My Books Available Now on Amazon ebooks

Amazon Kindle books now have some of my books. Please keep checking for more titles as they become available. Thanks!

Friday, July 23, 2021

A Wise Thought from Goethe

It was Goethe who said: Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute: What you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Only engage, and then the mind grows heated. Begin, and then the work will be completed.

Let us take this thought to heart and  dare to dream big. I dream of world peace where we can all love one another. I dream of the shadow of darkness, hate and violence lifted and gone forever. I dream of plenty for everyone.

Dream big with me and see what happens. Open the inner door to the Divine and feel the flow of strength and ideas. Today can be such a day. 

Wednesday, July 21, 2021

Another Thought from Nona

Spiritual philosophy teaches eternal progression; there is no final revelation. The Spirit of truth is our guide. ---Nona Brooks

The idea of life being a journey rather than a destination has been taught by many spiritual teachers in many religions.  For me, one of the ways I understand that is, that since God is Infinite, I cannot possibly contain Infinite or fully understand Infinite. Infinite has no edges, no boundaries, no borders. It is this, and more and more and more, ad infinitum. So, I should relax into the journey, celebrating each moment on the path of life. I should endeavor to be here now in this unique moment to fully live and embrace the gift that is here in this fleeting now.

Perhaps a more difficult practice is to let the Spirit of truth be our guide. Discerning Truth is an advanced spiritual practice. Egos get in the way and spin things this way or that. Outside events, other people, the news can grip us, confuse us and lead us astray. Personally, I have sought the Spiritual truth all of my life and have faced many blind alleys calling me astray. 

What is the Truth? How can we be guided by it, if we don't know it? There are touchstones I use to seek out Spiritual Truth. I like Jesus' yardsticks, such as --- By their fruits you shall know them; Love God with all your being and love your neighbor as yourself...

If I do this or that or believe this or that, where does it lead me? What is the fruit, the result, of this? A sincere seeker can usually figure that out. Then do I want this fruit? Does this support loving God and myself and others?

Sometimes we are led to hard choices. These show us how firmly we are on the path, striving to live with Spiritual Truth as our guide.

Oh Divine Presence, lead us in Your Ways. Teach us to know Your Truth and live as shining lights, feet firmly on Your Path. May it be so.




Monday, July 19, 2021

Listening to Sages

One of the sages that has touched me deeply is Nona Brooks. This morning I was pondering these words from her book, "Mysteries."

We live, move and have our being in God-life. By divine power, we are alive now.

At first it seems a simple statement, yet on further consideration, it has layers of meaning that can open us to more. Let's dive a bit together.

Being in God-life, we can never actually be separated from God. Maybe we can ignore God, but wherever we are, whatever we are doing, we exist in the Divine. Just as we can ignore the air, it is nevertheless present with us. In meditation we often are asked to be aware of our breath first, and then the Divine. Right now we can stop and consciously inhale air and also inhale the Divine. We can become aware. Try it.

We are alive, but how? How did we come to exist? We don't have the power to give ourselves life, to continually, day after day, hour after hour give ourselves life. We can do things that support our lives such as eat properly, but we cannot make this life continue. 

There is something almost magical about being alive. Nona Brooks says it is by divine power that we live. That makes our life, all life, sacred. We can ponder what this means to us, how we might behave differently, how we treat ourselves and others once we realize the sacredness of life.

You are a sacred person, endowed by God with talents and purpose, and the gift of life so that you can express them. I urge us all to live out our talents and purpose, knowing full well  who we really are. 

Go in peace dear brothers and sisters.

Saturday, July 10, 2021

A Call To the Good People of Earth to Take Prayer Action

 A Call To the Good People of Earth

There is so much talk and dismay everywhere we turn about the rising violence and division and strife. People want to do something, but it seems unknown as to what to do. The vast majority of people are good people. A tiny fraction of people are violent and divisive. Thinking on these things, I had the following idea strike me a few days ago:

This morning I had a powerful directive from the Holy Spirit to initiate a nationwide, or maybe global, call to prayer. Come to our church or go to any place of worship and pray for the forces of good to cleanse us from the darkness seeping in so many corners of life on earth, to cleanse the hearts of those perpetrating the violence. At noon in each time zone, let us lift our voices, our entire beings, our faith in fervent prayer. Let us not accept the rising violence, the resurrected racism, the strife we see rising. Let us not fear this dark tide and shrink from our task. Let us stand up to all this and speak our prayers with strength. Let us put on the full armor of God together.

We are starting a noon prayer every Friday in our sanctuary similar to the samples below. You are invited to be present and to invite friends, as well as let others you know in other churches and towns and invite them to participate, and you are invited, of course, to pray wherever you find yourself at noon. Prayer is powerful. We are not at the mercy of the tiny fraction, we stand together with God, with Love, with Oneness. Let us create a wave of prayer across this globe that will lift the darkness and set free those imprisoned by it. In the old English, hell meant walled off. People acting out negatively are walled off from God, unable to express their divine potential. Even though they are few in number, they create mayhem and fear. Let us pray for God to touch their hearts.

