Innocence is the base of all spirituality. The moment you think you know, you are no more a child. You are closed. Knowledge kills and poisons. Innocence opens you and makes you alive. That’s why Jesus goes on saying “If you are like children, only then — and only then — will you be able to enter into the kingdom of God.
*****
Peace and Love
Seth Kelly Curtis
Quaerite Et Invenietis “Seek and you will find”
“There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed”
“Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before! What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store? What if Christmas… perhaps… means a little bit more!”
-Dr. Seuss, ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’
“The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live.”
-George Carlin
Merry Christmas to all on this most wonderful day of the year! This morning children everywhere will rise early in anticipation of opening their gifts, brought the night before by Santa Clause. Families will be together to share the joy and love of the Christmas Spirit. Christmas is celebrated in different ways all over the globe on or around December 25th.
Here in the U.S., families decorate the outside of their homes with festive lights and displays. Inside, stockings are hung over the fireplace to be filled with goodies and the Christmas tree is adorned with lights and decorations, and surrounded by gifts to be opened on Christmas morning. Later – the family, gathered together from far and wide – have a traditional turkey feast. But how did we come to celebrate Christmas the way we do?
We know that Christmas is an annual festival solemnizing the birth of Jesus Christ (or Jesus the Christ). It’s a religious and cultural celebration observed by billions around the world.
The gospels of Luke and Matthew state that Jesus was born in Bethlehem to the Virgin Mary. The pregnant Mary and her companion Joseph traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census, Jesus being born there. The Angels then heralded him as a Savior for the world.
Although no date is given in the Bible, early Christians connected Jesus to the Sun with such phrases as “Sun (not Son) of righteousness.” The Romans marked the Winter Solstice on December 25th, consequently, the first recorded Christmas celebration was held in Rome on that date in 336 A.D.
The word Christmas is a shortened form of “Christ’s Mass.” The word is recorded as Christesmaesse in 1038 and Cristes-messe in 1131. Christ is from the Greek Khristos, a translation of Hebrew Masiah or Messiah, meaning “anointed.”
The abbreviation ‘X-mas’ is based on the first letter Chi (x) in Greek Khristos. Christmas has been known by various names throughout history. Anglo-Saxons referred to the feast as “Mid-Winter”. In Old English Geola (Yule) referred to the period corresponding to December and January which eventually became Christian Christmas. Noel (or Nowel) entered English in the late 14th century from Old French Nael, ultimately from Latin Natalis, meaning ‘birth’.
Christmas is celebrated in many countries around the world including many non-Christian countries due to periods of colonial rule, for example; Hong Kong. Another reason would have been because of a countries Christian minorities, Japan is one such country, where Christmas is popular despite a small number of Christians. Many of these countries have adopted Christmas traditions such as gift-giving and decorating Christmas trees.
So that is the History of Christmas, but what about the true meaning of Christmas. I know sometimes here in the U.S. we forget what it is really about. Almost everybody here celebrates; even the atheists. It has become more of a commercial holiday, with the television news reporting more on how much Americans spent on the holidays than on stories about the real meaning.
We all know the real meaning of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of a great man whose life was dedicated to spreading a message of love and peace. We should remember that the tradition of gift-giving is about the act of giving, not receiving.
I love this quote from American author Steve Maraboli:
“Want to keep Christ in Christmas? Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, forgive the guilty, welcome the unwanted, care for the ill, love your enemies, and do unto others as you would have done unto you.”
Let’s try to remember what it is all about this holiday season. Try to spread joy and love to those you encounter, and remember, it’s about a man two thousand years ago who just wanted us to all get along. Peace. In the words of Dickens’ Tiny Tim – “God bless us, everyone!
