GREAT MORNING BELOVED!!!
“The Wizard of Oz Summer Series” – ‘Follow the yellow brick road’

Here we are, week three in on our Journey following the Yellow Brick Road into Oz. What are your thoughts so far? Is it a comfortable journey for you? Or have you struggled a bit like Dorothy? Maybe you relate to Glinda, the Good Witch of the North? Or one of the Munchkins? Hopefully not Miss Gulch!! Though even SHE has some lessons for us, right?
The Munchkins lead us onto the Yellow Brick Road to follow Dorothy’s and OUR True Nature, to embrace our True Self.
Their mantra, “Follow the Yellow Brick Road” is easy for us to chant along with Dorothy.

And why are we looking at this old book and movie for inspiration? William Bausch tells us in his book, “The Yellow Brick Road; A Storytellers Approach to the Spiritual Journey” that ‘stories try to make sense of the journey itself.’

Stories help to explain some of the ‘wonderful and terrible things’ that happen in life.

Think about your own stories….don’t they tell about your life? Maybe it’s time to write a new story….just saying.
The journey itself has a goal, a story says more than words, helping that journey along.
Pg 5-6

We know the Universe is composed of pure energy. When we are in harmony with the infinite creative intelligence of this Universe, we have connected with the Oneness of the cosmos.

The Munchkin’s mantra, “Follow the Yellow Brick Road” lead Dorothy & Toto on their way to connect with the Tao, that creative force we know as Spirit, God, Universe, Cosmos…the WAY, the Path, the way to creative intelligence.
Our one intention doesn’t change: to be a light of God expressing. This light encompasses love, joy, peace, compassion, and generosity of spirit—all present within all of us.

“When you align yourself with the Tao, you align yourself with the infinite potential of the universe.”

And the nice thing is, this is something you don’t have to work at, you already ARE aligned when you ALLOW your mind to function freely and naturally….you go with the flow.

As the Zen poem by Seng-ts states:
‘Follow your nature and accord with the Tao;
Saunter along and stop worrying.’

The question about whether Dorothy is a good witch, or a bad witch comes with some discriminatory language – are all witches ugly? And by who’s standard?

The fact that Glinda asks Dorothy if she is a good or bad witch, I think, questions Glinda’s integrity. Do the people of Oz base everyone’s character on beauty?

Or is Glinda planting seeds in Dorothy’s young mind about HER integrity?

It’s like we have heard people say, ‘get ‘em while they are young’ meaning that’s when their minds are ready for seeds of wisdom to rely on later in life.

If you have those opportunities with young people, tread wisely.

Dorothy is traveling the yellow brick road searching for something she never lost – her True Self.

And we all have done that too: we’ve gone here & there looking for something to give us peace….yet we didn’t think to look within, maybe until recently, unless you found the wisdom early on…lucky you!

All Dorothy needs is the brains, the heart, and the courage to let go and trust her natural instincts. And we know that choosing which way to go doesn’t matter, because all roads lead to self-actualization, to God, to Spirit.

Our choices aren’t as important as we make them…Green tells us, ‘what matters is that we make the choice, that we have the courage to move forward’. If we are paralyzed with indecision, we are like the scarecrow, stagnant, lifeless.

If we turn around, back to Munchkinland, we regress, deteriorate.

Only moving forward, facing the unknown, experiencing uncertainty are we opening ourselves up to the infinite possibilities, realize our dreams and find our hearts desire. Only when we dare to step out of our comfort zone do we find freedom and fulfillment.
Green reminds us that when we step into the unknown, the road less traveled, we are on the right path.
Robert Louis Stevenson wrote, “To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive.”

And so, our Dorothy travels hopefully on the yellow brick road, her true nature toward self-discovery.

We’ve discussed many times here on Sunday’s and in our various classes the importance of self-discovery in our quest to re-member our innate divinity. And it’s linked to Unity’s belief…

Self-responsibility….it is your responsibility to do the work, to ask the questions of yourself, to search for the answers. To knock three times and more to receive. To be open and accepting….to be willing.

