GREAT MORNING BELOVED!

Discover the Power Within You – The Great Abundance

We have been experiencing a wonderful journey as we Discover our power within us.
First, our Great Discovery – that we are both spiritual and human.
Then The Great Decision – to act upon that understanding
Our Great Choice – which thoughts are we most interested in?

And now, this week, The Great Abundance asks us – who and what do we trust?

So, the question is; Do we really believe that we live in an abundant universe? Do we really believe that we are all created in the image and likeness of God, and therefore are inherently good?

If so, do we act that way? Because worry would seem to be the antithesis of that belief.
What do you worry about?

Matthew 6:25-34 tells us about worry: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you-you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

And yet, we do worry…so let’s affirm that we need not waste that energy. Let’s affirm that love should replace worry whenever worry comes into our mind regarding anything.

We cannot worry about something and still send love and light toward it. So, when you feel that urge to send worry emotions towards someone or something, send love instead. Send love to family & friends as they travel. Send love to the politicians in our government as they struggle within themselves to find a common ground. Send love to those who you encounter through your day, that they and you may have a pleasant meeting. Send love and light.

Remember, worry depletes our power by lowering our energy. It sucks the joy out of life, and joy is energizing!

Think about it…how do you feel when you are in a good mood…energized, right? Smiling and looking forward to the day.
Compare that to the last time you were worried about something or someone…low energy, not in a good mood.
Remember, this whole series is all about discovering the POWER within you.
That Power is about the control we all have over our thoughts and feelings.

We are told to Judge not lest ye be judged… how we see things (how we judge them) determines how we react, or respond, and therefore how we are judged. Do you see how this ties into the Great Choice? What thoughts are we letting into our consciousness that will color our choices?

If we see a person or situation as the object of worry, we’re going to show up in a certain way, that is probably less than spacious! And that will affect how we are seen and interacted with.

Jesus taught the laws of living, spiritual laws of self-realization & self-fulfillment. He tells us to lay up our treasures in heaven…’for where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also’

I love this quote, partly because its in Harry Potter too. But mostly because it reminds us again about where our thoughts should be when in comes to material things…including money.
Charles reminds us to “Watch your thought when you are handling money, because your money is attached through your mind to your one source of all substance and all money. When you think of your money, which is visible, as something directly attached to an invisible source that is giving or withholding according to your thought, you have the key to all riches and the reason for all lack.”

The Bible tells us in I Timothy 6:10: “The LOVE of money is the root of all kinds of evil.” Not money. The problem is our attitude about money. SO be grateful when you pay you bills that the source of exchange is available for you.
And we are reminded that evil is just the concealment of good.

Think about that for a second before we move on… evil is just the concealment of good.

Money supports many good and wonderful things…this ministry for example, and all the outreach we do to this community and to the larger Unity community.

And if you think for a minute, I am betting you can think of several, if not many, things that you do for good with your abundance. Just in this community alone, we have people bringing things to share for Fellowship. You all have gifts that you share and that is abundance.

And I am sure you can list many things that you are doing with your abundance outside of Unity too.

Money is a medium of exchange for some of the products we need to survive, but also it is used for supplies that we then turn into products that we share with others…whether is cookies for Fellowship or passing along socks and mittens for the homeless.

This is abundance flowing through you via cookies and socks!

“When you really have faith in God, when you really believe that God is your supply, your security, your help in every need then you will do the wise and discerning thing about your job, your possessions, your investments – but you will think of them only as channels through which your good comes…”

Prosperity is an outer expression of our Christ consciousness. Abundance appears in many forms including health, peace, relationships, and financial stability.

We are being asked to build up a prosperity consciousness, understanding that God is our source of all our supply that flows through many means of exchange, through ideas, but from our inner source of awareness. We must be open to receive, and we must ask!

“Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” ~ Matthew 7:7-8

We’ve mentioned this before, to be willing to receive, to be open to receive, we must be doing our work. Jesus tells us to “Judge not according to appearances but judge righteous judgment.” This means to see people as they can be, not as they are.

And if we are preparing to be able to continue living a good life, we need to ‘be what we can be.’ Are you? Are you being who you are capable of being?

Here’s a great affirmation that we all can use when meeting a person or doing a transaction: I am established in spiritual unity with God and with all people – I express the divinity in me, and I salute the divinity in everyone I meet.”

And by using this affirmation, we are affirming that we serve one Master…God, by any name.

