Set Yourself Free

Each year, many of us participate in a burning bowl ceremony on New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day or the first Sunday of the New Year. It is an opportunity to free ourselves from thoughts, resentments, beliefs, and situations that no longer serve our highest good; the things that we allow to keep us in bondage and prevent us from embracing our truth and living our dreams. The ritual involves writing on a piece of paper the things we want to release and ceremoniously placing the paper into the cleansing and transforming flame of the burning bowl to be consumed by the fire, thereby freeing us from them. This year, instead of a burning bowl we used a water bowl and dissolving paper to release those things. Following this release, we then write down the things we choose to welcome into our lives. It is a process of visualizing our lives in the coming year.

The white stone ceremony is another ritual that many Unity churches and spiritual centers offer, usually on the first Sunday of the New Year. In the time of Jesus, when one was released from prison or bondage of any kind, they were given a white stone as a symbol of their new-found freedom. The white stone ceremony is a ritual in which we symbolically release ourselves from our own internal “bondage” by means of guided meditation and imagery, and then open our hearts and minds to hear the voice of Spirit speaking a new name, a quality of the Divine Self, a new title, or other meaningful word or phrase that we write on a white stone. The white stone is intended to be a symbol of who or what we are to become in the New Year.

Both ceremonies can be meaningful, yet it is important for us to recognize that they are not magical. The burning bowl and white stone rituals are opportunities for us to use physical objects that assist us in grounding our awareness of powerful spiritual transformation taking place within our consciousness. The ceremonies in and of themselves do not set us free; they only assist us in having an external experience of our inner process.

We engage in these rituals at the close of one year and the beginning of another because we have come to think of a New Year as an opportunity to begin again; a year represents a cycle of life. We give ourselves permission to close the door on the past and open a new door to the future when we turn the page of the calendar from December to January. There is nothing innately magical about transitioning from one calendar year to the next. I have found that when I wake up on January 1, I am still the same person, in the same place, living the same life as when I went to bed on December 31.

No, there is nothing magical about the end of one calendar year and the beginning of another; however, it can be an empowering time if we choose to make it so. We can make meaningful and lasting changes in our lives as we transform the way we perceive ourselves, others and the world.

Affecting enduring change in our lives requires our willingness to question everything we think we know – everything, no exceptions. We can have no “sacred cows” in our beliefs if we truly wish to transform our lives. Yes, questioning everything may seem frightening. After all, what if we discover that who we think we are, we are not; what then? What would we do if after questioning everything we think we know we no longer believe anything that Unity or any other spiritual path has taught us? What if we discover that every belief we have based our lives on is not true? Would we be lost? On the contrary, we would find ourselves, and we would free ourselves. When we question everything we believe to be true, we will discover what is truly true. We will discover the Truth of who we are; the Truth that sets us free from the bondage of our beliefs.

We must be willing to be released from the past, the past conditioning of our minds which convinces us that we are something other than God in expression (please question that as well). We must also be willing to be released from bondage of the future, the belief that at some point in the illusory future we will be free and live the lives that we dream of. The future is sometimes a stronger prison for our minds than is the past.

In order to know the freedom we seek, we must be willing to practice the presence of God in the present moment. We practice the presence of God when we are willing to recognize that we are the presence of God. In order that we may practice the presence of God we must be willing to be present now, not focused on some memory of the past or on some figment of an imagined future. Freedom exists only in the present moment because the Allness of God is present in the moment and our conscious awareness of this truth is the totality of our freedom.

We do not find our freedom by turning the page of the calendar, or by closing the door on what has been and opening the door to what will be. We discover our enduring freedom by opening our minds and hearts to the wonder of the present moment, and all that God is, in it and through it. We embrace the freedom of our Divine Nature by accepting that we are the very presence of God right here, right now.

Rituals help us to affirm our decisions to claim our Truth and set ourselves free. They are beautiful and meaningful outer expressions of our commitment to choose a new way of seeing ourselves, others and the world.

Claim who and what you are! Set yourself free!

Happy New Year!

Join us for our virtual White Stone ritual either on Facebook or YouTube.

 

Christmas Is...Living Love

Today, I spent some time in meditation contemplating the meaning of Christmas. Yes, I know that Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus. Yes, I know that in Unity we celebrate the Christ born as each of us. Still, I pondered, “What is the deeper meaning and message of Christmas for me this year?”

Soon after meditating, I just happened to open Facebook (right!) to see a post with the following quote from Fr. Richard Rohr.

“Jesus didn’t come to prove that he was God. He came to show us how to be human.”

In just a few words, Fr. Rohr expresses the true meaning of Christmas. We celebrate the birth of one who, as Unity minister and author Eric Butterworth says was “not the great exception, but the great example.”

We do not celebrate the circumstances of his conception or the reason for his birth. We do not celebrate the extant story of why or how he died. We celebrate and honor the person he was and what he taught.

