Category: J Douglas Bottorff

The Simple Prayer

Youtube: The Simple Prayer

“And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

Matthew 6:7-8

Emerson described prayer as “the contemplation of the facts of life from the highest point of view.” A great starting point is the one suggested by Jesus. The Father knows what we need before we ask. From this positive and accepting attitude, we engage in prayer as a two-fold action of releasing and affirming. We release all resistance, all fear, all doubt and we affirm that we have already received that which we ask for in prayer.

As Jesus points out, this activity does not require many words. Prayer is more of an acceptance, a conviction, a shift from want and doubt to a deep sense of knowing that our greater good, in whatever form we seek, is now coming forth.

It’s important that we understand that prayer does not cause God to act. Prayer brings us into alignment with the action of God. If we think of God as the creative life force, we see this as the river that flows in but one direction, from the inside out. Jesus said it isn’t what goes into your mouth but what comes out that matters. This creative process picks up on the frequency of our consciousness. A negative internal environment is a low frequency. As we release this energy and raise our consciousness frequency, things tend to go in our favor. We’re not being rewarded by God, we are being rewarded by working at a God-like frequency.

If your need is healing, release all negative appearances and begin to affirm the healing power of God is flowing in and through you. If you need greater prosperity, let go of your fear of lack and know the perfect abundance of God is pouring through you now. If you are seeking harmony in family or friend relationships, release all appearances to the contrary and affirm the perfect harmony of God is expressing through you and others this very moment.

Prayer as the contemplation of the facts of life from the highest point of view invites us to lift up our spiritual eyes and see the greater good that we seek is flowing in and through us now.

Tapping Into Universal Wisdom

YouTube: Tapping Into Universal Wisdom

The Lord created me [wisdom] at the beginning of his work,
    the first of his acts of old. Ages ago I was set up,
    at the first, before the beginning of the earth.

Proverbs 8:22-23

The Old Testament is broken into categories by genre. The OT books that fall into the genre of wisdom literature are grouped together as Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon. In this passage from Proverbs, the “me” that the Lord created at the beginning of his work is Wisdom. The Greek word for wisdom is Sophia. If you delve into the Christian Gnostic literature, you find they regarded Sophia as a feminine figure comparable to the human soul. They considered Sophia the female twin of Jesus, the Bride of Christ, the Holy Spirit of the Trinity, and a direct emanation of the godhead.

These metaphors point to the truth that there is no place where God leaves off and we, as individuals, begin. As emanations of the godhead, we are literally infused with the wisdom that was set up before the beginning of the earth.

Emerson said it this way:

“There is guidance for each of us, and by lowly listening we shall hear the right word. . .. Place yourself in the middle of the stream of power and wisdom which flows into you as life, place yourself in the full center of that flood, then you are without effort impelled to truth, to right, and a perfect contentment.”

Wisdom is that which is in alignment with the natural way things work. What Emerson calls “lowly listening” is intuitive or soul-based knowing. It is the harmony demonstrated through the natural world, through the birds of the air and the lilies of the field whose needs are met and who live in perfect peace with their environment.

We tap into universal wisdom by seeing ourselves as an emanation of the godhead. In moments of quiet withdraw from the world, we envision the wisdom of God radiating from the center that is our soul to the circumference that is our life. This simple, heartfelt act opens the natural channel for the light of truth to shine in and through us.

Desire, Expression, Attraction

YouTube: Desire, Expression, Attraction

Much has been written about the so-called law of attraction. This usually involves techniques of setting one’s intention on a positive mental and emotional environment that will draw success and riches. On the other end of the scale, there are also spiritual disciplines that consider desire as a negative trap inside the maze of materiality. Expression, as we’ll consider it here, is often the piece that is overlooked.

Desire can be a two-edged sword, especially when it is disconnected from its spiritual source. In short, we desire more in life because our spiritual essence continually calls us to rise above restrictions we have accepted as normal to the human experience. At the root of all desire is our need for freedom. If we connect freedom with the acquisition of things, we may get the things but not the freedom. This is where expression comes into play.

Expression is the actual experience of the freedom we desire. Is it possible to experience freedom when there are material restrictions in place? This is the question we are challenged to answer. We are called to look beyond what we think of as material solutions to our desire for freedom, and we seek to experience freedom itself. We turn from material appearances and release attachment to specific outcomes until we express internally the freedom we desire. This inner experience and expression of freedom is the governing influence of the law of attraction.

