Have you ever ridden in a hot air balloon? I have. I used to be on a chase crew and one day I had the opportunity to take a ride. I have never experienced such complete silence, as I glided high above the ground of the deserts of New Mexico. It was as if there were nothing but that silence.  I am grateful I had that opportunity and I am remembering it today, as I write this blog.

Remember the song, Up, Up, and Away? Yes, up, up and away in my beautiful balloon. My balloon doesn’t run on propane, it is carried by Spirit. Up, up and away above the conditions of the world! We all have this opportunity to rise up out of our conditional world and create a new experience for ourselves should that be what we want. And, if we already have everything and we just want more, we have the capability to create the more. It’s really quite simple, we just have to think greater than the problem or challenge in front of us. Whether it is failing bank account, failing health or failing relationship, there is a greater idea for our life within us. That’s because within each of us is a Divine Prototype of perfection. As the mystic Plotinus almost 3000 years ago wrote, “Our physical organism is attached to a Spiritual Idea, which we call a Prototype or Divine Pattern and when any physical organ becomes detached from its Pattern it begins to have pain and longs to return to that which will make it whole.”  

Barbara Marx Hubbard, visionary once said, our spiritual evolution was encoded within us. I believe this and I know that we have the key to the vault. We only have to think greater than our experience.  People might say that is impossible. However, we already have proof that it is possible. Think of Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr. who all lived in a world that was very different than the one they imagined and sought to bring forth. Think of Master Jesus who walked the earth at a violent time of great ignorance. He envisioned and brought forth a new belief system that we were one with God and that we were innately perfect. While violence and hatred surrounded him, he walked in peace.

Friday night we watched the amazing documentary about Mr. Rogers, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor.” What a perfect example of someone who rose above his environment. He saw T.V. as a tool for good and rose above the programming of the time that was focused on lowering the mentality of children. He asked, “What can we do with this powerful tool for good?”

These are all people in the world arena, but we are no different than they are. We are all born with the capability to rise above the conditional world. Our evolution depends on it. I can see that we have finally reached a time when this concept is truly catching on.

We might think things are getting worst because of what we hear on the news. But, don’t forget, that journalism is set up to report those things that are out of the norm. The media doesn’t tell us about the everyday miracles that happen when people help each other, are kind, or come up with an idea that helps their small community. I believe that much more than half of our world is doing something good and that these other events pale in the face of the good that makes up our world.

If we want to be among those who rise up, up and away, we must start where we are and practice. We must take what we have and use it. We must be willing to heal our troubles. We must visualize the life we desire and then go out and live it right from where we are. We must stop telling ourselves our life is not working and express and give thanks for the way it is working. When we are confronted with a challenge, we must declare that there is a solution and walk as if that solution has already occurred.

Today, when I was out running, I realized something about myself. I am, for the most part a deductive thinker. This means that I think from an already established premise that life is Good. I think from an already established premise that God is the source of my supply. This means that my good comes from everywhere, not just one particular person or thing. If I run into a money dilemma, I can immediately remind myself of this. If I run into a challenge, I know that the solution is inevitable because Infinite Intelligence is my intelligence.

This skill didn’t happen overnight for me. I had to practice. I was invested in changing my life and getting out of victim mentality. I heard a message that resonated with me called, “The Science of Mind and Spirit.” Instead of arguing about why it might not be true, I set out to prove that it was true. I wanted a better me more than I wanted to stay where I was. In simple terms, I re-wired by brain by changing my mind about life. I created a new Rita, who actually thinks in a different way because I practiced thinking a different way until it became a habit and then my personality. Now, my life shows up that way.

Neuroscience tells us that the patterns of our thinking create our feelings, which then become lodged in our body after years of practice. We are run by our subconscious. If this is true, it would make sense that if we can think differently, we will begin to feel differently. Although neuroscience explains this from a scientific standpoint, I know that the only way to truly begin to think differently is to rise up in consciousness. We must remember who we are, that we are greater than our experiences. We must practice communing with Spirit within. We must go into our inner room and hold vigil with the silence until we hear that inner voice that speaks the quiet truth.

Just like being up in the hot air balloon, that peace that comes from communion with Spirit will assist us in rising our thinking. Once we do that, up, up and away we will go higher and higher. Our challenges will become wisdom, the world will look different and we will be thinking greater than our environment. Once we can think greater than our environment enough and make it real enough in mind, we are setting the stage for the greater experience. We will be clearing the way for our creativity to flow.

I can’t end without reminding us of the spiritual tool we have called Spiritual Mind Treatment (SMT). When used from the Consciousness of our Oneness, we enter the quantum field or absolute, the energy that has never been touched by anything, that is new in every moment and is just waiting for the impress of our thought. If it doesn’t work the first time we try it, it just means we need more practice. We have to go back into that inner chamber and commune, commune, commune. Our higher consciousness never disappoints us. It is always here, ready, waiting for us to recognize it (Step 1 of SMT), and to unify with It (Step 2 of SMT), and then to just state the Truth about ourselves (Step 3 of SMT), to be grateful for everything (Step 4 of SMT), and then finally to just trust and let it go (Step 5 of SMT). The Law of our being will bring the experience back to us In the most perfect way.

It is possible for all of us to take the hot air balloon ride of our life with the power of Spirit as our fuel. Ignite, let go of the tethers that hold us to earth and it’s time for take off.

Love and Aloha,

Rev. Rita