Jesus never asked us to worship him. He only asked that we follow him, to pay attention to what he did and do that. In the sixth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, after he tells his listeners that the greatest commandment is love God and the second is to love neighbor as self, Jesus, in answer the question, “Who is my neighbor?” tells the story of the Samaritan who showed love to the injured man by tending his wounds and paying for his care. Then he tells them to “Go and do likewise.” In other words, “Go and live the gospel of Love.”

When we look at the life of Jesus as presented in the Gospels, albeit limited in its scope, we can see that Jesus was a man who lived his message of love. And through his example he showed us what to do, and through his teaching he taught us how to live a life centered in love.

Jesus openly wept when Lazarus died (John 11:36). He cried tears of mourning for his friend and tears of compassion for Mary and Martha who were bereaved. In our humanness, we feel the pain of loss, whether it is the loss of a loved one, a job, a relationship, or a dream. It is only good and right that we feel our feelings and express our grief. Living love is not only honoring our feelings, but it is also feeling with others and responding with love.

He stood for peace in the face of conflict (Matthew 26:52). To bring peace, we must not allow our fear to control our actions. To live the gospel of love, we must bring peace to our hearts and minds and put away the swords of our judgmental thoughts, punitive words, and retributive actions. Living love is living in the heart of peace and sharing that peace with the world.

He taught the power of forgiveness. (Matthew 18: 15-17) If we are holding anything against anyone including ourselves in our hearts or minds, we are the ones who suffer. When we suffer, we likely unintentionally inflict that suffering on others. How often do we need to forgive? As often as it is necessary (Matthew 18: 21-22). Living love is living in the space of forgiveness, not only for others but for ourselves, as well.

He connected authentically with those he did not agree with. (Luke 19: 1-10) Living love is being willing to have open dialog and honest connection with others, even when we believe they are in the wrong.

He respected and loved himself enough to take time away from the crowd, rest and rejuvenate. (Mark 6:31) Living love is loving ourselves enough to take care of ourselves, set boundaries with others, know what we need, and do what we can to meet our needs.

He responded to the human condition. He fed the hungry. (Matthew 15: 32-39) He healed the sick in body, mind, and spirit. (Matthew 8, Mark 5, Luke 8) He told us that we can do this and even greater things. (John 14: 12-14) Living love is accepting that the love that we are is our power to minister to our fellows and do what we can to meet their needs.

He recognized and called forth the highest of our human potential as represented in the accounts of interactions with the woman at the well, the woman with the issue of blood, and the woman who was caught in adultery and was to be stoned to death. (John 4, Matthew 9, Mark 5, Luke 8, John 8) Living love is choosing to recognize the divinity in all and doing our part to call them into remembrance of it.

He dared to claim his unity in God and declared the same is true for everyone. (John 10: 30 & 34) Living love is claiming the love that we are and the love that we are here to be in the world.

He was strong enough in his vulnerability to surrender his personal will to the higher will unfolding through him. (Matthew 26:39, Mark 14:36, Luke 22:42, John 6:38) Often, in our humanity, our ego-dominated will seeks to be in control. Surrendering to a higher knowing requires us to be vulnerable, knowing not what is in store for us. Living love asks us to let go of our ideas of how things should be and accept that there is within us a higher mind that sees from a much broader perspective and knows what is for the highest and best good for all. Living love is being in service to it.

He stood firm in his truth even at the cost of his own life. (John 18:34) Living love asks us to claim our truth and not waver from it even if others do not understand and judge us for it. We can claim that we know the truth of our divine nature, the same truth we know for all beings and know that it is that truth that sets us free. We are free to love boldly.

Jesus taught and showed us many of the finer points of being a loving human being. The ones I have expressed here are just a sampling.

This Christmas, I invite us to look beyond the story of Jesus’ birth and his death. Look at the story of his life and his teaching. Rather than worshipping the baby in the manger or the man on the cross, let us work to emulate the love he so powerfully embodied and lived.

Merry Christmas!

Christ As You

In Isaiah 9, we read…

 The people who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
    on them light has shined.
 For a child has been born for us,
    a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
    and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

The prophet Isaiah foretold the coming of a powerful leader among humankind, a leader who would embody the qualities represented by the names – Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.

Many relate this prophecy to Jesus as his life was an example of one who lived these qualities. While Isaiah may have been proclaiming the coming of Jesus, he was also prophesying your birth, as well as mine. We, too, can discover these qualities within ourselves, live them and become the ones who lead humanity into a new understanding and expression of our Divine nature and our Unity.

Yes, Jesus revealed many of the qualities mentioned in Isaiah’s prophecy. He revealed them because he embraced and realized the potential of his indwelling Christ nature. We honor him as one who showed us the way.

But we fail if we only look to him and worship him because he did it. Jesus never asked us to worship him. He asked us to follow him.

