The Bond of Love

In her book, Braving the Wilderness – The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone, which we are using for our fall small group book study at Unity Spiritual Center Denver, researcher and author Brene Brown, Ph.D. explores the power of what researchers Shira Gabriel, Jennifer Valenti, Kristin Naragon-Gainey and Ariana Young have termed collective assembly experiences. These are experiences of joy and pain shared by people who don’t know each other, but who connect through joyous or painful life experiences. She cites examples of shared joy, such as a sporting event, movie or concert. Her examples of shared pain include the shuttle Challenger explosion in 1986 and the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings. These are times when the entire nation came together in shared pain and mourning. The 9/11 terrorist attacks are a potent example of this as well.

Dr. Brown says that these experiences of shared humanity strengthen our awareness of our inextricable connection to that which is greater than we are and to each other. Further, that these experiences contribute to our overall mental, emotional and physical well-being. Studies show that human connection and bonding improve physical health even more than quitting smoking, a healthy diet or taking beta-blocking drugs.

I propose that these collective assembly experiences of shared joy and pain are so powerful because they provide us with opportunities to connect with our essential spiritual nature and that of others. Joy as an aspect of our spiritual nature does not require an external experience, yet when we gather with other spiritual beings whose joy is ignited by their enthusiasm for a sports team or performer, it elicits the same within us. In those experiences, we are reminded of our connection with the divine joy that lives as us, and that connects us with each other. Our conscious connection with it is heightened as we share it with another. It is contagious.

While it may not be immediately apparent, our shared pain also connects with our essential nature. The pain to which Dr. Brown refers is born of love. Love is who and what we are as expressions of Divine Love. We experience that kind of pain because we love. Because we love, we grieve and mourn when we experience personal loss or a tear in the fabric of our human bond, such as we experienced in the wake of the tragedies mentioned above. We share the bond of love because we are one spirit, one life and one love. We feel the pain, even though we don’t personally know those directly affected by these events. We are all indirectly affected by them. The response to the recent shootings at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh confirms this.

Dr. Brown asserts that as profoundly as these collective experiences affect us, not all of them serve to reconnect us. She says,

When a collective comes together at the expense of others - for example, to bond over the devaluation or debasing of another person or group of people, or to bond despite this – it does not heal the spiritual crisis of disconnection. In fact, it does quite the opposite by feeding it. It is not true collective joy if it is at the expense of others, and it is not true pain if it causes others pain.

These experiences do not truly connect us because they are based in fear, which is not an aspect of our divine nature. When we denigrate another so that we can experience pseudo connection with those who share our fear-based perspective, we are only contributing to the polarization and divisiveness we are currently witnessing. We cannot foster true connection when we are out of alignment with our spiritual truth – which is Love.

It is saddening that so much of what we hear from our elected officials and those who are seeking elected office is based in fear. The rhetoric of many political campaigns is based in what is “dangerous” about the opposing candidate. Rather than focusing on what they stand for, candidates often speak more about why we should not vote for their opponent. This tactic results from fear and is intended to insight fear in voters.

All too often today, we hear talk about how the media is the enemy of the people, Republicans are going to take away your Social Security and Medicare, Democrats are coming for your guns, or the “migrant caravan” is going to invade our country. Again, this is mostly rhetoric that is intended to stimulate fear and motivate voters to stand against something, rather than to stand for that which is in alignment with our spiritual and ethical values.

Unfortunately, church services which are intended to support us in having personal and shared experiences of the Divine, often become platforms for spouting political opinions, and endorsing candidates who purportedly support “family values.”  Of course, there are also church services that primarily focus on combating “right wing” political agendas. While touting God’s love, they often reflect what Dr. Brown refers to as “common enemy intimacy.” When groups join together motivated by the assertion that they are “right” or “good” and others are “bad” or “wrong” they are engaging in “common enemy intimacy” which is also based in fear and does not serve sincere and lasting connection.

