Sparks Divine

By the rumour mill, I once heard that Earth and its inhabitants went through a period of gross ignorance that was referred to as The Abysmal Years. Greed was rampant; governments–contrary to their public mask of “serve the people”–were rife with corruption and censorship; and every war that ended, inevitably led to the beginning of the next. So-called democracy–at the price of millions of human lives lost, to death or wounds–proclaimed that it would save our world, while hiding its real agenda behind a waving flag.

In personal interactions, the people gorged themselves upon the daily staples of theft, duplicity, and selfishness–these were the groceries of the day. At night, the people prayed for greater skill in their ability to deceive and defraud their neighbours. The majority of persons felt separate from one another; and, thus, they bargained in bad faith to ensure the upper hand. The marketplace and life, itself, were labelled competitive. By popular opinion, it was agreed that only fools would believe that everyone could live creatively and cooperatively; and, thereby, enjoy a more peaceful coexistence.

So accustomed to this way of existing, the majority of the people questioned neither the rightness of it, nor the cost. Before embarking on their daily routines, everyone donned their fake smiles and rehearsed their glad-handing patter. Unaware that there was a better way to live, the people, therefore, taught their children the same through their proud example. Strangely, the people did not consider themselves brutes; by the standard of the times, they, indeed, considered themselves quite civilized. “This” was the way of being during The Abysmal Years.

But then…

In small enlightened gatherings throughout the world, sparks of deeper understanding began to light up. “Must we be this way?” the sparks asked. “Must we cheat and double deal, or could there be another way, a better, Holy way of living? Could we, in knowing ourselves as children of The Divine, honour one another–each no greater, and each no less–and put an end to The Abysmal Years?”

Of course, this was only a rumour.

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

P.S. Please share this article if you enjoyed it. If you’d like to view my latest book (This Taste of Flesh and Bones), press here. My YouTube videos can be found at Think2wice@I-Am-Aware. May the content of either or both help you along your spiritual journey. “Thank You” & “Note to Publishers” 🙏🏻🧡

We Are The Solution

There’s an old story told that goes as follows:

***

A town lies in the pathway of an oncoming flood. The residents are warned that they must evacuate because the water level is rising very quickly. Most people heed the warning and flee, using whatever means available to find dry land. One man, however, remains alone in his home. The water rises to the level of his front porch. Soon after, people in a rubber dinghy paddle up to his house. “Get in,” they call, “we’ll save you!” “No,” says the man, “I’m waiting on God to save me!” The people in the dinghy reluctantly leave, and the waters continue to rise.

A few hours later, the man is forced to climb to the second floor of his home. He is standing on the balcony when people come by in a power boat. “Get in,” they call, “we’ll save you!” “No,” calls the man, “I’m waiting on God to save me!” The people reluctantly leave, unable to believe their eyes.

The flood waters rise with even greater intensity, and the man is forced to climb onto the roof of his home. He’s clinging to the chimney when a helicopter flies overhead. A rope ladder is flung out of the helicopter, and a rescuer descends. “Grab hold,” calls the rescuer, “we’ll save you!” “No,” shouts the man, “I’m waiting on God to save me!” The helicopter is forced to fly away. The house finally tumbles over in the raging waters, and the man drowns. When the man arrives in Heaven, he’s very angry with God. “I believed in You!” he cries. “Why didn’t you save me?” To this, God replies: “What did you want? I sent you a dinghy, a power boat, and a helicopter!”

***

There was a time when I thought the story was just a mildly humorous joke–which reveals that I, too, missed the boat! The story is actually intended to relate great wisdom. God/Source/The Universe works through us. Until we understand this, we’re missing a tremendously important point. All of us possess gifts that are intended to be shared for the benefit of everyone; and fortunately our gifts are unique. To enable ourselves to give from the heart, we must do some soul searching and discover our true passion. When we live our purpose–there’s the joy!

The next time that you’re seeking divine assistance for a problem, keep your eyes open and your intuition attuned. The solution might arrive through a person sitting next to you on the bus or subway; or through a friend who knows of a friend. More important, you might realize that Divinity Incarnate–in the form of you and the “other” person–is present.

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Whisper From The Heart

Burdened by aches

That went bone deep,

The man lifted his head, tears flowing, and sobbed:

“Master, I am so tired of being a slave.

This world lashes me with its pain–

I don’t know how much more I can bear.

Why, Lord, why

Must this world whip me so?

A silky whisper arose in the man’s heart;

And he, feeling a gentle Hand light upon his shoulder, heard:

“Because, dear child,

You know not That which you are.

Whilst you carry the belief

That we are separate,

You will suffer.

Turn within,

And know that we are One.”

