ETERNAL is the Source
The Tanakh makes it very clear, every
time that there is a ‘healing situation’, that ETERNAL is the source of the
healing. There were no individuals, gifted above all others, who specialized in
healing.
Many of the healings required some
‘person participation’ but it was ETERNAL as the source of power who brought
about the healing. The almost parallel stories of Elijah and Elisha being
involved in the healing of young boys who had died [1 Kings 17:17-24 and 2 Kings
4:33-36] show a lot of prophet-participation but each of them acknowledge
ETERNAL.
[Moses was barred from entering the
‘Promised Land’ because he took personal credit for getting water from the
rock instead of acknowledging ETERNAL.]
Our definition of healing is very broad
and covers all of our circumstances. Health, prosperity, relationships,
environment and future prospects are all included.
The Tanakh is not just a Jewish book, it
is written for the world. It defines a relationship that ETERNAL seeks with
individuals and with peoples.
The principal prayer of the Tanakh, is
the Shema, named for the Hebrew letter of the first word, it is found in
Deuteronomy 6:4,5
Hear O
This prayer is to establish and maintain
the relationship between the CREATOR and the Created. A relationship based on
love and developed through persistence and obedience. It is to be a complete and
exclusive relationship – ETERNAL is the only God.
The passage in Deuteronomy continues
chapter 6:6-9 Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this
day. Impress them upon your children. Recite them when you stay at home and when
you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your
hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead; inscribe them on the
doorposts of your house and on your gates.
I, personally, take this passage to mean
that we have to demonstrate our relationship with ETERNAL by the way we work [on
your hands], by the way we think, [on your forehead] and by the way we run our
homes and families [doorposts and gates].
Someone who has a sincere relationship
with ETERNAL will not be breaking any of the Ten Commandments – they will be
living not only the words of the law but they will be seeking ‘the spirit’
of the laws.
Being abusive to a husband, wife or
child, while not specified in the Ten Commandments, is an obvious breach of
spirit of the laws which govern not only our relationship with ETERNAL but also
with each other. Here are the words of the Ten Commandments:
Exodus 20: 2-14
2 "I am the Lord, your God, Who
took you out of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of bondage. 3 You shall
not have the gods of others in My
presence. 4 You shall not make for
yourself a graven image or any
likeness which is in the heavens above,
which is on the earth below, or which
is in the water beneath the earth.
5 You shall neither prostrate
yourself before them nor worship them, for I,
the Lord, your God, am a zealous God,
Who visits the iniquity of the
fathers upon the sons, upon the third
and the fourth generation of those who
hate Me, 6 and [I] perform loving
kindness to thousands [of generations], to
those who love Me and to those who
keep My commandments. 7 You shall
not take the name of the Lord, your
God, in vain, for the Lord will not hold
blameless anyone who takes His name
in vain. 8 Remember the Sabbath day
to sanctify it. 9 Six days may you
work and perform all your labor, 10 but
the seventh day is a Sabbath to the
Lord, your God; you shall perform no
labor, neither you, your son, your
daughter, your manservant, your
maidservant, your beast, nor your
stranger who is in your cities. 11 For [in]
six days the Lord made the heaven and
the earth, the sea and all that is in
them, and He rested on the seventh
day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the
Sabbath day and sanctified it. 12
Honor your father and your mother, in
order that your days be lengthened on
the land that the Lord, your God, is
giving you. 13 You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery. You
shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness
against your neighbor.
14 You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your
neighbor's wife, his manservant, his
maidservant, his ox, his donkey, or
whatever belongs to your
neighbor."
These Ten Commandments, along with the
food laws, are the major ways that we show our relationship with ETERNAL to be
meaningful. There is no point in talking about our faith or obedience if we do
not demonstrate it in every possible way.
Each of us will have our own ‘Exodus
Experience’, where we are taken out of the slavery or temptations of
“Egypt” [meaning worldly experience] to, sooner or later, come to our Sinai.
There ETERNAL speaks to us directly. It is only when we are ready for the
revelation of our connection with ETERNAL and with each other that this can
happen. I am sure you have heard the Chinese expression “when the student is
ready, the teacher appears”.
The revelation of connectedness allows
us to understand the spirituality of the Commandments. ETERNAL is the only
reality, so to worship anything else is to follow an illusion. I cannot hurt
other living things without hurting myself. Who is there to steal from but
another part of the larger self that includes me? Even the desire to steal comes
from an illusion of lack. I am connected to all of Creation and, potentially, am
rich beyond any dreams or avarice, I simply have to realise this truth. My
parents must be honoured because they gave me this precious life with all its
potential and possibilities. The Sabbath is even more wonderful as it gives me a
weekly reminder of the miracle of Creation and the freedom it brings.
The revelation of our Sinai supersedes
the need for written tablets of stone. The false boundaries between ourself and
others are removed; we can expand our consciousness beyond any cultural
limitations.
Let us look at the events of the Exodus.
Every time there appeared to be a problem such as, no water or bad water, no
bread or no meat, even a need for healing of snake bite – ETERNAL had an
answer in place. The solution was waiting for the problem to arrive! Every time
the people started to complain that they lacked something – ETERNAL had an
answer in place – but it needed someone in place to say the prayer or accept
that there was a solution.
ETERNAL is the source of all. Our most
effective prayer is to achieve the realisation that everything we need for
health, prosperity, love and joy is already available within you. This is
definitely not easy to do when we get into a time of struggle. We lose our
ETERNAL-vision and concentrate on the illusion that we lack something. This is a
path of discipline and of practice.
Begin your prayer practice from your
time of waking and re-visit it during your day. Let me offer you a prayer
process
I.
Recognise. Acknowledge ETERNAL as the source of
all good.
II.
Unification. Realise that you are connected
with ETERNAL.
III.
Specification. Specify the apparent
‘problem’ or lack and then specify the real truth in the present tense
IV.
Thanksgiving. Give thanks in advance for
answered prayer
V.
Release. ‘Let go and let God’, for example
“I release this prayer, knowing it is already done.” Do not keep going back
to the same prayer.
This process is simply a reminder –
you do not have to use all the steps, or use them in this particular order. It
is an aid to keeping in the consciousness of ETERNAL where we may expect our
health, relationships and finances to be whole and complete.