Words of Inspiration:

from an Unexpected Source!

One day my youngest son called me into his bedroom, so I could see something he was watching on TV. I was very surprised to find he was watching Dr. Wayne Dyer. He was about 18 at the time and I had no idea of what kind of programs he watched. I started listening and Wayne Dyer was talking about Francis of Assisi. He was promoting a book on this man’s life. Well, I wound up sending away for the book. This book turned out to be quite an influence on my thinking. I totally learned some very beneficial information…thanks to my son. One never knows, where information will be coming from that could add to one’s knowledge.

There was a most impressive prayer in this book, which was attributed to Francis of Assisi. (I don’t say Saint Francis, because there truly are no saints in this world). He was a very spiritually enlightened man…and I am sure that our Creator guided him. One of the stories in the book was how Francis and an acolyte (one who assists a member of the clergy) were working in a small parish with town people. At the end of the day, the acolyte said, “You haven’t mentioned anything about the gospel all day.” Francis replied that his actions spoke louder than words. He was there to assist others; and he worked alongside them, giving them a helping hand.

I was very impressed at the time with this prayer that was attributed to Francis of Assisi who lived eight hundred years ago in Italy from 1182 until 1228 AD. I just discovered that this prayer was not something he wrote. It was published anonymously in a French Catholic publication La Clochette in 1912. Some believe the founder of this organization, Father Esther Boucherel, actually was the author. During WW11, Cardinal Francis Spellman of New York City was responsible for having a million copies of this prayer sent out with the name St Francis of Assisi, his namesake. as the author of this prayer. Wayne Dyer was not aware, neither was anyone else that Francis of Assisi had not written it.

These words were most inspirational to me and to millions of people around the world. Music was added and it has been recorded and sung in many churches. I hope you will find it inspirational, too.

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me bring love; where there is offence, let me bring pardon; where there is discord, let me bring union; where there is error, let me bring truth; where there is doubt, let me bring faith; where there is darkness, let me bring Your light; where there is sadness, let me bring joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in self-forgetting that one finds; it is in forgiving that one is forgiven; it is in dying that one awakens to eternal life.

Everyone who reads this will finds words that will resonate within one’s soul. I particularly was impressed with…It’s better to understand than to be understood. I realized that one learns far more by trying to understand…why people do the things they do, than by judging them. One has to learn what created problems, in order to solve them. Through taking steps to understand you will grow more as a human being. Two thousand years ago, a message was given that we were not to sit in judgment on anyone; none of us are perfect. It was in the story of the woman who was going to be stoned to death for adultery. What did the Messiah say, “You who are without sin, cast the first stone!” The crowd who were ready to stone her slowly moved away. What else did he say to the woman? “Go and sin no more!”

Years ago, I read the entire Bible. Every so often, ‘l’ll go and look at different parts and ask for guidance, as to the interpretation. It says, “Ask and You shall receive!” I will be guided to different things that ministers never point out. Then, I will check out other information in regard to what I have read. I am a history buff; and have been reading for 82 years on many subjects. Many who may have only read the Bible or perhaps only know what their religious leaders have told them; and have not done other research will get very huffy, when I will add something they have not been told.

Many scholars will study available information without being aware of, how many non-spiritual writers were involved in writing the 1800 page King James Bible. Do they know who the people were, who added at least 500 pages, between 1603-1611? I was guided to buy God’s Secretaries by Adam Nicolson. He wrote about the 50 nobles who worked on this Bible and the members of the clergy in the Church of England who contributed. They were not spiritual; they were simply literate. In the 1600s, only wealthy people had money for an education; and knew how to read and write; and members of the clergy were literate.

One of my three brothers is a “Born Again” who declares that every single word in the Bible is divine. Every time we get together or even converse, we ‘butt heads.” I believe that the essence of the entire Bible was to bring peace, harmony and love to the world; not discord and dissension. To me, the very positive message was Matthew 22:35-40.. It was the core of the entire Bible: Love the One who created all life; you, me and every living thing. This is…Our Father in the Lord’s Prayer Matthew 6: 9-13, who created our earthly home. The One, who the Messiah told his disciples to pray to 2000 years ago. If we don’t acknowledge our Source, the One who created us, above all others, then we have no regard or gratitude for our Source.

