A Spiritual Publication
Issue # 3
JUL 00-SEP 00
Durham, NC
ARTICLES:
Editor's Welcome

Spritual Counselor's Welcome

Serione's Message

Spiritual Chapel of Inner Light

Lessons Well Learned
 
 



Editor’s Welcome

Welcome to our third issue of the serenity news.  Please note that we are changing the format from Bi-monthly to quarterly.  This serves two purposes, it allows us more time between issues for our secular lives, and it allows for a little more content.   Unfortunately due to the crash of our PC and the crush of our work, we are late getting this to print and thus this will be our third quarter issue.
Diane and I have been through some exciting changes.   But if your interested you can read more about that inside.  You will also find more from Diane and Serione' and more about the church.  So welcome one and all to spring and summer, and rebirth and new life.  Love and light to you all, and my hopes that you will enjoy this issue.

Love and light to you all.
Jeffrey
 
 
 

Spiritual Counselor’s Welcome
Steve and Cheryl Emerick, our dear friends, came to visit us in March from Washington State.  Steve brought the gift of his beautiful voice to share and he also spoke about Faith at our church - "Spiritual Chapel Of Inner Light".  We have been grateful and in awe at how spirit truly works in our lives.  When we moved here, we never dreamed of starting a church.  Sherry and Carl Sellars were instrumental in this adventure and the 4 of us decided to create a space of acceptance, love, peace and fellowship for all who feel drawn to come.  We are pleased with the interest since it's conception and look forward to the months to come.  Gifts come in many forms and all are welcomed.  I also want to thank all of you for the referrals you have sent to me.  Word of mouth is the greatest advertising.  Remember to look under Specials/Incentives and Changes for the latest information.  I am excited to announce that Casi Timberlake will be performing Spiritual Counseling at Herbal Harvest - Look for her discount in the following pages.  I wish you a beautiful summer with all the ease and grace on any adventures you choose to embark on.

With Love, Diane
 
 

AS LONG AS YOU LIVE, KEEP LEARNING HOW TO LIVE
-SENECA-



 
 
With Love, From Spirit
 
 
 
 

As  summer brings to the forefront all of its glory and attributes for you to ponder, may you enjoy them with all of your being and grace.  As life gives much abundance - many do not notice.  We would ask that you allow yourself that moment to exemplify all of creation and realize that you are a part of its magnificence.  As you release the daily and past ails, you will bring yourself into a feeling of peace and connectedness.  As you begin to give thanks for your smaller successes you will create greater successes.  As you give thanks for your misfortunes and know that everything works perfectly for your greatest growth, you will learn the lesson.  If you wish to create harmony, release that which no longer serves you.  If you wish to become whole within yourself, ask and you shall receive.  When living your life according to what you have been taught, your path may be chaotic.  When living your life according to your heart filled desires, not those of anyone else, your path will become fine turned and filled with grace.  As you take one step toward that desire we will take two.  As the way is presented, step again and have faith that all well be well.  Some struggle to attain their desires - as the seed is sown and begins to sprout, we will accommodate, as you are ready.  Perseverance and patience is called for in times of stillness.  Stillness is temporary and will pass with great allegiance.  So we ask you, "What are your greatest desires?"  Express from your heart and watch for the path to be presented.
WE wish you love, light, peace, joy, prosperity, abundance, health and energy

SERIONE''
 
 

"Reality is merely an
illusion, albeit a very
persistent one. "
 
-Albert Einstein-

Spiritual Chapel of Inner Light

The new church goes on.  We have elected a board, started a bank account and obtained our EIN from the IRS.  We will be seeking tax exempt status after we incorporate as a not for profit corporation under North Carolina law.  Before that, we will be writing the bylaws, principles and documents needed for incorporation.
Did you notice the name.  I made it the title to display it well.  We changed it from the "Spiritualist…" to the "Spiritual Chapel of Inner Light".  The difference is partly that we have chosen to remain a separate church, and not affiliate with the NSAC as was discussed in earlier newsletters.  Please don't think less of Modern Spiritualism, we (the board) simply decided that it was in the best interest of this diverse and loving assembly that we maintain the freedom to define ourselves.  After all we are all on the path of Spiritual growth and the "Chapel" must grow with us, if it is to support that growth.
In fact one of the reasons for the departure from Modern Spiritualism is that for the most part we believe that life after death is a given and that our focus, and thus our guiding principles, must focus more upon matters of spiritual growth in this physical based world.  We certainly believe in and practice communication with Spirit in our service and worship, but we do not focus so much on proving the continuity of life.
One thing we do keep, from the Modern Spiritualist perspective, is the knowledge and recognition of the need for the careful development of our connections with the Divine.  In simple terms we practice discernment.  We, after all, do recognize that not all spirit entities who would wish to communicate with incarnate humans are in service of the highest and best, and also that not every person who claims to be giving information from spirit is doing so purely, accurately, or necessarily lovingly.  So we will continue to set our standards accordingly, asking for and discerning for those connections which serve the highest and best.
We are ready as a Church to welcome you to join as a member.  Membership will mean basically a vote on matters put before the Church body, such as board elections.  More about the privilages of membership will of course be available as we finish our bylaws, but for now, we do offer discounts for some church sponsored events.
For example, we are no longer having an open unfoldment group meeting after the first Sunday services (We still only meet first and third Sundays of each month).  Now we are offering a Spiritual Unfoldment Class, after each First Sunday service, after of course we enjoy refreshments and light hearted fellowship for about 30 to 60 minutes.  The Class will cost members $5 and non-members $10.  Membership will cost $25 (for one year), and can be made in installments, see any Church Board member for details.  Oh and please do stick around after service for the refreshments, even if you don't intend to make the classes.  This food and fellowship time is one of the best times for personal sharing of experience and gifts of spirit.
We hope you will want to join us for a service and see what we have to offer.  We still intend to serve and perhaps our mission statement says it well enough.  "The Spiritual Chapel Of Inner Light, sharing the light of guidance through the spirituality of a higher power, create a sacred place of acceptance, peace, love, and fellowship.  We empower the individual's spiritual growth by recognizing and honoring the existence of this divinity in everyone."  "Amen!"