We cannot have a divided house. If we make a god out of our maternal interests – work, investments, possessions-we become a slave to them. All money, all creative work, all wealth become the objectification of divine ideas. They are all channels through which our good comes, not gods to be worshiped.

Remember; wisdom will dictate an orderly handling of our financial affairs, but faith will keep us free from worry and fear.

Success cannot be measures by what we have amassed; only by the level of consciousness we have achieved.
Can you recall the Lesson on the 10 Commandments and “Thou shall not steal”? The item in question that we may be lusting after cannot belong to us if we have not done our work to bring our energy and consciousness up to that energy. Whatever it is….it’s not ours if it’s not in our hands…we are not ready for it.

The good news is, every day gives us a new experience in growth and potentiality…not as a journey from one point to another, but a life eternal, an ongoing process of growth and enlightenment.

“…Seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Mat 6:33)

In Divine Mind, we are perfect, whole beyond sickness, intelligent beyond our imperfection, the Kingdom of Heaven within us is health, wealth, harmony and peace are constant and always ‘sufficient unto today’

Our ’Great Abundance’ is here for us, available to any and all as we place the God of our understanding first and let the guidance flow to and through us as we move through our Journey.

And as far as I am concerned, that is a GREAT BLESSING.

GREAT MORNING BELOVED!

Discover the Power Within You -The Great Practice

Have you discovered what Jesus wanted us to know? That we are divine. Did you make your Decision to recognize that Discovery? And have you now made the Choice to follow our Way-Shower?
If you are sitting in these seats, I’m guessing that you are, at least, contemplating that choice.
So, this morning, we are going to talk about the Great Practice. What is it that you will want to put into practice if you wish to follow these teachings?
The first thing just might be to follow the Law of Nonresistance.
Nonresistance is stronger than resistance; its practice requires more mind capacity than is required for resistance; its appeal is to the divine in you. Resistance centers on detail; nonresistance accepts the generalization.
If you agree where you can agree and refrain from consideration of points that you do not accept, you keep unity with the universe. Agreement is feasible when your mind seeks agreement.

Butterworth states, “One of the saddest things in life is our propensity to use force to get our way…to use a battering ram instead of the key to open doors.”
Nonresistance is taking the practice and spiritual approach in life.

If Jesus’ teachings of nonresistance were universally understood and practiced, maybe we would not have wars, factions, classes or races. We would actually – and finally, be all one.
We would be eliminating the root of our ‘evil’ as Matthew tells us to pluck out our eye if it has a problem seeing the divinity in others… save the rest of your body for the loss of one eye.
He is telling us that our one need in life is to get right, in consciousness, with God; that anything in the way must go.

And this starts with our thoughts, of course. If we root out thoughts of lust, covetousness, envy and greed; we stop the problem before we acquire habits that would eventually destroy our whole life. SO why pay the price?
The Law of Nonresistance also includes running away from problems instead of facing them. Jesus uses the example of men who divorce their wives for very little reason. It must have been a big issue in the Near East at his time.
They would let their wives go and this is one of the reasons many of Jesus’ Sermons were about taking care of women and children.
We forget, all of us, that a problem that we are not facing now, will continue to present itself, maybe in different guises, but it will appear, until we face it and resolve it.
In marriage, we have a chance to discover the great possibilities of our partners and to work together to bring forth those possibilities. “True love is spiritual perception, an insight sensitive to our innate divinity.”
When you hear, “I can’t see what he sees in her” its because it is the perception of love that is a personal revelation. A marriage that is built on that perception is ‘built on a rock’….it will lead to an adjustment of differences and a fulfillment of love.’
Love is a divine energy that begins with God and has no end. We tune into this flow and express the love, light and power that comes with it.

The tendency to escape from challenges is putting off our salvation…whether its marriage, work, our what we are doing to our environment.

Let’s talk about vows…this section of Matthew goes on to tell us the we should not swear an oath to anything…for how can you know from one day to the next how you will feel. There is only the NOW.
“But let your speech be Yea, Yea; Nay, Nay…” not a promise that you may not be able to keep.