Through all of this, we are called to “brave the wilderness” by courageously practicing vulnerability and authenticity. Our opportunity is to firmly ground ourselves in our spiritual Truth, to connect with our divine nature and to stand for all that aligns with who we know ourselves to be as expressions of divine love.

As Jesus taught us, ours is to “seek first the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness” (Matthew 6:33) which in our understanding means to see only the kin-dom of God everywhere and in all things, to know our unity in God and with all creation, and to think, speak and act in ways that reflect oneness consciousness.

We need not succumb to the energy of fear which is so prevalent today. Remember, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

I encourage us to cultivate and participate in collective assembly experiences of true joy every chance we get. Attend and participate in the Drum Circle every first Sunday of the month at 2:00 pm. Join in the devotional chanting at the Kirtan on Friday, November 9 and again on December 14. Join with others in experiences of shared pain, such as the event held this week at Temple Emanuel and others around the country in honor of those killed at the Tree of Life synagogue and in support of the Jewish community.¹ If at all possible, attend and be present for funerals of loved ones, and your friend’s loved ones.

These experiences connect us through our common humanity with our shared spirituality. They remind us of our inextricable connection to our Source and to each other. We are all healed by the power of love through our shared experiences of joy and pain.

Join us on Sunday at 10:00 for our service as we explore this idea further.

¹ Denverite

The Masks We Wear

Halloween is considered by many to have its origins in the Celtic festival of Samhain which was sometimes regarded as the Celtic New Year, a celebration of the end of the “lighter half” of the year and the beginning of the “darker half” of the year. The ancient Celts believed that the veil between the physical and the non-physical realms was thinnest at this time allowing spirits, both good and evil, to pass through. They wore costumes and masks as a means of protection. Disguised as evil spirits they could “blend in” and avoid being recognized as human.

The tradition of observing Halloween or Hallowe’en, a contraction of the original “All Hallows’ Evening,” was also influenced in the west by the Christian church. It is observed as the evening before All Saints Day, a time for honoring all the saints and praying for those recently departed souls who are in purgatory and have not yet reached Heaven. The custom of wearing costumes has been linked to All Saints Day by Prince Sorie Conteh, senior minister at Carleton United Church, St. Catharines, Ontario Canada and multi-faith chaplain at Niagara College, who wrote:

"It was traditionally believed that the souls of the departed wandered the earth until All Saints' Day, and All Hallows' Eve provided one last chance for the dead to gain vengeance on their enemies before moving to the next world. In order to avoid being recognized by any soul that might be seeking such vengeance, people would don masks or costumes to disguise their identities.”

In both traditions there is a common theme – there are souls wandering around somewhere between the realms of Heaven and Hell, a.k.a. “light and dark” or “good and evil.” In the Christian tradition this realm is knows as purgatory. Purgatory is understood to be a condition of purification or temporary punishment that prepares souls for Heaven.

In Unity, we believe that both ‘heaven’ and ‘hell’ are states of consciousness. Heaven is a state of consciousness often referred to as Christ consciousness, which each of us may attain. It is the consciousness of knowing Oneness with the Divine. Hell, on the other hand, is the consciousness of duality in which one experiences the suffering created by a mind that believes in separation. We are constantly at a point of choice: we can choose heaven or hell in any moment. However, many, if not most of us, walk around in state of “purgatory,” not quite in hell, but not yet enjoying heaven. We seem to believe, perhaps not consciously, that we do not yet deserve heaven, that we must be punished, tested or tried in order to demonstrate our worthiness. We condemn ourselves to living in a perpetual state of purgatory, testing and “purifying” ourselves. We are those souls who are seeking the light, attempting to reach heaven.

As with the tradition of Halloween in which we wear masks and costumes to protect us from evil spirits, we, as a daily ritual, don masks and costumes disguising ourselves as the roles we play as human beings, often times believing that we are the masks we wear, not trying to fool the disembodied spirits of the dead, but in an attempt to hide our Truth from ourselves and others. While this allows us to “blend in” and to avoid standing out from the crowd, it prevents us from coming into the full recognition of our true selves and embracing the Christ consciousness, our ultimate potential.

