2000 Vol 2, June

I NNER L IGHT M INISTRIES NEWSLETTER VOLUME 11 NUMBER 2

JUNE, 2000

NEVER LOST

by Jim Gordon, President of ILM

H

ave you ever gotten lost while traveling?

Boy, I have. You see, in many of the cities I travel to, I come in by plane — and then I have to rent a car. I’m sure many of you know the procedure. The first thing I do once I get off the plane is go over to the car rental counter and pick up my contract and keys to the rental car. Then, if I was smart enough to plan ahead for the trip, I take out a map and begin to figure out where I am and how to get to the hotel where I am staying. If I have not planned ahead, I ask directions from someone at the car rental counter or in the rental lot, and then do my best to follow their directions. Since I am primarily visual in how I take in information and words do little for me, I find that I sometimes get lost trying to follow spoken advice. If so, I then have to pull over and ask directions, only to get more words about where I am and where I need to go to get to my hotel. If I am lucky the service station I stop at will have maps of the city — if so I quickly buy one and then ask the attendant to give me directions by showing me on the map what I need to do. All in all, for me renting a car can be a ‘pain’.

However, I recently rented a car and found something that greatly changed my experience with travel.

Upon getting into the car I found, attached to the dash, a NeverLost system. This is a computer that is connected to a satellite tracking system known as a GPS or Ground Positioning Satellite. I had never seen one of these, so I decided to turn it on and see what it could do. What happened is just amazing to me. First I was asked to enter the city I was in, and then I was shown on a small screen my exact location on a map of the city. I then entered the address of the hotel I was looking for and within a minute or two a soothing female voice began giving me directions and the map began to show me the route to take. Soon I was driving and following the directions on the NeverLost System. “Next turn to the right in 3/5ths miles. Turn right at next intersection.” These words guided me along the streets toward the hotel. “Bing

Bong, Bing Bong,” a chime would sound, telling me to turn now. Well I simply fell in love with my soothing NeverLost — and I named her “Karen.”

Days passed and I turned the car in and was off to another city. On arriving I asked if they could get me a car with the NeverLost System. Sure enough, and I was once again guided by the sweet voice of my Karen: “Please follow the highlighted route. Please return to the highlighted route.” The voice was ever patient, letting me know when I was off course and needed to return to the highlighted route. When I would truly mess up and could not seem to get back to the highlighted course, Karen would simply say, “Recalculating course.” Soon new directions would be given to get me to the place I wanted to go to. After a while it became a little game to see if I could truly ever get off course, or if Karen could yet again recalculate my course and put me back on track. No matter what I did, whether intentional or by mistake, Karen could always recalculate and get me back on course.

A few days later, while I was meditating, I began to see that I wanted a NeverLost System in my daily life. I would love having someone telling me, “Jim, you are off course and need to return to the highlighted course for your life to proceed.” As I continued my meditation, I came to realize that I do have a ‘NeverLost System’ ever guiding me and pointing the way. My NeverLost System is my soul. My soul knows where it came from and knows what it came here to fulfill. And my soul knows where it is going.

I realized that whenever I am feeling lost in my life it is only because I am not using the NeverLost System that God gave me, that instead, I am relying on my mind, my emotions, or the voices of others rather than my soul. My soul guides me with loving, and directs me with a voice that is still and gentle. Ever patient, my soul will let me get off course for a time if that is what I feel I want to experience, but sooner or later my soul’s gentle voice comes into my meditation or my dreams and says to me, “Jim, please return to the highlighted route for your life to stay on course.”

Eventually I do, knowing that in returning to the highlighted course I am returning to the Path of Loving that is God’s roadway home to Him for me and all His creation.

BUT GEORGE IS NOT HERE!

by Laura Kesten-Beaver, ILM Minister

so matter of factly. So I wrote the story down in my journal, rewriting the boys last comment, “But George is not here,” and then I decided to start a dialog with myself about it in my journal. I wrote: “So who else isn’t here?” I answered: I am suddenly aware of feeling the absolutely wonderful freedom of being alone — no parent, no teacher, no boss, no family, no animals, no responsibilities, no fears, no critics (myself or others), no “Georges”....... Just me. I am here.

