Spiritual Living Podcast

Get Inspired

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 19:30:00 +0000

Rev. Patrick continues on the theme of setting intentions.

There is a subtle power within us---the essence of Spirit. Every thought impresses an idea upon this infinite aspect of the Infinite. Its operation in our lives is simply to support us in whatever we bring to It.

Creation is not an accident. It's part of a preparation. Our intention is really about preparation, preparing ourselves for Spirit's support.

Inspiration is the revelation in conscious mind beyond what the conscious mind could come up with.

Get Centered

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 19:30:00 +0000

Intention is a prerequisite for effecting change. What is our intention for our lives? What are the three things we will work on this year?

We will focus on the moment-by-moment care and mindfulness of growing our consciousness, so that we can be the finest expression of an individual that stands in co-creation with Spirit.

Out with the Old and In with the New

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 19:30:00 +0000

New Year's is a time for making resolutions. In New Thought, we can translate this into setting intentions. It is also a time to reflect on the past year: What worked well? What didn't work so well? It is a time for remembering the people we've said good-bye to, old things we've released, and new things we've embraced.

We were made for these times. How do we know this? Because we are the ones who are here. There could be no others. And we could be no other way.

Season of Light

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 19:30:00 +0000

The Centre celebrates the Season of Light in song, story, and inspiration. This talk includes two songs from the celebration---one featuring Belle Hodge and the Centre's band, and one featuring Brian McLeod---and then Rev. Patrick tells a story about manifesting a penguin!

A Kidnapped Santa Claus

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 19:30:00 +0000

The storytelling continues! Rev. Patrick relates the main themes of L. Frank Baum's book A Kidnapped Santa Claus. In it, he reminds us not to be afraid of the dark sides of our nature; we can step back into the light at any time.

In Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers: The Story of Success, we learn of the small town of Rosetta, where the inhabitants' long, happy lives are thanks to the caring, loving nature of the community. The values of the world we inhabit and the people we surround ourselves with have a profound effect on who we are. What kind of community have we surrounded ourselves with?

How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 19:30:00 +0000

Rev. Patrick reads to us from the 1957 children's story How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Seuss.

Life is a blackboard upon which we consciously or unconsciously write those messages which will govern us. And we hold the chalk and the eraser in our hand, but we are ignorant of this fact. What we now experience, we need not continue to experience. But the hand that holds the eraser must do its neutralizing work.

At the beginning of the story, the Grinch is stuck in envy and jealousy. In the end, the expansion of the Grinch's heart serves as a metaphor for the expansion of his consciousness.

"I really think that it's possible to continue to change the consciousness of this planet. I believe we're here for a reason. I don't think it's any accident that you're here today. We are here to give birth to the new consciousness, and that's happening all the time." -- Rev. Patrick Cameron

Light It Up

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 19:30:00 +0000

Rev. Patrick begins today's talk with a simple children's Christmas story about a shift in perception. We learn that it is in the sharing, in the generosity of spirit, that the consciousness is shifted.

In Creative Mind and Success, Ernest Holmes said this about spiritual practice: "We have this Law in our hands to do with it as we will. We can draw what we want only as we let go of old order and take up the new. And this we must do to the exclusion of all else.

"Generosity is Grace. We need to believe in the Grace of God, the Divine Givingness. But we must recognize that the Divine Givingness can mean nothing to us until there is a Takingness on our part. It requires our participation in it.

"The Self must raise the Self by the Self because the Self is God. We have to do the work. No one can do the work for us."

The Bridge to Healing

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 19:30:00 +0000

It's always a special treat when the teens help out with the celebration! Rev. Patrick expands on his discussion of Deepak Chopra's book Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul: How to Create a New You, expanding on the four main practices we can use to move from being a "fight and flight" person to become a visionary: Remain centered. Be clear. Expect the best. Wait and watch. We can get out of our reactive mind (the chattering/monkey mind) and move into the witness mind (present moment awareness).

A Community of Cells

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 19:30:00 +0000

Our bodies are made up of cells. In fact, each of us is a living community of over 50 trillion cells.

The idea of waking up spiritually is to shift from living unconsciously to living more consciously, moving towards where we would like to take our lives.

According to Deepak Chopra, life brings many situations where letting go isn't easy. Fortunately, there is always one strategy that works for letting go: instead of focusing on our reaction in the moment, we can step back and assert who we really are. The real us has no agenda. It lives in the present, it responds to life openly. Let us say to our reaction: "That's not me, it's just an experience that I'm having."