In order to come into the recognition of our Truth, we must be willing to acknowledge the masks we wear and investigate them to determine for ourselves if we are allowing them to hide our Light. Until we are willing to remove the masks and see ourselves as we truly are, we will continue to believe that we are unworthy. When we recognize our Truth, we will know that no suffering is needed, and we will release ourselves from purgatory and enter fully into the consciousness of “heaven.”

I encourage us all to observe this Halloween as an opportunity to free ourselves from the limitations of our masks and costumes, and as we awaken to know that we are not souls living in purgatory, but saints who have arisen in Christ consciousness to celebrate Heaven.

Happy Halloween! 

Glorious All Saints Day!

Lean In To Love

In her book, Braving the Wilderness, The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone, which we are using for our fall small group book study at Unity Spiritual Center Denver, author Brené Brown asserts that much of the divisiveness we are experiencing and sometimes engaging in stems from our unacknowledged and unexpressed pain. Further, she states “when we are in pain and fear, anger and hate are our go-to emotions.” Rather than teaching us to feel our pain and address it with love and compassion, our culture teaches us anger, rage and denial instead.

Additionally, because we are often unwilling or unable to address our own pain, we are ill equipped to acknowledge another’s pain. Rather than process the pain we feel when we do not or cannot connect with another, it is more common for us to turn away from them, view them as the “enemy” and treat them with disdain. When we view another as the enemy, we react by defending our positions and attacking them. Facing our pain and being willing to hear another’s requires us to “brave the wilderness” and be vulnerable.

Dr. Brown also speaks to the issue of dehumanization and its effects on us and our willingness to connect with each other. She refers to author David Smith’s explanation in his book, Less Than Human. He says that dehumanization is a response to conflicting motives. Further, that humans have innate inhibitions to harming another, and that dehumanizing subverts those inhibitions. When we allow ourselves to dehumanize another or a group of people, we give ourselves permission to treat them as less than human.

She cites the work of Michelle Maiese, chair of the philosophy department at Emmanuel College, who defines dehumanization as “the psychological process of demonizing the enemy, making them seem less than human and hence not worthy of humane treatment.”  Dr. Brown goes on to cite examples from history such as Nazis dehumanizing Jews; slave owners dehumanizing slaves; Hutus in Rwanda dehumanizing Tutsis, and others.

She also cites examples from our recent history. Hillary Clinton calling Trump supporters “a basket of deplorables.” Donald Trump referring to women as “dogs.” Trump detractors referring to him as a “pig.” Dehumanizing each other leads to violence against those whom we dare to deem less than human. If we are to establish connection and restore civility and respect for our shared humanity, we must begin to rehumanize each other. We must, as we say in Unity, truly begin to “behold the Christ” in each other, even those with whom we most vehemently disagree or disapprove of.

What follows may seem to some naïve, idealistic or extremely simplistic. I realize that this is a complex issue and that there are no easy fixes or readily workable solutions. I hope and trust that you will read/hear that I am sharing from my heart about my experience and what I perceive as the devastating effects that our “correctional institution” system can have on the millions of people who are currently or have been incarcerated.

I recently had the opportunity to witness, first hand, an example of the effects of dehumanization. I attended an event at the Denver Women’s Correctional Facility. It was presented by Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP), an organization that offers experiential workshops in personal growth, community development and creative conflict management in prisons and other institutions.

It was my first visit to a prison. I admit it; I was somewhat frightened at the thought of walking through those doors, knowing that they would be locked behind me. Prior to this, my only impressions of prison and prisoners were from what I had seen in movies and television. My imagination went to, “What if there’s a riot? What will I do then?” Before walking through those doors, I had no idea that everything I had ever thought about prison and the people who are imprisoned would be challenged.