My thoughts then traveled back to the father-andson encounter and I wondered who George was. Was he an older brother, or a friend, or maybe he was a cat, or a monkey or squirrel? I laughed at the absurdity of who George might be.

I then wrote down this question in my journal: Laugh if you like, but tell me who else might George be for you, absurd or otherwise?

I wrote the answer furiously in my journal: Besides no parents, no teachers, no bosses, no family or animals, no responsibilities, no fears, no critics, George is also my feelings of negativity, chaos, overwhelm, rush-hour, anger, aches and pains, impatience, judgment. It is also the voice of negativity and negative belief systems inside my head, and the judgement the voice places upon me and others. All of the above!

I stopped writing and in my head I heard the little boy say again, “But George isn’t here.” I smiled. His words were a statement of the present. He was present in the moment, and rather than wondering if George could or couldn’t climb this tree, he knew that George, after all, was not present, so why bother wondering?

And so I wrote: But none of ‘my Georges’ are here either!

And it was in that moment that I understood the “Aha!” I wrote: Not wondering about ‘my Georges’ while I am here at the park means being present in the moment, and in greater truth, experiencing freedom. Freedom is being present in the moment, being present in God’s Moment. It is the stilling of the mind, putting to rest that noisey chatter in my head that wants me to believe that I should be something other than who I really am, or that I should be doing something other than what I am doing. And in freedom, I experience God as God is in all that is. Just as the young boy did.

The boy and his father left the park. There was some talk of ice cream. I sat a little longer on my park bench, being in the present with God and in the absence of ‘my Georges’.

H

ave you ever listened to a story and felt, “Aha! That’s just what I needed to hear!”

But you couldn’t really explain what it meant to you right away — you just connected with the feeling or the knowing of it on some non-intellectual level? I recently had the pleasure of experiencing one of these stories. I weaved this story, which I am about to share with you, into my own life experiences and subconscious belief systems, and then the “Aha!” eventually became clear to me.

This “Aha” story began on a beautiful Spring afternoon while I was visiting one of Austin, Texas’ best kept secrets — Mayfield Park. The park has several ponds which are sparsely decorated with flowering lilies and are surrounded by large and plentiful trees. And as an added bonus — peacocks roam the grounds. I sat on a bench near one of the ponds in order to write in my journal. I was feeling a lot of stress that day — the stress of all that I still needed to accomplish ‘ASAP’, the stress of a personal situation with childhood-family members, and also feeling a lot of stress in my body — when God sent me a little gift. It was a father and his young son. The two of them were walking around the park looking at ‘this’ and commenting on ‘that’ when the father spotted one of the park’s finest trees. Its smooth green trunk reached high into the blue sky; its first branch began at about six feet. As the father eyed this beauty, he said to his son, “How ‘bout climbing that tree.” It was more of an exclamation than a question really.

“It’s a big tree,” replied the young boy as he tilted his head far back and looked up its trunk to the tippy top.

The two of them stood admiring the tree. “I bet George could climb it,” the father commented, quite innocently actually.

“But George isn’t here,” the young boy said matter of factly.

“You’re right, George is not here,” echoed the father.

The two of them then walked on, hand in hand.