Lessons Well learned

Many lessons were learned on the path that brought me to this moment, and not all of them were easy.  However all were valuable and I would like to share with you some of those more recent, and pertinent to my calling and the church.
Many big lessons started when Diane and I left Washington State.  When I look back I can still feel that surrealistic fog, born of shock, hyper-vigilance and excitement.  We were leaving everything familiar behind and starting on a grand adventure.  But as I was leaping in faith, and resigned myself to that, the “doing” became fairly easy.  The ease came in part from the simple focus, "I must get Diane and I to North Carolina."  Spiritually we knew that we were to stay as alert as possible to Spirit and synchronisity, AKA in the moment as much as possible.  So with that simple focus the only thing we had to do was drive kinda in the right direction, and see what spirit would bring.  Lesson: Be more spontaneous, aware, and to have faith in myself and my path.
But, upon arriving in the triangle the panic started.  "Now what am I to do, we’re here?"  I turned my attention to finding a place to roost, and assisting Diane with getting her business going.  With the active help of spirit all fell into place quickly and soon Diane's practice was up and running.  Lesson: Have faith in your path, take the first step and Spirit will take the next.
Now again the focus was on me, and I had always avoided directing my attention upon myself.  Up until that moment, this whole move was about Diane's service/business, now I would have to try and find myself.  Not an easy task as the real Jeffrey was wandering that mid-life wilderness, a bit lost.
I won't bore you with the details, but I tried many things only to fall into my own traps of self-doubt and insecurity.  This crab (I am a Cancer) was withdrawing into his shell, to the point of just surviving.  I was losing my faith and my drive, and feeling like a failure.  Yes, I still believed in Spirit, but not myself.  Then the Universe brought Diane and I two new friends, and soon the pieces started to fall into place, so that I could find my path again.
My life had been like a jigsaw puzzle, with no picture.  I knew that I wanted to serve, service truly gives me joy.  I also wanted to learn, but mostly about “spiritual science” not physics or math.  I loved wisdom, and consider myself something of a philosopher.  Well, through the joint commitment and support of my friends, the Sellars's, to start the Spiritual Chapel of Inner light, I was lead to assume the role of acting minister.  Suddenly, I find I had fallen into a role where all of those pieces fit.  Pictures started appearing on the puzzle pieces and I started to see the Divine pattern resolving.  The months I had spent in limbo, out of work, and running out of hope, in survival mode, were just about over.  Lesson: Do what you love, examine your interests, not just your skills, or what others say you are good at.
But I wasn’t completely out of the woods yet.  Real world problems, finances and the strain of poverty, were still bearing down hard, until I realized that I could go out and get a job.  Now, that may not sound like a revelation to most, especially not for a guy who hadworked since he was 13 years old, but you have to remember, I had started this great new adventure to follow a spiritual path.  In my perfectionist mind that meant I should be only doing the work of Spirit, and not be worried about money.  And the Lord did provide, we always ate, we had a roof and warmth, but we never quite "manifested" the kind of living conditions we wanted.  Lesson: Don't let your expectations stand in the way of Universal gifts.
Soon, after I finally removed my own blocks, the job presented itself.  Which brings me to my latest lessons.  In this new job, I found that I loved being happy, and bringing light into the workplace.  My job is to inspect for quality of the product prior to shipping, and thus to make better the end product.  I found that I had a unique opportunity to serve, my employer and fellow employees in other ways.  I helped to create new lines of communication for the plant workers, and management.  I work to help each to understand the other a little bit better.  Rather than just joining in with the bitch sessions, I joke a little, then offer another view.  Perhaps I am even creating a new sense of hope that things could start to get better.  So I learned that there is great joy in being out among people covertly loving them and bringing light into daily mundane tasks.  I had practiced this before, or so I thought, but now after the long drought, I was utterly refreshed by the experience.  It is really fun treating people nice and watching them try to figure out what I want from them.  Eventually they may realize that all I want from them is a smile.
So my current lessons are about balancing my time and budgeting my energy to tend to my secular job, the Church, this newsletter and my web site.  I'm still learning just how to do all that, but enjoying the process.
The bottom line of the article is a lesson about lessons.  I am sure that there are even more lessons waiting in the wings, in this balancing act, of work and spiritual life, but one lesson I learned well; my spiritual life must take precedence over the mundane.  So if this job becomes too much of a strain it will go, but more likely, I will simply not accept any promotion that pushes me beyond my ability to focus on my spiritual life.  If my career destiny peaks early, so what, moving up the corporate ladder is not my intent, to support my family and empower our own growth is.  And so sweet Spirit, let the lessons continue, I like what I have become because of them.



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