Rev Dr Barry King explores how you can experience true peace and happiness.
Inspiration is a powerful, tangible, thing.
Inspiration can move us forward when we are feeling stuck. It can lift us up when we are feeling down. It can bring us into a state of gratitude , aliveness, and instill in us the knowledge that we are OK and that we are blessed. Inspiration can also draw our awareness inwards, bringing us to realize that we are one with Divine Mind and that we act through Divine Intention. It can remind us that we are not solitary but that we are connected to something so amazing that we can not even begin to understand it.
We invite you to rise above the limitation that you feel immersed in this physical life. We invite you to celebrate your true nature as an eternal infinite spiritual being choosing a life of challenge and experience. We invite you to be all that you can be and in doing so be an inspiration for not only yourself but for all those you touch as you move through your life.
|
|
Exploring how do we choose to define ourselves and value ourselves? Rev Barry explores how we can be choose to be joyful in what we do and the life that we are living.
|
Join Rev Barry King as he explores the nature of being spirit and experiencing the limitations of a physical existence. Also, celebrates the power of choice in our lives to shape and mold ourselves and our future.
|
|
Today is the Tomorrow You Hoped for Yesterday
by Rev Barry King
Today is the Tomorrow You Hoped for Yesterday
by Rev Barry King
The following is an excerpt from my book, Many Paths, One Truth; An Affirmation of Spirit.
I hope you find it helpful.
Rev Barry
I hope you find it helpful.
Rev Barry
The other day I asked myself, “Why are so many people unhappy?” Why is it that people have such a difficult time basking in the joys and wonder that the world has to offer? As I thought, Spirit gave me a phrase, “Today is the tomorrow you hoped for yesterday.”
A long time ago, people struggled from day to day just to survive. At that time, each day wasvery precious because it meant that you had survived another day. It was also precious because there might be no tomorrow. Each time they met an old friend, enjoyed the touch of a loved one, ate a meal, saw a sunset - they were thankful. They knew it might be the last time they enjoyed these simple pleasures on this earth. They felt close to God. God was in the present. God was in the trees, the oceans, the rocks, and all living things. They had few possessions to occupy and clutter their minds or to worry about. They were happy. They prospered. They developed society and culture.
Today in North America, most of us no longer worry about our day to day survival. Most of us know that we will eat tomorrow. We know that chances are good that we will live to see another day. We have a lot of time to think. How do we use this time? Do we try to help those who are not sure of their next meal? Do we use it in service to others? Do we use it to develop and nurture friendships and loving relationships?
Sometimes, we use our time unproductively. We take this precious time for granted. Often we spend the time worrying about what we don’t have! Worrying about the things of the past which we cannot change! Fearing those things in the future that we cannot see.
I would like to share with you the story of the man who walking along one day heard a roaring and growling coming up behind him. Looking back, he saw that he was being stalked by a tiger. This tiger began to pounce, so the man, with every ounce of strength he could muster, began to run. In a few moments, with the tiger getting closer and closer, he found himself looking over a steep cliff. With little choice, he began to climb down the cliff. As he looked up, he could see the tiger looking over the edge - growling and roaring. The man knew that if the tiger could reach him, he would surely die. At about half way down the cliff, the man heard a roaring and growling from below. Looking down, he saw that there was another tiger waiting for him at the bottom of the cliff. At that moment, the man realized that whether he climbed up or down the cliff he would have to face a tiger. He would probably die.
All of a sudden, the man saw a strawberry growing on an outcropping of the cliff. It was red and ripe and luscious. As the man could reach it, he reached over and picked the strawberry. He then ate it, and enjoyed it. Even though, the man was facing certain disaster at both the top and bottom of the cliff, he was able to live in the moment and enjoy the strawberry.
How many of us have tigers at the top of the cliff in our past and imagine tigers in our future at the bottom of the cliff? How many of us can live in the moment and enjoy what life has to offer now? How many of us know joy in our lives?
Imagine that God is the strawberry. A God of the present. Spirit lives in an eternal now and so should we. Faith has to do with living in the now and being positive - celebrating our gifts. Like the man on the cliff, we can gain nourishment and joy from the strawberry. That does not mean that we should ignore the things of the past or the possibilities for the future. It does mean, however, that these things should not have the power to rob us of the joy of the moment.
Let us live our lives to their fullest, doing the best that we can do and being content that we have done our best. No one, especially God, expects us to do better than we can in this moment. We all make mistakes. We are not perfect. That is why we are here - to make mistakes, to learn, to grow, to move towards perfection. The frustrating thing about perfection is that the closer we get to it, the farther away it goes. The more we know, the more we know that we do not know. Do the best you can and be thankful that you have been given an opportunity to live on this wonderful planet and experience the challenges that a life can bring to you.
