Sermon – Fears

I am a Certified Spirit Medium and ordained minister with a private practice in Tampa, Florida. I was ordained as a minister through Harmony Church in Tampa and currently serves at People’s Spiritualist Church in St. Petersburg, Florida. I am publishing many of my sermons online as they may both benefit you, and illustrate additional spiritual services that I can provide to you at weddings or other gatherings.

When it was certain that the Master was going to die, his disciples wished to give him a worth funeral. The Master heard of this and said, “With the sky and the earth for my coffin; the sun and moon and stars for my burial regalia; and all creation to escort me to the grave—could I desire anything more ceremonious and impressive?”

He asked to be left unburied, but the disciples wouldn’t hear of it, protesting that he would be eaten by the animals and birds.

“Then make sure you place my staff near me that I might drive them away,” said the Master with a smile. “How would you manage that? You will be unconscious.”

“In which case it will not matter, will it, that I be devoured by the birds and beast.” – Anthony de Mello, SJ

“The free man is he who does not fear to go to the end of his thought.” – Leon Blum

If you happen to have an idea or thought apply it. Move forward to do what you feel is right. Do not let fear override it. It takes strength and courage to do exactly that. I ran a data processing service bureau for twenty five years. When I think back over the years I often wonder how I did that. Run a business I mean. To tell the truth I didn’t think I just did it. I jumped right in and did it. My experiences through out the years were truly amazing. Deep in my subconscious I had several goals and I realized this after 13 years of hard work. The first goal I had set came to light. That goal was to put people out into their homes to do data entry. Having done that I cut back on my overhead and I was able to move forward financially. My second goal was to hit a certain amount of money in sales and after 18 years I hit that goal and then some. All thorough out the years I worked on my spirituality never knowing just where I was going with it. Then one day I sat down and said I’m finished. I’m finished with running a data entry shop. I want to do my spirituality. I retired my business three years ago and have been doing my spirituality full time. Where I am going with this story is to help you understand it all starts with a thought or with an idea. You set a goal and then you move forward. You work hard at moving through the fears. Fear can drive you if you channel it correctly. Fear can make you do things you thought you couldn’t. You don’t let the fear or the ego get you down. You say ‘I can do this”. That doesn’t make it any easier but it can help to make it less challenging.

I got this paragraph out of my book Meditations For Women Who Do Too Much by Anne Wilson Schaef.

The tightening of the stomach, the sweaty palms, the increasing inability to focus, the tingling in our arms and hands, and the anxiety about looking good or having the right answer-we all know about fear.

Unfortunately, the life of the woman who does too much is controlled by fear. What if we’re not good enough? What if we’re not on time? What if nobody likes us? By the time we have worked ourselves up into lather, we are incapable of producing anything good. Fear and our illusion of control are intimately related. It is when we believe that we can control the outcome and the responses of others that we get fearful. Our worrying is a form of precontrol.

As I acknowledge my fear and turn it over to a power beyond myself, I can get the job done and done well.
Here are some thoughts of the month that I got off of internet.

“It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.” – Seneca

“Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.” – F.D. Roosevelt

“An age is called dark, not because the light falls to shine, but because people refuse to see it.” – James Michener

“Dance like no one is watching
Love like you’ll never be hurt,
Sing like no one is listening,
Live like it’s heaven on earth.”
– William Purkey

The last thing I would like to say is “Fear has a smell, as love does.” – Margaret Atwood

Sermon – Gasparilla

I am a Certified Spirit Medium and ordained minister with a private practice in Tampa, Florida. I was ordained as a minister through Harmony Church in Tampa and currently serves at People’s Spiritualist Church in St. Petersburg, Florida. I am publishing many of my sermons online as they may both benefit you, and illustrate additional spiritual services that I can provide to you at weddings or other gatherings.

I would like to speak to everyone today about Celebration. In the dictionary it says: To perform (a ritual), to commemorate (an anniversary, holiday, with festivity. To honor publicly, and to have a good time. Celebration is Love. I’m sure all of you have heard of Gasparilla. It is a good example of a celebration. It also is a parade that is an ongoing event in Tampa and has been since 1904. This is Tampa’s version of Mardi gras. Hundreds of thousands of spectators line up and down streets in Tampa to watch the Krewe of Gasparilla, the buccaneers and celebrate Tampa’s version of Mardi Gras. The event originated with the mythical character Jose Gaspar, who in local legend roamed West Florida’s coast in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Legend has it he burned 36 ships in 12 years. He meet his fate with what he thought was a merchant ship, only to find it was a US Navy warship in disguise.

