ERIC BUTTERWORTH PAPERS (3014)
BOX 25 FOLDER 107
PROJECT 1991: COMMITMENT OF THE
HEART
DECEMBER 30.1990
THE 'HEART*
CHRISTMAS HAS f.fiMF ANh GONF. j AND MANY PERSONS MAY BEREAVING A LONG SIGH, /\ND SAYING, "It'S ALL OVER UNTIL NEXT YEAR!"/IF I CAN ASt AN IMPudent questtion./. 'WHAT IS IT THAT H*s rnMF minni^p?/ and IS OVER UNTIL NEXT YEAR?"/ IF WE CAN SO EASILY PICK IT UP AND LAY IT DOWN,/ THEN CERTAINLY THE WHOLE|THINg/hAS LITTLE RELGVENCE IN OUR LIVES.
IDAY, IN THE AFTER-GLOW/OF WHATEVER CHRITMAS MAY HAVE BEEN TO YOU,/
I WOULD LIKE US TO THINK A LlfFrLE {BIT/aROUT TJ|HF WAY OF/AKING INVNTORY./AND ABOUT THE IMPORTAN£EQ£_CQMMITMENT
TOMORROW NIGHT AT THE STROKE OF MIDNIGHT^A LOT OF WILDLY HISTERICAL
people/will be slapping one another on the
NEW YEAR!" /IT IS AN INTERESTING PHENOMENC EXPLANATION.
I
NEW MO ^MORTALS
ERE GINNING IS ONLY
AYS: "TIME HAS NO DIVISIONS TO
OR EVEJ
eLls/and FIRE OFF PISTOLS."
?/WE MAY EXPLAIN ABOUT THE EARTH'S In A TIME OF SPACE- CONSCIOUSNESS,/IT IS NOT TOO MUCH TO CONCEIVE OF BEING (j^m^PACf/AWAY FROM THE SOLAR SYSTEM,/WITH NO SUN TO ROTATE AROUNIb/ElEl^^	NM
WJ^^SJJWR?/OBVIOUSLY IT IS MORE	,
WE TALK ABOUT BEING A YEAR OLDER./WHAT DOES WHAT MEAN?/ IF ONE DIDN'T
KNOW HOW "OLD" HE WAS,/kOULD HE REMAIN YOUNG?/ WE SAY "TIME MARCHES
ON"/but does time really march?/WHAT ISTIME?/ IQuspensky), in his_ book, "A NEW MODEL OF THE UNIVERSE" / SAYS THAT "TTMF IS NOT A PASSING PHENOMENafeUT AN UNFOLDMENT OF THE INFINITE POSSIBILITIES/OF AN EXPANDING UNIVERSE.	'	t	'	*
Vd/ may say, "THERE IS NOT ENOUGHTIME!"/ BUT TIMe/s NOT A QUANITY,/
OF WHICH THERE CAN BE A DEFICINCY./ YOU LIVE IN4THE ALLNES^OF ETERNITY./ *THERE IS ALWAYS ENOUGH TI ME/TO DO THE THINGS T&HAT '
WANT OR NEED TO DO.
YOU
1IND TO COMPREHEND. ^IT IS _/A FIGURE THATlS BANTERED ABUT IN S FLIPPANTLY AS WE COUN^t)UR CHANGE IN DOLLA^AND CENTS./ A^ILLION^OLLARS/S TOO MUCHy/ BUTW^^NhoMPREHEND A DOLLAR/..AND A
T
WAS*HNGFTOI
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THE DRAMATIC EFfFECT IS...MANUFACTURERS CURTAIL EXPANSION PLANS, AND BUSINESyLARGE AND SMALL BEGIN TO SCALE BACK...AND CONSUMERS LIKE YOU AND ME STOP SPENDING. AND THE MORE fTHE GLOOMY FORECAST CONTINUES TO BE HEARD, TH|E MORE THE FLOW OF MONEY IS TIGHTENED.
