Keep A True Lent

 

We have discovered that we can look at the time between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday as a preparation time for us.  But preparation for what?  That depends on you.

 

As you looked at where you were on your journey at age 40 or there about, what did you find?  Was there anything significant about that age for you?

 

If you look at where you were at age 40 and where you are today, that may give you an idea of what foundation you were building or maybe what you completed at that time in your life.  That’s the metaphysical meaning of the number 40. And that is what we want you to look at during this Lent Season….at least one of the things.

 

We also want to check our consciousness.  Is there any ‘spring cleaning’ that could be done?  We all probably have some of that to do.  A mental housecleaning.

 

We go layer by layer, through all the years of build-up; the domestication we have lived with, the attitudes and ideas we picked up along the way that might not agree with who we are today.

We ask ourselves, “Does this serve my highest good?”

 

And just when you think you have cleared your layers away, you find another!  But all things are resolved with the Divine.  And, together, we find a way to move along our chosen path.

 

Here’s a comment on cleaning our house of consciousness by Tony Jackson LUT I went to class with at Unity Village:

 

 

I’m feeling very satisfied about the thorough cleaning of my house of consciousness, ready to host exciting new opportunities into my life. But alas, hours later I see a layer of dust and grime has settled in and made my house inhospitable. Time and again this inexplicable occurrence has frustrated me until today when I realized that the inlet filters have been clogged with old contaminates that keep me in struggle. Like the unseen particulate matter of dust, each thought is unnoticed until over time its cumulative affect clouds my purpose and true meaning. Like that filter, I must change my belief filters to new filters that allow fresh new meanings to enter my house and allow the joyous fulfillment of my desires to be entertained. Now that I am finally aware of the cause that has been cloaked for so long, I can tell my thoughts, ” I’m watching you.” This is the most powerful tool I have, the mindful awareness of the truth that empowers me to transform my house into a garden of joy. I am particularly effective when I notice the immediate thoughts after an occurrence or idea. Filter out the lies with denial and allow truth with an affirmative and appreciate yes!

 

That’s what Charles Fillmore has asked us to do, to ‘fast’ from negative thoughts and deeds.  And maybe do some forgiveness work too.  And with true fasting from negative thoughts and actions, we often find that we have made a change for the good in our lives.

 

It’s not as if we can go back to the attitude or belief that we were fasting from…we aren’t going to start lying as if we gave it up for lent like giving up chocolate and then having a bite on Easter Sunday.  No, when we make an effort to release a habit or belief that does not serve our journey, after 40 days, we often have let it go for good.

 

Then last week Charles asked us to be more understanding of the variety we have in this manifestation we are experiencing as humankind.  We all have a different idea of what the various concepts would mean to us.  Variety is abounding and part of our abundance.  We are all loved and sacred in the Divine, One Mind.

 

We were reminded to use our 12 Powers to aid us as we make our choices through this physical life.  Being mindful of those powers, we can discern what is best for each of us.  Those Powers are Will, Understanding, Imagination, Love, Wisdom, Order, Life, Faith, Enthusiasm, Power, Strength and Release.

 

And we once again reminded everyone to watch your words.  I AM.  Powerful words. Creative words.  When used to make a positive affirmation, they possess immense potential to alter our lives for the better.  And those two words can alter lives in the negative too, so think before you speak and watch what you think.

 

So, this week we want to look at our Conscious.  Charles states that we all have a divine goodness; it is the root of all existence.  He says, “no man is so lowly but at the touch of its secret spring this divine goodness may be brought to light within him.”

 

We are all made of Divine Spirit.  We just haven’t accepted that fully yet.

 

Some of us try to stifle this good, but it is in the recesses of every mind and comes forth, sometimes when we least expect.  It is The Law of Universal Balance:  The Equilibrium of Being.

We have often been fooled into believing that we can do things that are not in harmony with goodness and escape the consequences.  I’ve done it.  And paid too.  I remind us all, we are not punished by our errors, but by the consequences of them.

Think on that a moment.

 

 

Charles states, “A man and his conscience are good friends as long as the way is smooth, but when it grows rugged, they fall out.”

 

Those were the times we often went blindly through life, but experience is a very dear, sometimes expensive teacher, is it not?

