Dr. Strickler’s Unique Ministry
By Wendy Ford
Someone asked me a few weeks ago “What church do you go to? What religion are you?” A vague answer of something along the line of not attending church in a building or belonging to any formal religious organization and not being religious but considering myself to be spiritual was my given response. Over the next several weeks it occurred to me my response was at best incomplete. Dr. Strickler’s unique ministry has enabled me to change, grow and learn to the extent that the quality of my life is profoundly different from twelve years ago. In many respects, my life really only began to be truly lived and experienced after meeting Dr. Strickler and coming into the light of his ministry just over twelve years ago.
So, what is it about Dr. Strickler’s ministry that is so special and unique? Humbly, an attempt will be made to put some of it into words.
When embarking on an extended hike it is wise to make detailed preparations. The proper tools must be assembled and participation in a physical conditioning program is highly recommended. Learning to use and operate the tools would be critical and could mean the difference between an enjoyable successful hike and disaster. The tools might include a compass, a map, a flashlight and batteries, waterproof matches, appropriate shoes or boots to maneuver about the terrain, a first aid kit and in this modern day and age maybe even a cell phone or GPS unit. Certainly sleeping bags and tents would be needed if the plan was to sleep out doors and unless one were a purist and was counting on fishing, hunting and gathering food along the way adequate provisions and water would be needed.
Embarking along a path to explore ones spiritual environment also requires preparation and conditioning. Just as on a physical hike, learning the use and application of certain tools in combination with psychological, emotional, intellectual and physical conditioning is needed.
That is precisely what Dr. Strickler’s unique ministry is all about. He explores the power of The Word. He is leading us in the exploration of the deepest hidden mysteries about the truths of consciousness. Why? So that each of us will be able to bring out of latency the abilities God seeded deep within each of our hearts and that lie in potential. By learning to bring these abilities into conscious awareness we are each going through the transformational processes of bringing into manifestation the hidden potential to become more closely the true human being of the Life Power’s creation. Dr. Strickler’s extraordinary ministry is about discovering and learning to be in contact with the potentialities that our Spirits and Souls ascribe to.
Unlike a physical hike, embarking along a spiritual journey doesn’t require the mastery of each and every tool and maximum conditioning prior to taking the first step. The only qualifications Dr. Strickler has are for an individual to ask to embark on the path and have a genuine commitment to wanting to learn and grow. Dr. Strickler’s ministry is about giving/teaching the fundamental tools and teaching the rudimentary use of those tools. With each step of the journey Dr. Strickler’s teachings are constantly refining the use of the tools and expanding the knowledge of application of those tools. Along the way he adds a tool here and there enlarging the scope of our skills and knowledge. Over the years tools have been patiently added to our toolboxes.
What are some of those tools? A few of them include the Tarot, the lessons of Builders of the Adytum (B.O.T.A.), the Holy Bible, meditation, oral teachings from the Western Mystery School, teachings from philosophers of the ages, economic history, current events, political histories and events, Qabala, energy work, healing techniques, professional psychological counseling using EMDR, learning how to ask complete and accurate questions, dialogue.
The key is in learning to be able to exercise our individual power of choice, to engage our use of free will to pick up a tool and put it to use. To put into action the lessons learned. To reach a point where we are consciously blending the spiritual life with the every day mundane aspects of life until they mesh so tightly and seamlessly there is no longer a separation. This is an active transformational process that can take a lifetime or more to accomplish and can only be initiated in the presence of and by a True Spiritual Teacher. It is not a passive process of sitting in a pew one hour a week like a sponge expecting to soak in the answers or being miraculously engulfed by “the change”.
When hiking through a dense forest it is not always easy to see the way. When your face is planted squarely against the trunk of the tree in front of you it is not always evident there might another way to continue through the forest other than the current option chosen of attempting to go forward by pushing your way through the tree to get to the other side. It might be required that you stop, reassess, take a step or two back, reevaluate the situation and then formulate a new option or two.
