Spirituality

Doctor of Spirituality Mid-Term Essay

Rev. Michael Barth

This course on the miracle of prayer has totally changed my view on prayer. I had always thought that prayer was talking with God but never realized that prayer is also a way we show love to God and how God shows love to us. I did not realize that we have free will to listen to God, but at some point we will all listen to God. The revelation of love was something totally new to me. I thought that this section would explain what love is but could not explain the meaning of love and used the analogy of breathing as why love could not be loved. Learning that love is all-encompassing and that there is no opposite of love really shocked me since I think it terms of opposite like good/evil, wealthy/poor, etc. I learned that we cannot have any fear if we are to show true love. Any self-doubt and/or fear takes away from any true love we try to show.

The way that God is described is a new concept of God to me. I grew up in a non-denominational Christian family and had a pretty traditional of God. To me, God looked like us, was punishing, and to be feared. Like a lot of people, I also thought there was a heaven and hell. Heaven was where the good people went to be with God and the bad people would spend eternity in Hell. The concept of God being all love and all encompassing was a radically different way to look at God. I liked how the love of God is described as pure, perfect, abundant, changeless, limitless, indestructible, joy, and peace. Before taking this course, I never had considered myself a son of God, but now I do. Also, I never considered Gods purpose for me which is to extend love. I have always lived life the way I wanted to and if I didn't spread love, I didn't care. I didn't even care if I had spread hate or other ill-will with other people. Now I know that God's love is all-encompassing and that I need to spread it around this planet.

The blood sacrifices in Lesson 3 got me thinking quite a bit. How and why would God need blood sacrifices to atone for sins? This lesson answered these questions by telling me that blood sacrifice was a human invention. Before this lesson, I thought that God had already condemned this world for all its transgressions that have occurred and God would punish us all. I had never considered the fact that God has already forgiven us. The fact that this course has altered my thinking about is great because now I think that God is a loving and merciful God. I liked how Jesus was used in the course on how perfect innocence cannot be destroyed because perfect innocence is indestructible which gave Jesus the power to overcome death. I liked how Jesus is described as a son of God, like us, and not part of God, unlike some Christian sects who say Jesus is part of the Trinity. Just the fact that Jesus is our brother and will help people bridge the gap between themselves and God is reassuring to me. I too, have prayed in Jesus name and have not understood why we always said "In Jesus name we pray. Amen." Now I know that we are calling on the power of God and remembering and calling on Jesus' promises to us.

In Lesson 4, I learned that I was one of the many people who was using forgiveness to destroy. I would forgive people for harming me because I felt that they were below or inferior to me. Also, I would forgive people if they did something in return such as I will forgive you if you stop stealing from me or give back what you have stolen from me. I have also forgiven people because I felt that they were just like me or were very similar to me and what I had done to others. I also had used the third type of forgiveness described in this lesson as the martyr. I would suffer in silence at the hands of other people and then have people look at what I have to go through. I realize that these types of forgiveness are not true forgiveness because I will be expecting something in return for my forgiveness, will be letting myself still feel guilty about forgiveness, will be self condemning myself, or will be trying to destroy another person. I never knew that true forgiveness involved mercy from God or help from God. Also, I never considered that true forgiveness changes us and not the other person with whom we are forgiving. I also had a real problem with forgiving people who had committed really bad acts or bad behavior. I remember growing up and being in 6th grade when a school shooting took place at an elementary school in our school district in Winnetka, IL. 

After the shooting happened, the person that had been killed was a person that I had met the night before at a baseball game because his older brother was on my team. I was unable to forgive the person who did the shooting because of all the harm that it caused the people involved and the community. The family of the young boy that had been killed was very distraught and was in shambles. This shooting scared me and robbed me of my peace but have learned in this lesson that I need God to help me forgive myself and the shooter. Also, I let this shooter rob me of my peace of mind at the time too. I liked how this lesson teaches how there is no sin and that we have to look through Christ's vision instead and respond with love. I loved the 3 steps of forgiveness in this lesson too which I am working on incorporating into my life right now

The Holy Spirit is a concept that I have always had a problem getting. I have always been trying to figure out what the Holy Spirit really means to me. This course has helped a lot because it gives some symbolism of what the Holy Spirit is, such as fire being purification and wind being inspiration. I realize now that the Holy Spirit can be represented by different symbols. I liked the section on how the Holy Spirit functions. I never knew that the Holy Spirit functions as a completion of the redemption of mankind or for healing our mistaken perception. I learned also that the Holy Spirit is a mediator between our illusions and the truth and also helps us with our separation with God. I know that there are a lot of illusions that I see and need help seeing God's truth in what is happening. Also, I know that for myself, I need the Holy Spirit to help me bridge the separation between God and myself since I definitely am not living the Godliest life possible. I know that the Holy Spirit is teaching me more about love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, honesty, and much more since I am allowing the Holy Spirit to work within me. As a kid, I was really impatient, angry, hateful, and would flat out lie to people. As I have gotten older and since taking this course, the Holy Spirit has been teaching me patience, peacefulness, love, and honesty. I still have a long ways to go and still have a lot of teaching from the Holy Spirit, but I am making good progress. I definitely need the Holy Spirit in prayer to bridge the separation between myself and God and also for taking up my false thoughts that I have. During prayer now, I try to be one with God instead of telling God how things need to be done and when to be done.

