By Rev. LeRoy E. Zemke
Pastor, Temple of the Living God

“Don’t waste life in doubts and fears; spend yourself on the work before you, well assured that the right performance of the hour’s duties will be the best preparation for the hours or ages that follow it."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Grace: Effortless Unfoldment of the Highest Good.” By doing our best to learn, do and grow, we actualize our knowledge and abilities and become receptive to the actions of grace. Grace is the constantly expressing, supportive and enlivening evolutionary influence that contributes to our spontaneous growth and assists us to fulfillment. Grace is the knowing ...it expresses around us in the field or domain of God’s Consciousness to unfold supportive circumstances, relationships and events.
The Eternal Way - the Inner Meaning of the Bhagavad Gita
by Roy Eugene Davis

In the larger scheme of life we are always in the “shadow of the Almighty.” Whether we see it, know it, or even have a sense of it, the Presence of God is ever near, closer than our breath, nearer than the most intimate embrace of the beloved or the kiss of sunlight upon our brow!

Within our experience of the tangible human world,the earth, its denizens, its complexities and its constantly changing landscape of cultures, leaders, faiths and followers, we each seek to make sense of, to understand the intermix of cultures, communities and countries as each relates to the other. As I view it, it is not humanly possible to wrap even our most brilliant but nevertheless limited rational minds around what the cosmic plan of life might mean or signify. I feel it is necessary individually, to make the effort to learn about how life works for us. When we make even a single effort to discover the intricacies of our life or the purpose for which we have incarnated, we have begun a life altering inquiry that leads us back to God.

Purpose is defined variously as the deepest, innermost longing within us that we seek to fulfill through our unique combination of skills, talents, or abilities. It’s the internal sense of “I’ve got a spiritual reason to be here,” (within the incarnation). It’s less about our profession, job, business or specialty work in the world. It is more about finding genuine fulfillment in the heart of our life that allows us to experience a lasting sense of connectedness to life through whatever doorway we walk through, the outer “garment” we wear, male/female, work/talent.

If we are a medically trained person, (M.D., nurse, chiropractor, naturepath, nutritionist, healthcare aide, massage therapist, licensed physical fitness trainer, yoga teacher, Tai Chi chuan Master, etc.), each “garment” offers an avenue of expression for the training we’ve chosen. Our personal fulfillment comes as we discover who we are as a spiritual being as we go about performing our outer plane work.

What happens when someone such as a deeply trained person, a medical doctor, or lawyer, or banker or school teacher, financial consultant, or CEO of a very successful company decides to become a politician, a musician, a religious leader such as an ordained minister, a social activist, a writer, actor, painter or architect? To respond to this sweeping question, I suggest that one’s professional expression is only a part of the soul’s longing for awakening. It does not mean we made a wrong choice or are failing some grand design arranged before our incarnation. It appears that our soul’s discoveries, our learning in a specific avenue of training and skill have been reached. It’s time to “dig deeper”, to move on to the call arising from within.

The discovery of our divine nature is always unfolding. It’s not a static condition or state. In our modern world we hear an oft repeated somewhat superficial statement offered by persons who re-experience certain patterns, occurances, kinds of relationships with the words, “I’ve been there and done that.” It’s offered by those individuals who feel they have learned from or mastered certain human experiences and are bored or tired of re-encountering the same set of dynamics, people, events in their day to day lives. Often the interpretation of circumstances, issues or “boring” events are a signal to go deeper within. It’s our soul’s way of reminding us that our ego’s attachments, wishes and wants need to be surrendered. And that at some level, our most sacred nature is attempting a breakthrough!

We each yearn for, long for, desire some kind of internal breakthrough in our day to day life. We seek an insight in a troubled relationship, a conflicted job, business or profession, in our social circle, or in complex family dynamics. All of these areas or arenas are the environment in which the awareness of God’s Presence is available. Our work is to stay focused in our work, job, task at hand. Stay involved with a troubled relationship, family issue or other concern. In other words, do not abandon it, run away, move away or give up.

Do ask God in prayer, meditation or contemplation for help to clarify, sort out, let go of what attributes, ideas and/or beliefs need to change. Be willing to allow change from within. If we are holding a right/wrong viewpoint, we may need to say to ourselves, “I’m willing to surrender my view in order that I can see/learn/experience a larger view.”

As we accept that an answer or solution or revelation is available whenever or however the answer comes into our awareness, we inwardly open up to receive it. It may arrive in an e-mail from some totally unexpected source; or an article we read in our doctor’s waiting room. Or it may show up in a book we suddenly pick up and read the “right paragraph or chapter.” A friend calls and invites us to a lecture and the speaker reveals ideas that we’ve needed to hear at just the right time.

In a psychological and perhaps even more spiritual sense we say it’s synchronistic; we are in synch with the help/answer/protection we need. We can also say we are living in grace. We cannot earn grace, but we can certainly notice how conditions unfold around us and/or others when we get out of our own way by surrendering our troubled attitudes, negative viewpoints or fear based ego concerns. Grace simply flows into the circumstance and allows us to see a larger picture, perhaps even the Presence of God at work. The Divine Presence is always there, whether we see it, recognize it or not. It’s somewhat akin to the rays of the sun. When the sky is covered in clouds, darkened by the approach of a storm, we lose sight of the sun and its healing, radiant, warming light. As the storm passes the sun reappears, the sky clears and we bask in its all encompassing embrace.

Whether we are concerned about our tasks in the outer world as a profession, business, job, or relationships to and/or with others, across the broad landscape of our life, or simply attempting to live our life fully - however we define living fully - undergirding us is the power we know as the Divine. We must learn to remember that this power is ever available, at home or away, night/day, at work or at play. In the deeper sense we are never alone!

Finally, gratitude for our life experiences serves to act as a “connector” to the flow. When we complain, we disconnect (pull the plug) so to speak. Complaining, fault finding, arguing may be briefly emotionally fulfilling or intellectually stimulating, but when we get trapped in such thoughts we lose our way. We fall from God’s grace and feel separated from the deep, internal relationship we have to life that’s everywhere around us. Notice as a brief example the following. If we become hurt/angry over a comment or circumstance that happens to us, we “step back”, pull back emotionally, sometimes physically and perhaps even mentally from the person, place or situation. The longer the feeling persists, it becomes increasingly awkward for us and often others. We feel wounded, attacked or limited in how we need to/wish to/ or would like to interact.

When we “turn the other cheek” we change our view by letting go of the hurt, anger, misperception or feeling of being wronged, criticized or attacked and our sense of “reconnection” occurs. We get to feel good again and deeper and more loving communication opens up between us and others. Healing, harmonizing, accepting forces flow between us once again and wholeness emerges.

The act of forgiveness is a form of gratitude. As we surrender feelings and attitudes that restrict us, we inwardly open to experience gratitude which is a deep internal feeling that allows us to see beyond limits, to the larger picture of something that previously appeared only in a very tiny limited or restricted image to us. Changing our attitudes changes our experience of life at all levels wherever we are in the world.

I see our human life as a series of remembering who we are at ever increasing levels of depth and awareness that occurs the ripples or rapids of life’s river smooth out. Navigate the river gently, allowing the flow to carry us. As we are passing across the river to our final destination let us remember to witness the landscape, above, around and below us and thus drink in the magnitude and magnificence of the journey.