Being on a spiritual path can be similar. It is so easy to get lost in the maze of perceptions, misperceptions, illusions, erroneous opinions and beliefs founded upon misinterpretation that truth often goes undiscovered. Sometimes a malformation of belief or opinion is not recognized. Why? The accuracy of our interpretation is only as good the clarity of our cognition guiding perception. A very tiny, cracked or distorted lens or mirror will only give us a distorted picture (perception) upon which to base our interpretations.
Take the example of looking through the peephole in a door to see what is on the other side. Looking through the small hole doesn’t give a very accurate picture of what it’s really like on the other side does it? When looking through a frosted, beveled glass door into a room we might perceive with our eyes two figures locked in an intimate embrace. Isn’t that nice? Two lovers. Replace the frosted, beveled glass with clear, smooth glass and we see a man being embraced by his very large dog in an enthusiastic greeting. Two very different interpretations yet each based upon a perception received or “seen” through different lenses.
Dr. Strickler’s teachings and ministry are giving us the tools and methods by which the lens can become clear, expanded and whole. Only then are we able to discern what is truly being reflected or seen. We are learning to find the defects in the lenses that have lead to our misperceptions and prejudices. At times we may even uncover the root causes of those defects. We are learning to hone our skills of discernment and interpretation of perception.
In other words we are learning to find those areas within ourselves where our opinions and beliefs have been formed and erected upon the unstable foundation of misinterpretation and misperception. Dr. Strickler is teaching us to uncover, identify and acknowledge the existence of these areas that have been created entirely subconsciously and that have been nourished with the excrement of our erroneous beliefs and opinions. In so doing we are automatically being sensitized to be able to recognize and identify statements and actions made by others that are formed from the same source: the excrement of erroneous beliefs and opinions.
Dr. Strickler’s ministry has enabled me to start the discovery of seeing glimpses of the bigger picture of Spirit embracing and operating through Soul here on the physical plane to initiate and complete growth. I am so much more than just a physical body. My physical body is merely the vehicle through which this particularization of soul is being expressed in physical manifestation at this point in time. This has not been an easy concept for me to grasp and I still struggle for greater clarity of awareness and further expansion of understanding and knowing. Bit by bit I am getting glimpses of the bigger picture. Day by day I strive to “walk the talk” and through my actions, reactions and words incorporate the concepts of Dr. Strickler’s teachings into my everyday life. That it is possible in these times to live the Word.
Does this mean I walk around with a beatific smile on my face saying “God Bless you” to everyone I see or that I am no longer affected by the craziness that seems to be expanding daily about me or that I have somehow perfected all my flaws and discovered all of my darker areas? To quote Robin Williams in his explanation of the history of golf, “Fuck no!” But Dr. Strickler has given me flags to aim for along the way that give me hope.
Has Dr. Strickler’s ministry had an effect on my life? Oh, yeah. Boundaries have been expanded in areas never before recognized. I didn’t even know some of the boundaries existed never mind that they could be expanded or dismantled. As a matter of fact I hadn’t even known many were largely of own construction. After three years of being in Dr. Strickler’s presence several times a week I am becoming more Me. Discovering who I am has not been an easy nor pain free process but it is certainly worth it. There is a quality in my life impossible to put into words. It is a “something” that enables me to choose to keep moving along this spiritual path every day, a “something” that is becoming my center and core. A “something” that beckons me to want to know more about myself, more about the stuff called manifestation and the rules and laws that govern it and my place and role in the larger scope of Creation.
Dr. Strickler’s unique ministry has brought me to this point in my life and I look forward to the discoveries yet to be found and knowledge yet to be grasped, the adventures to be experienced. Even discovering those darker areas and getting to know myself better is anticipated. For I know Dr. Strickler can point out the general direction, gently tap me on the shoulder to redirect me or offer a steadying hand when I stumble or trip over myself. He can give hints through a look, a question or a gentle nudge. He can also give the proverbial swift kick in the butt when needed.
My fervent wish is that everyone could experience what it’s like to be in the presence of a True Spiritual Teacher and to experience one of the representatives of the Word in flesh.
