Category: Uncategorized

What to do when the rain falls!

“In each life a little rain must fall”.  My Mother, a lady of the “Old South,” had a hundred aphorisms full of wisdom to guide her child through the pitfalls of life.

When I came home crying after being bullied for the third day in a row, she would trot out “Son, in each life a little rain must fall”.  She would then cap that with “if you don’t care, then they don’t matter”.  She was trying to teach me not to give my power away to other people.

She was right, but my father had a more satisfying solution:  “Son, bullies are always cowards:  They do not want to be hurt and will run crying like a baby. Simply punch them right in the nose, it bleeds profusely they will never bother you again.  Not politically correct today but he was entirely right.  Once I bloodied a nose or two I was left alone, indeed they wanted to be friends!

Well, you and I cannot go around punching people in the nose in 2018, so how do we manage the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune in the 21st Century

Rather than using our fists, we learn to use The Law.  What is The Law you may ask.  The Law is the cosmic mechanism that changes thought into actual form.  You you may think that thoughts are just puffy things of little account but you would be dead wrong.  Before the beginning of time God created spiritual and physical laws to govern the Universe and all that was in it.

Thoughts are things….they exist.  They are the building blocks of the entire Universe.  God uses the thoughts in his or her Divine Mind to create all that exists in this Universe and many others.  As scripture says: “as above, so below”.

In other words, God thinks everything that exists in all Creation into form with the thoughts of Her magnificent Divine Mind.

So it is that we think our reality and our lives into form with the God Given power of our magnificent human Mind.  (not the brain, that is the organic computer that dies when we do)  We create our lives with the power of our Mind, and with our words, which are thoughts in form. Most important are the actions we take or fail to take.

You see that we really are the Masters of our Fate and the Captains of our soul.  We think our lives into being each moment we live.  But how do we avoid the storms of life?  We think only of things that we want in our lives. We refuse to rent space in our minds to sorrow, anger, hatred and lack and limitation thinking.

As St. Paul famously said:  Think only of things of good report. 

In the Words of the Master:  It is done unto you as you think and as you believe.  

Do not let fearful, negative or hateful thoughts take root in the fertile soil of your subconscious mind.  Give no thought to how you will live or what you will eat.  If God provides for the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, how much more will he provide for you and yours.

But this is so only if you believe firmly without a scintilla of doubt that you are beloved of God and that She has provided every good thing that you need.  Fear and doubt are the mortal enemies of humankind.

Your mortal mind is constantly in need of reassurance that all will be well.  Your belief in the  promise of the Mind of God and in The Love of God is the antidote to the constant fear of “not enough”.

You are enough, there is more than enough for you and yours. Only your disbelief will make it not so.  You don’t have to know how or why this is so.  Just believe it.  It is done unto you as you believe.

Each person on this Earth has been given a power greater than any in the Universe and this is the creative power of Mind.  You can create Heaven with it or fashion you own private Hell.  Think only of what you will allow in your live.  Think of things that make you smile.  Think of Love, Light and Joy.

You are who you think you are!

Most of all show your appreciation for the gifts you have been given by loving and cherishing every human that you meet.   Greet them as your brother or sister, regardless of paint job, culture or origin.  Gratitude is the lubricant of the Universe.  Be grateful for every one of the blessings in your life. 

The first great Truth of Life is that we are ALL ONE.

Until we are together again…. May the blessings of the Great Architect of the Universe be abundant in your heart and in your life.

Rev. Dore Jacques Patlian, Sarasota, Florida   “I am a Religious Scientist”  Visit a Center for Spiritual Living near you.  I know you will love the experience. 

Be sure to visit YouTube.com/revdore    150  of my Video podcasts await your pleasure. 

 

May You Live in Interesting Times

The Chinese have a very interesting blessing for those they consider superior people.  So I am extending this blessing to each of my community because I know that Rev. Dore’ is not for everyone.

I like to think that I appeal to those who think before they speak, understand the vital difference between opinions, which are a dime a dozen and have no power;  you have a right to them; and facts which are proven and which have all the power in the world.

Kelly Ann Conway notwithstanding, there are no “alternative facts”  She is paid well to dress up opinion in a tuxedo and parade it as fact but for thoughtful people like my community this will not wash.  You can put lipstick on a pig but its still a pig!