In this course, I have also learned what true prayer is. I grew up thinking that prayer was when I asked something from God and always thought that prayer began with me. Growing up, I would ask God for many things just like asking Santa Claus to bring me many gifts for Christmas. I never thought that prayer began with God and is a way of communicating with God and being in communion with God. Also, I thought that my prayers were often not answered or heard by God because I never received what I had prayed for. Now I know that prayer is to fix me and my issues and will be done in God's time. Also, my prayers are heard by God and are also answered by God in his way and most likely the answer isn't what I wanted like a fancy car showing up in my driveway or a lot of money appearing in my bank account. Substitution is something I also learned too. I thought that having money or material things would bring me happiness and would often pray for money and material things but realize that I am just substituting things here for real happiness which already exists within me.

I also learned a lot about the different levels of prayers that we use. I never had thought about the different types of prayers as being higher or lower than another type of prayer. I am used to using the prayer of need followed by the prayer of freedom. I cannot recall using prayer of joining or prayers of humility when communicating with God. With the prayer of need, I am usually asking God for help with something like helping me deal with my depression or helping someone I know that is dealing with serious illness. I also was given a thought provoking statement about prayers for our enemies. I never thought before that considering someone as an enemy was also reinforcing my own guilt and rejecting God since I would be rejecting one of God's children. Prayer of freedom is a type of prayer that I have used to help me release guilt that I have over something or to release myself from a self-imposed imprisonment of some kind. I think I might have used some prayer of joining but not in a positive way. I have always prayed for God to do this or that to someone who has harmed me in some way. I now realize that this isn't something that God is going to do to one of his children. I don't think I have used the prayer of humility because of the fear of letting things go. For some reason, I have also felt a need to control things or a certain amount of things in my life but I know now that I have to let go and let God do his work with me so I can go do things that will be in love.

The lesson on the power of prayer was very interesting to me. I have read in the newspaper and have watched the news where scientific studies have shown to heal people and also increase the life expectancy of people who had strong faith and prayer. This lesson explained to me why these studies have shown these results. I had never considered before that each thought that I have produces a chemical reaction in the brain and that the brain does not determine between good and bad thoughts in which to produce these chemical reactions. I also never thought about taking responsibility for my thoughts and try to change the way I think. The sections on unanswered prayers struck home with me since I often believed that my prayers were going unanswered but now realize that my prayers are answered but not the way I wanted them to be answered. I realize that I just maybe afraid to see God's answer or just not be accepting of God's answer that he has provided to me.

I liked the section on magic versus miracles since it explained the difference. I did not realize that magic is an attempt where a person or thing would apparently use super natural powers that were exempted or overruled the laws of the universe whereas miracles appeared within the laws of the universe and are thought to be of divine origin. I never thought that miracles were all the same. I thought that one miracle would be greater than another but the lesson taught me the one miracle is no more difficult or harder than another miracle. I also like how miracles can shift perception. I could use a shift in perception from my ego's thinking to the Holy Spirits thinking. This lesson also pointed out the miracles point out the truth and that no illusion can threaten the truth. This lesson also pointed out that I need to be more miracle ready than I am presently ready for. Unfortunately, I am still thinking a lot from my ego and would not recognize a miracle right now if one were to happen.

This course so far has really jolted the way I have thought about prayer and miracles. I have been inspired by this course to actually start reading the book A Course in Miracles. So far, I have found this course and the book to be of great help to me and I have found it fascinating on how the book came to be. This course is a lot easier for me to understand than the book is due to the way it is written. I have gone to the A Course in Miracles website and now get the newsletter from the Foundation of Inner Peace. This course has really got me thinking on how I think and pray and have located a study group that deals with A Course in Miracles. This course is teaching me a lot and I am glad that I am taking it currently and have been incorporating things in the course into my everyday life which has been very helpful with dealing with issues such as depression, relationships, and guilt that I have. I definitely think this course is well worth the time and effort.

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church  materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

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Spirit Quest

I am difficult to work with. This I was told was the reputation that preceded me. It disturbed me when I heard this. It was not an easy thing to hear. However it only took a day or so until I accepted the comment. I owned it. It was true. I am difficult to work with. I am passionate in word and deed and sometimes this is not an easy relationship to handle. This was an example in my life where I took ownership of something and it lost its emotional impact over me. My spirit had prevailed.

I am passionate about what our future holds. I have grandiose plans for my place in that future. I love the past and what it teaches us. I live today with the knowledge of yesterday to make tomorrow better. A young lady once emailed me in response to visiting my website stating that I was a pure soul. I didn’t quite understand what this meant. My wife suggested that I possess a worldly view with compassion for the mundane. My spirit is balanced.

I practice filling roses with my obsession of the moment; the things that I just can’t seem to stop thinking about. I allow those roses to open and when they reach their zenith of open beauty, I explode them and watch as their petals float to the earth. I do this until I can let the obsession go. I ground my spirit to the earth when I feel unfocused, unable to concentrate. I break that connection when I return to a level of comfort in my moment. These are tools that my spirit has learned to use to return me to my center.