What is there for each of us to do in the moment?

Remain centred. Be clear. Expect the best. Wait and watch.

Clearing What is Holding Us Back

Sun, 13 Nov 2011 19:30:00 +0000

Healing is ultimately a shift of our perception, moving into a greater sense of who we are and what we are.

Ernest Holmes said this, "Spiritual mind healing is a revelation, even though we go through a process to arrive at it. Each must work out their own method and pursue their own logic. If their method and logic lead them to the right conclusion, they will be rewarded by an affirmative answer. It is not the spirit of the person that needs to be made whole; it is their mental reactions to life that need healing---their perceptions, how they filter life. These mental reactions are both conscious and subjective. Successful spiritual mind treatment neutralizes negative reactions on both the conscious and the subjective levels."

From Scientist to Healer

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 19:30:00 +0000

Rev. Patrick explores healing of the body and healing of the soul through the book Cell-Level Healing by research scientist Joyce Hawkes. In it, she says that appreciation is the first step in our spiritual practice, as a bridge between ordinary reality and spiritual reality. Gratitude leads to devotion, resulting in compassion that flows naturally to the heart as profound healing.

Spirit is the potential that lies within each one of us. Our soul is not in our body---we are in our soul. The foundation for all thriving is the trio of love, happiness, and knowing. Together, they bring us back to Source, back to Union.

Our call is enlightenment. To continue to wake up and do our practice. Whatever moves us in the direction of Source.

Spiritual Makeover: Part 2

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 18:30:00 +0000

Living our lives from "Why"

According to the Romans, Genius is a universal presence that "lives in the walls of the artist's home." It's something that we can have, that we can host, that we can welcome. It's not personal, it's not individual. It's a Universal Intelligence: "I don't know, but something within me does know."

Blazing Trails

Sun, 23 Oct 2011 18:30:00 +0000

Blazing means fire. Fire is symbolic of transformation. Something gets ignited and changes happen. The trail represents the path that we're on.

Joseph Campbell said this, "If you can see your path laid out for you, in front of you step by step, then you know it's not your path. Your own path that you make is with every step you take. That's why it's your path."

The key to hearing our calling is paying attention to what is going on in our lives. To be still and know that I am God. To be still and hear that inner voice.

Ultimate Lesson

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 18:30:00 +0000

If we are irritated by every little rub, how will we get polished? -- Rumi

In this week's talk, Rev. Catherine McLeod discusses life's ultimate lesson and the subject of relationships: our relationships to ourselves, to our partners, to our community, and to our world.

Our ultimate lesson is to learn unconditional love, which includes all others, but also ourselves.

Rev. Catherine also compares internal spirituality and external spirituality. The internal encompasses our inner spiritual practice. The external, our spiritual practice as it plays out in community. In community is where we demonstrate love, respect, forgiveness, compassion, and a generous spirit towards one another.

Gratitude as the Doorway

Sun, 09 Oct 2011 18:30:00 +0000

When we are grateful or thankful, we are lifted up to a higher realm of consciousness. Expressing and focusing on gratitude and appreciation is one of the most powerful things we can do.

Steve Jobs made an enormous impact on the world. He taught that, "You have to trust in something---believing that the dots will connect.... If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle... Stay hungry. Stay foolish.... Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life." Ernest Holmes said, "There isn't anything to do. There's something to know."

Spiritual Makeover - Part 1

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 18:30:00 +0000

Our lives are either an expression of our spiritual magnificence or a reflection of our unhealed past. Do we consider ourselves a "finished product" or in the process of a makeover? Daniel Pink's book, Drive, suggests three areas to focus on:

Autonomy---to direct our own lives
Mastery---to desire to get better and better at what we do
Purpose---to be in service to something larger than ourselves

In speaking to author Chip Conley, the 17-year old King of Bhutan said that in his country they don't measure Gross Domestic Product. They measure Gross National Happiness. He said, "We cannot create happiness for one other. We create the conditions for happiness to occur." Rev. Patrick concludes with a profound quote from Robert F. Kennedy.

Tamed and Untamed Emotions

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 18:30:00 +0000

Reading from The Mandala of Being, Rev. Patrick quotes Richard Moss about our emotions:

"We are enlightened only to the degree that we are able to fully experience and not become identified with and captured by our emotions.

"We evolve in consciousness by turning toward our immediate experience and learning to be present yet non-reactive."