While Mighty God and Everlasting Father may be interpreted to apply to God or to Jesus as God incarnate, they also represent the power and the eternality of the Divine nature of the Christ as each of us. You and I are the One Power and the Eternal Presence of God in expression. When we realize that truth, we join with our elder brother Jesus in the death of the false self and the resurrection of our Divine self.

We become the Wonderful Counselor for ourselves and for others as we call upon the wisdom and understanding of the Christ within to guide us in knowing, understanding, and responding to ourselves and others with empathy, kindness, and compassion.

We also become the Messengers of Peace when we open our hearts to connect with the Christ of our being and keep our minds stayed on the Christ within us and within all others.

Peace is a prominent theme of the Christmas stories in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. “On Earth, peace, good will toward men” is one of the most well-known and often repeated phrases from these stories. Traditional Christianity believes that Jesus Christ, who is often referred to as “The Prince of Peace,” will return to establish God’s kingdom on the Earth which will include a reign of peace. In addition to being essential to Christian eschatology, “peace on Earth” is a common theme in many of the world’s religions. In the Jewish tradition, global peace and harmony are a part of the vision for the Messianic Age. Other religions and faith traditions, including Buddhism and Hinduism also include world peace in their vision for the end time.

Peace on Earth is not dependent upon a single event or coming of a Messianic figure. It is not Jesus, but the Christ, the only begotten idea in Divine Mind for humanity, that will initiate the reign of peace on Earth. The Christ which is born through each of us, nurtured by each of us, and lived as each of us will bring forth the kingdom of God into manifestation.

To establish peace on Earth, we must be willing to know ourselves as the Christ; allow the mind of Christ to be our mind and allow ourselves “to be transformed by the renewing of our minds,” as St. Paul said in his letters to the churches at Corinth and Philippi. Our minds are transformed when we consciously surrender to the Christ, not an external being, but the idea in Divine Mind that is ever a part of our own minds. Peace on Earth will be established when we consciously choose for it to be.

As we look forward to Christmas as the celebration of the birth of the Christ embodied as Jesus, let us also celebrate the Christ born as each of us and make a commitment to ourselves, to humanity, and to all creation to realize the qualities of Christ as our own, nurture them, and live them so that together we co-create a world that reflects the peace and love that is our Truth.

Merry Christmas!

Run to the Manger

Last night I had a nightmare in which I was in an unfamiliar city. Suddenly and without warning a lockdown order was issued. No one was allowed to be on the streets. This order was being enforced by armed personnel. I had nowhere to go. I was thrust into survival mode and was panicked. I hid from the guards as best I could and ran when I had the opportunity. But there was nowhere to run. I was trapped in this unfamiliar and scary place. The dream seemed so real that I awoke with a fright.

I am not a dream interpretation expert. I am certain that there are many ways that the symbolism could be understood. However, the simplest and most obvious is that I have, at times, felt trapped by the constraints of this pandemic as I am sure many of us have. I have not felt panicked, at least not consciously. I have certainly felt anxious at times.

I am aware that many of us may be feeling sad, disconnected, and possibly anxious as we approach Christmas, a time when we traditionally spend time with family and friends. It may seem like we are living in a foreign land. The physical and emotional landscape is unfamiliar. We are not sure how best to navigate it, how we can escape it, or where we can run.

This morning, as I sat on my trusty meditation cushion and quieted my mind and contemplated the dream, the lyrics to a Christmas song came to me. It is a song I sang several years ago with the choir at Unity of Arlington. The title is “Run to the Manger.” I got the message and a smile came to my face.

In the Biblical story of the nativity, the manger is the place where Jesus is born. It is a humble place in a stable. Metaphysically, we understand that all aspects of the nativity story, as with all Bible stories, represent parts of us. Places represent states of consciousness. 

The manger represents a place, which is no place at all, but a state of mind and heart – a state of humble acceptance where the Christ, the purest Essence of Self, is born and awakened within us.

The Christ is that aspect of each of us that is unaffected by the conditions of our lives or in the world. It is forever untouched by any event or circumstance. Thomas Merton, the Trappist monk, called this our “hidden wholeness.” The Light of Christ is the eternal aspect of us that awaits our recognition and acceptance of it. And when given its life in us, saves us from any thought that we could ever be controlled by outer circumstance, or alone with no place to run. 

My lesson and my recommendation for all of us when we slip into thinking that we are in lockdown or trapped by any situation, whether it be a pandemic, illness, financial hardship, job, relationship, or any other life experience, is to run to the manger as quickly as possible.

The great news is that you don’t really have to run anywhere. You simply need to stop, breathe, focus your awareness in the heart, invite the image of your inner Christ however it may appear to you – Jesus, Buddha, an angel, a burning bush, a candle, or other form – feel into the space of the heart – the manger – and allow the awareness to be born in you.

Anytime you feel alone, trapped, or afraid, “Run to the Manger!” It is right here in your heart.

