A Thought & A Prayer

Just a thought

2011-07-02T13:19:00.001-07:00

It's been some time since I posted. Spiritually I am so blessed. I am challenged to grow, to become more understanding and to deepen my connection with God. No matter what the challenge, God working in and through me is enough.

Of Power & Grace

2010-05-11T10:08:00.001-07:00

Mother's Day dictates a lesson about mothers. When it doesn't work to talk about human mothers, that leave the principle of motherhood, the divine mother, or a mother of history who was amazing and did great things.
I have chosen the latter. An amazing mother who did great things. She said:

But, dear, I feel you are crowning me with an honor that belongs to the Holy Spirit-- . . . which expresses in the loving desires of the hearts of all those who are endeavoring to manifest the Mother side of God! You call me the mother of Unity! . . . in reality, I feel that I am only the soul who caught the first vision of this ministry, and who nurtured that vision until others came along to help in the establishment of it in the minds and hearts of our dear ones (Letters of Myrtle Fillmore., by Myrtle Fillmore, [1936], http://www.sacred-texts.com/nth/unity/lmf/index.htm

Those are the words of Myrtle Fillmore, co-founder of Unity.
History says she was an equal partner in the founding and ongoing development of the prayer ministry, property development, and services provided. She is often called “the Mother of Unity.”

Myrtle Fillmore was a woman of power!
Her life stands as an example of what people may become when we are expressing our best! She said,Given wise and loving mothers, orderly and harmonious homes, we could eventually dispense with primitive laws and corrective outlays (How to Let God Help You 176-7)

Myrtle could be said to be a late bloomer in her spirituality.
Her early life was clouded by disease; tuberculosis at a young age
Still she finished high school, attended a year of college
all that was available then to women,received her teaching license,and
accepted a teaching post in Clinton, MO

Illness continued through the early years of her marriage to Charles. She was
42 when she attended a lecture by a Christian Science practitioner, Eugene B. Weeks.
I must have been fully ready for the initial lesson, for it filled and satified all empty, hungry longings of my soul and heart. There is nothing in human language able to express the vastness of my possibilities, as they unroll before me.(HTLGHU 5) In her process she used the affirmation, I am a child of God; therefore I do not inherit sickness. Through spiritual means she healed herself of tuberculosis.

Yes, Myrtle Fillmore was a woman of power, and an example of the power that each of us has within, that is always available. As she said, human language cannot express the vastness of our possibilities.

Myrtle was also a woman of Vision
She said, From the moment I perceived the healing law I could not let my neighbors alone. If there was anything the matter with them, it had to be put aright; they had to know that there is a better way.(TBLW 6)
She could not avoid sharing the message and the ideas.
Martha Smock wrote about Myrtle that she “Led the way. . . she led the way with her changed life and thought (Torch Bearer to Light the Way 149)
Yet neither Myrtle nor Charles claimed any special revelation;
no claim that she could do something that no one else could do.
It is my great joy to perceive somewhat of the mother side of God--the divine love that never fails and that is equal to the drawing of souls to itself. It is my prayer to be able to radiate the qualities of this divine love to all. You too are the mother of Unity, because in your heart you have the same ideals, and the same great generous spirit, and the endless and tireless service, and the love that never fails! The mother (Letters of Myrtle Fillmore 3) of Unity is the universal mother.
She taught classes, wrote for and edited Wee Wisdom magazine for children and Unity magazine. She worked for a salary along with the other workers.
Yet it was her vision and dedication to the work that co-founded a spiritual movement that today encompasses a 24-hour prayer ministry that is 120 years old, and an educational ministry that offers classes at Unity Village and on line. It's sister organization, the Association of Unity Churches International supports churches such as Unity Christ Church with products, programs, and resources.

Yes, Myrtle Fillmore was a woman of vision, and an example of what the vision in each of us, of what we can become by focusing our attention on developing our conscious connection with Spirit within.

Yes, Myrtle was a woman of vision, AND she was a woman of Grace

May Rowland was the head of Silent Unity, the 24 hour prayer ministry, said of Myrtle, She had a way of stopping and patting people on the shoulder as they worked. . . She was vitally interested in everybody, in all the workers here. (TBLW 151)

Myrtle wrote to one of her correspondents,
I think you are trying to give me too much credit for your poise, happiness, and success! Of course I am happy to have been privileged to write to you and pray with you and rejoice with you over demonstrations. But I know that it is God in the midst of you doing His perfect work who is responsible for the good (LMF 7).

Myrtle's humility was rooted in her conviction that students can easily fall into the trap of crediting their teachers for their progress rather than the teaching itself. Myrtle was aware that such crediting can take the attention of the student away from the Source or Spirit, and keep them wandering instead of arriving at their goal.

It has been said of Myrtle that until the day before she died at age 86 she reported for work daily, maintained an infectious, joyous presence, a way of being that had its impact on those around her.

Yes, Myrtle Fillmore was a woman of power, of vision, and of grace. She was the mother of three boys, who brought in her mother-in-law to help with the family when Charles and she agreed she should use her talents outside the home.

She was a 19th century woman of great spiritual development. She can serve as a shining example of validity of prayer, healing ability of Spirit when we focus on our spiritual practice of silence and denying the power of the condition and affirming the health and vitality of the spirit of Life within us, what can be accomplished with a vision and unswerving dedication to the integrity of the message;
Living a life of inspiration and dedication.

She may have been a 19th century woman, but her teachings and examples are timeless. She truly deserves to be called the mother of Unity, and is a great example to all who wish to manifest the Mother side of God, the Holy Spirit.

Cabaret or Masquerade

2009-10-27T05:53:00.000-07:00

Life is a cabaret, old chum
Come to the cabaret.
Come taste the wine, come hear the band, come blow your horn, start celebrating,
Right this way your table's waiting.

Cabaret is a form of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabaret For our purposes today, the cabaret is the celebration of life, the table that has been set and awaits our arrival at the party. Are we sitting at the table waiting for the band to begin?

If not, what stands in the way?

Jesus met a man who was not only NOT at the table, he was so deluded that he lived in the cemetary. He had been bound many times, but nothing could hold him, so he was banished.

Mark 5:9-13 NRSV
Then Jesus* asked him, ‘What is your name?’ He replied, ‘My name is Legion; for we are many.’ 10He begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11Now there on the hillside a great herd of swine was feeding; 12and the unclean spirits* begged him, ‘Send us into the swine; let us enter them.’ 13So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the lake, and were drowned in the lake.

In those days it was the common belief that mentally ill people were possessed of demons lives and intelligence of their own, demons who resisted all efforts to drive them from the person. In his mental illness, the demonic showed many aspects of himself in exaggeration. These ways of being were a masquerade, a false representation of his true nature. Notice that Jesus did not fear the man, he did not walk away. He asked, “What is your name?”

This incident is one of the most obscure passages in the Bible for those who try to interpret it literally or traditionally. But what is the spiritual significance of the event?

With regard to demons Charles Fillmore:
Demons, or evil spirits, are conditions of mind, or states of consciousness, that have been developed because the creative power of man has been used in an unwise or an ignorant way (MBD).

In other words we have been given marvelous minds with which to create great things, but we misuse that power. We get bored, we get frustrated, we place our focus outside the Sacred and use our creative power ignorantly, not realizing what we are doing to ourselves or our world.

Fillmore goes on to say ...The mind builds states of consciousness that become established in brain and body. (i.e. when we misuse our minds, the mind becomes used to that state and tends to follow that same vein.) Both good and evil are found in the unregenerate [one] . . . The work of every overcomer is to cast out of himself the demons of [error], through the power and dominion of his indwelling Christ (MBD 170).

These material/ mental creations of ours fascinate us. We tend to enjoy our creations, and don't give them up easily. It's a bit like being conditioned to fear something. Let's say that at some time in our lives, we were in a confined space, and believed we could not get out. The longer we were confined, the more fearful we became. Even though we were released from that situation, we tend to go through our lives with the fear of confined spaces – aka claustrophobia. Even when it's a short ride to the 4th floor, and we know that the elevator door is going to open, we feel fear and sometimes even panic.

Usually it takes concerted effort to rid ourselves of that fear. Likewise it takes concentrated effort to break the bonds of those fears and addictions that keep us from seeking and living our highest selves. One addiction may masquerade as another. For example, an addiction to a substance may shift to an addiction to food, or religion, or relationships. Our minds are marvelous creations that can fool us into believing its okay to do something “just this once.”

Byron Katie said,
“I have never experienced a stressful feeling that wasn't caused by attaching to an untrue thought. . . . We have a thought that argues with reality, then we have a stressful feeling, and then we act on that feeling, creating more stress for ourselves. Rather than understanding the original cause – a thought – we try to change our stressful feelings by looking outside ourselves. We try to change someone else, or we reach for sex, food, alcohol, drugs, or money in order to find temporary comfort and the illusion of control. Loving What Is

Fillmore put it this way:
Adverse states of consciousness (demons) are tenacious and do not relinquish their hold easily. When their rule is threatened by our determined efforts to be rid of them, they seek other habitats or places of residence in consciousness. (YHG, P 115)

Swine [under Jewish law] are unclean animals and represent . . . impure thoughts. In this healing the demons left the man at the command of Jesus and entered the swine. This means that obsessions that are dislodged at one point in consciousness find temporary refuge in some other phase of the carnal nature. As the herd rushed into the sea and perished, so evil is ultimately destroyed if we will be faithful in focusing our thought energy on the indwelling Christ and claim union with [the Christ].

We have mentioned that the demonic's demons were masquerading as his nature, but were not his True Self. From earliest times people wore masks when droughts or other disasters struck. They believed that the demons who had brought their misfortune upon them would become frightened off by the hideous masks. Even after the festival of Samhain had merged with Halloween, Europeans felt uneasy at this time of the year. Food was stored in preparation for the winter and the house was snug and warm. The cold, envious ghosts were outside, and people who went out after dark often wore masks to keep from being recognized. http://www.halloweenishere.com/history.html

Eventually this combination of Samhain and the wearing of masks has evolved into our celebration of Halloween, which for most is a way to have fun, perhaps do a few harmless outrageous things we might not ordinarily do.

However, when we use masks to hide our true selves, they may NOT be in good fun. They are likely to be a way to protect ourselves from some perceived threat.

We become afraid of letting people see the real us.

We are afraid of letting someone see our shortcomings out of the fear that they will not like or love us.

At work we may throw on a mask of authority and power in order to seem in control.

At home we may throw on a mask of contentment, a mask of everything is okay, out of fear our spouse may not love someone with problems.

At church we throw on a mask of self-righteousness and pride, a mask of "I have this God stuff in my life together, so don't ask me how I am doing. I don't need any help; I don't want any fellowship with you people that are down and out. I am okay."

Maybe we even have a mask of rationalization that we put on in compromising situations, a mask that shows the boys on the golf course "I am really just like you; this church stuff is just for Sundays."

On and on we go, shuffling our masks on and off from situation to situation, until one day our masks begin to fail. No matter how good we are at this game, eventually cracks develop from all the wear and tear of changing masks. As the cracks develop people start seeing the real you in-between the cracks. Some may even reach out to help, but that mask of pride, which has now become a prison of pride, will not allow anyone inside.

All the masks will become prisons of guilt, resentment, self-centeredness and on and on. The prisons can become solitary confinement, locking out even God. You lose God, AND you lose your identity, the core you, the real you.

If you find yourself in a prison built in your mind, built by your actions, built by losing the real you somewhere behind these masks, it's time to pour your heart out to God, to claim the Christ within, and cast the masks away. It's time to find the core you and to let others inside to help you. Let a pastor or an unselfish, caring friend inside your walls to help you up. http://www.cfdevotionals.org/devpg99/de990519.htm

Has anyone here rescued an animal? Remember the transformation of that animal? You first see it in their eyes. It begins a few weeks or months after the dog or cat has been taken in to a safe, secure place where she is fed regularly. Her eyes begin to open wider, rounder and softer. Then in time they began to open like a flower in bloom. A little while longer her muscles, once taut, angular and sharp, begin to round out ever so delicately. She walks more softly, sits down more easily. Even the breath is less disjointed, more rhythmic. It can take a year or more for the full transformation to happen and with some it never happens 100%, but even at 50% or 75% it’s quite a miracle what having a home, steady meals, dependable treatment, and kind words can accomplish. It’s as if this warrior came into your home and morphed into a young, innocent child. The same is true for the person who has been living in a prison of his or her own mind, built by one's own actions.

Galatians 5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Do not submit to thoughts that would imprison us from our real Selves. Do not permit the allure of our mental and material creations to dupe us into self deception.

You are the Christ the son or daughter of a living God.

Come taste the wine, come hear the band, come blow your horn, start celebrating,
Right this way, your table's waiting!
God loves you, and so do I.

Sharing In the Harvest

2009-10-12T17:18:00.000-07:00

“Daddy you won the Nobel Peace Prize, and it's Bo's birthday.” Those were the words of Malea Obama as she said good morning to her dad, President Obama, Friday morning. Sasha added, “We have a 3-day weekend coming up,”
Kids do put things in perspective.

