We have all heard the expression to forgive and forget. But what does that truly mean? Does it mean that we let go of what someone did and forget that it ever happened? Or does it mean that we absolve them of their behavior towards us and forget that they committed that behavior? It is hard for most people to understand that when someone does something ‘bad’ it doesn’t mean that they are ‘bad’. It simply means that at that moment they were acting ‘badly’. We are all capable of displaying endearing or aberrant behaviors depending upon the stresses of life and our ability to instantaneously switch from a ‘reactive’ mode to a ‘proactive’ mode. In reaction we recognize and believe in our separation from one another. In proactive mode we recognize and believe in our Oneness with one another.
In the reactive mode it is difficult to ‘separate’ the behavior from the person, while in the proactive mode we can separate the behavior from the person because we understand, from our acceptance of Oneness, that the other person is reacting to the stresses of their lives that we haven’t experienced. In other words, we haven’t walked a mile in their shoes and we give them the benefit of the doubt. Alexander Pope once said, "To err is human, to forgive, divine." What is it to forgive another? It is to absolve another of their behavior toward you by ceasing to resent them for committing that behavior. It means that you give up any feelings of being hurt by them for their behavior in order to sustain your ‘own’ peace.
What is it to forget? It is to cease to remember or take note of another’s behavior because you understand that they are NOT that behavior; they simply expressed that behavior before. It doesn’t mean that you forget that behavior; it means that you ‘forget’ that the person committed that behavior intentionally to hurt you (unless of course they did commit that behavior to intentionally hurt you). To forgive and forget means that you ‘separate’ the behavior from the person in order to understand their plight or reactions. It is putting you in their shoes in order to understand their journey. It means that you free yourself from the reactive feelings of being harmed or slighted. Lewis B. Smedes once said, "To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you." When we don’t ‘forgive’ and ‘forget’ we are holding ourselves back from moving ahead unfettered by feelings of frustration and guilt. We are, in effect, stifling our progress because we cannot let go of the behaviors we don’t like or abhor.
Emotional reaction has a way of getting a grip on our beings that seems like it won’t ever let go. We rehash and repeat these self-defeating feelings and end up in an ‘endless loop’ of recycled reactions. Jump off the hamster wheel of self-sabotage and free yourself of reactive conclusions. Step into the light of proaction by forgiving others (and yourself) for aberrant behaviors and forgetting that the person committed that behavior if, and only if, they recognize their error. If they haven’t recognized that they have committed aberrant behaviors toward you forgive them but don’t forget what they have done; you haven’t any obligation to anyone to be their doormat.
However, if someone persists in aberrant behaviors towards you remove yourself from their sphere of influence. It is not necessary for you to remain around those who consistently exist in a pattern of unchecked and undisciplined behaviors that cause you to remember those behaviors. The very thing that irritates you about those behaviors will keep cropping up until you deal with them by removing yourself from your exposure to them. You are not obligated to keep re-learning the same lessons over and over again. If you are, you haven’t completely removed yourself from the influence of those behaviors over you. You are in a state of recycling those behaviors because you have focused your attention on those behaviors and your reactions to them; they have become a part of your comfort zone and you derive purpose and meaning from them.
Your Divine purpose and meaning in life is revealed and understood when you forgive others (and yourself) for aberrant past behaviors and reframe them as lessons learned. Just because you or others exhibited aberrance in the past doesn’t mean that you or others will continue to exhibit them in the future. Forgiveness loosens the bonds of guilt over those behaviors and forgetting the commission of those behaviors frees you from ‘separating’ yourself from others. It brings you together with others in the sense that you recognize that we are all connected through the Spirit of God and we have all, at one time or another, fallen short of being the perfect beings we were created to be.
When we decide to forgive and forget we are acknowledging that connection and we are proactively moving forward off of the hamster wheel of reactive recycling of guilt and aberrance. We are becoming free from the self-imposed binding of restrictive and erroneous beliefs that hold us back from manifesting our Divine purpose in Divine order. It is up to us to ‘be’ whom and what we were created to be. Until we align ourselves with that purpose in Divine order we will continue on the wheel of regret and withholding. It all starts with being able to ‘forgive and forget’ what we don’t want in our lives. Life is a process of holding onto what you want and letting go of what you don’t want. Free yourself from the chains of reaction and proact your way to freedom. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
Elizabeth and I would like to invite you all to our site ‘Service In Prayer’. For many months we have been led to offer a way for our online friends to have a forum to share our prayer needs with each other.
The purpose of this website is to connect with one another and share our needs for healing in whatever areas we feel we need. Please visit the website or go to the Facebook forum to post any public prayers on the Wall or PM us for private prayers.
We will pray for you or help you to find Prayer Partners to assist you in healing and realization of your Divine purpose and the unfolding of it in Divine order.
