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^Timing

____ I am solely responsible for this talk. It should not be considered as endorsed by Unity or by this Church. I am a Mystic, and I follow my intuition. I am grateful for the opportunity to share a talk. My talks are about what is happening on my Spiritual Journey. Writing a talk causes me to stop and try to figure out what is going on. Otherwise I can miss the forest for the trees. Perhaps what I am experiencing in my Spiritual Journey will help you.________________________ ____ Today’s talk is titled “Timing.” A friend once told me that I am a “High Thought” person. That means that I need time to think about things. When asked a difficult question, the best things for me to say are “I will get back to you,” or “let me think about that.” Lately I have been working on saying “I don’t know.” But you may seldom hear me say those as they go against our culture.______________ ____ I am a planner and tend to think about the future. For this reason, the best way for me to present a talk, is to write it out. I go over and over it again and again with the intention of making it better. I can send you a written copy of my talk, and I post a copy on our website. The Church posts the video on the web, if that works better for you. Written works better for me than videos because I am often looking for specific information. I wanted to spend time on this introduction because I know that sometimes I hear something in a talk, and I think it would be useful. However, when I try to write it down later, I can’t. So access to a written text is useful for me. Also today’s talk may be short, so the timing is right to pad it with a long introduction.___________________________ ____ I start worrying about a talk, weeks in advance. That’s the planner in me. The first step is to decide on a title and a description. Ideally I should provide these about a week in advance. However, this time, nothing popped into my mind. By Thursday, the only title I could come up with was, “I got nothing.” Not very inspiring. Then I remembered to ask my intuition, “Can I come up with a title now?” The answer was “No.” But I could the next day. The next day, I heard “Timing.” This reminded me of the definition of Wisdom that I like: Wisdom is knowledge plus timing.______________________ ____ I have spent decades gaining knowledge and degrees. However, it is only in recent years that I am learning the importance of timing. And that there are differences in timing. For example, there is the World’s timing, the timing of other people, and my timing. As the Pete Seeger song, “Turn, turn, turn” reminds us, “There is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven.” Thank you choir, for reminding us of this ancient truth from the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible.______________________________________________ ____ I like to include a joke in my talks, so here is one. Carole and I attended the dedication of the Peace Pagoda on Saturday, May 23. It was outside on a cold and cloudy day. The program, decorations, tables, flags, streamers, etc. were very well done. These and the pagoda were beautiful. People were there from all over the United States and from all over the World. Especially the happy monks from Japan. We were honored to be there. We were sitting for about four hours. I was cold and aware that I needed to find a porta potty. I know that some of you can identify with this feeling. I could not sit much longer. Much of the ceremony was in Japanese, which made it difficult to gauge how much longer it would go on. However, I decided that we were close to the end and was grateful when I heard the call to stand up. I did this and it felt good. A few stiff and cold places, but I could see a porti potty close by. Then I noticed that few were standing. Slowly, it dawned on me that they were honoring the people who had helped build the Pagoda. I had nothing to do with it. Embarrassed, I sat down as people began clapping. Clearly a demonstration of timing. Bad timing._________ ____In October, we made a trip to present a Seminar in Hood River, Oregon, followed by five days at Breitenbush Hot Springs. I presented the Mystical Didgeridoo our first night at Breitenbush and met people that have become important in my Spiritual Journey. I also had people ask for individual didgeridoo sessions. The time established important connections and was very satisfying. We planned an identical trip this May. I was excited and had great expectations. However, I checked the Breitenbush website just before we left and found that the Mystical Didgeridoo was not scheduled. I had set this up months in advance, but somehow it was missed. That was my first clue that the time might not be what I expected. I decided that I would accept whatever unfolded. Not my unusual decision. Breitenbush is a magical place for me. But the magic can be unexpected. After we arrived, I realized that it was not what I expected but my intuition seemed to be to just accept. It some point, I decided that the trip was for me to play the didgeridoo for myself, and Carole. Not necessarily for others. Carole, bless her heart, urged me to speak out & arrange to present the Mystical Didgeridoo. However, I accepted that this was not the time to do that, and to open up to other possibilities. Carole brought up doing something several times. This was a challenge for me, but my answer continued to be the same. I now recognize that I was attached to my expectations. The Buddha said attachment is the cause of suffering. I continued to accept, and to check my intuition. As a result, I think that I received information in meditation that I would not have, had I pushed for my agenda. At least, that is my best guess._______________________________ On May 17, Doug Benecke gave a talk on Radical Acceptance at this service. This was good timing for me. Doug’s talk reminded me that it had been difficult for me to accept the situation at Breitenbush, and to be open to what unfolded. For me, that was Radical Acceptance. As a result, I believe that I experienced a Higher Good. _____________________________________ When I was growing up, I almost drown at least three times. Once when I was very young, once when my friends convinced me that jumping in over my head, was the way to learn to swim. It wasn’t. I learned to swim when I was about 11. By taking lessons. I didn’t like taking lessons. I was older than the others. But I did it and learned to swim. Then, when I was in my early 20’s, I almost drown rafting a raging river. I bargained with GOD. “Save me and I will never raft again.” I have never rafted again. Because of my fear of drowning, the following teaching is very powerful for me.