Tamed emotion is simply the emotion that we are used to. It is that which we can identify and name. Untamed emotion is a feeling that we cannot readily separate ourselves from. Drowning, desolation, disillusion, terror, annihilation, suffocation, free-floating anxiety. Yet even in the experience of untamed emotion, there is a place within all of us that is untouched, that feels good at all times. That is our centre, our grounding, the Divine Grace.

"Yesterday ended last night. Only the negative should go. Take time to look and think. The past is great with good, and to meet your past, that is fine, but you can never return. The world will not do you any good. It is too easy to go the world's way. Stand still and know what the world doesn't know." -- Raymond Charles Barker

Who We Really Aren't

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 18:30:00 +0000

Core issues from our childhood can give us a road map of how we operate in the world. For example, chaos and feeling like a victim can lead to anger and then feeling lost. We can use affirmative prayer to counteract that old belief and clear our consciousness, such as, "I release my belief in chaos. I release my belief in anger..." This helps us rediscover who we really are and who we are not!

Jill Conner Browne, in The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love says, "Life is too short and too long to spend it being miserable. Life may indeed be short but it is, for a fact, wide. It's high time we started settling for more!"

Celebrating Work

Sun, 04 Sep 2011 18:30:00 +0000

On this Labour Day Sunday, Rev. Patrick leads us through a celebration of work. He first examines the Path of Wrong-Headedness, using a work story from the early life of our founder, Ernest Holmes. He then discusses our life journey and our life purpose.

Our journey is really about finding our own way in the world. And as we discover our path, we find that everything is shaped for us.

As we consider where we find ourselves now, and where we have come from, it is best to realize that our journey is our journey---We could have come no other way.

So what is our purpose? Surprisingly, it may not be connected to our career. As an example of a life purpose, some have been called to "work to give the best to the world, with no thought of reward. To teach and demonstrate living from Spirit."

Heart Warriors

Sun, 28 Aug 2011 18:30:00 +0000

Rev. Patrick speaks on the importance and power of forgiveness, and prepares us for the September 11 "Peace in the Park" event. Forgiveness is not for the enemy---it is for us.

In addition, the other side of forgiveness is atonement. As spoken by Desmond Tutu, forgiveness makes the future possible, while atonement makes the present possible.

Awakening to Reality

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 18:30:00 +0000

I want to know, and know I know.

In The Essential Ernest Holmes, we read, "It is the divine spark that impregnates everything, and is buried in everything. And it contains within itself the upward push of evolution. This evolutionary process impels things upward and onward, from lower to higher levels of intelligence. Everything has within it that intelligence as unconscious or subconscious memory."

We each have a unique presentation of the Cosmic Whole that seeks expression through us.

"Life is infinite energy, coupled with limitless creative imagination. It is the invisible essence and substance of every visible form. Its nature is goodness, truth, wisdom, beauty, energy, and imagination. Our highest satisfaction comes from a sense of conscious union with this invisible life."

Stillness Speaks

Sun, 07 Aug 2011 18:30:00 +0000

Rev. Connie Phelps talks about her life journey, including her experiences in Africa. Stillness is one of those experiences and spiritual practices that allowed her to be in Africa.

Spirit is always talking to us, through us, and as us, if we but take the time to listen to It. We must allow It to expand us, be us, live us, and reveal what it is that needs to be revealed by means of us.

Our teaching is simple and universal. It is applicable to every person. Stillness is the means by which we can relate this teaching to every person no matter their background.

As Ernest Holmes taught, listening helps us to understand that what is happening in our lives is happening for us rather than appears to be happening to us.

The Poetry of David Whyte

Sun, 31 Jul 2011 18:30:00 +0000

Poetry is the experience. Great poetry is timeless, it crosses all cultures, and it speaks to that longing that we all have in common. -- David Whyte.

Poetry is often the art of overhearing yourself, saying things you didn't know you knew. We need to overhear the tiny but very consequential things we say that reveal ourselves to ourselves.

We are desperate for a sense of belonging, a moment of eternity. Belonging is the ability to live in the world without fear. Belonging is belonging to oneself.

Can we be people whose belonging is stronger than our fear?

Making Relationships Work as Never Before

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 18:30:00 +0000

This week's talk by guest speaker Rev. Gail Muzio (Schultz) encourages us to focus on our relationships as an art form, and even includes pertinent kissing advice.

We are our children's model for spirituality. We are our children's model for relationships. So are we good teachers? Do we hold relationships as a top priority in our lives?

What if "making relationships work as never before" were an art? (1) Are we willing to learn that art? (2) Are we willing to apply what we've learned in that art daily? (3) Are we willing to live as love?