Wendy Ford
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The Soul & Spirit of Truth
By Christine Ford
Over the past year plus, since Dr. Strickler’s physical vehicle experienced the trial of having a stroke, there have been changes we have all noted in him. A very obvious slowing down with an increased ability to understand and relate to the limitations we have all been dealing with our entire lives has been a predominant change. He has always tolerated and teased us about our speed, as we have teased him about his and coined the term, “The Speed of David”, which is synonymous with “faster than lightning or swifter than the wind“. He didn’t, however, have much of a relation point for our apparent “slowness” nor empathy for it pre-stroke, but now he just smiles as he makes comments about experiences he is having in regards to this mundane plane and we say in unison “Welcome to OUR world, Boss”. Quite an interesting side effect of the still-being-recovered- from trauma produced by the event of August 22, 2004.
Dr. Strickler has been experiencing an ever increasing emergence of the knowing that his body truly DID suffer a life threatening event, especially over the past two months. Perhaps a great deal of his expanding awareness can be attributed to the incredible improvements brought together during his Therapies at Health South. Dr. Strickler was afforded the opportunity to be in a group of patients whose bodies had suffered similar trauma, and was able to see firsthand the results of what might have been, had he not been so in tune with his physical vehicle and gotten to the hospital so quickly, well within the window to receive the TPA treatment. With the okay to drive again, Dr. Strickler appears to be stronger and more centered in many respects, if that is possible, than he was before.
Along with accommodations to the changes in his physical vehicle and understanding of the speed at which most people in the world move and process, Dr. Strickler has also spent much time over the past year in deep meditation, contemplation and discussion of just what direction his Service to humanity is being moved into by the Power of the One. For many years the idea of a “church”, a ministry, has surfaced and been spoken of as a probability to be explored, though the time was not right. The physical necessity of Dr. Strickler’s holding down full time employment while establishing a ministry, which is a full time endeavor in and of itself, was an obstacle.
Those of us who are students of Dr. Strickler did not have the monetary means to fully support him financially during the beginning phases of the establishment of a ministry, nor would he have expected that. Now that Dr. Strickler has been approved for Social Security Disability, which from all sources I have spoken to is a miracle in and of itself considering the difficulties people have securing this type of assistance from the government, it is almost as if the Powers that Be are waving a great big banner saying “Go For It, Here’s your sign!” It is within this Edition of the Spiritual Climate Newsletter that we are announcing Dr. Strickler’s decision to move into the establishment of a formal Ministry in the tradition which he has studied, lived, and dedicated his life and energy.
There are so many questions that I have been asked over the years about what I study, what “religion” it is, what books can be read to explain it, what do I “believe”? These have been extremely difficult questions for me to give an answer to, because what comes through Dr. Strickler is unique, unlike any religion, philosophy or doctrine that you will find in a book, church or ministry anywhere. I am exceedingly overjoyed that he has announced his decision to finally call it what it is, a Spiritual MINISTRY. Now, the question remains, what in the world IS this “Ministry” all about? What makes it unique? How does it “work”? And the always eternal question of our consumerist, me-oriented society, “What’s in it for me?” I suppose the best way to answer that might be to describe what my experience has been in terms of my thirteen year association with David, for even though it was not “named”, a Ministry is what he has held from the moment he began to teach over twenty years ago.
My entire life has been a seeking, searching for the answer to the questions of Who am I, what am I here for? Always there was a little voice nagging away, demanding answers, sometimes whispering, sometimes screaming, “There’s got to be more than this incessant day to day struggle to get by; more than waking up, going to work, coming home, going to bed and getting up again. Where is it, how do I find it, what practice or technique might there be to bring me closer to actually living the purpose that my Soul and Spirit are holding in potential for me?”
The answer to my quest and seeking began to grow when I met Dr. Strickler and became part of what I now know is his Ministry. Notice I said BEGAN to grow, for one of the premises of such a ministry is that there is ALWAYS growth; when you reach the top of the “level” at which you are working, you become a Master of that level, while at the same time becoming an Initiate to the level above you; ever growing, infinitely expanding, always more to know, to hear, to see, to discover and understand, and most importantly, to put into use in your comings and goings each and every day.