I was given the opportunity to join The Unsinkable Krewe of Molly Brown. This is one of many groups that participate in the Gasperalla celebration. I was quite excited because this meant I would be on a float and in the parade throwing beads to everyone. Throwing beads is one of the fun things also getting to meet new people, hanging out all day in the sun and not working. Not working was definitely a plus for me. It was Party time, time to celebrate, time to have some fun. I was ready.

Well the music started up and the float started moving. It was a beautiful day and the streets were full of people. They were lined up for blocks and blocks. We started throwing our beads out to everyone and what a good time. I saw so many things as I threw the beards out. I saw happiness, kindness, love, calmness, politeness and so much goodness. There was so much warmth and good energy. Who would think that a crowd that big could generate all of that. But it did.

Does God not want us to be happy, loving individuals? Don’t you feel he wants us to enjoy and celebrate life as much as possible? Did Jesus not go in crowds and try to help the people? Do you think that when he saw the crowds that maybe he felt the same as I. I’m sure he saw goodness, kindness and much love. I would like to read for you: Matthew chapter 5 verses 1 thru 9. The Sermon on the Mount *When he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciple came to him. He began to teach them, saying:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

I would like to say one thing about Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. The many policemen and women that were at that parade directing, guiding and helping deserve much credit. I feel because of that and the good energy of the people a great parade was created. They should all be called children of God. If we look at Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God I could say because of the goodness that I saw I know there were many that were clean of heart. Just as I look out at each and every one of you I see many of those qualities I saw in the parade.

I’m sure Jesus had great feelings and love for everyone around him, or else he could not have spoken this well. He would have wanted us to have a good time and enjoy life as much as possible. He would have wanted that then and He would want that for us now.

I have a paragraph here that I would like to read to you from the World Scripture: Project of the International Religious Fdn.

The purpose of human life is an ideal which transcends the mundane goals of human existence, for it is based upon the vision of God or Ultimate Reality. The beautiful vision, divine joy, and uniting with the divine will or divine nature are some of the ways in which this purpose is expressed. At the same time, since the human being is grounded in this Ultimate, the purpose of life coheres with the essential nature of human beings. The highest and best of human values – love, truth, beauty, goodness, joy, and happiness – are aspirations grounded in the original human nature. Therefore, the purpose of life may also be conceived as the realization of what is most essentially human. That is, true human beings manifest the Ultimate in themselves, (you do it yourself)
through manifesting the perfections of purity, wisdom, impartiality, integrity, (which is most important) and compassion in their own lives. The fulfillment of humanity is also the sanctification of humanity. Please take this with you and know that life is and can be a celebration.

The Power of I

The power of I. That is the power within/the power within you. Meaning you have a choice. You can do what ever you so desire.

What I believe to be true is our question. I gave this a lot of thought again and once more have asked for help from Blue Feather so that i can explain myself clearly. I would like to do it this way. I believe we pick our parents: for me that is something else because I might have picked my mother to have me but did I pick my aunt to raise me? Well I guess I did. Even thought they came from the same bloodline you would think that the qualities that I have my mother could have instilled in me as well as her sister did. Then I look at something else I believe to be true and that is we make a contract with God to experence our life. Meaning my mother agreed to pass over and my aunt agreed to raise me and when I contracted with God I obviously agreed to those same arrangements. I sincerely believe this because when I was little my aunt always said that God had our life written in his black book and when I got older I learned we contracted with God and so here we are. I am very grateful for all that did transpire between my aunt and I only because of what she did instill in me, meaning my honesty and strength. I often wonder if I could have made it in this world without those two traits. I also know that I am what I am because of me and the choices I have made.  I will end with something else I believe to be true and that is we make no mistakes we do what we are suppose to at the time. Amen

My Will and My Self-Esteem

Having been tired of my life and the way it was going in Washington, D.C. I left there and came to Tampa, Florida. Here 23 years I have grown leaps and bounds. It took a lot of courage to leave my hometown and come to Florida but I did it and I have never been sorry. I have created and developed in so many ways since 1981 that it is hard to realize that so much time has gone by so fast. I swore when I came here that no one would ever interfere with my life or my daughters. I have stuck to that promise and the life that I have experienced from that one decision has been exciting and very rewarding. Rewarding to where I raised my daughter, built a business, and grew in spirituality. I can honestly say that I have loved every up and down moment that it has presented to me. My choices might not have been the best or the easiest but they have taught me everything that I know today. I have learned that no decision is wrong that we do what we have to at the time. I also have learned that we contracted with God to experience our life. I’m sure there is more for me to learn and I quite sure that my self-esteem will indeed go through more lessons, but I am ok with all of that. I’m quite grateful for what I have and I hope to continue on my journey with more love and ease then the past.