So Happy Together - Rev Raymont Anderson
Center for Spiritual Living Midtown · 40 minutes ·

So Happy Together - Rev Raymont Anderson

00:00:00 Good morning and welcome to the Center for Spiritual Living Midtown, such as the nature
00:00:07 of life that all it asks and all it wants is the opportunity to appear.
00:00:13 You are that opportunity, so am I and so it is.
00:00:18 We're so glad you're with us today.
00:00:20 We are celebrating our last week in this month of celebrating joy and celebrating possibility,
00:00:28 although possibility is always a part of what we're about.
00:00:31 But we're glad you're here.
00:00:32 We are a center that celebrates life, celebrates possibility, celebrates the you and what
00:00:39 you are about and who you are and what can come forward from your life in your life by
00:00:44 applying spiritual principles to your everyday existence.
00:00:49 We offer those principles, we teach them, we teach them, we teach them, we teach them, and
00:00:54 we speak on them every Sunday.
00:00:56 Also this week I'm very glad you're here with us, we believe in you, whoever you are,
00:01:01 whatever you're understanding of yourself and however you identify yourself.
00:01:07 So we are a place where you're welcome, where you're loved, and where you're appreciated.
00:01:13 There's a line in the 12th step programs that says we may not know you, but we love you
00:01:20 anyway.
00:01:21 And that's basically where we stand.
00:01:25 So I'd like for you to know a little more about us and to do that, I invite you to pay attention
00:01:33 to our what we believe video.
00:01:51 I believe.
00:01:52 I believe.
00:01:53 I believe in one guy.
00:01:54 I believe in the absolute power and first cause to all things.
00:01:58 I believe that this power is perfect love and create out of a desire to express love.
00:02:06 I believe all thought is creative and how I choose to think creates my personal experience.
00:02:11 I believe in the unity of our life.
00:02:13 I believe in my power and the unity of love forever untold.
00:02:18 I believe.
00:02:19 I believe.
00:02:20 I believe in eternal goodness.
00:02:21 The eternal loving kindness and the eternal givingness of God to all.
00:02:28 And so it is.
00:02:29 And so it is.
00:02:31 And so it is.
00:02:32 And so it is.
00:02:37 If you want to know more about what we believe, that that was a portion of our declaration
00:02:43 of principles, you can find the full version on our website, cslmidtown.org.
00:02:50 Today I am functioning as both minister and practitioner.
00:02:54 And what is important about that is that every minister in this teaching is a practitioner
00:03:01 first.
00:03:02 Not only because we're trained as practitioners first, but also because it is how I how we think
00:03:09 a practitioner recognizes a higher truth or sees beyond the either or the us and them into
00:03:15 a greater awareness of oneness and in so doing can bring greater freedom, truth, love and power
00:03:22 to their individual lives and to those of others.
00:03:25 So today I want to share with you a little story.
00:03:30 In 2013, my granddaughter was about almost three years old.
00:03:34 She would say now she was three, but she was almost three.
00:03:38 And my mom had just passed away after an expected and rather lengthy illness.
00:03:44 When we went down to the little church in North Florida into the small town to participate
00:03:50 in her funeral.
00:03:52 And my granddaughter was like I said almost three.
00:03:57 We came into this to the church and the family came in first and we were kind of getting
00:04:02 settled and all of the people were gathering around the back of the auditorium and not yet
00:04:07 come in to be seated.
00:04:09 And my granddaughter noticed the microphones up front and being the widely character that
00:04:17 she was and still is to some extent, she tore up to the front got loose from her mom and
00:04:25 ran up front and grabbed a microphone and started singing the top of her lung now that
00:04:32 Mike wasn't turned on yet, but that didn't matter because like every child in America at that
00:04:38 time almost, she knew the words to frozen from one end to the other.
00:04:45 And she started in on Let It Be and she sang it and she sang it and she knew every motion
00:04:53 that the character on the cartoon did while she was singing.
00:04:58 She knew every word, she sang on pitch, it was quite a performance.
