Good Morning Beloved!

 

A couple were in a busy shopping center just before Christmas.

The husband wandered off as she was standing in line, saying something about being back in a little bit. After getting through the line, the husband wasn’t back yet and since they still had more shopping to do, the wife called him on the cellphone.

The wife said, “Where are you?”

He said, “You remember the jewelers we went into about 10 years ago, and you fell in love with that diamond necklace? I couldn’t afford it at the time, and I said that one day I would get it for you.”

Tears started to flow down her cheeks and she got all choked up. “Yes, I do remember that shop”, she replied.

“I’m in the bar next to that.”

 

 

Keys to the Kingdom – pt 1.

 

This week we start our first ‘official’ Prosperity program. Last year we did take a Sunday each month and talk about the prosperity thought for the month and we linked it to one of the 12 Powers.

And if you look on the website, Darla, has the Power for the month and all the information that goes with it. And I will use the information from time to time in our lessons this year.

Many Unity Centers and Churches provide a Prosperity class in the beginning of the year as a way to get us motivated…get our blood boiling, as it were, into the new year.

We just went through the Burning Bowl and released those things, thoughts, maybe people, that no longer serve us.

Last week we opened our hearts and minds to Love and Light and received a new name or word that will be our guide through the coming months.

So now we are ready to start working on those things we wish to see in the next year. Things we brought to the forefront last week. Was it a new job? Maybe greater understanding of your purpose in this lifetime? Maybe it is greater health? Becoming clean and sober? Or finally getting the job that YOU want? Maybe it’s finding that perfect partner…

I found this definition – true prosperity is the power to satisfy our needs and make our dreams come true.

A prosperity mentality is part of what helps us manifest those things and relationships that we long for.

The goal is oneness with God, nothing more, nothing less. The idea is not to aim for healing or prosperity or better relationships or any of the other “things” – deserved as they may be, since their seeming absence is merely a symptom of a deeper problem; a straying from the path. Rather, the goal is the experience of the presence of God in us and I our daily lives.

Here’s an example of perspective regarding prosperity…

Through the eyes of a child

“One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live.

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, ‘How was the trip?’

’It was great, Dad.’

‘Did you see how poor people live,’ the father asked.

‘Oh yeah,’ said the son.

‘So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip,’ asked the father.

The son answered: ‘I saw that we have one dog and they had four.’

‘We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.’

’We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.’

‘Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.’

‘We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.’

‘We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.’

‘We buy our food, but they grow theirs.’

‘We have walls around our property to protect us; they have friends to protect them.’

The boy’s father was speechless.

Then his son added, ‘Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are.’”

 

I hear a hint of gratitude in that simple statement.

And we have noted many times that prosperity – abundance, is not money. Oh it includes money. But it is so much more. Energy comes in many forms, and that is really what it is about. And energy cannot be destroyed…changed yes, destroyed – no.

“The Keys to the Kingdom – an advanced course in prosperity consciousness building” is a course developed by David Owen Ritz. We will follow along each week, but the main focus of the program will be presented in the class. That starts this Wednesday at 6:30 and will be a 7-week class. This is the last chance to sign up.

Each week has a Key. They are 1. Make the Commitment, 2. Hold the Vision, 3. Build a New Awareness, 4. Make Room for the New, 5. Let Go of the Past, 6. Count the Blessings, 7. Live in the Flow.

This week we will take our own look at the 1^st Key…Make the Commitment.

So, why do you think David called his course Keys to the Kingdom?

My thought is “It is Gods good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.” And what do we need to do to receive God’s gift? “Seek first the Kingdom.”

I found this on-line- A life that reflects the quality of true abundance is a life spent pursuing a greater awareness of the God of our understanding and our true spiritual nature.

So what would you wish your life to be like?

Let’s take a few moments… and now send those energies out to the ethers.

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And we Bless those prayers, this or something better – and so it is.

 

SO what is the next step to manifesting those dreams.

MAKE THE COMMITMENT! Now is the time!

There it is – the big C…..commitment. Lots of people have an issue with the word and what it means to them. So, ask yourself, what does it mean to you?

Let’s hear some responses….

