Tag: Jesus

The Mystery of Mary

YouTube: The Mystery of Mary

Among the many symbols woven through the Gospel narratives, few are as profound—and as misunderstood—as Mary. In the mystical tradition, Mary represents far more than a historical figure. She is the soul itself: receptive, expectant, open to the divine without the intervention of the intellect. Her story is the story of every awakening consciousness.

Joseph, in this symbolism, is the intellect—capable, orderly, and essential in its place, yet ultimately limited in its ability to perceive the movements of Spirit. Mary conceives without Joseph because the deepest spiritual realizations do not arise from analysis or reason. They emerge from silence, from the inner chamber where the soul listens without effort and receives without strain.

This is the mystery of the virgin birth: a consciousness that becomes still enough, uncluttered enough, to let the divine seed take root. It is not about intense study. This birth is the transformation that begins when the mind stops trying to think its way into God and instead becomes receptive to an inner knowing already present.

Every spiritual journey begins with a moment like Mary’s: an inward stirring, an unexpected clarity, a quiet “yes” that arises before we can explain or justify it. The intellect may protest—Joseph “was troubled” for good reason—but the soul knows. It senses the movement of something holy within, something that cannot be managed or controlled.

Mary’s response is the model of all mystics: “Let it be unto me according to thy word.” She does not demand understanding; she offers availability. She becomes the willing vessel in which Spirit can express itself freely.

When we enter silence—true silence—we step into this same receptive posture. Thoughts settle, expectations soften, and something deeper begins to speak. Not in sentences, but in assurance. Not in arguments, but in the sense of something greater at work.

Awareness of the soul, the biblical Christ, is born in us the same way: not by intellectual effort, but by intuitive-readiness. Not by striving, but by surrender. The mystery of Mary is the reminder that the divine does not depend on our reasoning to take form. It depends on our willingness to be still, to open, to receive.

And in that receptive moment, something luminous awakens—quietly, naturally, inevitably—within the depths of the soul.

The Accepting Prayer of Thanksgiving

YouTube: The Accepting Prayer of Thanksgiving

Last week, we explored the principle of Divine Order—the understanding that spiritual order unfolds naturally when we acknowledge it rather than attempt to force it. This week, we build on that foundation by focusing on a practice that aligns consciousness with that order: the accepting prayer of thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is more than gratitude for what has already manifested. It is a spiritual state of receiving, a recognition that good is already in motion even when our senses have yet to confirm it. When we give thanks before the evidence appears, we shift from a mindset of striving to a mindset of trust. We are not trying to establish divine order—we are remembering that it is already present.

This is why Jesus taught, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask.” Prayer, then, is not information for God; it is preparation of the mind. Thanksgiving raises our expectation, creating a mental and emotional atmosphere in which the good we seek can be recognized and accepted.

Consider a moment in your life where anxiety overshadowed clarity. A request made from fear often assumes lack. A request offered in thankfulness acknowledges abundance. The same prayer can either close the heart or open it, depending on the consciousness in which it is spoken.

The accepting prayer of thanksgiving aligns us with spiritual reality:

•Divine order is already in motion

•Good is already unfolding

•We are prepared to receive

In this light, thanksgiving becomes an act of faith—not blind belief, but confident expectancy. We give thanks now because spiritual law is already at work. We give thanks now because good is seeking expression. We give thanks now because our role is not to create divine order but to cooperate with it.

Take a situation in your life that feels unresolved. Instead of pleading for change, affirm quietly:

“Thank you, Father, that divine order is now unfolding here.”

Let the feeling of trust do its quiet work.

An Act of Faith

YouTube: An Act of Faith

The Freeing Truth of Letting Go

There are times when life presses us to release what we’ve been clinging to—plans, relationships, expectations, or even the image we’ve carried of who we are. To the mind, letting go might feel like failure or loss. But to the soul, it is freeing.

Letting go is not doing nothing, and it’s not giving up. It is a quiet acknowledgment that our limited grasp of the situation cannot hold all the factors that belong to Divine order. When Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, “Not my will, but Thine be done,” he was not surrendering to defeat; he was surrendering to the Infinite Wisdom that sees the bigger picture that may be hidden from us. 