00:05:03 Her mom tore after her once she got up there and started it and I just gave her a little
00:05:09 signal to say no, I'm going to do that.
00:05:12 Let her finish because what I knew of my mother is that she would have been more thrilled
00:05:16 with that than any of the other things that were said about her or said during the memorial.
00:05:23 Because she so loved and honored the giftedness and the joy of her great grandchild and
00:05:30 great grandchildren along with all of her other family members.
00:05:36 So what that illustrated for me is that in the midst of the most sad and difficult grief
00:05:44 and pain, there is the element of joy that is always there and it's there because people
00:05:52 come together.
00:05:54 It's there because each person brings their own element of their lives and their consciousness
00:06:00 to the moment.
00:06:02 And for Sophie that was a moment of opportunities he's singing and that's all she needed
00:06:07 if she had a microphone.
00:06:10 And you know it brought the whole family together, we were able to laugh.
00:06:15 Some of the folks at the back of the room were on the shot that we didn't stop her.
00:06:20 But most of them, most people I think had some appreciation of what she did and they knew
00:06:25 my mother well and knew that she would have appreciated it too.
00:06:30 So I invite you to consider that in any situation what is true is within each of us there
00:06:38 is still joy and that joy brings us together.
00:06:42 That joy when it's felt allows the barriers to break down, you know, and some of us
00:06:48 laughed and some of us cried and and whichever that expression was we were able to connect
00:06:54 and hold one another and be in that moment in a very, very special way.
00:07:00 And I am always and will always be grateful to my granddaughter for that moment.
00:07:06 So as we move into spiritual mind treatment which is an opportunity for you to connect
00:07:11 with that oneness within you and to know something greater and something better.
00:07:17 I invite you to consider as we consider bringing greater joy into every moment.
00:07:26 So know this with me.
00:07:28 There is one but one power, one infinite intelligence, one universal presence, one life,
00:07:36 one love.
00:07:37 It is showing up in, as and through each of us in each of you.
00:07:43 And as it does, it shows up in all of its multiple aspects.
00:07:50 Everything you may think of is the quality of the infinite, the quality of God shows up
00:07:56 in the moment in your life at some time or other and whether it's showing up on the outside
00:08:04 or not, it's present and it's always there.
00:08:09 So by action of this treatment, I choose to believe, I choose to bring forward into my everyday
00:08:14 life, greater opportunities for the expression of joy.
00:08:20 I bring that joy from within me and communicate it out into the world around me.
00:08:29 I am not in any way bound by the experiences of the world, by the circumstances of the world
00:08:35 or the circumstances around me in the world.
00:08:40 I tap into the depth within me where spirit resides, where life is, and in a deep breath
00:08:48 and a recognition.
00:08:51 Ah, I simply awaken that deep resonating joy that is within me.
00:09:03 You may show up as calm, as peace, as beauty, it may show up on the outside, as tears and
00:09:10 sadness or tears of joy or simply laughter and silliness.
00:09:19 But it's always there and available to me.
00:09:25 So by action of this treatment and this intention setting, I choose to experience and
00:09:32 to recognize and to know joy, more and more and more fully, freely and express more richly
00:09:41 right here and right now.
00:09:45 I dive into it.
00:09:47 I remember the opportunities where joy showed up when I least expected it and build on
00:09:54 that, knowing that I am building my faith in the infinite moving in me as me and through
00:10:01 the
00:10:02 journey.
00:10:03 Knowing that this is real, knowing that this is how life works, in great gratitude, I can
00:10:08 release this now, let it be so.
00:10:12 And so it is.
00:10:16 Thank you.
00:10:17 I guess Peter today is Reverend Dr. Raymont Anderson.
00:10:22 He is a friend and he is also one of the dynamic, amazing kind of people.
00:10:28 You can see all of his bio and data on our website or in the newsletter that you may
00:10:34 received.
00:10:36 And before he speaks, however, we're going to hear from Faith Rivera, the musician, where
00:10:44 she sings Stan together.
00:10:48 Thank you.