Money is a tool, a tool that you use to build things. Good, bad, grandiose or trivial, these things that we build are not the result of having money, they are the result of using money. Money is a tool you acquire to be used to create something else.  Used improperly, money is a burden. Used correctly money becomes indispensable.  I am financially burdened at this moment in time not because money is evil, but because I used it in an improper way.

I have a supervisory job in a large institution.  The other day I angered my manager at the place where I work.  I was asked by the manager of another department to give a recommendation for a young lady who worked for us and was applying for another position within that department. As only a supervisor it was my job to tell this manager that the recommendation should come from my manager and not myself.  Instead I gave the recommendation and allowed myself to be upset with my manager who became angry with me.  I stood my ground.  I refused to not give a recommendation when asked.  I suggested it was the fault of the manager who requested the recommendation for not knowing better than to ask me for the recommendation.  It wasn’t until later that I started asking the right question. The answer was obvious once I asked the right questions. In my heart I am a minister.  To minister is to help. I was asked to help and I did so without thought to the consequences.  Did I break workplace policy?  Yes I did.  Did I regret the action I took?  No, because I work in the wrong workplace. I am a minister and I should be a minister first and always.  Did I mention I am difficult to work with? My spirit is going to be OK.

Rev. Kirk Haas

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.

Spirit Quest

It has taken me several additional months to conclude this course due to personal schedule conflicts. However, I am actually happy to have had the time to review this course and the accompanying exercises.

I must confess when I first began using the “grounding cord” I didn’t think it particularly remarkable, having my own techniques for grounding. I also found it very difficult to create & blow up roses even though I recognized the concept of creation & destruction. Certainly, we all want new things to come into our lives, yet, to take time to remove the old, worn & outmoded is often a drudgery that we wish to avoid if possible.

So having admitted my resistance to both the exercises above which are given very early on in this course, I must also say that over time I’ve been pleasantly surprised in the results received from performing them. In my early resistance to these, I was not consistent. More recently, I have been utilizing them much more regularly. I find the grounding exercise, not only grounds me but actually helps me rid myself of excess energy. I often imagine fears & negativity flowing thru the grounding cord & flowing down to the center of the Earth’s molten core, thereby, not polluting the Earth, but be dissolved & purified.

When I perform the rose exercise, the important facet of the exercise for me is the destruction of the rose.. This destruction process has helped me look at areas of my life for what no longer serves me and release the unwanted elements. I guess I use both techniques as a way of releasing and letting go. Perhaps, that is important in my own personal development right now, for it certainly comes easy to me. The grounding cord is a general way to get rid of all the unwanted. The rose is used for particularly intentions and the satisfaction of destroying the intended rose has become quite satisfying.

I have found the Spirit Quest Course very clear and easy to read. It offers introductory information on many compelling subjects from the Chakras to Reincarnation. Each weekly chapter gives information and exercises that allow the student to interact with the material.

I have enjoyed this course and look forward to participating in other courses the Seminary has to offer in the future.

Rev. Sharon Corrigan

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.

Spirit Quest

With all the wonderful things I’ve learned from this course, it has been difficult to sort out favorites. I have decided to write about the ones that have made the biggest changes. I will start with the Golden Sun.

One particularly exciting incident was the removal of my energy from a previous work place. I enjoyed my job there and all the people involved. I was there much of my time as I tended to work a lot of overtime (my choice). A better paying job came along so, as much as I loved my work, I left for the money. That was in 1987. Since that time, up until I started this course, my dreams were filled with this place. It was unbelievable how often I dreamed of it and the key people who worked there. It was, to say the least, rather annoying. When I read about, and used, the small Golden Sun to go into this place and remove my energy (it took a couple of times to totally clear), this changed. I have not dreamed of this place since. It has been wonderful for me. I am finally at peace with it.

The “Competition” section has been another blessing for me. I have a co-worker that fell into this area. She couldn’t stand me and after a while I didn’t like being around her, talking to her, or listening to her talk on the phone. The tension had gotten pretty bad. She always spoke to me in a demeaning, superior manner and constantly looking for something I did incorrectly then would to my boss about it (which never got me in trouble as the were petty complaints). The “Competition” lesson came just in time. It was a job saver as I was getting ready to quit my job just to get away from all the tension as I didn’t know what the problem was. After reading the section, however, it showed me what the problem was. She and I had the same job title and she was there before me, thus the competition.

I practiced hard on the spiritual “Hello” every day for a while and let it go to see what would happen. There has not been a tremendous change in our relationship. It has taken a little while as it didn’t happen over night, but we get along quite well now. There is no more tension, we pitch in and help each other out when needed, and she will actually come into my office just to chat. Thank God this has happened. The tension is gone and the work environment is much more pleasant. Believe it or not, just the understanding of what was going on and the spiritual connection has brought about this unique change.

I have also gotten very good results from the destroying of roses. My most recent, and most important, action with putting my problems into the rose and destroying them was due to the pain, sorrow, and uncertainty of events surrounding the death of my Mother. I have recently used the roses to help me deal with this. I would put one issue at a time into the rose and destroy it and filling up with the Golden Sun. I would do this a couple of times and then create a rose and put Love into it and do the same thing. It has helped my cope with this event much better. I am still very sad, but the creation and destruction of the roses has helped heal the excruciating pain and I have found a lot of inner peace. It helped push me through the most devastating parts of the grieving process.