Butterworth suggests maybe instead for the marriage vow, “Till death due us part,” we should say we will “Behold the divinity in each other as a possibility and to work together to give releasement to the ‘imprisoned splendor’ which love has perceived.” And then renew this consecration at least annually.
Goethe said that marriage is not a goal in itself, but an opportunity to mature. I can see many relationship types doing that…just thinking of the friends I have now and have had in my life and what they have brought to the table that helped me mature and question myself and grow because and sometimes in spite of their relationship to me.
This all reminds me too, of Charles Fillmore when asked about his beliefs, he would say what they were but then add that he reserved the right to change his mind.
And here we all are, almost all of us not raised in Unity teachings, yet we ‘changed our minds’ and at this time, are choosing to at least look at Unity teachings.
And that would be the ‘unforgivable sin’ (not the unforgivable curse from Harry Potter). Having a closed mind… a mind that is made up, that does not wish to change or even look at any possibility other than what is, right now, at this and every moment.
The point Jesus is making is to keep your mind open. To not make a vow that will hold you to something that will close you off or bind you to something that will keep you away from Spirit.”
“Be receptive to the continuous unfoldment of the Truth in and through you. Give thanks that the life is lived one day at a time, and that every day is a glorious opportunity to be strong, to overcome, to achieve and to be happy.”
That goes for our relationships with others too. Holding a grudge against someone is only showing that we are in a wrong state of consciousness. We are placing manacles upon ourselves and thinking we are making the other pay a price for a perceived wrong doing.

We set ourselves free when we forgive them… and ourselves. Our responsibility is to act the part of our divinity through life. We determine the level of consciousness on which to meet others and how we react or respond to them.
There is always ground for agreement. If you do not find that ground, grant its presence; agree or withdraw in peace….

Here’s and example. A restaurant owner had a policy that any waitress who failed to smile at least once to their customer and got caught, was fired. So, most of the waitresses had forced smiles, of course, …all but one.
She smiled and kept on smiling. She seemed to enjoy smiling. While talking with her she said, at first, she resented the order, mechanical smiles were not fun or normal. Then she realized that after her first smile, all the others were hers, not ordered. She felt rewarded for any smile beyond.
This is part of ‘going an extra mile’…when we go beyond what is required. This is abundant living.
It is when we only do that which is required, we are slaves to that ’required work’.

Much is expected of us because we are well endowed. We are a child of God, create in the image and likeness, possessed of the potential of the Christ indwelling. We are a growing, expanding, evolving, dynamic life-idea in God-Mind. There can never be a limit to God, and thus there can never be a limit to you or I if we get into God-consciousness.

Another practice that we can and should choose is prayer.
Jesus taught a concept of prayer that had nothing to do with the unpredictable God of the Old Testament, who might just as easily decide to curse you as bless you.

However, when we look at current styles of prayer, we still find people employing prayers that beg, bargain, flatter, or are repeated over and over – as though there is a need to help God decide to look favorably upon them. Jesus did not teach that any of these things were necessary in order to reach God.
“Prayer is not something we do to God but to ourselves. It is not a position but a disposition. It is not flattery but a sense of oneness. It is not asking but knowing. It is not words but feeling. It is not will but willingness.”

In other words, the most important component in our prayers is not the words we say but the consciousness which lies behind them. In order for our prayers to be truly effective, they must be more than words we have memorized. They must come from a spiritually centered awareness that knows the Truth of its being and trusts God completely to know its needs without being told. “Prayer is not a way to turn on the light in God, but to turn on the light in you – and God is that light.”
Mary-Alice and Richard Jafolla remind us: “Since the beginning of time, people of all civilizations have prayed. From prayer beads to prayer wheels, from solemn Gregorian chants to foot-stomping gospel music…to the seeker quietly sitting cross-legged atop a mountain, there are as many ways of praying as there are people who pray.”
Prayer in its simplest form is any conscious attempt to experience the presence of God. Prayer is a deliberate activity – one of seeking to recognize our oneness with God, of opening ourselves to the power of God as it moves through us in new and wonderful ways.
Could be here. Could be in your back yard. Could be walking the beach or walking your dog.
Once this presence happens, however, prayer becomes something even more. As our awareness of the presence of God expands, prayer becomes the experience of being part of God, of centering ourselves directly in the creative flow of the universe, of perceiving things not with human eyes or human ears or human minds but from the divinity within us. We pray not to God or for God, as something separate from us, but from that sacred presence which is our very essence.

While historically we may have prayed to a Higher Power outside ourselves, imploring for things and outer changes in our lives, we are now discovering that this Power is omnipresent and dwells within each of us.

