naturally), we will better be able to define our energy systems and their components. It was also very exciting to hear of the advances in the field of professional Traditional healers. It is my hope that this trend continues through out the world, so that in time it is the standard, rather than the exception that we are all assessed and treated holistically. Thank you for offering this course, it was well worth the time and investment it took to make this course an option for me! ********************    The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.   As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary. Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar.

Mystical Christianity

Master of Mystical Christianity

Final Essay

Submitted By: Rev. Michael Babb

This course has truly been a paradigm changing and eye opening experience that has provided clarification for many questions and contradictions that I have encountered through mainstream Christianity and traditional interpretations of the Bible.  Mother Maryesah Karelon's excellent presentation and Questions For The Heart and Mind have combined material I had not previously been exposed to with thought provoking questions that challenged my collective Christian beliefs.  There have always been questions, but worshiping in the "traditional" religious doctrines and dogma, always left me with more questions than answers.  I am not saying this course answered all of my questions although a number of them were, but it has given me insight to a great many biblical issues and grist for thought in others.

The very first set of questions I began to seriously re-think the scriptures as they had always been presented to me.  First and foremost, was how I used them in daily life.  I realized that I have always been drawn to the love and compassionate teachings of  Jesus and evolved to a point where trying to develop a Christ consciousness is the outcome I have been searching for as opposed to simply being a "good Christian" as the various and confusing array of Christian denominations have presented the gospel.  From this point, I began to feel validation for many of my hidden beliefs such as the absence of feminine influence and the purpose of the Old Testament.  By this I mean that although women have been mentioned throughout the Bible, they never held a place in the hierarchical leadership of Christianity, which I will address later in this essay.  Relative to the Old Testament, there are too many mythical accounts of both creation and the direct communication of God in many of the stories.  For example, at the time the Ten Commandments were presented to the Jewish people, Moses was in need of a set of laws to guide and socially control a massive population that had no real cohesive set of guidelines.  I certainly cannot confirm or deny that God spoke directly to Moses and gave the Ten Commandments to him, but common sense would dictate that these commandments must necessarily form the corner stone of a cohesive society.  Otherwise, anarchy would develop as exemplified by the account of what Moses saw when he came down with the original tablets.

The lessons that had the greatest single impact on me during this course were those pertaining to Mary Magdalene, the Gnostic gospels, and the obvious absence of the sacred feminine from the Bible.  Mother Maryesah Karelon provides excellent evidence of how reference to the sacred feminine was purposely omitted from the Bible as well as an intelligent and provocative case for how both the masculine and feminine are combined in the one God.  I also found it a relief to reflect upon the possibility that Mary Magdalene represented the sacred feminine beside Jesus who was the masculine deity.  Even without the evidence presented in this course, I have always had a feeling that the love Jesus held for Mary Magdalene was the kind of love reserved for the dearest of disciples.  I so not accept any theory that they were married nor had a child together, but I am very comfortable with the presentation that she was the dearest and closest disciple of Jesus.  This course also validated that at some point, she was purposely vilified as a prostitute just as normal bodily functions of women that men do not have were deemed unclean and unworthy.  I now have a foundation from which to carry these beliefs forward in my continued studies.

This course has given me insight into Jesus as a teacher who presents a pattern for conducting our lives and how to treat one another.  Stripped of denominational dogma, Jesus' message is more of finding a path that incorporates his teachings rather than a literal road map that must be followed precisely lest we risk eternal damnation .  Combining the lessons in this course with the ones presented in the Comparative Religion course, I can clearly visualize a variety of paths, including reincarnation of the Spirit.  The oneness of Spirit and the God within has allowed further evolution in the quest to find this within myself.  The meditative exercises have been helpful in the development of a consciousness of this path and a practice of short and continual meditations throughout my day.  It has elevated my consciousness toward finding my spiritual call and being aware of things and events that give clues to this quest.  While I believe this is a life long quest, each step is a positive evolution toward releasing my spirit from the confines of ego, which may arguably be the most difficult part of the journey.

