Create in me
An irresible desire
to take up space
in your fullness.
To be in operative touch
with my purpose,
my destiny and
The strategic timing
of my existence.
Totally absorbed in
my committment
to
BE!
ATTITUDES OF BE-ING
(Matthew 5:1-12)
1. Humility: Blessed are the Poor in Spirit
God help me always to consider the feelings of others -- never to violate the image of God in another. And insofar as that same image is not violated in me, and insofar as it is beneficial and generous to the other individual, help me to give of myself.
2. Sensitivity: Blessed are They That Mourn
I want, always, Lord, to cultivate my sense of feeling, lest through my callousness, I fail to sense my own sin or to feel your love and forgiveness.
3. Quiet Strength: Blessed are the Meek
Lord, help me to remember that your power within me is always quiet. Like a sail harnessing the energy of the wind, grant that I may plow the oceans of life with stately dignity, with my prow lifted high . . . but not too high.
4. Perfection: Blessed are They That Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness.
Apart from your love, there is nothing I desire more earnestly, Dear Father, than the free bequest of your holiness, a gift which grants me an eternity filled with vitality and glory.
5. Compassion: Blessed are the Merciful.
Having these gifts, Dear Lord, cause me to compassionately share them with those who are hurting, with those whose need it is to see your love in the eyes of annother person.
6. Motivation: Blessed are the pure in heart.
Free me, Lord, from the slavery of self-gratification. May I never be prompted to act merely to satisfy my own personal wants.
7. Harmony: Blessed are the Peacemakers.
Strife and tension is always based on self-interest. Lord, I wish to live peaceably with all men. Grant me the influence to soothe the rawness of another's soul, and to give them the gift of peace.
8. Resilience/Ethics Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness sake.
Help me, Lord, to be flexible and forgiving in the face of evil . . . but not too flexible. Give me the resilience to stand strong and resist its force. No suffering for evil will be for long. Help me to see the dawn of a new day beyond the storms of rage and hatred.
9. Resilience/Faith Blessed are you when men shall revile you for my sake.
This is never pleasant, Lord, but when it comes, help me to remember the cross.
* * *
THE SEAGULL I
I lived on Catalina Island for a while, where people would sometimes ask me what I did for excitement; what I did to break the boredom.
"The Tide," I would say (as a joke), "I enjoy watching the tide come in. Sometimes I watched the seaweed grow, or, (and this was no joke) I watched the pelicans feed and the seagulls soar."
One morning early, in that twilight between the dissipation of darkness and the rising of the sun, I decided to take a walk. On my way out the door, I noticed my camera on the table, and as an afterthought took it with me. I walked the hundred steps or so from my doorway to where the sea seethed silently over the sand. Fog lay heavy in the valley and around the buildings of the town of Avalon, making them appear ghostly and ethereal. Sailboats in the harbor rose and fell softly at their moorings. It was early and it was quiet.
I meandered along until I came to the place where the rocks of the breakwater jetty joined the land. They pointed like a finger out into the water until they lost themselves in the fog. The rocks were slippery under my feet as I began a treacherous walk out toward the point of the jetty -- stepping from rock to rock. I continued until the warning light standard loomed into view, indicating I had reached the end.
I sat down and listened. Listening to silence -- in this case the silence of the tide brushing against the jetty rocks and the floating boats in the harbor -- cleanses the soul as well as raging mountain water.
I listened to the fog. I listened to the sea gently finding crevases in the rocks. I listened to the crabs scurrying about.
I was alive to everyingthing around me. It seemed I could sense, if not hear, the huge sea bass lumbering through the forest of giant kelp.
The sea was made of silver. Smooth. Metallic.
Abruptly, my reverie was broken with the flapping of wings and the familiar scree of a seagull. I turned my head to see one of the most beautiful sea-birds I have ever seen settle gently on the light standard. It was perfectly formed and almost pure white. We gazed at each other, silently wonderinjg what connection we knew. Silently reaching each other, knowing each other . . .
Suddenly, I was aware of the PRESENCE OF GOD . . .
Which is where we began.
* * *
Okay. Let's nail it down.
Let's fix it in our minds. WHAT IS THE DISTILLATE OF THIS ENTIRE PRESENTATION? Here they are: The KEY PRINCIPLES we have studied that provide for a healthy, vital, purposeful and happy life experience . . .
Get in touch with the presence of God.
Develop a halthy concept of God as your FATHER: No hostility, no razor strap -- all He has for you is LOVE!
Nothing can separate you from God. Nothing.
What God wants to create in you is a desire to be part of an SUPER CADRE of heroes, totally absorbed in their mission to the world.
The measure of your importance to God is the same as the importance and significance of the cross.
Focus on the power and love of Christ and not on your own sin and weakness.
"Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world." (I John 4:4))
You are responsible for your own experience.