Thank you all for your support, kindness and for blessing us with your ongoing friendship. Peace and blessings to all of you and your families! ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
OUR PAST ISSUES
Did you miss any of the issues of The Spirituality Post Daily? If so, following are the links to each and every day for you to peruse. Please visit our advertisers and help us to keep going in our service to the spiritual community of souls who long for a greater spiritual perspective on life. God bless you and your families! ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
What is the Spirituality Guidance Channel? SGC is a video portal designed to introduce spiritually inclined individuals to be exposed to spiritual videos, radio, teachers, music, art, books, resources and links from a selected group of teachers and requests from viewers. Each featured coach/teacher will have their own page highlighting any videos, audios, websites or printed material they have produced. This portal will be regularly promoted on the Internet through social networking and targeted marketing channels. Please visit the website at the following address:
Please visit our websites and send them to anyone you think would need our services. If you are out of our area (Northern Delaware) and know someone in our area, please forward this flyer onto them. We are available for work over the next few months, so please let us know as soon as possible. ~Liz & Dean
Fractal-cally speaking, the building blocks of nature grow and expand in natural order. What is natural order? It is the physical universe considered as an orderly system subject to natural (not human or supernatural) laws (dictionary.com). Natural order is an extension and projection of Divine order.
What is Divine order? According to truthkeepers.com “Divine order is simply the way God orders or arranges things. It is God's ordained arrangement according to His Divine logic and comprehension. It His methodical or prescribed arrangement of all things so that they function properly according to His Divine will. It is His determination of how things ought to be, which is the only way anything can work correctly. His Divine Order never changes because it is perfect and based on His perfection and unchangeableness.”
Out of the impressed singularity of the Divine comes the expression of the perceived dualistic reality (PDR) which operates under the laws of natural order. Planets move about their stars in gravity wells because it is natural for them to do so. People move about this earth because it is natural for them to do so.
Nature expresses itself fractal manner. A fractal is “a geometrical or physical structure having an irregular or fragmented shape at all scales of measurement between a greatest and smallest scale such that certain mathematical or physical properties of the structure, as the perimeter of a curve or the flow rate in a porous medium, behave as if the dimensions of the structure (fractal dimensions) are greater than the spatial dimensions” [dictionary.com]. Nature grows and expands in fractal patterns like the limbs of a tree. But why does it do this? Could it be the spirit of Divine order?
Our spirits create our lives because it is divinity in action. Our free will comes from the emotional belief systems we maintain to ensure our self-survival. These same belief systems that protect us can also hinder our progress by embracing mediocrity instead of fulfillment.
Move everyday from surviving to thriving into the realm of actualizing the purpose that God planted in your heart by striving to express the perfection that you already are. Focus on sharing Divine love with all and be that which your already are! Jump out of your accepted ‘gravity well’ and traverse the heavens at the speed of light. It is your choice and yours alone! ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
WELCOME TO TSP DAILY!
We are so pleased with the success of The Spirituality Post Weekly Online Magazine, The Spirituality Post Daily and The Spirituality Guidance Sunday Morning Service that we have now combined them into a daily online magazine for those involved in Spirituality. Every weekday and weekend we will be featuring the writings and sayings of Dr. Dean A. Banks, D.D. Please come and visit us every day to receive inspiration, guidance and opinion on spiritual and political matters. We would like to thank you all for your support and dedication to the writings and sayings that we feature. May God bless all of you and your families now and evermore! ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
Currently Bobby Hinkle, Elizabeth
May Sutor and Dean A. Banks, D.D. have uploaded podcasts. Robert Yarbrough will be added soon. Just click on the podcasters placards below and click on the Podcast title. Currently there are five podcasts on Bobby Hinkle's page, one on Elizabeth Sutor's page and nine on Dean A. Banks, D.D.'s page. Stay tuned for more! Thank you for choosing us!
What is the Spirituality Guidance Channel? SGC is a video portal designed to introduce spiritually inclined individuals to be exposed to spiritual videos, radio, teachers, music, art, books, resources and links from a selected group of teachers and requests from viewers. Each featured coach/teacher will have their own page highlighting any videos, audios, websites or printed material they have produced. This portal will be regularly promoted on the Internet through social networking and targeted marketing channels. Please visit the website at the following address:
http://www.spiritualityguidance.com and email me at webproducer@hotmail.com with any suggestions, links or materials. Thank you for your most courteous participation in this project. I welcome your input. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
Welcome to our new Sunday Morning Service by Dr. Dean A. Banks, D.D.
Every week Dr. Dean will be engaging subjects that are pertinent to your growth and expansion into recognition of; respect to; and communication with your inner spirit.
Please feel free to comment or suggest topics for review. May the Divine always bless you and your families! ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
What does the term ‘free to be me’ really mean? Does it mean that no one imposes and restrictions on our characters so we can express ourselves unrestrained and unfettered? Does it mean that our egos should have free reign over everyone and everything in our environments? Or does it simply mean that we have a spiritual innate knowing of freedom that allows us to align ourselves with our Divine purposes?
Freedom is a dynamic state of understanding that defines just what our boundaries are and when it is necessary to cross those self-imposed boundaries. We sometimes tease and joke with our friends and step across the ‘line’ to have a little fun and feelings get hurt. But what feelings truly get hurt? Is it the ego and its sensitivities or is it your inner spirit?
