GREAT Morning Beloved!

Happy Father’s Day!

Honoring the Sacred Masculine.

Happy Father’s Day to all fathers, stepfathers and those who wish they could be fathers. And to those who have stepped up to be a father figure when needed.
We all are aware of the importance of father’s in the lives of children as they grow. It is my hope that you all have had a positive father figure in your lives, and I pray that we all continue to be positive examples for the youth who share time with us.
I know some of us have issues with our Fathers and I pray that we have forgiven ourselves and them, so we all are able to move forward. If we have not reached that level of forgiveness and understanding yet, let us affirm that we are moving forward and that it will come.

“Today on this Father’s Day, we will honor the Sacred Masculine by calling forth twelve ‘holy’ men of the Bible, each with a particular quality that helped them to effectively serve God.”
This presentation was developed by another LUT that I have been working with over these last few months as we design the fall conference for the eastern region. She was kind to share it and I thought it was a great way to honor the intent of Father’s Day, a step away from traditional celebrations.
So, our characters, and I say that with no malice intended (!), will come forth and state who they are representing and read their Sacred Masculine statement.
Let’s see what they have to say:

ADAM:

“I am ADAM and I am the first man of the human race. I represent the first movement of mind in its contact with life and substance. In my original creation I was in spiritual illumination and Spirit breathed into me continually the necessary inspiration and knowledge to give me superior understanding. However, when I began eating or appropriating ideas of two powers – God and not God, or good and evil, the result was that I doubted and fell away from the spiritual life and all it involves. I represent the soul’s struggle to adhere to wisdom faithfully and create harmonious consciousness and the expression of the divine idea out of that wisdom.

“I am ADAM. I light the candle of WISDOM.”

NOAH:

“I am NOAH, the son of Lamech. My journey represents when the faculties of mind have been used in wrong relation to Truth, certain destructive processes set in and the ‘earth’ or man-made realm of thought, is in a state of corruption. Through my obedience to the guidance of God’s direction I built the ark and took into it all the ideas inherent in true Being (two by two). My family and the family of man rested in the ark as the flood or baptism of Spirit, equalized and brought forth fertile ground for spiritual realities. Through my willingness to accept God’s will, I became a vessel for the expression of the cleansing of the earth and the planting of the seeds for a new state of consciousness.

“I obeyed what God directed me to do and was willing to accept God’s will even when all those about me doubted.”

“I NOAH, light the candle of WILLINGNESS.”

ABRAHAM :

“I am ABRAHAM, but I was originally called Abram. When I was told by Jehovah that I was henceforth to be Abraham, I was also told I was to be the father of a multitude. I understood this to mean that my life journey would be one of bringing the expression of faith into the multitude of manifested thoughts and acts. Inspired by the Lord, I went forth into another country, where my progeny, or manifestations, increased tremendously. You do not have to change your residence in order to enter into a new country, however, my faith in the unseen God and in divine guidance may have seemed like blind faith to others. My faith in the unseen and in divine guidance became part of my consciousness and my dependence on that truth worked out beautifully in my life and in the lives of those who are true to it.

“I am ABRAHAM. I light the candle of FAITH.”

ELIJAH, A Great Prophet of Israel:

“I am Elijah, A Great Prophet of Israel. I championed the cause of God with such zeal that at one point I became violent and destructive. This was the Jezebel side of my character. But I was willing to be instructed and I learned from my experiences that I must receive the kingdom of God as a little child. I started out with the roar of the whirlwind and ended with the whisper of the ‘still small voice.’ My journey is one that signifies the changes of consciousness in the individual from unfettered unbalanced power to one of peaceful and harmonious use of power.

“I am Elijah. I light the candle of POWER.”

JOB:

“I am JOB. My life on the level of appearances seemed to be about persecution, affliction and adversity. My journey represents transition from a personal self-righteousness and fear of outer circumstances into the real Christ righteousness and a focus on innermost consciousness. In my self-righteousness my fear of evil came upon me and I obsessed with the details of outer appearances. God sent three friends to both comfort me and challenge my deeply held self-justifications. When I finally truly listened to the Holy Spirit, turned to God and experienced an awakened state of forgiveness, my captivity to outer circumstances was put away and Jehovah gave me twice as much as I had before.

“The message of my life is that the cleansing power of forgiveness creates true peace, joy and abundance.”

“I am JOB. I light the candle of FORGIVENESS.”

DAVID, the beloved, son of Jesse the Bethlehemite:

“I am David, the beloved youngest son of Jesse the Bethlehemite. I was the anointed king of Israel and succeeded Saul as king. My journey was one of the withdrawing of the head or will represented by King Saul and the transference to the heart, or love. I was spiritually anointed long before I assumed the reins of government. When Saul was still king and sick with melancholia and insanity, my skill with poetry and the harp soothed him so effectively that I was called for often. This proved to me the power of love to harmonize the discords of the willful consciousness. God is love and his kingdom is within and I served as King with the heart as the center through which I ruled.”

“I, DAVID light the candle of LOVE.”

