Jaclyn Beckerman Coaching

You’ve heard me talk about Sacred Center before and how much I LOVE this spiritual center and going there has made a significant impact on my life.

Well this is in part because I adore Rev. August Gold who is spiritual yet admirably grounded, incredibly funny and fiercely loving.

So it breaks my heart to have found out yesterday that she (and her partner Carol) will be leaving Sacred Center. She’s going outside the church walls to bring the spiritual message to folks who won’t enter the church  to hear it.  She says while she was called by Spirit to found the church, she won’t be the one to grow it.  And so long as she remains the face of the church, and it’s basically her, it cannot grow.

I’ll be honest, I’m kind of heart broken and may have cried a bit yesterday when this news was shared.  I’m still in a bit of shock and disbelief.

While I’m happy she’ll be bringing the message to a broader audience who needs it (a journey I myself feel called to as well with transformational and spiritual work), I still wish she would do both and continue to lead at Sacred Center as well.

I’m also really wondering (and concerned to be honest) what’s going to happen at the church moving forward as I really believe a significant amount of people come there specifically because of her.  Will the new head spiritual director be able to step it up to the same level?  I hope she can.

I’m finding myself being a bit cynical and expecting it won’t thrive and the new lead won’t be able to fill Rev. Gold’s shoes.  Only in this moment do I realize that that’s just my own ‘story’ (or racket for you landmark folk) and I need to get off it.  Something can only make a difference for you if you empower it to do so.  If you’re not open to it, the greatest miracle in the world won’t provide a penny’s worth of value.  So I’m going to choose to be open to this new change and the possibility of it being amazing and inspiring.

For anyone who attends Sacred Center – what are your thoughts on this change?  How are you dealing with your feelings/emotions around it?

Or if you’re not involved with Sacred Center – have you had (or where are you having) an experience like this where something you loved suddenly changed drastically?  What did you do and what did/could you do (or not do) to empower the situation?

…and you’ll get it back 1000 fold.

Rev. Gold talked about the law of attraction in her message at Sunday’s service.

Phenomenal message.  She said anything you seek is seeking you.

We are constantly asking what can life do for me when what we should be asking is “What can I do for life?”  It blew my mind how similar this was to the breakthrough I had and wrote about in my blog post a couple weeks ago, Sharing My Heart.

We can’t have what we want until we generate it within ourselves and give it away.  EVERYTHING is already within you.  Put out a hand and ask for life to give to you and you will just end up with an empty hand.  You can only receive what you want when you give it away first.

I believe it’s the Koran that says ‘take one step towards me and I will take a thousand toward you’.  The smaller and stingier we give of ourselves the less we get in return.  When we move in the direction of our hearts and our own personal truth, and give to life, we then create space for that thing to exist within our lives.  When we hold a mentality of abundance, we are then attracting and open to receiving abundance.  When we are generous, the world is generous with us.

It seems so simple yet par for the course of humanity, we make even the most common sense concepts unendingly complicated.

The law of correspondence (or attraction) says that what you yourself are bringing to life, life, like a mirror, reflects that back to you.  Said more plainly, life will reflect back to you that which you have given to life.

The light bulb went on that I have definitely not been giving my best everywhere so of course I’m not getting it back in return.  How could I?!  You can only get what you put out there.

Talk about motivation.

I thought the previous post describing Sacred Center was getting too long so decided to break off my experience of today into a new post.

In part of today’s message Rev. Gold read a bit from David Whyte’s poem, Sweet Darkness, that I found so beautiful and worth sharing.

You must learn one thing.

The world was made to be free in.

Give up all the other worlds

except the one to which you belong.

Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet

confinement of your aloneness

to learn that

anything or anyone

that does not bring you alive

you have made too small for you.

I’m going to focus on the last part of this: “Anyone or anything that doesn’t make you come ALIVE, you’ve made too small for you.” Wow. Talk about inspiring.

