Priesthood Worship – February 2021
by High Priest Rick Jones
As our lives unfold it is so very important for each one of us to connect with something bigger than ourselves. Our Heavenly Father is our creator. He is our source. He is the Divine and he resides within each one of us. God is the oneness that underlies everything. He is infinite intelligence, creativity, peace, and love. Because he is our source, and because he is the manifestation of infinite love, his very existence makes our lives better.
It’s hard not to notice that there are many trends in society today that are simply moving away from God. It seems obvious that many today don’t feel connected to a living God. They don’t feel connected to a source that wants to help them in everyday life. One who cares deeply about every simple thing in their existence. It appears that in today’s modern life, unless you can see, taste, touch or have specific scientific facts of something, you struggle with belief. Doubt is spawned because a meaningful relationship with our source is blocked by skepticism, negativity, fear of the unknown, doubt and many other painful life’s memories. These are what the Poet William Blake calls “Manacles of the Mind.”
So how do we deal with these blocks? How do we get a reality beyond, the manacles of everyday life? How do we experience freedom from doubt? How do we overcome these demands for scientific thinking? How do we unblock ourselves from a God that wants us to experience joy, fulfillment, truth, beauty, love and compassion? How do we connect with a living God?
Fortunately for us, God has given us many teachers to help us in our journey. Teachers who come from a simple state of love. Love that is not focused on anyone, but denied to no one.
Our number one teacher is of course is Jesus Christ. But there are many others: Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Joseph Smith. Just to name a few.
One such teacher was Nelson Mandela. For years he was tortured and imprisoned. His only crime was speaking out against that which he believed to be wrong. He was mercilessly ridiculed, and when that didn’t silence him, he was jailed.
After his release he was asked if he resented those that tortured him, and he said “Having resentment is like drinking poison and expecting it to kill your enemies.” He went out of his way to make sure that some of those torturers were in his cabinet. He transcended Hate by coming from a simple state of Love.
Didn’t our beloved Jesus do the same? (“Father forgive them they know not what they do.”)
Study these teachers. Let God speak to you. Quiet your mind and put your heart into action. “Let Go and Let God.”
As humans we want to be in control. We want to take charge and “Fix it”. We want to fight the wrong doing as we see it. This fighting only corrupts the process. We are all very different. Just because someone dare to think different thoughts, have different opinions and say different things, we become angry and frustrated. This is and can be a major block to each other and to God. We are all very different but in reality we are all expressions of one mind, the mind of God.
“Be still and know that I am God.” Pray, meditate and connect with the one that loves each of us more than we know. As it turns out, Science is actually helping us with this.
Dr. Tanzi is the Dean of Harvard’s Medical School for the Cure of Alzheimer’s. As well as medicines, Dr. Tanzi is researching mind body cures. In his research, Dr. Tanzi documents that people who meditate daily, have better heart health, lower blood pressure, and lower stress. But, he also noticed that changes occur in genetic activity. It turns out that there is a specific enzyme known as Telomorais. At the end of each chromosome there is a structure know as a telomere which serves as an end cap to prevent your DNA from fraying. This fraying process is associated with aging. Telomorais is a protein that produces telomeres. Increasing levels of telemorais has shown to change gene activity toward healing, a process known as homeostasis. Bad genes directly related to heart disease, diabetes, obesity, auto immune disease and some cancers, are downgraded. Good genes related to healing go up in activity. Dr. Tanzi has documented that people who are exposed to meditation are demonstrating this change without medicine. By a simple act of returning to source healing is occurring.
“Be still and know that I am God.” Above all, “Let Go and Let God.”
“You Raised Me Up” by the 12 Tenors