October 31 Message - Taking out the Trash and other Essene Spiritual Housekeeping Tips
Opening Prayer
Opening Hymn
Call to Worship
Now listen and recite the invocation in Hebrew along with the cantor. Let the words resonate within you and settle your heart.Scripture Reading
24"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. 28'For in Him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are His offspring.'
You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow....
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from Your presence
or take Your Holy Spirit from me.
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Psalm 51: 6-12
8Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Matthew 5:8
Message
We moved from California to Arizona about two months ago. Last week I finally unpacked the last box. It felt so good to finally have the house free of clutter. It just brought peace to my soul to be able to move about the house without having to walk around boxes or fear tripping into something. Now that the boxes were not in the way anymore, I felt impelled to go a step further. I cleaned the house from top to bottom...even washed the windows. I don't know how long it will last (especially with 2 dogs and 2 cats sharing our home) but for the moment, I am really enjoying this clean, organized household.
I was thinking while I was in the midst of this cleaning mode, "Wow! There really is some merit to the concepts of Feng Shui." As the clutter decreased, I could feel better energy flowing through the house. The next morning as I was in the midst of my morning communions, I realized that cleaning our bodies has a parallel effect in the spiritual realm as cleaning our house does in the physical realm. The human body is the house of the Holy Spirit. The Divine Spirit within us flows better and stronger when the house (our body) is clean.
The voice of God can resonate more clearly when the vessel is pure. The will of God is more easily followed when we are not encumbered by a lot of trash in our lives. That is why a simple, pure, clean lifestyle has always been a fundamental philosophy of the Essenes. The main reason that the Essenes separated from main stream Judiasm is because they did not agree with the unclean lifestyle. The Essenes recognized from the beginning that healthy bodies are a prerequisite for spiritual awareness. Enoch, the founder of the Essenes, lived such a pure life that his "eyes were opened by God so that he saw a vision of the Holy One in the heavens" (Book of Enoch)
Throughout the Torah, there are examples of the Essene precept of physical purity leading to spiritual awareness. The best example I can think of is the story of Daniel. While in exile in Babylon, Daniel and his friends chose not to eat the rich but unhealthy food of the Babylonian King's table. Instead, they ate vegetables and drank water. As a result, they grew more physically healthy than those who ate the king's food. In this state of physical health, the Spirit moved so strongly through Daniel that he was able to have Divine visions of the future. He also had spiritual perception that enabled him to interpret the king's dreams. His friends prospered mentally and spiritually as well and became the king's special advisers. Samuel is another example. He was separated to God at birth and was raised up following the Nazarite vow of no alcohol and pure living. He was so spiritually in tune that he could hear the voice of God when he was just a small boy. He later became the high priest of Israel.
Often in the scriptures, people are instructed to fast before some great spiritual feat can occur. There is a good reason for this. Fasting is the ultimate cleanse of the body. Denying the body food allows the body to utilize the energy no longer needed for digestion. The body then can mobilize and remove toxins and heal. Besides healing the body, fasting is a great discipline for the mind. It helps us to remove our attachment to physical needs and concentrate on the spiritual. After the first few days of fasting (which I have to admit are difficult) the body has cleansed from toxins, the appetite fades and the attachment to food diminishes. The mind is then free to put more awareness on the Divine instead of on the appetite. The mind and spirit are free to commune with God.
Many religions incorporate fasting as part of their worship. Even mainstream Judaism commemorates the holiest day of the year, Yom Kippur, with 24 hours of fasting. Essenes utilized fasting to a greater extreme than most religions, though. In fact, it was a usual practice of an inner core group of Essenes to fast 40 days a year. Yeshua, as an Essene Master, fasted for forty days and nights in the wilderness before beginning his ministry. He was showing through his example that fasting leads to the ability to forsake bodily desires, attain clarity of body and mind, and achieve the highest state of Spiritual communion with the Father and Mother. Yeshua taught the disciples that the more one experiences the freedom of bodily desires in fasting, the easier it is to maintain that state when not fasting. Yeshua referenced this power of fasting in Mark 9:29 when he stated that certain difficult spiritual road blocks can only be removed "by prayer and fasting".
According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the physical needs (food, shelter, safety) must be met before a human can aspire to fulfill higher needs (social, mental, self-actualization). Extrapolating from this theory, humans must be physically healthy before their minds can function correctly. Minds have to function correctly before humans can have correct relationships with one another. Correct relations must be in place with one another before one can have a correct spirit. After accomplishing all these feats, one can attain the highest level of human accomplishment, which is oneness with the Divine. Then we can truthfully say, like Yeshua, "I and my Father are one".
It is not an easy task. How do you stay healthy, clean and physically fit in a world full of pollutants, toxins, chemicals and junk food ? How do you stay mentally sound in a world of noise, stress, traffic and deadlines? How do you maintain right relationships with others when responsibilities and financial obligations pull you away from those you love? No wonder evil has attained such a foothold in the modern world! Satan has created the perfect set of distractions to prevent God's children from harnessing the power within them.
It would be easy to give up. However, if we, as God's children, do not consciously strive toward spiritual awareness, we contribute to the problem. Remember the second law of thermodynamics. Things that are left to themselves fall apart. Just try not cleaning your house. What happens?? Pretty soon it becomes such a mess you don't know where to start. But if you continue not to act, the food on the dishes get hard and moldy in the sink. Then bugs and mice start living with you. If you let it go long enough, the whole place falls apart.
The best thing to do is pick up every day. Don't let the process of destruction start. The same is true in the spiritual realm. The only thing necessary for evil to flourish is that good men do nothing. We must strive for spiritual awareness even in a world that screams profanities. Those of us who continue to follow the Way, in spite of the obstacles are the only hope for creation. Scripture says that all creation groans awaiting the transformation that is possible if God's children awaken to the power within them.
So, what are you waiting for? Get started now. Take the trash out of your life. Turn off the TV. When McDonald's calls don't listen. Wash out all the grime in your body with a juice or water fast. Then, put everything in order in your relationships. Finally, clean out the dust in your spiritual life. Go out in God's creation. Walk with the Father and Mother. Don't worry if it seems like not much is happening at first. Just keep consciously striving to make your life cleaner and quieter. Then you will be able to listen for the still small Voice. When at last, the noise is removed from your life and you are able hear the Voice, speak the words you hear. When the mud of inertia is cleaned up and you are able to feel the flow of the Spirit, move with the current. When the windows of your soul are cleaned and you are able to see the light, follow it. The world is waiting for the blessings of God's words and actions relayed through you.
Closing Prayer
The Nazarites made a personal choice to live their lives set apart from the world. They wanted their lives and their bodies to be clean vessels, ready for God to work through them. If that is your desire today, make your commitment to Father Yahweh and invite Mother Shekkinah to come and cleanse as you make this song your prayer.