Celebrate!

There once was a monastery in which the sole duty of the monks was to make handwritten copies of the Bible. For centuries they labored day in and day out, year after year to produce these treasures.

One day, a novitiate entered the monastery and was assigned his task. When he discovered that for years the monks had been making copies from a copy, he went to the Abbott and asked for permission to go into the vault where the original Scripture was kept so he could make his first copy from it. The Abbott agreed. So, the young novitiate ventured into the vault.

Days passed and no one heard from him. The other monks began to worry. After a few days, the Abbott decided to go look for him. When he opened the door to the vault, he saw the young man hunched over the Bible sobbing.

The Abbott went to him and asked what was wrong. The novitiate looked up, tears in his eyes, and said, “They forgot the ‘r.’ They forgot the ‘r!’ The Abbott said, “What do you mean ‘they forgot the ‘r’? “The word was CELEBRATE! The word was CELEBRATE!” he replied.

The Christmas season is traditionally a time to CELEBRATE! Of course, we celebrate the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, our teacher, elder brother and way shower. We celebrate the Light that he brought into the world through his presence and words of wisdom.

It is also a time when we usually celebrate with family and friends. In years past, we have done this by gathering for parties and meals; sharing special services and rituals with our spiritual community; and for some of us, enjoying a Christmas tradition, Breakfast with Santa, at Unity Spiritual Center Denver.

This year, things will be different. Many, if not most of us, will choose to forgo the parties and meals with family and friends. Additionally, we will not have the opportunity to gather with our spiritual community for our Christmas Eve service or Breakfast with Santa.

I know, too, that some have been impacted by the pandemic and other life situations more profoundly than have others. It may be challenging to feel celebratory, especially during this time when others are enjoying the holiday season.

Yes, things on the outer will be different and may even be difficult, still I encourage us all to go within and connect with the Light of the Christ that each of us is and CELEBRATE that.

CELEBRATE the knowing that you are the Christ in expression.

CELEBRATE that each moment is an opportunity to fully embrace that Truth and to live it.

CELEBRATE that you are here to bring your Christ Light to the world through your every thought, word, and action.

CELEBRATE the vision of a world transformed through your willingness to be the Light of the World.

CELEBRATE who you are and who you are here to be. Let your Light shine so you may help others awaken to the Light that each of them is.

This Christmas season, let us CELEBRATE the Light of the Christ born and expressed wondrously as each of us.  

In This Moment

The Allness of Life is present in this now moment. There is nothing to seek; nothing to find. There is nowhere to go; All is now here.

This moment is all there is.

This moment is our point of choice. This moment is our point of power.

This moment is our point of Joy. This moment is our point of Love. This moment is our point of Peace.

The imagined past is an illusion. The future is only a dream. All is now. You are All now.

Be present in the eternal now and the ever-present here.

This is your freedom.

The following is from my book, In This Moment, Prayers from the Well of Awareness.

If time has any relevance, it is relevant solely as the present, the moment in time we call now.

Only now can life express.

Only now can you be aware.

Only now can you feel.

Only now can you think.

Only now can you know.

Only now can you choose.

Only now can you breathe.

Only now can you have any sensory experience.

All else is just memory or a dream, and neither is reality in the present.

What is real now is what is present in all its wonder and glory now.

The mind either longs for a past that does not exist or dreams of a future that will never be.

The mind can prevent us from being fully alive in the moment.

Awakening happens when the mind focuses on what is in the moment and allows what is to the perfection that it is.

In that Holy Instant, Presence arises.

In that moment, Peace is remembered, and Love flows in freedom expressed.

 

Be present in this now moment for the wonder of Life in all its mystery.

Claim your power now.

Be still and know that you are Life living itself as you now.

If you would like a free digital copy of my book, In This Moment, Prayers from the Well of Awareness, please email me at revdavidhhoward@gmail.com. If you would like a paperback copy of my book, please go to my website DavidHoward.com and order there. 

Living Gratitude

As Thanksgiving approaches, I think of how much I have to be grateful for. I live a truly privileged life of health, abundance, safety, freedom, love, and connection that I often take for granted. Thanksgiving is a reminder to stop, feel gratitude and give thanks for all the good that I enjoy.

I am also mindful that there are many people who may feel that they have little or nothing to be thankful for this year. I know that the pandemic has hit some of us harder than others. Many have lost loved ones. Some who have survived are still suffering from the lasting effects of the virus. Others are dealing with the uncertainty of whether they have been exposed or when they will exhibit symptoms.

I learned last week that my brother, Tommy, has the virus. He is not hospitalized but is experiencing some profound symptoms. I also learned that one of our members, Jim Luallen, is now hospitalized and on a ventilator due to the virus. Karen, his wife, has reported that he is stable and is improving. He will most likely be in the hospital for weeks. Please keep them in your prayers.