I Cor 9:10 . . . It was indeed written for our sake, for whoever plows should plow in hope and whoever threshes should thresh in hope of a share in the crop. (NRSV)
What do we want our harvest to be?
It all begins with self examination.
What do I want?

What if we want to harvest success?

If we reap what we sow, what do we sow to reap a harvest of success.
Self observation is one of Unity's tools for transformation. So observe your own thinking right now. Let the word “success” rest in your mind. What thoughts show up? Look closely . . . What does success look like?

Greg Braden, best selling author and one who bridges science and religion said,
when we create the very precise feelings as if our career is already successful, our relationships and our partnerships are already in place and we have just the right people to accomplish all of the goals in just the right way, this sets into motion a mechanism in this field that allows those things to come to fruition. Once we understand the mechanism, it becomes a technology, and we can do it consistently and repeatedly.
http://www.greggbraden.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/greggbraden-e1.pdf

In the movie You Can Heal Your Life Braden tells the story of a Native American friend who asked him to go with him to pray for rain. There had been a drought in the region for years, and his friend, Richard, had been asked to pray. They went together and Richard began his process. He created a sacred circle and walked around within the circle. After a while Richard stepped out of the circle and Gregg asked him if he had prayed for rain. Richard said, “No. I prayed rain.”
He:
Heard the rain
Saw the rain falling
Smelled the earth as the rain came down
He felt the wet soil under his feet and between his toes
He tasted the raindrops
He felt the rain falling on his body.

He did not pray FOR rain, as he stood in the circle he prayed rain – he became one with the experience of rain.

This is what we do when we pray success.
We see ourselves dressed the way we would if we were successful.
We feel the way we would if we had that measure of success.
We hear the sounds, friends, conversations that we would if we were successful.
We taste the special food we would eat, we smell the fabrics, perfumes, foods, flowers, the whole olfactory experience we would have.
We touch the things with which we would surround ourselves.
Now all that experience depends on how you define success.
If success is a CEO position, create that experience in your mind.
If success is a self-sufficient cabin in the wilderness, create that experience in your mind. When we see it rightly, we set into motion the mechanisms that can bring it to fruition.

A word of caution – for most of us on the spiritual path, “things” are not the goal.
It's fine to have them, and usually we are seeking harmony and fulfillment that “things” cannot offer.
So, be careful what you ask for! You are likely to get it. If you want all those things, be sure to put a vision of money in your experience. You want to pay for those things.
If you are seeking harmony and fulfillment of a spiritual nature, then seek God within.

A second word of caution – we may find ourselves somewhat addicted to our problems and the drama they can bring.
It's exciting. Just look what I am dealing with!! Can you imagine!!
We DID imagine it – that's how we got it.
So if you want the harmony and fulfillment of a richer life in Spirit, then we just may have to give up the drama.

Lynne Twist tells a story in The Soul of Money about her visit with Mother Teresa in Calcutta.
Mother Teresa had been her inspiration since childhood, and she finally had a meeting with her.
She sat with Mother Teresa at a simple table and were deeply into sharing when a scuffling noise and loud voices interrupted them.
Both the man and the woman were very tall, very large, heavily perfumed, and clearly very rich.
They had seen Mother Teresa, but now wanted a picture. They treated her roughly to get their picture, and a second and then without so much as a “thank you” disappeared down the hall and away.
Swift was extremely upset, and the distress continued after she returned to her hotel room. She lit a candle and sitting down, wrote a letter to Mother Teresa. She poured out her heart and asked for forgiveness for her own thoughts and judgments and asked her counsel.

Weeks later Twist received a reply from Mother Teresa in which she explained that the vicious cycle of poverty was well known and articulated.
Far less obvious, and almost completely unacknowledged is the vicious cycle of wealth. The suffering, the loneliness, the isolation, the hardening of the heart, the hunger and poverty of SOUL that can come with the burden of wealth. The wealthy need as much compassion as anyone on earth (34-36).
We may not think of the wealthy as in need of compassion, yet this is part of our work. As Mother Teresa said, “Do not shut them out. They also are your work.”

My point here is that when we ask for a rich spiritual life, sometimes we encounter those situations that challenge us to our very core, and often from most unexpected quarters.
If we see ourselves with a rich life with Spirit, we must be sure to include seeing ourselves as having the strength, wisdom, and compassion to include the rich and the poor, the loving and the hard hearted, the sick as well as the healthy, the poverty of money and things as well as the poverty of the SOUL.

Even as we work to clarify our own deepest desires, it is critical to remember
Nothing and no one is against us.

Fear:
Times of change are times of fearfulness AND times of opportunity.
Bible says many times, “Do not be afraid.”
If fear is your constant companion, try facing the fear. Most fears resolve themselves into a few general classes that almost everyone is called upon to meet in some form or another (Wilson, Master Class Lessons, 137).
Nothing and no one is against us. It is God's good pleasure to give us the kingdom.
Once men feared lightening – then one man faced the fear and found out how to make lightening serve him and others.
Men feared the uncharted seas until one brave soul set out to face that fear.
We know that God's perfect will for us is only good. Facing our fears can only diminish their effect on us.

We ALWAYS reap what we sow; we share in the harvest. Let's not cheat ourselves by sowing seeds of distrust, of fear, of dissension, of rage, of poverty.

A story is told of a man who was employed to build a fine house. His employer was a man of means who was going on a journey and wanted the house built during his absence. Before leaving he explained to the builder just what he wanted.. The house was to be built on a beautiful site already chosen. No expense was to be spared. Nothing but the finest of materials was to be used.
The employer departed and the builder set to work. He built well, following the instructions of his employer and building a worthy structure.
After a time he succumbed to thoughts of dishonesty. He reasoned that it would not be notices, and he did poor work. He used inferior materials and pocketed the difference.
After many months the employer returned and the builder went with him to inspect the finished building. On completing his inspection the employer astounded the builder by telling him, “This home is yours. I intended it for you in return for your past service to me.”
The builder realized he had been cheating nobody but himself.

When we sow seeds that are unworthy of the Divine, we are cheating ourselves. God is right here and right now, within every one of us. We are free to choose, AND in choosing we are electing to accept the results that will flow from those choices.

God is the love within you; you are the most precious creation of the Creator.

God loves you, and so do I.

Small Seeds, Mighty Trees

2009-09-21T17:22:00.000-07:00

09/20/09

Members of our congregation participated in Unity's World Day of Prayer on September 10.

Today is another AWESOME day of prayer!
Thousands to Gather in Times Square for Prayer
http://www.guideposts.com/story/prayer-times-square
Prayer in the Square will take place on Sunday, September 20 and will also be streamed on the Internet
By Sarah Beldo

Prayer in the Square takes place on September 20.
As many as 20,000 people are expected to show up to New York City's Times Square for an organized prayer event on Sunday, September 20 at 3 p.m. EST.
The hour-long 2009 Prayer in the Square gathering will bring together 264 churches from the tri-state area, representing multiple denominations.
Additionally, 87 churches from across the world, including some in the UK, Singapore and Israel, will take part via a live webcast.
Ten individuals have been chosen to pray for three minutes apiece, and these prayers will be interspersed with songs from a 180-member gospel choir.
Earlier this year, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg issued a proclamation saying the event "is sure to be once again a powerful symbol of unity."
"People from across the country of different denominations and backgrounds come together in their shared vision of a better world and their belief in the power of prayer to make a positive impact on us all," the proclamation stated.
The first Prayer in the Square event took place in September 2007, with the aim of promoting spiritual growth.
From what I could find, thousands gathered in Time Square for that first event.
In 2008, an estimated 15,000 people attended.

Live Webcast at nycprayer.org at 3pm ET, 2 CT

In scripture we find:
Matt 13: 31 He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches."

The parable of the mustard seed is most often used as a parable about faith, and it is!

It is also about growth – the plant has a most vigorous growth habit. It is a cool-weather loving annual (must be planted every year). So it grows to maturity and develops seeds which are either harvested or dispersed by the plant itself – all in a single season.

“Prayer in the Square” sounds to me like a mustard-seed-like event. In three years it has grown to 20,000 people plus webcast and 264 churches world-wide.
Unity's World Day of Prayer may have been even larger – there are over 900 Unity churches and study groups through out the world. We just don't know how many participated.

Unity was founded on prayer, and it continues today with a 24 hour prayer ministry that has been praying 24 hours a day for at least 110 years and counting. Here at Unity Christ Church, in addition to our Sunday worship and prayer, we have two additional times of prayer and meditation through the week along with the option for prayer on an individual basis with the ministers, with our chaplain, and our other prayer partners.

When we have a small seed of faith that moves us to pray, it is like that mustard seed. We plant it in a receptive heart, as the seed is planted in cool garden soil. The receptive heart is the environment in which the seed of prayer can grow. The cool garden soil is the proper environment for the seed. When the seed has plenty of water, good drainage, and sunlight, it grows quickly into a large shruby plant. That prayer activity combined with a receptive and willing heart soon grows a strong flourishing faith.

So how do we grow spiritually like the mustard plant grows in the proper soil, water, and climate?

Soil might be compared to the emotional field. Remember often in the Bible when the people were facing a challenge, an angel would appear and tell them “Be not afraid!” When we are facing the unknown, don't we have those moments of hesitation, sometimes fear, and sometimes even terror!

Imagine living in slavery for a few hundred years, and along comes Moses to lead you to the Promised Land. This is a land that is supposed to be rich and life in that land is supposed to be good. But you have to cross a desert on foot to get there. While slavery is abhorrent, what would it be like to leave a place where you have food and water and a roof over your head? Then you realize you are going into the desert where there is no evidence of food and water; never mind a roof! Do you suppose there would be some fear there? I'm sure I would be scared out of my mind.

Fast forward about 1200 years to the time of the birth of Jesus and imagine the shepherds in the fields when they see a great light shining around them. We've seen enough UFO movies to know what comes next, right?? They didn't have movies or television, but they knew that light was some kind of phenomenon. Then an angel spoke to them and said, “Do not be afraid.”

The writers of the Bible knew that fear was the constant companion of the people. Fear of famine, fear of drought, fear of disease, fear of each other! It was a hard life by today's standards, and fear was always there. So dozens of times the people were told, “Do not be afraid.”

That seed of fear is strong, but what is stronger is the tiniest seed of faith. We use our affirmations, our denials, and our self talk to help us through the fear. AND we pray. When no other prayer comes to mind, use the Prayer for Protection. We allow that God-Spirit to well up from within and wash over us to assure ourselves that all is well.

Listen

As we pray, the other half of that prayer is listening. We speak our affirmations and denials, and claim the good that we know is ours. Then it's time to listen. What is that inner wisdom, that God-spirit calling you to do or to be. As a son or daughter of a living God, we are being invited to participate in our own spiritual growth and the spirituality of the global community.

As you listen, what is beconing you? What is YOUR passion? Is that passion something in which Unity Christ Church can participate? Unity Christ Church stands poised for growth and transformation. The growth of a church is all about the consciousness of the spiritual community it embraces. Growth is fueled by passion. When that passion meets a need and enhances the lives of others, it transforms society.
Helen Keller said,
"No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit." Helen Keller
When it comes to uncharted lands, some in the medical community are walking them.
In an article in the Jersey Journal, incidents at Meadowlands Hospital in Secaucus and the Jersey City Medical Center contrast two approaches to a mistake.
At Meadowlands, a patient who says a kidney tumor was misdiagnosed told the paper he wouldn't have sued if the doctor had apologized.
At Jersey City Medical Center, a case is cited in which a nurse failed to administer medication to a pregnant woman who had a blood type incompatible with her fetus. The woman had already left the hospital, so the hospital sent a nurse to her home to give her the injection, said Brenda Hall, a senior vice president and chief safety officer, the paper said.
"They were grateful and understood," said Ms Hall.
There is nothing in the current medical context that would have suggested an apology should be considered. Admitting liability is anathema to the insurance companies and attorneys. Yet this medical center apologized with good results. AND according to a report by the Herald News, a new trend toward encouraging doctors and hospitals to own up to and apologize for their mistakes is cutting down on malpractice lawsuits. (The Jersey Journal Saturday March 21, 2009.)
Listen to your inner wisdom – how are you being called to step into your own destiny? How can Unity Christ Church participate in that destiny?
Look for a Sign
As we have prayed and listened, our next step is to look for a sign.
But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (Jer. 31:33-34).

This does not just mean the nation of Israel, metaphysically Israel symbolizes spiritual consciousness. So God-Spirit has made a covenant with all humankind that when we access spiritual consciousness, God's guidance, God's law, is already written on our hearts – it is within us; we know it inately.
AND We know that God-Spirit is reliable and true to the promises. Our job is to understand those promises. So when we think we have received guidance, put it to the test.