This course is full of so much knowledge and so many tools that I have needed in my life. There are no words that can express my gratitude for such a course. I know that as I continue using these my life will be more peaceful and prosperous.

Rev. Ruth Roberts

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.

Spirit-Quest

The Spirit-Quest course is just what I needed. From the very first lesson I received, my life started to change for the better. From the first lesson, I realized I needed to make a list of spiritual goals such as losing weight and quit smoking in order to be healthier and to be able to respect my body as well as my spirit better since I believe that my body is a temple that should be treated very well. With the lesson on forgiveness, I needed to learn how to forgive people including myself. I had built up anger and resentments through my life which cause me to have temper tantrums and anger outbursts. After writing some letters to the people that I felt anger and resentful towards, a lot of that anger and resentful feelings just disappeared. 

Another lesson I gained a lot from was the lesson that dealt with competition, both physical and spiritual. I was an athlete from elementary school through my sophomore year in high school. I was always driven to win that game that we were playing. But I was always telling myself and other people how much better I was than them which are spiritual competition which isn’t good. I realize that now after taking this course that I am no better and no worse than anyone else that I know or will come to know. Because of this spiritual competition, I spent a lot of time being isolated and separated from people and God. 

I also learned to speak in the positive since that is what the universe hears. I am still working on improving my speaking in the positive since I have been speaking in the negative pretty much all my life. I liked the lesson on amusement. Since I work in a big grocery store, a lot of people come through so I sometimes try to amuse the customers as they check out. I am working on be more amusing and less sarcastic which at times is amusing when the time is right.

Another lesson that stuck out at me is the lesson on music. There are some songs that just vibrate with me just the right way. If I am having a bad day, music will be able to turn that around and I will finish that day out pretty happy since the music resonates with me real good. The lesson in asking the right questions was a great lesson for me. A lot of the times, I end up asking the question in a bad way and then I get a bad response to that question or don’t get the answer I was looking for. Sometimes, I will have a question but don’t ask it which is considered omission and also a case of not asking the right question. I also found some things interesting from the lesson about pain. The thing that I really liked about the pain lesson was the Emotional Cellular Release Therapy that was mentioned and described how emotions like anger and resentment are stored in our bodies in different places and if these emotions sit there long enough, they will create illness. The money lesson was a very important lesson to me because I am one of those people who would never worry about money and I would go out and shop to buy things because that is how I valued money. But since reading this lesson, the way I have valued money is not the way I want to value it anymore. I did some meditating on this and decided to come up with a budget to live within and the budget includes pay off my credit card bill which has a sizable (at least to me) balance on it. I am viewing money as a safety net for the future, my retirement, and for unexpected emergencies. I think that money does symbolize power and status, at least here in the United States. I am not after money for the status of having it or the power that might come with it. I am just using it as a safety net so that I can lead a decent life so I can help others in their lives too.

I found this course very worthy while and will keep each lesson that was e-mailed to me so I can review them more times in the future. There are a lot of great things that I have learned from this course. I will keep incorporating things from Spirit-Quest into my life. 

Rev. Michael Barth

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Spirit Quest

The Spirit Quest course was not what I expected, it was much better. Everything was explained so well and with humor. I did not make major changes in my life probably because I am on my spiritual path with goals already which led me to taking this course. I was familiar with many of the tools and principles, as I am a Reiki Master Teacher. However, the chapters were beautifully explained. I did learn some new tools which I love and use all the time. The use of the roses and the Golden sun are my favorite. They are simple, you can do them anywhere and their uses are many. I was also was happy to see the chapters on ‘How Spirit Communicates’. It all just fit so well with everything else I am learning from other sources. It validated my spiritual path.

As for a miracle, my whole life has been a miracle but now I am aware of where miracles come from. Spirit guides must have been with me my whole for me to have survived some of the very difficult challenges I had as a child. Until the last few years here in Tucson, I didn’t believe in anything so I have come a long way and I know I have much more to learn and experience. Now I am grateful for everything that happens in my life whether good or bad. There are always lessons to be learned. The following is an example of an event that happened as a child who didn’t understand. I was left with an old man in the middle of the Las Vegas desert for him to baby sit me while my mother and step-father went out. The old man told me to take all my clothes off and get in bed. Something, I now believe was an angel or spirit guide told me to get the keys and lock myself in the car which I did. Today I know what would have happened to me had I stayed in his camper and that was just the first of many miracles I have experienced.

Rev. Anne Marie Brooks

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Ordination with the Free Online Ordination button.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

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Spirit Quest

Spirit Quest

Yes I do choose to accept it.

Its been an amazing 8 months and I've learned a lot. I like the idea that we are all perfect spiritual beings on a unique course. We only get out of life what we put into it. Seems to Me my Mother taught Me that as well.

I really enjoyed the lesson on forgiveness. It certainly is true that "holding onto a grudge is like drinking poison and waiting for that person your holding a grudge against to die." Learning how to forgive is something we should all strive to work at a little more. I know from My own life experience,starting with My parents and now with My Wife forgiveness has always been hard for Me,but yet so essential for My health,peace and well being. With all the conflicts in the world today it is My hope and My prayer that more forgiveness is used and tried for the sake of the human race.

