Divine dis-content

  A Monthly exploration in spiritual awareness: February 1, 2026

                  There is a subtle danger in contentment when it hardens into complacency. Many spiritual teachers have warned that comfort can become a quiet captivity of the soul. Thomas Merton wrote that we often confuse peace with stagnation, mistaking the absence of conflict for spiritual maturity. Ernest Holmes taught that life is forever unfolding, pressing us toward greater expression of Spirit, and that to resist this expansion is to deny the very nature of Life itself. Even Jesus’ parable of the buried talent reminds us that safety and satisfaction can become a form of fear — a refusal to risk growth, creativity, and deeper love. Contentment that closes the heart becomes a prison, not a sanctuary.

                  The Buddha named this attachment — clinging to pleasant states and avoiding discomfort — as a primary cause of suffering. When we become attached to “being comfortable,” we unknowingly chain ourselves to what is familiar, limiting awareness and compassion. Eckhart Tolle echoes this in modern language: the ego prefers predictable comfort over living presence, even if that comfort is quietly empty. The Tao Te Ching teaches that life flows like water; when we dam the river for the sake of stability, the water stagnates. Spirit is movement, not maintenance. Growth always carries uncertainty, but stagnation carries a slow diminishment of vitality.

                   Yet true spiritual contentment is not passive; it is alive, awake, and creative. Joel Goldsmith spoke of resting in the ever-present Christ or divine consciousness, which continually reveals new dimensions of being. William James observed that human consciousness evolves through fresh experiences and expanded perception. When we allow contentment to become a stopping place rather than a grounding place, we trade wonder for routine and inspiration for habit. We may appear peaceful on the surface, but inwardly we have quietly accepted smaller dreams, narrower compassion, and diminished expectation of divine possibility.

                Liberation comes when contentment becomes gratitude without resignation, peace without paralysis, acceptance without surrendering growth. Rumi wrote, “Why are you so busy with this or good or bad, you are in the river of love, yet you carry water in a cup.” The invitation of Spirit is not merely to be satisfied, but to be continuously transformed. The prison of contentment opens the moment we choose curiosity over comfort, faith over familiarity, and expansion over ease. Then contentment becomes not a cell, but a doorway — a steady foundation from which the soul keeps reaching toward greater light, deeper truth, and more generous love.

Keep the faith!

Rev-Bates

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Race Mind / Collective Consciousness & You

 A monthly exploration in spiritual awareness: January 1, 2026

                        Race Mind—also called Collective Consciousness—is the shared mental atmosphere of humanity, formed by centuries of beliefs, fears, hopes, prejudices, and expectations. It is not a personal mind, yet it powerfully influences personal experience. Ernest Holmes described it as the “subjective mentality of the race,” a vast reservoir of accepted ideas that silently shape behavior, culture, and even physical conditions. Whether we are aware of it or not, each of us is born into this mental environment, much like breathing air already conditioned by what has gone before. Race Mind explains why certain ideas feel “normal,” why fear can spread quickly through societies, and why progress often meets resistance even when reason supports it.

                      Dr. Joseph Murphy emphasized that the subconscious mind does not reason; it accepts what is impressed upon it by repetition and authority. When ideas are widely believed—about health, aging, race, limitation, or conflict—they become embedded in the collective subconscious and are passed from generation to generation. Joel Goldsmith referred to this as the “mesmeric influence” of the world mind, a hypnotic suggestion that says suffering, lack, and conflict are inevitable. Much of human struggle comes not from personal failure, but from unconsciously accepting these collective assumptions as truth.

                      William James, one of the fathers of modern psychology, recognized that consciousness is not isolated but participatory. He wrote that the individual mind is part of a larger stream of consciousness, influencing and being influenced by it. This insight bridges psychology and spirituality: every thought we accept strengthens either the fear-based patterns of Race Mind or the higher patterns of wisdom and compassion. As Holmes taught, “We are not victims of our environment, but of our belief in it.” To awaken spiritually is to realize that we can think independently of the race belief, choosing truth over tradition, love over fear.