“We pray not to God or for God, as something separate from us, but from that sacred presence which is our very essence.”
And thus, Prayer helps us to remember the truth of who we are, and the truth of who everyone is. And in that remembering, we find healing.

The sages have told us: Know the One in your own heart, and then you will understand the heart of each person.
Know the One in your own mind; then you will recognize that One in each person’s mind.
Know the One in your own life; then you will experience that One in everyone else’s life.
When you recognize the divinity within yourself, then that is what you long to see in others; and due to that longing, that is what you are able to see in everyone else.
MEDITATION
There are handouts for those of you who would like these additional items:
I AM nonresistant toward troubling situations. Problems are solved as I listen to and follow my inner guidance. I rejoice in the activity of God’s love to harmonize, to heal, and to restore good in my life and in the world.
I am nonresistant toward appearances of illness or disease. I agree with the life idea and I am made whole and strong.
I am nonresistant toward appearances of lack. I accept the idea that the riches of the universe flow to me and through me.
I am nonresistant toward others. My eyes are opened with understanding. I see the good in them and I find points of agreement with them.
I am nonresistant toward world conditions. I see the outworking of peace and love among all people. Unity in oneness is being established everywhere.
I give thanks for my ability to be nonresistant, to be a peacemaker, to be a giver and receiver of the joys and blessings of God, our Father.

GREAT Morning Beloved!

Discover the Power Within You -The Great Choice

This weeks’ selection from “Discover the Power Within You” is so full of wonderful information, I could probably make many Lessons from it. But we are working our way toward Palm Sunday, so, maybe another time.

So, let’s start with a question or two…and you know I love a good question…What’s your attitude? What thoughts, things, ideas are you most interested in?
Do you even know?

Well, we ARE discussing Jesus’ ministry and when we want to know what someone believes, we often look at what their philosophy is, and so it’s a good idea to study their speeches.

To understand the philosophy of Jesus, we only need look at his Sermon on the Mount. This is the only sermon that Jesus gave that was written down, and it is possible that it was actually prepared, because it is well detailed & organized.

Why is this 8-verse prose/poem so important? Because it is a general summation of what Jesus is about…what he was trying to present to the people during his ministry.

We’re talking about the religion OF Jesus, not ABOUT Jesus. This version of Christianity is a transforming guide, not telling us what to do & not do, as in the Hebrew Bible, the ‘old’ testament; “Thou shall not…Thou shall” but showing us how to be, how to think.

The Beatitudes are a series of attitudes of being, states of mind…not theology but simple, direct teachings
They begin with blessed—to bless is to confer prosperity upon, to enrich.

You will be Blessed if you “condition your mind to the full acceptance of these attitudes…it is all the good that will come to you if you understand & live by these attitudes of BEING”

Let’s look at the Beatitudes and look at them from a different view:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. This is asking us to set aside our habits of thought, our views and prejudices, to release anything that can stand in the way of finding God.

Butterworth re-states it this way:
I am open and receptive to the inflow and the outpouring of all there is in God.

Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Many people will not bother to learn the Truth until driven to do so by sorrow or failure. Sooner or later we all will discover the Truth about God…some of us must be driven to do so. This speaks of our ‘spiritual 2×4’s….we all have had them to some degree, me included.

Butterworth’s version:
I am grateful for challenges that lead me beyond my extremity to God’s opportunity.
(Sometimes I don’t feel very grateful at the time my ‘growth opportunities’ are presenting themselves!)

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. This is the Key to Life-Jesus’ message reduced to 1 sentence; earth here means manifestation of expression, it is the result of a cause. A cause has to be manifested or expressed before we can know anything about it. This is the Law of Cause & Effect…all causation is mental. So here this means to have dominion over the outer experience, over our conditions of life bringing them into harmony & success.

Butterworth’s version:
I am in tune with God – that which is God-inspired and God-directed shall prevail.

Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Righteousness – right thinking on all subjects, what you think in your mind you will produce in your experience…as within, so without. And we can only act where we are, so BE present!

Butterworth’s says it this way:
I seek with all my mind and heart, and I shall find.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Be merciful in thought, you will receive the same treatment that you mete out—do onto others; think onto others.

The Butterworth’s version:
I keep my thoughts centered upon only those things that I want to see manifest in my life.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. God is all around us, recognize God as the only Cause, only real Presence, only Power….Our 1st Principle.

