Meditating to Heal

From the Earth we are born and to the Earth we return. But that interim period is absolutely a gift from God. Young or old – there is little change, for we are all children of God – forever. God brings us into this world in love and in love we live; God visits us through love.

I remember reading this in Ecclesiastes: “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” But until I heard the Byrds singing “Turn, Turn, Turn,” it didn’t register as something that meant something to me. The songs of the Byrds in the folk style of the days of yore represent the art of the times. As I look back on my 79 years, I realize that my life is surrounded by art. Art circles the years of my life with joy and pleasure.

This art comes from God and is an important part of my circle of life. Art instructs; art teaches! Art brings us together making all life inter-related; I share my life of art within the spiritual Body of God. But art does not surround me for I am not in the center; the center of my life is GOD’S; I merely revolve around His blessings. I trust God; I learned from St. Paul in 2 Thessalonians, “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.” My circle of life is peace; my circle of life is Love. All comes from God. As God shares with me, I share with you. My life is a work of art given by God; as yours is.

© Russell Kendall Carter

My presence is with God; I am mindful of my cherished Love and relationship with Him. I am strong in my Love of God for He keeps me alive in His Holy Kingdom. My forefather was made from the dust of the earth. The earth surrounds me. When I am with the earth, I am in silence, listening. . . listening. My personal survival depends on the earth, God’s Holy creation. I am not the center of my universe; it is God whom I long to please.

I approach the subject of my presence slowly, quietly, reverently, listening for God wherever I may go. I know that when I listen for the presence of God, I leave my self-contained, private world and become a part of His Spiritual Kingdom. I trust the lovingkindness of God to carry me through my trials; my individuality is not trustful when I doubt; therefore, I turn to God and enter that loving space between heaven and earth, my place of prayer. It is then that I offer my prayers of intercession for others. For I know that by lifting my fellow man in prayer, I am strong in God. And others are strong in God.

Heavenly Father, we all walk in the shadow of death and hard times; it is Your Love that lifts us and returns us to life and health. It is Your Love that my presence rises to help others in their troubles; thank You, God, for allowing me to pray, to live, to love.

© Russell Kendall Carter

God is our salvation; He created us; He knows us before we are in our mother’s womb. He thirsts for our Love; He thirsts for our Trust. Yet, it should be the other way; we should thirst. God is our salvation. There is neither church nor government that does what God does for us. God speaks directly to us; we merely have to open our hearts to listen. . . to receive.

The reality of God’s Love comes to us through the teachings of Jesus, taking darkness and trepidation from our lives. God is our father, mother, brother, and sister. And Jesus comes to us in Love and humbly conquers the world. Let us reflect on all of the goodness and love that we experience each week. This comes from God.

The Bible often mentions how God lifts us and strengthen us. That is because we come to Him as imperfect beings, made in His image, but not Him. Isaiah reminds us that God is always with us, strengthens us, and helps us. Look to the sky; it brings us comfort, warmth, promise; this is God. God does wonderful things for us; therefore, nothing can be too difficult for us. Be silent, listen, pray; God Loves.

©Russell Kendall Carter

Have you ever read a story in the Gospels and put yourself in the scene? Don’t think less of me if you haven’t; I sometimes picture myself as an onlooker, experiencing the teachings of Jesus. It is learning from the mouth of the Master, Teach me Lord! The awareness of being in the presence of Jesus leads me closer to God, closer to God’s Holy Creation. I give thanks for the love of commitment to God and all of His ways.

It is like I am bursting with the possibility, no, the certainty of using the gifts and talents that I have for the greater good. I pray that my being is pleasing to God; yet I am sure it is because I awaken each morning knowing that God has given me more time to do His work.

God makes our bodies embodied as a living place for the Holy Spirit. He holds us to be purveyors of His Holy Words, walking in Love. We are part of His Kingdom loving our neighbors and practicing our strong faith in His presence.

God’s Kingdom is Love and with God’s Love we embrace Wisdom in its fullness. Give God’s Grace as a gift for your life. Dream, tomorrow is our gift of life; our Bible is our compass; God’s GPS. Feel the new hope that surrounds us.

Thank you, Father, for your confidence in us; thank you for the creating us to share your creation with our brothers and sisters.

© Russell Kendall Carter

I (we are) am one of the manifestations of God; He created me (us). There is nothing that can harm me. I am unique (you are unique), yet I share a commonality with all my brothers and sisters, six billion at the latest count, and I am blessed to have so many family members.

I will not let despair or problems define me. It is God and my trust in God that defines me to my family and friends. I was once told and finally learned for myself that any problems that crop up in my life are merely solutions in disguise. I live in the now; my faith and trust in God allows me to drown myself in my inner mind, my meditations, as I experience all God has for me,

to define myself, I first ask “Who am I;” then I remind myself that I do not judge others; I am a peer of others. Bringing forth these two concepts allows me to enter a much more interesting experience of prayer and of life.

