God

November 9, 2014 – Teddy Bear Feeling – A Positive Path

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11/9/14 Rev. David McArthur
Teddy Bear Feeling – A Positive Path

The Divine Presence is absolute good. In Unity, we’re obsessive about this “positive”. We never get to the heaven/hell/sin stuff. There’s pure love, and it is not found in the intellect. One good way to find it is hugging a teddy bear! It opens our feelings to experience the pure love which God is and let it touch us. Hugging a teddy bear is a God experience, because it always feels good. If love is there God is there; if God is there love is there. As we open to this, we connect deeper and deeper with who we really are.

Medics were called into a village in Viet Nam after an attack. A little girl badly needed blood. With difficulty they explained they needed blood donors. A little boy raised his hand to volunteer. He was a match, and as they began drawing blood he began to cry. He sobbed deeply. A translator told the medics that the little boy thought he was giving all his blood, that he would die. They asked why then did he volunteer, and he replied that she was his friend.

That’s who we really are. We do love. That’s why we’re here. The more we connect the easier it is to see. We get distracted and caught up with things but that’s not who we are. Pain, loss, ill health, or lack means that of the greater potential there, only a part of what is greater has been manifest. This love, this presence constantly guides us back to who we really are.

It is pure love without opposite. That’s the reality. It’s a beautiful thing to realize. In the Upanishads, Hinduism says, “The Lord is one without a second.” In the beautiful Jewish teachings, “The Lord is one.” The Koran says, “There is only one God.” Not two, just one. Jesus said, “If … thine eye [lamp] be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.” There is just one. It is pure. It is real. It is God, life; it is everywhere. A great way to touch it is the teddy bear.

In 19th century London a young street urchin survived by putting on labels in a workhouse. In his ten years he had gotten 4 years of reading and writing. He secretly wrote stories, and after many attempts, he finally got a publisher, but wasn’t paid anything. But he learned how to get published! It was Charles Dickens. His written stories and his own story show us the amazing potential in all of us. God is there—the potential, the intelligence, the love. If God is there, love is there. Right at this moment an amazing potential is here. Love is here. Love is here. Love is here. In every situation in everyone of us. When you know that, it is hard to be anything less than positive. And what I know is that because you are here, love is here!

November 9, 2014 – Teddy Bear Feeling – A Positive Path

by

11/9/14 Rev. David McArthur
Teddy Bear Feeling – A Positive Path

The Divine Presence is absolute good. In Unity, we’re obsessive about this “positive”. We never get to the heaven/hell/sin stuff. There’s pure love, and it is not found in the intellect. One good way to find it is hugging a teddy bear! It opens our feelings to experience the pure love which God is and let it touch us. Hugging a teddy bear is a God experience, because it always feels good. If love is there God is there; if God is there love is there. As we open to this, we connect deeper and deeper with who we really are.

Medics were called into a village in Viet Nam after an attack. A little girl badly needed blood. With difficulty they explained they needed blood donors. A little boy raised his hand to volunteer. He was a match, and as they began drawing blood he began to cry. He sobbed deeply. A translator told the medics that the little boy thought he was giving all his blood, that he would die. They asked why then did he volunteer, and he replied that she was his friend.

That’s who we really are. We do love. That’s why we’re here. The more we connect the easier it is to see. We get distracted and caught up with things but that’s not who we are. Pain, loss, ill health, or lack means that of the greater potential there, only a part of what is greater has been manifest. This love, this presence constantly guides us back to who we really are.

It is pure love without opposite. That’s the reality. It’s a beautiful thing to realize. In the Upanishads, Hinduism says, “The Lord is one without a second.” In the beautiful Jewish teachings, “The Lord is one.” The Koran says, “There is only one God.” Not two, just one. Jesus said, “If … thine eye [lamp] be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.” There is just one. It is pure. It is real. It is God, life; it is everywhere. A great way to touch it is the teddy bear.

