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.