HARRY POTTER AND THE TWELVE POWERS: IMAGINATION & THE WEASLEY TWINS

Welcome back to our Summer Series The 12 Powers and Harry Potter. This week, Imagination! And who better to show us imagination than the Weasley Twins…but more on that later.

First – imagination.

Ella Pomeroy in “Power of the Soul” said; “Imagination is the ability to conceive, to draw together, to inspire the mind with a sense of newness. It is the mind’s exercise in foreseeing results in material form.”

So, Faith is the power to believe. Love is the power to be loving. Strength is the power to persevere. Wisdom is the power to choose. Power is the power to act. Imagination is the power to see.

Imagination is a key element in the formation process; the creative process. If we perceive it, we can conceive it. If we conceive it, we can believe it. And if we believe it, we can achieve it. This is the creative process. So, what are we creating? Are we imagining the worst? Or the best? What are we conceiving? If we look at the order of the process, perception is the step before conception. What are we perceiving? What evidence are we gathering?

“The command ‘be not afraid’ appears frequently in the Bible, and yet we as individuals and as a nation, seem to be driven by fear, of terrorist attacks, of accidents, of poor health, of worry over our children, and probably much, much more.
Have we let fear push out wisdom and prudence as the primary virtues of our daily lives, of our integrity? Should the biblical command “be not afraid” have a role in ALL decision-making?
Why do we as a society continue to fear so many things? What role can the biblical command “be not afraid” have in our everyday decision-making as well as in those of our elected decision- makers?
Why do we use fear, rather than optimism, around solutions?
Why does it seem easier for us as a nation and as individuals to move to fear rather than hope?
Are we perceiving that the world is going to hell in a hand basket? That everyone is ‘out to get’ us? Then what we conceive, what we imagine, is definitely going to achieve something, create something. But is that ‘something’ a reflection of our True Nature, of our Christ Nature, of our Higher Self? What if we perceive that no one and no thing is against us? That everything in the Universe supports us and our growth and our highest expression? What would we be conceiving then? How free would we be to believe the best and achieve the most?

We can look to the teachings and actions of Jesus for a primer on how to release our fear and uncertainty. In that primer, we are asked to redefine who “we” are, realign our will to Divine Will, and practice the Presence in all that we do: Love God; love yourself; love your neighbor as yourself: love your enemies; be inclusive of all; feed the hungry; take care of the sick; respect the Earth; live in the present moment rather than in yesterday or tomorrow; know that there is a power in the universe that is there for all to use; that this power is the same power that beats every heart; that this power is the source of wholeness and well-being.

You may ask why I am speaking of fear when talking about imagination? But then, isn’t it fear that we too often use with our imagination instead of love and hope and peace? Think about it.

 

Rev. Stretton Smith defines two different types of imagination: Conditioned imagination and willful imagination. Conditioned imagination comes from our memories (often where our fears come from). Willful imagination is something entirely new that we create with our mind. (often to erase those fears)

Let’s do an imagination in action. (You’re on vacation to somewhere we remember. Now willfully change the experience.) That gives you an idea of the difference.

The Harry Potter characters for Imagination are Ron Weasley’s twin brothers, Fred and George Weasley. They are constantly inventing things and creating some prank to sell and invent sport among the students. They represent how divine ideas can lead to physical manifestation and material gain. They also represent how ideas without much forethought can lead to trouble.
Here’s an example of the ‘sport’ they got themselves into…
The Weasleys had arrived to pick Harry up for the Quiddich World Cup, and as they were getting ready to leave, the Twins tested one of their products, on the sly…

Read book 4, page 48, beginning ‘see you’ said Harry. Through the end of page 49. Also, page 51, “Did he eat it?” said Fred through “test them on all summer…”

What’s great about Fred and George is that they have a vision. They knew that scholarship, per se, was not their thing. Their plan was a joke shop…To get to that shop, their vision may change depending on the circumstances and the opportunities presented, but they have a vision of what they want to achieve, and who they want to show up as, and they follow through with actions to fulfill that vision. They get specific, and they’re also willing to be flexible, to change midstream if circumstances warrant.
Imagine the imagination needed for such items as:
Weasleys’ Wild-Fire Whiz-Bangs, which were assorted magical fire crackers
Canary Creams, actually produced little yellow canaries
Extendable Ears, used to eves drop on people’s conversations
Headless Hat, once placed on your head, the head disappears
Nosebleed Nougat, makes you bleed until you take to counter nougat
Portable Swamp, self-explanatory
Puking Pastilles, I think you get the idea
Ton-Tongue Toffees, as explained in the reading
Punching telescope, again self-explanatory
As well as, Reusable hangman and Patented Daydream Charms
The key elements in our imaginings, our visualizations: Specificity and flexibility. Be specific and then be willing to let go of the outcome. Be specific, and then let go and let God. Be specific, and then pray, “This or something better.”

What is your vision for your life? For your career? For your family? How specific have you been? How flexible have you been?

Let’s try it: Get comfortable…Now,
Imagine yourself 18 months from now. Walk out into your future. Your heart is open. Your mind is open. You are willing to receive the gifts of imagination, wisdom, life, love and power. ASK—
What do I really want?
What does it look like?
What is my intention?
Am I showing up as who I came here to be?
What is my ideal working environment?
What is my ideal home environment?
Where do I see myself?
What is my ideal day?
Who are my friends?
Who are my clients, my coworkers?
What do people say about my work with them?
How much money am I making?
What am I doing with the money I’m making?
What impact am I having?
How am I contributing to peoples lives?
What skills have I mastered? How am I using them?
Holding these images in your mind, step outside the picture and witness. How many of your pictures are from your conditioned imagination, your memories? How many are willful, created from the infinite realm of ideas and substance?

Now let’s try another visualization. Pretend that Stephen Spielberg has optioned the rights to your life story. He intends to make a full-length feature film about you and has commissioned three writers to submit scripts to him.

One script will be about your life as it is now, as if nothing changes. The second script will contain one change of some sort – either you meet a new person or you move to a new place. The third script is the most outrageous of all – you become a totally new person – perhaps the one you always wanted to be, the one your soul has yearned for you to be – doing the things you always wanted to do. What would that script look like?

Are you open to new ideas? Are you open to new relationships? New opportunities?

Our imaginations are only limited by our biases.

If you can perceive it, conceive it, and believe it, you can achieve it. Remember this: ‘nothing is written, unless you write it.’

Now visualize for Unity of Rehoboth Beach – what do you see for Unity in 1 year? 5 years? 10?

Twelve Powers & Harry Potter: Enthusiasm/Zeal & Dobby

 

Enthusiasm: from the Greek, in and theos – in God, or the God within; eager interest,

 

zeal; inspired by God; eagerness, ardor, fervor; passion. 

 

Zeal is a joyous experience of oneness with Spirit, resulting in a continuing flow of energy to do God’s work.

 

When he was 94 years old, Charles Fillmore wrote the following affirmation: “I fairly sizzle with zeal and enthusiasm and spring forth with a mighty faith to do the things that ought to be done by me.”

 

Pretty good for 94!

 

I guess most of you have figured out my enthusiasm for the Harry Potter Series.  I do not claim to be an expert in all things Harry, but I can hold my own….

 

Henry Chester said, “Enthusiasm is the greatest asset in the world. It overwhelms and engulfs all obstacles. It is nothing more, nor less, than faith in action.”

 

Faith in what you are doing.

 

In many of the books I read, they are adventures in the mythical, there is ALWAYS a faith aspect to the journey by the heroine and hero’s in the story.  It’s really neat to be reading about a dragon as it gives its wisdom to another being and it is right out of Unity Speak!

 

As we continue our journey through the Harry Potter Series and the 12 Powers, remember, our powers are not something we need to create – we already have them.  They simply need to be recognized, brought forth.  We are all naturally enthusiastic.  We experience enthusiasm in a spiritual way as a deep sense of what the ancients called “harmony of the spheres” or “in tune with the Infinite.” 

 

In tune with the infinite.  Sounds like what we talked about last week as being in the flow, Divine Order; so, it comes as no surprise that Enthusiasm is often paired with Order and/or Wisdom.  These pairings are important, because as with all the powers, left alone they can become unbalanced.