Not only was it my first time in a prison, it was also the first time I had interacted face-to-face with someone currently imprisoned. It was an eye-opening experience. We walked through the front door, the only entrance, into a small enclosed room. The guards were stationed there. They greeted us, but not with smiles. We were given guest badges and asked to wait for someone who would escort us to the meeting room. After we walked through the metal detector, we were led out of that room, through a door that opened to an open-air walkway between the buildings. We were surrounded by tall chain-link fence and coils of heavy barbed wire. We were escorted through several heavy metal doors, each of which had to be closed and secured behind us before the next one would open. It was a surreal experience. When we walked into the large meeting area, we were met at the registration desk by women wearing dark green pants and tops with bright yellow undershirts. At the time, I did not know who they were, but I would soon find out.

The room was arranged in small circles of 8 to 10 chairs. We were assigned a group according to our random choice of colored marker we used for our nametag. When we arrived, there were already several people seated in our group, including two women dressed exactly like the women at the reception table. I kept asking myself, “Are they prisoners?” They did not in any way fit my stereotype of how they “should” look or behave. They were smiling, friendly, and welcoming, not the hard, rough and angry women I imagined. It soon became clear, that yes, indeed, they are inmates. During the course of the evening, I had the opportunity to find out more about their daily experiences in the prison, and the positive effect that participation in the AVP workshops has had on their lives. Both women in our circle have been in prison for more than 10 years.

Near the end of the evening, I noticed one of the inmates standing alone, so I walked over and introduced myself. She told me that she has only been involved in AVP for one year, even though she has been in prison for 10 years. She went on to tell me that for years she resisted getting involved because she saw no reason to try to improve herself. After all, she explained, “I am a lifetime resident here.” I was dumbfounded. I asked if I had heard her correctly. She confirmed that she has no hope of ever leaving that place. I wanted to fall on my knees and cry right there. I cannot image these women or anyone spending a lifetime locked away behind bars.

This was a “reality check” for me. In the moment I connected with this “lifer,” I recognized that for many of us, including me, it is almost too easy to think of imprisoned people as “wrong and bad” and deserving of punishment. After all, we tell ourselves, they would not be in their predicament if they had not broken the law. Not only can we somehow defend locking another human being away for years or even for life, we also find justice in knowing that in prison quite often their basic human dignity is stripped from them. This is a segment of our human family that we routinely dehumanize in order to excuse how we treat them.

It is an extreme example of the effects of what we do with our own pain. We push away those whom we believe have caused or stimulated our pain. When we can blame “them” for it and project it onto them, we don’t have to face it and move through it. When we deny our pain, we can become imprisoned by it, both figuratively and literally. In our unacknowledged pain, we separate ourselves from ourselves, therefore from each other. We live in a prison of our own making, and we sentence them to a prison exiled from us.

I assert that as Dr. Brown’s research revealed that the cause of the disconnection we experience is unacknowledged and unexpressed pain that manifests as fear and anger, and that pain is also at the root of the offenses that land our fellow human beings in prison. Rather than punishing them by locking them away from society, a more effective strategy would be to understand and feel our personal and collective pain and do our best to extend empathy and compassion for the pain they must have felt when they broke the law. 

Additionally, rather than locking them away and only allowing them to participate in rehabilitation programs when they prove themselves “worthy” by exampling in “good” behavior, that we connect with them and do our best to understand the roots of their so called “bad” behavior.

I fully realize that we have laws in this country ostensibly designed to protect the welfare of society and that there are consequences for breaking those laws. I am not advocating the dissolution of the justice system. I am, however, strongly advocating for discontinuing the practice of dehumanizing those who break the laws and who are incarcerated.

I am impressed and inspired by the work of AVP. They provide opportunities for these women, and others, to be present for their own pain and for that of others. Programs, such as AVP, address the cause of the problem, rather than simply treat the symptoms.