The ego defends its own self-survival at all costs even against the freedom from living in the spirit because it wants and NEEDS to be in control to validate its own perceived existence. Shall we ignore the demands of our egos? Shall we feed them incessantly and pamper their existence? Or do we simply understand their needs and not challenge their demands too much?
The key is in always balancing the needs of the ego with the inner desires of the spirit. When we tip the scales too much in the ego’s direction we feed the beast with attention and it comes to expect more and more attention. Put it in its place by acknowledging its existence while tempering its demands with spiritual guidance. Let it know that it ‘ain’t all that’ while giving it a sense that it has value. This way, it will not ‘fight’ or ‘resist’ you when you don’t need it to interfere with your progress.
When you choose to fight or resist ANYTHING, you are operating from your ego! The Spirit of God within you does not have to fight anything! It leads by love and love alone. Until you see that, feel that and live that you will be operating from your ego and will face one challenge after another until you assimilate that realization!
Being ONE in spirit is not killing your ego. It is dealing with it in a mature fashion that placates its existence. Remember, the ego is an extension from the Spirit of God in you to afford your being physical self-protection. It has a purpose, so use it wisely. Your choices as to which voice to obey (ego or spirit) will determine whether you are truly free to be you or not. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
SPIRITUAL BOOKS
CONSULTATION
FREE WILL?
Do we exercise ‘free will’ or do we simply follow a determined path to our ‘destiny’? At the lowest levels of the perceived dualistic reality it seems that movement comes from pre-determined patterns of expression that grow, expand and follow a course to a conclusion. These expressed patterns are not a strategy but a simple movement from one ‘state’ to another much the same as the zeros (off) and ones (on) of a digital bit. As these movements ‘graduate’ to the quantum level of expression they appear random and uncertain. When they pass from the realm of apparent ‘chaos’ into the realm of apparent ‘order’, they move into the physical level of the ‘perception’ of order amid chaos.
The omniverse ‘appears’ to function according to the ‘laws’ of physics because that is the way pre-determined patterns unfold into natural order. Where does free will enter into this? Some scientists believe that there is no free will and that the omniverse is a giant clock that unfolds according to the laws of physics. In other words, what we do with what we have has no effect on the ‘grand scheme’ of things. We are simply pawns in a game of chess and we have no free will to alter the ‘strategy’ of the game. They akin the game to be more like checkers and not like chess. Movements can only exist from one position to the next according to omniversal laws. What they fail to see is that the unfolding of natural order arises from the expression of Divine order.
Divine order is ultimately affected by what choices we actively make. The true illusion is not that we haven’t the ability to choose, but that our choices actually matter. When we believe that we are living in a deterministic fashion we acclimate ourselves to playing the victim and make choices that are NOT responsible; after all, no matter what we choose to do we are just pawns in the game and our movements are ‘determined’ by forces beyond our apparent control. When we believe we have ‘free will’, we nurture our sense of wonder and know that we must make responsible choices in order to be ‘victorious’ or successful in our perception of life.
Our beliefs are actually what ‘determine’ our course of action toward unfolding our Divine purpose in Divine order. What ultimately brings our Divine purpose into complete fruition is ‘knowing’ that we understand that purpose and acting in a responsible fashion to bring it about. According to Einstein, the past, present and future exist concurrently and that it is our individual ‘perspective’ that perceives the dualistic illusion of them being separate as being real. If our past affects our present and our present affects our future, then it follows that our future affects our present and our present affects our past.
In the realm of ‘belief’, time unfolds in one direction. In the realm of ‘knowing’, time unfolds in both directions. Knowing is allowing the future conclusion of your actions to affect what you do right now, as well as what you are doing right now is co-creating what you know will happen. Believing is allowing the present steps you are taking to affect what comes about as a result of those steps in the future. In some ways, our steps are pre-determined by the omniversal grid of natural growth and expansion but it is our perception and ‘belief’ in free will that ultimately activates our ability to ‘know’ where we are going.
When beliefs become rigid and unyielding, they are erroneous at best. When they bring you into a Divine state of ‘knowing’, they allow you to see beyond time and space into the realm of understanding the unfolding of your Divine purpose in Divine order. When you ‘know’ what to do you are taking a future conclusion and moving toward its actualization. Beliefs are repeated thoughts that you accept as true and are the starting point of an expanded awareness of the perceived dualistic reality as being the stage of expression and the illusion of reality.
Knowing is the inner peace of the presence of the Divine that enlightens your being to move toward your destiny. You are not ‘fated’ by the omniverse unless you give up making the choices that allow you to unfold your Divine purpose in Divine order. Fulfillment requires moving from peace into order, not peace into chaos. Use your belief in free will to supersede any belief in determinism. Graduate to knowing the Divine by making the time each and every day to experience the presence of Divine love within you right now.