Now, at first I though she said ‘IS too small for you’, which is different. I’ve always been one to abandon things that don’t (or no longer) make me feel alive and happy. (And since I love ‘getting things right’, I thought: insert victory dance here). There’s obvious potential danger in that of course because with my self diagnosis of chronic ennui, I’ve got a knack for being pretty masterful at avoiding making commitments. So this partly plays into my automatic way of being (which is nothing to throw a party for). As a side note, I’ve made a ton of progress in this area by making bold commitments in the face of my resistance (ie. leading a coach training program, stepping up as a group leader in my Landmark forum seminar…). AND when I DO make a commitment, I’m always 100% all in. Which is why I like to avoid them so stealthily.

Now, looking at that if something or someone doesn’t make me come alive, I’VE MADE them too small for me. That’s interesting. There are many ways to look at that. It could be that I keep choosing people that don’t treat me right or situations that don’t make me come alive – that I’m constantly settling for less than I could have or manifest (probably because some part of me still doesn’t truly believe I deserve the pot of gold). This certainly feels familiar (albeit a bit uncomfortable) and I can see that I do that often enough – especially with people. It could refer to where I squander the possibility of realizing what I’m capable of and who I’m capable of being by making myself smaller to fit in someone else’s box. It could also mean that in my mind I’m making a situation or person smaller than it really is. I’m only seeing one narrow, small perspective or view of them/it that doesn’t show me the jewel or gift available to me which would help me grow and live a bigger life.

What do you see for yourself?

Rev. Gold spoke of recognizing the breakthrough available in every breakdown. (Talk about a coaching concept..) That we need to raise our consciousness above the ‘problems’ that we’re trying to deal with or fix because from that place nothing new will come. Fixing a problem always eventually leads to another problem that needs to be fixed because nothing new ever occurs – and you could spend your entire life fixing problems. You cannot solve problems at the same level of consciousness at which they were created (Einstein). You have to raise your level of consciousness and see the bigger picture, look through your heart (instead of your head) and find the gold the universe is trying to provide you with. She said prayers are always answered when we realize our part in them, because they are answered through us. Not outside of us. We are the doorway (‘between heaven and earth’). So we have to open our eyes and see what’s in front of us otherwise we miss the gifts life has to offer, that are often staring us in the face.

All very thought-provoking. Very inspiring.

After just returning from a 2 week vacation, I’d say this was a great way to start the week…

Happy Sunday,

Jaclyn

God I love this place. I’ve decided it deserves it’s own post.

Sacred Center is a non-denominational church (which the Jew on me insists on calling a spiritual center) based heavily on the teachings of the Tao Te Ching & The Science of Mind. (It’s located at the Church of St Paul & St Andrew on the NE corner of 86th & West End – http://sacredcenterny.org). From their website:

We are a non-religious church that is open to everyone regardless of race, religion, culture or sexual orientation. We teach spirituality, a blend of Western teachings with Eastern philosophies to create the foundation and spiritual practice that has become our life. We are passionate and dedicated to helping you experience the Living God in every area of your life.

Our Teachers are:
* Jesus of Nazareth
* Lao Tsu and the Tao Te Ching
* Ernest Holmes and The Science of Mind
* Charles & Myrtle Fillmore and Unity
* Joel Goldsmith and The Infinite Way
* The mystical stories of the Old & New Testaments
* Bhagavad-Gita – and so many more.

I think it’s akin to Agape in LA if you know of that – I’ve never been to Agape but from what I’ve heard of it they seem well aligned. It’s seriously incredible and they constantly speak of opening your heart and stepping into your own personal path and truth, accepting yourself as you are while taking on your bigness and greatness. I used to go fairly regularly for awhile. I fell off the wagon over the summer and fall but am working on being more consistent again in attending.

Reverend August Gold started the center and is an incredible speaker – she has a fabulous sense of humor and is unendingly inspirational and compassionate while at that same time embracing and sharing her humanity. She’s a gay, Jewish minister. Needless to say I find this quite impressive. I consistently and emphatically endorse her as an incredible spiritual teacher to anyone interested in embracing or enhancing their spirituality in any way.

Being there is such an uplifting experience. Everyone sings and is so joyful and hopeful about life. One of my friends who has always felt repressed and punished by the Christian church (for being who he is) has said that each time he goes to Sacred Center it’s like healing a year of the time (and ensuing bitterness) he was forced to go to Christian church. So if you’re looking for some healing and inspiration, definitely check it out.

Check out the following post for what I took from today’s message.