In 19th century London a young street urchin survived by putting on labels in a workhouse. In his ten years he had gotten 4 years of reading and writing. He secretly wrote stories, and after many attempts, he finally got a publisher, but wasn’t paid anything. But he learned how to get published! It was Charles Dickens. His written stories and his own story show us the amazing potential in all of us. God is there—the potential, the intelligence, the love. If God is there, love is there. Right at this moment an amazing potential is here. Love is here. Love is here. Love is here. In every situation in everyone of us. When you know that, it is hard to be anything less than positive. And what I know is that because you are here, love is here!

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October 19, 2014 – Wherever I Am, God Is

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10/19/14 Rev. David McArthur
Where God Is, I Am

Years ago I was in a city on the West Bank. It was in a very very old part with stone walls and a bazaar. I heard shots and bullets hitting above me, and stone chips fell on me. Looking back at this I realize now that I had no fear in those moments, but a sense of connectedness and clarity. I knew what to do and how to do it. I got out safely. I see now that I didn’t even have to try to get to my heart and ask how. I had a divine connection that was real and there was no room for fear. I didn’t have to know how. It took care of me. When I needed it, it was there. It had been growing in my everyday activities for years. But how do you do that?

Prayer and meditation work, but I use another type of meditation more. Jesus said the greatest law is, “Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” I was a teenager when I first thought about this: “Love the Lord thy God…” I didn’t even like Him—an arbitrary God who loved one club but not the other club that didn’t have “it”; a God really into punishment, who had a sense of emotional maturity that has now even been surpassed by my three year old granddaughter! Loving that God was too hard for me.

Jesus went on to say “…with all thy heart…” But loving can be hard even in a NORMAL family where there are many challenges to learning love. However, there is an easier way. Just enter into the feeling of love. Just remember loving. It’s a wonderful feeling. I often recall the magnificent mountains I’ve seen—the rivers, the animals. Or those glorious sunsets over a still ocean, or even the beauty of just a single flower, and the wondrous Creator of all of it. Or the beauty you see in friends, children, spouses. My heart can include that.

But Jesus also said “…and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind…” That’s a part of us that has no limit, far beyond this human body thing. Wow! Love with that! Bring the feeling up from the heart to the mind which then becomes clear, and the experience expands.

Then He said “Love thy neighbor as thy self.” Jesus’ focus was on those in need of compassion, as in the Good Samaritan. But feel you are connected with humanity as yourself; bring that love in and appreciate who you are. Let that in. Loving our neighbors and loving ourselves is a state of being. It is who we are, our true nature. And you know what? There is no fear in that. Breathe that feeling. It’s a simple place. My experience is the more I touch there, the more it touches me. So daily I use a line from the Prayer of Protection: “Where ever I am, God is.” “Where ever I am, God is.” “Where ever I am, God is.”

It creates that state of consciousness in us. Rumi said it this way: “The Lord is in me, and the Lord is in you… look for Him within you. When I sit in the heart of His world A million suns blaze with light, A burning blue sea spreads across the sky, Life’s turmoil falls quiet, All the stains of suffering wash away… This is the music of soul and soul meeting… This is the music that transcends all coming and going.”

And it’s there! Where I am, God is. Feel that Presence! Where you are, God is—because you are! Bless you!

October 19, 2014 – Where God Is, I Am

by

10/19/14 Rev. David McArthur
Where God Is, I Am

Years ago I was in a city on the West Bank. It was in a very very old part with stone walls and a bazaar. I heard shots and bullets hitting above me, and stone chips fell on me. Looking back at this I realize now that I had no fear in those moments, but a sense of connectedness and clarity. I knew what to do and how to do it. I got out safely. I see now that I didn’t even have to try to get to my heart and ask how. I had a divine connection that was real and there was no room for fear. I didn’t have to know how. It took care of me. When I needed it, it was there. It had been growing in my everyday activities for years. But how do you do that?

Prayer and meditation work, but I use another type of meditation more. Jesus said the greatest law is, “Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” I was a teenager when I first thought about this: “Love the Lord thy God…” I didn’t even like Him—an arbitrary God who loved one club but not the other club that didn’t have “it”; a God really into punishment, who had a sense of emotional maturity that has now even been surpassed by my three year old granddaughter! Loving that God was too hard for me.