                      The great spiritual teachers agree that liberation begins with awareness. When we observe Race Mind without identifying with it, its power diminishes. By consciously affirming higher truths—peace, unity, abundance, and divine intelligence—we withdraw our consent from collective fear and contribute to the healing of the whole. As each individual transcends limitation in thought, the collective itself is subtly transformed. In this way, personal awakening is never personal alone; it becomes a silent service to humanity, lifting the race consciousness one awakened mind at a time.

                      Another powerful expression of Race Mind in our time is the unprecedented volume of false information, conspiracy theories, and so-called “alternative facts” circulating through media and social platforms. Never before has collective belief been shaped so quickly or so emotionally. Repetition, sensationalism, and fear-based narratives bypass reason and embed themselves directly into the subconscious, exactly as Dr. Joseph Murphy warned. When large numbers of people accept distorted ideas as truth, those ideas take on the appearance of reality, influencing behavior, elections, public health, and human relationships. Joel Goldsmith would describe this as intensified world hypnosis, where appearance is mistaken for reality and noise replaces inner discernment.

                      Spiritual maturity in such an environment requires vigilance and inner stillness. Ernest Holmes taught that Truth is known by its alignment with Principle, not by popularity or volume. William James likewise emphasized the necessity of critical awareness, reminding us that belief without examination is a psychological vulnerability. To rise above the confusion of modern Race Mind, one must cultivate discernment, grounding thought in wisdom, compassion, and direct inner knowing. By refusing to emotionally react to every claim and by consciously choosing clarity over fear, we not only protect our own consciousness but help stabilize the collective, demonstrating that Truth does not need amplification—it needs recognition.

Keep the faith!

Rev-Bates

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New Year Reflection

Rev-Bates Weekly Message for Sunday December 28, 2025

Regarding the Change in Publication Schedule

                          For many years, it has been my commitment to share a weekly message with this spiritual community. Beginning January 1, 2026, I will be moving from a weekly message to a single, thoughtfully prepared message released on the first of each month. This change is not a step back, but a step deeper allowing more time for contemplation, meditation, and clarity, so that each message may arrive as a focused offering rather than something routine. I trust that this will support reflection, contemplation, and study with the ideas we explore together.

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New Year Reflection

                       The beginning of a new year is not merely a change on the calendar; it is a moment of conscious renewal. We are invited to pause, to release the weight of what has passed, and to remember that life is always unfolding from this present moment. The past year, whatever it held—has brought us wisdom, contrast, and growth, even where we did not immediately recognize it. As we step into this new year, let us do so with intention rather than expectation, grounded in the knowing that Spirit does not rush, does not repeat mistakes, and does not withhold good. May this year be approached not as something to survive or conquer, but as a field of possibility in which we align our thoughts, words, and actions with the highest good we can imagine—and then allow that good to reveal itself in ways beyond our imagination.Keep the faith!

Rev-Bates

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become a place where Love can arrive

 Rev-Bates Weekly Message for Sunday, December 21, 2025

                       A few days before Christmas, I invite you to move into a quieter space, one that exists beneath the noise of shopping lists and expectations. It is in this quiet, silent space that we align ourselves with the Spirit within us, our very soul.

                       Christmas, at its essence, is about the birth of possibility. It speaks to the moment when hope chooses to enter the world in an ordinary way, through vulnerability, humility, and trust. It reminds us that renewal rarely comes as spectacle; it comes as a small, steady awakening within the human heart. Every act of kindness, every choice toward compassion, is a way of letting that birth happen again.
                        As we approach Christmas, the invitation is simple: become a place where love can arrive. Release what hardens the heart—resentment, fear, the need to be right—and make room for what heals. If we can carry peace within ourselves, even briefly, we become messengers of it to others. And in doing so, something quietly wonderful is born—not once a year, but whenever we choose to live from love.

Keep the faith!

Rev-Bates

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Why The Human Species Is the Most Evil

 Rev-Bates Weekly Message for Sunday, December 14, 2025

                        This morning on the News there were reports of a terrorist attack on a Hannukah Party in Bondi Beach, a suburban community of Sydney, Australia, killing 11 people and wounding 29. Also, a report of a shooting at Brown University in Rhode Island, USA killing two and wounding nine. Here in Palm Desert, the Mayor Pro-Tem is proposing to ban the Pride Flag during Pride Month. Who does this flag hurt? Our State Assembly Member, Greg Wallis, a republican, has denounced the proposal. My conclusion after these reports and so many like them, is that the human species is the most evil. Why? And what can we do?