On Tuesday, Colorado Governor Polis and Denver Mayor Hancock announced new restrictions on businesses in an effort to curtail the spread of the virus. One of which is no in-person dining in restaurants. Capacity in gyms and other businesses is now limited to 10%. I have concern for the restaurant and other small business owners and all who are dependent upon them for their financial wellbeing. Perhaps they are some who find it challenging to be thankful this year.

I think of health care workers and first responders who are putting their lives on the line every day to care for those who are ill and hospitalized. My heart goes out to the teachers and childcare workers who are caring for and doing their best to provide quality education for our children in-person, virtually, or a hybrid of both. They are all weary and worn. They, too, may be facing a difficult Thanksgiving.

I am grateful for each of them. I also have empathy and compassion for them. I hold them in the prayerful consciousness of hope and wholeness. And I ask myself what more I can do.

I encourage you to heed the advice of the scientific experts and take the actions recommended, including wearing a mask, maintaining social distancing, and refraining from socializing with others outside your immediate family. Stay at home as much as possible!

My heart goes out to those who have lost loved ones or who have been persecuted, injured, or jailed due to the violence of racism, not only in America but around the world. I feel for those who worry for their safety when simply driving to the store or work, jogging in their neighborhood, or bird watching in the park.

I am saddened to think of those who have been denied opportunities for education, jobs, and financial gain due to their skin color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or any other natural expression of themselves.

I am grateful for my newfound awareness of many of these issues. I am grateful for courageous voices who speak out. I am grateful for the uncommon resilience of so many. I am grateful for the love ethic embodied by the civil and human rights leaders, such as Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, John Lewis, Rosa Parks, and Mahatma Gandhi, to name a few.

I give thanks for the contributions that each of them has made. I express my gratitude by learning more about their lives and their work, as well as about their struggles. I also express my gratitude by doing what I can to get involved and help to continue their efforts in the work still to be done. Still, I ask what more I can do. 

I feel disheartened when I witness our treatment of people experiencing homelessness in our city. The few possessions they have taken from them. Tents, sometimes their only refuge from the weather, taken down. Forced to leave areas that are visible to the public as to avoid disturbing the city’s image. Gross lack of funding to provide adequate housing, physical and mental healthcare, and other essential services. They are often a forgotten people relegated to the fringes of our society.

I am grateful for organizations, such as Family Promise of Greater Denver, Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, Denver Rescue Mission and others, who do their best to provide services to our brothers and sisters who are experiencing homelessness. I am grateful to the dedicated people who give their time, energy, and love to meet their needs. I am grateful to the Unity Spiritual Center Denver community who continues to show up and step up when asked to contribute to support our partnership with Family Promise.

I can also embody my gratitude by learning more about the work of these organizations and do what I can to get involved. I can give from my financial good to support their work as I am able. I can learn more about legislation that impacts the lives of those experiencing homelessness and work toward influencing a politics of love that cares for them and all people.

I realize that there are many people, not included in those I have mentioned, who are living with concern about the quality of their daily lives. More and more people are experiencing depression, substance addiction is on the rise, suicides have increased, and 50 million people in America live in poverty. They, too, may find it challenging to feel gratitude.

Please know that it was not my intention to write a depressing Thanksgiving post. It was also not my intention to generate gratitude by suggesting that anyone compare his or her life to another’s. Instead, my intention was to verbalize how important it is for us to remember those who might not be in the joyous spirit of Thanksgiving this year and to hold them with empathy, care, and compassion.

This is no way intended to suggest that we should diminish our own gratitude and thanksgiving. Depriving ourselves of those feelings and expressions does not serve anyone, most of all ourselves. I encourage us all to feel gratitude for all the good that we enjoy. Feel gratitude in conscious connection with the Allness that we are as expressions of the Divine. Feel gratitude from the awareness that we are the living enterprise of God, as Unity minister Eric Butterworth says.

And to express that gratitude through our thoughts, words, and actions. In one of his lessons from years ago, Butterworth shared that the Hebrew word for ‘Thanksgiving’ is ‘Todah’ which means “stretching forward of the open hands.” I encourage us to allow this Thanksgiving to remind us our opportunity is to open not only our hands to share what we can, but also to open our hearts to give of our love, especially to those who may be struggling right now.

My hope and prayer for you is that you live in gratitude and thanksgiving every moment of every day. Gratitude is an elevated emotion that has the power to transform our lives and affect the lives of others.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Don't Go Back to Sleep 2.0

The breezes at dawn have secrets to tell you.
Don't go back to sleep!
You must ask for what you really want.
Don't go back to sleep!
People are going back and forth 
across the doorsill where the two worlds touch,
The door is round and open
Don't go back to sleep!

― Rumi

I trust that I speak for many of us when I say that the events of this year, indeed the past several years, have awakened us to many things to which we were previously asleep. I know there are many things I am more conscious of now than before.