Faith begins where our ability to control ends. The moment we release our tight hold, something larger can move through us. The need to manage outcomes is replaced by a calm expectation that Love, operating through all things, is bringing forth what serves the highest good. Letting go becomes an act of trust in a power and a wisdom greater than our own.

We are not always quick to see or even imagine new possibilities, especially when we’re caught up in appearances. The tree releases its leaves before new buds appear. The same law governs the soul: release precedes renewal. We see this rhythm in operation throughout the natural world. The old is let go and the new takes its place.

To let go is to say yes to life’s deeper current. It is to affirm, even without visible proof, that divine wisdom knows the way when we do not. The act of release opens our mind and heart to unseen possibilities. We keep the door of our faith, our expectation open with the understanding that God’s infinite wisdom is paving the way for something good.

Faith, then, is not an effort to believe harder, but a willingness to loosen our grip—to trust that what falls away was never meant to imprison us. In that newly gained freedom, the soul discovers what it means to rest in God.

The Ripple Effect

YouTube: The Ripple Effect

The spiritual awakening sends ripples through every facet of life. Relationships deepen, ordinary tasks take on new meaning, and a sense of well-being begins to infuse daily experience. This is what Jesus implied when he said, “Seek first the kingdom, and all these things shall be yours as well.” Spiritual realization is not an escape from life but a transformation of perception—life ceases to be a struggle for survival and becomes a creative partnership with the Divine.

Jesus understood how difficult this awakening can be. Knowing that few would find it, he emphasized the power of small shifts—a change of thought, a new perspective, a step toward trust. Even modest insights send ripples that expand into waves of transformation. His constant refrain—ask, seek, knock—reminds us that persistence is the key.

“You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” Freedom, he taught, begins with recognizing the inner source of strength and guidance. Those who depend solely on external rescue remain enslaved to circumstance. The miracle he offered was not spectacle but insight—a change of mind that releases spiritual energy into action.

His parables describe this process as gradual and organic: the seed becoming grain, the widow who refuses to lose heart, the field already white for harvest. The work is inner, yet its results appear outwardly as greater peace, clarity, and harmony.

Jesus’ teaching operates on several levels. On the surface, it speaks to the creative power of thought: thorns do not produce grapes. At a deeper level, it calls for direct awareness of the divine Presence within. Here prayer is not petition but realization—“on earth as it is in heaven.”

The Gospels suggest that many of his greatest works were unrecorded, rippling quietly through ordinary lives. The true miracle is not water turned to wine but fear turned to faith, resentment turned to love, struggle turned to peace. A single day lived free from anxiety may seem small, yet it embodies the essence of his promise: the kingdom of God unfolding in the midst of everyday life.

Calm Expectation: The Perpetual Prayer

YouTube: Calm Expectation: The Perpetual Prayer

“According to your faith be it done unto you.” — Matthew 9:29

You have heard me say that faith is more than belief; it is expectation—a calm assurance that the cause we set in motion will bring a corresponding result. When we say, “I have faith in God,” we may unconsciously place the outcome beyond ourselves, waiting for divine involvement. But when we say, “I am working with divine law; therefore I expect results,” we recognize that we are participants in the process of creation.

We live in a universe of law. Every desire becomes a cause that must produce an effect. The clearer our cause, the clearer the result. If our desire is vague, our outcome will be blurred. Write your desire plainly. See it, feel it, give it form in thought. Then release it with calm expectation.

Know that you are working with law. With calm expectation of a corresponding result, you know that all necessary conditions will come about in proper order.

True faith does not strain. It does not plead or push. Like a seed planted in fertile soil, calm expectation knows that growth is already taking place. We do not dig up the seed each morning to check on its progress; we tend the soil and trust the process.

It is helpful to remember the phrase, “this or something better.” We often think we know exactly what form our good should take, but divine intelligence sees farther than we can. Many times, the “better” is not what we envisioned, yet it meets our deeper need.

Each morning, picture your desire fulfilled and give thanks that it is unfolding now. Each evening, rest in quiet gratitude that the same law continues its work through the night. Calm expectation is not idle waiting; it is faith at rest—an inward knowing that order is establishing itself.