Being born in interesting times means that you have been born into an era of ferment, change and often danger.  We are in just such an era right now; not only in the USA but around the world.  The new millennium promised a sea change in how we do our business in this world and how we will live.

It has already made a down payment on that promise with the fraying of social graces, the coarsening of our society and the increasing tribalism of not only America but many nations around the world.

This was supposed to be the Age of Aquarius where love, light and harmony would prevail.  It seems that Aquarius made a stop at Scorpio!  Do not despair, the dawning of Light always follows a time of deep darkness just before the dawn.

Great change never happens when everything is hunky dory.  Why would change be needed when we are all happy, healthy and wealthy?   Only when the darkness and entropy looms is there an age of great fundamental change.

Thus the blessing that you be born in interesting times.  You are to be a child of the change, of the New Enlightenment.  I will soon be celebrating my 73rd birthday in a few months so I may see only the beginning of the great change to come. 

It may take 2 hundred years or only 50 depending on the group consciousness.  If we have more kids like those at Stoneman Douglass High School, across my adopted state of Florida on the Atlantic side, the change will come at lightning speed.  If not we may be in for some very interesting times, indeed,

I vote for the kids, how about you?  My Generation (baby boomers) were going to change the world but just got high and stupid.  When the mortgages hit and the kids came they became the very Establishment that they so despised.

This generation, Millennials (the largest since the Baby Boomers) just may get the job done, but not with socialist dreams and mind altering substances but with Internet savvy and intelligence and determination.

This generation is going to remake the political landscape of this nation,and perhaps the world, which is long overdue.  Yes keep the free market economy, it is the greatest engine of good ever devised but it must be regulated with a light but firm hand.

Intention is the litmus test of any idea.  The intention of the free market is aspiration; to become the best you can be.   Socialism is built on envy of those who have more than we do.  It is a modern Robin Hood Philosophy.  Envy may be the most corrosive emotion of all.  It is a victim philosophy and victim hood is a state of dependence and despondency.

These interesting times can bring the 1930’s back with authoritarian regimes taking over country after country as is happening as I write this post. Or we can retreat to me first and go back to protectionism. 

Protectionism created the Great Depression but we have a President who does not read, knows nothing of history and does not listen to those wiser than him, so he is instituting the very same thing that sent the world into a trade war that caused the Depression.  Tariffs are a symptom of tribalism and primitive nationalism .  Winning at the expense of others is the only philosophy of the President.

Free trade is symptomatic of Oneness and the desire that the tide of prosperity rises all boats and benefits everyone.  There are no winners and losers in this philosophy, everyone wins!

Jesus the Great Master Teacher taught Oneness, forgiveness and tolerance.  Even if you are not a Christian you must see that that is the way the world must live if we are to survive.

Which will we choose?  Will we go with love, light, oneness, aspiration, joy and tolerance.  Will we embrace the win/win philosophy or the winners and losers way of thinking of this current time in our history.

What do you choose?  I choose aspiration, joy, love, Oneness and world wide prosperity and peace.  I see children going to bed on full stomachs, free to be whatever they wish to be; living their dreams in freedom and joy.

What do you see?  I am glad that I have been born into interesting times when all things are possible and most are probable.  It already exists in Mind, let’s bring it into form for all.     Be sure to visit my video podcasts on YouTube.com/revdore

Until we are together again, see your higher good, think only of things of good report and share your love openly and freely.

Rev. Dore Jacques Patlian, Sarasota, Florida   I am a Religious Scientist, come join me and live the life you never knew possible.

More information is on CSL.ORG

The Mystery of Life Solved: Rev. Dore’ decodes the age old mystery!

God works in mysterious ways…..this is the stock answer of every Catholic Priest and most Protestant clergy.  When people need help and comfort; when it all falls apart or a loved one dies young, they get the “mystery story” as if God was a Divine Agatha Cristy book spinning mysteries with almost no clues.

Not much help is it?  No wonder so many 21st Century young people are getting more and more turned off of mainline religion.  They want answers from their Congressmen or Congresswomen, their Senators , their God and most importantly their President (another great mystery!)  

They want answers and action!  Here are my big 3 of questions to God

  1. Why does God allow terrible things like earthquakes, Hurricanes and other disasters to kill millions?
  2. Why do bad things happen to good people?
  3. If God loves us why does He or She not protect us?

Here are a few simple answers that may point the way to your personal awakening.

Question #1  Why does God allow bad things to happen to us?