In the 1960s, my husband and I attended services at a Christian Science Church several times. Then, he told me that he had no desire to go there anymore. He pointed out the congregation spoke of Mary Baker Eddy, as if she were a saint. It was the way they spoke her name. Then he said, “No man or woman living or dead should be so honored.” I thought about what he said; and I agreed. Our total acknowledgment should be given to the One who created life, our Creator. When I read the Bible, I saw the words that were spoken by the Messiah in Mark 10: 17-18. “….Don’t call me good, there is none good, but the One.” He did not want to elevate himself or have others elevate him, either. He put the Father-Creator first.

Most people are not aware of the history behind the making of the Bible. There was no actual Bible, until the Gutenberg Bible was printed in Germany in the 1450s. Unknown numbers of people worked on the writing of this Bible for more than a thousand years. The writers had to use pen and quill; and slowly wrote on one page of papyrus at a time. The word bible came from the Greek word biblion meaning book. The Romans and the Greeks contributed most of its writings. When it came off the printing press, it was in two volumes and was 1286 pages. It was printed in Latin and was authorized by the Roman Papacy. Thousands of scrolls had to be scrutinized and organized to go into this very first book.

In 1525 - 1527 an Englishman by the name of William Tyndale translated the Latin Bible into English and brought the fury of the Roman Catholic Church on his head. It came after him and destroyed every copy that he had made and murdered him. The church wanted to have its clergy members translate and interpret the information in the Bible; as most people were illiterate at that time. Then, along came the Geneva Bible, which was based on the Tyndale Bible in 1560. It was printed in Geneva, Switzerland. It was the major Bible used, until the King James Bible was printed in 1611. It was said to be a far more accurate Bible than the King James Bible. It went out of print in 1644. Many versions of the Bible today are based on the King James Bible. Shakespeare, John Knox, John Calvin and many other notables read the Geneva Bible extensively.

Dr Norman Walker who was my health mentor sent me a copy of the King James Bible in 1984. I was fifty years old at the time and had never had a Bible before. I am a reader and have been reading 82 years.. I started out getting a library card at eight years of age; and every week I would go to the library and take out five books to read. I lived in the fantasy world of fairy tales, until I was twelve. Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” I truly learned a lot from reading fairy tales; about people and even morals in Hans Christian Andersen’s stories like The Ugly Duckling, The Little mermaid and The Emperor’s New Clothes. When I became an adult, I gave up on library cards and became a book buyer; as I never wanted to separate from the books I read and loved.

In 1980, when we lived in Norwalk, Connecticut, my 4 year old son met a little boy who he played with; and one day we met his grandfather who was watching him. He was a retired jewelry store owner. We started to converse and I was impressed with what he had to say. He gave me a paper that he had written. I put it in a file that I kept pertaining to spiritual writings. It was a most inspirational paper; and I am sure he would not mind my sharing it with you:

This I believe - My soul, my mind, is a thread of eternal life, hosted briefly on earth in my earthly body…an abode that should be respected and kept in good health. When that body ceases to exist the Eternal Thread of life, which is me, departs for another assignment in God’s Universe…perhaps into His infinity of stars, hosted by another form….perhaps into another earthly body. I believe I will be and have faith that I will be forever progressing, forever a helper and builder in God’s Master Plans.

It is not for me to know whither I am bound or from whence I came, but I do not believe I will pass this way but once. When it is God’s will that my soul is freed from this body I may leave behind tasks undone and much untried…because I did not attain a full potential. It concerns me much that I have missed opportunities to better serve or that my developing knowledge was not readied to deal with them. Perhaps that concern is a stirring of intelligence and growth, which fits the immortal me for expanded future services to God in his heavens here and beyond.

The inevitability of erring and transgressing fosters concurrent or carryover penances and atonements which I must abide. Good conscience keeps the Thread of Life balanced on the side of right and useful services for God and fellow beings…. so balanced for me, I trust, that my travels in God’s Eternity may be productively onward.

I thank God for a future that is forever….. Merald Lue

Life is a great opportunity to meet enlightened people along the Highway of Life. One never knows where it will occur and what kind of a gift you will be given. I look at every person as someone who could perhaps share with me the gift of knowledge. You never know who you will meet on your path for a reason or a purpose that will contribute to your growth. We are here to learn and contribute our knowledge to elevate others on the path, too. Life is a school and we should never stop learning. Knowledge, skills and talents are the only things we take with us on our Eternal Journey through time and space.

Holistically Yours,

Barbara Charis