The young boy’s comment to his father: “But George isn’t here,” resonated inside of me. I smiled and said to myself, “Aha!” And I just sat there for a few moments, enjoying that ‘aha feeling’ throughout my whole being. Then I began wondering about the encounter, trying to understand the magical effect it had on me. I knew that the young boy’s words were truly words of wisdom, in part because he said them 2

I NNER L IGHT M INISTRIES

CALENDAR

C LASSES & P ROGRAMS : J UNE - S EPTEMBER , 2000 P RESENTED

BY J IM G ORDON : For additional information, call Laura Kesten at 512-894-0992

THREE M EDITATIONS

NEW TAPE

NEW TAPE

by Jim Gordon

Starry Sky Meditation, A Healing Meditation and Balancing The Consciousness Meditation In my walk on the spiritual path the one thing I have found most significant has been the practice of spiritual techniques of meditation to help to awaken my inner consciousness. It is the practicing of these spiritual techniques on a regular basis that has helped me to have inner experiences, enabling me to know myself more fully as a living spirit,not just a body, in the world.

– Jim Gordon

To Order: Each tape is $8.95 (Please include $3 per order for shipping and handling.) Checks may be made payable to Inner Light Ministries and sent to: Inner Light Ministries, P.O. Box 164332, Austin, Texas 78716-4332. Please include your name, address and phone number. Allow 2-4 weeks for delivery.

TO TOUCH THE HEART with ILM Ministers: Jim Gordon, Laura Kesten, Steven McAfee at Yarrow in Augusta, MI DATE: Friday, June 16 - Sunday, June 18 TIME: 7:30 pm Friday - 1:00 pm Sunday COST: $225 For further information call Steven McAfee at 219-485-2167.

We offered this retreat last November in the Midwest and in March in Austin. For many of us, this was a powerful retreat with a depth of love and joy; we feel this program has been truly blessed. Please join us for the first time — or for a second time — as we come together to experience new insights and greater depths of the heart. We will focus on the qualities of our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual hearts — qualities of unconditional loving, neutrality, forgiveness, and living in the presence of loving — so that we may continue to grow into the true spirit of who we are.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

ILM R EGISTRATION F ORM : Please send check (payable to ILM) along with this registration form to: S TEVEN M C A FEE , 6228 L OMBARD P LACE , F ORT W AYNE , IN 46815 (Please print)

T O T OUCH T HE H EART

N AME ( S ): A DDRESS & Z IP C ODE : D AYTIME P HONE :

E VENING P HONE : 3

(This pullout ILM Calendar continues on pages 4, 5 and 6.)

I NNER L IGHT M INISTRIES CALENDAR PRESENTED BY LAURA KESTEN: For additional information, call Laura Kesten at 512-894-0992

W W : This workshop is the same program as Writer Within for adults (see T description). The topics for writing, however, are specifically designed to interest 12-15 year olds.

EEN

RITER

June 28

ITHIN

Wed. 9 am - 2 pm

Kalamazoo Residence Inn

Donation

The Writer Within workshop is designed to engage us, The W : W Writers, in communicating more naturally between emotion-and-thought and pen-and-paper,

THE

RITER

ITHIN

thereby unfolding more of who we are. The emphasis is on the process, not on form, technique, or product. A safe environment is created both for the writer and sharer.

July 1

Sat. 9 am - 5 pm

Leila Bradfield’s home – Kalamazoo, MI

Donation

P EACEMAKER:

In an Iroquois Native American legend dating back to 1200 A.D., the Peacemaker and his allies created a peaceful democracy among the five troubled nations of the northeastern woodlands. Together they persuaded the people to change old belief systems and embrace what the Peacemaker called a “New Mind.” Jean Houston describes the New Mind as “a radical change in consciousness that opens itself to a new order of health, justice, and sacred power.” We offer the incredible teachings of the Peacemaker in this powerful workshop as an opportunity to begin letting go of negative belief systems and behaviors that no longer serve us, and then begin to embrace the New Mind, thus re-connecting with our own peacemaker hearts within. The registration fee includes lodging, meals, all materials, and Jean Houston’s book, A Manual for the PeaceMaker. (Registration fees for this workshop vary due to the expenses of the lodging.)