John O'Donohue's Anam Cara

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 18:30:00 +0000

Rev. Patrick shares an excellent affirmative prayer: If it is right, make it easy. If it is wrong, make it obvious. As we learn things intellectually and speak to Source, we must open up to the deeper Love, and learn to love ourselves. The beautiful and profound wisdom of John O'Donohue's book Anam Cara---which means "soul friend"---reminds us of deep truths about love.

Excerpts from Anam Cara:

"You can never love another person unless you are equally involved in the beautiful but difficult work of learning to love yourself."

"When love awakens in your life in the night of your heart, it is like the dawn breaking within you. Where before there was anonymity, now there is intimacy. Where before there was fear, now there is courage. Where before in your life there was awkwardness, now there is a rhythm and grace. Where before you used to be jagged, now you are elegant and in rhythm with yourself. When love awakens in your life, it is like a rebirth, a new beginning."

Socrates. Why?

Sun, 10 Jul 2011 18:30:00 +0000

Ten or twenty years from now, the questions that you choose to live will have become the shape of your life.

In this week's talk, Rev. Patrick uses Socrates and his method of inquiry to encourage us to live in the question. Socrates was all about the question. He wanted people to think. He encouraged the inquiry. Why do we make the decisions we make? Why do we come to the conclusions we do? Why do we respond to things the way we do?

Socrates held that the unexamined life is not worth living. Our challenge, then, is to live an examined life.

Free at Last

Sun, 03 Jul 2011 18:30:00 +0000

"Find me one person who can get his own littleness out of the way and he shall reveal to me the immeasurable magnitude of the Universe in which I live." -- Ernest Holmes

Dr. Rev. Sue Rubin, in her wonderfully expressive way, reminds us that the Law is impartial, automatically responding to what we know about ourselves. Our beliefs become our experiences, and in every word we say to ourselves and each other, we communicate with Spirit. She speaks of the lessons found in a unique YouTube video about the words we use.

Get Unrealistic

Sun, 26 Jun 2011 18:30:00 +0000

Prosperity, abundance and success come from accessing the space between our thoughts and being willing to stretch ourselves and "fail better". Timothy Ferriss says, "success can be measured in the number of uncomfortable conversations we are willing to have." The Prosperity Plus class teaches that the first form of prosperity is peace of mind, the second is our physical body, and the third is our relationships. Samuel Becket says, "you won't believe what you can accomplish by attempting the impossible with the courage to repeatedly fail better."

Adventure Deficit Disorder

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 18:30:00 +0000

Looking at mentors on Father's Day, people like Ernest Holmes, John Bradshaw, Howard Thurman and Robert Kennedy Jr. inspire us to live life fully, be informed, and make a difference in our world. Howard Thurman, one of Martin Luther King Jr's teachers said, "Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it, because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

Great moments in life don't take place in the light, but in coming from the darkness into the light.

What Do We Want? Ignore the Question.

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 18:30:00 +0000

If we don't love it, we won't do it.

Do perfectly all that you can do now. The doing to perfection of one thing invariable provides us with the equipment for doing the next larger thing, because it is a principle inherent in Nature that life continually advances. Every person who does one thing perfectly is instantly presented with an opportunity to begin doing the next larger thing.

Doing big things begins with asking for them properly. So we need to ask the right question. It's not "What do we want?", it's "What excites us?" "What brings us to life?"

Capturing a Bigger Idea

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 18:30:00 +0000

Using bubble-making technology as a metaphor, Rev. Patrick discusses the seeking and capturing of "a bigger idea" as the extension of progress, the moving forward of growth.

From Ideas of Power: The Holmes Papers, we learn: Every thought is a prayer. And that is good. We centre our thinking. We learn to accept. Remember that there is a power greater than we are which reacts. A principle that responds. Let us grasp Its utmost simplicity: We are thinking centres in a universal mind that receives the impress of our mind and acts upon it. Every thought is a prayer. We can stop, we can change, we can alter, we can move it gradually, sequentially, and inevitably to a new experience.

In other words, "That thought's not working for me. I need a bigger idea."

What if Life Got Easier? (An Easier Way to Live)

Sun, 29 May 2011 18:30:00 +0000

Soul is our connection with Spirit, with God.

Few people have actually experienced their souls because they assume that the task would be difficult, arduous, and just more work to add to their daily lives. But experiencing our soul is the easiest thing we can do. "Ask and you shall receive. Knock and the door will be open."

