The Abundant Universe with Michelle Medrano

[00:00:01] This is Josh Reeves and you're listening to the Mile Hi Church Podcast. Hey, Saturday, June 20th, 10am, John Pierre is coming to speak to us about the pillars of health. Learn how to take care of yourself, support other people as well. It's in our community center, it'll be a great workshop, it's $20. For more information, go to milehighchurch.org. Today I'm starting a two-part series about abundance and the series is called The Abundant Universe and today we're talking about the dance of abundance.

[00:00:30] And my whole theory here and my whole invitation here is about believing in open doors, the open doors of our soul, that we're souls rising in to the abundant nature of the universe and that we must recognize this, own this, accept this, focus upon this. And you're going to hear me say this many times throughout my message today because it's so important for us to understand.

[00:01:00] We can become so myopically focused on what's missing, what we don't have, the pain of the struggle of what we wish were here instead of what is in any realm of life when it comes to abundance.

[00:01:16] Whereas a person who is practicing abundance, recognizing the abundant universe and dancing the dance of abundance is someone who's allowing that flowing energy that is naturally available to have its way in them, through them and as them. And they are a soul arising consciously and conscientiously because they recognize the truth of who they are.

[00:01:43] And this big choice can change us powerfully. So today, the dance of abundance, I want to talk about it using the metaphor of dance. Next week, I want to warn you that I am going to talk about money. Some people don't like it when we talk about money. They think it's crass or it's wrong. I am a minister who believes that everything in this universe is an expression of God and that includes money.

[00:02:12] And I believe that it would be extremely irresponsible of me as a spiritual leader not to talk about this important element of our life that we live in and utilize in our world. And so if you're wanting to be at greater peace about money, please be here with us next week. But let's talk about the dance today. The dance of abundance. What are the steps? How do I do it?

[00:02:37] And I love this metaphor of dance because many of us have a bit of a conflicting relationship with dance, don't we? We are afraid that we're going to look silly if we dance. We might not feel comfortable getting out on the dance floor a lot. We might even avoid the dance. We might even tell people, I don't really know how to dance very well. I'm not a good dancer. When it comes to abundance, we must become a good dancer. We must break that mold.

[00:03:07] We must learn the steps. We must embody the dance to have the experience because abundance is seeking expression through us at all times. And part of the dance of abundance has to do with embodiment. It's not just knowing the steps and then doing them kind of mindlessly.

[00:03:28] It's not just saying a nice few affirmations or nice words or getting a prayer one time and then changing our experience of abundance forever. It really is about an identity shift. A shift of identity that says, I am heir to the kingdom of good because of who I am.

[00:03:52] Not because of what I've done or how well I've done it or because I'm favored by the universe or because I had some luck. I am an heir to the abundant nature of life because that is the nature of God and I am an expression of God. I am an expression of the divine.

[00:04:18] And so I have brought three key movements for us to learn and to pay attention to to dance the dance of abundance. They're important moves. They're powerful moves. And they can make a huge difference in our experiencing that there's more than enough of anything that we desire to experience more of. More good, more however it is that we might define abundance.

[00:04:48] Now the first movement is this. The universe is abundant by nature. I've already been saying that, but we're really going to dig into that right now with this first movement. The universe is abundant by nature. There's nothing missing. I know in our human experience we have moments of ups and downs and ebbs and flows where it appears as though something's missing.

[00:05:16] But part of this movement is understanding that's the realm of the surface. And life expresses and follows the deeper truth. And to the degree that we allow ourselves to have revealed to us and to choose to reveal to ourselves the deeper truth that this is an abundant universe. And any experience of lack that I might be having is temporary.

[00:05:44] Whereas the experience of the true nature of abundance is permanent. I can change my life. But what happens to us is that we get caught up in that temporary experience. And we find ourselves possibly believing this is how it's going to be forever. Oh no. And we get very myopically focused on that.

[00:06:10] And of course, what we pay attention to, which I'm going to talk about a little bit more later. I'm getting ahead of myself. It will manifest in our lives. And so this part of the dance is a key shift in how we choose to see ourselves, each other, our world, and our universe.

[00:06:34] And it's important that we make this kind of change as a part of the identity of who we are as a spiritual being. Our founder, Ernest Holmes, says to us, The universe is an infinite giver. Pouring forth abundance everywhere. Pouring it forth. It's pouring forth everywhere.