If our guidance is of God it is:
pure – free of selfish motives
peaceable – promotes harmony
gently – considerate and courteous
full of mercy – compassionate
offers good fruits – ultimately serves the best interests of everyone.
Without uncertainty and insincerity – that is, it is impartial, straightforward, free of doubt, and honest.
If any course of action fulfills all those requirements we can follow it confidently, for it will be in accordance with God's will (Hasbrouck, Handbook of Positive Prayer, 126)
If what we perceive as guidance does not meet the test of purity, peaceable, gentle, mereciful, straightforward, and serving the best interests of everyone, then the so-called guidance is NOT of God. That same mustard seed of faith can work for us.

One of the oldest uses of Mustard Seed has been as an emetic, a medicine that provokes vomiting.
When something is not of God, the mustard seed of faith can act as an emetic to spew out the old, useless beliefs that no longer serve us and make room for the true guidance of God-Spirit.

Then we ask in prayer to be given two signals – one that always means yes, and one that always means no.
What kind of sign might that be?
Sometimes a very ordinary sensation that we associate with being correct (feeling of relief, perhaps the color green for go, perhaps the word yes seeming to sound in our minds.
Sometimes it is something startling. If that happens, then it probably means that kind of signal is necessary to get our attention.

Signals for both yes and no are important. Even if we haven't asked for guidance, our signal for no often occurs when we start to do something that is not in our best interests.

We began with the mustard seed, and its similarity to our path of spiritual growth. To grow that seed of faith into a mighty tree of spiritual maturity,
First we pray – we enter the depths of our being to commune with God.
Next we listen – for that urging, for that guidance that pulls us forward, testing that guidance as we go.
Then we look for a sign – we put that guidance to the test

Through prayer and meditation, and using our standard of guidance we have the opportunity to turn it around. Whatever it is in our lives, we can not only GO through it, but GROW through it. As the mustard seed grows into a mighty tree-like shrub, so with that seed of faith, we can grow through life's challenges as a person and as a spiritual community into a mighty tree, a spiritual beacon of light!

As Helen Keller said, "No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit."

Your Servant Is Listening

2009-09-16T05:10:00.000-07:00

A wide porch graced the front of a house we owned a few years ago, and I often sat there watching the sunset. One early Fall evening as I sat wrestling with a decision about an issue at work I saw leaves drifting down. Now focused on the leaves, I watched as one drifted down and landed on a flower that grew in front of the porch. It was NOT a leaf but a Monarch butterfly. Our home was in the migratory path of the Monarchs! I followed the butterflies out into the trees to discover clusters of them covering some of the low-hanging branches, their tiny bodies packed as tightly as they could possibly be.

As I stood and watched, more of them drifted in and settled in clusters. They reminded me of ideas;
ideas that float in from many sources or up from within and gather in clusters. Have you noticed that ideas cluster around our intentions? I was reminded that ideas come from many directions, and no matter the direction, the ultimate source is God. It is our willingness and openness to ideas that attracts the resources we need. It's the energy of invitation that brings those resources to us. The ideas are always there as this is the energy of God everywhere present. Our energy attracts and activates those ideas.

In the Old Testament, Hannah was barren. She prayed for a son and conceived. In her prayer she declared that if she had a boy she would dedicate him to the Lord. That son was born to her and she named him Samuel. Samuel served the priest Eli in the temple. When Samuel was about 12, one night in the early hours before dawn, he heard a voice calling “Samuel, Samuel.” Samuel ran to Eli, but Eli said he did not call. This was repeated 3 times until Eli understood it was the Lord calling. (Read I Sam 3:4-10)

Metaphysically Samuel represents spiritual discernment; both judgement and wisdom. The ability to hear/connect with the still small voice AND to implement what has been heard. He is the wisdom and the judgement that come often as a still, small voice at the heart center.

Like Samuel,we may get the still, small voice, but not hear it. OR when we hear it, we don't understand. Samuel went to Eli 4 times before Eli understood. As we continue in prayer and meditation, and in personal unfoldment we begin to understand:
This is Spirit talking to me! That energy of invitation that Samuel expressed by his service and devotion in the temple and to Eli attracted and activated Spirit's activity.

So how is it we so often either miss the message or misinterpret it?
Thomas Jefferson said, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

It may be that we have not attuned ourselves in our unfoldment to hear that voice.
Perhaps we have heard the voice and don't recognize it. Or we misinterpret it.
If it is of God:
It shows love; even when the Truth is hard to hear, it is wrapped in love. There is a sense deeply within that this is what one is meant to do, even when it is difficult. The work is lifegiving. It may draw upon our deepest resources to continue the walk, And we know it is the walk to which we are called. We may delay it, resist it, make it extremely difficult for ourselves, yet in our heart of hearts we know we are meant to do this work.
Margaret Lewis wrote a poem about this:
Patience
I reached out from the cloak of confusion
To find you sitting patiently in the silence
You watch as I struggle against the weight of the pain
I kick, I cry, I scream
You sit patiently in the silence

The cloak slowly slips from my shoulders
Revealing an ugliness that shames me
You never recoil from the grotesque
You sit patiently in the silence

The horror fades, the cloak is forever lost
Beauty and wisdom are found beneath
You sit in an easy silence
Allowing me to revel in newfound strength

Unfamiliar gifts, difficult to accept and honor
And you sit silently
Accepting and honoring all that I discover
Teaching me to sit patiently in the silence.

Lewis has put into poetic form the transformation from resistance and self absorption to the energy of willingness and invitation that attracts those ideas; the still small voice.

You may recall from the OT that Elijah did not find God in the storm but in the stillness. God was just as present in the storm as in the stillness, but Elijah could not hear. Listening is a skill that we often don't develop or lose track of. Even when we can listen to Spirit we may not listen to others in our world
In daily life – are we so eager to get our 2 cents in that we fail to hear the other person?

Are we so preoccupied with our own thoughts and beliefs that we are not open to another's ideas? For me I can get so busy and focused I don't hear or see anything but what is on my path. Something as simple as our own routine can get in the way of hearing or discerning the voice of guidance.

Aren't we much the same with each other? We half listen with our heads while
part of our mind is making the grocery list or the “to do” list. We're in a hurry and the story from the other person is too long.

There's a type of listening called active listening. The listener looks at us full in the face; looks in our eyes. We know we have their full attention. They seem to hang on every word.

Then when we finish they may pause a moment and then reflect back, “what I heard you say was . . .” and they give an accurate summary.

The way we listen can actually allow another person to bring forth what is alive in them. This is a way we can all be enriched. Not only by listening to each other, but listening to Spirit, to the still, small voice that speaks in the storm and in the stillness.

Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.

God Calling, August 2, 2009

2009-08-03T09:55:00.000-07:00

God Calling
8/2/09

Moses, Exodus 3
• minding his own business,
• tending the flock of sheep of his father-in-law,
• Jethro who was a priest in Midian.
• He led his flock beyond the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

• The angel of the LORD appeared
o in a flame of fire out of a bush.
o Bush blazed, but was not consumed. That got Moses’ attention!
o “I must turn aside and see this great site; see why the bush is not burned up.”

• Out of the bush came the voice of the LORD, “Moses, Moses!”

• “Here I Am”
o Come no closer!
o Remove your shoes
o holy ground. I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
o Moses was afraid and hid his face

The LORD told Moses that He had heard His people’s cry for deliverance, and Moses was to go to Pharoah to bring the Isrealites out of Egypt.

o Who am I to go to Pharoah?

o I will be with you.

o What about the Israelites? When they ask me the name of the one who sent me, what shall I say?
o I AM who I AM. Tell the Israelites, “I AM has sent me to you.” God told Moses what to say.

o But what if they don’t believe me? God showed Moses
o Turned staff to a snake and back to a staff
o Put your hand in your cloak – it came out leprous, and turned it back to healthy flesh
o If they don’t believe those 2, pour water from the Nile on the ground and it will become blood.

o I’m not eloquent!

o I’ll send Aaron with you

Aaron never got to say a thing.

MBD: (461)
Ex 2:15 Moses moving from the wilderness to Horeb
o discipline we must undergo when we have sought the One.
o Horeb means solitude.
o So we go within and lead our flock of thoughts to the mountain of God, that is, the divine I AM, whose kingdom is good judgment.

The bush burned but was not consumed.
o The light, or flame of intuition burns in our hearts, but our hearts are not consumed.
o Instead the heart brings forth wisdom. This is “holy ground”, or substance in Divine Mind.
o When we approach that holy ground of wisdom in our own inner being, we must take off all limited thoughts, i.e. “remove our shoes”
o In this communion in the silence with the light within us, the true way of release is indicated.
o We see the possibilities of humankind and the goodness of the Promised Land to which we can raise our thoughts.

From God’s assurance that “I will be with you,”
o recognize the power and presence of God, and
o in that recognition lies our strength and ability.

Determining the call of Spirit
o a theme that has been around since time was.
o myths and legends about the will of the gods, or the Will of God in every culture so far as I know.
o legends of gods and goddesses
o messengers that conveyed the will of these gods to humankind.

In our own scriptures there are many examples of callings.
• Samuel, [I Samuel Ch 3]: Samuel served the Priest Eli. Samuel heard his name called 4 times before he answered the Lord, “Here I am for your servant is listening.”
• Saul [Acts 9:3] Saul was on his way to Damascus to bring followers of the Way to Jerusalem when a light from heaven flashed around him.

Each of these was called to serve God.
o Each of you is here because you at least are curious about God.
o Perhaps you have been called.
o Being called does not mean you have to stand on a platform and speak.
o You might be called to do exactly what you are doing!
o Or it may be a form of ministry you have only admitted in your innermost hearts.

Before we talk about what, let’s ask some more questions.
But how do we know we are called?
Maybe we just fell out of the basket here on Earth and life happens to us.
o And if we are called, how do we discern that call? How do we recognize the touch or voice of Spirit?

• We are created by God, in the image and likeness of God; therefore spiritually perfect.
• God has already chosen us;
o so the first choice for us to make is choosing God.
o We can delay, we can reject, we can go our own way, and the invitation will continue to present itself in various ways.
o At any moment we can choose God or “not God.”
• When we choose God, we
o set into action a catalyst that sends us toward experiencing our oneness with God.
o This is a union that is a soul yearning
o When we choose God, we choose a path of returning to our spiritual perfection.
o even if it is challenging, we are equipped to handle it.
o Through our connection with God we perceive and understand what is ours to do.
o When we choose God, we choose a path of love.
 Whoever does not love is not in alignment with God, for God is Love.
 God is the all-pervasive, all-encompassing love energy that is in everyone and everything.
 It is in everything and everywhere, always in all ways.
So if any of these things are missing, it’s a good bet it’s our own ego that we are choosing, Not God. God is the light that is always shining within so that we may all be enlightened with the knowledge and glory of God.

Having chosen God:
How do we know what God is calling us to do or be?
God’s will for all humankind is that each one of us expresses as much good and Christ nature as we possibly can on the level of consciousness at which we are operating.
o Raising our awareness of God in us is our life-long walk when we choose God. There are many tools for seeking self awareness and heightening consciousness.

• First is prayer & meditation. This is our direct connection with God.
o Prayer is a process in which we
 relax our bodies and
 focus our attention on our connection with God.
 We concentrate on life, wholeness, and health.
 We continue to focus on God to deepen the connection as we sit in the Silence.
 In the Silence we commune with God and listen for guidance.
 Realizing our oneness with God and all the Good that God is, we may receive our answers if we are willing and open enough.
 We then give thanks.
o Meditation is a longer period of remembering that we are Spirit and that our bodies are the temples of our Spirit. Charles Fillmore, cofounder of Unity, said in Christian Healing (15), “A daily half hour of meditation will open up the mind to a consciousness of the inner One and will reveal many things that are hidden.”
• Self observation is another tool. We have the capacity to observe ourselves,
o to review our actions, and assess our motives.
o One instrument - keeping a journal. We can note our feelings and our reactions to situations. We can write down when we feel disconnected, and what was going on at the time.
• Listen to our questions.
o Are the questions we are asking leading us to answers?
o Or are they questions like “Why?” “Why doesn’t God answer me?” “Why can’t I figure this out?”
o A question that DOES lead to an answer, “What needs to die in me so that I can discern God’s gifts and leading?”
 What part of me needs to be released to hear God?
 What ego-motive needs to die
• Interact with other seekers who help you find answers; with those who support your efforts and offer conversation that further your spiritual quest.
o A drug addict who gets clean does not return to the drug culture in an effort to stay clean!
o A depressed person doesn’t seek the company of other depressed people to feel better.
o May be useful in understanding the illness, but it doesn’t help us be less depressed.
o If we are seeking spiritual enlightenment, then seek the company of those who support and uplift us on our path.
o You may be amazed at the comments that impart wisdom when the speaker was just making conversation.

As we seek to discern God’s call, remember that “divine guidance is a magnificent flow of Infinite Mind. It is a longing and an energy through which you and I can make choices that are best in our own consciousness” (MPH I, 45).