WEj^RE TOLD THAT IF EVERY AMERICAN WOULD JUST PROCEED TO BUY THE THINGS THAT THEY WERE READY AND FINANCIALLY ABLE TO TO PURCHASE, THE TV's AND VCR'S , THE APPLIANCES AND CARS AND EVEN HOUSES...IF^HEY JUST CONCENTRATED ON BUYING, EVEN WITH LEGITIMATE FINAICING AND MORTGAGES,,, THAT THE RECESSION WOUKLD BE REVERSED WITHIN ONE MONTH, PLANTS WOULD BE SWAMPED WITH ORDERS, HIRING BACKWORKERS, AND LO! THE RECESSION i?HAT WE HAD TALKED OURSELVES INTO IS OVER.
AND IN THIS SAME WAY WE HAVE BEEN TALKING OURSELVES CINTO WAR...EVEN THOUGH HISTlORY<fPROVESTHAT NOTHING IS EVER REALLY SOLVED BY MILITARY COMBAT, AND THE WAR INVARIABLY BRINGS MANY MORE NEW PROBLEMS THAN WERE SOLVED BY CONFLICT.
SO...AS WE APPROACH THE DEADLINE,STANDING ON THE VERY BRINK OF THE	01
RELEASING OF THE MOST SOPHISTICATED KILLING MACHINES THE WORLD HAS EVER
known, wiTHjljFfiPotential to create an armageddon^like conflagration.. .to
PUT IT MILDLY.. .fSOM^EOPLE ARE GOING TO GET HURTj/wHAT LIES DOWN THIS ROAD^IS CERTAINLY NOT THE FOOTBALL GAMEHAT MUCH "RAH-RAH" "YEAH TEAM" DELUSION THAT MANY PEOPLE INDICATE THEY BELIEVE. PERHAPS WE, THE PEOPLE OF PLACET EARTH/UST HAVEN't GOTT^HE MESSAGE/TfHAT IS DAWNING IN THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE RACE./lT IS THAT THE DAyVT MILITARY SSS^^ITS IS PAST. THE OPTION OF WAR IS OfR CAN BE NO MORE/wHAT HAS BEEN GOING ON IN EUROPE IN THE PAST TWO YEARs/lS A CLEAR INDICATION THAT THE SOUL OF PLANET EARTH/lS SHAKING OUT THE PRIMITIVE POOLS OF DARKNESS,/AND IS READY TO LET fTHE LIGHt/sPRING FORTH AS THE MORNING,/t?HAT THE HEALTH OF THE PLANET MAY SPRING FORTH SPEEDILY. /
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WHILE SADDM HUSSEIN WEIGHS Hl's|0PTI0NS, WHICH AREjKiJ/anD WHILE THE ALLIED POLIfJICAL AND MILITARY ADISORS WEIGHJ, THEIR OPTIONS,^WHICH MANY PERSONS SIMPLIFY AS BEING TfWO IN NUMBER^ (1) TO DO WHAT WEfrlUST DOJ TO FORCE THE IRAQIS OUR OF KUWAIT./oR (2) To waffle out of doingf our
DUTY NOW WICH MAY RETURN TO HAUNT Us/lN THE YARS TO COM0, AS AN UNCHASTENED IRAQI UNDERTAKES NEl^ADVENTURES N CONQUEST.
WHAT CAN WE DO? WE_HAVE NO CHOICE*. LIKE MANY SIMILAR DEFEATIST CLICHES, THIS IS TOTALLY HORROR, WE DO HAVE A CHOICE...WE ALWAYS
HAVE CHOICE. THERE IS AN OPTION THAT HAS BEEN CHOSEN IN ALL THE GREAT MOMENTS OF WORLD HISTORY. THE OPTION TOlOVF.