Choose life, peace, understanding, joy and Divine love by choosing to live in health, wealth, prosperity and abundance. Move from being the victim of your own yearnings to the victor of your own Divine desires. It’s as simple as making responsible, sensible and effective choices that confirm what you already know deep within your heart. Be ye therefore perfect! ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
FROM DARKNESS
INTO THE LIGHT
Are you always talking about being something or someone in the future instead of simply being that right now? Are you living to become that which you already are? Or are you believing that you will arrive somewhere instead of knowing that you are already there?
You are where you are for the complete unfolding of your Divine purpose in Divine order. It might appear to be a struggle; it might appear that you are going through hell; it might appear to be the darkest time in your life; it might appear that you are going through the ‘valley of the shadow of death.” Appearance can, and will, be deceiving.
A seed does not germinate until it is buried ‘in the valley’ and blocked from the light. When the ground water passes over the seed and interacts with the chemicals in the dirt it catalyzes the inherent properties of the seed to trigger germination. It is in the apparent valleys or struggles in life that you move from the darkness into the light.
In order for you to learn the appreciation of the simplest things in life you must KNOW what it is like to live without them. In the world of the extremes of the perceived dualistic reality appreciation of abundance is learned by the experience of living in ‘lack and limitation’. That is why it is so important for you to live in the joy of the realization of your Divine purpose being completely unfolded and actualized BEFORE it actually happens. This teaches you how to harness Divine trust and acceptance in order to live in Divine allowance.
Without the challenges in life we would never be honed to accept our inner Divine perfection. We always need to realize that we are all perfect creations of the Most High. That is Divine knowing. It is when we choose to believe what our individual egos tell us is the truth that we are so cautious that we err.
Right here, right now, we are complete. The belief that we aren’t complete, is what convinces us that we must try instead of just be. Allowing Divine guidance to us from the darkness into the light takes the seed of Divine purpose that has been germinated within us into basking in the light of growth and expansion.
Step out of the darkness into the light of reality by allowing that which you truly are to lead your steps. It is up to you and you alone. May you always trust completely in the Divine to guide your steps into complete and utter fulfillment of your Divine purpose in Divine order! ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
FROM DISCORDANCE
TO ACCORDANCE
Awareness comes from discomfort. Discomfort comes from dissatisfaction. Dissatisfaction comes from disharmony. Disharmony comes from discordance. Discordance comes from lack of alignment. Lack of alignment comes from lack of awareness.
When you are not aware you are not aligning yourself with your Divine purpose. When you are not operating in your Divine purpose the result is discordance in your environment. Discordance is the lack of harmonious behaviors that produce fulfilling results. Disharmonious results lead to feelings of dissatisfaction in your life. Dissatisfaction leads to ongoing feelings of discomfort which lead to a new awareness of what you don’t want in your life. This, in turn, leads you to a clearer understanding of what you do want in your life.
From lack of awareness to awareness we grow and expand into whom and what we were created to be. And what is that? We are individualized expressions of the Most High and we are endowed by grace with the ability to co-create our realities in ‘accordance’ with Divine love. Divine love is the primal creative force that has brought everything into existence. It is from whence we came and it is to where we will return.
The omniverse NEVER loses anything. Energy cannot be created or destroyed. It simply changes from one state to another. From Dark energy to Dark matter to Energy and to Matter and back, we change from what is less dense into what is more dense and back again in our life’s journey. We ARE the omniverse and we exist in Divine love everlasting!
The Most High has blessed all of us with ongoing health, wealth, prosperity and abundance and it is up to us to live ‘in’ it. It is by our thoughts, feelings, beliefs, words, actions and behaviors that we separate ourselves from God. Stop listening to the drivel of fools about what you should believe and go within each and every day to live in Divine peace. Wisdom teaches you that peace comes from retreating from chaos! Within each and every one of us is our center of Divine peace where the Almighty speaks to us in the Divine voice of silence. In the Divine stillness we experience the seeds of peace, understanding, joy and Divine love that CREATE health, wealth, prosperity and abundance in our lives!
Pay attention on your journey to the benchmarks of actualizing your Divine purpose. This way you won’t have to relearn what you have come to know as your steps back to perfection! Be ye perfect. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
Why are some so preoccupied with getting even when they get hurt? What joy is there in doing to someone else what they did to you? If you did what they did first, then the other person would feel that they have to get even with you. The ego acknowledges its perceived ‘station’ in life by resisting and fighting back when it perceives it is being hurt. It rationalizes the only way to ‘make the other person pay’ is to respond with the very same behavior that caused the hurt in the first place.
Is this logical? Is it appropriate behavior? It is for some because their view of themselves is less than the truth that they are divine beings. They feel they have to ‘acquire’ things, adorn themselves in a certain way and control others in order to feel ‘happy’. They will also protect themselves, their families AND their property with their very lives sometimes in order to feel justified in how they feel. This does NOT take anyone else into consideration but it reinforces their self-image enough to claim that they fought for their security.
Security in what? Being a warrior? What about having security in being a peacemaker, a teacher and a lover of humanity? The one thing that has driven civilized people for many years is that they want to see their children and grandchildren do ‘better’ than they have! Not in getting even with some perceived hurt or injustice and resorting to resisting and fighting.