00:10:48 [Music]
00:11:09 Something great is happening.
00:11:11 [Music]
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00:14:43 Namaste and greetings, CSL Midtown and thank you for inviting me back and thank you Dr. Bob
00:14:52 Dean for inviting me back so that we can share and play together.
00:14:58 So yes, today that's exactly what we're talking about this idea of, you know, for the entire
00:15:04 month we've been talking about how important it is to engage, enjoy, to engage in play,
00:15:12 to have moments of rest, to, in order to be our healthiest, happiest, most empowered
00:15:20 selves.
00:15:21 Like that's what this month has been about.
00:15:24 And today we're diving into this specific element of what it means to play.
00:15:30 Now the word itself can mean a variety of things to play a sport.
00:15:35 For example, why do we play games?
00:15:38 Football, chess, tic-tac-toe, scrabble.
00:15:42 Like why do we play any of these things?
00:15:45 And on the surface, the first answer we might give is for the sake of competition.
00:15:51 We love to compete.
00:15:52 Yeah, yeah, and that's an element of it.
00:15:54 And we're going to talk more about that a little bit later.
00:15:57 But if we dive deeper into this idea of coming together to play, even if it's Broadway,
00:16:06 it's theater, there is a play you come together, whether you are playing an instrument.
00:16:15 All of this is about connection, coming together to connect, to connect with the music and
00:16:23 the audience, to connect with the people in the stand and the people on the field, to connect
00:16:29 with the person sitting across from you at the checkerboard, to connect with, like
00:16:35 mindedness, to connect. So ultimately, this idea of play, dare I say, is about connecting
00:16:46 with and as spirit. Because think about it.
00:16:55 God is all there is. And being all there is, that means everything that is happening
00:17:03 is God acting upon itself. So when I sit down to play, whatever it is I'm playing, an instrument
00:17:13 playing a game, whatever it is, it's God incarnating in through and as me, manipulating whatever
00:17:24 this thing is on the board, moving chess pieces, throwing a ball, it's God acting upon itself.
00:17:33 But why? For what purpose? For the purpose of intrinsic joy. Ultimately, we are playing and
00:17:43 engaging in this thing called play because it makes us feel good. And as emicurt is hopping
00:17:51 says, my God is my good and vice versa. My God is my good and my good is my God to be engaged
00:18:02 in this process of intimate, ultimate, absolute goodness itself is to be engaged in God, to be
00:18:14 engaged in spirit, to be engaged as spirit. That's why Ernest Holmes even says, the only
00:18:22 God we would ever truly know or understand is the one that we embody. And we know that if you're
00:18:28 going to play a sport, play a game, play an instrument, you have to be all in. You are in the zone.
00:18:37 So same thing. When we are playing this game of life, are we all in? Are we committed
00:18:47 to this primal energy, this tapping into what it means to be connected to the universe,
00:18:54 connected to spirit? Or are we simply an onlooker, a spectator, a bystander? Ernest Holmes says,
00:19:05 if we feel them that we are simply onlookers, bystanders and are not participants in the game of
00:19:13 life, we should rediscover. We should rediscover the youthful spirit of that childlike joy,
00:19:21 which gives us the energy, happiness, security and faith that we had as children, recapturing
00:19:33 that energy, even Yeshua, Jesus the Christ said, bring the little children unto me, bring
00:19:39 these people to me who are youthful in spirit, who are open at the top, who are willing to play
00:19:49 to engage life fully. See, kids, there's no apprehension about diving in a puddle of mud. There's no
00:19:59 apprehension about playing in a pile of leaves. Kids go all in. Are we willing to play to that
00:20:08 degree as well? Are we willing to recognize that playfulness allows us to remember and to reconnect
00:20:17 with the core truth of our being that God is all there is and every interaction that we have with
00:20:25 anything, everything and everyone is God interacting with itself. So what happens when we shift
00:20:33 from the consciousness of competition, right? Like the mass idea of competition, we can have
00:20:41 a playful competition, there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. But when we compete and we take on
00:20:47 this idea that when I win and I have the trophy or the gold metal, it means that I am better than you.
