Weekly Prayer Posts 2026
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04/11/2026
Dear Light Group,
Those of us involved with United Research and the Light Center have heard any number of times that Jesus said, “The things I do, you can do – and greater.” (That’s from the 14th chapter of the Book of John.)
What has been less frequently mentioned is that Jesus’s disciples in fact did do the things he did. Most notably, it was Peter who walked on water (at least for a while, then he got scared and started to sink), and it was Peter who raised Tabitha from the dead (and Paul who raised Eutychus from the dead). In the Book of Acts, Peter and other disciples are recorded as having healed the blind, the crippled, the paralyzed, and the demon-possessed. Some people were healed merely by Peter’s shadow as Peter passed by them.
What does it mean for the rest of us? Is it really true that “The things I do, you can do – and greater”? Or was that for another time or perhaps only for those who had been in Jesus’s presence while he had a physical body?
A friend of mine just returned from Lourdes in France, a pilgrimage site for Roman Catholics and for those seeking healing. Prior to arriving at Lourdes, this friend texted her acquaintances to see if any would like prayers said or candles lit for them. This friend was stunned at how many people responded that, yes, they would very much like prayers said for them. There were scores who did so. My friend returned from Lourdes exhausted from all the prayer requests she fulfilled and all the candles she lit in the name of individuals requesting prayers.
This indicated to me that there is a crying need for healing and a need for those of us in relatively good health to “do the things I did – and greater.”
A place to start is simply to recognize that the little acts of kindness that we perform can help heal. A kind smile can help heal pain and fear. An encouraging word can uplift someone burdened by suffering. A positive outlook can help steer others towards a more promising future.
Beyond that, prayer time and time and time again has proven to be a powerful tool for healing. Others may not be healed instantaneously, but all sincere prayers are answered,
If you know of someone who could benefit from a healing prayer, you might try this simple prayer: “The Creator in ___________ [name of person to be healed] fills him/her with Light, heals him/her, and directs their life to Light.”
If you would like a prayer to center yourself in a healing mode, you might try this: “The healing energies of the Christ are present here, now. The healing energies of the Christ fill every cell and atom of my being. The healing energies of the Christ radiate out from me, touching everyone and everything. I am filled and surrounded with healing energies. [At this juncture, if there are specific parts of your body in need of healing, say this:] The healing energies of the Christ fill and surround [the part of your body needing healing]. [Then expand this prayer for the good of others:] The healing energies of the Christ fill and surround ____________ [name the person or the people in need of healing]. The healing energies of the Christ enter the hearts, minds, and souls of all people on Earth, that all may be healed by the loving kindness of the Christ. Thanks you, God, for making it so. Amen.”
Love and Light,
Tully
04/04/2026
Dear Light Group,
Growing up in the Midwest, our family went to church every Sunday. As memory serves me, on Easter Sunday, towards the end of the service, people would join hands and almost shout, “Our Christ is arisen! Hallelujah!”
The jubilation sounded a bit forced to me, and being one who tended to overthink things, I thought, “How do you know? How do you know he is arisen? Do you know something I don’t know?”
Over the years, I’ve acquired a different perspective on Easter and the Resurrection, one that would have gotten me in trouble at that St. Andrew’s Church that I attended in my youth. Now I’m seeing the Resurrection as, yes, having occurred with Jesus, but also as being symbolic of the resurrection that can occur in each one of us.
Our personal resurrection is one of resurrecting our own consciousness from the illusional world of personality, of separation, of material desires. Our personal resurrection is a resurrection from the sea of souls blindly following each other into the latest realm of delusion – the latest fad, the latest path of greed, the latest path of hubris, the latest path of hatred, the latest path of aggression.
We needn’t think of our personal resurrection as a final reward for leading a holy life – a sort of graduation present, the bestowal of a degree in spirituality, one moment when finally we are anointed as a holy person.
Instead, we might give ourselves credit for those moments when we have a micro-resurrection. Every time we allow ourselves a gap – a moment when we pause the chatter in our minds and the emotions stirring inside us to calm ourselves, to step back from inner and outer turmoil, to let go of our attachments, to remember the wisdom of the Universal Christ – every one of those moments is a micro-resurrection.
Once we’ve accumulated enough of those micro-resurrections, the full-blown resurrection occurs in us. We have withdrawn our minds from the limitations of our bodies and have united with all-pervading Spirit, with Eternal Life, with the ecstasy of the Divine.