Merry Christmas
Joyeux Noel
Frohe Weinachten
Feliz Navidad
Buon Natale
Feliz Natal
Vrolijk Kerstfeest
Craciun Fericit
Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narcdzenia
God Jul
Vesele Vanoce
Heri Ya Krismasi
Sheng Dan Kuai Le
Nollaig Shona Dhuit
Gozhgg Keshmish
*Please forgive any misspelling
May God bless and protect you and…
May you always be
Healthy, Happy
Safe and Comfortable
Kelly Curtis
June 30 2019
“Science is not only compatible with spirituality, it is a profound source of spirituality.”
Carl Sagan
It’s amazing how science and spirituality tie in together. Quantum physics string theory, the law of attraction. Many and more scientists are discovering this truth. The more we learn about the universe, the more spirituality emerges.
I quote Alber Einstein –
“Every one who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe – a spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in the face of which we with our modest powers must feel humble.”
I’ve often heard religious zealots argument for creationism dismissing all that science has learned about the universe. They dismiss Darwin’s theory of evolution; natural selection. The pseudo-scientific intelligent design argues against natural selection. They use evidence from two arguments. The first – Irreducible complexity – is the idea that biological systems shouldn’t be able to evolve by a series of small modifications to existing systems through natural selection. The second – Specified complexity – argues that some of the complex patterns seen in nature are unlikely to occur by chance.
We all know about Darwin’s natural selection: That over vast spans of time, small, random mutations change the lifeform. If the change is beneficial, that lifeform has a better chance of survival. If the change is not beneficial, the lifeform has less chance of survival, and the mutation doesn’t catch on so to speak. To these two groups of people there can only be one way. Their way. The religious believe God created it all. The scientists, that the universe and its lifeforms are evolving. Apparently, there are no religious persons with an interest in science, or any scientists that believe in God.
Honestly, has anyone thought beyond their beliefs long enough to realize that perhaps the universal intelligence that is God created the universe to evolve by natural selection? I believe that God created the creatures of this beautiful planet (including humans) to evolve but not haphazardly, relying on random mutations, but by design. If, as Darwin observed at the Galapagos Islands from the deck of the Beagle, certain creatures that were isolated evolved different features that better helped that species survive, wello, that has God written all over it.
We need to think outside the box, think things over. If you do, you might see that things that you were taught in childhood might make sense, or, just maybe, you see that something else makes more sense.
God created these beautiful minds so we could navigate the universe. Let’s not waste them.
May you always be
Healthy, happy
Safe and comfortable
Namaste
Kelly Curtis
Don’t just learn, experience.
Don’t just read, absorb.
Don’t just change, transform.
Don’t just relate, advocate.
Don’t just promise, prove.
Don’t just criticize, encourage.
Don’t just think, ponder.
Don’t just take, give.
Don’t just see, feel.
Don’t just dream, do.
Don’t just hear, listen.
Don’t just talk, act.
Don’t just tell, show.
Don’t just exist, live.
-Roy T Bennett
I Let My Light Shine
People who spend a great deal of time in prayer, meditation , or communion with the Spirit gradually take on a new atmosphere, a new sweetness, a love and light that all others sense. The Old Testament often refers to a light always shining over the alter in the temple. This light, of course, is a symbol of the Life that is never extinguished. The light of Jesus has been sensed by artists so completely that they have depicted it as an aura, an atmosphere of light.
Now this light is real. There is such a light at the center of everything. This is the Divine Stuff of which we are all made. There is nothing outside this light. Everything exists in it. There is light at the center ,of everyone. It is never obliterated, but it does seem that it is often obscured for various reasons. Jesus said never to put your light under a bushel, but to let it shine.
I feel a deep sense of unity with everyone and with everything. I know that all is Love and I am filled with the goodness of Life. Love and Light flow in and through me. I give thanks for the radiance of Spirit within me.
-Ernest Holmes
*****
May God bless and protect you and…
May you always be
Healthy, Happy
Safe and Comfortable
Seth Kelly Curtis
I Fear No Evil
“I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” I will not be afraid, for the All Good is constantly with me and is always near at hand to guide and comfort. There is no evil in the truth, and no power of darkness to hinder the light from shining. I will not be afraid, for there is that within which protects and keeps me from all harm. I fear no evil.