00:20:53 I have an Oscar, you don't. I'm a better actor or director for I have won. See, when we get into
00:21:03 that idea of competition, then there's judgment and criticism and there's all of that stuff
00:21:09 othering and separation, playful competition is play. It's simply engaging in the game and there's
00:21:18 nothing wrong with that. So when we step into this idea of true playful competition, what happens?
00:21:27 We shift into the consciousness of cooperation, communication and collaboration and we are
00:21:33 willing to engage from this space of this consciousness of oneness. There's no more separation.
00:21:41 There's no more need to be better than or feel that we are worse than someone else. We recognize
00:21:48 the infinite truth and unity that God is all there is. And when we are in that space, we understand
00:21:57 and we bring about this energy of healing and not healing because we are healing something,
00:22:05 but healing because we are bringing the truth to the space, bringing truth to the world.
00:22:12 And when we do that, we resonate with the words of Anne Frank who said,
00:22:17 "Yet I keep all my ideals because in spite of everything, I still believe that people
00:22:27 are really good at heart." And Frank, take into your consciousness and Frank who experienced great
00:22:37 horrendous tragedies, I still hold to my principles. I hold to truth. People are truly good at
00:22:48 heart. Why? Because God is all there is. Because spirit is all there is. Love is all there is.
00:22:55 And in that we understand that people have free will, you have choice, but back of the essence of
00:23:06 the truest part of you, even when you are choosing whatever this ineffective non-life affirming
00:23:13 thing is, the truth of you is goodness. The truth of you is love. The truth of you is the divine
00:23:21 incarnating itself in through and as you breathe.
00:23:26 Breathe. Because we are being invited into a new space of recognizing the truth of our being.
00:23:37 We need not be bound by precedent what was, but binding ourselves to principle what is the truth,
00:23:47 the whole truth. And only that which is true. Ernest Holmes says, "The present moment can never
00:23:54 provide us with more joy than we are able to embody. How much joy are you able to embody right now?
00:24:04 How much joy are you willing to embody right now? Breathe. Because if there is something else,
00:24:13 if I have a cup and my cup is filled with water up to here, then how much tea is it going to be able
00:24:21 to embody? Well only that much. And truthfully when I pour tea into it because this much is water,
00:24:28 now the tea is diluted, it's weaker than it would have been. It's not going to be the taste that I
00:24:35 desire. But when I am willing to be the full container of joy, love, laughter, then the taste, the smell,
00:24:49 the joy of being present must exist in overflow. Because there is no more lack or scarcity than
00:24:59 it's there to overflow to such a degree that I drink from my saucer because my cup run it over.
00:25:06 Now in order to do that, however, we must take in the words of William Faulkner who said,
00:25:12 you cannot swim for a new horizon until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.
00:25:20 The shore precedent, the shore, old traumas, the shore, the mass way of thinking,
00:25:29 lack scarcity, separation, war and rumors of war, unless we are willing to release the shore,
00:25:37 rugged individualism and swim for new horizons. Unity, love, oneness, harmony, peace,
00:25:47 God, unless we are willing to lose sight of this, release this, surrender this in order to move into
00:25:56 that to embody that, then we will forever stay stuck in the idea of, "We will forever
00:26:06 twiddle our spiritual thumbs wishing and hoping rather than moving." Keep in mind that play is a verb,
00:26:16 it means to act, to engage in, to do, treat and move our feet. So what happens if we play,
00:26:30 like so I say a prayer, but what if I am playing the prayer to the degree that Dizzy Gillespie
00:26:38 or Stevie Wonder or It's Aqperleman play their instrument? What if I play my prayer, I play
00:26:49 my meditation, I play my relationships with that same level of stewardship and mastery. What happens?
00:27:00 What am I afforded the ability to show up as when I step into that new, expansive way of being?