Butterworth’s version:
I see the world, not as it is, but as I am, and I am in spiritual unity with God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons and daughters of God. Prayer is the only thing that changes one’s character, peacemakers are those who bring true peace in their own souls. As long as there is fear or resentment or any trouble in your heart, it is not possible to obtain much.

The word ‘Man’ comes from a Sanskrit word meaning ‘to think’….that is what these Beatitudes are all about…what and how we think.

I like this…
I am a child of God and I act like one. I am a radiating center of peace and love.
(peace begins with me)

Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. God’s will for us is harmony, peace & joy…these are obtained via right thoughts=righteousness; we ‘persecute ourselves’ via those same thoughts. We are not punished for our sins, our mistakes; but by them…
Butterworth’s version:
In my quest for truth, I press on past my humanity to a deepening awareness and an increasing releasement of my potential divinity.
What we get out of a situation is a direct result of our thoughts as we go through it.

Epictetus (epic teetus said: “It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”

Charles Fillmore reminds us: “God’s greatest gift to (hu)man(s) is the power of thought, through which (we) can incorporate into (our) consciousness the mind of God,”

‘Ye are the salt of the earth‘, we determine what our world is like, we flavor it like salt flavors our food. It only takes a handful of dedicated disciples to change the consciousness of the world, the flavor….we have seen this swing the opposite way with the nationalist movements throughout the world

But we can do our part to flavor our world. Jesus tells us to:
“Agree with thine adversary quickly”, remembering that the adversary is not the person or situation that stands before you, but your reaction to or your feeling about it… We can’t always control what happens to us. But we can control what we think about what happens – and what we are thinking is our life at any particular moment.” This is part of our ‘free will…we have a choice…always!
We can ask – “Is this event for us?”

Not ‘why is this happening to me, but what can I learn?’

Think of a time when you found yourself in the drama or an adversarial situation and were able to change your perception and experience a state of peace. It’s proof that YOU CAN DO IT!

“Thoughts and feelings held in mind produce after their kind.” This is the Law of Mind Action, or Unity’s Third Principle.

How does this apply to this week’s topic? Do our thoughts “create” our reality, or does how we see our reality create our experience?

The glass isn’t half full or half empty… the glass is refillable.
“Blame is not useful. Polarization is not useful. Bitterness and negativity are not useful. What’s useful in these perilous times is deep thought and dialogue. What’s useful is a willingness to speak from our hearts, to say out loud what we hunger for, what we’re willing to live for, and what it is we can no longer abide.”

— Jan Phillips in No Ordinary Time

Emmet Fox -we “must make each and every day a spiritual Sabbath by knowing and doing all things in a spiritual light.”

This is what we do here…show you to YOUR LIGHT. I am here to call you higher…to ask you to think.
All day long the thoughts that occupy your mind are molding your destiny for good or not; the whole of your life experience is but the outer expression of inner thought.
That choice, our free will, lies in our choice of thought – our lives are the result
I know there are some here who have an issue with the Bible; but we at Unity look at it as a manual for the growth of the soul, especially when we look at it through the eyes of metaphysics.
We are told in Proverbs 4:7 “With all thy getting, get understanding”
That is what Eric Butterworth is attempting to aid us in his ‘breaking down the law’ as Jesus is asking us to do in this Sermon, so we can shine our light
‘We are the light of the world’ so let your light shine…let your spirituality show.
Put feet to your prayers
Mahatma Gandhi tells us: “To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest.”

We are the activity of God, if we do not do as we claim we believe, then that God activity dies.
So, let your light shine. “What you are speaks so loudly that one cannot hear what you say” … Emerson

GREAT Morning Beloved!!

Discover the Power Within You – The Great Decision

Last week we talked about the great discovery, made by Jesus, that we are both human and divine. Or as the quotes by an unknown author wrote: “Know this, O Man, sole root of sin in thee is not to know thine own divinity!”
Why would our Creator do that…hide our divinity? I’ve wondered about that…have you? Can you think of any reasons that we would have to experience life, ……that we would have to go through the ‘growth opportunities’ that meet us along our path?

What is the reason?

Can you recall that we have ‘free choice’? Yes…we choose what is going to happen in our lives. We are the masters of our fate.

That’s heavy.

And those ‘growth opportunities’ are there to help us grow, sometimes MAKE us grow!

And we need to do that. We are here to experience life, which can be heaven, or it can be hell…. we choose.
But as we grow, awaken, reach into our divinity, we experience more heaven than hell…. right?