Answer:  God is not an insurance policy but a Creator. We are the driving wheel of our life.  If we make a choice that is based in anger, hatred or sorrow we can forecast that this choice will have great negative impact on our life.  God does not ensure your life for bad mistakes.  You create your life experience by what you think, speak and do, or fail to do.

2. Why do bad things happen to good people?

Good and bad are human ideas.  What one culture deems good another judges as terrible.  To God all creation is good, whether the individual who did the creation by thought, word and deed deems it good or bad is up to them.  Being a good person does not ensure that one will never have an illness or a negative experience.  Remember we create our own reality, Life DOES NOT HAPPEN TO US!  We happen to life!

3. Why does God not protect us?

The Law is the creative force in the Universe and it is up to us to learn how to use it.  The Law is the Creative medium that God uses with us as a partner in creation to create all that exists.  God creates the Universe, the stars and planets,  and makes the spiritual and physical laws that govern the Universe.

We create the circumstances of human existence.  We decide to live in peace and plenty by loving our brothers and sisters.  OR we can live in lack and limitation, hate and jealousy; experiencing horror, death and destruction.

In August 1914 Europe had a choice.  Live and let live or murder the man and woman who held the fate of much of Europe in their hands.  Yes, the Archduke and Duchess died that August afternoon, the only heirs to the throne of the 1000 year old Hapsburg Empire that ruled most of Europe with a rather benign hand.

When those gunshots rang out in Sarajevo, the Old Order died and the worst war ever fought by human kind destroyed the peace of Europe and much of the world for almost 80 years.  We know that war as World War 1

As a young Winston Churchill said, looking at the lights of London being turned off:the lights are going out all over the world and we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.   We are living with the effects of that horrible choice made by one Serbian Terrorist named Princip to this very day.   World War 2 was merely the continuation of a terrible mistake made in 1914.

This is a graphic example of the workings of the Law of Cause and Effect.  One person making a fateful decision for blood and destruction instead of love and light changed the world for the entire 20th Century.

More people died as a result of that decision than all the wars in history to that point in time.

Was this God’s Will?  Was this the work of God?

No this was a fatally bad choice by one hate filled young man and the overreaction of the great powers of Russia, Austria, France and Britain to Princip’s fateful act that August Day.  Could God have prevented it?

The Law is the Law, once it is set in motion, the only solution is to put in motion an opposite action to change the effects that we have put into Cause.

Even God works by the Law of Mind Action.  Our Mind and God’s Mind work the same way, the difference is only the scale of the activity.  God operates cosmically.  We operate on this earthly plane.

The condition of our Earthly Home, which was created by Spirit, is solely the result of our use, individually and collectively of the Law of Mind Action, often called Cause and Effect.

How can you live the life that you have always dreamed of?   Think only of good, loving things.  Think only of what you desire for yourself, your family and for all humankind.   Thoughts are things.  They exist and they create your life and collectively they create the world around us.  Words are thoughts in physical form and they have tremendous power.

You create your life by thought, word and deed.  Collectively we make our reality, right here and right now.

It has been said that nations get the leaders they deserve.  This means that the mood and attitude of the nation will attract just the leader that the people desire.

Think about our current situation and see how this chaos came to pass.

May the indwelling God and the Most High God (one in the same) be with you in all your thoughts and actions.  Use the Law for only that which you are willing to experience in your life.  The Law is the power of God working through you; be very careful how you use it!

Until we are together again:

Rev. Dore’ Jacques Patlian, Sarasota, Florida     

Enjoy my 135 Video Podcasts on YouTube.com/revdore

 

 

Empathy…. the lubrication of Civilization

Empathy is the art of putting yourself in another’s place.  It is the faculty of transcending the almighty ME and feeling what others are feeling.  

Empathy is the lubrication of civil society and of civilization itself. It has been said that an empath can taste salt when another person cries.  When you learn to connect with your brother or sister; you have put your feet on the path of spiritual enlightenment.  

You have become a spiritual adult when you can be in the moment with another person.  Empathy is a Divine Connection that wipes away all human differences and allows us to practice true brotherhood. 

A good leader is almost always a person of empathy.  Only when a leader has been a servant, either with military service or some other service to others are they really fit to lead.  If its all about them, empathy dies by the wayside. 