***

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Sassafras’s Wisdom

Chase, Chuck, Charlie, and Sassafras were tromping through the wooded areas of their local park on a hot summer day. They were as alive as alive can get; with good wriggley energy pulsing through their young bodies. Unofficially, they were known as The Three Muskeeters–at least that’s what the crooked plywood sign read above the entrance to their tree fort. Sassafras had recently joined their merry gang, but they had yet to get around to changing the sign to “four.” The three boys, the “C’s,” had been friends since meeting at grade school a couple of years earlier.

The goodies–of licorice, chips, and pop–had long ago been devoured. Now it was time for serious talk, the get-down-to-business part of their outing.

“Let’s take turns sharing what we want to be when we’re grownups!” exclaimed Chase.

“Sounds good,” said Charlie, “but we gotta vote on it.”

With that, the children’s hands spiked upward, signalling that the proposal had carried.

“I wanna be a tax collector,” said Chuck. “It’s government, don’t you know; so at least there’s security. I also hear that the benefit package is quite attractive, with an indexed pension.” The other two boys nodded seriously and gave their thumbs up.

“I wanna be a mortician,” said Chase. “People are always dying–you hear of it on the TV almost every day; so business should be steady. If I salt away some savings on a regular basis and make some savvy investments in a diversided stock portfolio, I think I could do quite nicely.”

“Makes sense,” said the boys in serious agreement.

Next was Charlie. “I’m gonna be the owner of a tech startup. I’ll make sure that I get a ton of options in our initial public offering of stock and make a financial killing when I sell at the peak. That’s a flagpole formation on a trading chart, in case you didn’t know. I’ll make sure to set up an offshore business to evade any unnecessary tax burden, and I’ll probably be a billionaire before I’m thirty, if I play my cards right.”

“What about you, newbie,” chimed the boys to Sassafras. “What do you want to be?

“True to her deeper nature, Sassafras paused and allowed herself a few moments of contemplation before answering: “I think that being born a human being is very special,” she said, “so I want to make the most of it. “I just want to be happy, and I figure that the best way for that to happen is to follow my heart.”

“Nahhhh,” exclaimed the boys! “Seriously, what to you really want to be?!”

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

“The Touch Of God”

I offer the following poem:

***

Once upon a time,

The silent voice of the Lord sang through His people;

And hearing His glorious song,

They were changed, dramatically.

In the NOW of eternity,

They recognized their true nature--they were of Him;

Thus, they realized that they, too, must be Holy!

Gladdened, they also learned 

That their world became more loving

When they ensured that His mark

Was left upon everything they touched.

***

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

P.S. Please share this article if you enjoyed it. If you’d like to view my latest book (This Taste of Flesh and Bones–released September 8, 2020), press here. My YouTube videos may be found through this link. May the content of either or both help you along your spiritual journey. 🙏🧡

“Thank You” & “Note to Publishers”

Good Reason To Hate

(Note: It is highly likely that this will be my shortest article). With reference to the title of this article, I offer the following:

***

None.

***

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Tony’s Parrot

Once upon a time, there was a lonely middle-aged man named Tony. He’d had several brief relationships; but for reasons unknown to him, they always ended abruptly. The women knew, however; there was an aura about him which they found very unappealing. At one point, Tony’s loneliness became so severe that he decided to purchase a parrot for company. Off he trudged to a local pet store. When he returned home with the parrot, which he named Billy Boy, he hung the birdcage on its stand in front of the television. He reasoned that Billy Boy would, thus, have something to watch while it was locked up in its cage.

None of Tony’s neighbours knew what he actually did for a living. To one, he had claimed to be a rocket scientist; to another, a health professor; and yet another, a political leader. All they knew for certain was that Tony was gone…all day long.

One day, after leaving the T.V. attuned to a non-stop business news program, he returned home and was pleasantly surprised to hear Billy Boy talking. He raced to be at his side.

“The DOW is down, the DOW is down!” squawked Billy Boy, as it shuffled side to side on its perch.

Tony was so impressed that he rewarded Billy Boy with some brown rice, his favourite food.

The next week, Tony returned home and was overjoyed when he heard Billy Boy had learned some more new words.

“The market’s going to crash! The market’s going to crash!” cawed Billy Boy.

Again, Tony rewarded Billy Boy with some more food. This time, he gave Billy Boy steamed vegetables, which he gobbled up.

The following week, Tony returned home; and before he had removed his coat, he heard Billy Boy sing, “Bitcoin’s a buy! Bitcoin’s a buy!”

With tears of joy, Tony approached Billy Boy and embraced its cage. How he loved his little bird, the partner for which he had longed.

***

If persons had heard Billy Boy spew its news about business, they might have assumed that Billy Boy was quite bright–perhaps even a business genius, trapped inside the body of a parrot. We of course, know better; for we realize that Billy Boy was just parroting what it had been programmed to repeat. There was no thinking involved.