Jesus went on to say “…with all thy heart…” But loving can be hard even in a NORMAL family where there are many challenges to learning love. However, there is an easier way. Just enter into the feeling of love. Just remember loving. It’s a wonderful feeling. I often recall the magnificent mountains I’ve seen—the rivers, the animals. Or those glorious sunsets over a still ocean, or even the beauty of just a single flower, and the wondrous Creator of all of it. Or the beauty you see in friends, children, spouses. My heart can include that.

But Jesus also said “…and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind…” That’s a part of us that has no limit, far beyond this human body thing. Wow! Love with that! Bring the feeling up from the heart to the mind which then becomes clear, and the experience expands.

Then He said “Love thy neighbor as thy self.” Jesus’ focus was on those in need of compassion, as in the Good Samaritan. But feel you are connected with humanity as yourself; bring that love in and appreciate who you are. Let that in. Loving our neighbors and loving ourselves is a state of being. It is who we are, our true nature. And you know what? There is no fear in that. Breathe that feeling. It’s a simple place. My experience is the more I touch there, the more it touches me. So daily I use a line from the Prayer of Protection: “Where ever I am, God is.” “Where ever I am, God is.” “Where ever I am, God is.”

It creates that state of consciousness in us. Rumi said it this way: “The Lord is in me, and the Lord is in you… look for Him within you. When I sit in the heart of His world A million suns blaze with light, A burning blue sea spreads across the sky, Life’s turmoil falls quiet, All the stains of suffering wash away… This is the music Of soul and soul meeting… This is the music That transcends all coming and going.”

And it’s there! Where I am, God is. Feel that Presence! Where you are, God is—because you are! Bless you!

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September 7, 2014 – Prayer of Connection

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9/7/14 Rev. David McArthur
Prayer of Connection

Early one morning this week I was on the road in redwood country. The beauty of the trees and hills in the fog and then in the dappled morning sun was almost overwhelming. When you’re in the middle of so much beauty, look at how gorgeous our world is and the amazing Presence we find ourselves in. It is easy to touch such beauty. It opens my heart and invites me in. But the blessings that flow through our lives, moment after amazing moment are so much more. There is something else—a connection. We are one with it. Our minds are quite incapable of knowing it, but we feel it—a oneness with the connector.

The mind goes to the most concrete thing; it’s how it works. The mind makes the connection, but the heart experiences the connector. It’s always there. I say, “Thank You God!”, but then the mind says who are you talking to? What are you talking to? At times it’s Jesus or God, or even Mary or Krishna, but it doesn’t matter. Whatever we want to call It, It is there! As long as I allow the connection, it’s just fine. The focus on prayer brings us closer. Pray, Thank You God! Thank You God! Thank You God!

Angela Tucker, in the “Daily Word”, awakened from a coma of six weeks to find herself in a hospital bed, and that her husband had not survived their automobile accident. Her survival, as well, was in question. And then she found her ability to function was in question. So she drew on her love for her family and friends, and theirs for her. It was a couple of years before she returned to her home in New York. There she formed prayer connections with others, particularly a prayer partner. They don’t focus on circumstances, but instead, “We focus on knowing the truth that God is always present, no matter the situation or need.” She began to go beyond the simple awareness of the presence of God to a conscious connection with the Presence in every moment.

I know we all have done it, and I know too how hard it is at times. I do know the more we do it in those times of beauty when it is easier, the easier it is in the times of darkness. So when I wake up in the morning, I say, Thank You God! Thank You God! Thank You God! And then there’s a hot steaming cup of coffee, Thank You God! Thank You God! Thank You God! And there’s a computer crash and I don’t have to check email, Thank You God! Thank You God! Thank You God!

We are in the presence of unlimited goodness, infinite eternal pure love constantly poured into us! It’s morning! There’s coffee! It’s beautiful! It’s pure love!