                       This morning’s news confronts us with images and numbers that pierce the heart—lives lost, families shattered, communities stunned by violence. When we witness such acts again and again, it can feel unbearable to reconcile human intelligence, creativity, and tenderness with our capacity for cruelty. The question naturally arises: How can a species capable of love also inflict such harm? From a spiritual—not religious—perspective, this tension points to a deep inner conflict within humanity itself. We are not inherently evil so much as profoundly divided within our own consciousness, often driven by fear, alienation, and the illusion of separation from one another.

                        Violence is born where empathy collapses. When individuals or groups lose the felt sense of shared humanity, others become objects, symbols, or enemies rather than living beings with inner lives as vivid as their own. Fear then seeks justification, ideology gives it language, and anger gives it permission. Spiritually speaking, this is not the triumph of evil but the absence of awareness—an eclipse of our innate capacity to recognize ourselves in one another. The tragedy is not only in the act itself, but in how disconnected a person must feel to commit it.

                      So, what can we do? We begin where all lasting change begins: within consciousness. Each act of compassion, each refusal to dehumanize, each moment we choose understanding over reaction weakens the conditions that give rise to violence. This does not mean passivity or denial of justice; it means addressing root causes as well as consequences. We can cultivate presence instead of rage, dialogue instead of demonization, and courage instead of despair. Spiritually, our work is to remember—again and again—that humanity’s darkest expressions are not its essence. The same species capable of terrible harm is also capable of profound healing, and the future depends on which capacity we choose to nurture.

Keep the faith!

Rev-Bates

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Always Believe Something Wonderful Is About To Happen

 Rev-Bates Weekly Message for Sunday, December 7, 2025

                       Recently I purchased a greeting card for someone, and the card read “Always believe something wonderful is about to happen.” I read this and I thought, what a great affirmation, “I believe something wonderful is about to happen,” and with this affirmation registered in our consciousness, something wonderful will happen. This simple phrase carries a quiet power, a gentle instruction to the mind and heart to stay open to possibilities that cannot yet be seen but are already forming in the unseen currents of life.

                     When we hold an expectation of goodness, we begin to notice the subtle signs of beauty, opportunity, and connection that might otherwise pass unnoticed. Our thoughts become like a lens, shaping how we interpret each moment. In this way, believing is not wishful thinking, but a creative alignment with life’s natural tendency toward growth, healing, and expansion.

                     I invite each of you to accept this affirmation, “I believe something wonderful is about to happen.” Let these words touch your heart. Memorize it, write it down, in the silence of your thoughts bring these words to the uppermost part of your mind. This will register these words in your consciousness. Enjoy the experience of observing what they draw to you.

Keep the faith!

Rev-Bates

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What If I Am Not Thankful?

Rev-Bates Weekly Message for Sunday, November 30, 2025

                       If you find yourself unable to feel thankful, the first spiritual insight is this: nothing is wrong with you. Gratitude is not a performance or a moral requirement—it is a state of awareness that naturally rises when we are inwardly aligned. When it seems absent, it often means the mind is crowded, the heart is tired, or the spirit is calling for rest. In this sense, the absence of thankfulness is not a failure but an invitation to pause and breathe.

                     From a spiritual perspective, “not feeling thankful” can be a sign that you're being asked to look deeper—beneath circumstances, beneath expectations, beneath the noise of daily life. Instead of forcing gratitude, you can gently allow presence. When you return to the present moment, even without naming anything as “good,” you begin reconnecting with the inner Self that is always whole, always supported, and always held by something larger than the momentary mood.

                     And here is the quiet truth: gratitude doesn’t begin with feeling thankful; it begins with simply being willing. Willing to notice one small thing that is okay. Willing to trust that life is still moving in your favor even when your emotions haven't caught up. If thankfulness feels out of reach, let grace take its place. In time, the warmth of gratitude will return—not because you forced it, but because you created space for it to arise naturally.

Keep the faith!

Rev-Bates

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