IT SEEMS-TOO-NAIVE AND SIMPLISTIC. HOW CAN WE LOVE ONE WHO HAS UNEQUIVOCALI
ESTABLISHED HIMSELF AS OUR ENEMY./ WE MIGHT RECALL THE^HARAOH OF ANCIENT
EGYPT, WHAT SHOCKED AND ANGERED HIS PEOPLE, BY TAKING THE UNHlRD OF
COURSE OF ACTION IN A WAR, WHERE PRISONERS OF WAR WERE SUM^MARILY EXECUlTIED,
TO FORGIVE THEMAND SE]$?fFIEM FREE. HIS RESPONSE,/"WHAT,DO I NOT DESTROY
THEIj/wHEN I LOVE THEM?"/ IT IS AN IDEA THAT GOES RIGHT TO THE H^RT OF 0UR
PREOCCUPATION WITH WAR. AND IN BACK OF OUR WAR-LIKE FACADE ARE FEELINGS
OF VINDICTIVENESS, PREJUDICE, AND AN EYE^FOR-AN-EYE FORM OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Wjf CANNOT ELIMINATE THE BEASTS OF THE WORLD until the BEAST THAT RESIDES IN US IS CORALLED.
WE OFTEN CRY OUT, "BUT WE HAVE TRIED EVEYTHING TO FIND A PEACEFUL SOLUTION." BUT HAVE YOU TRIED LOVE? I AM NOT)TALKING ABOUT TRYING LOVE AS THE ANSWER TO THE PERSINGULF DILEMNA. WE WILL CONTINUE TO SURROUND ALL THE LEADERS INVOKLVEDjlllTH A CIRCLE Of^llGHT AND LOVE. AND AS WE PROJECT THIS RADIANCE OF LOVE CONTINUOUSLY, IT WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
NOIiz/rIGHTNOW I AM TALKING ABOUT THE CONFLICTS IN YOUR LIFE, IN WHICH YOU MAY HAVE CONCLUDED THAl/THERE IsjklTHING YOU CAN DO./ YOU HAVE NO CHOICE,
IT IS PRACTICAL TO CAREFULLY REVIEW ALL YOUR OPTIONS. SUM OF THEM MAY APPEAR GRIM, LEADING TO SCENARIOS THAT WOULD BE TRAGIC IN TERMS OF THE
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THE EDFFECT THEY WOULD HAVE ON YOUR LIFE-STYLE. /BUT I AM SAYING TO YOU THIS MORNING,/YOU ALWAYS HAVjf THE OPTIOn/o DEAL WITH THE PEOIPLE/OR SITUATIONS IN LOVE./AND DON'T WRITE IT OFF AS CLASSIC"P0LLYANNISm!'
AT THE CLOSE OF THE KOREAN WAR IN THE FALL OF 1953./. .22,000 PRISONERS OF WAR WRE BEING HELD IN STOCKATdES AT PANMUNJON, WHILE THE Neutral Nations Commission negotiated for thejbr EXCHANGE. THEY WREATHE CHINESE AND KOREAN SOLDIERS WHO HAD REFUSED TOBE REPATRIATED BACK TO THEIR COUNTRY AND ITS COMMUNISTS DOMINATION. THEY WEBfWROUGH UP, BITTER, SUSPICIOUS.
A CRISIS DEVELOPED WHEN A MAJOR WAS TAKEN HOSTAGE BY THE PRUISONERS BY WHICH THEY HOPED TO ET TDHE RELEASE OF ONE OF THEIR OWN PEOPLE, One Of the INDIAN GUARDS SPRANG IMMEDIATELY INTO ACTION. HE WALKED RIGHT ,
INTO THE COMPOUND ACCOMPANY B^NLY 12 OF HIS MIN, CARRYING NOTHING BUT THEIR WALKING STICKS. OUTSIDE THE INDIAliGUARDS MADE READY TI FIRE - WHICH PROVOKED EVEN ^eater hostility as the hordes of prisoners were ready TO STORM THE BARBED WIRE FENCE. THE SMALL DETACHMENT OF GUARD WOULD BE UNABLE TO PREVENT A GIANT BREAK-OUT.