And of course, our travels are never alone.

Dorothy travels with her very wise Toto. Remember, Toto is our wise inner Self.

And her passion to self-discovery inspires the scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion and even the Wizard himself to make a change.

Have you found yourself, like the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion, hanging about by the sidelines of life, not knowing what to do to move forward and then someone or something comes along to motivate you to move forward, just a step first, and then maybe more.

Maybe someone shares a book with you that moves you off that domestication that was holding you down like the Scarecrow, maybe someone actually listened to you about that hurt had you frozen in time like the Tin Man, or maybe you finally faced the fear that had you afraid to move out of your safe place like the Lion?

Did you give that inspiration the time and effort it needed to get you started on your yellow brick road to self-knowledge? To self-actualization?

Or did you give in to domestication? To the fear of something new, something maybe better?

The Scarecrow, nailed to the post, cannot go anywhere. He represents those people who let others hold them back from realizing their dreams and aspirations.

The Tin Man was also immobilized, was rusted in place for a year. Frozen in place because of indecision. Did he need a whole year to ponder his troubled soul and realized that ‘he is all hollow’? He represents people paralyzed by their indecisiveness.

The Cowardly Lion, who, like others, lacks the courage to make the spiritual journey.

Does any of this resonate with any of you? Are you indecisive or fearful? Do you let others dictate your actions?

Each of these characters, Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion have nothing to lose but their unhappiness. YOU have nothing to lose but unhappiness by stepping on your yellow brick road; your path to actualization’.

Dorothy states they would be no worse off than they are right now.

In our own discontent, we could wallow in self-pity or we could set forward. We could:
Set a goal
Use our imagination seeing us reaching that goal
Picture it often
Give it lots of positive energy
Clear our mind of all negative thoughts and let our energy flow

Dorothy visualizes a Wizard at the end of the Yellow Brick Road who will send her back to Kansas; she gives that idea positive energy, never stopping to see herself being sent home by the Wizard.

We attract into our lives whatever we picture most vividly, what we put energy to.

“Thoughts held in mind produce after their kind”

Get it!?! Get what that means?

So where are your thoughts? Are they traveling down your true nature singing; “Follow the Yellow Brick Road?”

Or have you let yourself fall into maybe victimhood? Or negativity? Are you seeing the bad in the world or are you counting your blessings? Your blessings of friends to travel with, wisdom and brains and heart and courage to make conscious choices. You have your inner spark, your passion, your individuality, your uniqueness, your spirit.

And no one can take that from you without your consent….so don’t let them! Be strong.

The universe works through the dynamic exchange of energy. The more you give, the more you receive. The love Dorothy gave to the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Lion came back to her many time as they try to rescue her from the Wicked Witch of the West.

And though you may encounter some smarty trees throwing apples at you, or you may travel through the dark and scary forest or you may sleep for a bit in the poppy fields, when you go with the flow and travel the path of least resistance, the universe will unfold perfectly.

A Zen Proverb says: “Obstacles do not block the path…the obstacle is the path”

Green reminds us to not hold onto our goal too tightly, for when the Wizard accidently takes off without you in his balloon, there may be something better waiting for you.

In this case, when Dorothy lets go and connects with her inner essence, she ultimately realizes she has all the love she needs within her own heart to be at home with herself.

Dorothy “journeys down the Yellow Brick Road while staying open to the harmonious forces in the universe that will unfold before her. No matter which fork she takes, no matter who her companions are, no matter what obstacles are placed in her path, she will ultimately be returned to Kansas once she puts herself in tune with the creative energy of the universe.”

All we need to do is listen to that mantra: Follow the Yellow Brick Road, one brick at a time.

Zen saying: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”

And Martin Luther King, Jr. told us; “Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”