Be like the behavior of water. It allows the vehicle of emotions to create waves in it and it moves in synchronicity with what is projected; it also responds with what is reflected back to where the waves originated. Project Divine love in all you do and respond to the reflections of life with Divine love as well. Give to that which you perceive hurts you and its energy will be dissipated into oblivion. It’s when you resist what you perceive as being hurtful is when you create more hurt in your life. Allow it to pass through you and let it go the way of all things.
Until you allow that which you perceive is hurting you to pass through you without attaching any negative emotions to it, you will be caught up in the hamster wheel of getting even instead of letting go. Discharge that which doesn’t serve the growth and expansion of you and others. You are worth it! ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
GETTING ON THE
SAME PAGE
Before a good musician begins to interact with other musicians they seek to ‘get on the same page’ with others by tuning up their instruments so that there can be congruency and perfect harmony. By making the time to ‘set the tone’ for their performances, they ensure that if their performance is flawless, that all the listeners, including them, will be blessed with sounds that are ‘in tune’ and harmonious.
The unfolding of your Divine purpose in Divine order is the ‘one song’, or ‘uni-verse’ that you create each and every day of your life. By starting your day with the following steps, you will daily remind yourself of the greater good in the scheme of all things and minimize any selfish desires that don’t integrate into the ‘whole’ of life. These steps show us how to set the tone for our day and purge ourselves of selfish tendencies:
Alignment - Each and every day I align myself with my Divine purpose in Divine order and carry out Divine will into my world by loving and respecting myself and others no matter what circumstances arise.
Interaction - When interacting with others I speak the truth and relay the facts no matter how I feel at the moment in order to edify all of humankind.
Guidance - I act on the guidance of the Most High by doing what I know is right and decent, assisting others in finding their light and being kind and loving to all.
Sharing - I daily share Divine love for myself and others by making my well-being a priority and sharing my talents and abilities to those in need.
Maintaining - I take full responsibility for my actions and maintain truth and honesty in all of my endeavors, communications and expressions.
Alignment allows us to clearly see where we are in relation to where we want to be. If our goal is obscure by our beliefs, disillusionment or lack of conviction, we need to align ourselves with whom and what we truly are. Being clear on our Divine purpose allows us to see opportunities to appropriately act in Divine order.
Interaction is something that most of us experience every day. Whether we experience real or virtual people, we are interacting with their words, actions and behaviors. They have an effect upon whom and what we are and it is our choice to allow that effect to alter us or not. Our feelings react to these interactions but our subsequent thoughts as a result of our interactions need to be proactive and based on the truth of what is revealed in order to positively contribute to the mutual growth and expansion of all.
Guidance is either what our lower ego self tells us we ‘must’ do or what our higher ‘spiritual’ self reveals. Our ego ‘guides’ us based on the securing of our self-survival at all costs and our inner Spirit of God guides us into securing what is the best for all concerned. Spiritual guidance promotes sharing love and providing assistance to all of those in need whereas egotistical guidance ALWAYS promotes ‘what’s in it for me’.
Sharing is the process of action that allows us to contribute to the well-being of others, and ultimately ourselves. It is taking what we have been blessed with (our talents and abilities) and using it to better the circumstances for all of us. It is stepping out into the world and giving of ourselves to grow and expand the conditions and happiness for all of us.
Maintaining is recognizing what works and what doesn’t, discharging what doesn’t work and utilizing what does work. It is being responsible for your actions and making the steps necessary to continue the flow of good to all. It requires being able to clearly see the truth, being honest about the results of everyone’s actions and communicating this unfettered by the ego’s desire to embellish what has happened and put itself in a favorable light. It is a consistency between understanding your Divine purpose and how you express that purpose in Divine order and in accordance with Divine will.
By aligning yourself with your Divine purpose in Divine order you become more in tune with your interactions in your environment, By listening to the inner guidance of the Divine you will encounter more and more opportunities to share your blessings with others and it will ultimately allow you to understand how to maintain an ongoing state of inner happiness each and every day of your life. Be true to whom and what you are and all that you Divinely desire will be added unto, pressed down and running over in universal abundance. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
GETTING TO YOUR
DESTINATION
What do you do when you need to go upstairs? Do you go outside and try to jump up to a window to climb through? Or do you go outside, grab a ladder, put it below a window, climb up the ladder, open the window and climb inside? What if the window is locked? What do you do then? Break the glass and unlatch the lock to get in? Of course not!
You go to the stairs and take one step at a time and traverse the incline to get to the second floor. You utilize a logical and progressive strategy to arrive where you need to be. How many people try to jump to where they want to be? They would be jumping all day and never get to the second floor. How many people go outside of themselves, find a ladder and climb to the window to find it locked and they can’t get in? Do they resort to the violence of ‘breaking in’ to get to their destination?
Don’t be on the outside looking in to where you know you should be. Use the correct strategy to arrive at your destination and you will get there safely, efficiently and remain on the inside instead of being on the outside looking in. The stairs to the unfolding of your Divine purpose in Divine order are within you. You don’t have to leave your ‘house’ to find a ladder to get there. You just need to take one step at a time.
Each day is another step in unfolding your Divine purpose in Divine order. Take each step methodically one at a time. Don’t try skipping steps thinking that you will ‘get there’ quicker. You might slip and fall down the stairs. Take the logical and progressive approach and ensure your safety in arriving at your destination. It is all within you right now. Trust in that which knows more than what you believe. Be focused on getting where you want to be by feeling the joy each and every day of being there!
Know where you are going and take one day at a time to get there. Love each step knowing each one is necessary for you to ‘feel’ the progression of the perceived journey; it’s like stopping to smell the flowers on your way. Put love into every step and you will reap the joy of personal accomplishment without endangering the safety of yourself and others. Be ye therefore perfect! ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
GOING WITH THE FLOW
What does it mean to be prepared? Does it mean you just focus on what you are going to do and do the least possible to get ready for it? Or does it mean that you thoroughly prepare for every possibility or contingency? And after you prepare, what do you do next? An old saying might help in understanding the true meaning of being prepared. “Luck is when opportunity meets preparation.” The more you prepare yourself to receive opportunities, the more you become aware of the opportunities that are available that you haven’t seen before.
Why does this happen? Because in the acts of observing studying and learning your mind opens up to more possibilities that you had perhaps not considered. The opportunities and possibilities were always present; it was you who became aware of them due to focusing your attention on the subject of focus. In other words, when you put the energy in through the desire to know more and diligently practice learning more, your awareness blossoms like a thousand petal lotus.
Inputting, impressing and imprinting information is the first part of the equation of learning. The second part is processing the learned information with your mind and heart. The third part is taking what you have learned and sharing it with others. If you are in a perpetual state of chaos your mind and heart will not retain as much as you would like due to your focus on your stresses. Regular daily meditation helps offset the stresses, distractions and annoyances that block your inner peace. With a clear mind and an open heart you can learn effectively and retain what you have learned.
An artist first masters the various brush strokes and color selections before painting a masterpiece. Years of diligent practice afford the artist the ability to replicate the rudiments in a ‘flow’ of Divine insight. A musician diligently practices their instrument to master the rudiments and replicates those movements in creating music that soothes the soul. The more you focus on the rudiments, the more you are preparing to replicate those rudiments in the ‘flow’ of divine co-creativity.
You can never over prepare for anything that your heart desires and your mind focuses on because it is the seed of your Divine purpose. If art or music is what moves your soul then prepare by focusing on the rudiments and practicing their ‘automatic’ replication in order to move in a fluid manner in Divine flow. The saying needs to be updated to “Divine flow is when opportunity meets preparation.”
Luck is a construct for the operation of situational benefits occurring randomly in your life. Nothing is random and chaotic; it just appears that way. Divine order moves natural order when you allow it to operate on your behalf. It comes from letting go of the reins of ‘how’ things will happen and focusing on them happening through Divine expectation. Divine expectation is allowing the best to occur for all concerned and accepting the manifestation of occurrences as the result of Divine will.
Daily prayer, meditation and service prepare you for the fulfillment of your Divine purpose in Divine order: Praying through asking, visualizing and focusing your efforts toward the expectation of the fruits of your labors. Meditating to let go of your perceived control of how things will manifest. Going out into the world and serving others with your talents, skills and abilities to help them realize their innermost dreams. All of these practiced behaviors contribute to the fulfillment of your innermost dreams.
Hone your talents, skills and abilities by sharpening the saw every day. Focus on what it takes to be the best at what you do and do not ignore the needs, wants, desires and expectations of others unless it interferes with your individual growth and expansion. Be diligent and practice your craft. Prepare for every possibility and contingency. Expect the best and prepare for the results of all possibilities, whether they appear favorable to you or not. It is your life; allow the Divine to command it instead of your limited ego. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
GRASSHOPPER
Being a fan of the TV show Kung Fu, I decided to write some of my own dialogue for the show’s characters:
Meditation:
Grasshopper: Master, why must I meditate?
Master: You mustn’t do anything, Grasshopper.
Grasshopper: Then why do you meditate?
Master: For the same reason, Grasshopper.
~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
The Meaning Of Life:
Grasshopper: Master, what is the meaning of life?
Master: What does it mean to you, Grasshopper?
Grasshopper: I don’t know, Master, that’s why I am asking you.
Master: How would I know what the meaning of life is for you, Grasshopper?
Grasshopper: You are all wise, Master; and there is much you know that I haven’t even considered.
Master: I can only consider what life means to me. I don’t walk in your shoes, Grasshopper. Do you walk in mine?
Grasshopper: That would be too silly, Master.
Master: Exactly. Only you can know what life means to you. My meaning has nothing to do with your experience. Just as my experience has nothing to do with your meaning. The wisdom of my experience is that all knowledge is useless without meaning. One can only know the meaning of his own life from the experiences that guide him. Seek to know what needs to be known and understand that wisdom is borne of meaning. The more you experience, the more you will derive your meaning of life.
Grasshopper: Then, what of wisdom?