We do not invoke the law of attraction. Like gravity, this law never ceases to operate. We work with gravity by achieving balance, setting objects of value in places they will not fall and break, and by putting aerodynamic wings on our airplanes for lift. We do not invoke the law of gravity; we cooperate. Likewise, we become internally that which will reflect externally as the types of conditions we desire. Freedom within attracts conditions of freedom without.

Desire should not be suppressed; it should be understood. At the root of all desire is the soul seeking greater expression. As we let the light of the soul shine, the natural law of attraction becomes our friend.     

Tribute to Our Son

YouTube: Tribute to Our Son

I decided to present you today with a video tribute to our son, Ashley, who passed unexpectedly from this plane on January 30. Beth, Audrey (our daughter), and I are doing much better, but we’re still grappling with the emotional instability of grief.

When I stood before you last Sunday, I felt such an outpouring of love and compassion that I knew I couldn’t continue speaking. And I knew you’d understand. I know that most of you have lost loved ones, and you know the storm of emotion that this stirs. We want you to know how much we love and appreciate all of you.

And we extend this love and appreciation to our internet audience. Though we can’t be together in person, love really knows no distance, no barriers of time or space. Your comments are precious gems to Beth and me. . . .

The Passing of our Son

Dear friends,

I want to let you know that Beth and I, and our daughter Audrey, were informed last Tuesday that our son, Ashley, passed from this plane. He lived in the Los Angeles area. The cause of death appears to be heart related, though the coroner’s report is inconclusive at this point. This is the kind of news no parent or sibling wishes to receive, yet here it is on our doorstep. This news has triggered an emotional journey ranging from shock and grief to feelings wafting in like a warm breeze that carries the promise of a new Spring of comfort and meaning.

Over the last forty-five years, I have conducted many funeral services, but always as the comforter, the pastor, the counselor, the one whose purpose was to inspire a higher vision of this sometimes baffling experience of life in a body. It has been my role to help others navigate through what can feel like an earthly maze, with each turn often leaving us with more questions than answers. I have done my best to show others there are answers, to step back and see life as the soul sees it–eternal, beautiful, meaningful, and lived with purpose.

I have also acknowledged the pain of loss, the feeling that even the broadest perspective of life and death cannot sooth. And now I am presented with this side. The mind floods with a mix of memories and the overwhelming sadness that we will never speak to our son again, never hear his voice, or feel the warmth of his hug. It is a void nothing can fill. The comforting words of family and friends are a much needed and appreciated healing balm that is so important on this unexpected journey. Ultimately, however, this is a path that every person in our place must walk alone. Beth, Audrey, myself, our family, and those who were closest to Ashley are, in one sense, walking through this together. Even so, we are each called upon to find within ourselves that fountain of strength, wisdom, and vision that enables us to rise from this darker pain of loss to the bright light of joy of what has been gained by knowing this beautiful soul.

It was at the moment of conception that Ashley announced to me that he was on his way. He arrived on April 20, 1978. I felt him as a very warm and peaceful presence, unlike anything I had experienced. At the time I did not know what had happened, but I soon found out. I experienced it once again when Audrey announced her coming. This time I knew our family was growing. When I think of this, I am reminded of a line from James Dillet Freeman’s poem, The Traveler: “Our life did not begin with birth, it is not of this earth.” I’ve always had the sense that our children intentionally joined Beth and me on our journey. Ashley now continues his life in another way, another dimension, and we will miss him terribly. But we are also grateful that he stepped in and shared with us this part of his eternal life. He leaves us with a gift we will always cherish.

Beth and I thank you for your prayers and positive thoughts in this challenging time. Ashley has moved into his next experience in living, and we see his every step lighted with the love of God.

The Key to Overcoming Fear

YouTube: The Key to Overcoming Fear

I recently listened to the story a woman told of her childhood, explaining how she was taught to believe she was never enough. As she grew into an adult, she adopted the Christian faith as a way of making sure that she was enough to be saved and enter heaven. During a surgical operation she “died” and had an incredible near-death experience. What she learned was that she was not only enough, but she was also far more than anything she had ever imagined.

Most fear rises from the belief that we, in some way, are not enough. We don’t have enough faith, courage, knowledge, goodness, strength, or love to meet some demand. We note that this woman did not become enough to overcome her fear by practicing the teachings of a religion. She became enough by rising above her body-based self-image and seeing the truth of who she really was. She literally had to lose everything before she awakened to the reality that she was not given a spirit of fear but one of love and power.

The experience of fear is foreign to the soul. Most of us know what it is to be pushed to the point of not knowing what to do. And we most likely experienced fear with every step it took to get to this place. Then, almost unexpected, having lost hope, we discovered strength we did not know we had.

