Thank you for reading the second edition of
THE NEW FAITH FOR THE NEW EARTH: OUR AMAZING JOURNEY
April 2021
THE FOCUS OF THIS EDITION IS ON
THE HEAVENLY ATTRIBUTE OF ABUNDANCE
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BUT FIRST ….
+ Here is a link to the first edition of THE NEW FAITH FOR THE NEW EARTH: OUR AMAZING JOURNEY.
+ Here are links to all six of The Abundancetrek Blog posts on THE NEW FAITH FOR THE NEW EARTH as of 4/22/21 > One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Posts 5 and 6 are lengthy posts offering most of the Facebook Group posts and comments from February and March 2021.
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ABUNDANCE
We
humans cannot live in dignity and freedom while we pollute our planetary home.
Awake! Awake! Holy One, we are the choir. We
are awakened to the terrible things we have done to your gift of the garden.
Now our plea is for the music, notes and words, that we need to sing to those
around us who are in a deep sleep of unawareness. Our hearts are full to
overflowing with the pain of what we see around us. Give us, we pray, the
melody for awakening our human family. Amen
-- This prayer was written by Holly Hallman when she was
the Presbyterians for Earth Care Vice Moderator as she took part in the
PEC-Yukon Climate Conference in Alaska
Since this edition is being published on Earth Day, April 22, 2021, focusing on ABUNDANCE is particularly relevant.
Abundance is our birthright but we cannot have abundance in our lives independently. We simply must attach the word sustainable to abundance or we risk losing it all for everyone. We must be willing, eager, to share and to take measures to create a world where no one is denied their birthright. We must be responsible members of the planetary home we live on, our habitat, our provider. This responsibility takes many forms. I invite you to prayerfully ponder how you have both taken this responsibility and how you have avoided this responsibility. We can all do better and it has become imperative that we do so.
Earth is an amazing realm of abundance. But we humans are not taking care of our planet in a way that is essential for all to enjoy the gift of abundance.
We are all entitled to abundance. Or, to put it another way, all the glories of the heavenly realms are our birthright and our eternal destiny. There is no need to wait for abundance. It is here now, always has been, always will be. There is no adequate explanation for this truth. It simply is the way it is and the way it is is simply wonderful.
The glories of the heavenly realms are miraculous, mysterious and marvelous. We begin participating in this abundance whenever we simply accept the gift gratefully in the here and now. Every breath we take is a new opportunity to receive abundance, to be in heaven.
So, breathe in this abundance right now. Begin again. And again. And again. Smile. Sing. Dance. Laugh. Listen. Rest. Relax. Wonder. Imagine. Love. Cry. Pray. Receive. Give. Appreciate. Share. Care. Stand. Sit. Walk. Swim. Fly. You are in heaven. Nothing is impossible. Everything is within reach.
You do not need to do anything; you do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. You do not even need to listen; just wait. You do not even need to wait; just become still, quiet and solitary and the world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked. It has no choice. It will roll in ecstasy at your feet. -- Franz Kafka
I love this quote for a host of reasons. A major reason is that it shows the relationship of the practice of stillness to the heavenly attributes of abundance and the other heavenly attributes including joy and freedom. It also emphasizes several other essential practices including silence and solitude.
In other words, this quote gets to the heart of what The
New Faith for the New Earth is all about.
We need to open up to so much more of the divine reality we live
in. All too often we live without
perceiving the abundance all around us.
Another quote I love says this in a different way:
It is
our duty as men and women to proceed as though the limits of our abilities do
not exist.
-- Pierre Teilhard
de Chardin
So, don’t hold back. Abundance is a constant gift for us to receive and give and share when we proceed this way.
There is a verse in the Pauline letters which makes a similar point:
The heavenly gift of Abundance is not intended for some
of us or even many of us but it is for all of us. You know that you have
abundance in your life when you are truly satisfied with what you have and do
not feel you need anything more than that. Are you satisfied? Or do you feel like you need more? There’s a book about that. Here is a quote from that book:
I suspect that most of the people reading this page have far more than just about anyone who ever lived in the centuries before us as well as most of the people living on the planet right now. So how come we want more than we already have? I think it is a strong sense of deprivation which comes from seeking what we see others having. Rarely do we compare ourselves to those who have less and would like to have what we have. So how can we change our perception and find immense satisfaction in what we have now?
I associate abundance with heavenliness. Heavenliness is attained as we let go of attachments associated with our egos and worldly ambitions. We do not have to die in order to reach heaven because heaven is everywhere. As we let go of all the distractions, we become our essential Self which has always been here waiting to be activated in our lives. Contemplation, Meditation and Prayer are essential practices on the way to our awakening, to our awareness and to our intimate, intricate and infinite connection to all there is.
+ Search for ABUNDANCE at Spirituality&Practice.com – 402 results as of 4/21/21
+ The Abundancetrek.com ABUNDANCE Page·
+ Here is a link to the page with links to the 366 Spiritual Explorations posts which I offered on The Abundancetrek Blog in 2016. These posts are devoted to the 9 heavenly attributes and the 12 spiritual practices.
+ At Abundancetrek.com you will find pages on the nine heavenly attributes: Abundance, Joy, Wisdom, Beauty, Love, Truth, Peace, Justice and Freedom.
And you will find pages on the 12 essential spiritual practices:
THE JOURNEY OF THE MIND > Stillness, Detachment, Humility
THE JOURNEY OF THE HEART > Silence, Discernment, Healing
THE JOURNEY OF THE BODY > Solitude, Devotion, Holiness
THE JOURNEY OF THE SOUL > Simplicity, Delight, Heavenliness
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This list will grow in future editions as I learn more
about what’s happening and as you offer what you will share with us. I am
restricting this list to communities of faith who value the InterSpiritual path
and have a global outreach. I am sure I am leaving out many
significant communities of faith. Please help me fill in the gaps. In
future editions, I intend to add local communities of faith demonstrating
strong commitment to a dramatic expansion of Compassion, Peace, Justice and
Sustainable Abundance for all. Please offer suggestions.
Spirituality and Practice | Facebook link
Center for Action and Contemplation | Daily Meditations | Facebook link
Charter for Compassion | Facebook link
Gratefulness.org | Facebook link
Contemplative Outreach |Facebook link
Center for Courage and Renewal | Facebook link
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