Meditating with Christian Mystics: Because of the Cross Is Pentecost

By Allen A. Sweet and C. Frances Sweet

We are now getting old. Recently we closed our office
and in an old storage cabinet found notebooks filled
with handwritten notes recording our mediations
from a time more than thirty years ago. These
meditations are based on advice given to us by
our numerous spiritual advisors from that period.
Meditations such as these have the ability to still the
mind and open the heart to the Divine Presents.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 18, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664169524

Allen A. Sweet

Allen A. Sweet received his doctorate in electrical engineering and physics from Cornell University, as well as a BTS from the Episcopal Diocese of California’s School for Deacons. He has written two previous books. C. Frances Sweet received a BA in social science from San Francisco State University and a BTS from the Episcopal Diocese of California’s School for Deacons. Ordained to the permanent diaconate in 1991, she has served many parishes and hospitals in Southern California and in the San Francisco Bay area. Fran is married to Allen, and together they have seven grown children and one grandchild. Born in Germany and a farmhand by trade, Fritz Jaensch holds a BA and MA in history. He is the translator of Siberia and Northwestern America, 1788–1792.

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Copyright © 2021 by Allen A. Sweet and C. Frances Sweet.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Rev. date: 04/15/2021

Xlibris

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CONTENTS

Dedication

About The Authors

Introduction

Chapter 1     The Message

Chapter 2     The Challenge

Chapter 3     The Mountain

Chapter 4     Emotions

Chapter 5     Easter

Chapter 6     Pentecost

Chapter 7     The Right Way Of Living

Chapter 8     Free Will

Chapter 9     Knowledge

Chapter 10   War

Chapter 11   Things

Chapter 12   The Tool Box

Chapter 13   Sin

Chapter 14   Conditional Power

Chapter 15   Temple Search

Chapter 16   Band Of Destruction

Chapter 17   Peace

Chapter 18   Jesus

Chapter 19   The Priest

Chapter 20   All My Trials

Chapter 21   Faith

Chapter 22   The Rain Will Fall

Chapter 23   Information

Chapter 24   The Veil

Chapter 25   Heaven

Chapter 26   Ordination

Chapter 27   Women In The Church

Chapter 28   Homosexuals

Chapter 29   Sickness

Chapter 30   Truth

Chapter 31   Hebrew

Chapter 32   Electricity

Chapter 33   The Bubble Of The Present

Chapter 34   Leadership

Chapter 35   Becoming Strong

Chapter 36   Personal Power

Chapter 37   Identities

Chapter 38   Public Image

Chapter 39   Meditation

Chapter 40   Reincarnation

Chapter 41   Healing

Chapter 42   Attitude

Chapter 43   Healthful Living

DEDICATION

We the authors dedicate this book to our spiritual advisors whose presence intersected with ours so many years ago. By writing this book we are fulfilling our promise to distribute the material contained in these meditations to a wider world audience. It is our hope that people everywhere will benefit from the collective wisdom contained in these meditations.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Allen A. Sweet was born in Providence Rhode Island in 1943. In 1966 he graduated from Worcester Polytechnic Institute with a BS degree in electrical engineering. He received an MS degree from Cornell University in 1968 and a Ph.D degree from Cornell University in 1970, both degrees in the fields of electrical engineering and physics. In 1989 Allen received the degree of BTS from the Episcopal Diocese of California’s School for Deacons. Over the past half century Allen has spent most of his professional life working on the discovery and design of new devices for use in the ever expending field of wireless communication. Allen is an adjunct professor of electrical engineering at Santa Clara University, and has written three previous books.

C. Frances Sweet was born in Tucson, Arizona, in 1940. In 1976 she graduated from San Francisco State University with a BA in Social Science. In 1989 Fran received the degree of BTS from the Episcopal Diocese of California’s School for Deacons. She was ordained to the permanent diaconate in 1991, and has served many parishes and hospitals in Southern California and in the San Francisco Bay area. Fran is married to Allen, and together they have seven grown children and one grandchild. Fran has written one previous book.

INTRODUCTION

We are now getting old. Recently we closed our office and in an old storage cabinet found notebooks filled with handwritten notes recording our mediations from a time more than thirty years ago. These meditations are based on advice given to us by our numerous spiritual advisors from that period. Meditations such as these have the ability to still the mind and open the heart to the Divine Presents. An example of such a meditation is the Jesus Prayer (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner), which is widely practiced by Eastern Orthodox Christian monastics. Like the Jesus prayer, the meditations in this book are derived from ancient sources, likely originating in the words of Saints and Angels. Even now we still can remember many of these meditations while reading our hand written notes. We commend these meditations to you. Each meditation contains its own unique starbursts of insight. May these meditations bring to you the same joy and enlightenment they have brought us. Only the advice they gave us and the retellings of our spiritual advisor’s own encounters with God are worthy of repeating. Each meditation is given its own page (or pages) and a number (1. to 36.) for easy access. Each meditation is independent in its own right, and is not directly related to any of the other mediations. It is in this spirit that we have compiled our book, and it is up to you, the reader, to judge the book’s value for yourself.

1

THE MESSAGE

The message is the message

2

THE CHALLENGE

Be grateful for the challenge because it is by meeting our challenges that we grow.

3

THE MOUNTAIN

We are all like mountain climbers. The paths of our lives are like the climber’s ropes. At the bottom of the mountain, the climber’s ropes seem very far apart, because we think our lives are so much different from the lives of others when we are young. As we ascend, sometimes we find the Ropes of our lives becoming entangled with the ropes of others. It takes cooperation among the climbers to unsnarl these ropes, just as our lives must be set on straight paths with our neighbors from time to time. Sometimes climbers fall. It is up to their neighbors to catch them before they fall all the way down the mountain. It is our responsibility to reach out and catch a falling neighbor, and get him or her back on track. Sometimes we too may fall, and we depend on the aid of our neighbors to rescue us from falling too far.

As we reach the top of the mountain, it becomes clear to all climbers that our paths are not so different after all. The top of the mountain is very small, and all paths (ropes) converge at the top. All paths lead to the same conclusion. It really doesn’t matter where we start, as long as we stick with climbing and from time to time are rescued by our neighbors as we ourselves rescue our neighbors while ascending the mountain of life.

4

EMOTIONS

What we call emotions are in fact spiritual entities. Some can be very frightening. If they have become too strong within you, or within someone you care about, they may need to be exorcised. The process is a little like weeding a garden. Emotional entities often act in cooperation like the gnarled roots of a tree. This combination of emotional entities must be exorcised one entity at a time, which may prove to be a long, difficult, and frightening, process. The exorcist must have great bravery, confidence, and faith in the success of the work he/she is performing.

Emotional entities behave like viruses, they can be caught and transmitted to others. In extreme cases the exorcist must confront the emotional entity with the words of Jesus and a cross. Most of all, the exorcist must confronts the emotional entity with bravery and faith in the success of his/her mission

5

EASTER

High holy days are often celebrated in the spring, the planting season. These holidays celebrate thanks and hope. Easter is what Christians celebrate as their spring high holy days. Christians pray and give thanks that Jesus willingly gave up his life on earth that others should grow and live. At the same time Christians express hope the