September 7, 2014 – Prayer of Connection

by

9/7/14 Rev. David McArthur
Prayer of Connection

Early one morning this week I was on the road in redwood country. The beauty of the trees and hills in the fog and then in the dappled morning sun was almost overwhelming. When you’re in the middle of so much beauty, look at how gorgeous our world is and the amazing Presence we find ourselves in. It is easy to touch such beauty. It opens my heart and invites me in. But the blessings that flow through our lives, moment after amazing moment are so much more. There is something else—a connection. We are one with it. Our minds are quite incapable of knowing it, but we feel it—a oneness with the connector.

The mind goes to the most concrete thing; it’s how it works. The mind makes the connection, but the heart experiences the connector. It’s always there. I say, “Thank You God!”, but then the mind says who are you talking to? What are you talking to? At times it’s Jesus or God, or even Mary or Krishna, but it doesn’t matter. Whatever we want to call It, It is there! As long as I allow the connection, it’s just fine. The focus on prayer brings us closer. Pray, Thank You God! Thank You God! Thank You God!

Angela Tucker, in the “Daily Word”, awakened from a coma of six weeks to find herself in a hospital bed, and that her husband had not survived their automobile accident. Her survival, as well, was in question. And then she found her ability to function was in question. So she drew on her love for her family and friends, and theirs for her. It was a couple of years before she returned to her home in New York. There she formed prayer connections with others, particularly a prayer partner. They don’t focus on circumstances, but instead, “We focus on knowing the truth that God is always present, no matter the situation or need.” She began to go beyond the simple awareness of the presence of God to a conscious connection with the Presence in every moment.

I know we all have done it, and I know too how hard it is at times. I do know the more we do it in those times of beauty when it is easier, the easier it is in the times of darkness. So when I wake up in the morning, I say, Thank You God! Thank You God! Thank You God! And then there’s a hot steaming cup of coffee, Thank You God! Thank You God! Thank You God! And there’s a computer crash and I don’t have to check email, Thank You God! Thank You God! Thank You God!

We are in the presence of unlimited goodness, infinite eternal pure love constantly poured into us! It’s morning! There’s coffee! It’s beautiful! It’s pure love!

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August 10, 2014 – Weed Wackers

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8/10/14 Sheila Gautreaux, L.U.T.
Weed Wackers

The Parable of the Tares (Weeds), says to let the weeds grow along with the wheat until the wheat is ready for harvest. Then collect the weeds first and burn them before harvesting the wheat. Traditionally, it is understood as a lesson on good vs. evil. However, with the new Polarity thinking we get an even deeper meaning. Polarity thinking says that right/wrong, good/evil, light/dark, etc., are interdependent with each other. For example, Alaskans have their summer of constant daylight, but they need to create darkness for sleeping. You need right and left, up and down. Polarity thinking says this brings coherence.

Metaphysically, in the parable, the sower is the soul; the seeds are our thoughts or ideas (and they are real things). They are energy. The field is the world as it shows up in our reality (from our thoughts). The weeds choke off the new beliefs. The enemy is anything that comes in, like fear, doubt, feeling “less than”, or that we can never measure up. Just when we think we can grow into the new idea the enemy clicks in automatically. When we are new to learning spiritual truths the weeds crop up. But it is not good to get rid of them too soon because you could pull up the “wheat”, the new ideas, with them too.

Polarity thinking says it is no longer “you’re wrong and I’m right.” We’re both right and wrong, so what is best for our relationship, for our business, or for our community? How can we work together–the light and dark, opposing concepts–to create coherence? Can’t we discontinue bombing and the killing of whole neighborhoods just to be right? I’m right and you’re right–how can we go forward in love to bring peace for all? What can we do together to bring this new quantum leap in consciousness?

Concentrate on your wheat so that it grows strong. To do this and wack the weeds, use first, Prayer. Prayer is creating a relationship with God, our Source. Gratitude is powerful prayer, even having gratitude for our impairments, because we know something greater is there.

Secondly, use Meditation. That’s when God talks to us, and we can align ourselves with God’s guidance. Then there is Forgiveness. It is not so much letting somebody else off the hook for what they did, but letting ourselves off the hook for carrying that around 24/7. Forgiveness is your relief, your gift to you.

The HeartMath tools are the best way to bring coherence into your own life. And lastly there is Compassion. You can view Compassion, too, through Polarity thinking: the one that hurts others is also hurting, too.