[00:06:58] And it becomes important then if we're feeling a sense of lack or if we're wanting to continue to always be in that flow of the dance, to tune into things that remind us of abundance. So I brought some photos today. The first one is of a grove of aspen trees. I love trees.

[00:07:52] How the grove underneath the surface. Every tree is connected and communicating to every other tree. And there's a lot of research about how that's going on, not only with aspens, but with plants and trees and flowers. How the world of nature is how the world of nature is communicating to itself and keeping itself going and supporting itself in this powerful communication experience that's just beautiful to behold.

[00:08:20] And what also inspires me about trees is this symbiotic experience that we have. Because we breathe out carbon dioxide, right? Which feeds and nurtures trees and plants. And the trees breathe out oxygen for us. That's why it's so vital that we keep trees on the planet. We don't cut them all down because they're such a source of oxygen.

[00:08:48] And it's important for us to remember this beautiful relationship that we have. And so when I need an infusion of the recognition of the abundant universe, sometimes I just pause and look at the beautiful trees and any part of nature.

[00:09:10] Flowers and shrubs and bushes and all sorts of things that exist that help me see, oh my gosh, look at how much of this there is on this universe. On this planet, there's an abundance of this good and it connects me to my abundant nature. Another thing in nature is the ocean.

[00:09:34] The beautiful flowing of the waves moving in and out that are always reminding me of the circulatory system of our beautiful planet. And how the waves are so powerfully peaceful. I don't know about you, but I sometimes love to just sit on a beach and just watch the waves. I could watch them for hours. Puts me in this real like, ah, kind of a mode. Why is that?

[00:10:03] I think it's because it's such a reflection of the circulatory system that is the nature of our abundance. And we can feel it because it's a reflection of us. We can walk down a beach and be all caught up in our problems and our concerns and never see the ocean waves or hear them or feel the pounding energy of them. Doesn't mean that they're not there. Doesn't mean that it's not happening.

[00:10:32] And that's the truth of you and me. We can walk through our life and never pause to notice this abundant nature of good. But doesn't mean it's not happening. So this is about awakening. This movement is about a daily awakening to the abundance that is all around us. And the last one, stars in the night sky.

[00:10:57] We lived in Morrison at one point and we had a trampoline and I was an older teenager at that point. And I wasn't really into jumping on that trampoline. But what I was into was going out at night and just laying on that trampoline and staring at the night sky for hours, watching the abundance of stars that existed in the universe. And it anchored into my awareness how abundant this universe is.

[00:11:24] See, these are things that plug us in, that allow us to remember. Dr. Wayne Dyer says to us, abundance is not something we acquire. It's something we tune into. This movement of our dance is tune into it. If we're feeling lack and limitation in any realm of our life,

[00:11:49] tuning into this abundance is part of how we create a balancing experience. Part of how we then take ourselves into a new realm of awareness that's not so myopically focused on what's missing or what's not enough or what we're lacking. But it tunes us into how we are never lacking anything. And again, abundance can be in any realm of our life.

[00:12:19] I have to work a lot on time. I don't experience a lot of lack in my life. I'm probably the only one in the room who does that. I know. I confess. Sometimes I just feel I don't have enough time. I don't have enough time to get everything done I want to get done. I don't have enough time to do everything I want to do. I don't have enough time to see everybody I want to see. And I have to really tune in to the Aspen Groves and feel the connection.

[00:12:48] I have to tune in and remind myself there's plenty of time. So maybe it's opportunity. Maybe it's love. Maybe it's support. Maybe it's something else at different times for each one of us. This conversation about the abundant universe can be applied to any place in our life where we hear that voice tempting us to believe there's not enough.

[00:13:18] And we might even argue for it out in the world. Well, see, there's not enough. And I'm suggesting that even if those words come out of our mouth, what we are inviting ourselves to do is to spend more time in the dance of the recognition of the good that exists in this universe,

[00:13:39] of the plenty that exists, even if it takes looking out and seeing how someone else is experiencing plenty of time, plenty of love, plenty of opportunities, plenty of creativity, plenty of connection and relationship, or whatever it might be that my heart is yearning for.

[00:14:00] I choose to tune in and see it because just because I'm not experiencing it doesn't mean it's not there or that it doesn't exist. Again, I claim it as a temporary experience that only I can influence and shift and change. And so we don't have to create abundance. We have to align with abundance.

