Guest Lecturer: Ron Bowers
I had the pleasure of attending a lecture this past weekend at the First Church of Christian Scientist in Berkeley California. International speaker Ron Bowers was the guest lecturer.
Mr. Bower’s primary thrust was that prayer has a function and should be included whenever you are considering how to vote and what issues you should vote for in national, state and local elections. I will try to encapsulate what he taught.
Prayer:
1. Prayer works (with it one must recognize God’s nature).
2. Prayer supposes that all things are possible with God.
3. We must appeal to the divine for the answer, and the answer may not be what you like.
4. Prayer is reforming.
5. Prayer is active, however, it does not argue for one-sidedness, which is often a part of our activism.
6. When too much of self is involved in prayer, we may not recognize the answer that comes from God.
7. When King Solomon was overwhelmed (politically) he sought God for wisdom (Sophia)
8. All that matters is not to simply listen to what the candidate says, who is affected by the political process.
9. When Israel was being occupied by the Roman foreign legion, Jesus’ answer of allegiance to those who wanted to know whether to pay tribute (participate in the political process was) Render unto Caesar (government), that which is governmental and unto God that which is God’s. An answer to those who try to decide whether to participate in this secular political process at all: God ordained human government.
10. Prayer to a higher source helps the individual to avoid the typical, whereas unconditional love is unconscious about pleasing one side or one’s self. There are always other points of view, and they should be respected for some have genuine feelings about abortion, stem cell research, universal health care, security …, pro and con.
11. Prayer helps the individual to transcend individual or affiliated ideas.
12. Prayer addresses the issues of one sidedness that are commonplace in elections that leaves the needs and feelings of the other side or person unaddressed.
13. Prayer helps one to submit to God’s reasoning, which satisfies all sides with a much deeper solution. God provides a universal love solution.
14. Prayer helps the individual to understand that ‘human law’ is right when it patterns after God’s law.
15. With prayer we move to a higher spiritual principles, which is ‘the standard’ which each of us and every side ought to be pursuing.
16. Prayer helps us to lose self in love, and to find the proper perspective.
17. Prayer helps human laws to be patterned after and for divine works.
18. Prayer helps us to understand the source of our benefits. Our needs ought to be met through prayer-based solutions.
19. Prayer teaches how to confront issues like economic security, universal healthcare, security, terrorism.
20. Prayer helps us to understand that God’s love is unconditional and unearned, and that it is also God’s divine nature that is purposed to meet all of our human needs.
21. God’s unconditional is universal in its adaptation and within its bestowal; we must pray that it has pre-eminence.
Summary:• Lose self, whatever your political persuasion.
• Seek higher principles e.g. self rights that are divinely appointed.
• Ask yourself will your current prayer allow your thoughts to go to the higher principle?
• When humans acceded to higher principles that is when the Berlin wall came down, we must move towards higher principles and when we all get there, matters change.
• Good politics is about finding resolution, one must put self aside in order to learn the higher issues, learn what the other side is saying – don’t just react to it without a full understanding.
• Abraham Lincoln 1860, was ill prepared to be president, like Senator Obama he spent time in the Illinois Legislature, and he was a one-term Congressmen. He lacked the political experience to be President. He later attributed and conceded his growth to the prayers of his fellow countrymen.
• The right decision is ultimately a win for either side.
• Mary Baker Eddy’s politics were to serve a righteous government and all of us must pursue the same, a righteous government (which does not mean that some religious form or interpretation given the Pat Robertson’s …, or National Association of Evangelicals is the proper one. Speaker Bowers and I discussed the latter at the conclusion of his talk. A righteous form of government is not dependent upon an individual’s denomination or his or her personal interpretation of what is a righteous government.
• Learn to love your fellow citizens even those that you may not agree with for God loves them
• Applying God, helps to escape certain individual areas in our own lives.
• We must exercise spiritual discernment.
• Immature thoughts cannot countenance another’s point of view or perspective.
• One cannot focus exclusively on criticism for it is deadly to your own senses, and precludes you from seeing what you need to see – the Christ nature.
• There is a macular degeneration of the senses that occurs when one relies strictly upon criticism.
• Allow yourself to be altered.
• Accept spiritual perception in the political process.
• No matter what, ask yourself what is the deeper issue?
Ron’s Conclusion: Someone’s candidate will loose and that is inevitable, however, always accept righteous judgment, even if it turns out that your position or candidate loses.
I cannot think of anything to add except to say that this was a tremendous lecture that was given by a seasoned lecture that I was blessed to enjoy along with another 2or 300 of my unknown beforehand sisters and bothers. Ron began his involvement in politics 30 years ago, he has been at the center of many campaigns.
His spiritual involvement taught him and will help us to understand what part prayer and the sacrificing of oneself, while reaching to a higher power, can do to help us to play our part in the political process.
Love Peace & Grace
Reverend C. Solomon
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