As your spiritual evolution is occurring you discover who and whose you are. Don’t be so quick to pull up your weeds. As you get stronger the weeds get weaker and even merge with your “wheat”. Ask yourself, where is my abundance, my harvest? Where are my weeds? Look at them together. Be willing to have the weeds there but not let them choke off your harvest. They will diminish in time as your wheat grows stronger. Concentrate on your wheat.

Affirm, “I remember that I Am a Child of God and the Way is made clear for my Good to Manifest. I Am the Beloved of God!” Feel it. Feel the energy around you. “I Am the Beloved of God!” –And yes you are, my love!
 

August 10, 2014 – Weed Wackers

by

8/10/14 Sheila Gautreaux, L.U.T.
Weed Wackers

The Parable of the Tares (Weeds), says to let the weeds grow along with the wheat until the wheat is ready for harvest. Then collect the weeds first and burn them before harvesting the wheat. Traditionally, it is understood as a lesson on good vs. evil. However, with the new Polarity thinking we get an even deeper meaning. Polarity thinking says that right/wrong, good/evil, light/dark, etc., are interdependent with each other. For example, Alaskans have their summer of constant daylight, but they need to create darkness for sleeping. You need right and left, up and down. Polarity thinking says this brings coherence.

Metaphysically, in the parable, the sower is the soul; the seeds are our thoughts or ideas (and they are real things). They are energy. The field is the world as it shows up in our reality (from our thoughts). The weeds choke off the new beliefs. The enemy is anything that comes in, like fear, doubt, feeling “less than”, or that we can never measure up. Just when we think we can grow into the new idea the enemy clicks in automatically. When we are new to learning spiritual truths the weeds crop up. But it is not good to get rid of them too soon because you could pull up the “wheat”, the new ideas, with them too.

Polarity thinking says it is no longer “you’re wrong and I’m right.” We’re both right and wrong, so what is best for our relationship, for our business, or for our community? How can we work together–the light and dark, opposing concepts–to create coherence? Can’t we discontinue bombing and the killing of whole neighborhoods just to be right? I’m right and you’re right–how can we go forward in love to bring peace for all? What can we do together to bring this new quantum leap in consciousness?

Concentrate on your wheat so that it grows strong. To do this and wack the weeds, use first, Prayer. Prayer is creating a relationship with God, our Source. Gratitude is powerful prayer, even having gratitude for our impairments, because we know something greater is there.

Secondly, use Meditation. That’s when God talks to us, and we can align ourselves with God’s guidance. Then there is Forgiveness. It is not so much letting somebody else off the hook for what they did, but letting ourselves off the hook for carrying that around 24/7. Forgiveness is your relief, your gift to you.

The HeartMath tools are the best way to bring coherence into your own life. And lastly there is Compassion. You can view Compassion, too, through Polarity thinking: the one that hurts others is also hurting, too.

As your spiritual evolution is occurring you discover who and whose you are. Don’t be so quick to pull up your weeds. As you get stronger the weeds get weaker and even merge with your “wheat”. Ask yourself, where is my abundance, my harvest? Where are my weeds? Look at them together. Be willing to have the weeds there but not let them choke off your harvest. They will diminish in time as your wheat grows stronger. Concentrate on your wheat.

Affirm, “I remember that I Am a Child of God and the Way is made clear for my Good to Manifest. I Am the Beloved of God!” Feel it. Feel the energy around you. “I Am the Beloved of God!” –And yes you are, my love!
 

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July 6, 2014 – Sleeping Beauty, Part I: Soul Awakening

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7/6/14 Rev. David McArthur
Sleeping Beauty, Part I: Soul Awakening

“Sleeping Beauty” is about the awakening of our soul. In a time long ago the King and Queen celebrated the birth of their princess, but the royal baby was cursed that, on her 16th birthday, she would prick her finger on a spinning wheel and fall into a deep sleep. She would only be awakened by the kiss of true love. The King and Queen burned all the spinning wheels and sent Sleeping Beauty into the woods to be raised without knowing who she was. Many fairy tail characters don’t know who their parents are. We, too, lose awareness that we really are children of God. When we were children we were still in touch with the feeling of something beyond our understanding, of connection with the divine. But we were taught that that is not ok. We feel that everything belongs to God and we have no right to any of it.
 
