(Thank you Louanne Walters for transcribing this message.)

There were four college students at N State. All four of them had an A in Chemistry and the exam was coming up on Monday. And they got in this place of feeling very confident and knowing that they knew it all, and so rather than studying for the weekend they decided to go out and have a great big hearty party.

And so this is what they did, and coming back Monday they were way too late, they’re not prepared, so they’re thinking ‘Ok well let’s go tell the professor we’re not going to take the exam today but we need to tell him something.’ And they said, “Well, we were spending the weekend visiting someone that needed our help and on the way back we had a flat tire.”

And the professor said you know, no problem. I’ll let you take it this afternoon, come back at 3 o’clock. And so all four guys show up promptly at three o’clock and he takes them each into a different room and they start the exam. And they look at the exam and for the first page it says, for 5 points – and it asked a certain question about chemistry and they thought ‘This is going well, no problem, we know this answer.’ Then they turn over to the second page, ‘for 95 points, which tire was it?’

The moral of the story is, 5 points in life is what we know, 95 points is what we do with what we know. Isn’t that the truth?

Many times people are looking for that spiritual enlightenment and they’re looking for that arrival place, that—“I’m at that destination now.” Where, spiritual wholeness is the acceptance that we’re learning each and every day. We get 5 points here, we have an awareness. We’re learning something new with a relationship, we have 5 more points and we have an awareness. What is that little statement on top of the refrigerator that says ‘It’s what I learned after I thought I knew it all that counted’?

And so when we look at and work with the concept in spiritual expressing with our book Quest for Wholeness, we want to understand for ourselves what wholeness means. And this would be a great conversation for you to journal and to work with your colleagues and your friends, what does wholeness mean to you? For some people wholeness, right here and right now means their physical being, to feel whole, to feel vibrant, to feel alive. While other people it might be several areas of life. That’s how they would define wholeness for themselves.

It’s like people describing love. Love is infinite. It’s this great big word that’s attempting to express several different things.

But when you look at the word wholeness and you look at spiritual enlightenment, everything about our lives is a paradox. Do you agree with that? And the more comfortable you become and I become, living in our paradoxes, the better off as spiritual beings, we will be.
The word wholeness, within itself, is a paradox. Because we’re always seeking to know and remember our wholeness. We’re always looking and pondering and exploring. When the truth of the matter is, we are whole just as we are. Right? So it’s paradoxical.
The whole idea of ‘I have tremendous faith, but yet I built that faith by doubting everything.’ That’s a huge paradox, isn’t it?!

Doubt everything, and then you develop faith. Sometimes people have come to me for counseling or for insight, to share ideas, giving insight to me, and they’ll say ‘You know what, I feel right now like I’m questioning everything, I’m not really sure what to tell myself anymore. And I don’t know even how to remind myself of certain scriptures or certain literature, and I’m just in that place.” And I go, “Good for you! Good for you!” And it takes them a minute. “Good for me? What do you mean good for me?”

But in that awareness, that’s when the stirring is happening you see, and you’re discovering the truth that’s within you. Not the truth that’s out there that’s in theory, not the concepts you might learn in chemistry and metaphysics, but the true you – the true colors of you are coming and shining through because you’re walking through it and you’re proving it you see.

So spiritual awareness is teaching us that in all of life we’re not seeing how things are, we’re seeing how WE are.

So, how we’re developing the relationship with ourself and everything we do and live in.
There’s a beautiful movie, that’s very archetypal in nature. It teaches us metaphysically, everything we need to know. It’s the Wizard of Oz. And it’s a story that’s archetypal, that each of us can relate, in all of our lives – those of us that have said, ‘I want spiritual enlightenment.’

Dorothy, here with Toto, is at a place in her life that she’s going, ‘Can anybody relate to me? Can anyone understand me? Is there someplace that I can go? Is there someplace over the rainbow where there’s no troubles and no issues? Where is that place for spiritual enlightenment?

And because she makes that declaration, William Bosh, who wrote the book, he’s a former priest, written many books on spiritual enlightenment, he said, that in that moment when she declared that, she brought into her life this tornado of events. That everything around her as she knew it, had to change and shift. Has that ever happened to you?
You may be there now. It could be!

So in that, in that consciousness of ‘I want to be more enlightened, I want to know more about God, I want that inner awareness and that Spirit to work through me’ there comes the… things must change as Esther Nicholson said last week, things must change.

So everything around you as you know it is changing.

And so in that, she draws forth, the things that she needs. She draws forth the high consciousness. In you it might be the teachings of Unity, it might be a spiritual leader or a teacher, it might be a friend, it might be an author that teaches feng shui, it could be a group, it could be a study group, but it’s something that reminds you of the high consciousness of who you are.

