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Daily Reflection
January 18, 2022
“Playing ping pong in Japan, I saw the best way to win any game is to never to think about the score. The point is to make as many people as possible around you feel that they are winners. The opposite of winning isn't losing. It's failing to see the larger picture.” – Pico lyer, What Ping Pong Taught Me About Life (Ted Talk)
Affirmative prayer: Today, I am a beneficial presence, abiding in unity consciousness. I surrender the illusion of separation and the stress of competition. I lay down the scorecard, realizing that the only point systems that matter are points of love, points of light, points of connection. I move from adversaries to allies, from one-upmanship to one life. I am blessed, and I am a blessing. Thank you, God, forever. Amen.
This state of mind and heart, this state of “beingness” takes us right to the heart of the energy of the miracle worker, the energy of Jesus as “Miracle Worker” an energy that is available and possible for all of us. This past fall, we have been exploring the 12 Conditions of a Miracle by Dr. Todd Michael and working through the miracle of the loaves and fishes to discern what those twelve conditions are and how to co-create them. We began with emptying and then aligning our deepest selves with Spirit. Then we moved to asking, maximizing our good by becoming aware of what we already have and then stepping into the flow by giving which comes from the energy of our true essence and Spirit. T
Now, the next step was very interesting because it is a step of humility, of recognizing in every way that the Source of our realization of a miracle flows from a higher place, and we are grounded so that we can be in a position to receive our good. Then we visualize and imagine how it feels to realize our good and a larger good for all as it flows from Source, not from us. Our response is gratitude, to speak well of and to bless all our resources and to bless all that is in our world, letting go of cynicism, doubt, and negativity. Our focus is on what we have, what we need, and our heart’s desires, not on lack or what is wrong. That is the 8th Condition for a miracle.
The last condition we explored before the holidays was that of “Act as if!” This condition calls us to take action, to realize that we do have agency to call forth this miracle-making energy. The bottom line is you have to come through with your end of the deal if the Universe is going to do its part and magnify your efforts in response. Today we explore Conditions 10, 11, and 12 to complete our journey to comprehend and practice creating the 12 Conditions for a miracle. The last three go together very well and they are “Engaging the Cycle, Receiving, and Recycling.” So here we go!
Let’s look at Condition 10- “Engaging the Cycle” and the Loaves and Fishes miracle is a circular flow of energy and resources. Every great spiritual teacher throughout history has taught that as we give, so shall we receive, the return is a reflection of what we have given or released. What goes around comes around and the manifestation process occurs when the energy is looping back. As Jesus emptied himself, he drew to him all the people, the young boy with the resources, and then in that fullness he grounds the people and himself to receive, he expresses deep gratitude and then completes the cycle by giving away what he has which then allows the Universe to magnify it.
Let us stop and realize that in establishing all the conditions of a miracle, something more actually happens. As Dr. Michael states on p. 136:
When a circular current is established in conjunction with the other conditions of a miracle, resources can actually multiply exponentially as they pass around the circuit. Seeds that are sown by a miracle worker can grow many times over to produce an enormous harvest.
We can see this in how electricity flows through a transformer and is amplified and how the food we eat is converted by our bodies into a degree of energy that far exceeds the energy that is taken in due in part to the energy and light of our consciousness. Our life-sustaining systems are a part of the life-sustaining energy flow of Spirit, the flow of life and love that sustains the Universe.
When we really “get it” that we are an integral part of that life-sustaining flow, then we can become true miracle workers in every sense. A key to understanding this is to remain focused on the process, the flow, NOT the outcome. The beginning and the end are forever joined in consciousness and when we try to separate them, measure the outcome and the “profit” or the results, then we really mess it up for sure.