Aug. 25-27 Oct. 13-15

Still Meadow Retreat Center Portland OR Pretty Lake Retreat Center Mattawan, MI

$225 $125

This is a weekend for “pampering” at the YMCA OMEN’S “PAMPER” WEEKEND: W Outdoor Retreat Center, on Sherman Lake. Included in this weekend: one 30 minute massage, one 30 minute Reiki session while listening to music specifically designed to enhance deep relaxation, a foot massage, a footbath, and a session on a “chi-machine.” We’ll learn ways to support our minds and bodies through aromatherapy, vitamins and herbs, self-massage, meditation, and humor. We will also participate in a really cool body movement session specifically designed to accommodate both the lowmovement person and the high energy mover. And ladies — we cannot forget the facials! The YMCA also offers a recreation center including an indoor swimming pool and gymnasium for our indulgence.

All of the activities are at your option. Sound wonderful? So come and join us on this wonderfully supportive, relaxing, and “pampering” weekend.

Sept. 8-10

YMCA Sherman Lake Retreat Center

A C IRCLE

OF

Augusta, MI

$145

W OMEN :

A “SENSES” MEDITATION — In this guided meditation, experience a deeper peace throughout your whole being, bringing peace and stillness to the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of yourself. We will use a variety of aromas, gentle sounds, and deep relaxation music to enhance this process for you.

Sept. 22

Fri. 7 pm - 9 pm

ILM Center – Austin, TX N/C • IN THE HEART OF HEARTS — What is your truth? How can we begin to put our “truth” into words and then into action? Participate in a process of getting in touch with your passionate truth, and then the process of moving forward into “next steps.”

Oct. 27

Fri. 7 pm - 9 pm

ILM Center – Austin, TX 4

N/C

I NNER L IGHT M INISTRIES CALENDAR PRESENTED BY STEVEN R. MCAFEE: For additional information, call Steven at 219-485-2167

T

UESDAY CLASSES: Classes are held from 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm at Unity Church, 3232 Crescent Ave., Ft. Wayne, IN. Classes include spiritual teaching, music, meditation, practical application, and group sharing.

June 6, 13, 20

S

Aug. 1, 8, 15, 22, 29

Sept. 5, 12, 19, 26

Oct. 3, 10, 17, 24

MYSTICAL BIBLE STUDY:

Discover the mystical teachings in the Bible and how to apply them in your life. Every Sunday 9:00 am - 10:00 am, 6228 Lombard Place, Ft. Wayne, IN (please note that Sunday meetings are not held on the weekends when ILM workshops or retreats are scheduled; call Steven for up-to-date information). Families are welcome.

UNDAY

S

UNDAY SERVICES : Steven periodically conducts worship services as a guest minister for various churches and spiritual groups in the Ft. Wayne area. Please call for a current schedule.

COMMUNITY NIGHTS:

The Ft. Wayne ILM “community” comes together for potlucks, music nights, video nights, and outings. Most of these events are also suitable for children. They are usually scheduled spontaneously as an inspiration arises within the group.

July 25

Campfire songs and stories

M

In response to a request by participants in a recent workshop, YSTICAL STUDY GROUP: we are now forming a monthly study group in the greater Kalamazoo area. Participation in the group is still open. We will study mystical Jewish and Christian teachings. Our study materials will consist of two tape series by Rabbi David Cooper, The Mystical Kabbalah and The Holy Chariot, and a book by Thomas Merton entitled The New Man. We will learn meditations and practices that draw us closer to God and closer to one another. I will meet with the group every other month in a day-long workshop from 11:00 am - 4: 00 pm. On the intervening months, the group will meet without me to review and discuss the tapes together. The monthly meetings will be held in the lovely, country home of Jack and Paula Ann Roach, near Richland, Michigan. In October, we will have a full weekend retreat together. Donation requested for all events below.

W ORKSHOPS

WITH

S TEVEN will be from 11 am - 4 pm in Richland, MI on the following

Saturdays (Donation requested): Saturday, June 10 Saturday, August 5

and

Sunday, December 3

G ROUP M EETINGS will be on Friday afternoon (exact time TBA) in Richland, MI on the following Fridays (Donation requested): Friday, July 28 Friday, September 22

R ETREAT

WITH

and

Friday, November 17

S TEVEN : Cost and Location TBA

Oct. 20-22

Fri. 7:30 pm - Sun. 2:30 pm

S

PIRITUAL RENEWAL R ETREAT : Though the calendar says that New Year’s Day is January 1, for many of us, with the onset of our new back-to-school-and-work activities, it feels as if our New Year actually begins in the fall. Come join us for the weekend and begin your New Year with a time of quiet rest, reflection and rejuvenation.

Sept. 29-Oct. 1

Fri. 7:30 pm - Sun. 1:00 pm

GilChrist, Three Rivers, MI $100

For updated information on any event or series, please call the presenter or contact person listed with the program.

5

Steven’s Calendar continues on next page

I NNER L IGHT M INISTRIES CALENDAR

LIVING IN THE HEART OF THE BELOVED with ILM Ministers: Jim Gordon, Laura Kesten,Steven McAfee, Brian Yeakey TIME: November 3-5, Fri. 7:30 pm - Sun. 1:00 pm PLACE: Seasons, Fetzer Institute — Kalamazoo, MI COST: $100 The staff of I NNER L IGHT M INISTRIES invites you to join us in taking another step on the great journey of opening our hearts to Spirit. Over the past year we have been offering the T O T OUCH T HE H EART workshop, where we focused on balancing our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual hearts. Now in our newest workshop, L IVING IN THE H EART OF THE B ELOVED , we will explore the spiritual heart in greater depth. Topics include: awakening the loving within, and ‘living the loving’ as a day-to-day practice. This workshop provides us all a great opportunity to experience the joy, love, and peace that come as our spiritual hearts open more and more. Note: attendance at a T O T OUCH THE H EART workshop is NOT a prerequisite.

(For further information call Steven McAfee at 219-485-2167) ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

ILM R EGISTRATION F ORM : Please send check (payable to ILM) along with this registration form to: S TEVEN M C A FEE , 6228 L OMBARD P LACE , F ORT W AYNE , IN 46815 L IVING

(Please print)

IN THE

H EART

OF THE

B ELOVED

N AME ( S ): A DDRESS & Z IP C ODE : D AYTIME P HONE :

E VENING P HONE :

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Y OU A RE I NVITED T O J OIN ILM Have you been taking advantage of ILM's programs lately — our classes, workshops and retreats?

If so, you are cordially invited to become a Member of Inner Light Ministries. Becoming a member of ILM is a powerful way to affirm your affinity with us and the work we are doing in the world. So, if this sounds good to you, please fill out the form below: P LEASE CONSIDER ME A MEMBER O F INNER L IGHT MINISTRIES: Signature: Printed Name: Address: Mail to : ILM, PO Box 1086, Dripping Springs, TX 78620 There are no "strings attached" to ILM membership: you do not have to give up any other memberships you may hold, neither will you ever be solicited for money by ILM. 6

W HO ME?

by Steven McAfee ILM Midwest Coordinator

experience by hitting me with overwhelming feelings of inadequacy. I thought, “If I’m really not qualified, maybe I’ll fail. Maybe I’ll ruin everything. Maybe I’ll make a fool of myself.” I looked at my own abilities and saw that they were nothing special, especially compared with other members of the group that was sponsoring the project. My ego kept saying, “Who are you to be doing this?” It tried to convince me that I had to be better than everyone else to deserve this opportunity. It kept pushing me to compare myself to what others knew and how they did things. As a result, I found myself uneasy, feeling either superior or inferior to everyone. All in all, it was a rather miserable way to begin this project.

But with Jim’s simple words also coming to mind again and again, I began to have a growing sense of awareness that, if Spirit had called me for this, Spirit would see me through it. If I would rely on Spirit and not myself, I could learn to do what needed to be done. Over the years, as I have grown in the process of entrusting myself and my work to Spirit, I have found it accomplishing things through me that I know I could not have done. In my teaching, in my music, and in my life, I have learned that I often grow into what Spirit has asked me to do after I answered the call and said “yes,” not before. I am learning that “God does not call those who are qualified; He qualifies those He calls.” The opening God needs to reveal His Spirit of love in this world is not special skill, or eloquence, not even wisdom or talent — it is a willing heart. When the heart turns to God, it no longer focuses on its own abilities or its lack thereof; it focuses on God’s. God has all the tools needed to create wonders. He is the Master Artist, life is the canvas, and we are merely his brushes. In the hands of a Master, even a very average looking brush can create a masterpiece. The canvas is waiting, and the Artist is willing. Let’s be brushes!

S

everal years ago, before I began working for Inner Light Ministries, I was surprised and honored to be placed in charge of a spiritual service project, which I considered to be important. When I first realized that I was being asked to do this project, I thought, “Who me? Out of everyone else who could have been chosen, Spirit picked me for this!” So, I went to my friend Jim Gordon to tell him about it. With a mixture of pride and trepidation, I said, “Jim, I can’t believe that I’m the most qualified person to do this. I can’t believe I’m really the one Spirit wanted to do this work.” In his calm, gentle voice Jim replied, “Oh, you’re not.” Then he added, “There are quite a few people who are much more prepared than you to do this service.” (Ever feel like you’re a big party balloon that all of the helium has gone out of and now you’re just laying there on the floor?) Jim continued, “But you were the only one that Spirit found willing.”

(Suddenly my balloon was not only floating again, it was soaring.)

In his own mild-mannered way, Jim has accomplished something I never knew was possible: he simultaneously deflated my ego and uplifted my spirit. Though I am not sure whether Jim would even remember this incident, it taught me a lesson I have often since called to mind. I realized that my spirit was thrilled with the opportunity to reach out and express itself in loving action. Meanwhile, my ego was using my service to make me feel more important and more valuable than all the others who had not been chosen. I could clearly see the difference between how my ego approaches a situation and how my spirit approaches that same situation. So, from then on, I have always choosen Spirit and am no longer influenced by ego, right? Not exactly.

Not easily defeated, my ego rebounded from this 7

I NNER L IGHT M INISTRIES NEWSLETTER ABOUT ILM

M OONROCK

by Jessica Godbey

INNER LIGHT MINISTRIES (ILM) is a nonprofit outreach organization founded in the fundamental principles of ancient esoteric Christianity. It is dedicated to the development and balancing of the fourfold nature of the individual. Towards this goal, it provides education and services concerned with the integration of the spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical aspects of the self, and also provides publications and materials that aid in this process.

Among its fundamental tenets is that we trully are “temples of the Holy Spirit.” As we seek and express this presence within, we find the peace, love, power, and wisdom we all so earnestly desire. The many services of ILM are geared towards this path of individual unfoldment—such as meditation, study, and prayer on an individual and group basis.

Service to humanity and the planet is ILM’s

ILM:

second major emphasis, and ILM encourages individual service, in any of a wide variety of possible forms, as a vital aspect of our daily experience.

Please write or phone for more information about ILM.

Executive Office: Jim Gordon, 203 Buckeye Trail, Austin, TX 78746; Business Office: Tom Beaver, P.O. Box 1086, Dripping Springs, TX 78620; Midwest Office: Steven McAfee, 6228 Lombard Place, Fort Wayne, IN 46815

Inner Light Ministries logo

I broke off a piece of the moon, and placed it on my shelf And in doing so, I found a piece of myself It had been hiding-waiting just to know That when it saw the moonrock, it could begin to glow It radiated and glimmered just beneath my skin People all turned to see, women, children, men The light shone from my eyes and the tips of my hair And I realized I had found the light that had always been there.

Editorial and Publishing Office P.O. Box 164332 Austin, Texas 78716-4332 Phone: (512) 894-0992

FORWARDING SERVICE REQUESTED