 

That’s when we often review what we are doing with our life and, hopefully, start to make positive changes.

 

Then, we make our amends, ask for forgiveness, start looking within, change our thinking, change our friends too sometimes.  We look and are open for a better way.

 

And sometimes, we come here, to Unity and find a home and peace, and friendship and love.

 

I would like to think it is us following the guidance of Spirit that dwells within each of us that brings us here, and following Spirit is a much easier path.

 

Remembering that God is everywhere present and all-knowing, so we can take that advice instead of stepping out on our own,

 

And Charles reminds us to let our ‘yeahs be yeahs and our nays be nays.’  In other words, less talk and more action.  Let your work speak for itself.”  We see that in action with our volunteers.

 

We are reminded that God is Principle and the Christ ideal is the idea of principle as it is brought into creation.  We are that creation on its way to the perfect expression of our Highest Self.  Each of us, in our own special way, expressing as the Christ.

 

Charles reminds us that we must act with God, for to act without that Spiritual knowing is our step toward separation.  When we THINK we can do life, without God’s guidance and wisdom, that is our first step in ‘the fall of humankind.’

 

This is our ‘eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.’

 

We have within all the potential of Being, of God.  We forget, maybe get a little cocky, thinking we can do ‘life’ without the Divine.  This is where we sometimes Edge God Out-let ego get in the way.

Think of the Tower of Babel…they thought they could build a Tower to God, but not with God’s guidance and wisdom.  So, they were sent away in many directions throughout the lands with many new languages so they couldn’t conspire again.  They had to work from within.

 

 

Some people believe it was a good thing, our stepping out and ‘testing the waters’ so to speak.  Because it started us on the journey to know ourselves and that leads us to know our Creator.

 

A Sioux creation story says that long ago the Creator gathered all of Creation and said, “I want to hide something from the humans until they are ready for it. It is the realization that they create their own reality.” The eagle said, “Give it to me, I will take it to the moon.” The Creator said, “No. One day they will go there and find it.” The salmon said, “I will bury it on the bottom of the ocean.” “No. They will go there too.” The buffalo said, “I will bury it on the Great Plains.” The Creator said, “They will cut into the skin of the Earth and find it even there.” Grandmother Mole, who lives in the breast of Mother Earth, and who has no physical eyes but sees with spiritual eyes, said, “Put it inside of them.” And the Creator said, “It is done.”

 

 

 

Our journey begins within and continues within.

 

 

Charles puts it this way, we are Being in miniature.  We have all the powers available that God does.

 

Again, what you place behind the creative words, I AM is how we make our world.

 

This is our greatest strength, and also our greatest weakness.

 

When we take that I and make it my and mine is where we err.  When we do not include God in all our thoughts and acts, we fail to manifest as we wish, as God would have us succeed.

 

Charles tells us that “Man is just as undefinable as God”

 

The “I” within you is as great a mystery as the infinite “I”. You are just as a great mystery to yourself as you are to others.  You do not conceive of all of your possibilities.

 

Unity tells us that we are children of God and therefore are good and only good.  We are made in the image and likeness of our Creator.

 

Therefore, it is our responsibility to know ourselves and to step forth with the Truth of our Being.  Made in the IMAGE AND LIKENESS….

 

 

We are reminded in “Keep a True Lent:  “The Spirit of Wisdom is right now a part of the consciousness of everyone.  It is in you and about you, and you will come into conscious relations with it when you believe on it and its powers.  If you ignore it, and thereby deny that it exists in you and for you, you remain in the darkness of ignorance.  It is exactly as if a man lived in the basement of a large house and refused to go upstairs, declaring that because the upper rooms did no come down to him, they were not there.”

 

Until we rewire our brain to see things differently than our brain is letting us see now there will be no change.

 

We believe we are spiritual beings, created in God’s image. The spirit of God lives within each person; therefore, all people are inherently good.

 

We are perfect because we are of God and God is perfect.

 

We must ‘detach our “I” from our consciousness and attach it to our Christ consciousness.  We must connect with our Buddha nature and rest there in that peace.  We must gather around the Goddess of Wisdom and learn the ways of the Divine Universe.

 

That is what this Lenten journey is all about.