Spiritual Light Center Newsletter, April, 2013

1. Newsletter -- April 2013
MESSAGE FROM JIM
Dear Spiritual Light Center Family and Friends: He continued, “. . . that may give you some in-
spiration to pay attention to your own inner
For several years, I have been interested in the world. And that was the most consistent
work of Robert A. (Bob) Monroe, the founder drumbeat of Bob’s message. Pay attention to
of The Monroe Institute (TMI) in Faber, VA. your own inner life, pay attention to your own
Bob is known as a prominent researcher in experience. Find out for yourself.”
human consciousness, but perhaps he is best
remembered as a pioneer in studies of out-of- I believe this is a good suggestion for us all. If
body experiences (OBEs). He wrote several you have one of those “anomalous” experienc-
books on his own experiences, the best-known es, record it objectively in your journal, and
of which are Journeys out of the body, Far make sure you pay attention to your inner self.
Journeys, and Ultimate Journey. It might be an OBE, a meeting with a departed
relative in a dream, or a particularly synchro-
In a memorial event held at TMI near the 18th nistic event in the “real” world. Ponder on it,
anniversary of Monroe’s final out-of-body ex- discuss it with others (but ONLY if you are so
perience, his nephew Robert Emmett Monroe inclined), and see if it can enrich your life.
delivered a tribute to his uncle in which he
said “He paid attention to his own experience, For more information TMI, go to
his own inner life. . . . He looked inward at the http://www.monroeinstitute.org.
unusual experiences he was having, and went
with them, and tried to walk and talk with All of Robert Emmett Monroe’s tribute to his
them and understand them. He reflected on uncle can be seen at:
them and listened to what they meant.” http://www.monroeinstitute.org/tmi-
news/remembering-robert-monroe.
Many others have reported on OBEs, astral
travel, and similar “anomalous experiences” Namasté!
but Bob Monroe was a careful recorder of his
“travels.” As his nephew put it, he “bothered Jim Swanson
to write down his ephemeral experiences, in-
stead of dismissing them.”
OUR VISION STATEMENT OUR MISSION STATEMENT
The Spiritual Light Center is a peaceful We seek to develop our highest selves
and joyful fellowship of individuals, cen- by continuous sharing of spiritual ide-
tered in love, dedicated to the God within, as, in an environment of unconditional
and honoring the many paths to truth. love and respect for others.
NOTE: The Board of Trustees will meet at 10:00 a.m. Hall 14, in the Fellowship Hall. This
ONGOING EVENTS in Fellowship on April
is the regular Board meeting, and all SLC members are invited to attend.

2. ONGOING EVENTS has just formed. They are Elders Speak: Conversations
meeting Mondays 6:30 to on the Human Experience".
in Fellowship Hall 7:30PM at the Macon Baptist
Every Tuesday at 5:15 pm -
Association, 110 Doraul Street April 21
in Franklin, lower level. Any- There will be no service at
Join our insightful group as one with a desire to remain The Spiritual Light Center.
we watch a selected film of a sober is welcome, however it Instead we are all encouraged
spiritual nature, followed by is specifically to support those to hear Annie Sims speak at
discussion to develop our dually diagnosed with sub- the Creative Thought Center
evolution. Afterward we stance abuse and mental in Waynesville, NC. She will
choose a restaurant and go health issues. conduct the Sunday service at
out to eat! 11a.m. This will be followed
ALSO: NAMI Appalachian by a lunch for all attending.
Every Wednesday at 6:30 South, is a peer support After this is a 2-hour workshop
pm - Musicians and singers group for those dealing with at which Annie Sims will speak
gather to share their love of mental health issues, and their on “How to have a Personal
music. Everyone is welcome. loved ones, meets every Conversion with God”. This
Please call Tom Tyre at 421- Thursday from 7 to 8:15PM at sounds too good to pass up,
0520 for more information. 14 W. Palmer in Palmer Street so we will carpool and head to
Mall, Franklin. Waynesville to take part!
Every other Thursday, 5:15
pm - Please join us for our INTRO TO REIKI April 28 11 a.m.
meditation group led by Dr Kim May, a well known and
Richard Kimball. He begins Friday April 12, 6:30 – energetic speaker from the
with an informative discus- 8:30pm -- Arthur Cataldo Creative Thought Center in
sion on the practice of medi- will be conducting an intro- Waynesville will speak on
tation followed by walking duction to Reiki and “Choosing Wholeness” – ways
and then sitting meditation. Amanohuna, alternative to regain a sense of being
Call Richard at 371-3425 for forms of hands on healing for whole and complete.
details. self and others, in our fellow-
ship hall. All are welcome. May 5, 11.a.m.
Every Thursday at 6:30pm - Love offering requested. For Rita deMaintenon -- Fol-
-Come to a group discussion more info contact Arthur at lowed by a workshop with
studying the Workbook in A 349-3818 or Rita on “A Lazy Person's
Course in Miracles. This has a.cataldo@morrisbb.net. Guide to Enlightenment”.
a powerful message. Expert-
ly led ed by Arthur Cataldo. UPCOMING May 12, 11 a.m.
Dr. Harvey Tritel
Last Sunday of each
SPEAKERS
Month- Join us following our May 19, 11AM
Sunday Celebration for a pot April 7, 11 a.m. Dale Allen Hoffman
luck lunch. Bring a covered Rev. Barbara Hayes-Ross,
dish and join us for food and lecturer from Nashville and
author of spiritual books will May 26, 11AM
enjoyment.
speak on Crop Circles -- The Carol Harrison
Spirituality of the Mysterious
NEW RECOVERY Images in the Fields.
GROUP
April 14, 11 a.m.
New Local Recovery Group - Carolyn G. Buttram, Author
- Double Trouble in Recov- and energetic lecturer, will
ery 12 Step Program for peo- speak to us of the wisdom
ple struggling with substance channeled from elders she
abuse or mental health issues writes of in her new book ”The