In the interim, let us this Easter give thanks for all the things that bring us those little resurrections, knowing that they are resurrecting us to Eternal Life, Light, Peace, Joy, Beauty.
If you would like a prayer to accompany these Easter reflections, you might try this: “We give thanks to Thee, O Lord, for resurrecting us. Thank you, Lord, for resurrecting us from the sepulcher of mortal limitations. Thank you, Lord, for resurrecting us from the sepulcher of earthly desires. Thank you, Lord, for resurrecting us from habits that block us from the Christ Spirit within. Thank you, Lord, for resurrecting us from the tomb of material desires and bodily confinement. Thank you, Lord, for resurrecting us from the shroud of selfishness. Lift our souls from the slumber of human consciousness into the superconscious sphere. Lift our souls from earthly desires into the Peace of the Christ. Thank you, Lord, for resurrecting our consciousness, that we may more fully know Thee and Thy glory. Thank you, Lord, for resurrecting our consciousness so that we may be united with Thy all-pervading Spirit. Thank you, Lord, for resurrecting our consciousness so that our souls may be united with Thy Eternal Life. Uplift us, Lord, that we may purify our consciousness and radiate Infinite Light. Resurrect us, Lord, that we may behold our immortal Self, one with the Light of Christ Consciousness, present in every soul, every flower, every atom. Thank you, Lord, making it so. Amen.”
Love and Light,
Tully
03/28/2026
Dear Light Group,
A week from Sunday is Easter. We tend to think of Easter as commemorating something that happened two thousand years ago: Jesus was crucified and died, and then, three days later, he was resurrected.
In the cacophony of this dark, decadent age that we live in, it is good that we remember and honor the wondrous blessing, tremendous gift, and fantastic Light that was Jesus. It is astonishing, almost inconceivable that such a one as Jesus ever walked on Earth. And yet, he did.
Beyond our respect for and adoration of Jesus, beyond our holding him as being outside of ourselves, beyond our holding Jesus up at this superior being, this Son of God, echoing throughout time are his final words in the Book of Matthew, “…lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.”
The last time I checked, the world was still here. It had not ended. That being the case, the Christ is still with us. The Christ has not left us. Whatever we may think about the world we live in, the Spirit of the Christ is still with us.
If that is the case, then Easter is a wonderful opportunity for us to tune into that Spirit of the Christ. There are over two billion Christians, and with their collective focus on the Christ at Easter, the energies of the planet are lifted. We might as well ride those energies and then dilate the energies of the Christ for the benefit of all.
As we do so, we might go beyond adoring the loving, sweet Jesus. That he was, but there was an implied message of his while he was in the physical, which was, “Grow up. You are the Christ, too. Be that, and the Kingdom of Heaven is yours, too.” We hear that message in the passage from the fourteenth chapter of the Book of John where Jesus is quoted as saying, “…he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do….”
And so, as we honor Jesus during this Easter season, let us also give thanks for the Spirit of the Christ, which has never left us, which permeates Earth and everything on it, and which is within each one of us: “We give thanks to Thee, O Lord, for Thy Christ Spirit, alive within each one of us, alive within each person, alive within all that is, alive within the plants and animals, alive within the air and water and minerals. We rejoice in and give thanks for this Christ Spirit. We praise Thee, O Lord, for the beauty and majesty of Thy Christ Spirit. Let this Christ Spirit live in our hearts and radiate from our hearts, that all may be lifted up to Thee and Thy Beauty, Peace, and Joy. Teach us, O Lord, to love one another, that in doing so we may realize what Thy Son, Jesus told us, ‘If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him.’ Let us always remember the commandment of Thy Son, ‘A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.’ In Thee and Thy Love and Thy Christ Spirit, we put our trust and our faith. It is that Love and that Christ Spirit that we honor this Easter, and it is to that Love and that Christ Spirit that we return. Thank you, Lord, for returning us to Thee. Amen.”
Love and Light,
Tully
03/21/2026
Dear Light Group,
During the 1960s, a Tibetan meditation master emigrated to Britain. There, he married an English woman. Afterwards, both of them emigrated to the U.S.
One evening, while the two of them were sitting in a restaurant by the water, he said to her, “You know, you should appreciate this. This is our life. This is our marriage. It won’t be like this forever.”
Indeed, it was not. He died when he was 48 years old. His wife lived another 38 years.