And true teaching is not a person that’s going to tell you they know the way. Ever. And you do what I tell you to do. True teaching is someone that says, “I see your true colors, you know what you need to do, and I’m here on the sidelines cheering you on, there you go!”

And that’s exactly what good witch Glenda did as she said ‘you’ve got what you need. You’ve got what you need, right inside of you, walk your path. You can do this.’ But she didn’t tell her how. She did say, ‘but here’s a gift for you.’ These are these red slippers, and you need them, and don’t ever take them off. When you’re walking on your spiritual path, you want to remember to always keep your red slippers on.

Metaphysically speaking your red slippers represent the red passion that is inside you. It’s the thing that when you think about it, you cringe with excitement and enthusiasm because it is the delicious spiritual side of you. It is ‘the what you know’ to be true, it’s what you hold onto that brings you to that waking hour that says, “I can do this.” Your slippers must be present all the time and right there on your feet.

The interesting part about life for all of us, when we’re into the joy and our spiritual enlightenment, and we’re into people liking us and it just feels really wonderful and we’re singing kumbaya by the campfire, I mean it’s just a wonderful place and all of a sudden something comes into our lives this shadow part of ourselves, that looks very interesting, almost like this green witch.

That looks at you, at your job, in your family, or at your class reunion, or they’re part of your staff and they go ‘I’m going to get you my pretty. I’m going to get you no matter what.”

And don’t you feel that sometimes? In your enlightenment, in your spiritual awareness, you feel like you’re just flying so high and all of a sudden something will just catch you off guard, and you go ‘oh my, where did you come from? Where did you come from?’

And it’s the shadow part that we recognize, and we’re aware that it is there. And sometimes we get very unsure about that about which we know, when we’re in that place. Do you relate?

And so when we are in these places in our lives, just as Dorothy did – she drew in a spiritual family that could support her. Each reflecting what we need in our lives.

Scarecrow, representing the Mind, the Intellect. We need our thoughts, we need our thoughts to stay in alignment with where we’re going on this path on that yellow brick road.

We need our Heart, as tin man would prove, because you cannot lose your heart in the things that you are about and the things that you do.

And always through the valley of walking thru life there is the need for the Courage. You can think all day long, I can think all day long, I can have feeling around something, but it’s the ability to have the courage to let go, to let go, to surrender as Elizabeth said earlier. So that Thy Will thru me can be done, and that’s the toughest part.

You might see it as you’re walking thru life, and the good witch told Dorothy, just follow the yellow brick road. Come up with the mantra, follow the yellow brick road, follow the yellow brick road. And though I might walk thru tigers and bears oh my, whatever I walk through, I will keep remembering that I am on God’s path.

And you take with you whatever you need. I love that song from the Wiz that Diana Ross sang so beautifully, “If you believe within your heart, you’ll know that no one can change the path of life that you must go.” Believe what you feel and know you’re right. Because the time will come around when you’ll say it’s yours, you will recognize everything because your self awareness has allowed you become ‘in it’ you see.

Because you’ve recognized that there’s not a place that you’re going, it’s the acceptance of the place that’s already within you.

That’s the paradox, make sense?

Sometimes we need signs, do you remember as a child? When you saw this ‘Surrender Dorothy’ for the first time, it was kind of a scary feeling with the witch painting it in the sky. Sometimes in our own lives we have that revelation, don’t we?

Just saying, ‘let go. Just let go. Let go and let God. Let this happen in your life.’ We start looking for all kinds of answers around us. Dorothy looks for and pursues the Wizard of Oz and is looking for some kind of ancient wisdom only to discover it’s a voice behind the curtain. Not a real wizard, it’s just a voice.

So, in your own life on the spiritual quest and spiritual journey, where are you on this journey? Where are you? Because there’s no place like home. And once you’re into your spiritual enlightenment, there’s no place that you can go, you can’t go backwards right? You can’t go back and forget and you don’t know it. It’s the awareness of moving forward. It’s the awareness of coming back home to yourself. Recognizing the true value as she told the wonderful good witch, that what she had discovered, she discovered that she had had it all the time.

And that’s that wonderful teaching, that we are in a place, in our quest for wholeness, in remembering.

In scripture, there are wonderful stories that teach us awarenesses and metaphysical insights. And in Matthew it gives an example of Jesus in Galilee. And he had gone to John and said, I want to be baptized. And John said, you want me to baptize you, it ought to be opposite. You should be baptizing me, and Jesus said no, I need you to baptize me. You’re going to fulfill this in righteousness. And so Jesus goes on and he gets baptized by John and crowds gather around and the sky parts, opens up, doves are hovering over, and the voice of Spirit, the voice of God says You are my beloved with whom I am well pleased.

Can you imagine that feeling? Of feeling at this place that Jesus must’ve felt? And that energy of just feeling like, wow, everything is in place. Haven’t you felt that way before? Everything feels like it’s in place now.

