Peace, Be Still

Peace, Be Still

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Dear (Contact First Name),

"I wish I knew then what I know now!" are words that most of us have spoken at some time. As you read this, I'd invite you to be open to the possibility that we really can know now what we will more fully understand later, and that our lives might be forever changed as we accept that possibility. One of the ways we can do this is by opening ourselves completely to the first two gifts of the Advent season: Faith and Peace.

A diagram of our spiritual journey might appear to be a series of increasingly-larger circles, spiraling nearer and nearer to encompassing Allness, that point at which we are able to live completely and fully in what we call Christ Consciousness. This cyclical construct reminds us of two things: we have walked this way before, and we are always progressing to more ... even if at this particular moment we might seem "further away" from our goal that we remember having been at some other particular moment.

At this time of year, the calendar says we are honoring Advent. During this time, we have two focal points: one is honoring the birth of our elder- brother and way-shower, Jesus, and the other is the birth of ever-increasing awareness of the Christ consciousness within each of us. In a few months, the calendar will bring us together to focus on Jesus' crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, as well as our own willingness to leave behind our human limitation and rise up more fully into our Christ Potential.

As a human who fully lived the life of Christ-Awareness to which we aspire, Jesus walked his path intentionally, and taught the lessons he knew were most important. As he prepared to leave his disciples, we are told he spoke these words to them:

"My peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.

I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let

your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid."

(John 14:27, NRSV)

As we prepare for Advent, and celebrating his birth, we already know the gift he wishes us to have at the end of the story: Peace. We know from his words that this gift is not given "as the world gives." When gifts are given in the the world, something is taken from one and presented to another. If I give you my most treasured possession, you now have it, and I do not. When we go Christmas shopping, we buy things that we hope the intended recipients do not already have, and we give those gifts to them, hoping that, by adding our gifts to what they already possess, we will have made their lives a bit more pleasurable.

The gift that Jesus is giving us is not like that: he is giving us the gift of Peace which he, as the Christ, already knows. He knows that this gift, the Peace of Christ Consciousness, is already within us, already present, always available, and could never, ever be taken from one and given to another. This is the message that was so important to Jesus that he presented it as one of his final teachings. He knew that, whether or not his disciples really understood the message, this was the most important gift he could give them. He knew that, even if they did not really understand, it was important for him to speak those words. It remains important for us to hear them.

This Peace is our ability to turn within, during even the most challenging times, and know the Christ, which is eternally present as the Truth of What We Are, is always there. This Peace is our ability to speak our Word and say, "Peace, be still" to whatever human chaos may be swirling about us. We have, within us always, the ability to rest in knowing that there is no need for us to be troubled, no need for us to fear anything, because we already have within us this eternal Peace.

We need never again wish "later on" that we knew "now" what we will surely understand more fully at some future point of our journey. We can know now that Jesus' gift to us is the Peace of the knowledge of our own Divinity, our own Christhood. We can choose to know this right here, right now, today, in this very moment. We can know now, that no matter what huge and seemingly impossible-to-overcome waves of discord and disharmony are crashing over us, we have within us the ability to say, "Peace, be still", and know that, as we believe, it is done. We do not need to know how. We do need to accept, fully and completely, the first two gifts of this season of Advent, Faith and Peace. Once we unwrap those, Love and Joy cannot help but follow.

In Faith, In Peace, in Light, Namaskar (which means, the Divine in me recognizes the Divine in You)
Rev. Nita






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SUNDAY SCHOOL OUTREACH PROJECT UPDATE

Since our first year together, our Sunday school kids have supported Heifer International for their holiday outreach. Heifer International's mission is to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and care for the Earth. This year, they raised $300.00 and have chosen to purchase ducks, chickens, and rabbits. Thank you to everyone who participated, and many thanks to Barbara Richman for organizing this each year.

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TAIZE MEDITATION
Wed., Dec. 12, 6:00pm

Taize, the once a month evening candle meditation experience, will be on Wednesday Dec 12th from 6 to 7pm. The theme this evening will be 'Light.'
This is an easy way to gift yourself with spaciousness. Please join us and share song, sacred readings, silence and community.

Arriving by 5:55 is preferred. Doors open at 540pm. Thank you for leaving your pets and children under 12 at home.

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UPCOMING LESSONS and EVENTS

12/09: Gino! Wisdom and Music by Gino Walker
12/16: (Nita returns) Advent: Love
12/23: Advent: Joy
12/24: (Monday) Christmas Eve Candlelighting Service: 5:00pm
12/25: (Tuesday) Christmas Morning Service & Potluck: 10:30am
12/30: Another Trip Around the Sun... (End-of-the-month POTLUCK)
12/31: New Year's Eve Cleansing Release Service: 6:00pm
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DID YOU KNOW...
Audio of our Sunday lessons is available online at our website?You may click here to listen. There's also always a button along the left side of these emails that will take you right to our "Listen" page. You may also listen and subscribe to our channel at Sermon.net And- if you have a mobile device, you can download the Sermon.net app from your App Store and subscribe to our podcasts. When you do, you'll be notified when new audio is available.New lessons are usually posted every couple of weeks.