Master: It comes when you let go of all knowledge and embrace your meaning in life.
Grasshopper: I am confused, Master. I must not know in order to understand my meaning in life?
Master: Understanding what you know brings meaning to your life and from that comes wisdom. Without meaning there cannot be wisdom and without wisdom there cannot be peace. Peace comes from knowing your meaning enough to allow it to be without your participation. It is accepting things as they are without any interference.
Grasshopper: Then I should do nothing to understand the meaning of life?
Master: Nothing but allow yourself to who you are; to be your destiny without controlling it.
Grasshopper: So, the meaning of life is not in knowing or controlling your destiny, but in allowing it to unfold naturally?
Master: Exactly. Be as the sail on the ship that captures the wind and lets it go. For in each burst of wind you move closer to port. Allow the bursts to gradually move you closer and closer to your destination.
Grasshopper: Then, what is my destination, Master?
Master: When you know the meaning of your life. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
God, to me, is the Divine Infinite Creator Spirit of God that exists beyond our comprehension in the stillness and silence of spirit. That spirit is at the center of all existence and radiates Divine love into all of creation. It is not an anthropomorphic being who sits on a throne in judgment of ‘His’ creation. It is the source of all that has been and ever will be created.
Aligning myself with my Divine purpose in Divine order is my daily goal. The Divine is the most important ‘thing’ in my life. Every day I pray for guidance, meditate to listen for guidance and serve others with the blessings I have been so graciously given. I pray by asking and visualizing, meditate by closing off the outer world and going deep within my being to my center of peace and I experience the joy of existing by serving others with the talents, skills and abilities that I have been given through Divine love.
When our physical bodies die our souls no longer exist; it is the combination of the Spirit of God within our bodies and our bodies that comprise our living souls. We are divine (spirit) and corporeal (body) existing together as a living and breathing soul. Our ‘spirits’ unfold into our bodies during the course of our lives and refold into the omniverse upon our deaths.
Our ‘energy’ of consciousness can never be created or destroyed; it just simply changes form. We are spiritual beings having a physical, emotional, mental and spiritual experience from our bodies in life and our consciousness of that experience continues after our bodies die. We are never separated from the Divine love of the Creator; it is our perceptions that convince us that we are and when we learn to dismiss those perceptions as illusions of the ego we become free at last. Death is a part of life and is nothing to be feared.
Our daily challenge becomes to live in spirit while dancing with our ego. It is learning to placate the whims of our selfish ego while fulfilling the inner guidance from the Spirit of God. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
HOLDING ONTO STRESS
Don’t feel it is honorable and responsible to hold on to or own the stresses in your life and act as if you have them because you committed some past behavior that inflicted them on you as punishment for some perceived aberrant behavior you have displayed. The longer you identify with and embrace negativity because you feel it is a just and deserved punishment for aberrant behavior is the longer you will be living in fear. Let go of what you perceive is holding you back and watch the flow of Divine love ease your fears, center your being and manifest your deepest heartfelt desires.
There is no honor or responsibility in living in ongoing stress. It is simply a choice that we make when we believe we are getting our ‘just desserts’. Stop believing in that which does not advance our Divine purposes being unfolded in Divine order. Start trusting completely in the Divine to touch you with peace by letting go of all perceptions of Divine retribution and punishment for your perceived ‘sins’.
If God is truly a God of love, then why would you be punished for that which you believed was right? You received the stresses of the perception of being punished for aberrant behavior simply because you were operating out of belief and not truly knowing the essence of the Spirit of God. It is in your erroneous beliefs of whom and what God is that you choose to move ahead or go backward in the face of crises.
Disliking or hating what happens to you is broadcasting negative energy into your environment. It is, in essence, sending out the wrong signal that will be reflected back to you based on your emotional intensity. Focusing on what has happened to you and how it happened is alright in analyzing your reactive behaviors; however, if you dwell on these experiences too long you are causing your own undoing by living in the past. You come to resist what has happened instead of allowing it to be what it is.
When you choose to love what you hate you have committed a reversal from resisting to allowing. You have given love instead of reacting in fear. You have chosen to act from your inner divinity instead of your selfish ego. Love what you feel is wrong and the solution to its undoing will become readily apparent because you are allowing the understanding of why it exists to begin with and how it can be diminished to become obvious.
Accept what is true and allow it to be. Reject what is not true and don’t resist its occurrence; love its existence and work toward the understanding of undoing what it has wrought to inspire all to live in the truth regardless of the aberrance of others. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
HOW DID IT ALL START?
Ever wonder how it all started? I’m sure you have at one time or another. The ongoing query is, “What came first, the chicken or the egg?” Scientifically it seems that the egg came first; combinations of chemicals into the building blocks of life and survival of the synergetic intricacies of living structures into its environment.
But what about the universe itself? Where did it come from? Has it always been here? Or has it come and gone over and over again? Is there an intelligent design or just random chaos? Things work in the observable universe based on the way they are supposed to work according to specific laws.