Though we “study”, learn, and have classes, the Oral Qabalistic Tradition, which is one of the many traditions Dr. Strickler weaves into his discourses, is not an intellectualization, a mere spitting back of terms and definitions which is so often the sad result of education today. Instead it is a dynamic dialogue, a living interactive exchange of energy and knowledge, a spiraling and expanding of consciousness as Dr. Strickler plants the seeds of the understanding of the Power of The Word, using Hebrew, the Sacred Tongue God used for Creation, as a vehicle of expression for study. Qabala is derived from the Hebrew word “qibel”, meaning to be receptive to, or to receive. That is precisely what Dr. Strickler’s Ministry is, a reception, a receiving of Knowledge and Truth as it is disseminated through the words that are spoken through him by The One.
Participating with us in the interchange of harnessing and exploring the Laws and Principles which were, are, and always will be the foundation upon which the Limitless Light of the Universe was formed, Dr. Strickler serves as a catalyst for Spiritual growth, empowerment and understanding. Through him flows the wisdom, energy and eminence to aid in increasing our awareness of what more there is that lies beyond our mundane perceptions, more than the mere physical existence most are so embedded in.
Through his word and touch, through the voice, presence and guidance of a True Spiritual Teacher, healing and grace comes in the growing capacity to actually experience brief glimpses of direct communication with that which we truly are, Soul and Spirit expressing through the limitations and manifestation of a physical vehicle. As we weave the Laws and Principles he opens to us into our daily experiences, we begin to establish contact with the portion of us that is the REAL part, the Soul and Spirit longing to express through and into this plane.
The experience is exciting, invigorating, joyous and creative, though there is work and often times tears and pain as we come face to face and gradually put to death the Asshole portions of our Ego and Personality that we have created, patterned, fed, kept alive, and sometimes desperately attempted to hold on to. Tears and pain does sound somewhat paradoxical to the definition most carry of “Spiritual Growth“, I know, but True Spiritual Growth, versus the La-De-Da crap which is touted by the generic metaphysical circles, is just that, paradoxical! Spiritual Growth carries with it exquisite Spiritual Growing pains that far surpass anything EVER experienced by the physical body.
In this imperfect plane in which we live, based on negativity and an error that started it all, we are not meant to be “happy” all of the time. Are we entitled to share moments of happiness? YES! Experience profound and overwhelming insights of agape and joy? ABSOLUTELY! Reflect upon heart expanding epiphanies of awareness, love and peace? YOU BETCHA. Be blessed by glorious Ah-has, when you feel so empowered and elevated that you wonder if you will ever touch down again? YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT! Those moments of Knowing, of contact with Soul and Spirit, are True Spiritual agape and splendor of a beauty so rare and unique that goes beyond words and description.
To reach those pinnacles of experience, however, is where the anguish, work, blood, sweat and tears come can sometimes make their appearance. And is it worth it? Here’s the magical answer for the “What’s in it for me?” crowd. How can you measure or give value to hearing the clear voice of your Soul as it speaks to you? How can you convey the overwhelming joy and sorrow that combines to touch you so deeply that you are forever transformed when your Spirit whispers, nudges, intimates Its presence, and you sense It, feel It, hear It, communicate with It, if only for a split second? How can you describe the longing and yearning for return to The Source that you carry with you forever once you have, if only even for the briefest of moments, touched into those layers of consciousness that go so far beyond what we experience in our daily lives, yet are that which was intended for us to Know, to Do and to Be?
Yes, it is worth every moment of what some may term as pain and anguish. Truth by its very nature does bring with it pain that must be faced, met, and worked through. It is rare to be in alignment with the Truth, though the pain and suffering resulting from exposure and non acceptance of Truth is not CAUSED by the Truth itself, but rather by the response to being in a chosen state of denial and delusion of separation from the Truth. Through the teachings and words given to us by Dr. Strickler we learn to be more closely in alignment with Truth by discerning and making knowledge based choices, by exercising our freedom of “A or not A”, by detecting patterns and nuances, subtle flows and sometimes NOT so subtle flows, that guide us and are interwoven into every aspect of our lives. Dr. Strickler’s words and his Ministry grant us the freedom to live and experience this mundane plane from a different perspective, from an Angle of Light, Truth, Freedom and Love versus an Angle of fear, deception, repetition of erroneous patterns and lies.