-Ernest Holmes
*****
May God bless and protect you and…
May you always be
Healthy, Happy
Safe and Comfortable
Seth Kelly Curtis
I Recognize The Indwelling Spirit
A belief in the Invisible is the very essence of faith. Prayer, or spiritual communion, demands a complete surrender to the Invisible. It knows that because the Creative Power of God is at hand, all things are possible.
Whatever our idea of God may be, the perception of Reality is always an inner perception. As Moses tells us, the word is not afar off but in our own mouths, and Jesus taught that the Kingdom of Heaven is within us. The prayer of power is not so much a petition as it is an inner recognition.
We cannot doubt that the Spirit has already made the gift of Life – since we live. Ours is the privilege of acceptance. Thus we are to assume the attitude of a grateful beneficiary of the Divine gifts. This should be done simply and directly. The Spirit is not something that was, or that is going to be or become. The Truth is that which is; it exists at the very center of our being. To pray in spirit and in truth means to recognize this indwelling Spirit and to declare the truth about its activity through us.
Today I directly experience the reality of Spirit, allowing It to renew my mind, guide my decisions, and direct my affairs. I know that in the eternal act of creation, everything passes from the Invisible to the visible to be temporarily experienced. I rest in peace, assured that my needs are met by this play of Life upon Itself.
-Ernest Holmes
*****
May God bless and protect you and…
May you always be
Healthy, Happy
Safe and Comfortable
Seth Kelly Curtis
Drawing The Good
I draw my good to me as I travel along the way of life, and nothing can keep it from me. My good will always follow me. I accept the good and rejoice that it is with me. I accept the good.
-Ernest Holmes
*****
May God bless and protect you and…
May you always be
Healthy, Happy
Safe and Comfortable
Seth Kelly Curtis
The Divine Presence Within Me Is My Authority
The Divine Presence within each of us is both the center and circumference of our real being. It is the Infinite Presence that inhabits eternity and finds a dwelling place in our own consciousness. We recognize It as the only authority there is. We know we are one with It and in It, for there is no separation from It. Our own consciousness is the very depth and height of Its Being and is one with all there It is.
There is an infinite self-knowingness, which we call the Spirit. It is ruled by law and impelled by love. Each of us is an individual center in it, without being an individual separate from It. We are rooted in the One, which produces limitless variety. Therefore, God is uniquely individual and uniquely personal to each one of us.
We are not one in God or with God, but we are one of God. Although the identity is the same in essence, it is not the same in degree. If there were a sameness in degree, we would have already exhausted the possibility of the Infinite; and having done so, our continual existence would be a cosmic tragedy, because there would be no place to go and nothing to see. Everything would have been used up. Let us keep our thoughts turned to the Divine Presence within us and within one another. Deeply desiring that we become more aware of the love we have for one another and the world, may our consciousness be opened to a deeper understanding of Life.
In the beauty and quiet of this moment, I commune with the Divine Presence. The certainty of love and friendship flows into my consciousness, and I feel a deep peace. I give thanks for my increasingly beautiful life.
-Ernest Holmes
*****
May God bless and protect you and…
May you always be
Healthy, Happy
Safe and Comfortable
Seth Kelly Curtis
Meditation
There is a wholeness of my being
That I have come to know.
My life is the sum
Of my body, mind, and spirit
And more.
For I am immersed in a cosmic ocean of Life
Which connects my life with All,
And I am All.
The Blessing
Awareness
Of the richness of my life
Draws forth in me a yearning
To share my gifts with all,
And the greatest of these is Peace.
To work actively for peace
Within my life
And to bring that peace
To those I know
Is to make real
My spirituality.
-Danaan Parry
*****
May God bless and protect you and…
May you always be
Healthy, Happy
Safe and Comfortable
Seth Kelly Curtis
Kelly's Quest 