GENERAL THORAT HAD ONLY FEW OPTIONS. BUT HE CHOSEIf# I NEST OPTION THAT IS EVER AVAILABLE. "LOVE." GOElTHE SAID, If we treat people as they are,we make themfwor^t. If we treat people asjif they were what they should be, we make themwhat they can be." AHIS IS A DYNAMIC PRINCIPLE, EFFECTIVE FOR USE IN BOTH WAR AND PEACE. WHEN WE B?EGIN TO TREAT PEOPLE, INDIVIDUALL AND INGROUPS, AS SPIRIUAL BEINGS, SALUTING TH DIVINITY WITHIN THEM,/THEN WE WILL GIVEf\ND RECEIVE AND DO BUSINESS ON THE LEVEL OF LOVE AND MUTUAL TRUST. WE WILL BEGIN TO EXPECT MORE OF OURSELVES AND OTHERS. AND IN THIS WAY WE WILL INFLUENCE PEOPLE TO COMEOUT OF THE DARK DUNGEONS OF MIND WITH ITS NEGATIVE AND DESTRUCTIVE THINKING...AND to express ^ more of the divine potentifl within them.]BO jACK TO GENERAL &THORAT DEFENSELE IN THE STOCKADE OF THOUSANDS OF ANGRY PRIONERSl ~ HE TURNED TO THE NEAREST PRISONER AND SAID, "WHAT SORT OF CHINESE ARE YOU? WHERE IS YU(®fo HOSPITALITY lOU HAVE OFFERED MY MEN NEITHER TEA NOR CIGARETTES?"
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THERE WAS A PAINFUL MOMENT OF HESITATION...THENTHE CHINESE SLOWLY DROPPED THEIR MAKESHIFT WEAPONS - AND ONE AFTER ANOTHER BROUGHT OUT CIGARETTES AND OFFERED THEM TEA. THE RIOT WAS OVER - AND SOON AFTER A WORKABLE ARRANGE WAS MADE FOR THEIR RELEASE.
A (P -OF-WAR TOOItlfHE FINEST OPTION. THUS iHE BECAME A PEACE-MAKER.,
THE OPTION OF LOVE WAS THE ANSWER.
TAGORE:
"HE WHO COMES TO DO GOOD KNOCKS AT THE GATE.
HE WHO LOVES FINDS THE DOOR OPEN"
JESUS SAID, "LOVE YOUR ENEMIES AND PRAY FOR-fftlSE WHO DESPITEFULLY USE YOU, THAT YOU MAY BE SONS OF THE Father." LOVE YOUR ENEMIES, NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE DESERVING OF YOUR LOVE, BU^ECAUSE YOU ARE. WHEN YOU REACT TO WI^TH RESISTANCE, YOU ARE NOT ACTING THE PART OF YOUR DIVINITY...AND THE POWER THAT GOES WITH YOUR DIVINITY IS {ONLY YOURS WHEN YOU ACT THE PART,
WHAT JESUS IS SAYING, EVER SO SUBTLY, IS: *THE ONLY ENEMY Y4)U HAVE IS YOUR OWN ENMITY/ HE SAYS, "AGREE WITHYUR ADVEflSllY QUICKLY." YOUF^DVERSARY IS YOUR ADVERSE REACTION TO SOMEON^t)R SOME CONDITION. TO "AGREE" MEANS TO "SETTLE WITH". YOU CANNOT AFFORD TO HOLD THOUGHTS OF LESS THU# LOVE,
FOR 8'lflS A SURE AND	CERTAIN WAY TO PHYSICAL AND FINANCIAL ILLNESS.
I
"ON THE ]PRINK OF WAR" WE ARE TOLD. A WOMAN WAS TELLING OF HER EXPERIENCE ON A BUS RIDE UP THE PRECIPITOUS CLIFFS ON THE ISLE OF CAPRI IN NAPLES BAY. SHE SAID, "WHY...I WAS WIJHIN AN INCH OF MY LIFE!" BUT AN UNSYMPATHETIC MAN FROM CHICAGO SAID, "AND I AM WITHIN AN INCH OF MY LIFE EVERY TIME I TRY TO CROSS THE LOOP’'
ACTUALLY WE ARE ALWAYS WITHIN AN INCH OF LIFE. AND IF SO...WE ARE ON THE VERY BRINK OF WHOLENESS. WHY NOT TAKE|THE ADDED INCH AND BE WHOLE.