Dr. Brown says,

“Dehumanization and holding people accountable are mutually exclusive. Humiliation and dehumanizing are not accountability or social justice tools, they’re emotional off-loading at best, emotional self-indulgence at worst. And if our faith asks us to find the face of God in everyone we meet, that should include politicians, media, and strangers on Twitter with whom we most violently disagree. When we desecrate their divinity, we desecrate our own, and we betray our faith”

I assert the same applies to all of our brothers and sisters, even and especially those we would rather vilify or demonize. As we might say in Unity, we cannot hold anyone outside of the Christ, unless we are standing right there with them. Let us be the ones who truly choose to behold the Christ in all.

Join us on Sunday for our service. We will explore this concept in greater depth and discuss some practical steps we can take to “Lean in to Love.” You are welcome here. 

The Power of Love Redux

I was reviewing stats on my blog this past week and discovered that, The Power of Love, which I posted in October 2016 has had the most views of all of my posts over the past 6 years. Considering the events surrounding the recent Supreme Court nominee, hearings, testimony and confirmation, I thought it would be a good time to share this post again, with a few edits and additions. And, because we are nearing another election, I feel strongly that a message about the Power of Love is a timely and important one.

When we talk about Love as one of the Twelve Powers of Man as discerned by Unity cofounder, Charles Fillmore, we are not talking about an emotion or an experience we have with another. We are, instead, referring to a spiritual power that we all possess. It is one of our spiritual faculties that we can employ to live from our Divine nature and manifest a world that reflects the qualities of the Divine.

In her book, Divine Audacity, author Rev. Linda Martella-Whitsett encourages us to make the audacious claim that we are “The Light of the World,” ¹ as our way shower Jesus Christ taught us. Further, she encourages us to live more fully and authentically from our Divine nature by exercising our Twelve Powers.

Rev Linda defines the Power of Love as the ability to magnetize, harmonize and unify.²

I invite you to take a moment and enter a quite space. Breathe deeply and exhale fully. Repeat this deep cleansing breath three times. Now, use the following as a meditation on Love.

I breathe into my heart space and envision a soft pink light. I activate my power of Love. Centered in Love, I see all with the eyes of the Christ. We are One. I bring harmony to my world as I align my thoughts, words, and actions to Love. I attract myself to people, places and circumstances for the sake of Love. I am Love.

Now that you have awakened to and activated your power of Love, feel the resonate energy in your heart space. Allow your mind to rest in the awareness that you are the energy of Love vibrating in this moment. Repeat to yourself, as a mantra, “I am Love.” Allow your mind to be filled with the energy of Love, knowing that “perfect Love casts out all fear.”³ Know that in this moment all thoughts of separation that ignite fear are cast out in the presence of Love. In this moment, know that you are One in and as the Divine. As you know this for yourself, know it for all others and for all creation. Say to yourself and to all those who come to mind, “I Am; You Are I Am.” Repeat this affirmation until the Truth of it is realized in your being. Through your willingness and affirmation, the power of Love is now renewing your mind and restoring you to the conscious state of union in God and with all. You know Unity. You are Unity.

In the consciousness of Unity, use the power of Love to harmonize any thoughts, words or actions that might be out of alignment with Love. Fully aware of any dissonant thought vibrations, feel the tension that is created between the vibration of Love within your heart and any thought, word or action that is stimulated by fear. Use the power of Love to realign and adjust so that harmony is restored. Behold each of the dissonant vibrations bathed in the light pink energy of Love. Allow Love to transmute and dissipate them.

Claim that you are now in harmonic resonance with the Love that you are in all that you think, say and do. As you continue to focus on the power of Love in your heart, you draw yourself to people, places and situations that give you the opportunity to know yourself in Love. The power of Love, acting as you, reveals to you your Divine nature in and through every person you meet, and through every life experience you encounter. Love reveals to you who you truly are. Love reveals to you, even during what might appear as loss, tragedy, or disappointment the Truth of who you are. Know and trust that every circumstance, when seen through the eyes of Love, is an opportunity to remember your Truth and the Truth of all.

