It is almost as amazing how supportive a mastermind group can be as it is disappointing that the people you most want to improve for just don’t get it. It is not as if this is the first time I have had this experience. I am grateful for the feedback I have had from the mastermind group since my last post and have been greatly encouraged to stay on the path.

I had an epiphany 30 years ago where I changed almost overnight from a hopelessly addicted gambler, a seeker after every kind of sensual pleasure and an abuser of whatever substance was accessible. I met with God in my own bed…no other person was involved but I was awakened to a life changing truth. My girlfriend at that time thought I was going mad and was on the verge of walking out when the car she was sat in filled with light and she knew that I was more sane than I had ever been. When she told me of her experience which was so different from my own it was hard to reconcile the two, but it was the same power, the same person coming to both of us in the way we each needed to meet Him.

We have talked about having to learn to love the person we are trying to become and I am getting there, but if I were to dwell on the person I used to be all those years ago I could only have love for him and a hearts desire that he would find out what I know… but I would certainly have no desire to become like him again.

However at the time there were people who came and begged me to go back. One was a close family member and in truth most of my family members have never come to accept the new me.  My best friend of many years, (we met in school aged 11 and we had been each others best man at our weddings) walked in to my living room and gave me an ultimatum. Go back to how you were or we are finished, I said I could not go back and he turned and walked out into the night. Another friend did likewise and I have seen them both of them once in the 30years since and they treated me worse than a complete stranger.

So now I am faced with a similar situation once again and yet I can face it this time with perfect peace. How many others have been so prepared to face such massive change?

My ideas are bigger now and some colleagues are not yet ready to come up higher and see what I see, but I know that they will, I will nurture them and lead them until they do see …

I did a random act of kindness that was bigger than anything I had ever previously done to a relative stranger, in fact I was surprised myself that my new character would do such a thing… and the person closest of all to me is upset, no mad at me for having done it,

and yet that person is such a generous person, perhaps the act was more fitting for their character than mine and thats where the shock waves came from. Nevertheless I am glad I did it and I am sure it will work out well in the end.

…Haanel in 21:17 says Do not hesitate to aspire to the highest possible attainments in anything you may undertake, for the mind forces are ever ready to lend themselves to a purposeful will in the effort to crystallise its highest aspirations into acts, accomplishments and events…

and 21:19. There is no limit to what this law can do for you; dare to believe in your own idea; remember that Nature is plastic to the ideal (I think he means God is Willing) Think of the ideal as AN ALREADY ACCOMPLISHED FACT.

Is that not what I read my DMP every day as if it were an already accomplished fact…sometimes I have fallen asleep listening to my recording of my DMP and woken with a start knowing for sure that it is happening as I listen. And then I realise it is still future for me… but it is a sure and certain future and this time my companions will be with me to celebrate it.

After many steps forward I feel I have made a pretty big step back.

I was so glad for the quote from a friend of mine who has absolutely no idea how I am feeling right now, (nobody but God knows), yet he sent me a text message today with the following quote. “…do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you…” Isaiah 41:10

Not long after I read the following quote from Emerson on a twitter post from Mark J, ‘Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.’ 

Between them they were a lifeline and since you are kind enough to take an interest in my writing I will tell you why.

I have been really enjoying the MKMMA ride these last four or five months, I have been learning so much and at times felt I was almost flying into the new life of the person I intend to become. This last week I have been brought down to earth with a bump. I can’t say it’s a reality check because quite honestly my reality has changed, but I suppose other peoples reality is still where it was and now there is a gap between us  almost the size of a canyon.

The trouble is many of the people on the other side of this canyon are important in my life, (I don’t mean my wife because she understands me better than anyone), but nevertheless, important people with whom I am deeply partnered and associated are now thinking in a completely different way to me. It seems I have left them behind, at least for the moment.

I see an amazing new future with greater goals than ever before and aspirations that I know will greatly enhance our fellowship and through them our whole city.

We all agree that without a vision the people perish and for years the vision has been to hold on,  just keep everything ticking over, be faithful and guard our post…but now I see a window of opportunity that we must walk through while it is open… it will not stay open for long…but I see us advancing and taking ground…and I include all of us in the vision…and many people we have not even met yet will benefit from our boldness too.

Sadly the reaction I received last week from I man I love and trust has shaken me to the core. I know the root of his reaction was fear and not necessarily his own fear but he spoke strong yet negative words to me in a way he never has before.

I understand that I want to push the envelope, I realise its a big vision and it is possible that it will prove to be too big but we have to try, and if we try and fall down half way we will still have made a huge impact on our society.  However, instead of a peaceful discussion with council of caution and patience there was a sharp rebuke for even considering such ridiculous ideas.

So it leaves me with a dilemma regarding the three most important flash cards I am looking at and speaking out every day. In fact it has brought confusion and disorder in what was a seemingly straight forward growth progression.  I should keep it to myself, take it to God and wait on His perfect timing and the latter part is in fact what I will do, however I have chosen to write about it here because I am sure others among us may have similar issues and we might be able to help each other.

The three cards…

One is the single sentence DMP (Definite Major Purpose).  Obviously the things I want to become and the things I want to achieve and build as a part of my DMP are not just about me, they involve an extension of my existing work and many of my current associates.

The second card…“What am I pretending not to know?”  Well clearly I thought my closest associates would greet my proposals with excitement and faith but it is now obvious that I was pretending not to know they would hold on to their comfort zone for dear life whilst thinking I have gone crazy.

There would be a financial cost to get the ball rolling on my ideas and though it is one we are well able to meet I do think it is stumbling block. There are certain signs, things that are said, when money becomes the biggest issue and they have been shown as evidence. I am sorry to report that we claim to believe that our God will supply all of our needs and that He owns the cattle on a thousand hills and that the silver and the gold all belongs to Him. We quote that the treasures of the wicked are laid up for the righteous and then as soon as we are challenged with a financial risk we collapse like a house of cards. When will we realise that faith is an act?

Actually I am pretty sure the majority of the group would be excited to at least explore the possibilities and it is just a few who would stand in the way of progress, but I don’t feel it would be right to go over the heads of these few. They deserve respect and honour: they are good, well intentioned people and I will not dishonour them at any time.

So we come to the third card…“What would the person I intend to become do next?” 

The person I was would certainly be very angry and push through for his own way and if people were hurt along the way then it was for the greater good. Thankfully Machiavelli is dead and the person I intend to become is Whole, Perfect, strong, powerful, loving, harmonious and happy…although right now I must confess I am not feeling happy at all…but I will be patient like nature…giving thanks in everything and although I see the window of opportunity closing the principle of love must prevail. God can keep the window open or blow away the wall if need be.

This MMA group has been wonderfully encouraging all along but now it is not encouragement I seek but wise council. I am sure I am not the only one among us who feels they have outgrown some of their associates. It is not their fault they have not been along with us for the ride is it?  However the next step for me is to learn how to help them make the leap, how to communicate across the canyon and rebuild bridges that bring them on without me having to go back.

In the meantime I will not fear, for He is with me; I will not be dismayed, for He is my God. He will strengthen me and help me; He will uphold me…

It’s early Saturday morning and I woke up with such excitement in my spirit. Things sometimes come together in such a way that even though in themselves they might not be pleasant, or might not mean very much, when they collide they bring revelation and create harmony.

Our dealings are with real people and not to be rude or arrogant it is fair to say they might be at a different level of understanding from where we are.  They may not have answered the call and even begun the hero’s journey or they may well be ahead of us along it. It’s not a time to judge, just to observe.

On Thursday I watched the ‘Finding Joe’ documentary on YouTube. I explained it was a part of a course I am taking or I might not have got away with it. I am sure the other two people in the room could easily have suggested alternative viewing. There was an atmosphere of fear and suspicion in the room, one person was listening with one ear whilst occupying themselves with a electronic game and though the other paid more attention his conclusion was that it was about a cult led by one man called Joseph Campbell. I am not claiming to have been totally enlightened myself, I too was wondering if all the heroes journeys and the myths the documentary talked about would lead to a pulling down of my own faith and lumping it with so many other stories as just another myth.

And if my own beliefs were indeed a myth would I be willing to let them go in order to move on and find the real Truth. Could my Hero stand the test of scrutiny or was He just a 2000 year old version of Luke Skywalker or was the road from Nazareth to Jerusalem just another Yellow Brick Road? Whatever the Truth is, it is The Truth. There is no truth for me and a different truth for someone else, My prayer is that one day we will all know The Truth and The Truth will set us free. I am confident that my prayer will be answered for all who truly seek the answer because my Hero said it would be so.  Actually He said  “I am The Truth”, a very bold claim.