And we have help to experience more heaven…we forget that sometimes. We don’t even consider it a true possibility that there is help for us sometimes. And yet, there is. And as we become more open to that, more accepting, we more forward on that path, that journey.

So, with the Discovery that we are divine, this morning we want to discuss the Great Decision.
And what is the Great Decision? Let’s see….

I have mentioned before, one of my mentors use to say the we all have an ‘urge’ to discover our connection to God, no matter where we are on the spiral, moving ever forward towards complete enlightenment.

And scientists have hypothesized that human spirituality is influenced by heredity and that a specific gene, called vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2), predisposes us towards spiritual or mystic experience.

That gene, that ‘urge’ is what leads us to at least ponder our Great Decision.

Paul wrote: “Be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2)

How often do we fall back on the belief, “I’m only human” and then move forward with a questionable act? Businesses that do things because ‘that’s the way things are if you want to be competitive’ or we hear of athletes bending the rules to get faster, stronger?

And you & I, what have we done that maybe we wish we could take back?

These are examples of conforming to the world.

But we know now that they were not ‘sins’ as we have been told, but mistakes, we missed the mark and now know more about our Truth. Now we know we are Divine.

And that Great Discovery brings us to the choice we need make if we wish to follow the Master…our Way-shower.

So, our Great Decision is to do that. To make that choice.

Jesus said, “Ye shall know the Truth and the Truth shall set you free.” (John 8:32)

And the freedom is the “inward motivation to tame the raw spiritual power that is within us, to harness our divine potential, and to move in the direction of our highest good.”

The way to do this renewing of our mind is the realization and the unfoldment of our own innate divinity. That means; for most, a radical and permanent change for the better in our own consciousness. Only by a change in consciousness can the outer conditions be altered.

Butterworth says this: “But you must still make that great decision to affirm your unity with the Infinite. You must still believe that I AM, and then work tirelessly to act the part. You must claim your freedom, realizing that it does not mean doing what you like, but becoming what you should.”

How do we become what we should? How do we demonstrate our divinity in the world?

Whether you call it “living within the license of a higher order of beings” or “changing the formula to get a different result”, the message is the same. We are called to recognize that we are more than we think, and therefore, we are capable of more than we think we are.

Butterworth explains this well when stating: “When we know the Truth of this great spiritual potential within us which Jesus called the Kingdom of God within, we are free to become our unlimited self, free to do unlimited things. We see things in a different light, we react to a different set of principles, we draw upon a higher potential, a potential that has always been within us, which has always really been us.”

What Jesus was showing us was a way to live a spiritual life every moment of every day. We can make the same decision as Jesus did, to live our lives as spiritual beings. This is Eric Butterworth’s “great decision” and it can radically change our world.

So back to the question of how do we do that? We’re doing it here this morning. Our times together help us to remember who we are, and what we’re capable of.

“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame with in us.” – Albert Schweitzer

We try to do that each week as we gather for Service and Fellowship.

And, who we are and what we’re capable of can’t stay here, in this building, if we truly want to make a difference.
“We will never change the world by just going to church. We will only change it by being the church.” – Clergy Coaching Network

What does it mean to “be the church”?

What does our opening statement say…?

We affirm that each person is a beloved child of God. Each person is here for a special reason and purpose. When we do that which is ours to do, we make a positive difference in the world.

When we do that which is ours to do…that is the Great Decision…doing what is ours to do. If we are true Christians, we are following WHAT JESUS TAUGHT.

Have you figured what is yours to do yet? Do you know how to make a difference here, at Unity?

Think about the times I remind us all what we do when we walk out that door. How do we interact with the humanity we encounter? With patience and at the very least caring? Or do we lose it as soon as we encounter an impatient driver? Or an upset spouse or partner?

And how do we interact with the creatures that share this wonderful blue marble whirling around in the cosmos? Are we gentle with them? Do we have compassion where we are able? Do we thank them that provide our sustenance?

We may think we can’t change…but we can. We can do what we truly want.

“You’re not stuck. You’re just committed to certain patterns of behavior because they helped you in the past. Now those behaviors have become more harmful than helpful. The reason why you can’t move forward is because you keep applying an old formula to a new level in your life. Change the formula to get a different result.” – Emily Maroutian

Are you stuck in a pattern? Are you ready to change that pattern? Make the Great Decision.