When I read the lesson on affirmations I learned that we should only tell are selves things that are true to us. I've done affirmations off and on all My life with only moderate results. It only makes sense now that I think about it to only use affirmations that ring true for yourself or your deep subconscious mind won,t accept it. In the back of My mind I know I've read about this affirmation method before,just never really tried it,DA! I certainly will be using it more now though. I guess that's what a spirit quest is all about.

Getting unstuck,discourse#23 was beneficial for Me as well. I can remember being stuck in the past in certain situations and even today there's certain things I,m stuck in. Life is certainly about learning there's no way around it. Life will present us with the same lessons over and over again until WE catch on,its that simple. Life in a way is like a school of hard knocks one way or another we are all going to learn,some a little slower some a little faster. If we find ourselves stuck in a situation in life,life is teaching us something and we have to dig ourselves out an learn from it.The tools discussed in discourse#23 will help with this I have no doubt.

Well it truly has been a spirit quest, I've learned a lot and its been fun. One thing I will never forget!

"You are a perfect being.

God loves you.

You were created in perfection,

by perfection,

for perfection.

Your success is guaranteed."

by Rev. Terry G. Rempel

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more.

Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Spirit Quest

I joined the Universal Life Church by requesting ordination on September 3, 2007, because I had been out of active parish ministry for several years, yet, from time to time people asked me to perform weddings, and I felt that I should be connected to and be in good standing with an ordaining body. At the time, I was worshiping in a Lutheran church, but I was ordained in the United Methodist Church many years ago. Little did I know that my affiliation with a church that had no specific theology would lead me on a spiritual journey that I thought had been completed many years ago.

My spiritual journey began as a young teenager questioning our church’s contention that we had the “truth” and everyone else in the world was in darkness. At the time, our church had a worldwide membership of about half of a million, with a global population approaching three billion. The concept that God had a message that was revealed to such a small percentage of the total human population was troubling to me. I received instruction in our faith three times. Our pastor, who was the head pastor of a church with a membership in excess of two thousand five hundred, took a great deal of time with me when I was sixteen, trying to convince me to become baptized into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He even told my mother that if I wasn't baptized, the loss of my soul would be upon her head. After one year of work, I still refused baptism. Although I lived in a university community, and all my neighbors and family members were members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, I was not convinced.

After college, I entered the United States Air Force during the heart of the Vietnam conflict. I continued my spiritual journey by reading the works of Indian and Chinese philosophers and studying Buddhism. I also took instruction in the Roman Catholic Faith, as I had been told as a child that Roman Catholics had torture chambers in their churches, for the time when they would turn against Seventh-day Adventists to torture and kill us. Instruction in the faith lead to baptism in the Roman Catholic Church, though I never totally accepted all their theology. As I look back on my life, I see it more as a protest to my early indoctrination. I have found lots of bingo players in the church, but never once did I locate a torture chamber, and few Catholics have even heard of a Seventh-day Adventist. The one element I learned to love was the liturgical tradition and ceremony of the Church.

In 1975, following the fall of Saigon, I was transferred to Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, where I met a practicing Buddhist at a workshop. He invited me to a meeting, they fed me, and I practiced Buddhism for about two years, learning a great deal, but feeling that I had moved to an alien tradition before fully exploring my own. I spent the last two years on active duty worshiping in the Episcopal Church in Colorado Springs.

In 1980, I received a call to ministry in a Methodist church and returned to California. I served the congregation for eight years, and then moved into Social Work. When my program went away, I moved into teaching. Through the years, I continued to worship with Christian congregations, and continued my ministry as a teacher and preacher. When my daughters asked me the tough questions and I gave honest answers, it became clear that I was really very liberal and had a universal view on spiritual matters. I had not given much thought to the fact that my spiritual views had continued to evolve. It simply became clear, when I was answering questions, that some of my views had become quite heretical.

After receiving ordination in the Universal Life Church, I set out to discover as much as I could about the organization and beliefs. I took several courses through the headquarters and developed a clear understanding of Bishop Henley’s ideas. When I discovered the ULC Seminary, I took four courses, including Spirit Quest. Although I had not expected to undergo a radical paradigm shift, it occurred over the eight months of this course. For the first time, I was able to harmonize all my ideas under one roof. All the religious ideas, from indigenous, to Eastern and Western that had been incorporated into my spirituality, finally fit into a systematic whole. Metaphysics works to tie everything together for me. Furthermore, through meditation, I was able to experience the reality of my new belief system.

Whenever I am stressed, which occurs quite frequently as a high school teacher, I ground myself and create a protection rose. It is amazing how much easier it has become to deal with the negative energy that flows from and between my students. I clear out the energy at the end of each class. Although there is still conflict form time to time, I have experienced a great reduction, and please understand that many of my students are gang members from opposing gangs. Most of my students are from a low socioeconomic background and many experience physical and psychological abuse at home. What amazes me is that they can function as well as they do. With the implementation of many of your techniques, I am able to survive the year.