What is God calling you to be or to do?
What is the desire of your heart?
Who would you most want to serve?
Help children? Teach adults to read? Care for infants in distress? Care for the elderly? What desire is bigger than the next thing we want to buy? What secret yearning of your heart is greater than how great we want to look for the picnic?
It can be anything, AND to be a true calling, it must have those God-like qualities:
• Compassion
• Love
• Kindness
• Serving
• Lifegiving
• Strengthening
• Goodness

Sometimes it helps to look at how others have experienced a call.
You’ve heard of Petfinder.com—a website that helps shelters and rescue groups find loving homes for animals? http://www.guideposts.com/story/strays-stayed
Maybe you even found your own pet through the site—Petfinder.com has facilitated more than 13 million adoptions.
Back in 1995 Google wasn’t a verb and Facebook didn’t exist. The world wide web was more of a wild world.
Betsy Saul, and her husband, Jared, weren’t dot-commers. He was beginning his medical residency and she worked for New Jersey’s urban forestry. But they were intrigued by the sense that anything was possible on the web. We just didn’t think it was being used effectively.
“The ultimate website would harness technology for a socially responsible cause,” Jared said.
Betsy nodded and they fell silent. What cause needed our help? Then both said, in unison, “What about animal shelters?”
Betsy got goose bumps when she thought of all the lives we could save. What were the chances the same inspiration would strike us at the same instant? Betsy knew every year, millions of abandoned pets—healthy, loving animals who wanted only for a home—were killed.
Two years later our site went national. I left forestry to devote myself to it full-time. Today, more than 12,500 animal welfare groups post animals on Petfinder; 65 percent of animal adoptions in the U.S. come through the site, including most of the animals on my farm in North Carolina. Jared and Betsy live with three horses, seven chickens, a guinea hen, two goats, a sheep, two guinea pigs, two cats and a dog.
Betsy said, “Helping animals find homes isn’t always easy, but it’s what I was meant to do. Every day I’m reminded we’re all connected in ways beyond our imagining.”
James Dillet Freeman, Unity’s poet laureate, wrote
Sometimes I wonder if life ever answers prayer except with a seed. Life never gives us a life lived, but always a life to be lived.
Life never makes a tree grown but a tree to grow.
Life never brings forth a man in the full flush of his powers and deeds, but a babe with powers all to be discovered and deeds to be done.
What powers and deeds are God calling forth in you? God is calling. How will you answer?

Feb by Ravens, Fed by Spirit, July 26, 2009

2009-07-27T15:10:00.000-07:00

On a rainy Saturday afternoon, Rebecca and her husband, Daryl, scrambled back and forth across a slippery lawn trying to catch the latest bedraggled orphan from animal rescue.

It was a bird. Not some lovable nuthatch or beautiful meadowlark, but a baby raven; a noisy, obnoxious pest. He was a scrawny, awkward-looking thing, Rebecca immediately named him Soot.

Soot wasn't injured, but hadn't been long out of the nest, and needed feeding every two hours. The sooner this loud, homely beast was back in the wild, the better. She'd take care of his basic needs, but that was it. She did not intend to let him get attached to her.

. . . Follow link http://www.guideposts.com/story/orphaned-bird?page=0,0

Rebecca experienced the intelligence and free flow of creativity that Soot offered.

Raven

o Often a messenger
o Collectors of bright objects
o Symbol of knowledge
o Emblem of divine providence
o Crafty and strategic
• beauty, power, and intelligence have inspired legends and myths throughout time.
o Celts: Raven symbolizes protection, initiation and healing. It brings in deep healing and signifies the death of one thing to bring in the birth of another.

One of those legends is of

• Elijah the Tishbite who was a prophet in the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
• King Ahab married Jezebel who worshiped Baal, a false god.
• Elijah told Ahab that there would be no rain, not even dew until he, Elijah, spoke the word.

I Kings 17: 3-7 3 Go from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the Wadi Cherith, [a Wadi is a stream that flows during wet seasons] which is east of the Jordan. 4 You shall drink from the wadi, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there. 5So he went and did according to the word of the LORD; he went and lived by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 6The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the wadi. 7But after a while the wadi dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

So let’s look at this story Metaphysically
• Elijah the Tishbite
The I AM (name for God in humankind) activite in one’s higher thoughts
• East or eastward means within
• Wadi Cherith is the subjective life current in individual consciousness
• Jordan is a stream of thought constantly flowing through the subconscious
• Ravens are natural forces moving with the freedom of birds
• Bread is universal substance

Taken together
The I AM is told by the messenger of God to go within. Go through the thoughts constantly flowing through the subconscious. Go deeper within to drink from the life current in the individual consciousness that is fed universal substance by freely moving natural forces.

OR To be present to the I AM of your being, go within past the thoughts that constantly flow through your mind. Go deeper to the individual superconscious mind that receives universal substance from the free flowing natural forces. That is the free flowing activity of Spirit.

In today’s language:
To access our God-Spirit, turn our attention inward
Quiet the thoughts that constantly flow through the mind
Go even more deeply within and
Open to the free flow of Spirit in mind and heart

Elijah was told to go apart and turn his attention inward, deeply within to access that flow of Spirit.

• Whenever we are in conflict as Elijah was with Ahab, we can go apart a while. We can take a time out to gather our wits and calm our emotions.
• If we end up in the wilderness, then we can turn more deeply within, east of the Jordan.
• Notice also, that the ravens did not question or resist the message from God. They obeyed, and flew freely to do what was theirs to do.
• Even though the ravens themselves are natural forces, they offered kindness and fed the I Am of Elijah
• The story is told about two wild ravens helping a captive one escape. The two dug a hole outside the cage while the captive one dug from inside. The three of them cooperated to free the one.
o So for us, when we are feeling caged, by circumstances, by a job, by the reactions of a loved one, by whatever, we can ask for help.

• It has been said that the beginning of wisdom is kindness. Notice that the ravens offered kindness to Elijah.
o Jesus said to agree with your enemy quickly. In those human situations where another is aggressively challenging you, we have the option to agree with that person. If a person tells me I’m dishonest – well have I ever been? Is there anyone who has NEVER been less than honest in his or her life? Probably not. So it is available to agree with that person, at least in part.

Ravens are playful – certainly SOOT’s playfulness showed. Can you imagine using your computer and having a raven following and pecking at your cursor? Today’s LCD monitors, it probably wouldn’t survive.

Ravens are problem solvers. They have learned to use tools – crack nuts using stones or other hard objects.
Some Native Americans believe when Raven appears there will be a positive change in consciousness.

For us today, what do we want Raven to represent?
Whatever is most important to you,
Whatever is at the forefront of your mind,
Will eventually be reflected
in every decision you made,
AND in all your choices,
actions,
and behaviors.
This is a psychological reality.

What if the issue is to be right. What if that is the most important to us today?
What would we give to be right?
• Are there times we are so certain that we risk life and limb? Or reputation? Or happiness?
• What if you could be right 90% of the time?
Paul Buchheit writes: How to be right 90% of the time, and why I'd rather be wrong.
It's easy -- every time you hear about a new idea or business,
• just say that it won't work.
• Say that it's a bad idea,
• the wrong thing,
• a hobby and not a business,
• hopelessly naive, not innovative enough,
• too different, that it's been tried before, that it won't appeal to regular people,
• or any of hundreds of other criticisms

Are these people wrong? Only about 10% of the time.
• most new things don't work. That's why it's easy to be right 90% of the time (though the naysayers are likely to misidentify the cause of failure).
• What if instead of dismissing everything new or daring, we
o acknowledge that the future is uncertain
o pursue some of these new ideas despite the risk?
o History has shown that no one can reliably pick the winners,
o what if we were clever enough to pick the right ones 20% of the time? That would mean that were are still wrong 80% of the time.
Is it better to be right 90% of the time, or wrong 80% of the time?
We can be right, like the 90% or those who hear of a new idea or business and say it’s a bad idea, it won’t work, it’s been tried before and failed. But is it worth it?

Paul Buchheit is the computer programmer and entrepreneur who was the creator and lead developer of Gmail.

Buchheit certainly has made the most of his creativity and entrepreneurial abilities.
• Much like the Raven, SOOT.

What if there is a noisy, obnoxious raven around nagging at us to open to the wisdom and free flow of Spirit that is deep within us?

Know what is driving you!
• You can’t solve a problem with the same mind that created it.
• If it is the need to be right, then make a different choice.
• Choose a value to take the place of being right. Something like “tolerance” or “happiness” and write that word in the center of a piece of paper. Sit quietly and meditate on the word. That is, relax your body,
o Close your eyes
o Hold that word in your mind
o When associations arise, write them down
o Go back to your word
o Repeat the process until your mind is at peace with the word you have chosen.

Our inner guide knows if we are being punishing, being right, or if we are being kind and loving.

Are we feeding others and ourselves intolerance?
OR are we feeding kindness, love, and inspiration? Are we seeking the wisdom of God-Spirit?

Always remember this:
"Do not believe in anything
simply because you have heard it.

Do not believe in traditions because
they have been handed down for many generations.

Do not believe in anything
because it is spoken and rumored by many.

Do not believe in anything simply
because it is written in your religious books.

Do not believe in anything
merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.

But after prayer, observation and analysis,
when you find that anything agrees with reason,
and is conducive to the good and benefit of all,
then accept it and live up to it."
Paraphrased from http://thegospels.org/metaDictionary/index.htm

Be fed by ravens; be fed by Spirit.

God loves you, and so do I.

Angels & Demons

2009-07-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

The Illuminati, like a serpent from the forgotten depths of history, had risen and wrapped themselves around an ancient foe. No demands. No negotiation. Just retribution. Demonically simple. Squeezing. A revenge 400 years in the making. It seemed that after centuries of persecution, science had bitten back" (Brown, Angels & Demons, 164).

"Langdon’s head was pounding louder now . . . tiny voices played tug of war."
“Faith does not protect you. Medicine and airbags . . . those are things that protect you. God does not protect you. Intelligence protects you. Enlightenment. Put your faith in something with tangible results. How long has it been since someone walked on water? Modern miracles belong to science . . . computers, vaccines, space stations . . . even the divine miracle of creation. Matter from nothing . . . in a lab. Who needs God? No! Science is God” (174).

• These quotes represents the crux of the novel, Angels & Demons.
• A battle between science and religion;
o between the seen and the unseen;
o between faith and terrorism

Dan Brown has written a brilliant novel.
• Ultimate evil of science which can, according to the book, reproduce the moment of creation with antimatter.
• Terrorists controlling the clock; claiming to be a secret society out for revenge against the church’s abuse of scientists and free thinkers
• Staid tradition of the selection of a pope, the papal conclave
• Documents shrouded in mystery by the limited access granted them
• Set against the backdrop of the art and architecture of Rome and Vatican City.

Although this is more dramatic and graphic than we are likely to experience, doesn’t Langdon’s internal struggle resonate with us?
• When we hear of a disaster, is there a part of us that wonders where God is in the universe today?
• When science hands us cures for diseases, does it increase our faith in science?
• When technology puts a device in our hands the size of a credit card, and it will store and reproduce an entire library of music with equal or greater sound quality than the original, do we tend to deify technology?

Perhaps. Yet with all this, we have the option to use these devices for enhancing life or enslaving us. Consider today’s scriptures.
Angels
Mt 18:10 (NRSV) Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven.

MBD [Metaphysical Bible Dictionary published by Unity School of Christianity], 52, Angel; messengers of God.

Meta. . . . These angels of our childlike spiritual thoughts, “these little ones,” are the thoughts that understand spiritual principles. The office of the angels is to guard and guide and direct the natural forces of mind and body, which have in them the future of the whole man [person].

In the literal, Jesus was talking about children, but this was a parable about the kingdom. In
• 1st verse of this chapter, Jesus said
“ . . . unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

These childlike spiritual thoughts are the ones that cause us to question the limits of science, and perhaps take science for granted and knows there is more. When we would ask “can we?” these spiritual thoughts ask “should we?” They invite us to make conscious decisions. They remind us that there is something greater than ourselves, greater than science, greater than religion.
• Job 32:8 There is a spirit in man, that breath of the Almighty that brings understanding.
• That’s the very argument that Langdon is having in his own mind in Angels & Demons.

Demons
Mk 1:32-34 32That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. 33 And the whole city was gathered around the door. 34 And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

MBD, 170,

Demons, or evil spirits, are conditions of mind, or states of consciousness, that have been developed because the creative power of man has been used in unwise or an ignorant way.
• If in thought or in word you are using your creative power in an ignorant way, you are bringing forth an ego or a personality of like character.
• The mind builds states of consciousness that become established in brain and body.
• Both good and evil are found in the unregenerated man, but in the new birth evil and all its works must be cast out.
• The work of every overcoming is to cast out of himself the demons of sin [missing the mark] and evil [state of consciousness that looks to worldly pride and power as worthy of one’s effort], through the power and dominion of his indwelling Christ . . .
• “would not permit the demons to speak” means that Jesus did not admit for a moment that demons have any power . . . He concentrated the dissolving power of Spirit upon them and their hold was broken.