Know that each day is a growing day and that today is the tomorrow you wished for yesterday. Use it well! Enjoy it!
Life is Purposeful
by Rev Barry King
The following is an excerpt from my book, Many Paths, One Truth; An Affirmation of Spirit.
I hope you find it helpful.
Rev Barry
I hope you find it helpful.
Rev Barry
The other day I was talking to someone who wanted to know what their soul’s purpose was in this life. They felt that they had been searching for a long time and they were concerned that they might not find it or achieve it. They had tried many things but none of them brought the happiness or the fulfillment they felt that achieving that special task should bring them. They hoped that I could contact their Spirit guides and ask them what it was that they had set out to accomplish in this life. Spirit was able to give them relevant direction and guidance but fell short of telling them what their soul’s purpose was in this life. I thought, I would share with you some of the reasons why Spirit would choose not to tell them.
I believe our lives are very purposeful and that we come into this life with specific goals and tasks to achieve. I also believe we chose the family and the situation that we were born into. This enables us to have the experiences and circumstances necessary to provide the opportunities and challenges we need to achieve what we set out to do in this life. It is important to understand that achieving the goals we set for ourselves is only meaningful if we achieve them without the awareness that we must. To do something because you have to is quite different than doing something because it is natural or right. I believe that it is necessary for us to accomplish our soul’s purposes or goals through right actions not because it is set out as a task that we must accomplish. This is one of the reasons why we do not remember what our goals are in this life.
Sometimes when life seems incomprehensible and we feel lost, it would be reassuring to be able to open the book and check the page that tells us where we should be and what we should be doing at that time. But life is to be lived and the way we find our way is by making choices that move us towards happiness and fulfillment. Choices are often not easy but they provide the new opportunities we need to learn and grow in meaningful ways. It has been my experience that we do not make mistakes on our journey because whatever choice we make is grounded in our current awareness. Whatever challenge it brings to us is the opportunity we need to learn some special thing. If we choose to learn it, then we will never need to have that challenge again. There are no short cuts and knowing our soul’s purpose does not change the need we have to experience and learn. The journey through life is a spiritual one because it is a journey made through our awareness of self and our need to grow and become.
A few years ago, two friends discovered that the “talking board” was their natural way to channel information from the Spirit side. One of the sessions that came through seemed particularly relevant to this question. Spirit titled it “The Many Roads to Happiness.” It reads......
Know that life can have many different roads to happiness. There are many ways in which we are needed. The paths to any of these can lead to an exciting and fulfilling life.
The fork in the road we choose does not have to be right or wrong. You can often choose between the things that would
provide happiness in different areas. When we think there is only one thing or person that can make us happy, we are putting limits on the God force within us. We are limitless, but by our own choosing, we can stay limited and powerless. This is usually done in ignorance of any other knowledge.
The knowledge is available - we have only to open our eyes and ears. The Spirit within us that wants happiness is the force that makes us see and hear. The lessons get deeper as our understanding progresses. Think hard on this lesson. It is a timely one.
I often feel that we are limiting ourselves when we search for a simple answer for our reason for being here in this life. We have been blessed with the opportunity to live in a wondrously diverse and beautiful place. In this life, every day, we realize many goals and accomplish many things. Each life, each day presents us with opportunities to grow in new and exciting ways. If we believe that life is purposeful, then we should also believe that we are here in each life to achieve not one thing, but many things. We must listen and trust the wisdom of our higher self to get it right.
I remember a number of years ago a young man who knew the face of his future bride. He felt a connection to this woman from a previous life and had met her in this life only through dreams. This knowledge limited his ability to live a normal and happy life because any other woman he met was not his true love. Until he met her, he was destined to be lonely and unhappy. This awareness affected his ability to make choices and may have even negatively affected his chances of meeting or being happy with this woman when he met her. This is an extreme case but it does illustrate how we can restrict ourselves from the many opportunities and choices we have in life. When we do, this life is diminished and we no longer live in a limitless world.
Even though there is in my mind no question that life is purposeful, we must remain open to the many opportunities to grow and learn that life offers us. As the Spirit reading says there are many roads to happiness. Know that when you come to the fork in the road whatever choice you make will take you to a greater understanding of yourself and of your journey. Let right actions be your guide and strive to be happy!
Rev Barry
You are measured not by your deeds but by your thoughts. If you do good things because you feel you have to or will be punished if you don’t, then from the point of view of our spiritual growth, what is the value of doing those good things? Things must be done because they are right, not because you are afraid. It is your intent that infuses what you do. It is your intent which is measured and evaluated when it comes time for you to look at your life from the Spirit realm and judge your progress. So even though you may have a lifetime of apparently good deeds, you may not reap the benefits of those deeds, if they were done through greed, or fear, or the need for power or control. It is your intent which matters. |