Well, to me it means getting bulletins ready and inserts and figuring out what to put in them! And working with Marian and Greg for music. And making sure that all the organizing is done so everything runs as smoothly as possible for our Celebration Service. And then there’s all the behind the scenes stuff. And of course, the Lesson.

And I am committed to my girls…the little fluffy ones who are needing extra care as the get older, one even more so with her being blind and deaf. And even tho I am allergic, I am committed to feeding and trying to keep the feral cats and kittens around my home safe.

Of course I am committed to my family back in PA. I try to see them as I can get away and I call Mom every day.

I am committed to my classes and my friends here and in PA.

And committed, to me means when I say I am going to do something, I am there, unless something happens to keep me away, and then I call and give my apologies.

Even after the accident spring a year ago, going home to visit family, believe it or not, I called from the ambulance to let my sister know I was going to miss lunch with Mom! I think the paramedics were thinking, what’s with this person…she’s bleeding, has broken bones and who knows what else, and all she worries about is canceling a lunch date and making sure her dogs were going to be taken care of a bit longer than planned!

Commitment. You say you are going to do something and you do it. It’s an integrity thing to me.

Eric Butterworth, the Unity minister and author has written, “If you want routine living to become abundant living, you must give more.”

Going the extra mile sometimes is what is needed. You know, as the Jews were required to carry the Roman burdens for a mile; Jesus suggests going the extra mile to break away from the ‘slavery mentality.’ Going beyond what is required sets your own standards.

Think about it….

So, Monday we had 11 people signed up to do the coloring meditation. Coloring is a very relaxing thing and we had a beautiful evening. Only thing was, 4 people came. If we would have known that we only needed space for 4 people we would have held the meditation in a space that didn’t cost $25 an hour.

My little aside here is this, see how important it is to commit when you say you are going to do something, when people are counting on you?

Commitment means you are taking ownership of something. It might be a cause, like committing to being there when MERR calls about a stranded seal. Or meeting someone who needs a helping hand. Or fostering a dog or cat when asked.

Or volunteering at Unity, YOUR Spiritual Community. We have mentioned this before…taking ownership of YOUR Unity. And we say it at the beginning of each Service…doing what is mine to do.

 

David Owen Ritz says we look at how we think about the things we want and need wrong. Worry and negative thought affirm lack mentality and limitation rather than abundance. So if we are fearful of committing to doing something or if we think it’s ok to not show up when we say we will be there, we are out of alignment.

We need to move in alignment with the natural flow of creation.

How do we do that? By seeking the Kingdom, that divine connection we talk about every Sunday when we ring the chime and light the Heart candle, the Christ candle.

In 1^st Corinthians Paul talks about this, saying if we are still ‘worldly’, that is with envy, strife and divisions, we are not discerning the way of the Christ.

But what do you do about that connection after the Sunday Lesson? What is your day or week like after Service?

This is where the commitment comes in. This is where choice enters our lives. We are given choice, free will. That freedom to choose what we wish to do, say, think….BE.

What are you doing with your free will?

Are you BEING the person you wish to be?

Where are your thoughts today? How do they change when you leave here?

Being committed to your Spiritual Growth is probably the most important commitment you can make. It means that you are ‘seeking the Kingdom first’ as we are asked to do in the teaching of our Wayshower, Jesus.

How do we seek the kingdom? I truly believe a huge part of that journey is self- discovery. What makes you, you? Eric Butterworth says in “Discover the Power Within” – ‘Your knowledge of the Truth must first of all lead to self-knowledge.’

Who are you really, behind all the walls we put up and the domestications we have learned through our years? Do you know?

People come to Unity and say “It feels as if I came home.” And maybe we have. A real home to a place where we can feel safe enough to say who we are, and what we want truly in our lives.

About 15 years ago, I make a commitment to myself and to the God of MY understanding, that I would seek the Kingdom, inside me, using learning about Unity principles and about metaphysics and that leads to learning about Sandy. I started going through the layers of domestication and hurts and boundaries that we all put up, and I am still at it.

But you know, it feels good. I’m liking the person I am becoming…

 

Are you liking you?

Meditation…