Final Essay for Master of Mystical Christianity Course

Final Essay for Master of Mystical Christianity Course;   The Master of Mystical Christianity course has had impact on my spiritual thought, prayer life and academic knowledge. I found much of what Mother Maryesah Karelon OMM taught through the lessons to be thought provoking.  The format of Questions for the Heart and Mind inspired me to view the lessons with prayer and reflection, as well as from the academic point of view.   The lessons clarified issues which had been in my mind at the start of the course. In the first lesson, I realized just how important the Scriptures and Sacred Writings are for me. They are my daily spiritual bread. I now have deeper understanding of further dimensions to the Genesis story after studying the teaching of Mother Maryesah. This has been reflected in the blog post I wrote; http://churchinterfaith.blogspot.com/2012/04/in-beginning.html   The second lesson highlighted for me the necessity of ecological respect as a part of spirituality. The third lesson deepened my understanding of each of us being called through the inspiration from God to be priest, prophet and king in our personal lives.   As the course progressed, I learned much about Gnosticism and other movements in spirituality over the years. I relived experiences in myl life through reflection on the lessons and questions. I learned more about myself and my personal spiritual road. I understand more clearly now that God has had a plan in my life, while leaving me free to make decisions.   I realize how important Jesus Christ is to me, and just how much I love and admire Him. Reflections about His Life as put before me by Mother Maryesah led me to spend much time in reading the Bible and Sacred Writings. The understandings I came to during the courses are beneficial resources to me in my ministry.   I derived much benefit from learning more about the mystics Julian of Norwich, Meister Eckhart and Teresa of Avila. The writings of the mystics seemed so difficult in the past for me to understand; Mother made them simple. The mystics are simply writing about their experience. The further we move in spirituality, the more we understand of how God moves profoundly and deeply within our souls as He leads us to growth and wholeness. God leads us to reincarnation of our inner selves as we constantly grow in our spirituality.     The teachings of Mother Maryesah on the mystics inspired in me the thought that God manifests full intelligence in harmony with compassion and emotional intimacy. God is able to reach out to all without over harshness or over emotionality. God is thus balanced, and I believe upon completing the course that it is our life's work to continue to seek harmony within our personal beings.   The overriding lesson I have learned from Master of Mystical Christianity is the reality that: God is not outside me. God is not at the end of a long life road God is not in another heaven that I must move forward to attain. God is within me, and has always been within me. In the final lessons of Mother Maryesah I reflected on all I was learning. I realized that I I simply need to turn within and contemplate the God Who has been in my heart, soul and mind all the time I have been seeking with Him without.  "The kingdom of God is within you," Luke 17;21. (The great Jesus)  "You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you." (Augustine, Late have I loved Thee)