The Tibetan’s admonition to “appreciate this” is one that bears remembering. We can get so absorbed in the chatter in our own heads and our emotional reactions to what is going on in the world that we miss opportunities to “appreciate this.” Appreciation doesn’t need to be a big deal. It can be something as simple as enjoying a cup of tea, experiencing an open-hearted person saying hello with a warm smile, seeing a toddler taking awkward steps towards the smiling face of a parent, listening to the soothing sound of rain, seeing the slant of evening light on a tree. There are so many opportunities to “appreciate this”!
Beyond the simple things, there is much else to appreciate. One of the biggest things to appreciate is our entire life. All of it. The positive. The negative. Everything. If we can see it all as the universe bringing us experiences to help us grow, then it helps us to appreciate things as they are, not as we think they ought to be.
If we can develop that kind of appreciation and detachment, it becomes easier for us to recognize who we really are. We are individualized rays of pure Spirit. That ray of pure Spirit has elected to experience the material world in a particular way. That pure Spirit has a soul that manifests a special attribute of the Infinite. That soul is on Earth to be entertained by the Lord’s cosmic drama. That soul is in the process of consciously, while in the physical, experiencing being one with Spirit and attuning human will to be one with Divine will. In oneness with Spirit, that soul helps others find their way back to the Divine.
If you would like a prayer to accompany these thoughts, you might try this: “The world around me is pure Spirit. The sounds I hear, what I see, the feelings in my body – all of it is pure Spirit. All is pure Spirit. Everything I have ever experienced is pure Spirit. All of my past has been part of the Lord’s drama. That entire drama has been one of pure Spirit. Everyone I have ever interacted with has been pure Spirit. Family, friends, strangers – all have been pure Spirit. As pure Spirit, I know that this is a beautiful world. It is a magical world. I give thanks to Thee, O Lord, for the opportunity to experience this world as a physical being. O Lord, may Thy love forever shine in the sanctuary of my heart, and with that love, may I be able to awaken Thy love in all hearts. Amen.”
Love and Light,
Tully
03/14/2026
Dear Light Group,
At one of his lectures, Jim Goure was asked, “Why is there conflict on the planet?” Jim’s response: “The only conflict we have on planet Earth is not finding God. We’ve been looking out there: God in heaven. We’ve been told to seek God out there. And we’ve been told, ‘The only place you can find Him is in these temples.’ That’s less than a child’s mentality. That’s incomprehensible. So, therefore, conflict arises within each of us.”
Jim gave us a way out of this when he told us that, “…as you declare who you really are and speak with authority and increase the amount of love on planet Earth, conflict within people will dissolve. You are inside of everyone. You are doing it inside of everyone.”
To better appreciate Jim’s message, we might take a minute to ask who that “you” is. When Jim was asked, “Who am I?”, he responded, “You keep saying, ‘Who am I? Who was I in my last life?’ You want to know, and I will tell you. Your name has always been ‘The Christ.’ There has never been a time that you have not been the Christ….You are That that was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. There is never a time that You will not exist. There is never a time You haven’t existed.”
Along a similar vein, when asked, “Why do value judgments seem helpful on one plane and untrue on another?”, Jim got emphatic: “Let us straighten out one thing right now. Stop separating for any reason. There are no planes. There are no dimensions. You have been trained falsely. You are all that is. Stop creating problems by separating. You are all that is.”
One more piece of the peace puzzle could be found in Isaiah, where it is said, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee.” About which, Jim said, “If your mind is ’stayed’ on God, peace comes. And since God is within, in order to know peace, you must know the Divinity within yourself.”
Putting it all together, conflict on Earth gets resolved when we find God. God is not outside ourselves – not in some temple or place or religious leader. God is within. Once we realize that, we also recognize that God is in all that exists. If that is the case, then there can be no separation. If there is no separation, then there can be no judgments. Once we stop separating and judging, we realize, “You, the Divine, are all that is.”
What a wonderful message! Jim essentially was saying, “You bring peace to planet Earth when you bring peace to yourself.”