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

“Thank You” & “Note to Publishers”

Good Rumblings at “The Place”

Tom and Jerry, who were caretakers at The Place, had sneaked out the back door for a smoke. They had worked hard for the previous few days, in preparation for the spiritual gathering that had begun only a half hour prior. As rules governing social attendance had been dismissed, The Place was packed to the rafters with one thousand men, women, and children.

“Should be a quiet night,” said Jerry, after he exhaled a deep draw from his cigarette, “I don’t think those spiritual folks will get too rowdy.”

“Yup,” said Tom, “clean up should be a breeze, too.”

They continued to puff and chat; but within the next few minutes, they noticed a groundswell of sound from behind them. They could actually feel it; it pulsed through the air as though by its own life.

“What the heck…” began Jerry.

“…is going on?” finished Tom. With that, both men stubbed their cigarettes beneath their boots and went back inside and climbed the iron stairs that led to a small overhead viewing platform.

Below them, a woman holding a microphone was jubilantly shouting questions. She moved with electrified vigour upon the stage.

“What’s The Center of your life?” she cried, with a triumphant wave of her free hand.

From the crowd (consisting of persons who were rising to their feet in increasing numbers) came the powerful reply: “God Is!” In unanimous agreement, they accentuated their replies with a loud “Thump, Wump” stomp of their feet.

“And where is The Center?”

“Wherever I Am!” Thump, Wump!

“Is The Center in you?”

“Oh, yes!” Thump, Wump!

“Is The Center in your neighbour?”

“Yes, there, too!” Thump, Wump!

“Is there anywhere that The Center isn’t?“

“Nooo!” Thump, Wump!

As the sound continued to build in intensity, Tom and Jerry looked at each other, stunned by the appearance of persons young and old being moved by the Spirit of Truth.

“I’ve heard rock bands quieter than this!” shouted Jerry, with a hand cupped aside his mouth.

“Me, too!” shouted Tom.

Again, the woman on stage urged the crowd onward: “Where is The Center?”

“Everywhere!”

Leaning forward, she filled her lungs to the brim, then turned and cried, “I can’t hearrr you!”

“EVERYWHERE!” came the thunderous reply. Thump, Wump!

“And where does IT end?”

“Nowhere!” Thump, Wump! Thump, Wump!

“Is it your essential nature?!”

“Yes,” cried the crowd, “oh, yes!” Thump, Wump!

With the last reply, Tom and Jerry turned from the platform and made their way outside for another smoke. “Crazy kooks,” muttered Jerry. “I second that!” exclaimed Tom, raising his hand. It was time, they agreed, to break out the bottle of whiskey that they had stashed behind a panel for just such an emergency.

***

What Tom and Jerry didn’t realize is that the Omnipresent God that the people were celebrating is often referred to as Consciousness. It has been described as a sphere, whose center is everywhere and perimeter nowhere. It is “That,” the one-and-only Power which was actually empowering Tom and Jerry’s freedom to deny Its very existence. Due to innocent ignorance, Tom and Jerry were unintentionally “prodigal sons.” If they grow weary enough of the world, Grace might gently nudge them to look within and discover their true nature. Conversely, they might continue to cope with life’s apparent challenges through bottles of malty distraction. Regardless of the outcome, All is ultimately good.

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Get Your Motor Running

When I was a young boy between the ages of four and six, I used to drive my car in the basement of our home. Yup, you read that correctly, my “car.” My car was nothing fancy–no power windows, no heated seats, no surround-sound stereo. My car was actually a cardboard box, with a slot into which I could insert one of the dozen keys that I kept on a ring in my pocket; and it had a steering wheel of some sort (most likely a plastic disc with a nail in the center), and a gear shift. It was a pretty basic daily driver (🙂) for a child with an active imagination. At that time, if any adult mind had attempted to tell me that I wasn’t really driving my car, I would probably have gotten into my car and left them behind in the dust.

For persons who are eager to manifest more of what they desire in life (not “want,” because to want literally means “to lack”), it’s vitally important that we get our motor running by visualizing the life that you truly desire. Do you desire improved health, greater wealth, loving relationships? If that’s the case, then I suggest committing a few minutes each day (preferably right after waking, and just before drifting off to sleep) to visualization. Experience your desire in as much sensory fullness as possible; as though you–already–have it. The important point it to feel your desire as being true now. To be most effective, it’s important to visualize a scene from the first-person perspective that implies the successful achievement of your goal Now. Why should we visualize our goals as achieved Now? Because when other than now can anything occur? If you visualize your goal as being achieved next week, its achievement will ALWAYS be one week away.