In 2018 empathy seems to be in short supply.  Even our spiritual leaders seem to have forgotten the lessons of the Master Teacher.  Many are long on condemnation and short on forgiveness and tolerance.  Ye among you who is without sin, let him cast the first stone.  Sin is a Latin word that means missing the mark.  It literally means “without”.  We all miss the mark from time to time, I certainly have.  

When I take stock of Rev. Dore’ I see a very intelligent person that often lacks wisdom and forbearance.  I work on empathy daily for I know that to be empathetic is to practice the presence of God.  Conscious knowing that we are all Divine Creations of the Great I AM, the Creator of all things, is vital to the good life, the Godly life.  

Empathetic people understand that there is no distance between God and humankind.  We swim in the love of God as a fish swims in the sea.  God is all around us, in us and everywhere present.  The empathetic person knows this, the self absorbed person does not.  

The practice of empathy is the practice of Divinity. You are affirming that your brother and your sister are made of the same substance and created by the same Mind that creates all that exists.  

Get over yourself for a while and practice the Godly faculty of EMPATHY.  

Until we are together again, think well, speak well, love well and live well.

Rev. Dore’ Jacques Patlian, Sarasota, FLA

(check out my video podcasts on YouTube.com/revdore) 

A Fresh Start, a Time Baptism.

Every year millions try to take advantage of the “fresh start” that time gives us each December 31st.  We start from ZERO, no harm; no foul at least for a few hours.

It’s a little like a “time baptism” in that we are washed clean of the old year and all of its mistakes, harsh words and deeds better left undone.    Time has washed away the cursing out of our mouths and minds during the last year.

We are clean and if we have the wit to use the Law wisely and well, then we need never be washed again.   The Law is what acts on every thought we think, every word we speak and every action we take or fail to take.  The Law is what transforms the spiritual and mental into the physical reality of life.

No one is exempt from the Law of Mind Action.  As you think, speak and do, so you are.  A man named Yeshua Ben Nazareth (Jesus Christ) gave us that sage advice over 2,000 years ago.

What will you do with your mental and spiritual baptism?   Will you keep on keeping on the way you did last year and the year before that. You will get just what you have always gotten.  Nothing changes until YOU DO!

Your parents didn’t do it, your spouse didn’t do it, you friends did not do it.  You thought the thoughts of negativity, hatred or anger.  You spoke the evil and harsh words that cut the souls of those around you like a blade.  You made the choices or neglected the choices that you knew that you should have made.

Make one Resolution for 2018.   Speak and think of things of good report as Paul told us in Corinthians.  Speak a blessing on yourself and everyone in your world each day.   Be the best you that you can be.

Be kind to those who serve you in the restaurant, the Walmart, Target all the working people that you meet.  Those who serve you, serve God with their hard, cheerful and very necessary labor.  We all serve in one way or another.

Never look down or talk down to your spiritual brother or sister.  We are all one in Spirit and One in God.

Make 2018 the year of Oneness and Amends for wrongs done.  Saying “I am sorry” is balm for our spirit and for the heart and soul of the one you wronged.

Yesterday, while working the Self Checkout area of our Super Target, a man stopped me and deeply apologized to me for having been short and unpleasant three days before.   I thanked him, shook his hand and blessed him.  I could see the weight of the wrong he had done to someone in service, lift from his countenance and his heart.  Everyone makes mistakes and misses opportunities for good.  Make amends and wash away the stain on your heart and soul.

Make amends to those in your life that you have wronged and watch your mind and spirit lighten with each word.

Wash yourself in the Baptism of time renewed and have a blessed and wonderful 2018.

Rev. Dore’ Jacques Patlian, Sarasota, Florida

The Greatest Story you have never been told.

Its after 11:00 PM EDT on Christmas Eve.  To Billions of Christians this is a most Holy night, the night when the Christ Child was born, or so the story goes.  The Greatest Story Ever Told is wonderful but has almost no basis in fact.  

Does it matter?  No its still a lovely tale of a miracle child sent to us to bring love and forgiveness to a world operating on “might makes right” and rampant cynicism about religion, civil behavior and the institutions of Judea under Roman rule. 

We have much the same problem in 2017.  It’s as true right now as it was in 3 AD the year that almost all scholars believe that Yeshua Ben Nazareth (Jesus Christ)  was born.  