IF YOU ARE ON THE BRINK OF WAR,/YOU ARE ALSO ON THE BRINK OF PEACE./ WE ALWAYS HAVE A CHOICE*,
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OUR FALSE ASSUMPTION IS THAT LIFE IS EVER'MOVING TOWARD TROUBLE, SICKNESS,
OLD AGE, AND DEATH. ^THE TRUTH IS THAT THE UNIVERSAL FLOW WITHIN YOU
WOULD LEAD YOU AWAY FROM TROUBLE...AND THE PHYSICAL BODY IS RTASFD ON THF
SIDE OF HEALTH AND RENEWAL. THIS IS WHAT I LIKE TO CALL "THEjuPWARD PULL
OF THE DIVINE ON US" EVER SEEKING TO LIFT US UP TO THE HEIGHTS. CATCH
THE IDEA OF LIVING ON THE VERGE, AND YOU WILL OPEN UP A NEW DIMENSION IN
YOUR QUES#OR REALITY AND TRUTH. THE HEALTH YOU DESIRE IS ALREADY WITHIN
YOU STRUGGLING TO l|#FOLD. ONE WHOLISTIC DOCTOR CALLS :ǤafetG: 1 STRUGGLING HEALTH." THE TALENT YOU WISH YOU HAD,you already have in embryo form,
fFie good you desire is already yours in potential. LIKE THE ISRAELITES
OF OLD ^WANDERING IN THE SAME MIDDLE-EASTERN^ES^T FOR FORTY YEARS, YOU
ARE EVER ON THE VERGE OF YOUR "promised land*. The Israelites came t4
realize that if they were ever to get out of their wilderness, THEY MUST
FIRST '“'ENTER IN AND POSSESS THE LAND."
' " ■■■ ■ ■ — ■■ r .................................................. ■"* r "--
THERE IS A STORY I AM GOING TO TELL YOU NOW, THAT I HAVE TOLD BEFORE...
BUT IT WAS AN EXMtPE^ENCE SO POIGNANT THAT IT NEEDS TO BE RETOLfi AT THIS PRECISE TIME IN HIISTORY,
IT WAS 1969 — IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE CAMBODIAN INCURSION FROM VIET NAM AN TH^CENT STATE SHOOTINGS, THBflfWAS A PERIOD OF GREAT UNREST ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY. THE UNITY CENTER, at that time on 51st STRE WAS ACTUALLY ON TCAMPUS OF THE MANHATTAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE. IT WAS housed in OFFICE BUILDINGS IN THE AREA,..WITHfrHE MAIN BUICD IN G DIRECT^ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE CENTER. A SERIOUS SIWUATIION DEVELOPED BETWEEN protesting stlidents, THE FACULTY, AND TfHE COLLEGE ADMINISTRATION.. ADD TO THIS SOME HARD-HAT CONSTRUCTION WORKERS IN THE AREA, AND THE POLICE. IT WAS AN EXPLOSIVE SITUATION ON THEjkTREET THAT YOl^OULD FEEL.
LSAT IN MY OFFFICE PRAYING FOR GUIDANCE. WE WERE PART OF THE COMMUNITY. THERE MUST BE SOMETHING THAT I COULD DO. I DIDN"T WANT TO TRY TO DECIDE WHO WAS RIGHyA^ND WHO W$S WRONG...BUT AS I WEIGHED ♦THE OPTIIONS,-4aiWfifiiNfc&
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I HAD A SUDDEN STRONG AWARENESS OF A TH IRD OPTION, THE CHOICE TO LOVE, WITHOUT BEING TORN WITH DIVISIVENESS, TAKING A STAND FOR UNITY. THIS WAS MY ANSWER. I SIMPLY PRAYED, "HEjf AM I, FATHER, USE ME."