In many respects, this course has been life changing for me. I am more relaxed and am gaining understanding of my purpose in this existence. I look forward to beginning a new course as I continue on my spiritual journey.

Rev. Richard Alan Helmerson

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.

Spirit Quest

Spirit Quest was my favorite course to date. It is a journey that promotes growth, self-awareness and peace of mind. The techniques in forgiveness, grounding and meditation have helped to increase my peace of mind and release negativity. I especially like the protection rose and use it daily to keep me from absorbing negative energy. This was an area that was a problem for me. For many years, I absorbed and was affected by other people’s negative energy. I can notice the difference!

Meditation is very important in quieting the mind and being centered. At first it was hard to sit still for more than 5 minutes; I look forward to it now on a daily basis. It helps to clear my mind and at the same time, I can use techniques to balance my chakras. Keeping your chakras balanced and silver cord cleared helps to promote health in mind, body and spirit.

I use the protection rose every day and find it keeps me grounded and from absorbing negative energy. One of the more interesting lessons was on money and how being reluctant to let it go will make it reluctant to come back to you. It is interesting how we can create more money for ourselves. We need to determine what the money means to us and how much we need to attain our goals and then focus our energy on the specific amount needed using meditation techniques. Since I have been using this technique, I have not worried about money at all!   In fact, I hadn’t even thought about it until now.

The newly-published book is a great addition to the course. It is a great reference for both looking up information and for the meditation techniques. Thank you for making this course available. I found it valuable and would highly recommend it.

Rev. Patricia Buben

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.

Spirit-Quest

Beginning with the very first discourse, I began a life changing journey and the development of tools that I anticipate using throughout the rest of my life. The concept of setting Spiritual Goals was my first revelation. I have been good about setting goals in my life but took spiritualism for granted, I had not ignored it, but realized that I have not taken a proactive role in the process. Then, Discourse 2 hit me between the eyes. I have been working on the blessing of unconditionally forgiving others for years, the problem was, that I could not forgive myself for choices I had made that caused pain to others. Even if I knew they had forgiven me, I had no idea how to forgive myself. The lessons pertaining to meditation, imaging, grounding, energy, and the creation and blowing up of roses gave me a venue where I could picture what self forgiveness would feel like and rid myself of the negative energy that kept those self hate feelings alive. I learned through subsequent lessons how to manage positive energy more effectively and put out my intentions to God and the Universal Energy that flows from and back to God. In this way, I knew that my intent reached our Creator and in a loving way, my prayerful meditations were answered. I was surprised and amazed at how powerful the exercise of mocking up an intent and then visioning the intent as if it were already reality could be. Through this process, the way I look at life and the abundance provided by God’s Universe changed in a most profound way.

Another aspect of this course has also had a profound impact on my life. During my meditations, I began to see how my ego and worldly self has been an obstacle to connecting with my spiritual self. The idea of being created in perfection by perfection took on life. I began to understand that to be created in the likeness of God did not mean a physical appearance, but deep within is the spiritual likeness that only by shedding the bonds of ego could I begin to reach and actualize. The spiritual qualities that I had searched externally for and prayed to possess were already present. It was my task to remove the obstacles and tap into the God within. Only then, did I finally realize what a Spiritual Journey really was. I continue to build upon this daily, always aware that ego lurks just outside the cocoon of divine light. That not only I, but all people have the same origin and are created in perfection, by perfection, and for perfection. We are all related and come from one original source. Not only has this course given me a more energized and enlightened way to see myself but to see others in that same light. I truly know what it means never to look down on another person unless you are lifting them up.

The course in its entirety has been a help and a blessing. These are but a few of the high points that have made my life and ministry richer. Thank you for a wonderful experience.

Rev. Michael Babb

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.

Metaphysical Healing

My name is Deborah Overfield. I am working towards a degree in Ministry and Natural Health. I know many modalities of healing and taking this class from an experienced person I felt I could broaden my knowledge. This is the most rewarding work and I look forward to getting up every day to a new adventure. I am also meeting amazing people.

Things I learned is that it always seems we may be looking for an answer or something and in reality we are already in the middle of it. It seems to be our awareness is that it makes us pay attention. Everybody’s healing is individual and personal. No matter what all info should always remain confidential. Always give thanks for the power within is given to us. I learned how to ask questions and test an individual.

I learned what not to do as to not be in any trouble with the government.

What I did not resonate with is how often people want to be healed and never feel it is real or worth paying for. I had had tons of people asking for healing and only a couple willing to pay. I pray things will change I intend it to be and all blocks removed. I do heal people for free but this was not my intention for a business when I can barely make it on my own with my other job and I have all these skills I studied hard for. Another thing I don’t like is I am always drilled about WHERE did you learn this. If it wasn’t from a collage or a place the government gives you the degree they seem to poo poo it. I have run into lots of People thinking I’m a kook. There are a few that come to me that believe in me and want to trade services for a plastic $1 store plate. I did not work on them because they found no value in it. I had people thinking it was evil. I was so amazed at how many people believe the devil and evil and never seem to even grasp that God is more powerful and can do far more. Jesus is the healer. So this is my most disliked thing of all.

