GREAT MORNING!  

And welcome back to the Spiritual Center. It’s great to be with you again. And hello to those of you viewing the Service at home. Please let us know you are there.

So, if you recall, this topic was scheduled for January 30^th, but we had a lot of snow that day and so we rescheduled it for today.  Our topic, “Reinvent and Renew in 2022.”

It’s got a little rhythm to it, don’t you think.

Reinvent & Renew in 2022 came about during one of the Thursday morning zoom calls with ministers & spiritual leaders in the Eastern Region. Actually, these calls are widely known and so we have ministers and spiritual leaders from other parts of the country as well…Florida, California, Chicago to mention a few.

And Rev. Dr. Paul Hasselback, who I have mentioned often, has been joining in from Missouri. It was his idea to use “Reinvent and Renew in 2022” as a theme for the year.

Later, Big Unity’s Lenten Booklet titled “Release and Renew 2022,” was announced. Not quite the same. Release certainly seems to fit for Lent.

Whereas, reinvent has a whole ‘coming out of the pandemic and looking forward vibe to it.

Reinvent means to change (something) so much that it appears to be entirely new; take up a very different job or way of life.

Isn’t that what we have been doing these past years, all through the pandemic? We had to learn how to live with this threat hanging over us, trying to keep ourselves safe as well as those in our family & friends circle.

Thinking over the past 2 plus years, what have we done to keep safe? To keep others safe? Much actually.

Other than the masks and social distancing, We had to actually reinvented how to ‘do’ Sunday Services!  We started out small but have gotten better as time went on, though we still have technical issues from time to time, from sound to pictures and even printers!

The point is, we keep moving forward. And that is what most of us would want, to move forward, reinventing ourselves as we go along. Improving who we are and how we reach out to our immediate community as well as the greater community.

We have tried several ways to keep in touch with our Unity Community.

And I would guess that maybe you are thinking, when you received one of those calls, or emails, or letters, that you may have thought you didn’t need to do anything to respond to it. After all, it’s not your job to say hi back to the person writing or calling you.

But what if, that person was struggling, maybe more than you. Maybe they needed someone to say ‘hi’ back, but you never thought to do that. After all, you are not the Minister, or Prayer Chaplain or Board Member.

But, hey, they are, we are all people too. So, maybe next time, respond back, just a simple “I’m doing ok, how are you?”

You may just make their day.

So, see, it’s not that hard to reinvent ourselves!

As we reinvent ourselves, we also renew ourselves. We renew who we are and what we stand for. This is UNITY. Look at our Principles…

If Unity is not new to you, then you may recall when it was that you walked into your first Unity Center and felt at home. It was a renewing of your mind and heart. You may have been searching for your place with likeminded spiritual seekers.

“There is only one Presence and one Power, God the Good.”

“God is present in all people as our divine essence, our Christ nature.”

 

“We create our life experiences through our way of thinking.”

 

“Through affirmative prayer and meditation, we connect with God
and bring out the good in our world.”

 “Knowledge of these spiritual principles is not enough. We must live them.”

If you are new to Unity, then this may be an awakening, your epiphany. The teachings of New Thought may fit right in with your heart. You are ready to step out into a new way of being.

We are reinventing ourselves, renewing our hearts. Awakening to the teachings of the Masters who have come into this physical realm to show us the way to connecting to our inner Christ, our Buddha nature, our True Authentic Self.

This is the renewing of your mind as stated in Romans 12:2

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind…”

Maybe during the Burning Bowl and Letters to God, you established a new goal, a new view, maybe a new skill that you wanted to begin for this year. You were reinventing yourself, putting the idea of a new and dedicated person to work on during these months.

Maybe you even started doing that back when we were safe, inside, with extra time on our hands.

What did you do with that time? If you didn’t take that opportunity to reinvent yourself or to renew what your goals were, this is the time.

I’m shortening this Message today so we can start our H.U.G. meeting at a reasonable time. Those of you at home can link in via ZOOM, just let Dan know you are interested.

So, let’s take our thoughts about our reinventing ourselves into Meditation, asking ourselves what we want to renew or how do we wish to reinvent ourselves. Let that sink in and allow those questions to take hold. Let your heart wander. Who do you wish to be? How do you wish to present yourself to the world, both big and small worlds.

These are great questions as we start our Lenten Series next week.