If you would like a prayer to accompany these insights, you might try this: “The Divine is in all that is. There is no separation between me and everyone else. The Divine is in all of us. For the good of all people, I recognize the Divine Peace that is within me. Because the Divine that is in me is also within everyone else, by recognizing the Peace within myself, I bring Peace to all people. If I stay centered in this Peace, it will help all people and it will help the planet. For the sake of the planet and for the sake of everyone on the planet, I must stay centered in this Peace. For the sake of my fellow human beings, Lord, do not let me stray from this Peace. Keep me centered in Thy Peace. Remind me always that this is my mission, to bring Peace to Earth. Keep me focused, Lord, that I may fulfill my mission of bringing Peace to Earth. In everything that I think and say and do, let this Peace shine forth. Thank you, God, for making it so. Amen.”
Love and Light,
Tully
03/07/2026
Dear Light Group,
In each one of us, there is an inner voice telling us, “There is more.” There is a knowing that there is more to life than simply meeting our needs for food, water, and shelter. There is more to life than just fun and games. There is more to life than feeding our personalities.
But instead of pursuing this “something more,” we tend to wrap ourselves in our cocoons. We wrap ourselves in protective cocoons of home, entertainment, sensory pleasures. These cocoons are intended to protect us from the outside world, which feels strange, threatening.
In doing so, are we missing out on something? By wrapping ourselves in our cocoons, are we closing ourselves off from something wonderful?
If we can get into a different flow, there is only joy. Think of the effervescent figure skater, Alysa Liu, who won a gold medal at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympic Games. You have a sense that for other skaters the music they skate to is a means to an end. Not for Alysa: “For me, the music carries my body. It tells me what to do.” The music isn’t outside her. She lives inside it, and it shows in her joyful, spontaneous skating.
On another level, flow, joy, and spontaneity are what happens to those who give themselves over to the Divine. God is no longer Big Daddy in the Sky, to whom we go when we want something or when we’re scared. When we’re in the flow, the Divine lives inside us. With the Divine inside us, we know there is nothing to fear, and with nothing to fear, there is no reason for the protective cocoon. When the cocoon drops away, there is openness, space, freedom. Then we dance with the energies of the universe. The music of the Divine is inside us, and we become That, one with the Divine.
If you would like a prayer for the Divine flow, you might try this: “Tune my whole being to Thy music, O Lord. Let me know, O Lord, that it is Thy music that lives inside me. It is my joy to hear, to feel, to live Thy music. Let this Divine music guide my every thought, word, feeling, act. Let me dance, O Lord, with Thy Joy. Let me dance, O Lord, with Thy Harmony. Let me dance, O Lord, with Thy Peace. Let me dance, O Lord, with Thy Love. Let this, Thy music, Thy Joy, Thy Harmony, Thy Peace, Thy Love radiate out, touching the hearts and minds and souls of everyone, that all may know Thee and Thy Joy. Amen.”
Love and Light,
Tully
02/28/2026
Dear Light Group,
Around 1980, Jim Goure gave a lecture in which he opened by reminding us of the commandments of love that Jesus had given us: Love God with your whole being. Love your neighbor. Love yourself.
Jim went on to say that in the ten years he had been in Black Mountain, North Carolina, about 18,000 people had come to see him. This had occurred without any advertising. Jim had felt that if he and others simply radiated Light and Love, it would bring people, and it would help solve the problem of the planet.
Looking into the souls of the 18,000 who had come to see him, Jim saw that all of them had problems. These problems, he said, narrowed down to wanting to be loved, wanting to love someone, and knowing there is a God but not knowing how to love. It all came down to a lack of love and knowing. Hardly anyone among the 18,000 had loved themselves. Instead, people had focused on their mistakes. They had declared to themselves, “I’m not as good as I ought to be.” In doing so, they had negated the idea that they should love themselves by pointing out negatives about themselves to themselves.
From there, Jim launched into a discussion about how to fulfill the commandments that Jesus had given us.
The starting point, Jim said, was to understand what love is. God is love. But what is God? Most people, according to Jim, were praying to a mythological God, a father-like image that sits on a throne, with a long white beard, a scepter in one hand (to bless us if we’ve been good) and maybe a sword in the other hand (to punish us if we’ve been bad). That is not God. God is not an individualized entity.
Instead, Jim noted that the Bible had said that God is Light, Love, Truth, and Spirit. These are equally, universally present. Jesus having said that the kingdom of heaven is within, this Love, Light, Truth, and Spirit must be within – within each one of us. If the Light is universally present, then that Light that is within us is also within everyone else. And if that is the case, then there is no separation. We are one with all that is. With this mindset – knowing that there is no separation, that we are one with all that is – if we love ourselves, then we automatically love everyone and everything else.