This is especially important at this time in our nation. We are witnessing what appears to be a great deal of tension, dissonance that is created from thoughts, words and actions that are stimulated from fear. We are all feeling it because we are all participants in the collective consciousness called “America.” We are all a part of it. And, we are all responsible for it. We must be responsible to it as well.

In her book, Braving the Wilderness, which we at Unity Spiritual Center Denver are using for our small group fall book study, author Brené Brown, discusses in chapter three, “High Lonesome, A Spiritual Crisis,” how her research shows that we have separated ourselves into factions along the lines of politics, race, gender and class. Further, that fear is the driving force for our unwillingness to connect.

“Fear of vulnerability. Fear of getting hurt. Fear of the pain of disconnection. Fear of criticism and failure. Fear of conflict. Fear of not measuring up. Fear.” ⁴

It is easy for us to point fingers at others and say, “they should be” or “they shouldn’t be.” It is easy for us to place the blame on others. Please know that what we blame, we fear. What we criticize, we fear. What we judge, we fear. And, fear can only stimulate more fear. Only Love can cast out fear. It is our power of Love that enables us to do just that.

We must be the ones who are willing to make the difference. If we are not part of the solution, then we continue to be a part of the problem. It is the consciousness of fear that has created and continues to manifest the divisiveness we are currently experiencing. If we are buying into it, then we are helping to foster it.

No, you and I are not responsible for the entire consciousness of America. We are, however, responsible for our own consciousness. And, our individual consciousness impacts the whole. I am encouraging each of us to take responsibility for our own thoughts, words and actions. It is imperative, as we move through this current election cycle, that we make a commitment to ourselves and to our country to become more consciously aware of when we are thinking thoughts or speaking words of criticism or damnation against anyone, including the candidate(s) or elected officials(s) we most dislike.

We must be part of the healing energy of Love so that the wounds of the past can be mended. We must be the ones who are willing to stop, breathe and remember to invoke the power of Love to bring us into a remembered state of Unity with God and with each other, to harmonize our thoughts, words and actions in the power of Love and to use the power of Love to attract into our lives and the lives of all only that which is a reflection of Love, not fear.

Please join me in claiming the power of Love today in your own hearts and choosing to see all through the eyes of Love. Let us, “Be the change we wish to see and experience in the world.” ⁵ May we be the ones to bring the kingdom of heaven upon the earth through the power of Love.

If you would like to listen to and follow a recorded meditation on Love, please click the link below.

Please join us at Unity Spiritual Center Denver at 10:00 on Sunday as Associate Minister, Trish Morris, presents a lesson based on Braving the Wilderness. We will also welcome Full Moon Eye as our musical inspiration. You are welcome here!

¹ Matthew 5:14

² Divine Audacity, Rev. Linda Martella-Whitsett

³ I John 4:18

⁴ Braving the Wilderness, Page 56

⁵ Attributed to Mahatma Gandhi, see reference

Be The Christ

Last month, in observance of Unity World Day of Prayer we organized and hosted an interfaith service at Unity Spiritual Center Denver. Representatives from Buddhism, Judaism, Islam and Bahá’í participated. I invited each of them to share from their tradition’s perspective on this year’s theme, “Courage to Heal.” I experienced each of them as inspiring and informative. However, one presenter, at the beginning of her presentation said something that has stuck with me since. I have reflected on it again and again.

Sensei Kaitlyn Mascher-Mace from the Tri-State/Denver Buddhist Temple, in speaking about healing, said that as a Buddhist if one were to go to a teacher and say, “I want to heal,” the teacher would reply, “Your first mistake is ‘I.’ Your second mistake is ‘want.’ All you are left with is ‘heal,’ so go and do that.”

Her words struck me at the core. From a Buddhist perspective attachment to desire is the cause of all suffering. Further, it is only the ‘I’ or what we might call the “adverse ego” ¹ that can be attached to any outer desire. When we can release attachment to an ‘I’ that we believe is separate from the One and let go of our longing for some future outcome, we can begin to realize that we already are all that we can imagine.

I have said many times, and I honestly believe that our greatest desire is to realize our Divine Nature, which in Unity we call the ‘Christ,’ and to live from our full potential to be the Christ in the world. In a nutshell, that is the message of Unity’s approach to Christianity. The master teacher, Jesus, was here to teach the truth – we are the Christ made manifest – and to be a living example of one who embodied that potential.

For some time now, I have been reciting the following Gaelic prayer.

Oh Christ, Thou Son of God.
My own Eternal Self.
Live Thou Thy Life in me.
Do Thou Thy Will in me.
Be Thou made flesh in me.
I have no will but Thine.
I have no self but Thee.
Oh, Christ, Thou Son of God.

Since hearing Sensei Mascher-Mace at the interfaith service, I have come to recognize that what I have been saying, without verbalizing it, is “I want to be the Christ.” With this recognition, I am also realizing that in my desire I have been putting pressure on myself to do more, be more, read more, pray more, meditate more in my effort to make myself into the Christ. In my effort, I “suffer.” I know that I am attached to an outcome which I imagine being a destination that I have yet to reach. Additionally, I have been thinking that it is the ‘I’ that must do the work.

When I apply her lesson and release attachment to an ‘I’ who thinks he is separate and let go of the desire for some future outcome, all I am left with is “Be the Christ.” It is a simple and clear directive, yet one that is not always easy to follow. It should not require a great deal of effort on our part. In truth, it only requires us to surrender. Surrender our attachment to the adverse-ego based desires and be in service to the indwelling Christ.

While I have yet to find the citation, I have heard others quote Unity cofounder Charles Fillmore saying, “Self-awareness is the prelude to Christ consciousness.” Being the Christ requires us to be self-aware. I suggest we awaken every morning repeating the mantra, “Be the Christ,” commit ourselves to remaining aware of when we are allowing our adverse-ego based desires to get in the way, and practice surrendering every thought, word or activity that does not embody the Christ.

When we surrender to and are in service to the indwelling Christ, we are also in service to the Christ in others and to the Christ as it is made manifest in all creation. In that way, we will demonstrate in consciousness and manifest in form a world that embodies the Christ. We will realize the second coming of Christ and institute a reign of peace and good will on the Earth.

In the book, I Am The Word, the “guides” through author and medium Paul Selig, say,

“Once you understand that on a higher level your frequency is one with the Creator, everything seems to change. Once you understand that the availability of this energy we call the Christ is available to you, available to all, everything changes. Once you understand that the Son-ship, your Son of God self, is who you truly are, everything changes. If you are already aware of this on a minor level, you can get an understanding the heavens are about to open to you. When you have an understanding that this is the time of this coming age of Christ-dom, everything changes. When you believe that you are one with the Christ, everything changes.”

This book is a discourse that encourages and empowers us to “Be the Christ.” Phyllis Hoover and I will be facilitating a study of the book as well as experiential practice of the principles. We will kick off with an experiential gathering on Wednesday, October 17, at 7:00. The book study will begin on Thursday, October 18, and will meet each Thursday evening 6:30 – 8:00 through December 13, except for Thanksgiving Day. Please email Phyllis if you are interested in participating.

I also invite and encourage those who are in the Denver area to join us on Sunday, October 7, as we welcome author, motivational speaker, and workshop facilitator, Tama Kieves. She will present the lesson during our 10:00 service and facilitate a workshop beginning at 12:30 based on most recent book, Living Through Uncertainty: Moving Beyond Fear of the Unknown and Making Change Work for You. 

For more information on Tama, please visit her website. For an introduction to her book, please watch the short video here.

¹ The Revealing Word