Photograph by Rev. Jim Hetzer taken at Antrim Park, Columbus, Ohio.
This posting is about being open to interacting with different cultures and finding the common ground in beliefs and understanding. I have been posting thoughts on spirituality for years, and a lot of that work ends up on https://revjimhetzer.com. I use Facebook, and I post articles to RevJimHetzer as well as Jim Hetzer.
A person whose Facebook name is the Princess of Persia provided an invitation to join the Facebook group Rumi of Persia. I follow her posts and those of others on Rumi of Persia. She and others in the Rumi of Persia group follow me on Facebook, and provide comments and compares my posts to poetry done by Rumi and other spiritual leaders. Rumi was a great poet whose words reverberate through time and space.
I posted two affirmations on https://revjimhetzer.com. They are Affirmation for Living, and Spiritualist Golden Rule. I also posted Rules for Association for Happiness, which places responsibility on other people and on ourselves with regard to making each other happy. The Princess of Persia provided versions of my postings that convey similar thoughts from spiritual leaders. Those reading postings on Rumi of Persia have commented on my postings with thoughtful responses. I will post the above topics, and her comments about other writers and their cultural beliefs.
Affirmation for Living
I am a child of the Creator.
I am worthy of all good things.
I am grateful for God’s love.
Thank you, God, for everything…for everything.
Rev. Jim Hetzer
The Princess of Persia’s commentary:
Buddha is credited with having said:
“You can search the entire Universe and not find a being more worthy of love than you.”
The Princess of Persia revised the Affirmation for Living in the following way:
Affirmation for Living (revised)
I am a cherished child of the Creator,
Deserving of abundant blessings.
Gratitude fills my heart for God’s boundless love.
Thank you, dear God, for all you bring.
The Spiritualist Golden Rule is derived from a statement attributed to Jesus and recorded in Matthew 28 in the Christian Bible. The story is told that a non-believer asked Jesus what were Jesus’ most important teachings. Jesus responded, “You must love God. You must love your neighbor as you love yourself. This replaces the Laws and the Prophets.” What many forget is that you most first love yourself in order to love your neighbor as you love yourself. The Spiritualist Golden Rule is not found in the Spiritualist Manual; Spirit helped me put that together.
Spiritualist Golden Rule
I will do and say to myself what I would do and say to my best friend. When I do this, I become my new, best friend.
The Princess of Persia shared a similar thought attributed to Jalaluddin Rumi.
“If I love myself, I love you. If I love you, I love myself”. Rumi.
The Princess of Persia’s version of the Spiritualist Golden Rule (revised):
I treat myself as I treat my dear friend
with kindness and love, to the very end.
In doing so, a new bond does transcend.
I become my own best friend.
The Rules of Association for Happiness was given to me by Spirit. It places the responsibility for beginning or ending an association on us as well as on how others treat us.
Rules for Association for Happiness
Be with people that make you happy, that trust you, and respect you.
Be with people that you make happy, that know you trust and respect them.
Avoid people that make you unhappy, that distrust you, or do not respect you.
Avoid people the you make unhappy, or feel that you do not trust or respect them.
Rumi is credited with this saying:
Set your life on fire. Seek those that fan your flames.
The Princess of Persia version of the Rules of Association for Happiness (revised).
Embrace those who bring joy and trust to your side.
And, reciprocate, making their happiness glide.
Steer clear of those who bring sorrow and doubt.
And ensure that your presence brings no shadow of doubt.
We are living in a time of extreme strife and disagreement about the correct version of religions that divides major parts of the world. I believe that there is one Creator of All that Is (COATI) and COATI came before any spiritual leaders of the religions on earth. I also believe that if your religion works for you, it works for me that it works for you. The only caveat to this acceptance is that you must love yourself, and love your neighbor as your love yourself. It is my opinion that COATI does not need our acceptance of COATI’s existence. COATI created us all, whether we believe that or not.
I believe that the true universal truths occur in some form in all the major religions. An example of a shared truth is what the Christians call the Golden Rule that is also found in Islam, Hindu, and Buddhist texts. As a Spiritualist, I honor and respect the leaders of religions. Spiritualists have a higher power, but no single spiritual leader beyond the Creator. We are all trying to be people that achieve our potential as human beings that are able to value each other in peace and harmony.
© Copyright 2023
Rev. Jim Hetzer
Walking the Spirit Path 