00:27:08 Ernest Holmes says, "The person who is always glad will surround themselves with people who are happy
00:27:17 and life will be a continual enjoyment. The person who is always glad, glad, the etymology of
00:27:24 glad means to be bright. The person who is always bright, who is always shining, who is always
00:27:30 gleaming, who is always joyous and pleasant and gracious." That's the etymology and gracious means
00:27:38 to be filled with God's grace, to be courteous, to be pleasing, to be kind and to be friendly.
00:27:45 The person who is always friendly, the person who is always filled with God's grace, the person who is
00:27:52 always pleasant and joyous, joyful. That person will surround themselves with like-minded people who are
00:28:03 willing to play and be happy and life will be a constant continual enjoyment. Are we willing to do that?
00:28:15 Are we willing to step into that energy of consciousness? Are we willing to commit to that level of
00:28:23 child? Charles Schaeffer says, "We are never more fully alive, more completely ourselves or more deeply
00:28:30 engrossed in anything than when we are playing." It's about commitment. It's about being convicted to.
00:28:40 This is why Schaeffer says, "Keep in mind, he says in as you like it.
00:28:47 All the world is a stage and all the people are merely players. We are players given the opportunity
00:28:57 to engage in joy, to engage in laughter, to engage in play, to lighten the load."
00:29:10 So speaking of lightening the load and being engrossed in laughter, when Dr. Bob spoke on,
00:29:19 if I'm not mistaken, March 13th, in his message, he tells the story about the bus accident.
00:29:25 Remember when the bus settled and he looked back and amid all of the arms and people reaching
00:29:35 and stuff, there was relative silence, there were occasional groans of over all it was silence.
00:29:41 And then out of this silence, you hear someone in the back say, "Hey, what's black and
00:29:46 orange, black and orange, black and orange?" A school bus rolling down the hill. And he says,
00:29:51 "Not sure who started it. Maybe the person beside the one who said that started giggling."
00:29:57 And then like a contagion, the entire bus was filled with laughter.
00:30:04 Laughter. Gene Houston says that the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope
00:30:12 of new possibilities. When they laugh, this kaleidoscope of new possibilities emerged. It gave them
00:30:22 the ability to heal, to breathe, to relax, to come together in unity and oneness, to be of one
00:30:30 accord, to be in the symphonic orchestra of oneness. We are in this together. Oneness, we are healing
00:30:40 together oneness, togetherness, unity simply by saying, "Ha, ha, ha, ha, h-a. Holy awareness,
00:30:55 ha, ha. My holy awareness as I yield into the ha, ha, ha, the laughter of healing. My holy awareness
00:31:05 gives me healing awareness. And my healing awareness gives me healing action as I
00:31:12 treat and move my feet, as I move into this activity of God, living, moving and having its being,
00:31:22 this in, through and as me." This is why the author of One of the Pooh says, "We didn't realize
00:31:29 we were making memories. We just knew we were having fun. Today, are you willing to commit to
00:31:39 laughter? Commit to fun. Commit to playing. Commit to connecting with the divine presence that is
00:31:47 incarnating itself in, through and as you and everything and everyone. Breathe. Today, are you willing
00:31:58 to make a play date with God? A play date with God and allow yourself to not only enjoy
00:32:06 en, J-O-Y, but to be en, I-N, joy, to be engrossed, enjoy, to be the incarnation of joy, to let joy
00:32:20 overflow so that you're mentally quivin' your thoughts, joy, your words, joy, all of your
00:32:27 communication, however it is, by phone, text or email, joy. Your emotions, your feeling, joy,
00:32:36 and your actions to be joy. Joyful, joyful, I adore life. It unfolds and incarnates as me.
00:32:49 Am I willing to? Are you willing to be so committed to the vision, mission, and purpose of joy itself?
