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Enjoy another wonderful text by Rev. Phil Smedsted, minister Emeritus of Oasis Rising Center

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Phil Smedstad's texts are one of the ways Oasis Rising Center supports members.

A Positive Path for Spiritual Living

Oasis Rising Center Spiritual Center
Oasis Rising Center 8125 West Sahara Avenue
Las Vegas, NV 89125
(702) 804-8189
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“The Essence of Transformation”
`By Rev. Phillip Smedstad

Here at Unity of the Keys, the core of our mission is personal transformation.  So, once in a while, I think it’s important to ask, “What IS personal transformation anyway?”

In Unity, to be transformed means to stop identifying ourselves as being “only human” and to accept that we are expressions of all that God is.

Specifically, to be transformed means:

• To live a life of love, which includes non-stop forgiveness as well as being of service.
• To release the belief that we can ever be victims, or in other words to accept our oneness with God’s power of creation.
• To fully express our aliveness and to accept that we can never die.

Most of all, to be transformed means to life as Jesus instructed us to live it, which is to surrender to God’s guidance every day.

Some of you have heard me quote the Russian mystic Gurdjieff, who is the modern pioneer of transformation, on this subject.  Gurdjieff said that to be transformed means to be reborn or born again.  He then said, “If we want to be reborn, first we have to die to our false self.  And, if we want to die to our false self, we first have to wake up to it.”

Jesus said many things about transformation, but my favorite quotes from him on the subject are in John 3:1-8.  You might want to Google that passage before you continue reading this article.
In this passage, Jesus says, “This is how to tell if you’ve been reborn (or transformed).  In order to see the Kingdom of God, you must be born of water (whichmeans to die to our small self) and then you must be born of Spirit.”

How are we to know we are born of Spirit?  In this passage, Jesus says, “The wind blows where it will, and no one knows how it starts or why it stops.  This is how it is for all those who are born of Spirit.”

In other words, the way we know that we have been transformed is to ask whether or not we let Spirit move us in whatever direction It wants to move us.

As transformed beings, our job is to commit to a life of being directed by Spirit, and to become sensitive enough to hear and follow that inner Voice.  Spirit whispers in our heart, our mind, and our life: “Do this.  Go here.  Live there.”
The essence of transformation is living our life beyond our control, constantly surrendering our will and direction to God.

Our ego mind would tell us that it isn’t easy (or safe!) to hear our guidance.  However, A Course In Miracles tells us, “It isn’t that we can’t hear the Voice for God.  It’s that our egos are insulted that we should have to ask in the first place.”

A Course In Miracles also says that the root of all the guilt we’ve ever felt is what it calls “the authority issue.”  The authority issue is the belief that we, not God, are the author of our own life.
In another place in the Bible, Jesus says, “Unless you become like little children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (experience oneness with God).  That is, we will not experience Heaven here and now unless we trust Spirit as much as little children trust their parents.  (As children, we all trusted our parents completely until they taught us by their actions not to.)

Imagine yourself for a moment as a little child.  Imagine that you have parents who love you without conditions and want only your happiness and well-being.  Imagine them being completely in touch with the abundance of God in them, so much so that they LOVE that you are there as their child.

In yet another place, Jesus said, “If you who are immature know how to give good gifts to your children, imagine how much more your heavenly Father wants to give YOU good things.”

This is the kind of relationship with Spirit which is available to us all – to know that there is just one Source for all the love we want, all the ideas we want, all the health we want, and all the guidance we want.  And, this one Source wants only our happiness and well-being.

How do we develop this relationship with the Holy Spirit in us?  We practice thinking of the Holy Spirit as our best Friend (because It IS our best friend)!

Who is your closest earthly friend?  When that person calls you, he or she doesn’t need to say who it is.  You already know.  You deeply trust this friend because you know that he or she is always on your side.  When you get used to calling on and listening to the Holy Spirit, It’s Voice can be that familiar to you.

The more we practice listening to the Holy Spirit, the more we learn to recognize Its Voice.  We learn to distinguish when it’s the Holy Spirit speaking and when it’s our human mind speaking.  The Holy Spirit always speaks for win/win, for love, for oneness, and for abundance.

The Psalmist said in one place, “Your word is a lamp unto my feet.”  Imagine carrying a lamp at night.  Your path is lit, but only for the next one or two steps.  This is how it often is with our guidance.  Although we often want to see the end result, we often can only see for the next one or two steps.

By the way, a wonderful way to practice opening to the Holy Spirit’s Voice is a daily time of prayer and meditation.  Deepak Chopra likes to say that meditation creates “spaces between our thoughts” and, he says, these spaces are how God gets through to us.

Let this be your week to practice being born of Spirit by getting quiet enough to hear that still, small Voice.  Surrendering to God is the only way I know of to experience deep peace, total security, and true freedom.