I have spent my years since meeting Dr. Strickler in a state of continuous awe, gratitude and wonder that such a Spiritual Mentor is available to me. The fervent prayers of a terrified little girl were answered some 30 years later in the form of a Master and Ministry of a magnitude and strength that I am just now beginning to recognize as my awareness increases and more is revealed to me. I have watched people come and go from his presence and seemingly not even be aware of that which they have come into contact with. I have questioned WHY this is so, and the best answer I have been able to reach is an extremely simple one. Those who do not see just are not ready to see, those who do not hear are just not ready to hear. Irregardless of their perception or NON perception, everyone who comes into Dr. Strickler’s his presence is touched and irrevocably changed. They may have no awareness of this, they may have no apprehension or understanding, but they go away with a gift which is theirs to use.
There is a passage from the “Book of Tokens” by Paul Foster Case in reference to the Hebrew letter Vav, which is the Tarot Key assigned to The Hierophant, The Inner Teacher. The meaning of Vav is a nail or a hook, that upon which something is hung, or a means by which it is affixed, nailed into place. The Intelligence of Vav is The Triumphant and Eternal Intelligence, which flows from The One. I quote a selection from that passage below:
I am the Revealer of all mysteries.
None other is the Teacher of any man.
These words that thou readest,
Or that, perchance, are read to thee – – –
Whose words are they but mine?
I have brought thee before me for instruction,
And whether thou receivest it willingly or unwillingly,
Know that because thou hast this day heard or read these words,
Thou art henceforth consciously united to me.
Today thou mayest reject me.
Today thou mayest receive these words with scorn.
Yet it shall be that my Voice
Shall go with thee henceforth forever.
When thou sleepest it shall instruct thee,
And even when thou art busiest with the affairs of daily life,
It shall ring suddenly in thine inner ear.
Forever art thou bound to me,
And in a day,
Or a month,
Or a year,
Or a lifetime,
Or a hundred lifetimes,
Thou shalt know this, even as I know it;
And when thou hast reached this goal,
What shall be a day,
Or a month,
Or a year,
Or a lifetime,
Or a hundred lifetimes?
Time ceaseth for those who come to me.
The quest will be forgotten
When thou hast reached the Goal.
Spiritual Growth is a Goal of choice, of action. The Path is one of receptivity and surrender to Truth and Change. The Love, Compassion, Beauty and Joy that come along this Path immeasurably exceed the temporal “happiness” that most are seeking in the hurried, instant gratification based society in which we live. The Ministry which Dr. Strickler brings through that which is voiced through him is that of Spiritual Growth, Agape, Truth, and Freedom.
And where does he find these Truths, Laws and Principles that he teaches, if not in a book or specific religious doctrine, I hear you asking. Part of it he has carried from as early as he can remember, part is from years of study, personal transformation and tradition passed on to him by a True Spiritual Mentor. Part of it comes as a combination of disciplines he has chosen to explore over his course of growth. Another factor is his never ending discovery of Himself through proper utilization of psychological counseling as a tool for understanding and growth, and yet another part comes from his unquenchable desire to Know the Truth, live the Truth, and be guided each and every day in every decision and motion by The Power of The One. And, most importantly, he has devoted his life to becoming that which he is, a Speaker of The Word, a Bearer of The Logos into this plane, so that others may hear and see, be touched and grow, experience the Beauty and Truth of Soul and Spirit in action. Through Dr. Strickler the Revelatory Power and Triumphant Eternal Intelligence of the Spirit of the Voice, the Hierophant and the Vibration of The One is brought into manifestation, into livingness, and that is what makes him a true Spiritual Teacher, and his unique Ministry one of the Soul and Spirit of Truth.
I have had the privilege to witness first hand the ongoing production of the fruit of the Tree of Life known to us as Dr. Strickler. I encourage each of you to contact him with your spiritual questions and seek the guidance of a True Spiritual Master while he still walks among us.
May your Soul and Spirit move you to engage in the dynamic dialogue provided by the words spoken through Dr. Strickler’s Ministry.
Christine Ford
Editor, Spiritual Climate Newsletter
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