What is the meaning to a Religious Scientist of the Christ and his teachings?  The Christ was a title given to a most holy man in ancient times.  The word means “the anointed one” in Greek (Kristos);  a perfect description of the man we call Jesus.  Religious Scientists do not believe that Jesus was the literal son of God, but is rather the bringer of light, not God but fully human.  

We believe that every person on this planet is, in a very real sense is a son or daughter of the the Divine.  We are all made of the very substance of the Creator; each of us unique. White, Black, Asian, or mixtures thereof, we all trace our existence to the Divine Mind of God.

Jesus to us is a revolutionary sent to shake up the world, to introduce the ideas of brotherhood and oneness; ideas that affirm we are all thoughts in the mind of God. Thus each and every human is a part of Divinity and is is sacred in the eyes of the Creator. 

We are One in God and One in fact. We must forgive each other because we are all literally brothers and sisters.  Jesus came to introduce the revolutionary  idea that when we “turn the other cheek” we gain the moral high ground and that the Old Testament idea of “an eye for an eye and tooth for tooth” leaves the the world blind and toothless!

We in Religious Science do not see God as a parent.  We see him/her as the Divine Architect; our creator but NOT our parent.  God does not seek to run our lives, that is our responsibility, but God is available 24/7 for inspiration and consultation. 

We may use this connection to God as soon as we learn the rules.  The first rule is: do not judge your brother or sister, we are all equal in the sight of God. 

God made no junk, no lesser species.  He did provide different paint jobs to account for different environments and to provide variety.  However, inner human is exactly the same.  

The next rule is that forgiveness is not optional.  Those who hate, hold grudges, have prejudices, are poisoning themselves and all those around them.  As a person thinks…..so he or she is. 

This is why Religious Science says “as you think, so you are”.   Want a different life?   Change your thinking ( what you talk about, what you believe and what you do).  These are the building blocks of your life.  

Thoughts are creative, they literally make up the fabric of our lives.  Jesus knew this and in all of His works he always asked the afflicted if they were ready to put down their burden; were they ready to change their lives.  Only if they assented would He be able to heal them. Take up your bed and walk” he said to the man at the well. 

Your thought life is the parent of your physical life.  Want to change your life?  Anyone can do it!   Just “change your thinking and change your life”.  

Take care and whatch what  you say!  Thoughts spoken have many times the power of thought because a word exists in the physical world.  It can be recorded, remembered and used for your benefit or your condemnation. 

Does Christ Matter?  Yes I believe that He was the First Religious Scientist.  He stated “As a man thinks, so he is.  It is done unto you ….as you believe. 

What’s the secret of this faith and philosophy called Religious Science;  taught at the Centers for Spiritual Living?    Paul said it best: “think only of things of good report”  Dwelling on what you hate or what you don’t want, brings that very thing into your life. 

Hate kills, it poisons the heart, the body and the soul and it blights your life!

We really do speak the blessing and the cursing out of our mouth each morning and each night  Stop cursing and start blessing and watch your life flower like an English garden. 

Become a 21st Century Christian by forgiving your brothers and your sisters, Black, White, Brown or whatever.   All are made in the image of God.  We must learn to live together as One in God’s Love or die together unforgiven, unloved and all alone.  

What do you think?  Time for a change?  Time to meet the real Christ, the man sent from God to bring Light to the world and love to our hearts and minds.  

Until we meet again, this is Rev. Dore’ Jacques Patlian saying so long for now.

Change Your Thinking and Change Your Life!

As a Religious Science Minister I am often asked:  How can we use the teaching of the  Science of Mind every day to bring joy, peace, prosperity, love and serenity into our lives?

My answer is that your life will change dramatically by your learning and using Principle (the basic truths of the Science of Mind Faith and Philosophy).  

Religious Science is not a religion in the normal sense of the word; we have no dogma, no claim of a special pipeline to God, no creed. What we do have is a masterful knowledge of Spiritual Law and how to use it to create the life we want, deserve and were born to experience.

What do we mean by Law?  The entire Universe is governed by Law.  The physical realm is governed by the physical laws we call physics. Gravity is a simple example of a physical Law. So is the speed of light (186,000 miles per second). Gravity always works on Earth all the time, every day in exactly the same predictable way.  We can depend on it. When you get out of bed you do not sail up to the ceiling!

Light does not wake up one morning and decide to travel at only 1000 miles per second.  Law is predictable and knowable.

 The Law produces predictable and certain results everywhere and at all times. This is the Science in Religious Science.  There is a power for Good in The Universe and we can use it!

It works the same way in the Spiritual Realm.  The Creator, First Cause, Great Architect, or just the Great I Am, that we nickname God. instituted these physical and spiritual laws before the beginning of time.  We believe that the Universe is not governed by the caprice of a Parent God but rather by Law instituted by a Divine Mind, a Universal Mind, aka God!  The Prime mover, the First Cause of all things, that is what God is to us.

As you think, so you are!

Instead of the whim of a superhuman Deity, you and I have the assurance that the Universe and Life will work the same way all the time. every time because all  is governed by Law.   Like human laws, its a very good idea to learn the Law and to know how to use it to create your own life story.

You see, you are the prime mover of your life, the driving wheel, the author, producer and director and chief actor in your life.  God is always available for inspiration and information but you make the choices, you speak the blessing or the cursing on your life by what you think, speak and the choices you make or fail to make.

You and I are truly the Captains of our Fate and the Masters of our Soul.   Self Responsibility is a cardinal rule of Religious Science.  By your stream of thought, your words, which are thought in physical form, and the choices that spring from these thoughts and words, your life is created and either withers or blooms, depending on your wise or foolish use of the Law.

You are the driving wheel of your life, you think your life into being. 

Your Mama didn’t do it to you, your Daddy did not do it to you, your spouse did not do it….you created the situation that you are experiencing right now.  Much easier to point to bad luck, blame God, or Luck or Fate but the truth is that you are the creator of your life experience.  Your thoughts build your life brick by brick, your words are the cement that make the thoughts real and your choices create your reality.

Thoughts exist, they are real and they are creative

Thoughts have power, indeed they are the building blocks of life and of the Universe itself.   Thought put into physical form as words have even greater power.

So how do we live the life that we dream of and want so badly?  More in later posts, but I will leave you with these tips to get you started.

Think and speak only about what you WANT in your life. Remember your words and thoughts are the creators of your experience.  They have immense power.  

It has been said that you don’t always get what you want but you always get what you expect.   

Expect the good and experience the good….It is done unto you as you believe!

Expect the good, expect to be loved, expect to be prosperous and watch your life transform!

See in your mind what you want in your life as already here in reality and form long before you receive it.  Live in the end.  This means live as if it’s already yours… because it is.

You must first see it and believe it to achieve it

Speak your word only for what you are willing to have in your life.  Think only of what will make you smile, bring joy to you and to all those around you.  

Yes, this means you cannot speak and think of all the stuff that’s wrong in your life.  When you speak and think of these negative things you give birth to them.  Give birth only to what you love, what you want for you and all those you love.

You speak the blessing or the cursing out of your mouth each day. Choose to Bless yourself each morning and all through the day by speaking the Blessing upon yourself and all those you love. Speak and think only of things of good report.

Next Week: The Mother Law of the Universe:  Cause and Effect.

Until we are together again, Think Well, Be Well.

Rev. Dore’ Jacques Patlian, Sarasota, FL   Want to learn more?  Go to CSL.org

Why not attend a Sunday Celebration at a Center for Spiritual Living near you?  Find one at CSL.Org

 

The Greatest Truth Seldom Told

If you were to point to the greatest problem that the United States and much of the world is experiencing what would that be?  Terrorism?  Inequality? Poverty?

My pick would be the retreat from Oneness and Brotherhood and the degeneration of many societies, including the United States and much of Europe into a new tribalism.  This splintering of society is the result of “identity politics” where political parties slice up society into racial, sexual, religious, class and educational strata and appeal to the narrow interests of the different “tribes”.

An appeal to all Americans to unite in common cause seems today to be as quaint as blue suede shoes and Poodle Skirts.  Everyone identifies with a particular piece of their personality, forgetting that the most important identity and the only one that matters is first being human and then American.  

The Left plays this game better than the Right.  After all they have been doing this for 100 years, they even have a “how to book” on combating nationalism and Oneness by creating class consciousness.

There were no Republicans or Democrats on 9/11/2001.  I live in Sarasota, Florida which has a special place in the history of 9/11 because our President was visiting one of our elementary schools as part of his televised roll out of the “No Child Left Behind” Program.  Most of us will never forget the look on President Bush’s face as the he was informed of the first plane crashing into the Tower.  He had been reading a story to the class and suddenly the world turned upside down.

America’s reaction was to come together; forgetting race, gender, orientation, ethnicity and politics. Our President had the good sense and grace, not only to set exactly the right tone immediately after the attack, but to visit a Mosque just days later to send the message that Muslim Americans were first and always Americans.

Where are such leaders today?  Where are the leaders that can say just what must be said in just the right tone and at the right moment; as was done during 9/11?

Words matter, a lesson that needs learning in today’s political climate. In fact words and the thought that precedes them are the building blocks of our lives.

It seems to me that our culture and our politics have coarsened to the point where even death threats and actual murder are legitimate coin of the American body politic.

There is an immutable fact of human life that there is no subspecies of the human race, no lesser humans.  We are all magnificent creations of the Creator of the Universe, made from the very substance of the body of God.  It can be said that all that exists is made from the substance of the Divine Prime Mover. Thus we are all literally Brothers and Sisters.

My barber is a wonderful man who immigrated from Jordan and is a devout Muslim.  We have stimulating and friendly conversations about history, comparative religion and I listen eagerly to this very wise, very fine American who chose to come to this nation to raise his family and prosper.  He has improved his condition in just a few years to the point where he and his wife are shopping for their first home.  

His culture and religion may be foreign to me but he is as American as apple pie in his love of family, his desires for his family and his life.  We all want the same things, no matter where we live, how we worship and what our politics are.

We want to raise our families in peace, love and contentment.  We want our children to receive a fine education and go on to surpass us in accomplishment and in the joy of life.  Each generation builds upon the last in a good society and this nation is a very good society.  The fact that too many of our people have lost their faith in our national ethos and in our democracy is very troubling.

We can restore our national consciousness by taking our various racial, class, sexual and other distinctions as a matter of course that needs no celebrating and instead celebrating our Oneness as Americans.

We have been majoring in the minors and neglecting what really matters which is that all humans are One.  Everything else is exterior paint, manners and culture and not worthy of our attention.

Americans all: we sit at the table of democracy and freedom together with the conscious knowledge that we are truly One in God, One in Mind and One in Heart.

Tribalism is what civilizations degenerate into.  Is that what we want for our nation and our world?   I think not!

Rev. Dore’ Jacques Patlian, Sarasota, FL     I Am a Religious Scientist!  

Find out more at CSL.org

Open Sesame!

There is a key that unlocks the unfulfilled life.  Rather like the old magician’s “open sesame”, this key will transform your entire outlook on your life and the world around you.  What is this magnificent key, you may ask?

It is so simple that you will wonder why you never thought of it before.

The key to a life well lived is empowerment and that empowerment happens only when you realize and understand that everything in your life begins and ends with you.  You are the driving wheel, the motive force, the producer, director and chief actor in this drama called life.

You see, we really are the “captains of our fate and the masters of our soul“.  It was true in the 1600’s when William Shakespeare penned those immortal words, and even more so in this age of personal empowerment, civil liberties and an “anything goes” public morality.

How do you find this key and what do you do with it.  First, claim your power! Affirm that you are a magnificent creation of God and that God never experiences a recall. (no junk).  Know that you and I and all humanity are made from the very substance and stuff of the Most High God which is the God within each and every one of us. Yes, you and I and even your mother-in-law are made of the very substance of the Divine.

You may say, what happens when we are the victim of other people’s actions, nature or luck?

Please know that becoming a victim is a conscious choice by you, not something that is forced upon you.  OK, a really bad thing happened in your life.  Lost your job, your home, your spouse; you became ill, you were diagnosed with cancer. These are tough things to take in stride, but unless you want them to persist, that is exactly what you must do.  How do you look cancer in the eye and say no big deal?  How do you lose your spouse and say it doesn’t matter?

Sure, these things matter, they are scary and they hurt like hell! I know I have experienced all of these more than once.

Here is the secret.  These things did not happen to you, nobody did this to you. In one way or another you are responsible for every thing good or bad that happens in your life.  Be careful now, you are not to blame but you are responsible.

There is no blame in the spiritual realm,  but you did create the situation with your stream of consciousness (thought) and your words which led to your choices.  Thought, word and choice are the building blocks of life.

In truth there are no victims in life.  Sounds heartless I know, but its true nonetheless.  When I was diagnosed with cancer my first reaction was woe is me! But then I recalled that I am a Religious Science Minister and that I don’t believe that things just happen.  We create them one way or another.  I traced the thread back in my memory and presto, I found the cause of my cancer.

The cause was a rather tumultuous love life that featured three divorces.  Once I realized the cause, the fact that my cancer was in the Prostate was no accident.  The Prostate is the sexual and reproductive area.   I caused my body to turn against itself (that is what cancer is) with my feelings about my turbulent personal life.  

Since I have been happily married to my dear Susan for almost 19 years I know that there will not be a recurrence.  Her love and my being ready to be loved have healed the old relationship wounds.

Once I knew the cause of the cancer, which is always spiritual or mental, I could let the Doctors treat the symptoms and I would treat the cause so it never would return.  Anger, sorrow, a terrible hurt and great stress are the real causes of cancer and the reason why it is endemic in 21st Century America. 

The “Open Sesame” is to understand that YOU are the power in your life.  You have had a license to heal since birth, given by Deity.  You have the power to transform and to create whatever life you desire.  You are a magnificent creation of the Architect of the Universe and you need never be a victim again.  

Think of what you will allow in your life, speak words of kindness, love and joy, and chose what is healthy, happy and the highest and best for all concerned.  That is the recipe for a life very well lived.

Until we are together again…..

Rev. Dore’ Jacques Patlian, Sarasota, Florida   Yes, I am a Religious Scientist! 

The Soul’s Journey

We all are aware that there are two things that every human must do.  Pay taxes and die.  The modern world has figured out how to change out gender,our appearance and even enhance our intelligence, but taxes and death seem to be beyond the reach of even our technology.

Most of us realize that we are not our body.  Our body is the Earth Suit that we wear for locomotion and life support.  When the body dies……then what?  It is my belief a human being can never really die.  The mind (not the brain) and spirit lives on.  We never die we just transition to another state of being.

I know this for a fact for I have done it twice, which seems to me one more time than necessary.  According to the EMT Paramedics I was clinically dead when they found me tossed up on the shore of Malibu Beach after being caught in a rip tide. I was 23, far too young to die in my considered opinion.  They got over a gallon of water out of my lungs; I was as close to death as a human can get.

The second time was in my early 40’s during surgery for a burst appendix which had gone septic.  The experience was very similar to that “fun” day at the beach so long ago. 

On both trips to “the other side” I was mentored by a transitioned relative or loved one.  This is done undoubtedly to soften the blow of one’s imminent demise.  Yes, there was a lovely bright light and my maternal grandmother, Margaret, who talked like Scarlet O’Hara from “Gone With The Wind”.  

Both times I took her hand while she explained my choices.  It came down to staying in this life or going on to another experience.  Like a good lawyer, she summarized the case for both courses of action but emphasized that time was of the essence, as I was fading fast.  

I remember Margaret reminding me during my first near death experience that   my young wife, pregnant with our child, was on the beach, unaware of anything amiss, and that was something that I should consider carefully.  

She then showed me a glimpse of the absolute world of Spirit and words cannot describe the loveliness, peace and sense of belonging that I experienced. She did tell me that this was the Soul’s natural state and that life, although exciting, was very wearing on the spirit and soul.

She emphasized over and over that we never, no never, really die.  We just change form rather like water transforming into steam and then to ice.

I asked Margaret about heaven and hell and she laughed.  She said God made us out of Her own substance and that to send anyone to Hell, God would need to go with us since we are the same substance, different only in scale.  

She did say that we all get to experience that which we put into Law while in this life ( for good or ill) but not as reward or punishment but as information for the next experience.

The point of this post is that you can never really die so don’t sweat it.  Nothing to be afraid of; in fact if you live long enough you will embrace death like a lover.  Life is great but enough is often too much.

You are eternal, you never die.  Your body and your Ego dies but the essence of you is eternal.  God will walk with you for all eternity through each transition and each Journey of the Soul.

Do you not know that you are safe, you are Divine, and you are magnificent?

Until we are together again go to CSL.ORG to learn more about Religious Science, which teaches the Science of Mind Faith and Philosophy.  Attend our Sunday Celebrations at the Center for Spiritual Living nearest you.  You will be greeted like family.    Go to YouTube.com/revdore and check out my 121 Video Podcasts. 

Rev. Dore’ Jacques Patlian, Sarasota, FL  …..I am a Religious Scientist, the Faith and Philosophy for the 21st Century and beyond.