Unlike the frantic hunt through crypts, catacombs, deserted cathedrals, and even the Illuminati lair,
• Our angels are often common-place. Perhaps it’s the man who shows up who will mow the grass just after the lawn mower breaks.
• Maybe it’s the one who held the high watch for us when we couldn’t hold it for ourselves.
• Maybe it’s the inner voice that nudges you to turn right when you were on a direct course to your destination. Maybe you heard later there was a horrific accident in which you would have been involved if you hadn’t taken that right turn.

And what about our demons?
• They are not likely to be carved in stone as some of the ones in the book were.
• They are not likely to be assasins
• They ARE likely to be our own self-talk. That niggling voice in the mind that says
o You’re nuts if you think you can pull that one off
o What makes you think God even exists, much less within you?
o You can’t possibly do that!
o You’re not smart enough
o You’re not good enough
o You don’t have enough money
o You’re NOT or you DON’T

We all have angels; we all have demons! It’s what we do about them that matters.

By John Wren-Lewis, Sydney, Australia
December, 1994 (edited from www.guideposts.com)
• "Never take candy from a stranger." My mother's admonition flashed through my mind when a man on the bus to Phuket, Thailand, dug two toffees from his pocket and offered them, smiling.
PLEASE FOLLOW LINK FOR COMPLETE STORY
• But now, after more than a decade traveling and working all over the world, I'd long since discounted her warning.

o John awoke in a hospital bed, an IV drip and an oxygen cylinder beside me.
o "Thank goodness I trusted my taste buds, or we'd probably both be dead," Ann said later as a nurse served supper.
o "The police think the young man was part of a gang who drugs tourists on buses and trains to rob them.

• At an age when most people retire, I have been given a whole new life, John said. “For me the great discovery has been that Jesus was speaking the simple truth when he said the Kingdom of God is right here, in and amongst us, all the time. Angels are any forces that God uses to wake us to the kingdom's presence. For me, closeness to death was just that—mediated by a would-be thief on a bus in Thailand.”

John was thrust into a journey of personal transformation. As a former mathematical physicist, he had little patience for anything beyond measurable human experience. Thrust upon this road by a would-be poisoner, he came to see this one as an instrument of his awakening.
John came to know that measurable human experience was not all there was to him.
• He came to know that he was more than the sum of his organs and tissues? Would a mass of organs and tissues be able to ask, “Am I my body?”
• We are not our bodies, we are not our jobs, we are not our children or our parents.
• We are something more than that. We are powerful, creative beings, sometimes barely conscious of ourselves, and often unconscious of our power.
• If there are angels in our midst, we drew them there. What we focus on, we draw to ourselves.
• What we believe, we create. If there are demons in the world, it is because humankind has used its incredible creative power to bring them into being. If they are in our own minds and hearts, we created them and placed them there.
• We believe there is only one Presence and one Power. That Presence has give to us enormous creative capacity, and we have the freedom to use it for growth and giving life, or for destruction.
• When we continually think, “I am well, I have plenty, I am at peace with all humankind,” then health, success, and happiness come to us.
• When we are loving and kind; if we treat men and women honestly, justly, charitably, and make our demonstration of good a practical, living reality, we will soon find ourselves in the Kingdom.
• In consciousness, humankind has strayed from the principle of good. We have adopted the idea of competition, of aggression, of I’ll get mine before you get it. We have created the demons of competition and perpetuated and expanded the reality of those demons to the point where we endanger the very existence of our planet.
• We must find our way back to that principle of good.
In Angels & Demons, there is a struggle between men of faith and men of science. Sometimes science gets it wrong, as with the complete adherence to the notion of survival of the fittest. Yes the strong survive, but there are those models of collaboration and cooperation.
• Nevertheless, science does many things well, and many scientists are also people of faith. Some would have us believe that science is evil. Some would have us believe that science is god. Science, however, is a way of looking at the world, and without it we would likely be dealing with plagues and epidemics removing a much greater portion of the population. We might still not know that hand-washing is essential. We might still think disease is caused by evil spirits.
• Even if science sometimes gets it wrong, without science, we would get many more things wrong than we do.
One man of science may surprise you.
In July 2009, Francis Collins was nominated by President Barack Obama as the new Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
-----

Three years ago, I had the opportunity to gaze upon one of the most powerful and beautiful mysteries of nature: the human genome.
For nearly a decade I had led a team of researchers racing to decipher the biochemical instruction manual for making human beings. All living creatures, from humans to the lowliest amoeba, are literally brought into existence by the genes that make up their DNA. It is a brilliant, ingenious system.
But, as a believer, I am convinced it is also a sign of God's meticulous delight in creation. The genes, sequences of DNA that spew out instructions for making the building blocks of bodies, can be combined in myriad ways to produce everything from a rose to a chimpanzee to a short person with blond hair to a tall person with black hair...to you.
Many people question whether science, especially genetic science, is opposed to faith. I consider that a false premise.
When I got the call in 1993 asking me to lead the Human Genome Project, I saw an opportunity not to challenge God, but to glorify him.

http://www.guideposts.com/story/francis-collins-nih-human-genome

When we have demons in our lives, we know how to transform them – we change our minds. When we have angels in our lives – we give thanks!

God loves you, and so do I!
Rev Martha

490+

2009-07-13T09:37:00.000-07:00

John Colligan, of New York, was in a hurry to return to his basement office when his attention was grabbed by a letter lying on the kitchen table. It was from the Colorado District Attorney.

His 21-year old son, Johnny, had moved to Colorado 6 months earlier, and 9 weeks after moving there was shot to death.

Please follow the link at the end of the following paragraph for the complete story.

The courts would decide the sentence. That was their responsibility. Mine was to offer the forgiveness I had finally allowed God to place in me. A great weight lifted. It was time to get on with life. (http://www.guideposts.com/print/11517, May 1994)

Out of all life’s challenging issues,
• forgiveness is one that lingers in society’s shadow.
• misunderstood and seldom given any value, this issue seems more unpopular than ever.
• Forgiveness for many is like an old book layered with dust and rarely explored.
• Sure, people know it exists, but they believe that its importance is outdated to say the least.
• In a world where
o personal vengeance is heroic and
o utter hatred is showcased on TV talk shows,
• to forgive seems a bit weak.
o Whether in the locker room or the ladies room,
o stories of payback and revenge have been deemed much more entertaining then those of forgiveness and reconciliation.
o From the media to our homes, getting even or “settling the score” are what people use to resolve their inner conflict. http://www.inspiredchristian.org/cyber/07/080107jr.html

Forgiveness does NOT mean that there are no consequences!
• As John said, the sentence was up to the courts, that was their business.
• Revenge is the business of the universe. The offender is punished by their offense, here and now. Despite appearances, they receive the consequences. Can we make the distinction in our minds between forgiveness and actions that have consequences?
• When we attempt to humiliate or embarrass someone who has offended us, by our behavior, or indeed by our thoughts we are actively bringing the past into the present and giving it life.
Forgiveness does not mean that you are going to deliberately put yourself in a position to be abused and trod upon again.
• Forgiveness does not mean that you and your offender will be best friends.
• When I forgive someone, it means that I will not allow their actions to affect me in any negative way.
• I will not permit my mind body or spirit to be robbed of "good "by the "bad "behavior of someone else.
• It is not what happens to me that counts so much as what happens in me.
Psalms 130: 3-4 3 If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, LORD, who could stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with you,
John 8:6-8 6 . . . Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 When they heard it, they went away, one by one.

• If God should mark iniquities, mistakes, who could stand?
• If anyone has never made a mistake, let that one throw a stone

This leaves condemnation in the hands of God. In the case of the young woman who shot Johnny, consequences were in the hands of the court.
In our everyday world
• We all live with a sense of separation, aloneness, alienation and guilt.
• Psychology places the need to belong one step above the need to survive.
• This sense of separation and aloneness may be the force behind the drive to discover or make meaning in life.
• Every religious tradition recognizes this and has some way of addressing it.
Ours is a balancing act of being connected enough to belong and independent enough to think for ourselves. If we go too far either way, we risk reducing the meaning of life and perhaps to making it meaningless.
If in being connected, I give people the power to offend me in any way, I have given them too much power over my life.
It is essential that I maintain enough autonomy to live my choices, not those subtly or forcefully imposed by those to whom I am connected.
• Freedom to live life to the fullest is a God-given right for all of us.
• Freedom of that magnitude can only be realized when we learn to forgive the offenders and offenses that come our way.
Lynne Twist, author of The Soul of Money, is a global activist and fundraiser. She tells of her experience in Senegal, a small coastal country on the farthest western tip of the African continent. 18 people of the Hunger Project led by Swift were there to meet with people of a village that lay several hours into the desert. The Hunger Project is about empowering people to end their own hunger, and this meeting was about their need to find a new source of water. These were a proud people who knew nothing but life in the Sahel Desert. They also knew they could not continue without some change in the water situation.
The people were Muslim, and as they sat in a circle, the men did all the talking. The women sat in a second circle where they could see and hear, but not speak. The barrenness of the land made a solution seem impossible, but the attitude, sense of resiliency, and the dignity of these people argued differently (72).
Swift asked to meet with the women. She had felt their power, and even though it was a strange request in this Muslim culture, it was allowed. The women quickly conveyed that they had visions of an underground lake beneath the area. They felt it; they knew it was there. They needed the help of the project workers to get permission from the men to dig a well deep enough to reach the water. The men had not permitted this as they did not believe the water was there. Also they did not want women doing this kind of work. In their tradition, only certain kinds of labor were allowed for the women. All these women needed was permission from the men to pursue their clear instinct. That was the help they needed from an outside source. Swift said, “It was baking hot. There were thousands of flies. I had silt in my mouth and lungs. It was about as uncomfortable a place as you can imagine being in, and yet I remember that I did not feel any thirst or discomfort – only the presence of possibility amidst these bold and beautiful women.
After many conversations with both the women and the men, it was agreed with the mullahs and the chief to start work with the women because the women had the vision. Over the next year the women dug both with hand tools and the simple equipment brought by the Hunger Project. As they dug they sang, drummed, and cared for each other’s children as they worked, never doubting that the water was there. And it was! In the years since, the men and women have built a pumping station and water tower for storage. Seventeen villages now have water, and the women’s leadership groups are the center of action. There is irrigation, chicken farming, literacy classes and batiking businesses. People are flourishing, contributing members of their country. The tribe is proud that it was their own people, their own work, and the land they lived on that proved to be the key to their own prosperity.
These Senegalese people came together in community with dignity and freedom. Surely there were offenses given among them; perhaps feelings related to the women having the vision and the culture that did not allow them to act on that vision. Yet they had the freedom of thought to seek outside help. They had the freedom of dignity to seek their own solution and to put it into practice. They did not need rescuing. They were getting on with life.
FORGIVENESS--A process of giving up the false for the true; erasing . . . error from the mind and body. It is closely related to repentance, which is a turning from belief in error to belief in God and righteousness.
Forgiveness is only established through renewing the mind and body with thoughts and words of Truth (RW 78).
Forgiveness really means the giving up of something. When you forgive yourself, you cease doing the things that you should not do.
It is through forgiveness that true spiritual healing is accomplished. Forgiveness removes the errors of the mind, and bodily harmony results in consonance [agreement] with divine law (Fillmore, RW 79).
Today’s lesson title comes from Matt. 18:22, when Jesus told Peter that he must forgive 70 times 7. I used different scripture hoping to move into the subject with fewer preconceived notions on your part. 70 X 7 is 490. The plus is the added value of richness in life that forgiveness brings.
In talking about forgiveness we often think of:
• Weakness
• Approving of the wrong
• Allowing the wrong to continue without consequences.
The Aramaic transation of 70 X 7 stretches more to read “up to 70X77 = 5390. In reality, Jesus used a hyperbole, purposely overstating the idea. What Jesus really meant was that it goes on and on and on until, like water, it has worn away the stones of bitterness and the perception of injury. It goes on and on to infinity.
So, I ask you to consider
• How would your life be different if you could forgive that person who hurt you, even if he or she never asked for forgiveness?
• Who would you be without the story about having been wronged?
• What will your life be if you continue to wait for an apology or some form of justice?
• As impossible as it may seem, when we turn within and quiet our minds from that endless chatter, from retelling the story endlessly, from telling ourselves what ought to happen, when we quiet our minds, we can hear that gentle voice telling us how we can do what looks impossible.
• Can you think of a person who changed his life and now has an effective ministry of healing?
o If not, consider looking up Charles Colson. //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Colson
o Colson was known as the White House "hatchet man," a man feared by even the most powerful politicos during his four years of service to President Nixon.
o He was thought of as one of the “Watergate 7” although he pleased guilty of obstruction of justice in the Daniel Ellsberg Case
o When news of Colson's conversion to Christianity leaked to the press in 1973, the Boston Globe reported, "If Mr. Colson can repent of his sins, there just has to be hope for everybody."
o In 1974 Colson entered prison.
o In 1976, Colson founded Prison Fellowship, which has become the world's largest outreach to prisoners, ex-prisoners, crime victims, and their families.
o Colson has built a movement working with more than 40,000 prison ministry volunteers, with ministries in more than 100 countries. And that is just the beginning.
o He has since written more than 30 books,
 established Justice Fellowship (a faith-based criminal justice reform group),
 introduced Angel Tree (a program that provides Christmas gifts to ½ million children of inmates annually on behalf of their incarcerated parent)
 established Prison Fellowship International which now includes national chapters in 113 countries
And the list goes on.
Who would we be without our story of being wronged?
Who would we be if we gave up waiting for justice, and embraced forgiveness and reconciliation?
Forgive and move on with living.
Forgiving someone doesn’t mean s/he is right. It means you are free.