I was thinking about a story I heard recently about a monkey and a banana, actually I heard it many years ago, there is nothing new under the sun.  There is a place somewhere where the natives like to eat monkeys, but monkeys are quick and not easy to catch so they had to come up with a plan. So they make a box with a hole in it just big enough for a monkey to put his hand through. They put a banana in the box which the monkey can see and smell and pretty soon he can taste it so so badly he puts his little monkey hand through the hole and grabs the banana. But now his big monkey fist with a banana in it won’t come out of the hole… so he is faced with a choice, let go of the banana and run for your life or hold on and finish up as roast monkey. Apparently the natives eat a lot of monkey.

So that was Thursday and what happened on Friday slotted right in. I wasn’t involved in the Alpha Course that was taking place in the next room. Some of us were playing table tennis minding our own business in the big hall but afterwards the two groups came together…and lo and behold, there he was, the monkey with his fist gripping the banana for all it was worth. He was full of the  knowledge he had brought with him and he was not about to let it go, he knowingly told us “these are only stories, how could someone have lived 969 years, they are like Chinese whispers, they were all written by men, if all this is true I want God himself to come and talk to me personally”. I suggested He might if He truly wanted to hear but perhaps He would use His written Word rather than put in a personal appearance. “No! I want Him to come and talk to me personally.”

That might sound ludicrous but he is actually the second person to say exactly that to me within a week. If I am honest I could feel the tension rising in me, the old man, the old blueprint if you like, wanting to rise to the argument and slay the dragon with my superior knowledge. And how he loved that, and how he sought to feed my ego, I can talk with you (he meant fight) because you know so much more than these others. I tried but I didn’t do a great job of explaining that these, new baby Christians at whom he was pointing his finger knew everything they needed to know to walk into heaven before me. We could have all the knowledge in the world and still be without that simple faith that just holds Daddy’s hand and trusts Him to bring us through. But he was spoiling for the fight and more than that he wanted me to fight.

It was just like the emperor in Star Wars willing young Luke to use the dark side of the force, grab that banana and don’t let go.

Later I thought about the Laws of the Mind and particularly the law of relaxation and I woke up this morning with a wonderful clarity. I can’t expect everyone around me to understand where ‘I am’ because they are at different stages of the journey, but that does not prevent them being Whole, Perfect, Strong, Powerful, Loving, Harmonious and Happy where they are now and I need not be envious or feel inferior to those on the journey who are ahead of me.

And this is what I woke up knowing, and I have said all that to say this…Every myth, every story, every tale of the Hero’s Journey is the same for a reason. The reason is the reason for our being, remember Haanel saying “in it we live and have our being”?

Well it’s not original to Haanel, he took it from Doctor Luke who wrote the Acts of the Apostles.

In Acts 17:28 Paul was troubled by all the idols he saw around him in Athens, but he did not use aggressive argument or even logic, he stayed relaxed and trusted in the Holy Spirit to lead; and the wisdom of God began to pour out of his mouth.

Acts of the Apostles 17:22-28 “So Paul addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about. “He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries. “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’”

So here is what I woke up with in my mind this morning…every great deed of men, every hero’s journey, myth or movie, real or allegorical comes from the pattern that is within mans spirit because man is in direct communication with God’s Spirit. Not the universe, that’s like saying the house is the home, when actually without the heart it’s only bricks.

Every soul longs to know it’s maker and every son wants to see his Father as the hero and to emulate him.  When a man answers the call to greatness it is a picture of the Truth that God saw man’s need from heaven.  He always knew when and where eternity would invade time, heaven would invade earth, God himself would take the form of a man, take the Hero’s journey into the earth, pay the ultimate price that would allow him access to the dark domain where he could bind the dragon, take back the keys to death and hades and rescue his beloved men. Because the truth is eternal it abides in the spirit of men, who were created in the image of their Father God, before the time of the ‘invasion’: even from the beginning. Because God was destined to make the Hero’s journey at just the right time, the nature of the journey and its purpose was always in the mind of God, and therefore the people who were made in his likeness and who longed to be close to Him were born with the seed of it inside them. The call comes to all…but not all accept it…many are called but few are chosen.