So it is not an image outside of ourselves that we need to pray to. It is Light, it is Love that we need to get into. Jesus had told us to worship God in Spirit and in Truth, meaning, we must become Spirit, Truth, Light, and Love to truly worship God.
This starts a virtuous cycle. Rather than asking for love from another, rather than seeking outside of ourselves for love, we recognize the Divine Love that is within us and within everyone else. When that happens, others who come in contact with Divine Love automatically change. Once the search for love outside of self is changed to the search for love from within, then the hurts from others begin to cease. We feel fulfilled. Others pick up on our Spirit, and they, too, begin to feel fulfilled. The Peace, Love, and Truth that we wish for the planet begins.
With these reminders from Jim, you might want to try this prayer: “The Light of God is universally present, and that Light of God is within me. The Light of God that is within me is within everyone else. That Light of God is in all things. I give praise and thanks for this Light of God. As I go about my day, I recognize the Light of God in others. I recognize the Light of God in all things. All that is is a translucent sea of Light. All is Light. All is Love. All is Bliss. All is Joy. Thank you, God, for this that is Thee. Amen.”
Love and Light,
Tully
02/212/2026
Dear Light Group,
There was a song in the late 1960’s entitled, “God is Alive, Magic Is Afoot.” I think about that song when I remember days with Jim Goure. Around him, you certainly felt that God was alive, and there always seemed to be moments of magic. After attending an event with him, I felt uplifted and cleaned up and cheerfully ready to go back and face the world.
God is still alive. What about the magic? Is there still the potential for magic in our lives, or has the magic dried up?
Part of the answer is that magic is a mindset. With the right mindset, we can see magic all around us. The morning chatter of a robin. The unexpected hug from a friend. The red and purple sunset.
Beyond that, if we are attuned, we find that the universe is working with us. It is constantly bringing us messages and bringing us situations in which we can learn and grow.
Behind all that is the tenderest love for each one of us. It is a love reminding us that we have been created by the Divine, that we are here to enjoy the Divine’s creation, and that the Divine waits patiently for our return to Oneness.
In the interim, there are opportunities for us to extend the magic to others. Simple acts of kindness. A warm smile for someone in need. Words of gratitude. A loving touch. All these can heal and uplift.
Then there is the magic of prayer. It is in prayer that we can tune into Universal Love, Light, Truth, and Spirit. It is in prayer that we can silently help uplift others.
Let us give thanks this Saturday for the magic in our lives and for the opportunities to extend that magic to others. If you would like a prayer to help you do so, you might try this: “Thank you, God, for the magic in my life. Thank you, God, for the magic of your presence. Thank you, God, for the magic of my family and for the connections of love and appreciation. Thank you, God, for the magic of friendship and for the connections with friends that bring love and appreciation. Thank you, God, for the magic of America, and for the opportunity to live a free and well-favored life. Thank you, God, for the magic of all peoples and all nations, from whom we can learn of Thy multifaceted beauty and spirit. Thank you, God, for the magic of Earth, for this beautiful planet and its beautiful kingdoms. Thank you, God, for opportunities to return the magic to family, friends, nation, and planet. Thank you, God, for making it so. Amen.”
Love and Light,
Tully
02/07/2026
Dear Light Group,
Things are not as they seem.
It seems that we are separate from each other and from all other animate and inanimate objects. It seems that we live in a world of comforts and dangers – we either desire things or fear them. It seems that we are humans struggling to find our way back to God.
The great spiritual masters have told us that this is an illusion. The phenomenal world that we obsess about is just a mirage conjured by our mind. The phenomenal world actually is just condensed Light and consciousness. It is a unified field of Divine energy. This field of energy, in its essence, is God’s glory, and this glory is in us, and it spreads over the stars and wheeling galaxies.
We aren’t humans struggling to find God. We are the Divine Itself, having a human experience. And so is everyone else. All of us are individualized rays of Spirit. If all of us are rays of Spirit, then there is no separation. There can be differences of ego, of personality. But the essence is the same. That essence is immutable, now matter how sinful the externalized ego. Each of us has been created as a soul that will uniquely manifest a special attribute of the Divine. We are the perceiver of and the participant in God’s creative activity.
If that’s the case, then what are we here to create?