Jasmina says in her book Mirror of My Soul, Sanctum of My Heart that she saw many parallels between herself and Sleeping Beauty. She wasn’t feeling valued or worthy. Her sense of self was quite limited. Raised by someone whose turmoil was so very hurtful, Jasmina was even afraid of being a mother to her little boy. As in the Sleeping Beauty story, a point of change comes. Sleeping Beauty meets the young Prince, and her feeling world opens to the field of knowledge. The Prince is our “knowing” side, and he knows he is a child of the King and Queen (it’s the awareness that we are heir to the divine). He’s the part of us that seeks guidance, that wants to learn.
 
Even if we don’t understand it, there’s a point where we open to changes that must take place in the soul’s growth. For Jasmina, this came with the growth of a large tumor in her brain. While in surgery, she says, “I entered a tunnel and kept falling, with illuminated hands guiding my fall to a great light. I entered it to meet an assembly of divine light beings whose grace enveloped me. I learned I had to love more. From the highest source of soul discernment, I felt joy at the great opportunity to become more love.” She experienced the knowledge of who she really is (the Prince side). The Prince also has a journey. Our thinking part seeks learning and has to experience the world of feeling (the princess side, Sleeping Beauty). Jasmina continued, “There was an explosion in my heart..I was aware of my soul as a great vibrational wave in the sea of love.”
 
Take in this knowledge so deeply that you really FEEL it. Say, “I am a beloved child of God.” “I am a beloved child of God.” “I am a beloved child of God.” Feel it so deeply that you KNOW it!

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July 6, 2014 – Sleeping Beauty, Part I: Soul Awakening

by


7/6/14 Rev. David McArthur
Sleeping Beauty, Part I: Soul Awakening

“Sleeping Beauty” is about the awakening of our soul. In a time long ago the King and Queen celebrated the birth of their princess, but the royal baby was cursed that, on her 16th birthday, she would prick her finger on a spinning wheel and fall into a deep sleep. She would only be awakened by the kiss of true love. The King and Queen burned all the spinning wheels and sent Sleeping Beauty into the woods to be raised without knowing who she was. Many fairy tail characters don’t know who their parents are. We, too, lose awareness that we really are children of God. When we were children we were still in touch with the feeling of something beyond our understanding, of connection with the divine. But we were taught that that is not ok. We feel that everything belongs to God and we have no right to any of it.
 
Jasmina says in her book Mirror of My Soul, Sanctum of My Heart that she saw many parallels between herself and Sleeping Beauty. She wasn’t feeling valued or worthy. Her sense of self was quite limited. Raised by someone whose turmoil was so very hurtful, Jasmina was even afraid of being a mother to her little boy. As in the Sleeping Beauty story, a point of change comes. Sleeping Beauty meets the young Prince, and her feeling world opens to the field of knowledge. The Prince is our “knowing” side, and he knows he is a child of the King and Queen (it’s the awareness that we are heir to the divine). He’s the part of us that seeks guidance, that wants to learn.
 
Even if we don’t understand it, there’s a point where we open to changes that must take place in the soul’s growth. For Jasmina, this came with the growth of a large tumor in her brain. While in surgery, she says, “I entered a tunnel and kept falling, with illuminated hands guiding my fall to a great light. I entered it to meet an assembly of divine light beings whose grace enveloped me. I learned I had to love more. From the highest source of soul discernment, I felt joy at the great opportunity to become more love.” She experienced the knowledge of who she really is (the Prince side). The Prince also has a journey. Our thinking part seeks learning and has to experience the world of feeling (the princess side, Sleeping Beauty). Jasmina continued, “There was an explosion in my heart..I was aware of my soul as a great vibrational wave in the sea of love.”
 
Take in this knowledge so deeply that you really FEEL it. Say, “I am a beloved child of God.” “I am a beloved child of God.” “I am a beloved child of God.” Feel it so deeply that you KNOW it!