 

Look at them for a minute – Life, Order, Wisdom, Love, Imagination, Understanding, Will, Faith, Zeal, Power, Strength, Release—can you see how concentrating on only one could be unbalanced?  How would that show up?  Too much Order, for example, might show as compulsions…

 

The word zealot comes from the root word zeal.  When our fervor, our passion, for something becomes unbalanced, so do we.  We need to combine our zeal, with Wisdom and be in the flow of Divine Order. 

 

True enthusiasm for what we do, and who we are, supports our goals and dreams.  Enthusiasm helps us enjoy every day. 

 

It helps us to stay in the game, to get off the sidelines, to be a participant instead of a spectator.

 

Enthusiasm helps us to follow through on relationships and projects that are worthwhile. Enthusiasm carries us forward.

 

Enthusiasm started Unity of Rehoboth Beach! Thank you for that!

 

Enthusiasm doesn’t need to create false excitement or drama.  It finds humor and excitement every day, in ordinary things.

 

True enthusiasm says, “I am glad to be who I am, and I am glad to be living the life God has given me!”

 

There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror, and noticed she had only three hairs on her head.  Well,” she said, “I think I’ll braid my hair today.”  So, she did and she had a wonderful day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw that she had only two hairs on her head.  “H-M-M,” she said, “I think I’ll part my hair down the middle today.”  So, she did and she had a grand day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head.  “Well,” she said, “today I’m going to wear my hair in a pony-tail.”  So, she did and she had a fun, fun day.

 

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn’t a single hair on her head.   “YEA!” she exclaimed, “Today, I don’t have to fix my hair!”  And she went out and had the best day ever!

 

Think about when you are not enthusiastic about something that you must do, a chore, maybe.  That lack of zeal for the chore also takes away the energy needed to do the work.  Now take that same chore and place some enthusiasm behind it and see how your energy changes….

 

I expect some forgotten chores will be completed after this Lesson!

 

SO I ask you, Are you glad to be living the life God has given you?

 

There was a young man who had become a paraplegic and then through a freak accident became a quadriplegic.  Someone asked him one day, “Doesn’t your physical condition color the way you look at life?  His response was, “Yes, it does, but I get to choose the color.”

 

What color are you looking at life?

 

Think about seeing someone you know who you haven’t seen in a while.  Sometimes you take notice, and say, “You’re looking great!”

 

What you are seeing is someone who loves what they do.  What you are calling ‘looking great’ is the glow of someone who is doing what they were born to do. 

 

What you were seeing was someone who is enthusiastic about who they are and what they do. 

 

You may not know it, but I LOVE what I do!  I love teaching. I love being with you every Sunday and interacting with you at Fellowship and during the week.

 

So, what do you love to do?  (Discussion.)

 

Harry Potter character we are looking at today is- Dobby, the House Elf. This explains Dobby

Read Chamber of Secrets, pages 12-13 and 176-177.

 

Dobby’s zeal, his enthusiasm for protecting Harry, almost gets Harry killed!  Because Dobby has not balanced this enthusiasm with wisdom and order.  Interestingly, the disciple that represents zeal had the same problem. 

 

His name was Simon the Zealot.  Sune Richards writes, “Simon the Zealot had been of the Zealot sect, a rebel party, heirs to the fighting spirit of the Maccabees.  They looked upon taxation as slavery, and though their purpose was a righteous one since they wanted no other rule but God, they had not learned the folly of using their zeal in the unrighteous way of violence. Simon, who represents a fiery zealot with a cause, did finally become gentle and loving through his associations with Jesus and the other disciples, and he made the ministry his life’s dedicated work.”

 

Once Dobby was released from his requirement to be a house elf, he could be who he really wished.  Being free to do or be something rather than freedom from something. Dobby was a free elf.

 

Dobby loved life, and he showed it in all he did.  He loved to work and collected his beloved socks with zeal.  He especially loved his socks when they were mismatched. He lived his free life with zeal, enthusiastic with what he loved and he showed it in every way he could.

 

If we could be free to be or do something rather than free from something, what would our life be like?