Energy cannot be created or destroyed; it simply changes form from light into matter and back again; an endless cycle of life that gives life and takes it away. But what about the universe that cannot be observed? It exists as dark matter and dark energy. Most of the universe is composed of these components yet we cannot ‘see’ them. Currently, they are theoretical constructs that make the astrophysicists’ math work out, but do they truly exist? Are they pieces of the puzzle that we have created to make everything ‘fit’ or do they, in fact, exist?
Our part in humankind is but a mere speck on the universe’s clock of time. We are a by-product of our environment and we exist within it. It has given us the necessary elements to exist within natural order. But what about Divine order? Is it an extension of natural order that we perceive as being Divine? Or is it the result of living and loving God who has literally breathed the breath of life into our beings? Do we share the Divine infinite spirit or are we just islands of clay that react to the natural order of our environments?
Some scientists believe that our soul is in fact an amalgam of synaptic energy that synergizes itself into existence as we grow and dies completely on our death. Others believe that the soul refolds into the energies of the universe upon death. What makes our soul unique is the expression of the Infinite Spirit into our physical bodies. When our physical bodies die our spirit still lives because it is a part of the universe that is not observable. Our soul (unique combination of a spirit in a body) no longer exists and our bodies refold into the dust that they were constructed from originally.
We cannot prove the unobservable with the laws of the observable; but we can utilize the laws of the unobservable to manifest our purpose in the observable. And just what are these laws? There are many from varied teachers but let’s suffice it to say they are all based on the golden rule. Project into the universe what you want to experience in the now. Share the gifts that we have been so graciously given.
Do not allow the erroneous beliefs of others and your acceptance of them to interfere with the manifestation of your Divine purpose. You have the power of choice to steer your life in the direction of actualizing your innermost dreams. Like Nike’s slogan says, “Just do it!” ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
HOW TO AVOID PUTTING
YOUR FOOT IN YOUR MOUTH
Actually, if you follow the processes outlined here, you can most always avoid that bitter taste of dirt, germs and ridicule. Being able to discern truth from fiction comes not only for a desire for the truth, but walking the pathway to understanding it. When an event, occurrence, situation, circumstance or the behavior of objects, animals or people transpire, you should first record exactly what happened Use your cell-phone memo recorder or a pad and pen to document the event.
Describe the sub-modalities of the event with who performed it, what they did, where it happened, how did it happen, when did it happen and why you believe it happened; for what ultimate purpose. Describe what you saw, what you heard, what you smelled, how it tasted and how it touched you. Further describe the levels of what you saw - colors, brightness, contrast; what you heard - pitch, loudness, positioning; what you smelled – fragrant, sweet, pungent; what you tasted – sweet, sour, savory; how it touched you – comforting, alarming, indifferent; how it mentally stimulated you – thoughts, feelings, beliefs; how it made you feel – assured, alerted, apathetic. These impressions are from the five physical/emotional senses, the mental sense (6th sense) and the spiritual sense (7th sense). Record these observations in order to accurately determine their purpose to you and others.
Now that you have gathered and logged your data, it is time to evaluate that data by itself without attaching any personal emotion or agenda manifestation to it. Determine the answers to the following questions:
Who participated in the event? Is their reputation honorable or manipulative? Are they known for relaying accurate information or skewing it to their own personal agenda? Who’s paying for this study? What will they gain by skewing the data and conclusions in their favor? Follow the money and you will be made aware of what is exactly going on.
What is it that the ‘who’ wants you to believe about the event? Did it occur naturally or was it contrived to convince others of their veracity? Was it setup to unfold in such a way as to gain others’ trust and have them jump on the bandwagon?
Where did it occur? Did it occur at such a place where the most dramatic effect would be realized? Was the event designed to unfold at this location to gain the most attention?
How did it occur? Did a natural chain of events unfold the event the way it played out? Or was it designed to be at the right place, at the right time and with the right people to maximize the perceptions of others to gain their belief?
When did it occur? Was it designed to occur at a specific point in time for maximum effect of was it accidental?
Why did it occur? Was the event designed to occur to unduly influence mass amounts of people to become aware or their surroundings? Or was it designed to convince as many people as possible that what they believe is happening is NOT from the reasons they believe it is happening?
When you honestly answer these questions, you will see a pattern of expression unfolding right before your very eyes. You will see what is actually going on behind the scenes of events, occurrences, situations, circumstances and the behaviors of objects, animals and people.
Now that you have your outline of information, go to the Internet and gather the opinions of others about what happened. Whatever each person claims is the truth, verify that it is factually the truth and begin to test its validity by searching for similar occurrences. Bookmark your journey and log reputable references for further study. Go to the library and dig deeper in researching what you have noted and what others have said. Use your mental ability to discern the truth without judging it. Judging occurs when you add emotional agenda manifestation to your observations because it is predicated on your own self-survival. Observe, evaluate, perceive and believe what you experience by always relaying the truth. This way, you will never end up with your foot in your mouth and never have to experience the foul taste of dirt, germs and public ridicule. Be ye therefore diligent in seeking the truth and validating its occurrences! Please visit here for further research into how to discover the truth. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
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