[00:14:24] And that means we have to step out of scarcity, challenge ourselves out of scarcity. And an author that I know calls it actually scare city. We have to get out of scare city. We can't live in scare city. We have to be willing to bring ourselves out of that place and stand in abundance.

[00:14:51] One of the first times that I experienced this here at Mile High Church, I was about 23, 24. I was working here on the staff at Mile High and I was a practitioner and I was contemplating that I was going to enter the school of ministry. I had heard about abundance here at the church through seminars and classes and such, but I was still struggling a bit with my financial abundance. Absolutely.

[00:15:47] And it was wintertime. So I was slip sliding around and I needed new tires. And so I got a quote for the tires and I just felt like it was completely out of my budget. How was I ever going to survive and get these tires at the same time? And so I was kind of feeling discouraged. I went to my practitioner who was Sadie Turtelot. I loved Sadie. She was there for me, offered so much advice and prayer support.

[00:16:15] And we talked a lot about this perceived limitation that I felt that I had. And she prayed for me. And at the same time, I was working with someone that I was praying for in the church who was wanting to sell their business. And I was doing prayer work for them. And one Sunday I was over in the vote center doing my thing. And that person that I was praying for came up and said to me, hey, I sold my business. The prayer is answered. And we were like, yay.

[00:16:44] And she handed me an envelope that I assumed was a thank you letter and thank you note. And I put it in my pocket. And I went home that day and I opened it up. It was the exact amount of money I needed for those tires. To the penny. And it was like, T-S-W. This stuff works. There's another S word I might have said as a young person, but I won't say it in church.

[00:17:13] And it was so amazing to see. And it was the first time I really said, oh, I think there's something to this abundant stuff. It changed my life. And the truth is, after that, I did go to ministerial school. I did pay for ministerial school. I did get a grant here and there. But the majority of it, I paid for myself. I found a way somehow.

[00:17:42] And I know that it's because that lesson with those ball tires taught me that I could get support to tune into this infinite abundance that would be available to me at all times, could support me, uplift me, and move me through any perceived lack or limitation. It was a new dance for me that I have enjoyed dancing ever since then. You have to let go.

[00:18:12] You have to trust. You have to be open to the unexpected flow of good. And you have to stop telling the story of how much lack there is and how it's never going to work out and how we got to shift our internal story. Movement number one. Movement number two is to really pay attention to our role in the dance. To understand that we're not performing a dance for people to approve of us.

[00:18:39] We are partnering with this infinite presence by allowing ourselves to remember that it flows through us and that we're a partner in it. And it requires us to be present, to be willing, and to trust. It requires us to not hang on so tight but to be fully present.

[00:19:02] And that can feel kind of vulnerable because people around us might think we're a little crazy that we're dancing this dance. They might want to tell us stories about how impossible it is to do what we want to do, to have what we want to have, to go where we want to go, to accomplish what we want to accomplish. But we have the wherewithal and the presence to stand in the dance and be totally present.

[00:19:27] And I say it can be vulnerable because I said in my introduction to this message online that I love those dances that they do in the Bridgerton series. These very interesting, and they're all partner dances. And I notice a lot of times that when they're, well most of the time, when they're doing these dances, they're looking their partner in the eye the whole time. And just imagine right now if I said, everyone stand up and stare into someone's eyes. How many of you would like bolt out of the room, right? I'm out.

[00:19:56] No more church for me today. Because we don't like that. It feels uncomfortable. It feels too vulnerable. It feels weird. I don't want to stand there and look at someone's eyes. Please. Presence means that I look into the eyes of the abundant nature of life. And I don't let my gaze fall away. And it can be vulnerable because other people might say, well, what are you doing?

[00:20:26] Why would you do that? Let's talk about how horrible it is out there. Let's talk about how everything's falling apart and how you can't have that and how there's not enough money and how those people have all the money. And you can't get enough and how, let's talk about the price of gas, you know, that kind of stuff. And all the while you're going, yep, I acknowledge all that. And I'm staying present to the nature of abundance. That is who and what I am. I don't have to tell people about it.

[00:20:56] I just have to do it. So we have an important part to play. There's a wonderful, wonderful formula that I've brought today for us to consider. Attention plus gratitude plus circulation equals experienced abundance. It is true what we focus upon and give our attention to we get more of in our life.

[00:21:21] What we focus on and give our attention to we get more of in life. So the question becomes in this part of the movement, what are you giving your attention to? Gratitude plus gratitude. Gratitude is getting present to the good that is already in our life and being a grateful person. In our hearts, in our words, in our minds. Being thankful to the experiences we're having, the people we're encountering. Being grateful, grateful, grateful, grateful.