God loves you, and so do I
Martha

Prices of Love

2009-06-15T13:26:00.000-07:00

The Graduate
From juvenile delinquent to Rhodes Scholar. How a bad boy went good. [Excerpted from http://www.guideposts.com/story/juvenile-delinquent-becomes-Rhodes-scholar?page=0%2C1]
By Aaron Polhamus, Oxford, England
Every year 32 American college seniors pass through a grueling application process to win a coveted Rhodes scholarship.
• two years of all-expense paid study at Oxford University in England.
• join a century’s worth of distinguished statesmen, scientists, artists, writers and teachers—men and women who went on to become some of the most successful people in their generation.
• perhaps the highest honor an American college student can receive.
As Aaron filled out the Rhodes application, he half wondered if he was crazy. His record wasn’t great.
Aaron wrote, I got routinely suspended from school, starting in sixth grade. I was expelled outright from my junior high. I’d spent the better part of my early teens hanging out on the streets.
I’d achieved a perfect grade average in the ninth grade—perfect Fs that is—in every class. And I’d topped that year off by getting arrested for vandalism.
I gravitated to a group of guys like me. We’d act out, get suspended—which was more like a reward than a punishment. We’d spend all day wandering the streets, scoring beer, smoking cigarettes and pot.
• That fall I enrolled in Options High School, an alternative education program for at-risk youth.
• Arriving my first day, I saw five squat portable buildings slick with Northwest rain.
• Students milled around, a patchwork of mohawks, body piercings, gang colors. A lot of them looked like users.
• My first class was science. The teacher, Robert LaRiviere, bounded in wearing jeans, a T-shirt and wire-rimmed glasses. He was totally bald. His eyes were a merry blue.
• The dozen students before him were a motley bunch. But he acted like we were the most mature scholars he had ever taught
He smiled and cracked a few jokes, then immediately drew us into an intense discussion. “If there’s one thing I want you to learn in this class,” he said, “it’s how to use your brains. You’re smart kids. The world is a fascinating place. Open yourselves up to it.” The class ended and I realized that I hadn’t once thought about mouthing off.
The world is a fascinating place. Mr. LaRiviere sure was right about that. Was he right about me being a smart kid?
What else had I been closing myself off to?
Usually, whenever the youth group prayed, I zoned out. One morning I looked out at the rain coming down and tried an awkward prayer of my own: God, if you really exist, help me figure out who I am.
The following fall, a counselor at Options, noticing some high test scores,
• invited me to try physics and honors English classes at Bellingham High School.
• By eleventh grade I was attending Bellingham High part-time while simultaneously completing an associate’s degree at a community college.
• After graduation I enrolled at Western Washington University.
• One evening, coming home from class, I found Dad sitting by himself. Being away at college had given me space to reflect on my relationship with my parents.
Dad and I small-talked for a minute, then he looked at me seriously. “Aaron,” he said, “there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you. Your transformation these past couple years—well, it seems like a miracle to me. But I know it’s not just God. It’s your hard work too. And I want you to know that I’m really proud of you.”
• After two years at Western Washington, I transferred to Stanford University in California.
• It was there that I heard about the Rhodes scholarship. A passage from the application caught my eye: “Proven intellectual and academic achievement is the first quality required of applicants,
• will also be required to show integrity of character and interest in and respect for their fellow beings.” Integrity. Interest. Respect. Did that include improbable comebacks?
A few months later I sat before an interview panel of former Rhodes scholars. “We’re fascinated by your background,” they said. “But we’re wondering, do you ever feel like you’re fooling everyone and you’re still that kid from Options?”
I took a deep breath and told them the truth. “Actually, ever since I left Options, I’ve felt like I had to prove myself. But just being here taking questions from you is a huge affirmation. I can honestly say I know who I am. And I’ll know it no matter what happens with this scholarship.”
I guess that was the right answer. This fall I’m studying applied statistics at Worcester College, Oxford.
What prices did Aaron pay for his transformation?
What about the alternative?
•Hang out, drop out, zone out, get high
•No responsibility
•Get material needs met at the expense of society;
Instead he
•Questioned himself; was this all he wanted out of life?
•He dug deeply into himself – why did he like Mr. LaRiviere? What had he missed, what had he tuned out from the world?
•He went through the pain of self inquiry
•He looked at the self-serving, self-absorbed, love of the lesser self and transformed it into its appropriate expression as un-selfish, life-giving love of self.
•The price Aaron paid for his misinterpretation of love was rejection, boredom, destruction of others and himself
•With the transformation he paid the price, at first, of the pain of self inquiry, and then the prices began to look more like rewards. High scores led to high school graduation, and an associates degree simultaneously. Then on to university, to Stanford, and to Oxford.

Ruth 1:15-16
15So she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16But Ruth said, “Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; Where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.

Naomi is the first speaker urging her daughter-in-law to return to her people. Naomi and her husband, Elimelech, moved from Bethlehem in Judah to Moab with their two sons. Elimelech died leaving Naomi with her two sons. These two married Moabite women, one of whom was Ruth. The two sons also died, leaving only the women. Naomi decided to return to Judah. In the scripture Naomi is telling Ruth to return to her own country, Moab.

Ruth’s expression of love and devotion to Naomi is a favorite Biblical story. It is an expression of love in the highest form.
•Love that gives, that frees, the expression of the One spirit
•When we love most truly, we are most unselfish (Wilson, Master Class, 116)
•This form of love includes, . . it fulfills human love, and draws it into fuller expression.
•It wins because it seeks not its own

Mat 22:36"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"

Mat 22:37And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This is the great and first commandment.
And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Jesus exemplified this form of love repeatedly.
•Rich young ruler (seeking spiritual redemption, Mk 10:17)
*Woman at the well (Samaritan, outcast)
•Woman in the streets who had an issue of blood (Mt 9:20-22)
•His disciples
•Even the ear of the Roman soldier who came to arrest him (Luke 22:49)
•Each person seemed to Jesus have the potential to become whole (Spong, Jesus for the Non-Religious, 280)

It would be easy to say we aren’t Jesus. That’s true, AND he said we would do greater things.
Jhn 14:12 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father.
Charles Fillmore, cofounder of Unity, said
of Jn 14:12, that we have not received at all times because we have not demonstrated the power of His name. (MJ 132) When we reach out into the great invisible spiritual substance all about us and think of ourselves as its expression, confidently expecting it to manifest itself through us, it will do so (MJ 132).
We say that God is everywhere present – that means that we walk in God, we breathe God, God breathes us. There is no place that God is not! And God is expressed through us as the Christ consciousness.
(RW, 124) love--The pure essence of Being that binds together the whole human family. Of all the attributes of God, love is undoubtedly the most beautiful. In Divine Mind, love is the power that joins and binds in divine harmony
Earnest Wilson said,
He who was so loving taught us the secret of love; love that is gentle but strong, kind but wise; deep but unselfish (Master Class Lessons, 105].
So IF we love in that way; in such a way that lives as if everyone can become whole, what prices are we likely to pay???
GIVE UP - Love of the lesser self
oUnsure of itself -> acts erratically
oFearful of its life and in panic may act without regard for others
oTries to attain by violence what it should get by intelligence
oMost conscious of outer world values and acts from that viewpoint
oSeeks pleasure and content and tries to hold and possess that which has proven pleasurable
Often resists change and growth: parents cling to their children and discourage development, maturity, and independence
•Children resort to childish ploys to gain favor and attention
•It bids us to grieve when we feel the PHYSICAL separation or loss.
The price is to give up this way of being in the world.
To demonstrate the Highest Self, we must be
Inwardly and spiritually so assured of that good that we are not overcome by outward appearances of loss or disadvantage. We must love ourselves so much that we shall be loving and unselfish toward others and unwilling to insure our own good at their expense. We must transform foolish pride into pride of such dignity that it will not stoop to anything mean or common or unworthy of the kind of person we spiritually sense ourselves to be. We must love ourselves too much to betray the higher self to the lower (Wilson, 113)
Let’s join together in an affirmation from Earnest Wilson
Christ in me rules my emotions.
I love as I would be loved, unselfish, impersonally, in the spirit of Christ.
Today we have a young man who has just completed a program of spiritual development which we call a Life Passage.
John's life was difficult before he met Laurie Jill Wood. He entered the foster care system when he was about 6, and wound up in a group home when he was almost 8. They had just about given up on finding him a home. Laurie Jill was volunteering at that group home, and John joined her as a foster child. She was told she would not be able to adopt him because he needed a father. Finally, when John was almost 10, she was allowed to adopt John.
At this point in his life, he asked to work a program of spiritual development. John’s program has involved developing his awareness of God through the body, mind, and spirit, and to demonstrate those in the community.
In ways John was a lot like our young man Aaron that we met at the beginning of today’s lesson. He was having a difficult time and through the loving support of caring adults, and his hard work, he has transformed his life experience. John will now show you some of what he learned, focusing on the 12 Powers. [Slide show created and narrated by John Wood.]

Wind & FIre, 05/31/09

2009-06-03T06:13:00.000-07:00

Grandma story; "Hawaiian good luck sign"[source unavailable, content not posted]

Acts 2:1-4 When the day of Pentecost had come,
• they were all together in one place. 2And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

• This is the Biblical reference to “Pentacost”, and today in traditional churches is THAT DAY.

• For some, it is a day that should be equal in celebration to Christmas and Easter.
http://www.godweb.org/pentacostdate.htm (website of Charles P. Henderson, Presbyterian Minister, & Ex. Dir of Cross Currents) states
Pentecost, the season of the Holy Spirit, is otherwise known as the "birthday of the church." In theory, Pentecost should be recognized, along with Christmas and Easter, as one of the three most important holidays of the Christian Church.

SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE
• Without a doubt, something happened. What – we do not know.
• We know that people were deeply moved.
• We know that there had been anticipation of power “from on high.”
Luke 24: 49And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.’
Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you
• It may appear that this is the 1st occasion of the appearance of the Holy Spirit. But not so.
Isa 63:11-12 Where is he who put in the midst of them his holy Spirit who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them
Reference in Matt 1:18 to the conception of Jesus, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit.
• Now if Pentacost is the birth of the church, then it is something to celebrate.
• If this is the quickening that happened to the disciples of Jesus, it is perhaps a greater event.
o That would make it the fire in their hearts that sent them forth to teach these principles
o It would be the wind of inspiration and the breath that gave them words to speak
The church in the traditional sense is an institution. The message that Jesus taught is alive and as vibrant for us today as it was 2000 years ago. A church can be an alive, vibrant community through which God can be known.
Charles Fillmore, co-founder of Unity, said of the gospels,
“When these are studies with unbiased mind, it is perceived that Jesus delegated no ecclesiastical power to anybody . . . Jesus appointed one teacher: ‘the Comforter, even the Holy Spirit’ (Gaither, 192).
In the Revealing Word, Fillmore defined Holy Spirit as
The activity of God in a universal sense. The moving force in the universe taken as a whole. The Spirit is the infinite "breath" of God, the life essence of Being. . . . Holy Spirit is the love of Jehovah taking care of the human family. The Holy Spirit is in the world today with great power and wisdom, ready to be poured upon all who look to it for guidance. Its mission is to bring all men into communion with God; to guide men in order that they will not mistake the way into the light (RW, 98)
• The visual presented in Acts 2 is dramatic. Do you think it is possible to be that excited about these teachings today? Do you? So what will it take? Do I need a sound and light show up here to get attention and draw people in? Do I need to be a master entertainer to generate passion for the connection with God?
• That is what this is all about – the connection with God. That was the spiritual experience of those in the account in Acts 2. The Holy Spirit is God in action!
o Fillmore said, “The Holy Spirit is sympathetic, comforting, loving, forgiving, and instantly healing. (G, 204)
o Further, Fillmore said, “The majority of people think that great spiritual faith is necessary to get marvelous results. But Jesus taught differently . . . the mustard is among the smallest of seeds, and the comparison would indicate what a tiny bit of real faith is necessary to cause motion in material things (G,248).
o When Paul and Silas were in a Roman jail, they prayed and sang until their bonds fell off, and the cell doors flew open (Acts 16:25, 26).
o Fillmore contends that on the day of Pentacost the followers of Jesus prayed and sang until the ethers were so accelerated that tongues of fire flashed from the bodies of the worshipers, and they were miraculously quickened in mental ability (G, 248).
There are untold millions of stories about prayer, and how it has changed lives. One I found particularly inspiring is told by a grandmother, Mary Frank.
http://www.guideposts.com/story/angel-heals-boys-burns; [view on website]
"Just 23 days after the accident, he is back in school full time, catching up on his missed days," Mary says. "No more flashbacks or nightmares of the fire. He had very little pain. His eyes are fine. His nose, lips and ears are fine....it looks now just like a bad sunburn. The doctors say there will be minimal to no scarring! And he is laughing again and being the character Isaac has always been.
• Prayer liberates the pent up energies of mind and body.
• When we sing spiritual songs, we pray to music. The energy is increased as we immerse ourselves in the sound and the spirit of the words and music.
So how did we go from a mighty wind and tongues of fire to the establishment of the church?
• In the following verses of the 2nd chapter of Acts the disciples, and especially Peter, preached to the crowds, there were conversion experiences, and the chapter closes with the words, “And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”
• Taken literally, this sounds like the beginning of a church. And there is always more than one perspective. Like the grandmother at the beginning who saw all those rude behaviors as expressions of love.
• Perhaps, however, there is another way to look at it. John Shelby Spong, an Episcopal Bishop now retired, and a respected scholar of Jewish traditions along with the Bible,
• Spong talks about the Jewish tradition of midrash.
o Method of interpreting sacred scripture
o Method for the continued expansion of the sacred scriptures.
o It can be the interpretation of a story by relating it to another story or event in sacred history.
o The Jewish way of saying that everything to be venerated (held up as holy) in the present must somehow be connected with a sacred moment in the past. (Spong,8)
o “Our great failing was that we did not know anything about midrash, so we literalized narratives that were not intended to be literalized” (282).
While some scholars contend that to understand midrash we must study it, the point remains that it is not a literal reading. When we literalize the scriptures, at times we pull the life right out of them. As we seek the spirit of the Bible, the literal details seem to fade in importance. We could easily read this account as if it were a story from today and gather inspiration.
It was an amazing day when we had all come together. We were singing and praying, and the heavens opened and a powerful wind came up and blew through the place. People were so inspired they fairly shone with the light of God. They began talking to each other and to people they didn’t even know.
Then, there’s the metaphysical interpretation, but that’s for another lesson! In your bulletin you have an insert. Let’s pray these thoughts together. [Prayer is from Emmet Fox, copyright information unknown.]