 

Harry Potter and Divine Order

 

Welcome back to our Summer Series, Harry Potter & the 12 Powers. And not just any 12 Powers, 12 SPIRITUAL Powers!  I know some of you, maybe most of you, know very little about the Harry Potter Series.  It’s really just a coming of age story, a hero’s journey.  We all have them. That journey that brought you to the person you are today.

 

And even if you haven’t gone out and watched the movies or, better yet, read the books, I do hope you are still enjoying the Series and are being reminded of the Spiritual Being you are and of your inherent Spiritual Powers.

 

We hear a lot about Divine Order, but what is it?

 

Divine Order is our ability to know what is important and to put our life in order.

 

Or: Divine Order is the ability to act from a centered place.

 

Romans 8:28 says it this way – “We know that all things work together for good, for those that love God, and are called according to his purpose.”

 

Notice that it doesn’t say “We know that all good things work together for good…”  It says all things, regardless of how they appear.

 

There was once a church, housed in a strip center much like ours.  Its name was God Almighty Tabernacle.  One Saturday afternoon, the minister of God Almighty Tabernacle was at the church putting his sermon together for the next day.  Saturday afternoon turned into Saturday evening, which quickly turned into Saturday night.  Before he knew it, it was 10:00. He decided he’d better call his wife to let her know that he was still working at church.

 

He dialed his home number, but got no answer, and thought that to be very odd — it was late, his wife certainly ought to be home — so he hung up and redialed.   This time, she answered immediately.  He asked if the phone had just rung and she said “no,” so he decided he must have dialed the wrong number and forgot about it.

 

The next day, after the service, he was having a quiet moment in his office when the phone rang.  No one else was around, so he answered it, “God Almighty Tabernacle, this is Pastor Dave.”

 

A very, very shaky voice on the other end of the phone said, “God Almighty Tabernacle?  Is this a church?”  The minister answered, “Why, yes, it is.  How may I serve you?”

 

With this the man started to laugh and to cry all at the same time and said:

 

“You already have!  Last night, you saved my life.  You see, I had reached the depths of despair.  I was in the darkest place I have ever been.  I had nowhere to turn and no one to turn to.  I was even contemplating suicide.  It was around 10:00 pm, when the only thing I could think to do was to I fall to my knees and pray to God for help, not thinking for a moment I was worthy of God’s help, but I was desperate.  While I was still on my knees, my phone rang.

 

“I got up to answer it, but when I saw on my caller ID: ‘God Almighty,’ I was too afraid to pick up the phone!”

 

Divine Order?

 

Just the two words – divine order can be a prayer in themselves. When we affirm divine order, we are affirming the establishment of that which is right and good. We are affirming the orderly outworking of every situation, the orderly unfoldment of that which is necessary to life and well-being.

 

Charles Fillmore described being in Divine Order as a perpetual Sabbath, as being constantly in a peaceful place, in the flow. He says, “Our minds are open to God every moment.”  He described it as releasing the outcome, not limiting God or ourselves.

 

Rev. Chris Jackson gave a seminar and one of the principles he shared were the characteristics of a Spiritual Pioneer.  Don’t you love that wording? Spiritual Pioneer – what does that suggest? What does that make you feel like?  He said that it was the job of a Spiritual Pioneer to Show Up, Be Honest and Trust.  Show Up, Be Honest and Trust.

 

That was how we could be in a perpetual Sabbath, how we could act from a centered place, how we could be in Divine Order, at all times.  To Show Up, Be Honest and Trust.

 

Show Up.  Be Present.  Be in the Moment.  We’ve talked before about examining our motivation What is the energy behind your intention? – are we being motivated by love or fear?  When you’re in the moment, there can be no fear.  If you’re not being influenced by past experiences or worrying about the future, you will be in a place of love, and where there is love, there can be no fear.  This was one of Jesus’ greatest gifts – to be always present, always focused on the now.  In the flow, his mind open to God, every moment.  That’s showing up.

 

Be Honest.  Look, see and tell the truth. This was another one of Jesus’ gifts to us, and possibly his most important example.  Jesus spoke the Truth, allowing Spirit to work through him, as him.  He had the quiet courage of his convictions.  He knew that he had to speak what had been given to him, regardless of the consequences.  Jesus was crucified for his beliefs.  Yet, his death and resurrection started a revolution in thinking that has continued for 2,000 years.