[00:21:49] Because every time we're grateful, we're giving attention to some good in our life that can then be expanded in our experience. And circulation means that I'm willing to not be afraid to give. That I duplicate the nature of God. I duplicate the nature of the infinite in my life and I am generous. If I want more time, then I need to be generous with my time. If I want more love, I need to be generous with my love.

[00:22:18] I am fascinated by how when we want something, that we grip it. We hoard it. Well, I don't have enough time, so I can't give more time. And the opposite must become true for us. That we circulate gladly, joyfully, willingly, happily more of what we want to experience more of. And that's how we move into the experience of greater abundance in this movement.

[00:22:46] We get present to this formula and recognize this is the way. This is the way. And so we ask ourselves, where am I holding instead of circulating? Where am I gripping life too tight? And where can I let loose and be more open? The last part of the movement is about living the dance daily.

[00:23:08] Daily, as I've been suggesting, allowing ourselves to tune into this dance and do the dance daily. It has to do then with noticing, the practice of noticing. Maybe it's beginning each day asking, what is already abundant here in my life? Let me tune in today in my practice to where is abundance showing up for me?

[00:23:37] Yeah, I might be struggling over here, but look at the abundance here. So that I tune into the abundant nature. So I'm training my awareness. I'm not efforting. I'm not forcing. I'm training my awareness. I'm practicing circulation. Giving where I'm guided, not pressured, not forcing. But giving and being generous and finding places and ways that I can be generous.

[00:24:03] That I'm practicing trusting the next step. When we're dancing, a lot of times we have to just allow ourselves to know what the next step is. And that intuitive movement can guide us to some good. And the same is true in our life. It's amazing when we tune into this abundant nature, the guidance that becomes available. That says move this direction. Move that direction.

[00:24:32] Bless you, Simone. Fall into this direction. Whatever it might be. We get to tune into it. And so we have a chance to understand the true nature of our abundance. Now I want to say plainly, this doesn't mean that abundant people who've tuned in like this never have challenges. But what it means is that when they do, they don't abandon this reality of their being.

[00:24:59] We get off track because we get distracted by the things that don't work out or didn't go our way or didn't happen like we thought they would. And a person who's tuning into this abundance allows those distractions just to bring them back to center. I want to close with a quote by the great transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson. It's a quote about success.

[00:25:26] Yet this quote really, really feels to me like it embodies abundance. And whenever I read it, it makes me feel this dance is happening through me. So I invite you into it. And here's how it goes. To laugh often and much. To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children. To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends. To appreciate beauty.

[00:25:56] To find the best in others. To leave the world a bit better. Whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition. To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded. This is what happens when abundance has its way with us.

[00:26:22] This week, dance the dance of abundance with us. I invite you to join me in prayer now. Our practitioner prayer partners are standing with us and with me as we pray. Please remember that they are always available to you right down front to pray before you leave. So come forward and let them dance the dance of abundance through prayer with you. In this moment, I just fall into my deep awareness of the power and the presence that God is. The one life, the one presence, the one power.

[00:26:50] The one energy, the one being that moves in, through, and as all creation. I recognize it and see it clearly and accept and affirm in that recognition that it is right here, right now. Expressing through me and in and through and as every person within the sound of my voice. We are attuned this day to the nature of the divine through this time that we have shared together.

[00:27:16] And in this attunement, it is natural and powerful to remember and to proclaim and to be in the generating energy of good and abundance that is the truth of God. The truth of our universe. I claim and accept that this abundant universe is having its way in, through, and as each of us today.

[00:27:44] And that through this time we have shared, we are guided to know our specific steps that can serve, support us, and uplift us most in dancing this dance more powerfully, more joyfully, more clearly. Embodying the true nature of our abundance. I give thanks that this is the truth of us now. I give thanks that this is what is made manifest in us and as us.

[00:28:11] I give thanks that this word is so. Therefore, in the confidence and faith of this word and of this prayer treatment, I simply release this word. Releasing this prayer. Letting it go in faith and trust. Absolutely accepting that as it has been spoken. As it has been spoken. It is done. We let it go. We let it be. And so it is. Amen.

[00:28:39] Thanks for listening to the Mile Hi Church Podcast. This podcast is made possible by the generous contributions from listeners like you. To make a donation, please visit milehighchurch.org.