Much that was hidden in the darkness has been brought to light. Now, we can see it. Mourn it. Feel angry about it. Even rage about it. Yes! It is vitally important for us to experience our human emotions in response to the words and actions that disenfranchise others, hurt people, and do harm to our land, water and air.

We have witnessed and some of us have participated in demonstrations, riots, and protests in response to the years, decades and centuries of injustice, inequality, greed, avarice, self-centeredness and gluttony that have plagued our society and contributed to the divisiveness we witness today.

The outcome of the Presidential election has provided us with more evidence of how divided we are as a nation in our approach to public policy and strategies for living the values that we all claim to share. I knew that we were not all in agreement about many things, but the tightness of race was yet another wake-up call for me.

Now that we have been awakened, it is vitally important that we do not allow ourselves to go back to sleep. It is especially tempting for those of who benefit from the current policies and practices to slip back into our comfortable beds, pull up the covers and snooze. We cannot do that. Humanity, indeed all of creation, depends upon each of us staying awake and doing our part to heal the wounds and mend the divide.

It will take each of us doing our own personal work of honest self-reflection to see and own the ways in which we have contributed and continue to contribute to the wounding of our fellow humans, our planet, environment, and the creatures of the Earth. I encourage us to embrace the willingness and courage to sit in our own pain and discomfort, as well as sit with the pain of others in empathy and compassion. Seek solutions that will bring healing. Take the personal actions needed to support healing. Do all that we can to influence those who enact and enforce guidelines, rules, laws and regulations to place the love of humanity at the core of all public policies.

Our teacher and wayshower was very clear when he said, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Knowing that Jesus taught from a consciousness of non-duality, I believe he was instructing us to love each other not just as we would love ourselves, but as though the “other” is our self.

What we do to one, we do to all. What we do for one, we do for all. Let us come together to work for the healing of the wounds of humanity and all creation. We will all benefit. We are creating our future by the choices we make today. The choice is yours. The choice is mine. I pray we choose wisely. Don’t go back to sleep!

The Choice is Ours

As I write this, the outcome of the 2020 Presidential election is still undetermined. Like many, if not most of us, I was hoping for a clear decision on Election Day if only to relieve some of the tension of uncertainty.

I fully realize that it matters who we elect as our governmental leaders. They determine the laws and policies that affect our lives and the future of our society and our planet. It matters greatly.

Still, the outcome of the election does not determine how we will choose to live our daily lives. We are at choice. We decide how we will treat each other. We determine how we will care for the most vulnerable and underserved among us. We choose the actions we will take to respect and care for our environment and our Mother Earth. We decide who we will be and how we will live in alignment with love.

As Viktor Frankl said in his book, Man’s Search for Meaning,

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

Each day, indeed each moment of every day, we must choose our own attitude and our own way of being in the world.

In alignment with that, I recently read a few posts on social media. I know, I would probably be better served to refrain from that. However, I read some comments that said something similar to, “It does not matter who wins the Presidential election. God is still in control.” I question that sentiment because it seems to be an abdication of responsibility.

In I John 4: 7-8, we read,

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

In my understanding, God is the unconditioned infinite energy of love – the life energy that connects us to each other and with all creation. Love is the energy that heals, harmonizes, and unifies. God, as Love, exists in the realm of perfect potential and possibility and must be brought into demonstration through us.

However, we continue to war against each other and still proclaim, “God is in control.” We continue to ignore the hungry, hurting, and homeless among us and still declare, “God is in control.” We continue to pollute our environment and rape the Earth and still say, “God is in control.” We continue to disenfranchise those who are not of our tribe, whether that be our race, nationality, or religion, and still decry, “God is in control.”

As Unity cofounder Charles Fillmore stated,

 “God is the love in everybody and everything. God is love; [humans] become loving by permitting that which God is to find expression in word and act…The point to be clearly established is that God exercises [God’s] attributes through the inner consciousness of the universe and [humankind].”

God is not in control unless and until we make conscious choices every day to surrender to the love that is God and allow that love to guide our every thought, word, and action.

My prayer for each of us and for our world is that we will make choices in the ways we think, speak and act that embody love. Yes, the outcome of this election will determine who leads our government, but no election has the power to determine who we are, what we stand for, or how we choose to be in the world. The choice is ours!

 

A Politics of Love

Earlier this week, my friend and videographer Ken Rinehart sent me a link to a recent episode of Colorado Matters, a daily interview program on Colorado Public Radio (CPR) hosted by Ryan Warner. This episode, entitled Holy Chaos! A House Divided! Religious Leaders Take on the Political Divide, is an interview with Pastor Mark Feldmeir, Senior Pastor of Saint Andrew United Methodist Church in Highlands Ranch, Reverend Amanda Henderson former Executive Director of Interfaith Alliance of Colorado who is joining The Iliff School of Theology, and Pastor Tracey Perry who does ministry and social justice work across the state.