To add some more credibility to the content of this article, let’s draw on a quote from Andrew Carnegie, who was no lightweight when it came to manifesting great wealth and success. Many of you realize that he was the man who commissioned Napoleon Hill to write Think and Grow Rich; which some readers still consider to be the granddaddy of all law of attraction books:

“Any idea that is held in the mind, that is emphasized, that is either feared or revered,

will begin at once to clothe itself in the most convenient and appropriate form available.“

Let’s add more weight to the importance of visualization and the power of our words (whether you think you CAN (✓), or you think you can’t (X), by reading the following passage from Job 22:28:

“Thou shalt decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee;

and the light shall shine upon thy ways.”

Perhaps the following quote from The Science of Getting Rich, by Wallace D. Wattles will resonate more strongly with you:

“No thought of form can be impressed upon original substance [consciousness]without causing the creation of that form. A human being is a thinking center and can originate thought.”

You might find even more reason to believe in the power of visualization through the following short article that relates a well-known study performed by Dr. Blaslotto at the University of Chicago in 1996. Press here if you’d like to read it. You “know” the manifestation of your desire is inevitable when (as Neville Goddard, the Barbadian mystic, proclaimed) you feel the “naturalness” of the wish fulfilled. The feeling is as certain as driving my “car” was to me as a young boy.

Of course, you realize that this article is not just about a child who once pretended that he was driving a car in his basement. My intention is to offer information that can help you manifest improved health and a greater degree of success (however you define success). Isn’t it time to head out on the highway?

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

P.S. Please share this article if you enjoyed it. If you’d like to view my latest book (This Taste of Flesh and Bones–released September 8, 2020), press here. May it help you in your spiritual journey. 🙏🤍

“Thank You” & “Note to Publishers”

An Email To Art

In a paradoxical twist, I share the fictional email below to relate Truth. May its message of love resonate with your heart and help to alleviate confusion that is the cause of our apparent suffering:

***

“Dear Art,

It is I Am, the Only One. I reach to you because I desire to ease your troubled heart. Your grief and despair, which is broadly termed suffering, have become too burdensome to carry. Because of my boundless love for you, I have formulated this message about your essential nature. Please read it carefully in a time and place conducive to introspection.

I Am well aware of what has been going on in your apparent world. You, and so many “others” are so worried about life. Grave concerns about health and well being, employment woes, and violence against one another have become so commonplace that there seems no light at the end of the tunnel. Please trust Me, there is. I shine for all of you, now and forever. The anguish that you’re experiencing is due to unrecognized ignorance. You erroneously assume that you consist of flesh and bones and that so-called matter is the foundation of your world. Due to this, you believe that your body-mind is discrete and functions autonomously; it does not. Without Me, it is impossible for you to lift a finger. This is related in John 15:4: “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” Please remember that I and the Father am one.

To correct the situation, you must become aware of your essential nature. Here is Truth: You are only dreaming that you are “Art.” Although you and eight billion persons appear to be physical, such is only appearance. The Sanskrit term for this illusion is Maya. To understand this better, we may compare your so-called reality–right here and now–to last night’s dreams. Of what were they made but Consciousness? Why do you assume that the apparent reality of your world to be any different? When you awakened this morning, did you expect to discover any material remnants from your dreams? If so, where are they now? Could not the reality of this experience called Life on Earth–of walking and talking, of working and playing–also be made of Consciousness? Can you glimpse that to which I point?

You cannot possibly be who you think yourself to be; nor can you be separate from Me. You can, however, BE. The fear and negativity that accompanies the human perspective, which is founded in ignorance, does not belong to you. You are not a separate self destined for an earthly grave; you are spiritual sons and daughters of I Am That I Am. You are Awareness, Christ Consciousness, the Buddha, hidden by the dark cloak of physicality. Your body-mind and the world appear in Consciousness. Through Me, you are a co-creator of your world and circumstance. You are Spirit, eternal.

To recognize Truth, it is imperative that you become still and know that I am God. The I Am that is Me is the same I Am that is you and everyone and everything else that you perceive. In other words, you are I, and I Am you. Perception ‘is’ the world. Arise, dear Art; it’s time for you and your spiritual brothers and sisters to know “What” you actually Are. You cannot become enlightened ‘as‘ a person; but you can be freed from the erroneous belief that you are a person. It’s time that you awaken to the Light of your BEING.

Much love,

Grace (of God)

***

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

“Thank You” & “Note to Publishers”

Think2wice

CONSCIOUSNESS, SPIRITUALITY, & LAW OF ATTRACTION

Category: Inspiration

Sparks Divine

We Are The Solution

Whisper From The Heart

Sassafras’s Wisdom

“The Touch Of God”

Good Reason To Hate

Tony’s Parrot

Good Rumblings at “The Place”

Get Your Motor Running

An Email To Art

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