______ __________________________- A novice monk was standing in a river with his mentor. The younger monk asked, “How must I approach Enlightenment.” The older monk, reached out and plunged the younger monk’s head into the river and held it down. Thrashing, the younger monk tried to raise his head, but his mentor continued to hold it under water. The younger monk became frantic. Still his head was held under water. Finally, when he thought he was lost, his mentor allowed him to raise his head and get a breath. When the young monk had recovered, his mentor asked, “What became your total desire?” The young monk said, “To take a breath.” His mentor said, “Then desire Enlightenment with the same way.”_________________________ Because of my story: My fear of drowning. This teaching really speaks to me. ________________________________________ Some years ago, Steven Covey wrote a popular book, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.” While working, in the Shipyard, I was trained to teach the seven habits. We teach what we need to learn. I found the seven habits very useful. Not just at work, but also in my Life, including my Spiritual Journey. The second habit is “Begin with the end in mind.”_____________________________ I have shared the following Vision many times over many years. It happened in the 1980’s while I was working at the Shipyard as as a Nuclear Engineer. I attended a meeting. The purpose of this meeting was to make an important decision. We were seated in a circle in the Nuclear Engineering Manager’s Office. As I remember, there were about a dozen men. I had worked with and knew all of them. As the lowest ranking person there, my Ego was inflated. I was to be a part of this important decision! Suddenly the room faded and everywhere there was a person, there was a light in the middle of their chest. I heard “This is the only thing that will remain. This room, this building, these bodies, even the Earth will all pass away, but this will remain.” Then the Vision faded and the room returned to normal. Looking around the circle, I realized that I was the only one who had seen or heard this. Over time I decided that this Vision was my spiritual work. That is, to become more aware of the Light within and to help others do the same.____ _______________________________________________ This vision came totally unexpected. I had no warning and was totally unprepared. It was not a spiritual time, not a spiritual place, and not a spiritual group. No one else experienced it. The timing was perfect to bring it fully to my awareness._________ ________________________________________________ After all these decades, I just realized that there is a second teaching in this Vision. The second teaching is that everything else will pass away. This is what the book, “Disappearance of the Universe” says. That everything will disappear. If I “Begin with the end in mind,” then virtually everything I have been thinking is important, isn’t.________________________________________ It is amazing how long it can take me to realize a lesson. For example, I attended a yearly A Course in Miracles gathering for decades. The words to one of the songs, we sang, are “Nothing real can be threatened, nothing unreal exists.” This is a well known quote from the Course, and in the song it is sung over and over and over again. Only recently did I realize that the book “Disappearance of the Universe” is saying the same thing. That which I think is Real, “This room, this building, these bodies, even the Earth …,” do not exist. They are not real. Virtually everything I think is, isn’t. __________________________________________________ In my last talk, I said: “I now believe I have the Opportunity to return Home.” This is what I have left to do. Home is Real. What I think is Real, isn’t. As I learned years ago, “I am fooled by the Physical.” ___________________________________________________ This is as far as I got writing the talk, late Saturday night. Something was missing. But I didn’t know what. Here is what came this morning. ___________________________________________________ We are Spirit. My challenge is to remember to find my connection to Spirit. To check my intuition and not be fooled by the Physical. ___________________________________________________ While attending the Whole Life Expo in San Francisco, I felt drawn to go to a talk by a palm reader. I thought, “This is really strange. I don’t believe in palm readings, so why should I go to this talk?” At the Whole Life Expo, there were about ten or more talks given at the same time. There were many exhibition booths with interesting things for sale and interesting people to talk to. In short there were lots of other things to see and do. However, I kept looking through the program and always came to the talk by the Palm Reader, so I finally gave up and went to the talk. ___________________________________________________ I really don’t remember the man or his talk, except for one thing that he said, right at the start: “In your palm is your greatest opportunity and your greatest challenge. The opportunity lies just on the other side of your challenge, and before anyone asks, No, you cannot go around.” The man sitting next to me asked, “What does he mean.” I said, “I know exactly what he means.”____ ____________________________________________________ So I ask this congregation, and those on Zoom. Do you? Do you understand that he was saying? To find your greatest opportunity, you have to go through your greatest challenge. _____________________________________________________ I never did have him read my palm, but this one teaching has been a great blessing. I have always found an opportunity on the other side of a challenge. Sometimes it takes a while to find it, but it has always been there. In some instances, that opportunity has completely changed my life. When I recognize a challenge in my life, I am reminded of his statement. I have a choice: to go through the challenge, meeting it head on, or to avoid it. If I am avoiding a challenge, it is good to remember Timing. ___________________________________________________ To everything there is a time and a season for every purpose under Heaven. ____________________________________________________ I am Spirit. I need to connect with Spirit to make decisions. If I look to the World for answers, if I look to the World for clues, I can be fooled by the Physical. ____________________________________________________ When Timing offers opportunities, I need to connect with Spirit to make decisions. ___________________________________________________ Meditation ____________________________________________________ There is a fundamental sound to the didgeridoo. It is below the changing overtones that we like to listen to. If you listen carefully, you can hear it. It is steady. Unchanging. The Tibetan Buddhists say that the World is always changing, but behind the World is an unchanging truth. I call this unchanging truth, Spirit. This Dorje is the symbol of this unchanging truth. The sound of this bell can help us open up to Spirit. As I play the didgeridoo, listen carefully for the unchanging sound. It can help us connect with Spirit.____ _________________________________________________

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