The fundamentals of what we are to create were given to us by Jesus. The fundamentals are ones of love, forgiveness, prayer, and service. If we experience love as a vibration – not a human emotion but a Divine vibration – then we know its power to transform. If we experience love as a Divine vibration, then we see how Jesus was able to heal. The vibration of love emanating from Jesus brought a harmonizing power to the bodies and minds of those he healed. The Divine love flowing through Jesus restored what anger and pain had destroyed. As for the forgiveness and service of the Christ, the lessons are: Judgment closes the heart. Forgiveness opens it. Selfishness breeds discontent. Through selflessness and service, the peace of Christ reigns.
The fundamentals of being a participant in God’s creative activity needn’t be thought of as something enormous, as something beyond our ability. Every act of kindness, patience, or forgiveness generates spiritual energy, lifting the collective soul of humanity. Each time we practice these qualities, we become a silent co-creator with God. Our life is a prayer: How we treat others, how we respond to pain, how we forgive, every act of love, no matter how small – these are our offerings on the altar of Spirit.
If we live these fundamentals, they radiate outward to heal others, even those we never meet.
God is one mass of Light scintillating over the entire universe. We are that Light. We are rays of that Light, carrying the Light of the Christ within, radiating that Light for the good of all. If we remember to shine when the world darkens around us, that is when we become the Light of the world.
If you would like a prayer to accompany these thoughts, you might try this: “There is only Thee and Thy Light. I am a ray of that Light. I see that Light in everyone with whom I come in contact. We are all one in Thee. O Lord, expand this Light for the good of all. Fill and surround Earth with this Light. Fill and surround everyone and everything on Earth with this Light. Expand this Light for the good of all. Expand this Light throughout the universe. Let Thy Peace and Love reign supreme throughout all creation. Thank you, God, for making it so. Amen.”
Love and Light,
Tully
P.S. I will be on a deep meditation and prayer retreat over the next week and will not be sending a Saturday prayer suggestion until after I return. I’ll next communicate with you in two weeks.
01/31/2026
Dear Light Group,
Sometimes an image can help elevate our prayers. In that spirit, I offer a work of art by Arthur Douet. Arthur spoke at several United Research events and was well regarded by Jim Goure.
In this painting, we see three huge beings creating a sphere of Light for the betterment of Earth, with the golden sun rising on the right.
If you find this work of art inspiring, then visualize yourself as being that: visualize yourself as being a great, angelic being of Light.
If you would like a prayer to accompany this visualization, you might try this: “I am that. I am that magnificent being of Light. The Light that I AM shines with loving kindness. The Light that I AM uplifts one and all. I am God’s emissary of Light. The Light that I AM shines for the benefit of all. The Beauty that I AM shines for the uplifting of one and all. The Peace that I AM shines for the benefit of one and all. The Love that I AM shines for the benefit of one and all. I am That. I am that Light. I am that Love. I am that Peace. I am that Joy. Let this Light, Love, Peace, and Joy radiate for the good of all. Thank you, God, for making it so. Amen.”
Love and Light,
Tully
01/24/2026
Dear Light Group,
When I was growing up, there were a couple of stories in the Book of Genesis that were used to scare us into to being a good, God-fearing Christian. One was the story of God threatening to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah due to their wickedness. But Abraham, in what might be considered to be the original (and truest) art of the deal, bargained with God. God tells Abraham that He’ll spare Sodom and Gomorrah if 50 righteous people can be found. Abraham bargains God down to ten righteous people. Even that proves unattainable, so God merely saves Lot, his wife, and his two daughters before raining sulfur and fire, destroying Sodom and Gomorrah.
Then there is the story of Noah. Again, because of mankind’s wickedness, God creates the Great Flood to cleanse the earth, while sparing Noah and his family and the pairs of animals.
Other religions – notably Islam and Hinduism – have stories about massive destruction due to floods, as do Native American tribes such as the Hopi and the Cheyenne.
More recently, in a lecture entitled, “One God,” Jim Goure spoke of how Lemuria and Atlantis were destroyed due to mankind, once again, having strayed far from the Divine.
While fear is a crude and often self-defeating motivator, these stories may serve to remind us of the importance of staying true to the Divine, of being neither seduced by nor depressed by what is going on in the rest of the world. We have elected to be born at this time so that we can serve as the righteous ones. This is not to say that we are better than others. It is to remind us of our mission, which is to stay focused on God and to stay focused on our mission (which Jesus gave us and Jim Goure reiterated) of being the Light of the world.