THE ANSWER CAM^E ALMOST INSTANTLY. FOR THERE WAS A CALL FROM THE FRONT DESK...THE STUDENT LEADER WANTED *TO TALK TO ME. HE EXPLAINED THE DILEMNA, THAT STUDENTS WERE BEING PUSHED TO TH^ VERY BRINK OF VIOLENCE, SO THE (
STUDENT LEADER ASKED IF THEY COULD Ufif OUR LECTURE HALL, TO GET THE STUDENTS OFF THE STREET AND TO ALLOW TIHEM TO TALK AND PLAN WHAT TO DO.
I AGREED IF THE STUDENTS WOULD POLICE THEMSELVES AND BE RESPECTFUL OF THE DIGNITY OF THE CENER. THEY AGREED AND HUNDREDS OF STUDENTS FILED IN.
THEN I HAD A CALL FROM THE POLICE PRECINCT CHIEF — COULD THEY USE SOME OF OUR SPACE AS A BARRACKS TO HOUSE //SQUADRON OF POLICE, SO THAT THEY COULD HAVE STORNG PRESENCE, BUT KEEP A LOW PROFILE/ I GAVE^HEM T#HE FILLMORE ROOM WHICH HAD A SIDE ENTRANCE TO THE CENTER.
STILL ANOTHER FACTION, THE FACULTY OF THE COLLEGE, AT ODDS WITH THE STUDENTS AND ALSO WITH THE ADMINISTRAT101N.. THEY HAD HEARD THAT THE STUDEN3T WERE USFOUR HALL AS AN ASSEMBLY ROOM. COULD JTHEy/\LSO ASSEMBLE THE TEACHERS FOR SOME TALKS? I worked out a divided iftime for the student and teacher use. So for several days these factions came and went and we had sometimes even radical speakers ranting frdm ourplatform. $F CflURIFWE CANCELLED ALL OUR CALENDAR OF ACTIVITIES FOR THE WEEK.
BUT BEHIND THE SECENES WHAT W& REALLY GOING ON WAS OUR PRAYER EFFORT.
WHILE WE REMAINED POSITIVE ONLOOKERS, MAKING NO JUDGMENTS OF »THE FACTIONS INVOLVED...WE SURROUNDED ALL THESE PEOPLE WITH LIGHTAND LOVE. IT WAS A TRANSCENDENT AWARENESS...THAT WE DIDN*T HAVE TO TAKE SIDES. WE COULD SIMPLY STAND BACK AND BLESS THEM ALL. BUT WE WERE INVOLVED. RENDERING AN IMPORTANT COMMUNITY SERVICE!. (Commissioner, citatiomn :helpng defuse
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Y0U MAY HAVE EXPERIENCE IN YOUR OFFICE, AMONG MEMBERSjlF YOUR FAMILY,
OR IN SOME INVOVLEMENT WITH A COMMUNITY GROUP. SOMETIMES WE MAY BE CONFUSED AS TO WHERE WE SHOULD STAND, FEFELING THE TOlfuOUS PULL OF CONFLICTING LOYALTIES. AND MY DISCOVERY, THAT HAS MEANT SO MUCH TO ME, IS THAT ^ DON'T HAVE TO GET TRAPPED IN DIVISIVENESS. YOU CAN BE A PEACEMAKER...YOU CAN TAKE A STAND FOR UNITY. WHILE PEOPLE MAY BE SAYING,"WHAT SIDE ARE YOU ON? WHO ARE YOU FOR? AND WHO AGAINST?" THE ONE THING TO BE AGAINST IS TfHE TENDENCY TO REACT IN ANGER AND HOSTILITY, THE ONE THIING TO BE FOR IS THE WAY OF LOVE.
YOU CAN BE A CENTER OF LOVE AND LIGHT, YOU CAN BE A POSITIVE ONLOOKER.