Affirm often:

God, the living law within me, is now guiding me in all ways. Every step I take is the right step. I move through my life in confidence and peace.

This attitude keeps the heart open and joyful. In calm expectation, we cease striving and begin cooperating with the creative process of life itself.

Thank you, God, that this is so.

Perfection: The Target No One Will Hit

YouTube: Perfection: The Target No One Will Hit

Many of us were taught to see Jesus as “the perfect man demonstrated,” the flawless figure against whom our own lives are inevitably measured. While this image may inspire, it can also create a burden. Perfection becomes the target no one will ever hit, leaving us discouraged when we discover our flaws and limitations.

Paul’s own description of the resurrection offers a different perspective. He wrote, “It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body.” His words point away from physical immortality and toward transformation of consciousness. His encounter with the risen Christ was not about seeing a body restored but about awakening to a reality so profound it altered the course of his life.

Modern near-death experiencers testify to something similar. Their reports rarely focus on physical details. Instead, they describe a profound peace, an overwhelming sense of love, and encounters with familiar and unfamiliar figures who radiate welcome. They return to this life deeply changed, often free from the fear of death. The miracle is not that they avoided dying but that their perspective shifted.

When Jesus is seen as mystic rather than unreachable icon, we are released from the crushing demand to be flawless. Our aging bodies, our frailties, our scars do not disqualify us from discipleship; they remind us that what is most real is not the body at all, but the enduring self beneath it. The mystic teaches that we are more than flesh. We are Spirit expressing through flesh.

If perfection is the measure, we will always miss the mark. But the mystic invites us to another way—not to hit the target, but to awaken to the presence of God within. In this awakening, the search for perfection gives way to peace.

The Healing Method of Jesus

YouTube: The Healing Method of Jesus

Voice of the Mystic: Part 5

One outstanding feature of the ministry of Jesus was its healing aspect. “And many followed him, and he healed them all” (Matthew 12:15). While we’re given the impression that he healed by the hundreds, indications of the methods he used can give us some practical insight toward our own healing needs.

In some cases, he simply spoke the word of healing with such authority that the person responded. Healing affirmations grounded in the understanding that the soul is now whole, and this wholeness reflects in the body, can play an important role.

There were times when Jesus simply touched a person, or they touched him, and the healing occurred. In the case of a leper, this would be especially significant since it was believed that physical contact increased the chances of contracting the disease. This indicates that Jesus did not see disease as a power, but as an effect subject to the true power of God within.   

Maintaining a God consciousness through meditation and prayer was probably his greatest healing asset. He obviously had a first-hand awareness of God, which means he would see God in all people. Prayer was the calling forth of the God potential within those he encountered.

In many cases, he attributed the faith of the person healed as the true source of healing power. Faith is expectation. Those who shifted from doubt to high expectancy moved into the condition of wholeness.

Another interesting healing tool was that of the placebo, in his case, mud. Does mud have healing qualities? Probably not, but the belief that it does brought about change in some cases. Perhaps such an attitude can justify medications that help increase our faith.

A final healing element was the forgiveness of sin. Some who associated sin with disease were healed the moment they believed they were free from the scourge of sin. I think Jesus the soul as totally free of the consequence of sin. He was not forgiving sin. He recognized the person already free of sin.   

Any one of these healing elements may represent a tool we can apply to our own healing need.

The Moving Parts of Manifestation

YouTube: The Moving Parts of Manifestation

Voice of the Mystic: Part 4

“The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed upon the ground, and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he knows not how. 28 The earth produces of itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.” Mark 4:26-28

In this parable of the sower, the man scatters seed, sleeps and rises as the mystery of germination begins. The earth then produces the result. Notice that even though each of these steps is presented sequentially, the intention is to call attention to the operational components within the single creative system.

Think of the running motor of a car. Many things are happening at the same time. Fuel ignites, pistons pump, oil lubricates, coolant circulates, oxygen is taken in, exhaust expelled. The running motor is not a future event; it is the present example of a perfectly orchestrated multitude of individual processes. 