I walk with God; I walk with those whom I meet. I share God’s Grace and Love.

I awake and ask who am I; when I retire for the night, I ask who am I. I am thankful to be of God.                                                                                                         

© Russell Kendall Carter

The choice is ours to make!

We gain eternal wisdom by listening to God and following Jesus. If we have true Wisdom, we need not fear using it to make society better. We cannot be anxious when we feel threatened by those who lack Wisdom. Anxiety or trepidation is merely a defensive mechanism to escape a troubling situation.

We perform in the light of Wisdom, practicing the Grace of God. This is walking with the love of Jesus and His humility. We have many great references in the Bible for inspiration, but I love John 1:17, “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” From this we can hold all that is good in our hearts and share this goodness with all.

In our culture, we often mistaken trepidation for feebleness, failing to exhibit artificial strength. My disagreement cannot be stronger; we do not have to be obnoxious or pushy to practice wisdom. Our wholeness and grace come from God, creating a bounty of goodness and fulfillment unmatched by arrogance.

When profit or political power are more important than people’s welfare and being, dictatorship and militarism may soon follow. This is not the society we want. We want a society of goodness and grace, the goodness and grace that can only come from God.

I prefer that which comes from God’s eternal Wisdom; I may be meek; I may be soft-spoken, but I try to be like Jesus, remembering that the greatest among us is truly a servant of the people. I pray we can emulate Jesus and follow in His footsteps.

© Russell Kendall Carter

Spirituality and caution are two important pillars of our life of faith. Neither is a means to an end; however, both are expressions of mindfulness and understanding. They are the demonstrated proofs and tools of Wisdom and are to be used judiciously and free of any hint of condemnation or accusation.

When first meeting people, our vigilance, our internal awareness, and acceptance of the stranger as a family member is shown outwardly by our ascetic display of acceptance and brotherhood. We cannot care whether this person is a sinner; for we are all sinners, and as part of humanity, he also is God’s next of kin. We are all made in His image.

As I walk daily on the pathway of truth and light, may I always offer kindness to others; may I also live my life of prayer, and may God hear my prayers and the prayers of all His children.

© Russell Kendall Carter

God’s devotion to humanity; from Isaiah “I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring and My blessing on your descendants” (44:3). This promise brings comfort and pleasure to my life. Our entire creation is a gift from God. I am blessed for my place is a place of love, God’s Love. Because I love, I know God, for God is Love.

I pray that my life with all of my problems and material impermanence remains in God’s loving hands. He created me and knew me before I was born. God’s presence is my essential being. He is never isolated from me. Because Love is God, I know God. We are each given God’s Love. I am surrounded by God’s Love and man’s love, each strengthens my life, each strengthens my resolve for God; each strengthens my love.

God’s devotion with humanity is unlimited, but so much better when we Love. Let us all love in the way the Jesus taught us.

© Russell Kendall Carter

I am disappointed with the society in which we live. I remember my father telling me that it is a dog-eat-dog world in modern business; this was in the 1950s. Many times, I feel that it has only worsened. I am gripped by fear when I walk into a shopping mall, and I see people with guns on their hips; It is like we live in an old-time western movie; one in which I do not want to experience; the OK Corrals at my local mall.

I remember the end of the movie The Electric Horseman when Jane Fonda asks Robert Redford where he would go, and his response was that he was returning to a simple life. What a dream! I want to live in a small town called The Lord is Here; where and when everyone lives by the simple law of love your neighbor. I want to give justice to the simple.

I am made by and fully known to God; Love is the simple word I live by; Jesus tells me to live for God in all that I do. This is simple wealth; the wealth of the unoppressed, the humble. By speaking with God, I create a place of simplicity, a place to cleanse my soul of the wickedness in the world, a place to open my heart to God in new and simple ways. The Lord is Here! From Proverbs: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit him, and he will make your paths straight (3:5,6). We are called by our names by our God of Love to live a life of love and generosity, a life of caring; a life of simple fellowship.

© Russell Kendall Carter

The easiest thing to do is to trust; the most difficult thing to do is trust. Basically, by trusting we give control to someone else. When we recognize the presence of God within us, it is easy to have complete trust. When we do not feel the presence within, we doubt! From Proverbs: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” (3:56)

This does not mean blind faith or trust! In church, we hear the words of Jesus; we have confidence in what we hear; we know that the Word of God is alive and well within us. We have no doubts; we trust Christ; we trust God. Jesus asks that we see all as children of God. We then recognize and praise the image of God in all whom we meet.

This is the difficult part; we are blinded by what the person looks like or what he represents. “Turn the other cheek!” How difficult! This is when we embrace, the trust we experience in church, when love is abound in us.

When I first began practicing this, I stumbled often; but now it is something I do automatically. And surprise, surprise! I now see the face of God, the spirit of Christ dwelling within each person I meet, and they become friends.

Try it and feel as blessed as I am with each new friend I meet.

© Russell Kendall Carter