Join us in inviting every church, synagogue, mosque, temple, every good person on earth to pray at noon in their time zone. Help get the word out.

Sample Prayers

Almighty God, Creator of the heavens and the earth, we know You are always with us. We stand in this knowing and lift our beloved nation and world up to You. In Your Name, we command the forces of darkness to be gone, vanquished, disempowered, lifted from us. We call forth Your Powers of Love, of Wisdom, of Light to fill us all and lead us forward. Lead us to fully love one another as You Love us. Lead us to cherish and accept one another, to cherish all of Your Creation. Let Love reign and strife be gone. Let hatreds drain away. Let violence fall from us. Let our eyes be open and our hearts attuned to You. We claim Peace here and now. We seal this prayer with the ancient seal of faith and integrity, Amen, Amen and Amen

 

Oh, Holy Presence, in sorrow I come to You. I weep inside for those tortured souls who have gone down the paths of darkness and have convinced themselves that ugliness and violence are right and proper. I lift them to You, and I ask that Your Lovingness enfold them and lead them to drop the pain of hate and open to the joys of kindness and love. Wherever these pained souls are on this planet, I know You are there. Touch them, Heal them. Restore them to the beings You created, to Your very image. I am filled with thanksgiving for I know what is possible with You, what is possible for them, what a future we might all have together as Your children. Let it be so. Amen, Amen and Amen

May God bless us all,

Rev. Dr. Marlene Oaks

Temecula, CA 

 


 

Tuesday, July 6, 2021

Let The Violence and Division End

 

I am concerned about the rise of violence and division emerging all over. Everywhere I go I hear the same concerns. There seems to be a depression calling from the soul, but what can I do about it? I am only one person. Holy Spirit asked me to get all the good people of earth praying together.  So, I am asking all the good people to join me in prayer. Let the prayers ring around the world. I will share more soon. Join me in this prayer:

Oh, Holy Presence, in sorrow I come to You.

I weep inside for those tortured souls who have gone down the paths of darkness and have convinced themselves that ugliness and violence are right and proper.
I lift them to You, and I ask that Your Lovingness enfold them and lead them to drop the pain of hate and open to the joys of kindness and love. Wherever these pained souls are on this planet, I know You are there. Touch them, Heal them. Restore them to the beings You created, to Your very image.
I am filled with thanksgiving for I know what is possible with You, what is possible for them, what a future we might all have together as Your children.
Let it be so.
Amen. Amen and Amen

Monday, July 5, 2021

Contact

Hello Friends,

I frequently receive an email from some of you that only says "regards." I am not sure what to do about that. I am researching.

I am grateful you read my blog and reach out to me. 

God bless you all,

Love, Light and Blessings,

Marlene

Saturday, July 3, 2021

Pain and Redemption, Restoration

This week has been a week of pain and redemption or restoration lessons.

Physically, I had a tongue biopsy. He took a piece about the size of a nickel; my tongue swelled up like I had a big marble at the spot; and pain, oh my pain! I took his super strong pills the first day, but I switched to ibuprofen the second day. I strongly dislike the mental fog from opiate pills!!! I put numbing goo on the spot several times a day, still today, and the biopsy was Tuesday. But my tongue is forgiving. It is healing. It is redeeming itself with the magical inherent nature of healing. And, all is well, no actual disease, just Covid tongue, one more reaction from the shot, and it will go away on its own just as my red arm went away eventually.

I think of the typical cuts, bruises, scrapes, burns, surgeries etc that happen in the course of our earthly lives. Our bodies waved an internal magic wand and voila, gone. It seems like God knew this earth and our bodies might make a real mess if there were no restoration. Imagine if you could see all of those things at once, if they never went away.  We'd be quite a mess with all cuts, bruises, etc never healed and present for all to see. I am thankful, oh so thankful my body can heal.

Then there are emotional cuts and bruises, maybe a bit harder to heal. We had that this week. We were shown the power of friendship and love as a friend stepped up in a big way as a dire situation hit us. As it turned out, help came from another place that should have prevented the situation in the first place. Our peace and safety were restored.

In the course of life, we have the opportunity to learn and grow and deepen, or to become bitter and take on the cape of victimhood. We are called to have courage and faith, to flex our spiritual muscles, to overcome. This is our time to be all we can become. We are to redeem the challenges by overcoming them, by refusing to be a victim. 

Let us be overcomers, lovers, faith-filled, magnificent beings created in the image and likeness of the Divine. Let's just see how spiritually awake we can be.