A REFEREE 0R NEGOTIATOR PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN MANY DISPUTES. IT IS NOT A PASSIVE OR WEAK-WILLED FUNCTION. HE OR SHEf HAS AN IMPORTANT FUNCTION, EVEN THOUGH THEY TAKE NO POSITION FOR OR AGAINST. ANYONE CAN BECOME AN ABETTER OF GOOD FEELINGS. A CENTER OF IOVF.
WHATEVER IT IS THAT YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT: a domestic dispute between your son and daughter-IN -LAW, A STRONG DISAGREEMENT WITHIN A COMMUNITY
GROUP-A SEEMINGL^JNJUST LAY-OFF IN YOU«R WORKPLACE, WHERE YOUR MIDDLE_MANAGEMI
/puts YOU IN A POSITION OFjfllVIDED LOYALTY TO THE WORKERS AND THE
MANAGEMENT.
IF YOU REALLY WANT TO BE HtfELPFUL,DON'T RUSH PELL MELL INTO MAKING A JUDGMENT AND THEN PLUNGING INTO DEFENSE Of/ONE SIDEIN THIS WAY YOU FORFEIT TfHE OBJECTIVITY IN WHICH YOU CAN BE AN ARBITER OF PEACE,	YOU WANT TO
BE AN ONLOOKER, A PEACEMAKER. IN YOUR QUET TIME, DRAW A CIRCLE OF LIGHT AROUND THE WHOLE SCENE AND ALL WHO MAY BE INVOLVED. INCLUDING YOURSELF.
HERE YOU CAN OVERWHELM THEM WITH A LOVE THAT CAN DISSLIVE DIFERENCES,
AND OPEN TH WAY TO POSITIVE COMMUNICATION.
AND DON'T PRESUME TO KNOW THE SOLUTION. BE WILLING TO LET THE DIVINE PROCESS WORK OUT. DON'T BE SATISFIED WITH A POINT OF VIFW. INSTEAD ENVISION ALL PERSONS DISCOVERING A POINT OF CONTACT.
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THERE IS A STRANGE PARADOX IN MUCH HUMAN BEHAVIOR. WHEN YOU WALK INT0 A PLACE THAT IS DARK, YOU IMMEDIATELY SEEK OUT A LIGHT SWITCH AND TURN IT ON.Vona! LET THERE BE LIGHT? BUT IF YOU WALK INTO PLACE WHERE THERE IS GREAT HOSTILITY, AND ANGER, AND SOME OF IT DIRECElfrOWARD YOU, THE TENDENCY IS TO TURN OFF YOUR FCOW OF LOVE AND LIGHT, AND THEN TO LEAVE IMMEDIATELY.
OF COURSE, YOU SAY, WHY SHOULD { I REMAIN AND BE EXPOSED TO THIS KIND OF ABUSE, AND TO A	OF YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS.
A GOOD STUDENT OF TRUTH WILL IMMEDIATELY WEIGH HIS OPTIONS. THERE SEEMS TO BE ONLY TWO: (1) REMAIN AND QUICKLY	BECOME SWALLOWED UP IN THE
DARKNESS AND NEGATIVIjy OF THE PEOPLE. OR (2), LEAVE PROMPTLY, LEAVING pfHIND YOU THE DARKNESS OF THE SCENE...BUT EXPERIENCING A FEELING OF HAVING ABANDONED YOUR RESPONSIBILITY AS A LIGHT-BRINGER. You MAY SAY, "BUT I DON"T WANT TO GET INTO THEIR NEGATIVE STtREAM...WHAT DOES ITf HAVE Tfl DD WITH ME?" BUT YOU WERE THERE, THUS YOU MUST HAVE HAD SOME INVOLVE/OT IN CONSCIOUSNESS. THE VERY LEAST YOU COULD DO IS TO "TfURN ON THE LIGHT"
— TO DRDAW A CIRCLE OF LIGHT AROUND THEM AND MAKE YOUR CONTRIBUTION TO PEACE AND LOVE. IT IS THE FINER OPTION THA«Y/s ALWAYS AVAILABLE.