What I’d like to hear more of is anything that can possible work for the seemingly impossible symptoms that are worked on for years. Isn’t there a way somehow that it could be fixed faster. Some things take some things instant, some a few days, weeks, months, years. My thing is why should it take a year for some things? Maybe we will never know. My thoughts are it is possible to heal sooner. How is the question? The modalities and things I’ve learned have not taught me those skills yet. Also any and all methods are welcome for me, I like to learn things related to healing, spiritual healing and health.

Also anything more about the vortexes of the body and the environment. I am interested also in portals and healing more with the angels.

What I like is being my own best physician! I love helping people and making the world a better place one person at a time. The endocrine glands, charkas, aura and meridians including positive attitudes in balance will bring about good health. I like how instantly the body will repair, and heal itself. Intent and having the body in a willingness for change is all that is needed for change to occur. I believe that as time goes on and medical field continues to fail more and more people are awakening to natural health as the answer. I am humbled by this work and welcome the new revolution of health. More and more as I go around town I see my natural health. Stores carry more natural product now. I’m thrilled to be apart of it and knowing everyday I do this I’m doing God’s work.

Sincerely,

Deborah Overfield

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To ordain yourself with the Universal Life Church, for free, for life, right now, click on the Free Online Ordination link.

Rev. Long created the ULC seminary site to help ministers learn and grow their ministries. The Seminary offers a huge catalog of materials for ministers of the Universal Life Church, as well as an online seminary program and a chaplaincy program.

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Spirit Quest

Spirit-Quest is a very private journey deep inside which leads to phenomenal healing and growth. Old prejudices, beliefs about self and negativity are challenged and exercised in a non-threatening way. Little by little over the course of thirty weeks the real self blooms. Confidence grows and the world is seen through calmer, more focused eyes.

I have been on many journeys. This one has had and is having the most profound results, perhaps because of the concentrated time spent over a long period. Seeds are sown and given room to sprout and grow.

I am calmer, more focused and no longer fearful of using my healing talents.

Roses: One of the tools I like best and which I have had the opportunity to use many, many times is “blowing up roses.” So many experiences, both good and bad, can be handled with this tool. When some person or some situation is difficult, it is so easy to put them or it into a rose and blow it up. It makes me smile every time.

One thing I have discovered in attempting to use this tool with truly negative or harmful things. Not wishing to blow up evil and disperse it throughout the world, I tried putting it down a grounding cord. I created a grounding cord right in front of me, dropped the situation down the grounding cord and blew it up deep inside the earth. I created a neutral grounding cord in front of me so I would not have to use my own grounding cord. I did not want the evil anywhere near me.

Spirit Guides: I have been talking with my Spirit Guide for many years. It is not necessary for me to use a rose. I simply ask a question and receive an answer. I also ask for things that I want and feel that the Spirit Guide will either help make it happen or help me to see why I really don’t want it. I also find that I am able to talk with or see people who have died. This is a fairly new phenomenon and one with which I am not altogether comfortable. Because this is helpful to people who are grieving it is an important “talent” for me to cultivate. This course has helped with my comfort level.

Finally, I wish to thank you for a wonderful course.

Yours in light

Rev. Judy Wolf

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more.

Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Master of Metaphysics

Dissertation- a formal written discourse or thesis, especially one submitted for a doctorate. noun. From the webster's Pocket Dictionary.

Essay Name: Metaphysics

Metaphysics Dissertation

I found myself in life having walked eight months spiritually, mentally, the direction for my soul-keep. And in the process of learning spirit, I was fortunate to accept responsibility. Responsibility is a very adult word. To me, its meaning implies that I take charge for my Spirit-Self. Life moved rapidly and the outer creation that, I or the world help create did break away. This was the same outer most crust that hurt my success to taking on a life all its own. Figuring out what those responsible 'others' true intentions were, made more sense to me in my present life. Spirit-Quest help me to understand that I am not a foundling on my way around the tugging disappointments in a straight line, just for me. I Either just begun facing the current or freely ride along this desired path.

I can live with the fact I was not suppose follow the exact future those before me bestowed on top of my life. One, every time while receiving a new discourse, a significant change rose out from the ashes and started another ruckus. I have witnessed many changes and I have proof, such as leaving my old job. It's exciting every time I think about this change in my life. To better tell the story, nearly having to meditate, and tell the story. I am a professional psychic and the learning experience through Spirit-Quest made people take in what it is what I needed to tell them.

After one huge 'hello!', I was given a position that I did not have to test. In fact, I ask how and why. My current manager said that he did not know why, but he could just trust me. I wanted to test and warned him I do better in true situations rather than passing the two major tests. Thus, the two dreaded tests all psychics wanting to advance his or her career in the telecommunications industry. Now, I have a job and I did write my instructor, explaining how would I find a job, the President Rev. Amy Long. There shortly, I received knowledge from the infinite wisdom the universe offered. Of course, didn't I not want to make a wealth amount of money? I do want to make a living and I am not ashamed of this.

The point being made is that I decided to be a student of Spirit-Quest to perfect on my skills to helping others. Then the other very true fact, that I obtained a Metaphysical degree accredited through the American Accrediting Association (AAA), to make a living. I am a professional metaphysician and I am doing what both, the universe and I are loving. We are Ministering to others and using psychic ability to being insightful with a purpose in mind, that influences so many peoples lives.