Each of the ministers spoke authentically and courageously about the need for faith communities to engage in discourse about social justice issues, especially at this time in our country. They asserted quite boldly that it is the role of the church and people of faith to address these issues and stand for love and compassion in the arena of public policy. I highly recommend that you listen to this interview.

Trish Morris, our Associate Minister, spoke openly about this in her lesson on Sunday, October 25, entitled Finding the Balance. If you have not had the opportunity to listen to or watch this service, I encourage you do to so. You may watch or listen on the Unity Spiritual Center Denver YouTube channel.

After listening to the CPR episode, I ordered Rev. Feldmeir’s book, A House Divided – Engaging the Issues through the Politics of Compassion. The book is based on a series of sermons that Rev. Feldmeir gave at his church. Yes, a United Methodist minister in largely conservative Douglas County, Colorado dared to speak to his congregation of over one thousand about social justice issues on a Sunday morning! I have only begun perusing it, but from what I have read thus far, I believe that many of us could gain a new perspective from reading the book and engaging in the exercises he offers.

In the introduction to the book, Rev. Feldmeir references a 2015 online essay by Max Harris and Philip McKibbin entitled The Politics of Love in which the authors explore a values-based politics that encourages love, rather than fear and division, as a foundation for public policy. He quotes them,

“If love involves a concern for people, then a politics of love will move this world to a better place for everyone…In such a politics, love would be woven through all our policy. Embracing a politics of love would change how we justify policy, as well as how we talk about it.”

I wish I had been aware of this essay and Rev. Feldmeir’s book prior to presenting my lesson, Living Love, this past Sunday. While my message was very much aligned with everything presented here, I would have enjoyed having these as references.

In Unity, we say that Jesus is our way shower, our example of one who realized his oneness with God and lived it. However, Unity as a movement and many Unity churches and spiritual centers have traditionally avoided discussing or getting directly involved in issues of social justice. In my way of thinking, there is a serious disconnect here.

If we truly look to Jesus as our example, it seems to me that we would not only be involved in these issues, but that we would be on the front lines taking the lead in speaking about, speaking to, and speaking up about the issues that affect our daily lives and the lives of our brothers and sisters, not only in America, but around the world.

As Rev. Feldmeir points out, Jesus was deeply committed to compassion and to the common good. He excluded no one, openly embracing the disenfranchised, discounted and disinherited. He included all people in the family of God.

Jesus also exampled and called his disciples directly and each of us indirectly through his teaching, which we in Unity profess to believe in and follow, to empty ourselves of our own attachments to privilege, power, position and prestige in all its many forms and to love and serve God through loving and serving others.

In addition, Jesus’s life is an example of one who saw God in everyone and everything. This, my friends, is one of Unity’s primary principles. If we truly believe this and strive to practice it, I do not see how we can choose not to actively address and participate in issues that directly affect the lives of so many.

Are we ready to stop saying that Jesus is our way shower and do what it takes to follow him?

As I have said, I know it is not my position to tell anyone how to vote. I would not be so presumptuous. However, I believe it is within my purview as a fellow human being to encourage us all to consider the idea of a politics of love and compassion as we cast our votes that will determine our governmental leaders and affect public policy.

It is popular opinion that the next few weeks will be challenging in the political arena as votes are tabulated and winners determined and we deal with the reactions and responses from the elected officials and the public. I encourage us all to stay grounded in love and compassion for ourselves and for each other. To refrain from critical or judgmental words. To avoid being an “echo chamber” for fear. To keep our minds stayed on Love. To speak Love. To speak up for Love. To stand up for Love.

Love is the only power that can transform and heal the world. This is the time! We are the ones!

 

 

The Song of Love

The following is a paraphrase of a story included in one of my favorite books, How Then Shall We Live, by Wayne Muller. I have not confirmed that it is factual; regardless, as with many great stories, it speaks of deep truths.

 

There is a tribe in Africa in which the birthdate of a child is not observed by the day he or she is born, but from the date the child is thought of in its mother’s heart and mind. When the mother knows that a child is to come through her, she sits under a tree in solitude in order to hear the song of the child that is to be born. She then returns to the village and teaches the song to her husband. As they come together physically to conceive the child, they sing the song as a way of inviting it. During her pregnancy, the mother teaches the song to the midwives who sing it during delivery. Throughout the child’s life, the villagers sing the child’s song to remind him/her of it. If the child falls and hurts himself, the villagers gather to comfort him by singing his song. If she does something that may be contrary to the truth of her song, they do not condemn or punish her. Rather, they surround her with love and sing her song to remind her of her truth. Finally, at the time of death, the song is sung one last time.

 

I resonate with the image of God as a great matrix of energy vibrating as the frequency of Love. I love music and enjoy singing, so I especially appreciate the imagery of each of us being God resonating as beautiful music that we can perceive and express. I enjoy thinking that, metaphorically of course, each of us is the song of Love that God sings.

God’s song is a vibrational frequency, the Source of all, which has no end and no beginning. It is before and beyond our opinions, political or religious beliefs or affiliations, nationalities, races, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, gender identities, or any other of the many and various ways we identify ourselves. God’s song is the song of creation, the song of Oneness, the song of Love.

Although we are God’s song, unlike in this African tribe, most of us are not supported and encouraged to learn and sing it. We are taught to sing the songs of our families, cultures and religions. We learn the songs that they sing for themselves and sing to us, expecting us to learn them as our own, hoping to be accepted and belong. We superimpose them upon God’s song which gets drowned out by the cacophony of the world around us. We forget the song of God that is singing us.

We often grow so accustomed to singing another’s song that we begin to believe it is ours. We identify with the roles we play, the categories society assigns us, and the beliefs we are taught. When we sing the songs of our assumed identities, we experience discord, because we are not singing God’s song. God’s song is a song of unity, love, joy and peace.

God’s song often gets transposed into a song of fear, control, power and greed. That is not our song. We are not singing God’s song if we are singing a song of separation. When so many of us have been taught to sing songs other than God’s song, we often experience dissonance when we come together. God’s song is always harmonious, never dissonant.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where most hold the mistaken belief that violence is a solution to disharmony. We engage in violence against ourselves and each other in an attempt to resolve our dissonance. While some would argue that they are not violent, I believe that we all engage in violence, albeit sometimes unconsciously.

Violence is any thought we think, belief we hold, word we speak or action we take that denies the vibrant life of God – as ourselves or another. Violence, whether mental, verbal, physical, economic, or emotional only serves to further silence God’s song that is each of us in our highest form. It is never the resolution to dissonance within ourselves or in relationship to another.

All of our “isms” are violence, including racism, sexism, nationalism, ageism, to name a few. When we engage in any of those, we are singing learned songs of our history and presumed heritage, and discord results. We have forgotten our song. In the pain of dissonance, we lash out at each other.

Because we are not taught God’s song and encouraged to sing it, we lose touch with the love, compassion and oneness it embodies. When we are not singing God’s song to each other and for each other, we get lost in the discordant energy of fear. We continue to bear witness to the results.

I was dismayed to read that in a recent YouGov survey 55% of registered voters in America expect there to be violence after the upcoming election. Another 33% were unsure.

We must intervene. Just as dissonant sounds in music create tension that must be resolved by bringing the chords into harmony, we must find resolution within ourselves. We must commit ourselves to remembering God’s song as our song. We must take time to sit and listen so that we can sense the frequency; become conscious of when we are singing out of key; and make the necessary tunings so that we are in resonance with it. We must help each other remember the song. And we must help each other learn to sing it.

Resolving the dissonance between God’s song singing as us and the song we have been singing, brings resolution to the internal conflict and helps us to connect with solutions beyond our learned and commonly adopted violent responses, both within ourselves and in our relationships with others.

In order for us to co-create our vision of a world in which God’s song is freely and openly sung by all, we must remember it, learn it and sing it. And, we must encourage each other to do the same. This requires our willingness to engage in conscious self-connection. It also requires our willingness to have meaningful, conscious and loving connection with others.

Listening for, remembering and singing God’s song begins with our decision to do it. I suggest we begin with the affirmations: 

I hear God’s song of Love.

I learn God’s song of Love.

I sing God’s song of Love. 

These affirmations state a clear intention to align our vibrational frequency with the frequency of Love and Oneness.

Devoting time in the silence is necessary for us to hear God’s song. I recommend at least 15 minutes a day in meditation with the specific intention to listen. Begin with deep breathing, and focus your awareness at the center of your torso, the solar plexus area. Breathe into that area and consciously invite the awareness of God’s song. Release any attachment to “hearing” a melody, we are speaking metaphorically, and simply be open to the experience.

Honest self-connection is essential. It is important for us to be aware of the dissonance between the song we were taught to sing and God’s song that is singing as us. We must be willing to question every belief and release those that are not in harmony.

While it requires commitment and conscious attention, it is not difficult. Just as dissonant musical chords create tension, so do conflicting thoughts and beliefs. At the first sign of tension, which can manifest as mild anxiety or agitation, stop and become aware of the song you are singing. Invite God’s song to sing through you instead, and notice the tension ease. Moment by moment, we can consciously choose to align ourselves in the frequency of God’s song of Love.

As we begin to sing God’s song out loud, we encourage others to do the same. We remind them of their song, and invite them to sign along with us. It is my hope that we can learn from the story of the African tribe. Let us gather together to sing the song of Love.

Let us renounce violence as a means of restoring harmony. Let us cease engaging in the strategy of punishment, and instead remind each other of God’s song. Let us, together, manifest the Kingdom of God on the Earth joining together in a chorus of love, kindness, compassion and understanding.

The world is waiting for someone to lead the way. Will it be you?