"If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them."
"COMMIT" has a conniotation to "send forth"
Mai. 3:1 "Behold. I send my messenger to prepare the way before me.,."
"Acts 17: 27 "Seek God that y might feel after him and find him.. Tet he is not far from each one of us, for in him we live and move and have our being."
A resolution should be more than a vague yearning,,,It
should be s sincere commitment. Laying it on tdhe line...sending forth i
messengers.
Commitment man unconditional Love...Notd I liove...but, except for... Commitment of the heart is totdal
Commitment - continuity of action...problem of unfinished business. Quitting jobs before completion,procrastination.
Hezekian, "In every work that he began, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.
A commitment to Truth that transcends seeming reverses, The test of your commitment is, how do you act when you have your lowest experience
Walt Whitman: "Oh, while I live, to be the ruler of life, not a slave, to meet life as a powerful conqueror, and nothing exterior shall ever take command of me."
I am the master:
I control my body, it does not control me.
I run my business, it does not run me.
I enjoy my possessions, but I am not possed by them.
COMMITMENT TO DISCIPLINED GIVING WAY...COMMITMN TO REGULAR, SYSTEMATIC GIVING TO THAT PLACE WHERE I receive my spiritual help
MEET CHANGING EXPERIENCES, REVERSES, AND EVEN LOSSES WITH POISE AND PATIENCE AND NON RESISTANCE...MAINTAINING THROUGHOUT A KEEN SENSE OF HUMOR
"In patience possess ye your souls." Be sure to possess your own souk si so that you will not be possesed by a host of opetty shortcomings and aggravadtiions in the world aound uou.
And having achieved poise and opatience, you become impervious to the challnge of change,,,and you move into the vibration of tranquillity, equanimity, and impetirbabiklity.
shall
"When I meet my next Waterloo, I wxii be a Wellington, not Napoleon. I will not be a victim of circumstances, but I will be their master."
I.	,	after	a	brief look backwards
to see where I am in terms of the consciousness tdhat was outformed in all that tramspired for me in 1990, do hereby make a commitment of theheart to walk the new and living way of Truth in 1991.
' A year is not comosed if 365 days. It is one day well-lived 365 times. I resolve to live one day at a time, as if dthat day wre theonly day of mly life.
The word "commit" has a connotation toward "send forth.",
Malachi 3:1 "Behold, I send my messengers to prepare a way before me." My messengers are positive thoughts dthat I project as "missiles of power" in the faith that theyt will prepare my way to success, in halth, with good friends, haiaKXxihBMgtox 1 may have known dhe Truth, saying all the right words, speaking all the right affirmations and treatments, But this year i want to add the mystical ingredient of feeling, and this to breathe life into all my images of desired good, they they may become living spirit..
Paul said, "Seek God that you migh feel after him and find him.
Yet he is not far from each one of ius, for in him we live and move and have our being." God may have been an accurate definition, butd as I feel after him he becomes a living presence.
With Walt Whitman I sing: "Oh, while I live, to be the ruler of life, not a slave, to meet life as a powerful conqueror, and notdhing exterior shall evertake command of me." I meeet all experiences, revess, even losses with poise and patience, and non-resistance, maintaining throughout a keen sense of humor.
and, having achieved poise and power, I become impervious to the challenge of change...moving into the vibration of tranquillity, equanimityand imperturbability.
With faith and in deep feeling I send forth as messengers power dthese positive declarations:
I am the master:
I control my body, it does not control me.
I run my business, it does not run me.
I enjoy my possessioins, but I am npt Possessed by them.
I resolve to give top priority to my spiritual growth in my da91u meditations, arising early to listen to the Unity radio broadest, attending the "worth-ship service at Averu Fisher Sunday whenever I can.. And,..finally getting serious about a personal plan of personal systematic giving to the person or organizations where my most importantd help comes from..kmowing with feeling that as I give way to the divine flow of substance, my life is enriched abundantly. It is the "comeback" of thelaw that never fails.