With this reminder, you might want to try a prayer such as, “Thank you, God, for reminding me that it is Thee I seek, not the allures of this world. Thank you, God, for reminding me that Thou art in every cell and organ of my body. Thank you, God, for Thy Light radiating out from every cell and organ of my body, bringing health and wholeness. Thank you, God, for Thy Light radiating out from every cell and organ of my body, bringing harmony, health, and peace to those around me. Thank you, God, for centering me in Thee. Thank you, God, for attuning me to Thy will. Not my will but Thine be done, O Lord. Thank you, God, for making it so. Amen.”
Love and Light,
Tully
01/17/2026
Dear Light Group,
One of the greatest Hindu sages, Shankara, wrote in his Crest-Jewel of Discrimination,
O Lord, dweller within,
You are the Light
In the heart’s lotus.
Another great Hindu master, Nityananda, said that, although God is everywhere, “He specifically dwells in a human heart.”
Yet another Hindu master, Muktananda, said that when the heart is opened, bliss spreads through every pore of the body and it makes a yogi wild with delight: he or she dances and leaps with joy.
With this as guidance and inspiration, shall we explore this Saturday the Light that is in our own hearts?
To do so, you might want to try a prayer such as, “I am grateful, Lord, that You dwell within me. I am grateful, Lord, that You dwell within my heart. The more I focus on Thee, O Lord, the more I feel Thy presence. The more I focus on Thee, O Lord, the more I feel Thee in my heart. The more I focus on Thee, O Lord, the calmer I become. The more I focus on Thee, O Lord, the more I dissolve into Thee. The more I dissolve into Thee, O Lord, the more I am aware of Thee when I am touching, eating, walking, and sleeping. The more I focus on Thee, O Lord, the more I know that Thou art in everything. The more I focus on Thee, O Lord, the more I know that the whole universe is Your splendor. The more I focus on Thee, O Lord, the more I know that the entire universe is filled with Thy Joy, Beauty, Sweetness, and Love. The more I focus on Thee, O Lord, the more I feel Thee acting through me. Thank you, Lord, for filling my heart with Thy splendor. Let this, Thy splendor, radiate out from my heart, that others may be touched by Thee and Thy goodness. Amen.”
Love and Light,
Tully
01/10/2026
Dear Light Group,
One of the most tender moments with Jesus may have been when he gave the Sermon on the Mount.
The story begins with Jesus “seeing the multitudes.” Given what he said in the Sermon on the Mount, one senses that Jesus not only saw “the multitudes” with his physical eyes but with eyes filled with deep compassion. The “multitudes” were the common people, and they felt weighed down and were hungry for hope. Sound familiar?
Part of what was weighing them down were the number and severity of the laws. Again, sound familiar? There were the Ten Commandments, but most people don’t realize there are an additional 613 laws in books of the Bible such as Leviticus and Deuteronomy. The penalties for breaking those laws were quite harsh. On top of the 613 laws were regulations and requirements mandated by the priests.
Beyond the Jewish laws were the laws of the Romans, who had conquered that part of the world. The Romans could be quite savage in how they treated those who broke their laws or threatened their control. Just think of crucifixion: Jesus wasn’t the only one to be crucified – the road to Jerusalem was lined with crosses on which people had been crucified, as a reminder to the Jews and others to be obedient.
In the midst of this repression and cruelty, the “multitudes” ached for hope, for freedom, for upliftment.
Given the times, what Jesus promised “the multitudes” must have seemed almost unreal. In the Beatitudes, he promised comfort, mercy, and the kingdom of heaven. He also told them they would see God. Beyond that, he told them they were the Light of the World.
Jesus, in a sense, wiped out the old, repressive laws when he said (at least five times in the Sermon on the Mount) something like, “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time….” The old-timers were Moses and others who followed him, loading up on laws.
The new “laws” of Jesus were ones of love, humility, forgiveness, generosity, non-judgment, non-materialism, purity of thought, and focus on the Divine.
These weren’t so much laws as they were a spiritual code or a formula for spiritual transformation, and they are every bit as relevant today as they were two thousand years ago. If we, who are living in something of a dark age, seek comfort, mercy, and the kingdom of heaven, just as the people of old did, then we, too, have the spiritual code to take us there.
But that code needs to be read, not with the mind, but with the heart. When the code is in our hearts, then we transform – ourselves as well as others. When the code is in our hearts, we aren’t thinking it, we are being it. When we be it, we vibrate the energy of love, forgiveness, and generosity. Then others pick up on that energy, and they start to vibrate that energy, too. We are uplifted, and that uplifts others, and a virtuous cycle begins.