00:32:58 Playing. Being engaged in play, playfulness, and recognizing that when we come together to play
00:33:08 this Sunday service, we are gathered together in the name of play, in the name of love, in the name
00:33:16 of unity, and oneness. And when we come together in the name of, where two or more are gathered
00:33:23 in the name of the nature of, then that which it is must be in the midst of it. Are we willing to come
00:33:32 together as CSL, as new thought, as CSL Midtown, as Atlanta? Are we willing to come together
00:33:40 in the name and the nature of play to lift, love, and live in through and as joy itself. Breathe,
00:33:58 breathe, and let us recognize in this moment right here and right now the love, the light,
00:34:06 the life of spirit is present in through and as us. Right here, right now, there is nothing else.
00:34:19 Only God, a circle of joy, circumference, nowhere, the center, joy, being all there is, right where you
00:34:29 are, joy is, right where you are, the very playfulness of the universe is, and all is well.
00:34:39 Breathe. Now go out and play. Much love and appreciation. See you soon. Take care.
00:34:53 Everybody, thank you Reverend Rama Anderson. That was an amazing talk. Play. Have fun. Enjoy.
00:35:01 And that's what we do. Hopefully in our lives and as our creative expression, which brings us
00:35:07 income, which flows and lets us play and be here. So if you will with me, say our affirmation of
00:35:15 prosperity, which we'll be on the screen a second. So I live in a universe of abundance.
00:35:22 As I freely and joyfully give, I joined into the mind flow and all that I share with life
00:35:28 returns to me multiplied abundantly. And so it is. And you can donate at www.cselmidtown.org/donate or
00:35:36 scan the QR code here on the video. And that will take you right to that spot to donate.
00:35:42 And you can set up a one-time payment or recurring payment. If that's how you wish to donate and
00:35:48 contribute to the center and expand all we are. Now, I want to remind everybody that next week,
00:35:53 April 3rd, we are going to be live in person in Atlanta at the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference
00:36:01 Center. So check the website and your email for that. And if you're in town, we'd love to see you
00:36:08 there. And that's it. I've got for announcements, I want to announce. Thanks a lot.
00:36:15 And it's time for everybody's favorite fun game, announcements, announcements, announcements.
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00:36:54 We offer a variety of Zoom interaction opportunities each and every week here as part of the
00:37:01 Center for Spiritual Living Midtown. 10am Sundays are a discussion group around the 365.
00:37:07 Science of my book every Sunday, 12 new Sundays are community fellowship immediately following
00:37:14 our Sunday services. And 12 new non Tuesday are online empowerment opportunity.
00:37:22 The access room information remains the same for all of our Zoom experiences.
00:37:28 If you need access, please visit cslmidtown.org and you'll find access information on our website.
00:37:36 Join us on any of our Zoom opportunities throughout the week.
00:37:41 And while you're with us, be sure to connect with one of our professional practitioners.
00:37:47 These are folks that are highly trained to support you along your spiritual journey.
00:37:52 You can learn more on our website about our professional practitioners.
00:37:57 Just head over to cslmidtown.org, click on about and practitioners. Then you'll see their bios
00:38:04 and a way to reach them and learn a little bit more about each of them.
00:38:07 And please send us your prayer request. Click on the home tab and look for affirmative treatment
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00:38:20 you, each and every day.
00:38:24 All right.
00:38:32 Thank you, Vance, for anchoring this wonderful series. And thank you, Raymont, Dr. Raymont, for your
00:38:49 talk and your message. I'll always love your enthusiasm.
00:38:52 So next week, we'll be meeting in our hybrid state of things. First time back in person in
00:39:00 since COVID began, we will be at the Georgia Tech Convention Center and Hotel on Spring Street.
00:39:10 And we will also be on all of our usual media social media networks and places where you watch us.
00:39:18 So join us next week for a new experience of a hybrid celebration. Here is our closing,
00:39:26 which is our affirmation of life. I leave this place now knowing something better than I knew
00:39:34 before. I go forth into the world with a mindful of good sense and a heartful of love.
00:39:41 I look at the world in a greater way, knowing that I have within me everything I need
00:39:48 to create the life I desire. I give thanks for this understanding and I am grateful for the spirit
00:39:56 of life that moves through me. And so it is. Thank you. Have a wonderful day. We'll see you next week.