Come to understand YOUR place in the overall plan and purpose of God. And remember, "All things work together for good to those who love God, for those who are called according to His purpose."
(Romans 8:28)
In the same sense that the timing of the coming of Christ was precise and purposeful -- AND WITH EQUAL FORCE -- so is your coming with your own unique purpose.
* * *
36 Special Thoughts About God, Me, You, and the World in Which We Live
1. Create in me an irrepressible desire to take up space in your fullness; to be in operative touch with my purpose, my destiny and the strategic timing of my existacce, totally absorbed in my commitment to be.
2. In a world of pain, few people really understand the enjoymebnt and full pleasure of life in the presence of God.
3. There really is nothing quite as satisfying as the quiet confidence that OMNIPOTENCE is operative in your experience.
4. You must decide that you will no longer be a creature f circumstance but that you will create and be responsible for your own circumstance.
5. There are few things in life we can do without the help and encouragement of others.
6. What God wants to create in you is a desire to be part of an elite, a cadre of superachievers, totally absorbed in their missioin to the world -- in their commitment to bless the Body of Christ.
7. It is good to be aware of our problems, but it is not good to focus on them. We must concentrate rather of the sufficiency of Jesus Christ.
8. The good news is this: God still loves you. God will put you where you want to be (Psalm 37:4), and use you mightily (Jeremiah 33:3). Don't stop moving. Don't stop giving of yourself. Always make yourself available. Don't sign off.
9. After the Cross had drained the God of Heaven of His wrath, all that He has left over for you and me is love.
10. If God will not accept who you really are, He cerftainly will not accept a phony.
11. Focus on the life of God in you, not on your sin.
12. Human beings and fellow Christians simply are not competent nor do they have the credentials to form evaluations and criticism about other Christians regarding their faith.
13. The man who demonstrates his love is more to be believed concerning his relationship with God than the most intense, dedicated, committed believer who does not.
14. The measure of your importance to God is the same as the importance and significance that He places on the Cross.
15. Your concept of yourself should be based on God's concept of you.
16. Do not determine your value as measured by others, but your value to others as measured by God.
17. We should conduct our lives as if others thought as much about us as we do about them.
18. You are indispensably unique -- not just different, but different for a purpose.
19. In the same sense that the coming of Christ was precise and purposeful, so is your coming and mine.
20. Nothing happens to you and me which cannot be used by God to achieve the design and purpose He has for us.
21. You have it in you to be a miracle.
22. If you are in Christ Jesus, God does not condemn youi, so why should you condemn yourself?
23. The actualization of belief creates its own reality.
24. Program your mind to think creatively concerning your objectives.
25. Few things are more exciting than thinking of an idea and then taking it as far as it will go.
26. Relationships are more important than concepts, and loving is the focus of relationship,.
27. What is God capable of doing through you anyway? He can create a whole new universe!
28. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of YOUR heart. (Psalm 37:4)
29. AIM -- ORGANIZATION -- ADMINISTRATION
30. The actualization of BELIEF will produce its own reality.
31. Do not accept ideas simply because that's the way you have always believed -- DARE TO CHALLENGE AN AXIOM!!!
32. Human beings are not competent nor do they have the credentials to make judgements or criticisms about spiritual relationships. Therefore, ignore all uninvited opinions which you feel are injurious or demeaning.
33. The overriding commands of God are to believe and to love.
34.The man who demonstrates his love is more to be believed concerning his relationship with God than the most intense, dedicated believer who does not.
35. Relationships are more important than concepts and love is the focus of relationship.
36. You can soar as high as you are able to think in the Grace of God.
* * *
The seagull perched on the light standard continued to scrutinize me carefully. I like to think tha perhaps it sensed that it was about to become involved in my life. Or, perhaps the presence of God in it was trying to tell me that this was no chance meeting between me and the beautiful bird. Something reminded me of my camera hanging around my neck. I raised it . . . pointed it toward the seagull, and just as I clicked the shutter, it leaped from its perch. All it did was reach, and the still air currents caught its gossamer wings and it soared away into the fog.
In the days that followed my thoughts were very much concerned with something I had come to call THESIS 96. 'THESIS 96' was a catch-phrase really, a name for a concept that had become an obsession with me. The concept is this: It is the rare individual that views himself as someone special and unique; someone with something new to give to the world, something that will make the world sit up and take notice, and make it appreciate that person and his gift.
It became my obsessiion . . . IT HAD BECOME MY OBSESSION to take this abstract individual by the spiritual and psychological shoulders and shake some sense into him; to educate him; to build up his self concept enough to trust in the wings that God has given him; to give him confidence and faith to leap into space, to reach, and soar away into his own destiny, his own achievement, his own purpose and reason for living . . .
. . . to soar higher than he ever thought he could.