I had to work out the differences in my own life before bringing on such a challenge. I thought that I would be finished and prayed that I might find other interests. I realized I'm at the starting blocks ready to run a journey. I am also sure that I will be taking up other discourses. I decided to take up a spiritual profession called, a life long student.

For instance, I could not have published my book with out taking an eight month time out designated to bringing about this secret project. I worked on it and have published my first metaphysical book called 'Healing in Life and Goals'. It is the first of more to come, because I get calls from spiritually gifted 'others' needing to know how I pick up on them well enough, as they haven't ever talked with me in this life. One of my discourses explained to me why that is and that there was a conversation in the other side. In fact, we discussed it already and it's recorded in the Akisha records. I thought to being favored to leaving behind the teachings and the books for those building both, his or her life and career. We can begin to imagine stepping in, taking charge in someone else life until we do this for ourselves.

My dream is extended into the physical plane. The responsibility of working in this life for others around the world has opened my concept of opportunity. I have been invited to speak all others around the world. This is the kind of honor that is in my visual screen. Though I feel this streaming through my entire being, I would not want to do anything unprepared.

Another great feats I accomplished is having poetry published and now will have the opportunity to seeing my work at an international level. This is validating to me because it plays an important part in me reaching clients all over and is expressed in the art of poetry. The other wonder is the response I get from the universe, which I interpreted as blessings. Meditations were complicated for me then, and now it's simple. I believe Universal Life Church Seminary and I were destined to meet up in this life. It feeling like I was protected and while I didn't have to be affected by the woes for living on planet Earth, I searched out freedom and expression. There are views for me to share and the knowledge has to come from an international source. The ULC Seminary is that source where I can gather my information because I choose to literally go out into the world to teach metaphysics.

Responsibly moving to another world will take endurance for the Spirit-Self, and the teachings is more than its worth. I have the one goal to take care of the expectations in place. I have even started a prayer chain and suddenly I don't see the word 'alone' blanketed away in mind. I see lively inter relative actions acting out in accordance to the universe. This is my experience making the crossings between lives and recommend without metaphysical degrees to never trend out.

Isaiah D. Reed, M.M.

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more.

Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.We also offer many free wedding ceremonies for your use.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Spirit Quest

What have I learned through the Spirit Quest course?

I must say that I have enjoyed this course. It enlightened my mind in several ways, although there were parts I had trouble with. Overall, I greatly appreciated having taken it.

I was very interested in the meditation lessons. I have been meditating for several years now, and the techniques explained throughout the course were a breath of fresh air. They were clever and eye opening. I enjoyed utilizing them. They did help me a great deal to get rid of negative energy at times and to learn to let things go before they fester, so to speak.

I also liked the fact that the course seemed to pull from many different belief systems, instead of simply focusing on one. It truly made it a course that most people should feel comfortable in taking, even if some of the content doesn’t follow what they believe in. I have to say that there were parts I didn’t really agree with, but surprisingly enough, there was a great deal of it that fit right into the thoughts and feelings I’ve had for several years.

Of all of the lessons, I think the ones I found most interesting were the ones on the spirit and how it communicates, the karma lesson, and the reincarnation one. The spirit communication lessons seemed accurate according to my own experiences. The way it all was explained though, is what interested me the most. It was put in terms that made it easy to understand how and why spirits communicate in the way they do. It gave meaning to those experiences I have had. The karma lesson hit home as well. I’ve experienced it first hand, as I’m sure most everyone has at one point or another. Although, they may not have realized it was karma working. I never used to think that there was much to the karma thing, but the last few years have opened up my eyes to that. I believe it exists. I believe it works the way it was described in the lesson. It’s simply a matter of applying the principles to your life to experience the changes that believing in karma can create. Now, let’s move on to the reincarnation lesson. Again, this was a case of many years ago I don’t think I really believed in reincarnation. I’m not sure what I believed then. Over time I’ve experienced things in my life that make me believe that spirits do indeed “come back”. I’ve always thought it was a pointless theory that once we die that is it for our spirit. I believe that we continue to learn throughout our lives, but there are usually things you won’t have learned by the end of your life that are necessary for your spirit to grow and move in the path that it needs to move. And so, reincarnation gives the spirit that extra chance or time to continue to learn what it is that life is all about for them.

Please note, that this is simply my opinion. Everyone has one and I am not meaning to step on anyone’s toes here, but simply to state my own thoughts and feelings on the subject. Much as I feel this whole course did. It was put together with many different beliefs mixed in and no one lesson was meant to upset anyone, simply to teach a different opinion to think about. I think most people who take this discourse would have an open enough mind that they could get through it without feeling insulted. I know, that though I didn’t complete agree with everything, I still found the whole discourse to be interesting and well put together.

In conclusion, I just want to say that I am glad I took the discourse and I feel I came away with some tools that will help me better my life and understand my life a little more. I’ve greatly enjoyed being given the chance to experience what I have due to taking this discourse. Thanks Amy.

Rev. Tracy Wilson

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.

The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge selection of Universal Life Church  minister supplies. Since being ordained with the Universal Life Church for so many years and it's Seminary since the beginning, I've watch the huge change and growth that has continued to happen.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar