GREAT MORNING BELOVED!!

Memorial Day Sunday

Today is the middle of Memorial Day Weekend. Many of us look to it as the opening of summer, even thought that officially starts weeks away. Many others of us think of tourists and all the inconveniences they bring to our towns, roads and beaches.

How many of us think about the true reason for the special weekend and day? If you have been at this Unity for a few years, you know that this holiday has a deep history, beginning back during Our Civil War.

Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971.

The Civil War, which ended in the spring of 1865, claimed more lives than any conflict in U.S. history and required the establishment of the country’s first national cemeteries.

By the late 1860s, Americans in various towns and cities had begun holding springtime tributes to those countless fallen soldiers, decorating their graves with flowers and reciting prayers.

Did you know? Each year on Memorial Day a national moment of remembrance takes place at 3:00 p.m. local time.
It is unclear where exactly this tradition originated; numerous different communities may have independently initiated the memorial gatherings. Nevertheless, in 1966 the federal government declared Waterloo, New York, the official birthplace of Memorial Day.

Waterloo—which first celebrated the day on May 5, 1866—was chosen because it hosted an annual, community-wide event, during which businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags.
On May 5, 1868, General John A. Logan, leader of an organization for Northern Civil War veterans, called for a nationwide day of remembrance later that month. “The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land,” he proclaimed.

The date of Decoration Day, as he called it, was chosen because it wasn’t the anniversary of any particular battle.
On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, and 5,000 participants decorated the graves of the 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried there.

Many Northern states held similar commemorative events and reprised the tradition in subsequent years; by 1890 each one had made Decoration Day an official state holiday. Southern states, on the other hand, continued to honor their dead on separate days until after World War I.

For decades, Memorial Day continued to be observed on May 30, the date Logan had selected for the first Decoration Day. But in 1968 Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May in order to create a three-day weekend for federal employees; the change went into effect in 1971. The same law also declared Memorial Day a federal holiday.

I’m not sure if there are any Gold Star Families….those who have lost a family member through service to our Country.

Memorial Day is all about honoring those who lost their lives through Service.
Veterans Day, Nov. 11th, is for honoring all who Serve.

In Unity, it is a time to pause and remember those men and women who paid the ultimate price while serving our great nation. But we do not want to romanticize war.
We are not against war but for peace. It is always better to be FOR something instead of against something. This is what we teach…

To honor Memorial Day,

James Dillet Freeman’s ‘The Traveler’

He has put on invisibility.
Dear Lord, I cannot see—
But this I know, although the road ascends
And passes from my sight,
That there will be no night;
That You will take him gently by the hand
And lead him on
Along the road of life that never ends,
And he will find it is not death but dawn.
I do not doubt that You are there as here,
And You will hold him dear.
——————————————–
Our life did not begin with birth,
It is not of the earth;
And this that we call death, it is no more
Than the opening and closing of a door—
And in Your house how many rooms must be
Beyond this one where we rest momently.

Dear Lord, I thank You for the faith that frees,
The love that knows it cannot lose its own;
The love that, looking through the shadows, sees
That You and he and I are ever one!

I mentioned another part of this weekend that is celebrated throughout the USA. And that is the unofficial start of summer. Though I must say, if you have been paying attention to the amount of traffic on our roads already, summer started weeks if not months ago!

So, my question to you is, ‘what are you going to do to take care of YOU this summer?’

I had a wonderful Sunday last week. I got to actually do some things that I truly wanted to do, even though they were physical to a degree, but working in my yard is something I do not get to do often, and something I can no longer do a lot of. So, I did do some gardening. And I did sit on my deck and read and relax and just listen to the birds.

Your summer is right around the corner, what is your intention for it?

I had a friend suggest, when I asked her for some idea of how to bring my idea to action, that I have you write down 3 things that you wish to release or surrender for the summer and maybe three things that you want to bring into your life over the summer.

They might be something you wish to do with family or friends that maybe you haven’t done before or for a long time. It might be something that you wish to learn, like a new language. It might be making a dent in that stack of books sitting there waiting to be the next one you pull out to read. It might be kayaking or hiking or traveling to a special place.

Whatever you choose to do, do it with love for yourself. Taking care of ourselves is so very important.

Parker Palmer said, “Self-care is never a selfish act- it is simply good stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on earth to offer others. Anytime we can listen to true self and give the care it requires, we do it not only for ourselves, but for the many others whose lives we touch.”

Whatever you do, consider surrendering something also. Again, maybe it something that you have been attempting to release but its sticking like glue or maybe keeps returning. We ALL have something that we are holding onto for whatever reason…and it could be we aren’t even aware we have something that we are using as a crutch, a reason for unforgiveness, a memory that continues to hurt.

It’s a good time to let it go.

You will be receiving your letter to God soon, I’m just waiting for more stamps! And maybe that letter will help you put some intention into your summer.

I hope part of your intention is to have FUN!

Happy Mother’s Day!

We are going to share this Mother’s Day celebration with those of you who have wished to share a memory of something that they have learned from their Mother.
Before we start. I found some universal Mother’s Wisdom that might sound familiar:

Subject: What My Mother Taught Me
1. My mother taught me RELIGION. “You’d better pray that will come out of the carpet.”
2. My mother taught me TIME TRAVEL. “If you don’t straighten up, I’m going to knock you into the middle of next week!”
3. My mother taught me FORESIGHT. “Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you’re in an accident.”
4. My mother taught me IRONY. “Keep crying, and I’ll give you something to cry about.”
5. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM. “Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!”
6. My mother taught me about WEATHER. “This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it.”
7. My mother taught me about ENVY. “There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don’t have wonderful parents like you do.”
8. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION. “Just wait until we get home.”
9. My mother taught me about RECEIVING. “You are going to get it when you get home!”
10. My mother taught me HUMOUR. “When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don’t come running to me.”
11. My mother taught me WISDOM. “When you get to be my age, you’ll understand.”
12. My mother taught me about JUSTICE. “One day you’ll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you”.

Five people have offered to share some wisdom from their Mothers, so…here goes:

Celeste, Carole, Joel, Karen, Bronwen

I have learned many things from Mom…from how an Italian measures spices…just a little (showing the fingers moving over a pinch) to how strong she really was even when it didn’t seem so. My Mom was 5 ft tall and mostly hovering around 100 lbs. give or take 5 lbs. Yet she survived many, many things no one should have to face.
As a teen and young adult, I didn’t see that. And it took me awhile to realize how strong she really was, how it was her who held the family together until later, when Dad finally became responsible and became a father to the younger kids. But even then, it was Mom who always did what needed to be done.
And so, I spent most of my adult life, trying to get to really know her, to understand her, to learn from her and to help her realize how strong, how intelligent, how wonderful she really was.

Paulo Coelho wrote, “Tears are words that need to be written.”
I have many tears yet to be shed for my Mother; but they won’t all be sad tears, there will be many happy ones too. Tears of the joy and love and laughter we shared.
So, Happy Mother’s Day to all who have Mothered us on our journey. No matter who you are or who or what you have Mothered, THANK YOU.

“I give thanks for the motherly love of God in all its human expressions!”

Inhale and silently affirm “I am the inlet to [exhale] and the outlet for the Divine, the Infinite.”

The Spiritual Journey of Aging

I will be talking this morning about the spiritual aspects of aging, and also how we can live our lives healthier and happier as we age….our mind-body-spirit connection. Today is my grandson’s 5th birthday and in a few months, I will be 75. My grandson and his younger sister are energetic, engaging, curious, full of zest…a wonderful example of who we are as human beings.

At their developmental stages, life is magical. At any age, we can have that same vibrancy and magic. In my spirit, I don’t feel that I am an aging person. Our bodies age, but the spiritual self does not… In truth, our Spirits are ageless.

The purpose of our soul journeys is to awaken to the call of what and who we truly are…eternal spiritual beings with divine potential. Aging is inevitable, but how we age is up to us. As human beings, we tend to want quantity of years and as spiritual beings we long for quality of life.

As we age, in the natural flow of life, our energy shifts from the outer realm to the inner realm … the place where we can deepen spiritually. Our energy becomes more contemplative and the sense of our eternal self can grow into the fullness of our True Selves and more of who we are.

Our nature at any stage of our lives is to be joyful, smart, loving, good and powerful. At any age, we can allow our true nature to shine through. As Henry David Thoreau wrote, “We are constantly invited to be what we are.’’

My major in college was child development. I became acquainted with the work of psychologist, Erik Erikson. According to his psychosocial theory of human development, we experience eight stages of development over our lifespan. I was fascinated and still am that from birth to end of life, we have the capacity to grow and develop. A
t each stage in Ericson’s theory, there is a task that we need to complete to move forward with competence and with a healthy personality to the next stage. Understanding developmental stages of life has spiritual relevance because in essence, we are Spirit.

In the first stage from birth to 12 months of age, infants need their world to be safe and predictable. With loving care, babies learn trust which is a primary task for healthy future development.

Toddlers, ages 1-3 years, explore their world and learn to have some control over their environment. This is the task of autonomy.

Children ages 3-6, through social interactions and play, learn to achieve goals through choices and this builds self-confidence and self-initiative, which is the task of pre-schoolers.

During ages 6-12, the task is to develop industry, which is described as accomplishment, self-pride and self- responsibility learned through schoolwork, social activities and relationships with peers, teachers and family.

The task of adolescence, ages 12-18 is to develop a strong and positive sense of self. If a young person can enter adulthood with these tasks accomplished, he or she can be more successful in their adult lives. If not, there needs to be acknowledgement of hurts and challenges and some healing to be done.

We are created as perfect expressions of God, but I don’t know anyone who had a perfect childhood or adolescence, and many of us need to do some healing work into our adulthood to maintain our innate wholeness, become our best selves and reach our highest potential, which is our divine purpose.

Erickson names the stage of adulthood from 20 to 40 years as the stage of intimacy for relationships. Erikson maintains that psychosocially, successful relationships with others in our personal and work lives is essential for our security and well-being. Of course, young adults are still working on identity issues of “Who am I? and What do I do with my life, which is a lifetime process.

Ages 40 and into the 60’s is, of course, the stage of middle adulthood. Erickson names the developmental task for middle age, generativity. This involves deeper connection with others, productivity, continuing self-improvement and making contributions for a better world. Mid-life is often a second chance to re-create our lives with new energy and with self- awareness that we didn’t have at earlier stages of our lives.

The last stage in our life span is from the mid-60’s to the end of life. This stage’s developmental task is named integrity. In terms of aging, integrity can be defined as a state of wholeness. This is the journey of integrating all of who we are to have a life of meaning and a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction with who we are and what we have done with our lives. We can still make choices to have the life we want and leave a legacy of purpose and meaning.

Our task at any age as human beings is continue to grow.. and as spiritual beings, we have unlimited potential. This belief in our unlimited potential is a Unity teaching that I love. I do believe we can pursue our soul’s yearning and manifest dreams at any age. As we age in our middle age years and in our elderhood years, we gain self-knowledge, knowing more of who we are, what our gifts are and what makes us happy. Self-acceptance also comes with aging. We often feel we don’t have to prove as much and don’t need to please others as much so aging can be liberating.

Aging gives us the gift of freedom and a deeper wisdom of life which are spiritual gifts. We can let go of our ego, let our spirits fly and welcome our true self. How glorious is that? Happiness research shows that over all, most adults seem to become happier as they age.

In one of the studies that I found, people’s satisfaction with life was described as a U-shaped pattern with happiness dipping down in the early 30’s and trending upward in the 50’s. As we approach our elder years, we have more time to pursue hobbies/dreams and meaning of life, more time to spend with friends and family with leisure time and travel. We often feel more connected to our spirit and are open to new and different avenues of self- expression and following where our passion leads us. As I approach 75, I am setting an intention to live up to my divine potential and highest purpose, and mindfully do it with ease and joy.

I certainly want my life to still have meaning and purpose, while consciously letting go when I need to and to prepare for the ultimate letting go with equanimity and peace. I trust the knowing of my heart, and I commit to see my life as an expression of God making our world a place with more love, peace and equality…these are the values that I hold most dearly and motivate me in my endeavors.

I retired from a profession of working with children and families when I was 60 and at age 62, my soul’s calling led me to attend an interfaith seminary in NY city named One Spirit. I felt very attuned to my spirit during seminary and very alive as I became an ordained interfaith minister. It was a real contradiction to aging because I felt I had a new purpose which gave me energy.

When I was preparing my talk, I found this anonymous quote which I really like. “The one who learns and grows will ripen with age. The one who doesn’t will just grow old.”

Life is for living, and I hope you are finding inspiration in your life to ripen with age. The author of “the Gift of Years,” Joan Chittister, states that “our spiritual obligation is to age well so that we can be a role model for others to have courage and spiritual depth to do the same.” I am thankful that I had grandmothers who were spiritual mentors. They both lived into their 80’s. Though they were very different people, they both had qualities of aging that inspired me. Dan and I are fortunate that we have close friends in their middle 80’s who live their lives with vitality and creativity and are wonderful role models for us.

The gift of aging is to live our lives with vitality and longevity and serve our highest good and purpose living our lives with joy, fulfillment and gratitude, as much as possible. So, how do we do this?

This is where the body-mind-connection comes in and where science and spirituality meet. Our spirit, mind and body are one. Ancient spiritual traditions of the east have known this connection for centuries and Unity co-founders, Myrtle and Charles Fillmore lived and taught this spiritual principle 100 years ago. What nourishes the body and mind empowers the spirit and what nourishes the spirit is healthy for the mind and body….this truth is how we are divinely created.

In Unity, we believe our thoughts create much of our reality. New thought spirituality and science know that the cells of our body respond to our thoughts and emotions …the positive ones and the negative ones. Wherever attention goes, energy flows. Taking care of the mind, body and spirit means first, to use mindfulness to stay in the present moment as much as possible.

A well- known Buddhist teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, suggests the way we stay awake in the present moment is to simply and consciously breathe and smile….I love this. Keeping our thoughts in a positive place is essential to mental health and a calm, joyful spirit. On the average, we have over 50,000 thoughts a day and many unfortunately, are negative ones. We have the power of choosing our perspective in any circumstance, and as we age we have more wisdom to choose our perspective. We need to consciously frame our thoughts with positive affirmations of who we are and our possibilities and use denials so we do not give power to negative thoughts.

These are fundamental teachings of Unity, described on our posters and reinforced by the Unity literature, such as the Daily Word and the many pamphlets published by Unity. There are Unity pamphlets here for your taking and you can subscribe to the Unity Daily Word for $15 a year. I read my Daily Word every morning wherever I am. It is my most consistent spiritual practice. The uplifting messages always start my day with positive energy.

Of course, Unity also encourages prayer and meditation to bring us to a place of faith and stillness and open our minds and spirits to peace and wellness and possibility.

Our body is the house where our soul lives and therefore is sacred. We need the consciousness to treat our bodies with love and appreciation and the miracle it is. The reality is if we don’t treat our bodies well, our quality and quantity of life can be diminished. The realization of my mortality with my parents dying in their 60’s and my cancer in my early 50’s caused me not to take life for granted and has motivated me to place caring for my body a top priority.

Healthy aging needs to be a wholistic, balanced approach to healthy living. Exercise of many kinds strengthens our body in various ways, builds neurons and those connecting synapses in our brains, and exercise increases natural chemicals in our brains such as endorphins which helps create happiness, an important mind- body -spirit connection. A healthy diet with lots of vegetables and fruits for antioxidants, light proteins, whole grains, and a diet low in salt, sugar and low in unhealthy fats build a strong immune system and help prevent disease. Educate yourself on the types of sugars and fats. There are healthy fats which we need and unhealthy fats which damage us. There are different kinds of sugar, some more harmful than others. Get in the habit of reading labels so you really know what you are putting into your body. Get the amount of rest and recreation you need for daily renewal of your body, mind and spirit.

Practice stress management to prevent an overload of stress hormones. Too much adrenaline and cortisol in our bodies, due to stress, damage our bodies and contribute to aging in unhealthy ways. Now, here is something positive to consider. Gerontologists have found that elderly people who agree to adopt better lifestyle habits can improve their life expectancy by 10 years. We can start to take better care of our bodies at any time.

Loving relationships, time in nature and having spiritual practices increase our well-being and longevity. Research indicates that people with strong spiritual beliefs are less anxious and depressed, have lower blood pressure and less cardiovascular disease, stronger immune systems and cope better with illnesses and surgery. According to various studies, people who belong to a spiritual community can add an average of 7 years to their lives. Social engagement, emotional and spiritual support and service to others is thought to benefit the health of people who attend a faith-based community.

And, we cannot forget the benefits of prayer and meditation which can calm our minds, relax our bodies and nurture our spirits. This mind-body-spirit connection benefits our sense of well-being in so many ways. I want to mention one more thing that I have learned in my research about aging. People who have the best chance of living to be 100 show a high degree of adaptability. The essence of life is that life has changes. Those who are adaptable meet life’s journeys with resilience rather than brittleness. They tend to respond creatively to change, with a capacity to integrate new things into one’s life… which takes us back to the developmental stage of elderhood where the task is to find meaning in our lives with purpose. Studies show that having a sense of purpose, however big or small, gives meaning and joy to our lives and prolong our lives.

I know I have given you a lot to take in with this topic of aging…it is a big topic. Before we go into a meditation, I want to finish with these thoughts from the book “Ageless Body and Timeless Mind” by Deepak Chopra who is a medical doctor and spiritual teacher…He has written numerous books on spirituality and alternative medicine. He tells us to trust the divine intelligence of our body and its innate ability to regenerate. Deepak describes the atoms in our bodies as bundles of vibrating energy which carry information. He tells us in one year, 98 percent of the atoms in our bodies will be exchanged for new ones.

Also, he teaches that time is not absolute. He writes that our awareness creates the time we experience. Someone who experiences time as scarce that is constantly slipping away creates a completely different personal reality from someone who perceives that there is all the time in the world. When our attention is on the past or future, we create aging. Deepak encourages us to believe we can create a new experience of ageless body and timeless mind in every minute. This is such a hopeful message for our spiritual journey, and I invite you to take this message into your soul. We are ageless and timeless Spiritual Beings with unlimited possibilities.

As Poet Emily Dickerson wrote…” I dwell in possibility” and this is true for each one of us. We dwell in possibility in all the stages of our lives!! Amen

Meditation
Take some deep, slow breaths and be with your body-mind-spirit connection. Feel your body and mind relaxing and connecting with your sacred spirit, which is the True you…your sacred spirit… beautiful and eternal. Divine life is flowing through your entire being, renewing your body, mind and soul. Take a deep slow breath and feel that divine life flowing throughout your being. You are wise, you are healthy and innately whole. You are the Spirit of divine life welcoming new possibilities. Every day, you are co-creating your life with Spirit. You dwell in possibility. Take those thoughts and vibrations into silence.

Great Morning Beloved!

THE SPIRITUALITY OF EARTH

Last Monday was Earth Day…50 years ago, on April 22, 1970, CBS News marked the first ever Earth Day with a special report anchored by Walter Cronkite. Cronkite said at the time, “The gravity of the message of Earth Day came through: act or die.”

Things haven’t changed much, in fact, many would say they have gotten worse.

It’s simple, we need to take care of the Earth. This planet is a macrocosm of our microcosm. What is happening to the Earth we could say, is happening to humanity…And vice versa.

Some of us are having issues with soul awareness. By that I mean, what direction are we going? What kind of a person do we wish to present to the world? What is my purpose?

We’ve all had those ‘choice points’ in our lives. And we will continue to have them, they are all part of our growth opportunities.

And some of these choice points take us in directions that we are not necessarily meant to go…think for a minute…go on…. those times when you made a choice and later discovered it wasn’t the best for ANY concerned! Much less yourself.

But we have all, also, made wonderful choices too. We have done a lot of self-discovery work. We’ve been working on forgiveness. We are trying to be the best expression of God as we possibly can, and we continue to improve that too.

So, what does all this have to do with the Earth? That’s obvious, in one way and maybe not so in another.

Remember that any self-growth, self-awareness that we do also improves the whole of humanity. So, all your work is helping to pull the energy of others up also. As you grow and become an even better YOU, others feel that energy and just maybe, say, I’m going there too!

But what else happens? As we get more aware of the connectiveness of everyone and everything, we want to do more to help everyone and everything.

That is where Earth Day and Arbor Day and any other day where you direct your energy, your thoughts, your forward thinking to improving our Mother Earth, because if we don’t have our Mother, where will be we. Probably underground trying to live life without real food, real dogs and cats and any other animal that we have now…but are losing at the alarming rate of about 27,000 species a year according to the National Wildlife Federation. “Every day, an estimated 100 plant and animal species are lost to deforestation.”

Within the next 30 years as many as half of the species on the earth could die in one of the fastest mass extinctions in the planet’s 4.5 billion year history. That also includes the loss of the genetic diversity within species, as well as the loss of diversity of different types of ecosystems, which can contribute to or hasten whole species extinction.

Kind of reminds you of the canary in the coal mines….

Can you think of why this is important to us as a species?

Well, one thing that is on my mind is, cures for diseases. I am a believer. I believe everything we need is here for us to find. And to use, not exploit!

Many believe that there are around 1,400 forest plants that can cure many cancers, and some forest plants can even cure the deadliest of diseases.

Yet the Rain Forest where these plants are growing is being deforested for agriculture, mostly animal farming. So, every day, we may be losing our chance at a cure for many of the cancers that plague our people for a steak or some ribs.

I know, I know, I like a good steak now and then too, but what is ours to do regarding the care of the Earth? We all must ask ourselves that question.

For many years we have neglected the care of the Earth. We have come a long way in our view of her. There are some cultures, like Native Americans who have always seen the Earth as spiritual and deserving reverence. The rest of us are slowly catching up.

There are religions that are called Pantheistic … that believe that God is found in nature. Unity is Panenthistic…. which means that we believe that God is in nature …. and God is also greater than and outside of nature as well.

God is everywhere.

“There is a wonderful story about the child of a rabbi who used to wander in the woods. At first his father let him wander, but over time he became concerned. The woods were dangerous. The father did not know what lurked there.

He decided to discuss the matter with his child. One day he took him aside and said, ‘You know, I have noticed that each day you walk into the woods. I wonder, why do you go there?’ The boy said to his father, ‘I go there to find God.’ ‘That is a very good thing,’ the father replied gently., ‘I am glad you are searching for God. But, my child, don’t you know that God is the same everywhere?’ ‘Yes,’ the boy answered, ‘but I’m not.’

God is not any more present in any one place … God is the same everywhere. But sometimes we are not…. and so, we seek out places…. away from it all where we can feel and experience God’s presence more fully.

According to the psalmist … places affect us. God’s green pastures and still waters restore the soul. The Chinese have long observed that an individual’s well-being is influenced by location and have devised a system called Fung Shui of reading energy or chi of places to find beneficial positions for buildings and rooms.

Even as far back as biblical times certain kinds of earthly places have had spiritual meanings attached to them. Metaphysically places in the Bible represent states of consciousness. Jesus went into the desert to pray, the Desert Fathers lived in seclusion in the desert… Muhammad received his commission in a desert cave. Metaphysically the DESERT represents a place of emptiness… or a consciousness of emptiness.

Emptiness = enlightenment

Terry Tempest Williams writes: “It’s strange how deserts turn us into believers. I believe in walking in a landscape of mirages, because you learn humility. I believe in living in a land of little water because life is drawn together. And I believe in the gathering of bones as a testament to spirits that have moved on. If the desert is holy, it is because it is a forgotten place that allows us to remember the sacred. Perhaps that is why every pilgrimage to the desert is a pilgrimage to the self. There is no place to hide, and so we are found.”

MOUNTAINS have been seen as holy because they represent a rising up of consciousness. Moses went up to the top of the mountain and was presented with the Ten Commandments. Jesus took two of his disciples up to the top of a mountain and they appeared transfigured ….as a light body.

Mountains instill in us a sense of awe and wonder. I remember seeing the Rockies the first time, how I needed to bend my head back and look up, and just being struck by how awesome it was …. I just stood there, could only say WOW, it was a profound feeling.

Oceans are still the most profound for me, thus my move here instead of Maryland. The ocean just brings with it a sense of calm…no matter how wicked the water looks.

Deserts, mountains, oceans …. they all give us a feeling of spirituality. It is easy to see and to feel the spiritual in them.

More and more we are seeing how we are linked and connected together. How something as small and simple as a butterfly flapping its wings in China can influence the weather in New York. We are interconnected and what happens in one place affects all places. And in fact, we cannot separate ourselves from the whole… because we contain it all.

Carl Jung said: “When you look inside yourself, you see the universe and all its stars in infinity … an infinite mystery within yourself as great as the one without.”

The mountain is within you …… that majesty that you feel when you look at the mountain ………the strength and power and awesomeness …. that isn’t just in the outer world … that is inside of you.

The expansiveness you feel when you look out on the ocean …… is within you ………infinity is within you. We are more than this person in this lifetime…we go on, as Dumbledore told Harry….

The beauty of the flowers and the trees are inside of us as well …. the music of the birds……. the aroma of the earth…. all are inside us. We are connected with that beauty and that melody ……

Any place can be a holy place … the place on which you stand right now …. your home …. your place of work …. any place on which you stand ……can be a profound and holy place and it all deserves respect and reverence.

We are evolving in consciousness, humankind is evolving, and the earth is evolving right along with us, because we are connected. As we evolve individually it affects the whole.

Some people think, “What can I do to change the world?” Well you can start by changing yourself, because when you change it affects everything around you.

Danaan Perry, who started Earthstewards, dedicated his life to raising the consciousness of healing the Earth. Here are his seven-fold path for peace.

1) When we are peace within our own heart, we shall be at peace with everyone and with our Mother Earth.
2) When we recognize that our planet itself is a living organism co-evolving with humankind, we shall become worthy of stewardship.
3) When we see ourselves as stewards of our planet and not as owners and masters of it, there shall be lasting satisfaction from our labors.
4) When we accept the concept of Right Livelihood as the basic right of all we shall have respect for one another.
5) When we respect the sacredness of all life, we shall be truly free.
6) When we free ourselves from our attachment to our ego-personalities we shall be able to experience our Oneness.
7) When we experience our Oneness—our total connectedness with all being, we shall be at peace within our hearts.

Creation calls to us to love it, to honor it and to protect our planet.

Most of us here, I would venture to guess, believe that climate change is real, and it will take much effort, great and small, to reverse course on our ever-warming planet. We all have a carbon footprint, and it’s nearly impossible to avoid plastic and waste. But making changes is possible and, in the long run, will help.

Here are some more ideas:

Avoid Takeout Containers
Say “no” to takeout food and bring your own containers for restaurant leftovers. Sure, no more takeout is starting big, and you might never eat pizza again. If you can’t say “no” to takeout, how about not having so much? Try only one takeout meal a week and find restaurants that pack up dinner in non-plastic, non-Styrofoam, eco-friendly containers. (Skip the plastic bag, too!)
Stop Using Plastic Bags
One easy way to go a little greener is to refuse bags. Have your reusable bags handy. If your city doesn’t have a plastic bag ban, talk to your local representative and see if you can get the city or county council to implement one.

Stop Using Paper Towels
Yes, they’re convenient. Yes, your family’s messy. But it’s easy to live without paper towels. Instead of these perforated one-use paper sheets, start using your dish towels (sure, even the nice ones) to wipe up messes. You can even use them to pat meat dry and clean mirrors and windows (just not at the same time). Toss them in the wash and reuse next week. Cut up old bath towels for extra-absorbent needs. If you want to get really crafty, add snaps onto a dozen or more washcloths and roll them up onto your old paper towel holder. (Also works with Velcro.)

Use Non-Plastic Reusable Water Bottles
If you’re one of those people with cabinets full of water bottles, make a commitment to stop accepting plastic. Just say “thank you,” and hand it back to the person working the registration table. Start using the reusable water bottles you have, recycling or passing along any that you know you won’t use or ones that leak.

Give Up the Straw
Yes, you have the right to drink from a straw. And yet, if you don’t need one in order to sip from a glass, stop using them. Just like that. Make sure when you order drinks at a restaurant to request no straw, then remind them when they arrive at the table. (It’s habit; they’re not being huffy by offering them.) Encourage your eating mates to do the same. It’s small. It saves our water families too. Or carry you own steel straw. Its reusable.

Use Green Cleaning Products
We Americans really go after our homes when we clean with products that strip grime, kill bacteria and leave everything smelling like bottled meadow. Cleaning products can be made of some toxic stuff and often yield the same results as quick cleaners you make yourself (minus the toxicity). Look into orange oil, castille soaps and all the things you can do with lemon and baking soda. Commit to not replacing your cleaning products with more bottle and sprays of stuff, and instead shifting to more earth-friendly strategies.

Eliminate Food Waste
The production of food is the largest greenhouse gas emitter in the U.S. So, when you’re throwing out food, you’ve warmed the planet for nothing. Make a choice that you’re no longer going to throw out food and, instead, shop smarter, offer and take smaller portions at meals (allowing for seconds, of course), and find ways to incorporate leftovers into lunches or other meals. Shopping more often and organizing the refrigerator can help cut back on waste as well. This takes practice but can become habit.
Start Composting
Another way to take the guilt from (and reduce the environmental damage of) food waste is to start a compost. If you find that you often have wilting lettuce and rotting kale in the fridge, tossing it in a compost bucket or worm farm is a great way to return it to the Earth rather than putting it in a landfill.
Buy Local Produce or Start a Garden

Even if you don’t have a lot of space, you can start a garden on a windowsill, deck or sunny corner in the living room. Gardening reduces, one tomato at a time, the carbon emissions on your daily salads. While you’re waiting for your Earth Day garden to produce, you could also commit to shopping from local farmers, either at a farmer’s market or a grocery store that carries locally grown fruits and vegetables.

Repair Things

Small appliances, houseware, furniture, and clothes and shoes are cheap enough that there’s little financial incentive to repair them when they break. Instead, most of us just replace them with new ones. But fixing is possible, even if you’re not an electrician or super great with a needle and thread. Shoe- and leather-repair places still exist in most cities, and YouTube has videos on how to fix almost anything. You’ll not only keep things out of the landfill, you also won’t be purchasing something that’s made from tons of plastic, has been shipped halfway across the world, then trucked all the way across the country. Plus, it’s fun.

Go Electronic

Stop most of the unsolicited mail that shows up in your mailbox. Even if you recycle all your junk mail, not having it created on your behalf in the first place has the better environmental impact.

Turn Things Off

Being vigilant about turning the lights off in an empty room is great. But what about all the appliances and electronic goods that, even when not in use, drain electricity. Phantom power use is a big waste of electricity, money and natural resources.

Eat Less Meat

This year go vegetarian or vegan, even for just the day. Even if you’re a meat-and-two-sides kind of family, there are ways to abstain from meat and animal products, if only for one day a week (think: Meatless Mondays). There are plenty of ideas for weeknight vegan and vegetarian meals. The way meat is produced in most of the world — no longer on small farms — has taken a toll on the Earth’s health and climate. In fact, meat production is one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gases on the planet.
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Recycle (and Stop Buying So Many) Electronics

We live in an age where even our $1,000 phones are basically disposable. We expect them to be out of date in fewer than five or 10 years. Lower-cost ones are even easier (and more common) to get rid of, rather than resell, refurbish or live without new and better features. Recycling electronic goods, called e-waste, is important. Precious metals are stripped and reused, and plastic casings are melted and converted into something else. Even better is to commit to not succumbing to the siren song of upgrades and new gear. Sure, we’re in a home computer and smartphone world. But do you really need a tablet? Or would a single tablet cover your needs and mean you don’t also need a smartphone and computer. Isn’t one videogame console enough? And what about all those handheld toys going unplayed in your kids’ closets?

Shop Used

Clothes and fast fashion are also destroying the planet. Fabrics contain petroleum products. The carbon cost to make and ship them is steep, even if the price tags are low. Retail therapy can still be a guilty pleasure, but shopping used means you’re not making the planet pay the steep price. Secondhand stores are filled with barely worn clothing, brand-new home goods and other things you’re tempted to get at big box stores. Make Goodwill or St. Vincent de Paul your first stop when you think you need something. Save the big box stores for times when you can’t find gently used items.

Refuse (Then Reduce, Reuse, Recycle)

We are given so many things throughout a single day that we haven’t even asked for. Straws with our drinks, napkins in a bag, packages surrounding one serving of a fruit or vegetable, packets, tote bags, flyers, stickers, free keychains, armbands and more. It seems rude to refuse and, when you do, you’re often met with confused looks and “Are you sure? It’s free!” But not taking something, no matter how small, is the first step in turning around modern lives of excess and planet destruction. Next is finding ways to reduce packaging on necessities, which might mean shopping in bulk food stores, especially ones that let you bring your own container. Recycling is great, of course, and we’re lucky to have the option (though it’s unclear how long that is going to last). But refusing: That gets down to the root of it.

Tell Grandparents: ‘No More Toys’

It seems rude and unthinkable, but we might be at a point where we need to tell grandparents (and other well-wishers), “No more toys.” Before kids are even born, they have a carbon footprint, with all the gifts and equipment and supposedly necessary things you need to raise a baby. By the time they’re toddlers, they’re surrounded in chaos by so many plastic toys, or even cloth and wooden things, that they don’t ever really play with them

Speak Out
Sure, individual actions are important, but policy changes could go a long way to support (and incentivize others) to go green, reach out to your city council about cleaner air, a plastic bag ban or how to create a more walkable neighborhood or downtown in your area. Tell your representative in your state legislature that you want your state to commit to reducing carbon emissions as agreed upon in international agreements, such as the Paris Accord. And nationally, pressure your senators to approve executive cabinet appointments of only those whose interests truly benefit the environment. Elect leaders who understand that climate change is real. And if there are none of them to vote for, run for office yourself.
You know all this. We all, just need to put it, at least some of it, into practice. Let’s start with implementing a new program from Big Unity…UnityVeg.
We can take a small step and work our way into healthier eating and help the Earth in that small way. You all know we at Unity are doing many things to reduce our Carbon Footprint…recycling, using cleaning products that are environmentally friendly, buying recycled paper products and copy paper, recycling our ink cartridges…and now let’s give a try to healthier food options for our Fellowship time. Fruits, veggies, baked goods with a healthy twist. We can do this. Starting next week, lets all try to do our part here at Unity.

And with that, let’s meditate on all we have learned today.

GREAT Morning Beloved!!!

Easter Sunday – The Twelve Who Knew Him

Easter Day, of course, commemorates the Resurrection of Jesus. AS you most likely know, the word Easter comes from the Anglo-Saxon word Eastre, the name of the Goddess of spring, in whose honor a festival was celebrated each April.
Fun Fact: Easter Day always comes on the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs on or after March 21. If the full moon falls on a Sunday, Easter is the next Sunday. Easter can never fall earlier than March 22 nor later than April 25.
All in the interest of the so-called Pagans that the Romans were trying to win over to Christianity in order to control them from a governmental point of view.
For us in Unity, we see Easter as a way to re-affirm our knowing that we are eternal. Death is not the final word.

The Easter story demonstrates that there is something within us that was here before we incarnated and remains after seeming death. Death is not the end of life, rather the continuation of the life process. Jesus proved this in the great demonstrations known as the resurrection and the ascension

Resurrection follows crucifixion. No life escapes this process. The Easter story is about an old way being crucified so something new can be born. This is not a once-in-a-lifetime event. When someone experiences a divorce, the death of a partner, loses a job, or experiences a shift in external circumstances, an old identity dies so a new one can be born.

Keep a True Lent, Charles Fillmore explained, “The resurrection takes place in us every time we rise to Jesus’s realization of the perpetual indwelling life that is connecting us to the Father. A new flood of life comes to all who open their minds and their bodies to the living word of God.”

We look to Jesus as a model for how to resurrect from our own crucifixion experiences. The Easter story is a reminder that no matter what seems to happen to us, it does not have the final word. We can look beyond appearances and recognize that there is a divine plan unfolding. Our task is to hold on to that vision until our life bears witness to truth that liberates us and sets us free.

Living in an awareness of the Christ potential should not be limited to one day. The transformational power that is inside all of us is cause for a lifetime of celebrations. Easter is not simply a play to be acted out; it is, in essence, an experience that must be lived every day.

“Metaphysically, the resurrection is our power to overcome, to restore, to renew with health, peace, love, prosperity, and joy, whatever it is that we are trying to revive,” said Rev. Gaylon McDowell, senior assistant minister at Christ Universal Temple in Chicago and host of Truth Transforms on Unity Online Radio®.

“For those in poor health, regaining health is resurrection. People experience resurrection when their relationship or financial problems are resolved through the realization that God is the source of their supply. Anytime we explore new ideas or new possibilities, we are experiencing a resurrection.”

We become overcomers when we lift our minds out of the tomb of doubt, despair, and resignation and allow our spiritual nature room to express and transform our experiences. “You are an overcomer when you move beyond that which only your five senses can detect and are aware of your oneness with God. You are not separate from God. The Kingdom of God is inside you. You are the self-expression of God, and as the individualized expression of God, you are already whole and complete,” said McDowell.

Today, we are going to experience Jesus through the eyes of several folks who knew him in some way, according to Biblical stories. Listen to the words and emotion that each person presents to us as they speak. Let yourself go, imagining that you are there, over 2000 years ago, walking the dusty roads of the Near East.
Maybe YOU walked the same paths, shared the same air….maybe you were there….

1. Mary Mother of Jesus – Andrea
2. Anna, the Prophetess – Carole
3. The Woman at the Well – Karen
4. Joseph, the Brother of Jesus – Dan
5. The Woman taken in adultery – Kathleen
6. The Publican – Laurie
7. The boy who gave his lunch – Diane
8. Simon Peter – Leroy
9. Mary of Bethany – Jeanne
10. Nicodemus – Greg
11. Woman in the Crowd – Bronwen
12. Mary Magdalene – Nancy

Great Morning Beloved!!!

Palm Sunday the Unity Way

You know we at Unity could look at Palm Sunday in a more traditional way, but that’s not like us, is it? So, we will look at the myth, because it is not noted in any history, only in religious texts.

What Palm Sunday does is provide a day for spiritual contemplation that shouldn’t be missed. Just as the Easter story symbolizes the deaths and resurrections of our lives, Palm Sunday reflects the human story too. It presents a few Lessons for us. One is about facing fear.

Let’s set the stage leading to Palm Sunday. The Passover Observance is coming, there is tension in the city because the Political and Spiritual leaders were fearful of Jesus. They didn’t understand what his purpose was and so they looked at how he was testing their laws and customs.

They chased him out of the city prior to Sunday.

Just an example of what fear can do to people.

And He had been warned not to go back, his disciples were worried. Anyone could guess there would be trouble.

As the Gospel of Luke says, “His face was set toward Jerusalem” (Luke 9:53). Jesus wouldn’t be dissuaded. He knew his purpose.

Have you ever felt called to move boldly forward knowing the odds were against you? Even if your heart was pounding, you took a step in the direction you knew would fulfill your purpose?

I believe taking the steps to move to Delaware and see if we could start a Unity presence here was a major step. I don’t know if I would call it fear, but probably an emotion related to fear for sure…insecurity, my introvert personality certainly had some things to say.

But we faced our fears and questions and here we are!

How about you? Are you facing such fears now?

Think about that for a moment…. what happened when you moved forward? Did you accomplish or at least start what your vision told you?

Did you look to someone outside yourself for approval? Sure, we do that.

Whose approval is important to you? Family, friends, coworkers?

Can disapproval throw you off balance? What about your own approval?
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Whose approval did Jesus have. His own, and God’s, I would think.

Jesus was true to himself and his mission on planet Earth. He kept on being Jesus, teaching what he taught, attracting crowds, performing miracles, letting the chips fall where they may.

And that is our job, to stay on purpose, to be true to our TRUE self, to face the fear, and carry forth the mission whatever it is, to keep doing what we’re here to do regardless of others’ approval. One day, you will notice you have emerged into a new life. I sure have!!!

And you will find yourself surrounded by like-minded people supporting you.

So, let’s look at some metaphysics and see where they might fit in our life. Imagine these ideas…

Jerusalem symbolizes a vision of peace within us.
For us, Jerusalem is the abiding consciousness of spiritual peace.

Jesus symbolizes our I AM identity. His going up to Jerusalem means our taking the last step in unfoldment in preparation to the final step, when the personality is entirely crucified and the Christ triumphs.

Notice, it’s UP TO JERUSALEM…going up means what? Going to higher consciousness…

Jesus riding the colt into Jerusalem means the spiritual I AM within us takes control and lifts all the animal forces up to the spiritual plane of mastery, purity, and peace. Those animal forces or thoughts are to be mastered and controlled and made to serve.

Think about what its been like for you as you have let negative thoughts and words go from your mind and how freeing that is?

The hosannas of the rejoicing multitude and the spreading of their garments and branches of trees before Jesus, represent joyful obedience and homage that all the thoughts in one’s consciousness give when an error state of mind is overcome.

At some time, most of us have been part of a crowd that welcomed a great hero, paid tribute to a notable public figure, or cheered a championship team. Go Eagles!

Remembering the eager acclaim and enthusiasm that marked such an occasion, we have a vague idea of the spirit in which Jesus was welcomed into Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday.

Certainly, Jesus’ life and teachings do show the way to freedom and happiness and prosperity. But Jesus had no intention of becoming an earthly king; and most of the people were not yet capable of understanding the spiritual kingdom in which the Christ is ruler.

So, he enters the Temple. And gets mad! And smashes the tables and sends money and sacrificial animals flying. Making more trouble for himself…almost like he did things on purpose.

What does the “temple of God” represent, and what is indicated by Jesus’ casting out “them that sold and bought in the temple”? The temple is our body and the desires, fears, and other negative emotions that act as destructive forces in the body or that put it to unworthy uses are, they that sell and buy. With His word Jesus cast out these negations. The Power of our words….

“My house shall be called a house of prayer.” Why do you think the pronoun “my” is used here? Through the right use of our I AM we take conscious possession of the body and cast out all that is unworthy of a son of God.
Have YOU taken possession of your thoughts and body?

A prayerful attitude saves the body from becoming a “den of robbers by awaking it to the Christ consciousness.
“The washing of the disciples’ feet by Jesus typifies a cleansing process, or a denial of personality and materiality. ”

By the simple act of washing the apostles’ feet, Jesus made it clear that he who is greatest is the one who serves best.

“In this humble way Jesus taught and exemplified the willingness of divine love to serve….”

Jesus explained the lesson he wanted to convey: If he could disregard worldly rank and offer them a menial service, surely, they too should be willing to give themselves in loving service to one another and to mankind.

How many times have we promised our higher self: “I won’t criticize again? I’ll try to be understanding … I’m through with bigotry and prejudice. I’ll show brotherly love … I won’t give way to panic next time. I’ll keep calm and strong by keeping faith … I won’t be depressed by thoughts of fear and pessimism. I’ll keep a positive mental attitude and depend on God’s love and power.”

Have these been empty promises? We can do better! We can keep these promises and more.

Whenever possible, Jesus taught by example.

He did not merely tell people about God’s power. He performed miracles of healing.

He not only talked about humility and service. He washed the apostles’ feet.

He did not boast about eternal life. He proved it through His own resurrection.

Jesus was a practical idealist who understood Truth principles and applied them to change people’s lives.

He followed up His promises with action; and we can follow Him by keeping our promises to our higher self.

All the Truth we can ever hear about or read about or know intellectually will help us only to the extent that we use it. Every single Truth idea that we put into practice in any area of living will strengthen and help us for further application.

When we apply Truth in a practical way, we make it our own, and benefits accrue.

So, he faces Pilate who represents the will, the executive power of the mind. Pilate has no spiritual understanding; therefore, his will cannot act wisely.

When Pilate delivered Jesus to be crucified, he washed his hands and said, “I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man; see ye to it. We cannot escape responsibility for our errors merely by attempting to avoid accepting and acknowledging the authority of Truth.

Reminds me of ‘we are not punished for our sins but by them….’

The “chief priests and the elders symbolize the religious thoughts that follow strictly the forms and ceremonies of religion, but do not recognize that the authority of Spirit that underlies them is greater than the outward forms and ceremonies.

This is like going through the motions without any work or thought behind them.

Where do we see this in our life? Someone following the rules but not the spirit of the situation.

Our self -discovery, our self-knowledge helps everyone move forward.

What happens when the will endeavors to assert its authority over Truth? It may and sometimes does succeed in postponing for a time the full unfoldment of Truth in the consciousness (deliver Jesus to be crucified), but Truth is omnipotent and the I AM eventually realizing full power and dominion over our being.

Why did the multitude choose to have Barabbas released instead of Jesus? The multitude here represents those who are wedded to external forms of religion. They resent new presentations of Truth that revolutionize their creeds and dogmas.

That’s interesting…many traditional religions stick to the dogmas whether they make any sense any more or not. And sometimes it’s “because we’ve always done it this way….”

So, from a metaphysical interpretation, the Palm Sunday experience represents our conscious surrender to our innate divinity. It reawakens our childlike faith. It is a stirring of our entire consciousness, the “city in turmoil” with the suspicion that something amazing is at work, even when we do not yet understand what is occurring.

This ‘deep work in consciousness intensifies throughout the experience and culminates in a process of crossing out of old ideas and great transformation. Unity calls this purification process “chemicalization”

Our old tapes, worn out beliefs, and negative programming are sacrificed so that we may rise into a higher expression of Christ consciousness.

SO, Today let’s honor of the Christ Spirit that ruled in Jesus and should rule now in all our minds and hearts.
How do we honor the Christ?

When we remember that we are spiritual beings, children of God, capable of developing and expressing all the qualities of the Father.

When we control our thoughts, desires, words, and emotions, keeping them always constructive.

When we strive toward any high goal, confident that God works through us for attainment.

When we see the Christ potential in others, and praise and encourage their commendable traits and efforts.

When we refuse to accept disease or affliction and know that God manifests through us as life and health.

When we think in terms of “you” and “we,” more often than in terms of “I, me, and mine.”

When we overcome fear with faith, hatred with love, ignorance with God-directed wisdom.

When we master unworthy desires and lowly impulses and discipline ourselves to think and act wisely.

When we live each day in a spirit of love, forgiveness, and generosity.

When we pray regularly for the light of understanding, and let that light radiate through all our affairs to bless our world.

When we have faith in the goodness of God, faith in ourselves, and faith in our fellow men.

You have a chance to make it a holy week in your life. Let us open our hearts and minds to the Spirit of Christ during the coming week. Let us go about the affairs of our lives in a quiet spirit, let us give more time than usual to prayer during this week. Let us practice being still; let us practice the presence of God.

Discover the Power Within You
Eric Butterworth
The Great Demonstration (Lesson # 7)

Eric Butterworth was a theologian and well- known Unity minister who authored 16 books on spirituality. One of his most well -read books is “Discover the Power Within You.” In Unity, this book is considered iconic and has been the basis of Sandy’s last 6 lessons in our Sunday services. Butterworth’s central theme and message is that we all are spiritual beings with an innate divinity. This divinity is the power within each of us. Butterworth states that Jesus’ intention was to help his followers understand the spiritual potential of every person. The teachings of Jesus are timeless and as relevant today as was two thousand years ago. In Unity, we see Jesus as our way shower for self -realization and self-unfoldment of our Christ consciousness. Butterworth tells us “The Christ that was in Jesus is the Christ in us.”

Today’s lesson is entitled “The Great Demonstration.” This is the story of the first Easter and how Jesus triumphed over death. In life, Jesus demonstrated an undeniable unity and oneness with God as Spirit and taught that we can have this same relationship with the Divine. Butterworth states that Easter is not a passport to another world. It is a time to take a new look at ourselves and awaken to our God Self here and now. Metaphysically, Easter is the awakening and arising to spiritual consciousness and the Christ within us. When we are “born again” metaphysically, we see a new spiritual dimension. From this spiritual place in our hearts and minds, we know the “Kingdom of God” is within us, as Jesus taught and anything and everything is possible! Through the resurrection, Jesus demonstrated that the life of God is changeless and eternal for each of us because of our divinity. With all the mysteries of life and death, we can trust that our souls are immortal.

Jesus taught that life is for living. His greatest demonstration was teaching us how to live, and he exemplified living a life that impacts the lives of others in loving, powerful ways. Jesus was highly evolved spiritually and demonstrated his gifts with teaching, performing miracles and healing. Butterworth explains that Jesus was not a magician. In his ministry, he fulfilled divine law not only because of his divinity and higher consciousness, but because he believed those he came in contact with were also divine. He healed people of faith who were innately divine, whole and complete. Healing happens this way every day believing we have the power to heal as Myrtle Filmore, our Unity founding mother demonstrated.

Jesus’ examples of living life were ones of expressing unconditional acceptance of others with love and compassion and forgiveness. Jesus condemned the hypocrisy and greed of his day and spoke truth to power. He demonstrated that love and compassion were more important than social status or wealth, and perhaps Jesus’ most profound yet simple teaching was to “Love Your Neighbor as Yourself.”

Some examples of other highly evolved spiritual people are Martin Luther King, Mother Theresa, Unity Co-founders Myrtle and Charles Filmore. There are many others who have lived or are living in our world today. We have many among us who feel a deep oneness with the Divine, are committed to their spiritual growth and to lifting up their sisters and brothers…it could be anyone of us.

Life is for living, for growing, for unfolding and evolving. We are told in “Discover the Power Within” that anything we will ever be, we already are! The Great Demonstration of resurrection is the possibility for all of us to step into a fuller experience of life without self-limitations and as our eternal, ageless, whole and complete Selves. Challenges become opportunities for growth. When we overcome problems, those same problems can be a blessing. The end becomes a new beginning. Thinking of life as unfolding and evolving, here are some questions to contemplate…How do you want to grow? How might you want to live your life in new ways? What are you called to demonstrate in your life? Listen to the still voice within for answers. Perhaps use these questions for meditation and journaling.

In the Easter story, when the stone from the Jesus’ tomb was rolled away, his body was not there. The biblical story tells Jesus had arisen from the dead, and he demonstrated his resurrection of new life to the people who loved and followed him. At the end of the chapter named The Great Demonstration, Butterworth writes that we don’t need to change ourselves. Rather we only need to be resurrected into a new consciousness of our spiritual identity as divine….see the divinity in ourselves and see the divinity in others. The stones of human limitations are rolled away. As I reflected upon this image of rolling away any human limitation as we would a stone, I envisioned what I would roll away for my own spiritual evolution. I would roll away fear that gets in my way of knowing my complete power. I would roll away judgement…judgement of myself and others so I could completely live my life from a place of acceptance and love. Think upon this…What would you roll away for the evolution of your spirit?

The season of Easter is a season of renewal and hope. Butterworth suggests that you allow Easter to happen to you. Look within and embrace your spiritual identity and power. Look toward the light of a new day and possibilities. May you embrace your divinity and unfold and fulfil your divine potential with abundant joy, love, peace. May you celebrate new awakenings of your Spirit and experience new ideas, new faith, new strength and confidence to pursue your greatest purpose as the divine being you are!

Leading to Meditation, end with this beautiful reading from Poet John O’Donohue

May you recognize in your life the presence, power, and light of your soul. May you realize that you are never alone, that your soul in its brightness and belonging connects you intimately with the rhythm of the universe. May you have respect for your own individuality and difference. May you realize that the shape of your soul is unique, that you have a special destiny here, that behind the facade of your life there is something beautiful, good, and eternal happening. May you learn to see yourself with the same delight, pride, and expectation with which God sees you in every moment.

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