In a similar way, Jesus is calling attention to the kingdom, not as a coming event, but as a present, dynamically responsive process. He does not bother to specify the type of seed planted because this universal, creative process will produce from any kind of seed. Neither does he associate the kingdom with the harvest. He is simply calling attention to the mechanics of the manifestation process. The kingdom functions like this entire assembly of components: the seed is being planted, the mystery of germination is taking place, a new crop is emerging. It’s happening now. What kinds of seeds are you planting?  

Unlike the running motor of a car, no one starts the manifestation process. It runs 24/7. The kind of crop we get depends on the kind of seed we plant. This is the heart of the lesson. The creative process is in full swing. How do we make sure we get the crop we want? We plant the seed of expectation. If you get up everyday thinking life is such a grind, you will not be disappointed. Life will give you what you expect. Brambles do not produce figs. If you begin lifting your expectations, planting new seeds open to greater possibility, this same natural creative process responds accordingly. The motor is running. The question now is this: Where do you want to go?  

Signals from Antiquity 2

https://youtu.be/pW3Rf9MM7AAYouTube: Signals from Antiquity 2

The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit. 

The Greek word pneuma can reference the wind, spirit, or breath. Wind can be heard and felt but not seen. Spirit is understood as the animating force, the vital essence, the soul of all living beings. We cannot see it, but we see evidence of its presence in everything from the blade of grass to the human being. Each breath we take, also invisible, is vital to our physical existence. From this we get that spirit is unseen but felt.

The Hebrew Bible’s book of Job connects the innate wisdom of the soul to the breath of the Almighty. “It is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand.[1]

The main thing I get from this saying is that the full wisdom of God is present and working in and through me now. We do not have to know how the answer to our need will come about, we only need to know that the Father is working, and I work, and greater good is unfolding.

If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 

The parable employs the symbolism of earthly things to illustrate heavenly things. The notion of a new birth is lost on the intellectually trained Nicodemus. His education does not allow him to make the connection between the symbol and the spiritual abstraction behind the symbol, a problem Jesus also encountered with his disciples: 

13 And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?[2]

What I want to make clear here too is that the Jesus sect was not pushing for a mystical approach to Judaism. They were pushing for a leadership that would blossom into the Christian orthodoxy we see today. As I’ve already discussed, I do not believe the early leaders of the Jesus movement and the more formal church that followed shared the mystically-based ideology.

No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, [the Son of man].

How would this passage qualify as something a mystic would say?

The author of John or a later scribe includes the Son of man as an obvious reference to Jesus. Because the mystic would not bring attention to themselves, we shouldn’t think of this heavenly figure, he who descended from heaven, as a specific personality, but rather as a faculty of mind.

The material and spiritual realms, symbolized here by earth and heaven, are not two separate things, but two ways of expressing one thing, like steam and ice are the same water in two different states. The faculty of intuition is that which moves comfortably between these two realms. The intellect forms concepts about the spiritual domain, but only the intuition can move from the conceptual to the experiential level, or ascend into heaven.

Signals from Antiquity

Signals from Antiquity: Voice of the Mystic: Part 2

When an astronomer picks up a faint signal from a distant star, galaxy, or other celestial object, the signal may be very weak, obscured by all kinds of cosmic noise. To extract a meaningful signal, the astronomer must filter out the noise.  

With our gospels, I propose that through many of the sayings attributed to Jesus, there is a faint signal belonging to a mystic. In our filtering process, we isolate this signal by asking: Does this sound like something a mystic would say? Following the specific criteria spelled out in Part 1, we can identify likely candidates, filter out the extraneous “noise”, and lift the passage from the distractions of its Gospel context.  

Focusing on the nighttime conversation between the Pharisee Nicodemus and Jesus, I have extracted six passages that sound like something a mystic would say.

  1. Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
  2. Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 
  3. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
  4. The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. 
  5. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 
  6. No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven.

In today’s lesson we’ll look at these sayings and consider the spiritual value of each. In our mainstream, larger-than-life version of Jesus, there is much noise around these faint signals from antiquity. With an understanding of the kinds of signals for which we are looking, we discover a treasure-trove of wisdom and practical guidance.