And Jesus goes off from there and he goes into 40 days of nesting, and meditation. We all do that sometimes don’t we, on our spiritual journeys, sometimes don’t you just want to leave our retreat and say gosh if I could just stay at this place of feeling good? Or you have an arrival place within yourself and you say, wow, I’d love to just stay here.

But as this message shows us, as Jesus comes out of that 40 days, that’s not what happened. Because the aspect of his personality started kicking in, and started questioning him about who he is and what he can do. Do you remember the story there? As he, came out from that rest and that time?

It says in scripture that satan or the devil, which in Unity we believe that’s the shadow part of oneself, would thus present itself, and the devil came up and said here you are, you’re hungry, why don’t you now just take these stones and turn them into bread and you won’t be hungry?

And Jesus said, “It is written, one does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Jesus was saying, universally there’s not a quick fix with how you use the Law. Yes, I might do this, I might turn the stone into bread right now, but that hunger will come and it will go.

Do you understand that? It’s like the students that had already made that A in chemistry they thought well that’s their arrival place, but that’s when it just begins. It’s for each of us when we’re on the spiritual journey and we feel like oh, I’m in a place now I can be very comfortable. And then something comes along and we want to just make it go away. Let me say a prayer, an affirmation and just make it go away.

But the true teaching, as we’re told by our Way Shower, is to learn how to live with the word of God all the time. Isn’t that inviting? What a wonderful invitation, to learn how to develop that power within you that you’re never hungry, that you’re never just responding to outside circumstances but you know that within you you have everything that you need.

And then the devil then proceeded, it wasn’t enough then. He went and he said to Jesus, look we’re on a mountain. If you jump off it would be amazing because all these angels, I’m sure if you’re the son of God, if you really are the son of God, nothing will happen to you, you’ll be taken care of. And Jesus said very clearly it’s written that we will not use the power for temporary gain. We will not use it for that. What a great message, because it tells and invites all of us don’t become spiritually either dogmatic or arrogant. Has that ever happened to you? That you feel like, oh, I know this, nothing can touch me, I’ve got it. Boy, that doesn’t work, does it? Just as you put that out there what comes along? Usually a little green witch or something comes along to say ‘let’s set this story straight’, comes right back at you.

And then finally, satan, the devil says you know, here’s the thing, if you’re so wonderful and you’re so fine and you’re God’s beloved and all that, here’s what you can have if you’ll just follow my ways – in other words if you’ll follow the ways of your personality you can have it all.

And Jesus says, that is not the way of true spiritual teaching. That is not the way to follow as a spiritual being. What I am here to do in spiritual law, is I am here to show that the Kingdom is within. Everything that I need, is inside of me. There is nothing ultimately that we own, anyway – is there?

So there’s the following the path and the truth of who we are. These are important teachings because they’re something that we face all the time on our life journey. Have any of you faced those situations I just mentioned? They’re part of our experience, they’re archetypal in nature. Here we are.

And so where are you on your quest for wholeness? It is our knowing that you will remember your true colors of who you are, to continue to develop your consciousness, not your personality, but your consciousness – so that thru all things you can walk with that loving being and presence that you are. So in closing, I would just like to share with you one of my favorites of the autobiography of life.

A man is walking down the street and he sees a hole in the sidewalk and he steps in it. So the second day, he goes down the same street, he sees the hole in the sidewalk and he falls in it again. So the third day, he goes down that same street, see the same hole and can’t believe it but he’s fallen in it again. He’s very embarrassed but he pulls himself out. The fourth day, he walks down the street, he sees the hole in the sidewalk and he walks around the hole. The fifth day, what does he do? He takes a different street. He takes a different street.

On your life journey, be true to yourself, be true to the walk, keep your red slippers with you wherever you go. Come from your heart and your passion, and life will always give you that which you are.

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Please join me in the  consciousness of the right of all life to life their intentions in freedom and peace:

Step 1.  Please register at www.LifeRights.org
Step 2.  Join the Life Rights group at www.Facebook.com The group’s address is Life Rights (Click Here) If you are not familiar with Facebook a great way to start is to activate a profile (all free). One you have an active account,  search on Temple Hayes and add me as a friend. Steve Pohlit, Executive Director of Life Rights will also welcome you as a friend.  You will soon find you have a growing list of wonderful like-minded friends.

Step 3.  You may feel you would like to help a child or possibly an entire classroom. My book The Right To Be You which is found at www.therighttobeyou.com helps all and especially children understand they have the right to live in freedom and peace.  It helps all understand we are intended to become our individual pure potentiality.

I appreciate  you and your consideration of how Life Rights aligns with your consciousness.

Send you the energy of Love, Joy and Abundant Blessings.

Temple Hayes