If you would like to be the Sermon on the Mount – for yourself and for others – you might try a prayer such as, “Divine Love, Peace, and Mercy vibrates in my heart. This Divine Love, Peace, and Mercy vibrates throughout my entire being. This vibration of Divine Love, Peace, and Mercy radiates from my heart. This vibration of Divine Love, Peace, and Mercy radiates from my heart throughout my home and throughout the area in which I live. This vibration of Divine Love, Peace, and Mercy radiates from my heart and fills and surrounds Earth. I am one with the Divine Love, Peace, and Mercy of the Christ. I am one with Christ Consciousness. Christ Consciousness and I are one. I am one with that Divine Love, Peace, and Mercy that permeates everyone and everything. Let this Divine Love, Peace, and Mercy expand, that all may feel the comfort and mercy. Let this Divine Love, Peace, and Mercy expand, that all may find the kingdom of heaven. Thank you, God, for making it so. Amen.”
Love and Light,
Tully
01/03/2026
Dear Light Group,
We wish each other a happy new year (and I wish you a Happy New Year!), but what does that mean for us, and what is the surest source of our happiness?
Typically, a “happy new year” means “everything goes my way”: whether it’s health or money or travel or family relations or something else, we want things to improve or at least not be problematical. Fair enough. The less congested and the more pleasurable our lives, the easier it is to focus on what is important.
But what is the surest source of happiness? For Jim Goure, happiness – well, beyond that, joy – came from knowing one’s Divine mission and then fulfilling it. He said that Jesus was the happiest man who ever walked the planet: even on the cross, Jesus knew he was fulfilling his Divine mission, knew he was one with his Father and was fulfilling the mission his Father had laid out for him, and even at the moment of ultimate physical degradation, was joyful.
What about the rest of us? What is the surest source of our happiness? What if we feel we don’t have a big deal mission like Jesus’ or, if we do, feel our shortcomings – feel frustrated in our ability to live that mission?
If we observe people who have the most consistent happiness, they appear to have a few basic qualities. They are comfortable in their own skin – they are comfortable with who they are. They aren’t down on themselves for not having accomplished something, and they aren’t striving to imitate someone else’s success. They enjoy living a life of basic goodness. Basic goodness resides in everyone, but some people feel they can’t get what they want by living a life of basic goodness – and typically they end up having a gnawing sense of unfulfilled desire. People who are happy – and this one is key – enjoy serving others. They don’t allow themselves to be doormats – they don’t allow others to use them – but they live lives of compassion and service. The core of happiness is found by those who move beyond themselves – those who move beyond their selfish desires and their enormous efforts to erect a cocoon to protect themselves against that which they feel an aversion.
The more we are able to do that – move out of our shells and attenuate the grip our personalities have on us – the thinner the veil of illusion becomes. And the thinner that veil becomes, the more we are able to experience not just happiness but the bliss and luminosity of the Divine. In that bliss and luminosity, we realize that we are not who we thought we were. We are not our little selves. Behind every beat of our hearts, behind every breath we take, is the sustaining love of the Divine. We are a creation of the Divine, here to enjoy the dreamlike creation and here, in oneness with that Divine, to expand the Joy and Beauty of that creation. Moving beyond the walls of religion, the limits of the mind, and the fears of the flesh, we connect with the Divine source of all that is. There is nothing dividing the Creator from the created. There is only the illusion of separation. Every rolling wave, every star burning bright, every heartbeat of every living being – all are expressions of one Divine energy. God is the current of life moving through all things. God is here, now, in the breath that sustains us. The more we awaken to this awareness, the more we see all of creation as sacred, the more we see all life forms as holy.
If you would like a prayer to accelerate this consciousness, you might try this: “Thank you, God, for removing the veil of illusion and separation. Help me to see Thee in all that Is. Help me to know that it is Thee in the night sky, Thee in the brilliant sun, Thee in the songs of birds, Thee in my loved ones, Thee in my neighbors, Thee in all peoples of all lands. Make me an instrument of Thy Peace, Joy, Love, Truth, and Light, that all may be inspired to recognize their own basic goodness and that all may find ways to express that basic goodness in ways that enhance Thy creation. Thank you, God, for making it so. Amen.”
Love and Light,
Tully