JOHN THE BAPTIST:

“I am John the Baptist also called the forerunner of Jesus Christ. When my parents were old, an angel foretold that my mother Elizabeth would bear a child and I was born six months before Jesus. I was raised to serve God and was told from an early age that I was to be a harbinger for Jesus, to make the way ready for him. Jesus was my cousin and we often played together as children. My journey was one of the release or letting go of the initial overzealous enthusiasm for transformation in service to the greater or higher good of the one who comes after.

“I, JOHN THE BAPTIST, light the candle of SERVICE.”

ANDREW:
“I am Andrew, a beloved disciple of Jesus Christ and brother of Simon Peter who represented faith. Although in my life journey I experienced some very adverse experiences, through my strength and the support of my brother Peter’s faith, I found the inexhaustible Source of all in service to Jesus and exclaimed “We have found the Messiah.” When my strength found faith and realized they are brothers consciously in the mind and heart, a bond of unity was established that carries each one along no matter the outer circumstances. This brotherly love was a demonstration of the strength we are capable of when we come together.

“I, Andrew, beloved disciple, light the candle of STRENGTH.”

BARTHLOMEW:

I am Barthlomew, son of Tolmai and a disciple of Jesus Christ. I was originally called Nathaniel. When Jesus saw me under a fig tree, he discerned that my faculty of imagination was present before either I or others perceived it. He told me I would furthermore be called Barthlomew and that my imagination ability is a vision beyond appearances and would give shape and form to unformed mental energy. In my service to the ministry to Jesus, I learned that there are no limitations or boundaries in life except those of our own imagination.

“I, Bartholomew, beloved disciple, light the candle of IMAGINATION.”

 
JUDAS:

“I am JUDAS Iscariot, disciple of Jesus. Many reviled me but Jesus loved and trusted me to assist in the fulfillment of the prophecy of his life. He called me the custodian of life and said I was very loyal and courageous to take on such a difficult task. Although I had caught the higher vision of life, I was often confused and didn’t understand that Jesus would overcome death but not in the traditional physical sense. I did everything I could to help Jesus in his ministry and although I was loyal, my misguided lack of understanding of the bigger picture was my own undoing.”

“I, JUDAS, light the candle of LOYALTY.”

JESUS of Nazareth:

“I am Jesus of Nazareth, son of Mary and according to many, the Savior. Through my early studies I came to understand my journey was one of the representation of God’s idea of man in expression. In order to move into the absolute of this idea it was necessary for me put away the old way of lack and limitation and accept the truth of my being. Then through understanding, I began diligently to live this Truth in thought, word and deed. It was necessary to demonstrate that this attainment is possible to all, for it was not my mission to impress my Divinity upon others, but to remind them of their own indwelling divine potential. So my life is about passing through all the trials, temptations and mental variations each of us experience but not falling under the dominion of evil thoughts. It was necessary that my physical body should die during the crucifixion so I might make the demonstration that it was the consciousness of a perishable body that died. The overcoming of the resurrection was not so much a physical experience but a demonstration of the ability to transcend the literal physical experience and lift one’s consciousness to this ideal of God’s idea of man in perfect expression. This demonstration that ‘the Father and I are one,’ was the core of my ministry.

“I, Jesus, light the candle of ONENESS.”
SAUL/PAUL:

“I am Paul, formerly called Saul, originally a Jewish man. In my early life history I was directed solely by the human will. I was intellectually educated in the ways of my forefathers and inherited my religious bias against Christians. As a result, I had no spiritual understanding of the teachings of Jesus and persecuted Christians. My conversion was by means of a great light of spiritual understanding which took my physical sight for a time but provided me with an inner vision. After my discovery that there is a wisdom greater than the personal will, my name is changed to Paul which represents the conversion from the violent and oppressive persecutor to the devout and obedient champion of the Christ Consciousness, the spiritual I AM. Many gave different symbolisms and shades of meaning to my life, but I saw my ministry as a testament to the important work of overcoming in the individual.

“I, Paul, light the candle of OVERCOMING.”

Adam – Leroy; Noah – Cate; Abraham – Matt; Elijah – Greg; Job – Bronwen:
David – Andrea; John the Baptist – Jim W; Andrew – Esther; Bartholomew –
Judas – Dan; Jesus – Celeste; Paul – Jeanne

I hope you noticed that what many would call the traditional characteristics of masculinity were not part of those we just heard.
Standards of masculinity vary across different cultures and historical periods, I’d like to think that our society is becoming more accepting of variations of those standards. In fact, maybe even having less emphasis on standards period. We still have some work to do…
And we know both males and females can exhibit masculine traits and behavior just as both can exhibit feminine traits. It’s what makes them who they are, no matter the make of their character.
So, today we called forth the wisdom of Adam, the willingness of Noah, the faith of Abraham, the balanced power of Elijah, the forgiveness of Job, the love of David , the service of John the Baptist, the strength of Andrew, the imagination of Bartholomew, the loyalty of Judas, the Oneness of Jesus and the overcoming of Paul.

Each one of us has within us the qualities that are represented here this morning in this ceremony of Honoring the Sacred Masculine. Some are reminiscent of our 12 Powers, while others are a large part of the Unity philosophy.
We need only to call them forth, get in touch with them and claim them as our own. Did you feel any of the traits pulling towards you? Did any seem to fit? Did you react to any?
Lets ALL work on our spiritual powers, all of our characteristics that take us closer to the truth of who we are.