I have just started The Artist’s Way. This will be my third attempt at getting through this twelve week program. I am getting off to a better start than the other two times, but probably still could stand to crank it up a notch. This time I’ve partnered with my friend Kim and hopefully we’ll keep each other on track. This was the first week and one of the exercises was to choose 5 fantasy careers and then try to do them. One of the careers I chose was Minister (Unity or new thought of course). I decided I’d write a message that I’d present to a congregation if I was a minister. (I’d wanted to video myself sharing this as a “talk” but ran out of time.)

What is Truth?

Truth is a word that is thrown around by nearly everyone espousing an idea. It is most commonly heard in terms of religion. Everyone who believes in a religion will tell you it is truth. They will fight battles intellectually, emotionally, or physically to stand up for their truth. They will kill literally or figuratively to defend it. And when you see people fighting and killing for truth, that is one sure way to know that it is NOT real truth.

I could almost hear the angry outbursts echoing through my computer as I typed that. “Of course what I believe in is the TRUTH and I’ll die before you can convince me otherwise.”

Here’s the rub, anything you are willing to die for, kill for, fight for or force upon other people is NOT truth. TRUTH IS ALWAYS, ALWAYS LIFE-AFFIRMING.

Truth, REAL Truth, makes you stronger, wiser, more peaceful, more loved, freer, and more powerful! TRUTH is power.

I am currently reading a book called The Eye of The I. It is by Dr. David Hawkins and is the follow up book to Power Vs. Force. Dr. Hawkins came to the conclusion that everything can be measured as truth or falsity by using something called muscle testing. He found that anything negative or false caused people’s muscles to go weak and anything life-affirming and true caused the muscles to strengthen. Therefore you can do your own at-home test to discover the nature of almost anything. If you are not sure who to vote for in the upcoming elections you can do the muscle test while holding a picture of the candidate and see if your muscles go weak or stay strong.

The thing is I believe that you don’t even need to do the testing to know if something is true or false. I believe that if you make a conscious effort to be IN your body and get to know how your body responds to everything it comes in contact with you will find that you can feel the power or loss of power.

The last time I was at a church other than my own Unity church, I can remember the feeling of powerlessness that arose within me. The minister talked about how the absolute only way to Heaven is salvation through Jesus. If you do not invite Jesus into your heart and ask him for forgiveness you will burn in Hell for eternity. I felt the whole range of negative emotions as a reaction. I felt rage, fear, and sadness. Immediately the power was sucked out of me. Because I have for a long time known that God is not vengeful or angry, I was able to see it for what it was and remind myself that this is not the true nature of any Omnipotent God. If I had not been conscious I may have been moved by all of that fear and approached the alter only as a means to “save myself” from some false eternal damnation. The only thing I would have given my power to in that moment would be that preacher.

This week I was at a class with my minister at Unity and she made a bold and brave statement. She said I do not believe Jesus died on the cross for our sins. Jesus died on the cross because he was sharing truths that threatened the institutions in power and they killed him because of it. Hearing that made my whole body scream YES. I felt so wonderfully empowered. That statement solidified my belief that we are all capable of being like Jesus. We are not worthless and hopeless, needing to be saved. We are God’s children. We are whole and holy. Our very essence is good and if we KNOW this, we can do no “bad.”

If you are living a life of Power and Truth, you have no desire to recruit others to your cause. You know that God and good flow through you and those that are awakened to it will find you. You understand that each person is exactly where they need to be and you allow them to simply be. If you are fully awakened to truth, fear of loss in any way disappears. You understand that the falsities that make up the reality around you are just the ego forcing itself on mankind.

So if you want to know what truth feels like, the answer is power. It involves the feelings of love and peace. When presented with truth you will feel stronger and more whole. Anything that makes you feel anger, pride, sadness, and fear is not truth. All of those feelings take away your power, make you less.

The next time you read something or hear something, take a moment to notice how you feel. The answer is not without, but within!

In closing here is a prayer to take with you (or not). Dear God, thank you for awakening me to the knowledge that all that comes directly from you is life-affirming and loving. I am willing to listen to my body and emotions so that I may live your truth and allow your love and light to infiltrate even the most difficult experiences in life. Thank you God, thank you God, thank you God.

Reverend Leslee signing off!