Sources:
Gaither, James, The Essential Charles Fillmore. Unity Village, Unity Books, 1999.

Spong, John Shelby, Resurrection: Myth or Reality? San Francisco, Harper Collins. 1995.

Sunday, 5/17/09, What About Ascension?

2009-05-23T08:14:00.000-07:00

The I Can't Funeral
By: Copyright@ Phillip B. Childs
Donna's fourth grade classroom looked like many others I had seen in the past.
(Story of the class burying "I Can't.")
On those rare occasions when a student forgot and said, "I Can't", Donna simply pointed to the RIP sign. The student then remembered that "I Can't" was dead and chose to rephrase the statement.

Jesus was an “I Can” kind of guy – don’t you think?
• He taught the multitudes
• When there wasn’t enough to eat, he fed them with miracles of supply
• When people were sick, he performed miracles of healing
• When people didn’t know how to live, he told them how as in the Sermon on the Mount, Matt. 5-7
o Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today. Mt 6:34
o Do not judge so that you may not be judged Mt 7:1
o Ask and it will be give you. Mt 7:7
• He performed miracles of nature like calming the seas.
• He told them stories to illustrate his point.

In a traditional church calendar, Thursday, May 21, would be the celebration of Jesus’ ascension into heaven.
• Acts 1: 8-9 NRSV But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.”
As most of you know, Unity is not a traditional church. Ascension is part of traditional Christian story:
o God sent his son, Jesus
o Jesus lived, preached, taught
o Jesus died on the cross
o Burried & rose on 3rd day
o Ascended into heaven to the Father

So how does this fit?
• God who is all powerful, all knowing, and everywhere sends his son to live a short life, teach and preach, and he does this knowing it is a suicide mission!
While I might poke a little fun at this, Unity and I leave it totally open for you to believe this if it serves you. It is not, however, what we teach.

No manuscripts of the New Testament.
• Most people couldn’t write, and
• those who wrote recorded from the oral tradition.
• They were story tellers. As many as 35 to 40 years passed after Jesus’ death before anything was written down. And some of it took up to 100 years to be written.

3-Tiered Universe: The ascension story reflects the view of the universe of the time. Hell below, a flat earth in the middle, and heaven above. So Jesus rode a cloud right up into heaven to be with God.

SOMETHING HAPPENED!
• There was something so inspiring about the man Jesus that it was passed down for generations, then written.
• Something happened after the death of Jesus that was startling and had enormous power. Profound!
o Turned denying Peter into a witnessing Peter
o Turned disciples who fled for their lives into heroes willing to die for Jesus’ teachings.
o It was so intense that it created a new holy day – 1st day of week
• Something profound happened!
o The words that were written can only point to the truth of what happened.
o It was an experience that is beyond description.
o Yet so compelling the witnesses could not stop telling the story.

What difference does that make to us today?
• Between then and now humankind has developed
o Air travel
o Space travel
o Telescopes and radioscopes that show us a universe vast beyond belief in which our small round planet is virtually insignificant
• How do we bring together the notion of the story of Jesus and his ascension with the facts of modern science?
• Fillmore said,
Every time we rise to the realization of eternal indwelling life, making union with the Father-Mind, the resurrection of Jesus takes place within us. All thoughts of limitation and inevitable obedience to material law are left in the tomb of materiality. (KTL, 197)
o Fillmore’s solution when faced with the 19th century scientific discoveries was to accept science and search for the inner, spiritual meaning of the Bible.
o F. based interpretation on
 MPH theory that reality is ultimately spiritual or mental.
 Concluded that Gen 1 is a metaphorical account of the creative process

In the metaphysical mindset, ascension--The ascending or progressive unfoldment of man from the animal to the spiritual. It is measured by three degrees or states of consciousness: first, the animal; second, the mental or psychical; and third, the spiritual. Jesus first manifested Himself as the man on the physical plane, from which He was resurrected to the mental or psychical; from thence He ascended to the spiritual. (RW 16)
For Fillmore, Jesus demonstrated the evolution through 3 stages of soul development
• 1st physical existence
• 2nd through resurrection he demonstrated the mental or psychic plane of existence
• 3rd & finally with the ascension he achieved the spiritual plane
Obviously we are on the physical plane. We may experience some mental and psychic evolution, but are still here physically.
For us:
• We have the option to evolve
• We can change our experience by learning to see it rightly
• We can embrace that creative process that Fillmore talked about
• We can try it out for ourselves.
• If it doesn’t work, then take what is useful and leave the rest.
• The short version of the creative process is that “thoughts held in mind produce after their kind.” What we hold in our minds and embellish with emotion creates our world.
The world has caught up with Fillmore. There are many who know this who never heard of Unity.
‘If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain.’ — Maya Angelou
Nothing we can do can change the past, but everything we do changes the future.’
‘If you can neither accept it or change it, try to laugh at it.’ --Ashleigh Brilliant
If we create our world with our thoughts, to change our world, change our thoughts! Change our expectations!
But this is hard work. We run into that thing we talked about last time – race consciousness.

This is akin to Jung’s archetype of the shadow.
It is, by its name, dark, shadowy, unknown and potentially troubling. It embodies chaos and wildness of character. The shadow thus tends not to obey rules, and in doing so may discover new lands or plunge things into chaos and battle. It has a sense of the exotic and can be disturbingly fascinating. In myth, it appears as the wild man, spider-people, mysterious fighters and dark enemies.
We may see the shadow in others and, if we dare, know it in ourselves. Mostly, however, we deny it in ourselves and project it onto others. http://changingminds.org/explanations/identity/jung_archetypes.htm

For Fillmore, according to Jim Gaither, former instructor of Metaphysics at Unity School, his interpretation of the Bible allowed him to accept scientific truths without rejecting the truths of the Bible. He took the concept of evolution and interpreted the Bible as an allegory of human consciousness evolving from a “fallen” state to a divine state. He took the concept of law and applied it to the Bible as an allegory for spiritual and mental laws. The concept of the Bible as allegory for human consciousness anticipated the theory of Carl Jung that human mythology symbolized primordial archetypes in the collective unconscious. (19)
So how does this show up in our world, beyond what some famous people have said?
You Get What You Expect
Parents of a high school freshman, we will call him John, asked Robert Brooks to serve as a consultant for his school program.
(Story of 2 teachers' differing views and the affect on the student.)
Brooks understood why John was a discipline problem with the first teacher but not with the second teacher. He was following what he believed to be their expectations for him.
If we wish children (or adults for that matter) to change their behavior, we must have the insight and courage to change our behavior first.
We all possess different mindsets or assumptions about ourselves as well as others. These assumptions, which we may not even think about or be aware of, play a significant role in determining our expectations and our behavior. Even seemingly hidden assumptions have a way of being expressed to others. Not surpisingly, people begin to behave in accord with the expectations we have of them and when they do, we are apt to interpret this as a sign that our expectations are accurate. What we fail to appreciate is the extent to which our expectations subtly or not-so-subtly shape the behavior of others. http://www.drrobertbrooks.com/writings/articles/0210.html
If we want to change the world, we have to learn to see it differently, to interact with it differently.
If we want our world to be a happy place, then focus on the beauty and the fun in our own lives.
We, as a people, are looking for those who can prove in actual works the presence of the indwelling Spirit. So let’s prove it to ourselves.
We can take charge of our thoughts. First, pay attention to them.
• When you find yourself thinking the same thoughts or small collection of thoughts repeatedly, especially if they are affecting your mood or outlook, sit back and watch them. Just play observer. You are likely to find:
o Your thoughts run in a loop (when we are anxious or preoccupied, the same thought seems to appear with monotonous regularity)
o You can observe your thoughts, therefore your thoughts are not who you are!
o Thoughts drive emotions; as you think, so you feel. Even though it feels like your anxiety is driving your thoughts, it’s really the other way around
• As you observe your thoughts, allow yourself to experience the freedom of knowing that:
o Our thoughts are not inevitable
o Our thoughts are self-made
o Thoughts affect mood – not the other way around (Dowrick, Choosing Happiness, 175)
As Goethe said, “Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them become what they were capable of being.”
And in a similar way, treat yourself as if you were what you ought to be, and you help yourself become what you are capable of being.
Thoughts of ourselves as expressions of God, perfect, loving, and whole help us to become that.
God loves you and so do I.

Checking In

2009-03-19T10:37:00.000-07:00

With the promise of Spring in the air and almost on the calendar, St. Louis is starting to look glorious. As we look at all the new life around us, it is harder to listen to the news of the recession and bail outs and bonuses for executives of a failing giant company.

Maybe that's for the best. Since we manifest what we focus on, it is a good thing to focus on the beauty of Spring, the glorious chatter of the squirrels and birds outside the window. With a roof over our heads and our bills paid, we have much for which to be grateful!

Love,
Rev M

Notes on Lent

2009-03-07T15:36:00.000-08:00

Lent has a deeply spiritual basis, though it does not appear in the Bible. It is a church institution that provides for the observance of a 40-day period of prayer and fasting as a preparation for spiritual work. For us in Unity it is preparation for the resurrection of the mind from darkness of doubt and false beliefs into the light of understanding. Rather than fasting from food or drink, we fast from error thought, and feast on the truth of God's bountiful good will (Fillmore).

In this season where there is such a sense of gloom and doom over financial crisis, huge stock market losses, and job losses, it is very easy to be caught up in this climate of fear. Our fasting is from doubt and fear, especially now, and we feast on the spiritual idea of abundance. There is more than enough on this planet for everyone. Let's pray that our distribution systems are maximized to deliver the abundance to all.

It's a New Day

2009-01-21T15:48:00.000-08:00

The past several weeks have been spent catching up on family time and beginning-of-the-year projects. With the amazing hopes and celebration of the inauguration of our 44th President, I am inspired to get this blog moving again.

Speaking of inauguration, what a shift in consciousness that this nation would elect a black man to it's highest office! Those of us who have held the vision of liberty and justice for all can give our grateful thanks for this shift. The hard, and often dangerous, hands-on work surely paved the way. Let's not forget the prayers, the visions, the hopes, the statements of Truth, the thinking that supported those courageous ones who gave so much in time, activism, faith, and sometimes their limbs and lives. Maybe we can't say that all has changed, but much has. We had a woman who competed heartily for the nomination and a black man who won the election. What a beautiful New Day!
Blessings,
Rev Martha

Ready for Healing?

2008-11-03T08:57:00.000-08:00

After 2 years of a campaign of escalating intensity, and a much longer time of news of a recession and struggling economy, could you use a respite? How about a focus on healing your body and your life?