 

One of the things it’s important to tell the truth about is our gifts. Spirit has bestowed upon each one of us gifts particular to our mission, and it is vital that we recognize and cultivate those gifts, even when we’re not sure how we’ll need to use them.  Then SHARE your gifts with others.

 

The third – Trust.  I believe that this is the crux of being in Divine Order.  It’s about trusting that Spirit knows what it’s doing.  You know how to make God laugh?  Tell her you have a plan…

 

Real trust is about “Thy will be done”, whether I understand it in the moment or not.  Real trust is about not needing to know why.  We don’t need to know why, in order to grow through the experience.

 

Wanting the answer to WHY about so many things, I believe, held me back from opening to Truth, because it takes TRUST to not have to know why…to just follow your guidance. I had a hard time not wanting to know why. Still do sometimes!

 

So, that is being in perpetual Sabbath – to be in a place of perfect Trust, of perfect Love.  To be in a place of constant Communion with the Divine.

 

Divine Order is also about putting your life in order.  What’s most important to you? What are your priorities? What do you do with your time? Your money? Your talent?

 

Ask yourself this: If your house caught fire, what would you grab? Now ask yourself this: What would you not even remember had burned? Tell the truth.

 

So, how about if you release what no longer serves you, the things you wouldn’t miss after a fire… and literally put your house in order.  I’ve been working on this as I prepare to move. Never too early!

 

Divine Order is our ability to sort out what’s important and what’s not. What do we put first? Jesus taught us to seek first the Kingdom of God, and all else will be given to you.  And where is the Kingdom of God?  Within.  Go within first.  Put our Creator first. And everything else will fall into place.

 

The Harry Potter character for today is a hat, the Sorting Hat.  The Sorting Hat represents that we all have our place in God’s plan.  Ecclesiastes 3:1 – “For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven.”

 

Read pages 117 – 121 from The Sorcerer’s Stone.

 

The Sorting Hat considered the hearts and minds of the children and saw where they belonged.  That then aided them through their formative years into the adults they were meant to be…good and so called bad.

 

By the way, I was sorted into the Ravenclaw House…the house of wit & learning…wisdom. I was happy with it even though it wasn’t Gryffindor, Harry’s House

 

But Order is not fate, events beyond our control, as illustrated by this passage from The Chamber of Secrets:

 

Read page 333.

 

What a powerful teaching… it is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.

 

So, here’s what Divine Order is not.  It’s not an excuse for not doing what we said we would do.  There’s nothing divine about that, or orderly for that matter. “I don’t feel like going to that meeting, so it must be divine order for me not to go.” “The Universe is conspiring against me – I just don’t have the time to do my homework – it must be divine order that I don’t finish the program.”  “This is much harder than I thought it was going to be – it must be a sign from God that I shouldn’t do it.”   “I can speak Parsel-tongue – I must belong in Slytherin.”  That’s not Divine Order – that’s using the Structure of Knowing we talked about last week:

 

1. If you use a structure of knowing to rationalize doing something you said you wouldn’t do.

 

2. If you use a structure of knowing to rationalize not doing something you said you would do.

 

3. If you use a structure of knowing to make someone else wrong.

 

 

It is our choices that show who we truly are.  Not where we live, or the family we come from, or even our astrological sign…  It is our choices, and what we’ve learned from making those choices.  What do value? What do we put first in our lives?  Who do we put first?

 

Like the Sorting Hat, many people, events, and situations can guide us but it’s our choice how we use them.

 

Meditation

 

 

 

LET US affirm divine order in our activities today divine order in keeping appointments, divine order in traveling, divine order in driving a car, divine order in buying and selling.

 

Let us affirm divine order in our homes today divine order in family relations, divine order in the care and upkeep of the home, divine order in the responsibility and management of the affairs of the home.

 

Let us affirm divine order in our work today divine order in the handling of the tasks before us, divine order in planning and carrying out every project.

 

Let us affirm divine order in every contemplated change today divine order in the new house, in the new job, in the new way of life.

 

Let us affirm divine order in all that we do today.