This brings us to an important point to consider. When we fear, we are, in one sense, protecting a weakness. When we find our true center of power, we turn the table on fear by expressing from a place of strength. The thing we need to remember is that this strength is inherent to our being. Like the woman who spent her early life believing she was not enough, we make the shift into realizing we are so much more. In other words, regardless of how things appear, we are enough right now. And the good news is that we do not have to have an NDE to find the strength to overcome any fear. We affirm it until we know it is true.

I Am the Door

YouTube: I Am the Door

In the Gospel of John, we find Jesus saying, “I am the door” (Jn 10:9). Mainstream Christian theology teaches that accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior is the only way to God. In truth, God is accessible to all, regardless of their religious orientation. John is using the voice of Jesus to lend credibility to the teaching of the church.

When I read John, I have found it helpful to think of his voice of Jesus as the voice of my own soul. When he says, “I am the door,” for example, or “I am the way,” I read this as my soul, my spiritual essence as being that door, that way. Our spiritual essence is our only way to God. When Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice,” the sheep represent that part of us that recognizes the genuine inspiration that rises from the depths of our being. It begins as a still small voice but becomes more pronounced as we learn to listen and know.

The door is a powerful metaphor. The front door of your house opens to the interior of your home and it also opens to the limitless outdoors. In Revelation, Jesus is quoted as saying,

Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

Revelation 3:20

 In this case, Jesus is not portrayed as the door, but as the one who is knocking and would like to come in. Again, the voice of Jesus is the voice of our soul. The knocking we hear, or actually feel, is our natural urge to open our mind to greater possibilities of being. This is an intuitive knowing, very natural but not widely understood. Jesus says there are thieves and robbers that will try to steal your sheep, meaning there are all kinds of distractions that can take us down paths that lead nowhere. We want our sheep to find rich pasture, or open the door to true spiritual nourishment.

For me, this is the real message coming from John. When we begin to understand our oneness with God, then it becomes clear that the door to God is within us. This is not about Jesus; it’s about each one of us and our developing understanding of the guiding promptings that bring us into firsthand knowledge of our unity with the Infinite.

Paul’s Natural Man

YouTube: Paul’s Natural Man

The unspiritual (natural) man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

What Paul calls the unspiritual or natural man, is a person we would consider as having no interest in spiritual matters, a strict materialist. This would be one who accepts matter as the basis of reality and, therefore, the body as the basis of our identity. To be spiritually discerning is to be intuitively awakened to the reality of our spiritual essence.

Scientific materialism cannot conceive of the existence of the soul. Consciousness and life itself is dependent on the physical organism. The notion of consciousness surviving the death of the body is folly. It does not fit the materialistic model.

In truth, it matters not how many textbooks are written to support the materialistic model of reality. Even Einstein could see past this limited view:

“We are slowed down sound and light waves, a walking bundle of frequencies tuned into the cosmos. We are souls dressed up in sacred biochemical garments and our bodies are the instruments through which our souls play their music.”

How do we come to know this? What is our faculty of spiritual discernment? We know it by its questioning nature. I know people who are religious mainstream thinkers. They never question their religious inheritance. Why do we? Because the larger Self, the soul, stands knocking at the door of our consciousness waiting for us to open. This knocking might be interpreted as an annoyance or a disturbance. But it only wants one thing. Open the door.

Spiritual Enlightenment

YouTube: Spiritual Enlightenment, What It Means

This week someone asked me what I thought it meant to be spiritually enlightened. Is it a state we reach or is it an understanding that we are unlimited beings that will never reach a spiritual stopping place? Great question.

From what I have observed, many believe it is a state we reach. This seems to be a motivating factor behind much of our quest for further spiritual knowledge.

I think of how far we have come in our exploration of the world and the universe as a whole. Early adventurers explored the earth from wind-driven ships. If they could see the technology we use today, they would probably consider us an enlightened people. From our point of view, there doesn’t seem to be any signs of having reached a stopping place. I think most of us would agree that we’re just getting started.

Why would this be? Because we live in a universe of infinite possibility. There is no point of arrival, no stopping place. As Walt Whitman wrote,

“There is no stoppage and never can be stoppage,
If I, you, and the worlds, and all beneath or upon their surfaces, were this moment reduced back to a pallid float, it would not avail in the long run,
We should surely bring up again where we now stand,
And surely go as much farther, and then farther and farther.” Walt Whitman, Song to Myself 

Spiritual enlightenment, then, would be better described as the state of knowing there are no limits imposed on our being. As spiritual beings having a human experience, it is easy to forget that we are much more than the human side. Spiritual enlightenment is living from the awareness of this greater reality.