The starting point, says Ernest Holmes, is a love that cannot hurt, and a faith that will not be denied.

The force of conditioning pulls us toward a life of effort and struggle; the force of soul pulls us toward a life that is effortless. Most of society accepts that life is difficult, so the first force has many allies behind it, making it seem overwhelmingly strong. In contrast, the soul's force is so incredibly subtle and intimately experienced within us. The soul is us. It is who we are. The power of transformation exists, and it operates from the centre of our own being. It is an infinite goodness that wants to be expressed. And it can only be expressed through us.

Resurrecting the Soul (Bringing Spirit Down to Earth)

Sun, 22 May 2011 18:30:00 +0000

Let us realize that we are on a spiritual journey to higher consciousness, and embrace it. Expand our awareness through contemplation, meditation, and other means. Ask for guidance, simply and sincerely, and wait for it to appear. And finally, trust our finest instincts.

Great relief comes when the soul becomes the practice of life.

Time and Time Again (Asset or Liability?)

Sun, 15 May 2011 18:30:00 +0000

The surest way to escape the clutches of time is to keep evolving.

Awareness can change any energy pattern at will. If we show up awake and aware, and we're in the present moment---if we're in the Being, if we're in co-creation---there is a Divine Intelligence that is in and through and as all of life. And once we develop the vocabulary and the openness to that guidance, then what wants to happen has a better chance; it is not random. This process occurs to remind us over and over again, until we finally pay attention.

Let us work toward the enlargement of our consciousness: "Each day, I allow my consciousness to range in the field of greater possibilities." What wants to happen here?

Expectancy always speeds progress, so live in the expectancy!

A Legacy of Nurturing

Sun, 08 May 2011 18:30:00 +0000

Like the moon, come out from the clouds and shine.

On this Mother's Day, Rev. Patrick ruminates on the unreality of birth and death. Life never ends. Form ends, but life is eternal. Life is a continuum, and form changes.

When we think of death, we think of suddenly becoming no one. In the same way, we think of birth as our beginning. From nothing, we suddenly become something, and from no one we suddenly become someone. From these notions, there's always fear within us. The Buddhists encourage us to look deeply into the object of our fear: The fear of dying, the fear of not being. It is this deep examination which reveals to us our true nature as eternal beings, not separate from creation but eternally one with it.

In Our Genes are the Seeds of Change

Sun, 01 May 2011 18:30:00 +0000

You won't see it if you hate it. Let it come to you. Nature cannot be forced, but only loved into visibility. -- Irene Manton

It is not enough to recognize the larger order---we must love it. Sincerity, curiosity, and gratitude are the strong, compelling tools of our heart. Our journey is one of allowing and loving.

Accepting Our Own Divinity

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 18:30:00 +0000

As Ernest Holmes said, "We are Christian and more." On this Easter Sunday, Rev. Patrick celebrates the road map that Jesus left.

Through the Easter story of Barabbas, we are posed the following questions: Do we choose the world of effect, or do we choose the divine? Do we accept our own divinity?

For us, Easter means that we step into our Christ consciousness and we live from that.

The Body Visible and Invisible

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 18:30:00 +0000

From the book Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul by Deepak Chopra, we learn that the body is the place where the invisible and the visible show up. The key to transformation is to create the change we want to see in ourselves.

"There is no reason to deprive our body of love, beauty, creativity, and inspiration. We are intended to experience ecstasy just as much as any saint. And when we do, our cells rejoice in it."

Effective, lasting change is only made from a state of joy and relaxation.

The Lessons of Kobe

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 18:30:00 +0000

In today's talk, Rev. Kathryn Cardinal shares spiritual lessons learned from caring for Kobe the dog: spiritual preparation, spiritual practice, unconditional love, non-verbal communication, showing love through focussed time and attention, being happy, working through our resistance, knowing that everything happens for a reason, being present, asking for help, and being open to receive that help.

The Five Laws of the Go-Giver

Sun, 03 Apr 2011 18:30:00 +0000

Continuing his discussion of the modern-day business parable The Go-Giver, Rev. Patrick goes over the Five Laws of the Go-Giver:

The Law of Value: Our true worth is determined by how much more we give in value than we take in payment.
The Law of Compensation: Our income is determined by how many people we serve and by how well we serve them.
The Law of Influence: Our influence is determined by how abundantly we place other people's interests first.
The Law of Authenticity: The most valuable gift we have to offer to anyone is ourselves.
The Law of Receptivity: The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving.