Audio version read by Rev. Steven Lane Taylor, B.Msc.
“Why Life? The Purpose of It All”

What’s the meaning . . . the purpose to it all?

With the exception of philosophers, theologians, and a few deep thinkers, most people live their lives without questioning—why?  Be it ever so briefly, why does tend to surface in most people’s lives at the time of some life-changing event which greatly impacts their emotions, such as a transition (that is, death), a painful or crippling illness or accident, the tragedies of war, and similar experiences which shake the foundations of an otherwise structured life.

When things are going right, a person gets caught up in the positive quality of life and feels no need to question.  However, when things go painfully wrong, a person questions.  If life contains so many experiences that are filled with pain and sorrow, why live at all?

Read More

Audio version read by Rev. Steven Lane Taylor, B.Msc.
“The Effectiveness and Non-Effectiveness of Spiritual Practices”

Do prayers, visualizations, affirmations or other spiritual practices really work, or if they only work sometimes, why?

This question is repeatedly asked by many—by those who ask for prayer, and by those who pray or use some other spiritual practice for themselves or others.  With the progression in spiritual awakening, the answers change.

As an example, in the old-time, basic fundamentalist religion, prayer for most people is a pleading, begging, or hoping for some desired result.  As a person moves in spiritual awareness to a higher plane of consciousness or understanding—such as that of New Thought or basic metaphysics—the pleading and begging cease, and prayer becomes an affirming that, through God’s Power, the desired effect is already so.

Read More

Audio version read by Rev. Steven Lane Taylor, B.Msc.
“Living in and by Mystical Grace”

Every day that we awaken from sleep, it is by Grace. To take a breath and to be alive is not by an act of personal ego will, but because of Grace. Some people may argue that the will of their personal egos caused them to survive some difficult time in their lives, but it was not—that was only the illusion. In truth we survive by Grace; it was not yet our cosmic time to surrender our physical existence in the Ultimate Cosmic Scheme of Things, where nothing is by chance or coincidence, and where all is perfectly orchestrated in a harmonious cosmic melody.

So often the phrase, “by the Grace of God,” is used by people, but what is its meaning? Its obvious meaning is that something has happened or will happen because Universal Presence or God allowed it to happen or will allow it to happen. Grace then could be thought of as the Will of God—not the personal ego’s will—having supreme or ultimate power over all things and human existence, and even life itself.

Read More

Audio version read by Rev. Steven Lane Taylor, B.Msc.
“Union with God — in Each Other”

There is only peace in Oneness, and it can rightly be said, there is only Love in such Oneness.  Extending still further—in the peace and love that is Oneness is Allness, and Allness can only be described as God.

On this earthly plane of existence, there has always been conflict—if not between nations, then certainly between other groups or individuals.  Except for a few awake, mystically enlightened souls, this is the way it has been on the Earthly plane throughout history.  Certainly, there have been periods of peace, but just as certainly, those periods of peace have fallen prey to conflict.

For souls who pray for peace on earth—take comfort, for there is peace to be found in this universe, but not for the mass majority on Earth.  Mystically understood, there are countless numbers of soul-groupings throughout the universe—both on the physical plane of existence, as well as in many other dimensions of existence.  Each grouping of souls is at a certain level of awareness spiritually.  Each grouping sees and understands each other and God at a certain level of spiritual awareness.  Every grouping of souls incarnates into dimensions of energy consciousness with which they are in harmonic energy attunement.  There are planes of existence for baby souls, old souls, and for those who are in between.

Read More

Audio version read by Rev. Steven Lane Taylor, B.Msc.
“War and Peace—A Mystical Perspective”

Souls who wish peace on earth—in order to enjoy what peace has to offer to themselves and to those they love—dream of peace on this planetary dimension.  In the history of this earth plane, there have been times of peace depending on one’s geographical location; and, thus, a person might idealize that permanent, lasting peace is possible.

Were it only so!

With mystical awareness comes the knowing that on this earth plane, it will never be so.  This is a plane of existence whose very existence is based on dualism or opposites.  There is hot and cold, pleasure or pain, love or loneliness. So, should it not then follow, that there is also war and peace?

This is a plane of existence that is a landing place for souls who are caught up in conflicts within themselves, and thus incarnate into an environment that is in harmony with the turmoil within themselves.  Not being at a point in spiritual awakening where they can deal with the inner demons that plague their souls, they are easy recruits to project inner conflicts into environmental conflicts or wars.

Read More

Audio version read by Rev. Steven Lane Taylor, B.Msc.
“The Beginning of Wisdom”

The first step to wisdom is to admit you know nothing.  Yet, until one is ready, this is almost an impossible thing to admit.  The false personal ego identity, which may claim to know so much, rebels when considering that all its thoughts add up to nothing.  It does not matter whether the accumulation of what one believes to know has been gathered through the practical experience of daily life, through formal education, or through religious teachings.  All is stored up in a make-believe identity of the personal ego, which prides itself that it is a storehouse of such knowledge.

Such accumulated knowledge, however, is not to be classified as wisdom.  A person may be quite knowledgeable by worldly standards, yet totally lacking in wisdom.  For any person who possesses wisdom—and there are but a few on this physical earth dimension—there is an awareness that goes beyond being knowledgeable.

Until we can empty our consciousness of any belief that what we know has any significant value in the eternal scheme of things, there can be no release to wisdom. As most people base their identities on their accumulated knowledge, to challenge such knowledge is to challenge their very sense of identity or existence, as they perceive it.  The greater such accumulated knowledge, the greater is the task to declare, “For all I know—I know nothing.”  For, again, the false sense of personal ego identity is threatened.

Read More

Audio version read by Rev. Steven Lane Taylor, B.Msc.
“Self-Will versus Destiny”

On this earthly plane of existence, humanity exists in a Cosmic House of Mirrors.  What seems to be reality is, in truth, but an illusion of limited five-sense perception.  If one is to understand one’s own life, one must understand life itself.  And to do this, a person must be able to discern what is real from that which is not.

Throughout recorded history the subject of will has played a significant role.  The idea of exerting one’s personal will to make things happen in one’s life plays a major part in giving value or existence to the false sense of personal ego identity.  Many books and commentaries have applauded the use of will power to accomplish goals in life.  Exerting one’s will over others is often suggested as a means to an end. The world is filled with countless people who are going through the motions of pushing forth through life by what they believe is the power of their personal wills.

For a moment let’s suppose that some people believe that their self-wills are causing them to accomplish what they are in life.  Of course, to have self-will necessitates basing one’s identity on a false sense of personal ego selfhood:  A person is thought to be one self or identity, and others are seen to be different personal identities.  Thinking in this fashion means that one’s mind is accepting that everyone is separate from one another.

Read More