As a former college professor, I have often based the effectiveness of a course and its teacher on the quality of ongoing thought it provokes.  This course and Mother Maryesah Karelon both fit this criterion.  I am grateful that I had the blessing of taking this course and highly recommend it to others.

******************** 

 

The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.   As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary. Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar.

Spirit Quest

Spirit Quest Essay

Reverend Stephen J. LaJoice

Spirit Quest is a program that allows you to take a good look at yourself.  It provides tools to help overcome obstacles for a more fulfilling life. 

I was raised Roman Catholic.  I was educated in the Catholic School.  I ate, slept and lived Catholicism until I left home at 18.  

The question I ask myself is "did it make me a better person?"  In many ways it did and in some ways it did not.  While I have a solid foundation of Christian upbringing through a Catholic education I came to understand the vulnerability of living ones life within the strict confines of a structured religion.  I do have a deep acceptance of God and an understanding of the complexity of how everything in life in connected. I am generous and compassionate. I am also stuck with the "guilt "complex that needs constant work.    

I learned early in my life that religion and religious practices are molded to fit the needs and causes of man.  As man changes so does religion.  In some cases religion has a tendency to divide, promote intolerance and narrow ones focus away from the world.

In my high school years I was introduced to the art of Judo and the study of eastern spiritual philosophy.  I found practices and beliefs that helped to cultivate the spiritual aspects of life.  I learned how one understands oneself through meditation and self-reflection, how to achieve inner peace and become more tolerant and understanding of others.

I came to understand that spiritualism is a way of living.  It is traveling through life in a natural and harmonious way.  I came to understand that all things are connected, how one tug on the web of life can be felt by all creatures.  I came to understand that animals feel just as humans do. I came to understand how my actions affect others.  Say a cross word to your spouse or a friend and they feel it.  Say a cross word to your dog and the reaction is the same.  Spiritual understanding enhances ones ability to understand ones self, get along with others and to greater experience the moment.

In my early 20's I came across a poster of the Deserata written in 1692.  Its advice has been my guide for a lifetime and a mainstay for living spiritually.  It starts "Go placidly in the noise and the haste and remember what peace there may be in silence".  In today's busy world of dead lines and pressure silence is the pathway to mediation.

God has made us in his image and likeness and I believe we were put on this earth to enjoy ourselves and to nurture all we come in contact with.  A life of conflict and desperation was not in Gods design for us.  Moments of quiet reflection are needed to recharge our battery.

In the world today we are continually challenged.  Our day can be filled with stress, of the unexpected and the expected.  We balance our lives against the wants and needs of others as well as what we expect of ourselves……and there are moments when we began to feel enough is enough.

Within ourselves each of us has the desire and the need to feel inner peace.  It is the time when we need to sit back, take a deep breath, close our eyes and just let go.  Many of us choose our own mediums, such as mediation, yoga or music.  However, we choose to get there the ultimate reward is worth it.

As a young man I was plagued with migraine headaches.  At that time doctors knew very little about curing them.  The method was a strong dose of pain killers and rest.  I realized if I was to rid myself of them I would have to do it myself.  I found the way through deep meditation, relaxation and biofeedback.  I was finally able to beat the headaches back and have not suffered for many years.

As I struggled with my cure I found myself in a quiet place close to God and away from the outside world.  It was there that I met myself and began to understand the working of me.  I was able to begin to shed the skin of negative thoughts and behaviors.  I was able to develop tolerance and have that greater understanding of those around me.

Living is a full time job.  It can and does wear you down, if you let it.  If you seek to find that quiet place you will truly find the heart of peace, you will find you.

Spirit Quest has been a restatement and reminder of those precepts I learned and practiced throughout my life.  It has been an enjoyable experience.

******************** 

 

The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.   As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary. Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar.