My Weekend Christian Experience

This weekend I had the joy and opportunity to join my sister at her church. It is not a place I normally would have gone, but it really gave me perspective and reconnected me to an early period of my own search for faith and God. It was an evangelical experience and it started out with great music (and even though I do not necessarily worship in that faith, I love me some old gospel music), then they proceeded into the sermon for the day.

What it unlocked for me what how we connect to our faith. I remember a time when my search for God was driven by my fear of what would happen if I did not have God's love. When I am doing things I know that are against the plan of this high being, how can I ever find salvation? For me, it was coming into the realization that the truth that is given out in church is not necessarily the word of God... but the word of a man/woman with their own agenda. This is why you see many faiths becoming diluted with politics vs. actually preaching anything of value. Religion has done more to make us fear God than love God... which in turn has made it difficult for us to love ourselves. If God cannot love a sinner, and if I am a sinner, then where does the love come in?

When we worship through a vibration of love, we move into a place of alignment with our higher nature. We understand that it is our imperfections that make us imperfectly unique. Our flaws connect us to humanity, but in the same breath we are all God. When we move into a place of unconditional love for self and other, we then move into alignment with a higher energy. We move into a place of acceptance, not only of others but of self.

It really was a great experience and I am thankful that she allowed me into her world. Do not be afraid to step into those places, we learn so much by sharing, and you do not have to agree with everything that happens in those places, but if we are unwilling to even walk through the door, how will we ever move forward.

Much love!

Mike

xoxo

Worshiping idols and holding ourselves away from our own truth

Why is it that many of us choose suffering over living? Why do we feel the prize will be better if we have to fight life along the way to get there? During a recent Course In Miracles Study Group at the Celebration Center we discussed idols. It was an interesting topic and went in a direction that I did not expect. Many of us go into religion in an effort to find some truth, to be like that figure that is at the head of our religion. We begin to worship them as separate than us, as if that state of being is not attainable for us as followers of the faith. I don't mean to pick on the Christians, but they lend themselves to this more than many other religions. We have an individual that is Christ, and we worship the path that was walked by him, the acts he has performed, we take in his body and blood all the time keeping him as separate from us. In reality Jesus did not want us to worship him, but to know that we are the same as him. Many Buddhists feel they will never attain Buddha Nature in this lifetime. Many of us worship Gods and Goddesses never realizing that they are just reflections of our true divine nature. In turn, we have created a world where we hold each other at arms length. We are all equals in this life, many of us are better at certain skills than the next, but that is what makes us unique in our oneness.

Remember that instead of holding yourself away from the figurehead, see yourself as their equal. We all have the power to heal ourselves and others, we all have the power to spread hope to those that are feeling hopeless, we all have the power to Create- We are not separate from God, We are God.

You are all loved, you are all beautiful.

Mike

xoxo

News from the homefront

The birds are finally chirping, and life seems to be moving back to normal for most people. My heart is with all that had to suffer through the storms here recently. Life here in SC is a constant adjustment and I am really getting into a place where I can finally move into a place of being that I am creating vs. letting the world and my surrounding dictate my life to me.

In the next couple of days I am going to really rededicate myself to posting videos, interviews, book reviews, and more discussion on the 2012 subject.

I am teaching yoga at a wonderful place called the Celebration Center. We are riding a common theme that seems to be popping up in a lot of places... community. We are a community of healers, teachers, educators, intuitives, and are dedicating ourselves to being of service to those who seek out our assistance. It really is a beautiful thing to see, and even better to be a part of. I will give you updates on my experiences here, and will offer advice on creating community where you are.

Much love to all of you,

Mike

xoxo

Technology... the good, the bad, the what do we do when its all gone.

(This is a payphone, in case you've forgotten what they look like)

We live in a time where at the blink of an eye we can communicate with everyone we've ever met. With the click of one button, the world can know where I am, what I am doing, and what all of my likes and dislikes are. The big question is: how much of ourselves are we going to give away to the technological world. With every application in the world available at a tap, we get further away from connecting to one another. I can remember a time where people actually walked up to one another and said "Hi, my name is....", now the first question is: "Do you have Facebook, myspace or twitter?"

We have become so reliant on these little gadgets and devices. I noticed a funny icon on my phone the other day. It asked me if it was OK that Google collected information on my searches, location, etc so that it could provide better quality as far as searches. Google (and many cell phone providers) have been known to collect and build profiles on users--and more along the Big Brother lines than helping me find the best vegan pizza joint in town. We really have to be careful where we give away our information, we have to use our intuition to decide if it is necessary to venture down these techno highways. They are great for the service they provide... but, does anyone remember how to use a map or even know what an Atlas is? GPS has stolen away the necessity to learn how to read basic maps, we can even have our books read to us by our IPODs, there are programs that slow brainwaves down for meditation, there are neat applications that just suck us right into a world of dependence.

Last night it seems that TMOBILE also crashed. I can still remember how angry I was getting that I could not check my email, send a text, or make a call. I also then realized how attached I was to this phone. It was a wake call... pun intended.

What do we do if all this technology disappears tomorrow? Do you know the actual phone number of the 3 top people you call the most? With a click of a button, a call is made. If I had to walk up to a payphone, I am sure that my speed dial or top 5 will not be programmed in (pay phone? What in the world is that?).

Take time each day to put away the techno-toys. Detach completely. Go a day without using them, detach from email. Send a letter (pen and paper) to a friend. Go a day without texting. Write down all the important numbers in your phone. Ask yourself "If there were no way of using electronic means of communication, what would I do?" This is an extremely valid question, and its another insight that popped up during the TMOBILE outage. I've been fortunate to have been introduced to a telepathy technique which is very effective. We have to look outside of ourselves and the techno boxes we've put ourselves into.

Much love to you all,

Mike Brazell


xoxo