This Saturday, November 8, at 7 pm, Unity Christ Church will show the movie, You Can Heal Your Life. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased, as long as they last, online, by phone, or at the door (if any remain). Contact Unity Christ Church at 314-727-6478, online at www.unitychristchurchstl.org, or at 33 N. Skinker Blvd., St. Louis.

Hope to see you at the movies!
Rev. Martha

Seek Within

2008-11-03T08:37:00.001-08:00

Today and tomorrow are HUGE days in the future of this country. Before we go to the polls, and as we are marking our ballots, it is critical that we seek within our deepest nature for what is highest and best for ourselves, our country, and our world community. Are there initiatives on a local level that will support the health of our planet? If so, we must support them. Are there state issues that will set a course for our state toward peace and prosperity, toward justice for all and the common good? If so, me must look to the future for our children and grand children. On a national level, does one candidate stand out for peace and justice, for the health of the country and the world? Then we must support him. Does one candidate use the language of war and fighting almost to the exclusion of peace and negotiation? Does one candidate offer more hope? The decision is yours, between the Lord of your being and you. PLEASE VOTE and seek within for the still small voice that will lead you.
Love and light,
Rev Martha

Antidotes

2008-10-27T12:25:00.000-07:00

Have you gotten overwhelmed with the campaign? Local, state, and national candidates are bombarding us with such negativity that I have taken to fast clicking away from them as soon as I know it's a campaign ad. If it's the radio, I quickly switch it off, though I listen to NPR whose coverage is more interviews than ads.

What an opportunity to practice our prayer work. We know that our world needs change. We know that if we are to have peace in our lifetime, we must abandoned the rhetoric of fighting and embrace a message of reconciliation, forgiveness, and hope. Our prayers have never been more important.

Solid research, valid information, and critical thought are also essential to our thinking, including careful consideration of consequences. There is such a flap over abortion and whether or not it should ever be an option. Please consider, every time abortion has been illegal, the number of illegal, medically dangerous and disastrous abortions has climbed. Does that serve the cause of life? Is the life of the mother less important than the life of the fetus? These are essential questions, with no easy answers.

Combine the critical time in politics with what appears to be a global economic meltdown, we have much work to do. Please don't imagine that you cannot affect the outcome! Prayer may be the most important instrument.

For metaphysicians, it is a grand opportunity for separating the “wheat from the chaff” in our minds and our homes. A mental housecleaning would be in order considering the gloom and doom about the economy, the indecision of recession/ depression, and stock market woes. Of all times this is one for decisive action for our mental and spiritual health. For example if you experience anxiety over any of this, affirm, “God is my source. I love and approve of myself and I trust the process of life. I am safe.” An added blessing would be prayers for our world leaders, for the world’s economy, and seeing the world at peace and with its plenty distributed to all its creatures. As we hold on to old ways of thinking such as relying on the stock market, or getting anxious over our 401Ks or whatever outer appearance, we contract our opportunity to experience the flow of the Universe. So it’s time to release the power that these conditions have over us, and affirm, “I am filled with the joy of living, I deserve and accept the very best in life. God and I are enough!”

God loves you, and so do I.
Rev Martha

Prayer for Our World Family

2008-09-14T06:37:00.000-07:00

In Unity we know that prayer is the only activity that changes facts. As I remembered the events of September 11, 2001, I was reminded how far we have come, and how we have remained unchanged. So much prayer work was done during the events and their aftermath! Unity held it's World Day of Prayer on 9/11 this year, so thousands, and perhaps hundreds of thousands joined in prayer on this day, as did we. We held in prayer all those affected by the events, as well as all humankind. There are no expendable people, including those who were responsible for the attacks. We are all God's kids.

So if prayer changes things, how are we doing?

As a world family, we have progressed in that many more households around the world have the internet. This gives access to information and ideas outside the local culture, along with the opportunity to learn what is happening in the rest of the world. It also offers the opportunity for self education and opening of options for problem solving.

We have made tremendous progress in science and medicine. Just this week the unveiling of the particle accelerator is a tremendous completion. This offers scientists the opportunity to experiment with sub-atomic particles as never before. We have mapped the human genome, and developed more treatments and advances in medicine.

These examples are encouraging. Also, the down side must also be considered. In downtown Manhattan there is still a large hole in the ground after 7 years. The subterranian structures are being built, but 7 years is a long time to have a gaping hole. According to news reports, this is the result of unwise decisions and controversy surrounding how to project.

Another example of how things have not changed much is politics. One candidate talks about a message of hope, while the other couches all the messages in terms of war or fighting. Yet both camps seem to have to tell more about the other guy than what he, himself, will do. Friends, we the human race have collectively created this consciousness. We are the ones who have to change it, if we want change. We have to make it possible for politicians to tell the truth. Wouldn't it be a very different, and perhaps refreshing, world if politicians were only allowed to talk about what they will be doing or what they believe? What if they were forbidden to mention the other candidates or the other parties AT ALL? Some would say then we would never hear the dirt. Maybe, but how much of the dirt that is out there now is fact, and how much is made up, or slanted, or has been spun out of proportion?

What if the old adversarial model were to be abandoned in favor of a model of shared wisdom? What if the model encouraged the best outcome for all concerned? What if it were not about win/lose and we could all win? I truly believe that this is not only possible, but that it is our hope for a future.

In prayer and in peace,
Rev. Martha

Pray & Move Your Feet

2008-09-03T05:20:00.000-07:00

In recent weeks the Mosley family has experienced some wonderful demonstrations as a result of praying and then acting on those prayers. One material one is the presence of a new Prius in our garage. It's great to have a new car, AND it's even more special as a demonstration of prayer at work. Not a prayer for things, but prayers for ways to simplify our lives and contribute to the health of the planet at the same time.

The short version, as some of you know, is that we placed our names on lists for a Prius several weeks ago. The waiting list was 8 to 12 months long. On a recent trip to a family reunion, we drove our sedan and took the title along with us. On the return trip we stopped over night. When we left the hotel the next morning we discovered a Toyota dealer right next door. As we entered the driveway, there was a RED PRIUS on display! About three hours later we continued our journey home in the Prius!

What does this have to do with prayer? We asked to simplify our lives and contribute to a healthier planet. We got the suggestion to take the title to our sedan with us. We moved our feet on both issues, and now we go to the gas station about every two weeks, our emissions load is much less, and we feel more ready to drive as needed by our congregation.

Nothing truly belongs to any of us - it's all God. Our work is to use it in service to God in this life experience, as we learn more of who and whose we are. Prayer is not all that we did, or do. We work constantly to get and keep our spiritual house in order. This includes faith, prayer, self examination, forgiveness, and tithing, along with other actions as we are led. We have a deep knowing that all our needs are met as we do our spiritual work, then ask, trust, and move our feet.

Take these thoughts into prayer and see if God will not open the windows of heaven for you.

Rev. Martha

Decision 2008

2008-08-17T06:46:00.000-07:00

Good Morning Friends,

After a vacation it is both good and challenging to get back to one's regular routine. I'm grateful for the days of time away, and now will say some words of encouragement for our decision making of who will be our next president.

We have two men running who could not be more different, and yet, both love the USA, both are dedicated to the health and future of this country, AND both hold very different views of right and wrong, of priorities, indeed of the world. On Saturday, August 16, Rick Warren from Saddleback Church in California interviewed both candidates for an hour each. Saddleback is a large evangelical church founded and led by Warren. He did an excellent job of asking questions that pointed out the differences in the two candidate's positions. If you are able to get a transcript or video copy of the interview, it is well worth one's time to view and review it.

There was to be commentary from CNN following the interviews, but I avoided that. I did not want the media spin on what I had just heard. I wanted to let it sink in to see what I thought before the media told me what I should think.

Never in our history has it been more important to make thoughtful decisions. Never have we had more information available, and more need to study it. Whatever your position on the issues of the day, PLEASE think for yourself. Don't allow anyone to tell you how you should think.

After all, that is what Unity is about. We learn to think for ourselves. We learn to question our answers. We learn that our wisdom comes from within, and it is our means of sorting the information and coming to our own conclusions.

Think, pray, act!
Rev. Martha

An Affirmation and a Tribute

2008-08-05T10:50:00.000-07:00

Ministers are influenced by various things and people. Often by other ministers. A friend whom I met when she began her formal path of training to be a Unity minister includes me in her e-letters. She has written a wonderful affirmation that I pass along at the end of this post. She also is an amazing woman filled with courage, inspiration, and down-to-earth wisdom. She is Ellen Davis, minister at Unity Church of New Hope in Krugerville (Denton) Texas. Thank you, Ellen for being part of my life. Enjoy and let's hold this strongly enough that it manifests!

Enveloped in the healing energy of God's love, the earth and its people are transformed. Love, peace and abundance fill every heart and mind. Our planet is healthy, whole, and at peace.

Rev. Martha

Seen any good ads lately?

2008-08-04T06:12:00.000-07:00

Have you noticed all the political commercials and campaign ads? A better question may be, is it possible to avoid them? Perhaps like me you are already tired of the mud and spin of these ads. While the national ads sling inuendo, they cannot compare with the local ones. One local ad I saw recently talks so much about how terrible the opponent is, I don't even know who the ad was supporting.

Of all times, this is a time to pray - to pray for and with our local, national and international leaders for wisdom, integrity, and a view to the greatest good for humankind. Also, from the Quaker tradition, it's time to pray and move our feet. If you know of a candidate whose integrity and wisdom impresses you, then it's time to work on behalf of that candidate. There has never been a time when prayerful discernment about huge political issues is so desperately needed.

So in a nut shell, do our research, pray, and then move our feet.

Consciousness & Finances

2008-07-16T08:03:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends,

This week's news brought doom and gloom about the US financial institutions. How much thought energy has gone into fear about our retirement accounts, home mortgages, fuel costs, food costs, and so on!!! I'm not pretending that this situation is not real, but putting energy into fear of outcomes does not raise the consciousness of the planet. We MUST put our energy into solutions!!!

This is a prime opportunity to prove our principles and turn it around. Through conscious contact with the One Presence, we claim and know for ourselves and for the planet that there is more than enough! Ideas and substance are everywhere present to solve our situation collectively and individually. We open ourselves to the abundance that IS, waiting for us to step into the flow of the universe.

Blessings of abundance of all good,
Rev. Martha

Independence

2008-07-05T10:28:00.001-07:00

On this holiday weekend I am contemplating the meaning of "independence." Clearly, independence for a nation is desirable, and the US seems to be a model, in some respects, of the value of independence.

What about independence for the individual? Certainly Unity promotes this through our viewpoint of the Christ individualized in each one of us. Are we buying into the myth of the rugged individualist? Yes, it is a myth. The prognosis for an individual cut off from other human beings is rather grim. We are not likely to be able to produce all that we need in the form of food and clothing to survive without the community of humankind.

Care to share your thoughts on the notion of independence?

Prayer for today

2008-07-01T15:31:00.000-07:00

In this now moment we pause and acknowledge the Presence of the One Spirit that indwells us all. It is easy to forget this indwelling Spirit, and to go about our busy lives as if we are on our own. In any moment, we can remember that the One Spirit is always there for us, there within us, always available to us. That Spirit is the matrix out of which we were formed, the stuff of which we are made. We can no more be separated from Spirit than from our own DNA. It is our identity. As we pause and remember this, our hearts are lightened, our muscles relax, and our breathing becomes relaxed and regular. Our attitudes become peaceful and grateful. Let Spirit's light shine generously from us now and always.
Rev. Martha

A Question To Start Things Off

2008-06-30T15:34:00.001-07:00

The following question was received in recent months. This may prompt discussion or other questions.

Do you belive in an after life in heaven, with God?

First, life did not begin with this life experience, and it does not end with leaving this earth-life experience. Life is eternal.

Secondly, God is all good, everywhere present.

So, yes we believe in an after life with God, and a present life with God.

The question of heaven is not part of the above, for we believe heaven is a state of being in the here and now. Heaven is God's abode in that God is present here and now, always available here and now, and heaven is a state of being available to us in God here and now.

Please feel free to e-mail me directly, or call the church at (314) 727-6478. Feel free to check us out - Sunday service is at 10 a.m.

Rev. Martha

About Unity

2008-06-30T06:23:00.000-07:00

Greetings Friends,

As a Unity minister I am often asked what denomination I'm with, or if I'm nondenominational. When I say Unity, the questions continue.

Unity was officially founded in 1889, though the prayer work had been going on for some time. Charles and Myrtle Fillmore cofounded Unity, though they did not set out to found a church. Myrtle began her prayer work for her own healing. Charles' interest was peaked when he saw Myrtle's results. Through the years, we have developed five basic principles upon which we can agree. They are:

* God is everywhere equally present and all good.

* The presence of God dwells within each person.

* Human beings create their experiences by the activity of their thinking. Everything in the manifest realm has its beginnings in thought.

* Prayer and meditation are the direct link with Mind/Heart of God.

* Knowing the Laws of Truth is not enough. A person must live the Truth he/she believes.

My personal journey with Unity began in 1985, and I was ordained a Unity Minister in 1993. My mission is to live and share the truth that I know.