3. B O A R D O F T R U ST E ES
President........................................ Dr. Jim Swanson
Vice President ............................................ Kay Smith
Secretary ..................................................... Bill Groves
Treasurer ....................................................... Clark Kell
Assistant Treasurer ............................. Carol Murley
Trustee-at-large..................... Dr. Richard Kimball
The Board of Trustees meets at 10 a.m. on the second Sunday of each month.
All SLC members are welcome to attend.
SPIRITUAL LIGHT CENTER INFORMATION
80 Heritage Hollow Drive, Franklin, NC 28734
Right behind the Gazebo Restaurant in Heritage Hollow
828-371- 3065
slcfranklin@ frontier.com
www.spirituallightcenter.com
Our Work and Service in the World
by Ernest Holmes
“Freely ye have received, freely give.” When a man’s thought rests entirely
When the law of circulation is retard- upon himself, he becomes abnormal
ed, stagnation results. It is only as we and unhappy; but when he gives him-
allow the Divine current to flow self with enthusiasm to any legitimate
through us on and out that we really purpose, losing himself in the thing
express life. The law of giving and re- which he is doing, he becomes normal
ceiving is definite. Emerson tells us to and happy. Only as much life enters
beware of holding too much good in into us as we can conceive, and we
our hands. conceive of life—in the larger sense—
only when there is complete aban-
Because of the unity underlying all life, donment to it. Let the one who is sad,
no man lives entirely unto himself, but depressed, or unhappy find some al-
through himself, he lives unto the truistic purpose into which he may
whole, which whole embodies all other pour his whole being, and he will find
lives. Therefore, “He that findeth his a new inflow of life of which he has
life shall lose it; and he that loseth his never dreamed.
life, shall find it.”

4. If we understood the power of our Keep your thoughts positive, because
thoughts, we would guard them more your thoughts become your words.
closely.
If we understood the awesome power Keep your words positive, because your
of our words, we would prefer silence words become your behaviors.
to almost anything negative.
Keep your behaviors positive, because
In our thoughts and words we create
your behaviors become your habits.
our own weaknesses and our own
strengths.
Keep your habits positive, because your
Our limitations and joys begin in our habits become your values.
hearts.
We can always replace negative with Keep your values positive, because your
positive. values become your destiny.
-- Betty J. Eadie (from 'Embraced By the
Light') -- Mahatma Gandhi
The act of forgiveness is the act of returning to present time.
And that's why when one has become a forgiving person,
and has managed to let go of the past,
what they've really done is they've shifted their relationship with time.
-- Caroline Myss
God is the name we give to that
unchangeable, inexorable principle The nature of God is a circle
at the source of all existence. To the
individual consciousness God takes of which the center is every-
on personality, but as the creative where
underlying cause of all things, He is
principle, impersonal; as expressed and the circumference is
in each individual, He becomes nowhere.
personal to that one—a personal,
loving, all-forgiving Father-Mother. -- Empedocles
-- H. Emilie Cady

5. The Best Is Yet To Be
“Father, into thy hands I commend my others are not. It certainly does not
spirit.” These words, ascribed to Jesus seem reasonable to suppose that im-
at the close of his mission in this life, mortality is a thing to be bargained for
expressing a supreme confidence in over some cosmic counter.
the universe and in the immortality of
the soul. They are of peculiar signifi- Those spiritually illumined throughout
cance to us at the Easter season. Je- the ages have taught the immortality of
sus knew the soul to be immortal. “In every person, the
my Father’s house are many man- continuity of every
sions.” He taught that this is but one of person’s individu-
the innumerable planes for the soul on alized stream of
its ever-expanding pathway of self- God conscious-
unfoldment. ness and self-
awareness. We may desecrate our
Since humankind first began to medi- spiritual natures; we may temporarily
tate deeply and earnestly upon the dishonor or disown them; we may pro-
spiritual meaning of life, there has al- long the advent of our heaven. But
ways been a teaching that this physical somewhere, under some condition, we
plane is but a manifestation of a more shall all awaken from our sleep.
subtle and ethereal plane, that this
physical body is but a counterpart of an Let us, then, seek that Divine Reality
immaterial body. which ever enfolds us in Its eternal
embrace, that Spirit which is within,
If immortality is a principle, is must be around, and about us, that inspiration
true for every living soul. It would not which is the guiding star of our soul.
be rational to And as we permit Eternity to make a
assume that new imprint upon our mind, to enlarge
the Divine the boundaries of our spiritual horizon,
Creative Intel- to break down the intellectual barriers
ligence incar- of our thought, then we shall view the
nates in some world “as one vast plane and one
and then with- boundless reach of sky,” and we may
draws Its presence from them, nor can walk into the Light in joy.
intelligence accept the proposition that
some people are immortal while -- Ernest Holmes
The Snow Goose need not bathe For me the different religions are
to make itself white. beautiful flowers from the same garden.
Neither need you do anything They are branches of the same majestic tree.
but be yourself. Therefore, they are equally true,
though being received and interpreted
through human instruments equally imper-
-- Lao Tzu fect.
-- Mahatma Gandhi