Good Morning Beloved!

A cowboy lay sprawled across three entire seats in the posh Amarillo Theater. When the usher came by and noticed this, he whispered to the cowboy, “Sorry, sir, but you’re only allowed one seat.”

The cowboy groaned but didn’t budge. The usher became more impatient:

“Sir, if you don’t get up from there I’m going to have to call the manager.”

Once again, the cowboy just groaned.

The usher marched briskly back up the aisle, and in a moment he returned with the manager. Together the two of them tried repeatedly to move the cowboy, but with no success.

Finally they summoned the police. The Texas Ranger surveyed the situation briefly then asked, “All right buddy what’s your name?”

“Fred,” the cowboy moaned.

“Where ya from, Fred?” asked the Ranger.

With terrible pain in his voice, and without moving a muscle, Fred replied, “the balcony.”

“Look Where We’ve Come”

A year ago, tomorrow, August 3^rd, many of us met here, in the smaller room, to continue a journey. That journey started many years ago, for some of us, and for others, maybe it stared a few days before blessing us with your presence.

Either way, we gathered together to continue a journey that was Divinely Ordered. We were meant to be there on that Sunday, just as we are meant to be here, today.

Many people ask, when they first hear the word Unity – what is it? A church? A center? Is it Christian? A cult? Or what????

Unity IS based on the teachings of Jesus, often referred to as the CHRIST, so, in that sense it is Christian, but we like to say, Practical Christianity. Why? Because we like to think our teachings help us to live a life following the teachings of Jesus…not worshiping him. We look at Jesus as a teacher, someone who showed us how we could connect with our Higher Self, and live our lives through that connection.

That sets us apart from traditional Christianity teaching because we do not believe in much the negative teachings of hell, and damnation and original sin. So, often you will not see the term ‘church’ used, but instead Center, Temple, Society, if anything at all.

Unity emphasizes the belief that God is good, God is love. Therefore, God’s will for you is good—happiness, health, supply, whatever contributes to your growth and unfoldment.

Unity emphasizes God’s impersonal aspect, God as principle. There are no favorites…or we ALL are favorites!

Above all, Unity emphasizes the belief that God is within you. You have a divine potential.

Unity does not demand that you subscribe to a creed.

Unity does not ask whether you are a member of some particular religious organization.

Unity does not require you to perform certain rites and practices.

In all these matters, it leaves you free.

This is one of the great characteristics of Unity. It leaves people free to practice their spirituality at whatever level they have come up to, and to do whatever they feel is right and necessary to establish their own right relationship with their God.

Unity crosses all religious bodies, all denominations. It does this not as a separating, divisive force, but as a harmonizing, strengthening spirit. The work of Unity—its Spiritual activity as an organization—is done with no regard to sect or denomination.

It started as a continuation of the Sunday morning discussions, often held Sunday afternoon or later during the week.

The ministry of Unity is one of prayer. Its prayer work is centered in Silent Unity.

Unity is as much an attitude as an idea. We do not say, “Here is a creed, you must subscribe to it.” Instead it says, “Here are ideas that we feel are true about God, about yourself, about life. If you feel that any of these ideas are acceptable and useful, then use them.”

We do not offer teachings as final truths that you must accept or be lost. We offer teachings as a set of directions that will help you to find your way. And it is YOUR way.

Unity is the church spiritual, the church of the individual, growing, seeking, unfolding, becoming what he or she is meant to be.

It was not founded to separate people into another body, bounded by religious laws, doctrines, practices, and rituals. It was founded on the notion that God is within you, and therefore your purpose in life is to express your divine potential. Everything Unity has done as an organization, it has done to help you achieve this purpose. It accepts you where you are and for what you are, and it helps you become the child of God you were born to be.

To help you to do this, Unity will pray with you, and will teach you.

Unity may be a church, but a new and different kind of church. It has teachings, but not a creed.

It is more a week-day application of spiritual principles to daily problems than it is a Sunday service.

It is more a movement than a body of believers. Those who study its teachings jokingly call themselves Unitics

The name says it all – UNITY. This name leaves no one out.

Unity started for me, officially, you could say, in the early 90’s when I met Darla. She was and has been a Unitic for many years. And she started talking about Unity’s ideas to me and they were in sync with much of what I had been thinking and discovering as I journeyed searching for where I fit, spiritually.

The friendship with Darla and her partner O’Neal grew and we have been good friends since. One day, sitting on their deck, on the Indian River Bay, after I had become a student of Unity and was working on becoming licensed, we said, “The energy here is so ready for a Unity.” And someone said, well when you are licensed, you should start one.

And, that, folks, is how we got here…that and a whole lot of work from a great couple of hands full of people.

So, stand, please, those of you who helped to start URB (Darla, O’Neal, Terry, Rose, Barbara, Susan who help in the very beginning….and Chuck, Marian, Carol who stepped into leadership …and the volunteers, if you helped in any way….Sharon, Annette, Holly, Jim, Bonnie, Marcia, Greg, Kim, Luke, did you bring food for Fellowship? Stand, did you help set up or clean up, stand, did you contribute to the service – Andrea, stand)

See everyone standing, they are URB. We all are URB. And we all make it or break it.

This Community of Unitics is on the forefront of a great Spiritual movement, we are living examples of what Jesus meant when he said, these things and even greater will you do….

Give yourselves a round of applause!