About Rev. Dr. Bob

From the ONE all things are becoming.  Energies play in the rhythmic flow of creation, in the birth of time, of places, of things, of events, and of us.  And so it was that on January 22, 1943, from the infinite realm of creation, was born into this world, the immortal and beautiful soul of Rev. Dr. Robert S. Estling, to dance in time, to sing his special loving song, and to learn and teach what he was destined to teach and share with each soul he met.  And on Dec. 30, 2011, arrived the time of passing; beauty returned to beauty, love returned to Love, to the ONE from which he came.....

The year 2011 ended with the transition of our founder, leader, teacher, and friend,   Rev. Dr. Bob Estling.  Over 13 years ago, Rev. Dr. Bob and his wife Rev. Dr. Janet shared a vision, which birthed the Seraphim Center.  Today, we are the spiritual community center he had always dreamed of.  Rev. Dr. Bob was the most amazing teacher to us.  He saw the light within each of us, and he ignited that light so bright, leaving no room for anything else.  He was a true Earth Angel who walked among us.  One of his greatest teachings he offered is that life is quite simple....JUST LOVE.

And in his honor, "and the good news is....THERE IS ONLY GOOD NEWS".

"Rev. Bob, you are forever in our hearts, and we love and miss you dearly."

Seraphim Center was his legacy, and will continue on in his honor.

Rev. Dr. Bob Estling

During the end of the depression, Marjorie and Albert Estling lived in Gooding Idaho and operated a small farm supply business.   Marjorie was anemic but wanted to start a family.  Her doctor told her, “Only by the Grace of God” will you carry a child to term.  In confidence she told Al, “Then by the Grace of God, let’s do it.”  She got pregnant and they struggled with their business.

The winter of 1942-43 was a particularly cold one in Southern Idaho and it fell to Marjorie to pump gas outside when Al was making deliveries.  Thegas pump at the store was where one fills the top glass reservoir of the pump with fuel using a pump hand and then one would open the nozzle to fill up a tank.  It was difficult work for a man in thosesub zero temperatures, even more so for a woman 7-9 months pregnant.  The farmers would not leave the warm comfort of their truck cabs to help.  Marge pursued.

Finally the blessed day arrived and Robert Stanwood Estling was delivered by a mid-wife in a mid-wife’s back bed room on January 22, 1942 in Twin Falls, Idaho. The next day he was moved into the family home, a log house, near Gooding.

Having a new baby was quite a challenge in the one room cabin using a wood stove for heat.  Robert was a tasty treat for the bed bugs that infested that old structure.  Al, being the inventive type, put the four legs of the crib into four tin cans filled with kerosene.  The bed bugs, not to be denied, learned to crawl across the ceiling and drop into the crib.

It was not to last as Al was soon drafted into the U.S. Navy, where, because he was a conscious objector (he refused to take another person’s life) he was assigned to the Medical Corps and became an X-Ray technician.  Marjorie and Robert, now homeless, tried to follow him in his various assisgnments.  They often slept in train stations and bus terminals as Al was transferred from base to base.  They were befriended by a kindly man who took pity one them and cleaned out a storage room in his home so they would have a place to call home in San Bruno, California.

When the war was over they moved to Walla Walla, Washington where Al had been promised a job at a Famer’s Cooperative. In 1948 they built their own home with help of the G.I.Bill, and Robert had a fairly normal upbringing in a town which was perfect for kids.

The family was different from most in that they subscribed to materials from Unity, The Rosicrucians, I AM, and Theosophy. They attended church at the Pioneer Methodist Church, as they were the most liberal and tolerant church in town.  The also so lived a vegan lifestyle.

Robert’s first mystical experience happened when he awakened in his bed at a church camp cottage and he saw angels standing at the head and foot of each camper’s sleeping bag.  He also became aware that if he took time he could see energy patterns around living things and assumed that anyone could do this.

Robert started working at age 12, with a morning paper route, getting up at 5:00 am so the 120  papers would all be delivered by 8:00. In the summer he also picked strawberries and found countless other ways to earn money.  At 16 he was working as a truck driver in the green pea harvest in foot hills of the Blue Mountains and was asked to drive his truck to a spot that was too steep for a loaded truck and the truck rolled down the mountain side 3 times. He had been thrown out the windshield.  If  the truck had rolled one more time it would have rolled over him.  He was rushed to the hospital about 30 miles away.  His clothes had to be cut off him because of the bleeding and he sustained serious skull fractures.  Marjorie asked the doctor if he was going to be okay and the doctor said, “Only by the Grace of God.”  He looked horrible, his head and  facewas black and blue and red, his eyes were swollen shut, but a day later the swelling suddenly went down and he was allowed to go home.

Robert graduated from Walla Walla High School and Washington State University and became the art and social studies teacher in a junior/seniorhigh school in a remote rural district.  They had never had an art teacher.  He was promoted to art curriculum consultant and federal programs specialist/administrator for Spokane County, Washington.

His interests included being a HAM radio, art (most media). creatingsilver jewelry, hiking, camping, construction, boating/sailing, scuba diving, mechanics, electronics, landscaping, and home restoration.

In 1970 he “rediscovered” spirituality and attended various lectures and study groups sponsored by the Inner Peace Movement.  A decision was made  in 1972 to go to Osceola, Iowa, headquarters of IPM, to attend a summer long series of leadership programs.  At this point he became a full time leader/director for IPM and over the next 5-6 years lectured in 40 states, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico.

In 1974 he created an early Kirlian camera, which photographed energy streams (auras) around the body and demonstrated many of the aspects of spirituality.  He was featured in over 120 radio/TV shows and countless newspapers interviews on his spiritual experiences and camera demonstrations, from coast to coast, Canada to Mexico.

Perhaps one of the most influential experiences was his introduction by his father of a book, “A Course In Miracles.”  Intuitively he knew that this book held the secrets of practical spirituality and mysticism.

In 1979 he married Janet C. Moore who has gone on to be one of the most gifted psychic intuitivesand channels in Florida.  In 1983 he helped start the first A Course in Miracles study group in Gainesville, and this group has met continuously ever since.

In 1997 he was introduced to the ALLIANCE OF DIVINE LOVE and found them to be the perfect match for him and his spiritual training over the years.  He studied with them and was ordained in December, 1997,

In 1998 along with about a dozen “Miracles Students, Janet and Bob founded The Seraphim Center, a non-profit openly spiritualcommunity whose mission is the awareness of Divine Love and practical application of these tools to help bring Heaven to Planet Earth.  In 2003 he earned a Doctorate Degree with the Alliance of Divine Love.  He is retired from 25 years’ service at the University of Florida.

In 1999, after a series of very serious, stress induced, kidney infections, Bob was in-stage kidney disease.  It was a genetic problem called adult polycystic kidney disease.  There were few options but one was a kidney transplant.  Four people from Seraphim Center volunteered their kidneys, Rev. Janet was the first tested and she qualified so on the first day of school of that year, a kidney was removed from Janet and transplanted into Bob.  It has worked well since.  The chances of a spouse being a qualified donor is one in fifty six thousand, it was another “Grace of God” experience.

Reverend Bob has mentored hundreds of Miracle Students, presented at national conferences and workshops, led non-denominational, multi/interfaith worship service for 14 years at Seraphim Center, performed countless weddings and funerals, and trained/ordained over 300 ministers. He is on the Board of Directors of the Alliance of Divine Love, Inc. and serves on the Spiritual Examining Committee.