I was reminded of this last Sunday at the MLK Celebration Service at Friendship Baptist Church a Black Baptist Church that is truly filled with the Spirit. What I heard, saw, and truly felt was the energy of people who were truly filled with the Holy Spirit and joy of the Lord, unlinked to anything other than the pure joy of the experience of the holy. It was powerful and meaningful. My part of the service was to give my short description of what the Dream Seed is all about, to support kids as they move out of the foster care system. I also asked those present to pray for the kids because we are not getting many applicants right now. And then I shared a message from Elle Wolfe, one of the past recipients of a Dream Seed grant.
When Pastor Moses Ward got up to give his sermon, he shared that he was one of “those kids” and had been in the foster care system and it had moved him to tears to hear what Elle had to say. After the service, we chatted a bit and he said he and Friendship Baptist would continue to do whatever they could to support the Dream Seed. To my ears that was the voice of Spirit speaking, manna from heaven. While our actual “profit” was far less than previous years, what has manifested is someone who will truly care enough to carry this Dream Seed scholarship program forward once I am retired. The energy of the miracle of the Dream Seed will continue to move! We are blessed!
And so we go with the flow of our good, following up as needed, keeping faith when the flow seems to slow, and making use of all our time, talents, and treasure to remain in the flow of all the good that is in the Universe. We are all part of this “God Team” that is called to amplify the flow of good into what we call miracles and our prayer is to stay awake and alert and to do our part when we are called to do so.
That brings us to Condition 11, which is all about “Receiving.” The words of the story of the loaves and fishes that signify the process of receiving are “and all ate and were satisfied.” Often we mistakenly think that receiving is the easy part, but that is not true. We can so easily put limits on what we receive by how we think about ourselves and our worthiness. So often, we fail to recognize our good as our lower self clings to what we have in fear of losing even that. Separating the wheat from the chaff can be tricky, especially since we can get easily conned into believing what the world or race consciousness thinks is “enough” or “right” or “sophisticated” or “cool.”
We have all, no doubt, at some time or other, felt awkward about receiving what we thought was more than we should expect. That is our human ego at work, friends, and it leads to some of the saddest outcomes we can imagine. Doubt, fear, and unworthiness keep us from receiving the abundant love of the Universe. There was a story of this in my own family, which my dad shared with great sadness. As a young man, he worked in the Rainbow Room at the Chase Hotel in St. Louis. He operated the lights and got to see all manner of famous entertainers. He arranged for his parents to have tickets to see a show by Danny Thomas, someone they really liked.
When the night came, they didn’t show up! They didn’t feel they deserved to be there, didn’t have the “right” clothes, and so on. They were still stuck in the “Great Depression” consciousness of lack and limitation. They couldn’t receive his gift and he was still sad about that lost opportunity to give them a great memory even when in his 80’s. How sad when we cannot see and receive our good! Miracles can only unfold when the cycle is completed when we are open and receptive to all of our good. Our prayer is to be open and receptive to our good and to recognize it when it shows up! May it be so!
The 12th Condition of a Miracle is called Recycling and the words of the Loaves and Fishes scripture that describe this are “and they took the excess of the fragments and there were 12 hand baskets full.” There are several significant parts to this Condition, the first one being the number 12, which indicates spiritual completion. That number in this story signifies that this is truly a spiritual experience of manifestation of good, of completion. And often, we celebrate our good and then just let it go at that!
The message of gathering the 12 baskets of fragments however is a powerful instruction that what happens after the miracle is just as significant and important as what happened before the miracle. The energy of the miracle is to be gathered and used to reset the mechanism for the next miracle. Effective follow-through enables momentum to build for even more miracles, more good to unfold. This is not a state of excess it is a state of “superabundance” where more good than we can even imagine is called to unfold and be made real. Let us all make use of what we have to generate more good with mindfulness to not waste or squander any of the energy of God, of Love of the Universe.
I love the story about ping pong at the start of our lesson today! The essence of “winning” is to see the larger picture where we are all winners, we are all blessed and we are all a blessing as we become the miracle workers that our world needs so much right now!
Blessings on the Path,
Rev. Deb
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