Playing It Safe?

I enjoy watching singing competition shows like The Voice and American Idol. I appreciate hearing great singers. Additionally, I am often touched by some of the contestants’ life stories.

Earlier this week, I watched the second episode of the current American Idol season. I heard some amazing singers (some not to good ones, too) and a couple of the stories brought me to tears. However, I was particularly inspired by something that Lionel Richie, one of the three judges, said to one contestant after she auditioned.

This young woman sang the song she had selected. She sang it well, but it was not spectacular. Katy Perry, another of the judges, asked if she had another selection she could sing. Of course, she did, and they asked her to sing it. The second song was much better suited for her voice and revealed her talent a way that the first song had not.

When asked why she had chosen not to sing the second song she replied that she was “playing it safe.” Lionel Richie looked at her and said, “Let me tell you something. Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” I thought, “What a profound statement of truth!” I later learned that this quote is attributed to author, Neale Donald Walsch.

I wonder how many of us, when feeling called by something deep within, choose to “play it safe” rather than step up to the boundary of our comfort zone and muster the courage to move beyond it.

Our comfort zones seem to provide us with safety and security, but they actually rob us of the fulfillment of life. Our comfort zones can become prisons of our own making. They not only hem us in, they also keep others out. Staying in our comfort zones also deprives the world of the gifts we are here to give.

What if Jesus had decided to stay in his comfort zone? I can just imagine him feeling the call of Spirit urging him to go to John to be baptized in the Jordan River and him saying “Nah, I am comfortable right where I am. I think I’ll just stay at home and learn the carpentry trade. It is what I was born into. It is my lot in life.”

We don’t know. Maybe he did have some of those thoughts. He was, after all, a human being just as we are. I am quite certain that he experienced fears and doubts along the way. Yet, he did not succumb to the desire to “play it safe.” He answered the call. Not only did he answer the call to be baptized, but he answered the call to embody the Christ and be in service to it as he ministered to those in need and taught us all how to embrace our divinity through our humanity.

We often think of Jesus as a superhuman who did not have to muster courage to move beyond his comfort zone, but something tells me that is not true. I can imagine that it was well beyond his comfort zone to go into the wilderness to face his shadow self and that it required great courage to come face-to-face with his inner demons.

Additionally, I can imagine that it was well outside his comfort zone to stand in the presence of the Sadducees and Pharisees and speak truth to power. Yet, he stood with them and spoke the truth knowing that he faced persecution for doing so.

We know from the account of his night in the Garden of Gethsemane that he expressed his fear of the impending crucifixion. Still, he knew that it was what he must do to fulfill his calling and share his final lesson with his followers and all of us who would follow in time.

I am not suggesting that we are all called to live the life experiences that Jesus lived, or that we are to change in the world as dramatically as he did. I am suggesting that we are all called to something greater than we typically know ourselves to be, more than we have experienced, and more expansive than we have allowed ourselves to imagine. If we are drawing breath, there is more for us to be, do and share.

Are we “playing it safe?” If so, why? I know that I “play it safe” for several reasons. I am afraid to fail. I fear being judged. I tell myself I do not know enough. I tell myself I am not good enough. I do not want to get hurt, and I do not want to hurt others. I do not know how. I want to be loved.

In my comfort zone, I tell myself that I cannot fail. No one will judge me. I am good enough at what I know how to do. I will not get hurt. When I look at all of that honestly, I know that none of it is true.

What is true is that in my comfort zone I am robbing myself of the fullness of life that is mine to live, express and enjoy. When I “play it safe,” I condemn myself to the prison of my fear. I am the only one who holds that key that will free me. Additionally, I am depriving the world of the gifts I have to share.

I suspect that you “play it safe” for those and similar reasons. I know that you are robbing yourself of the fullness of life and depriving the world of the fullness of you if you are staying bound in your comfort zone.

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” Take that in. If you are “playing it safe,” ask yourself what step you can take today. Trust that it is within you. You have the courage. Call upon it. Take that next step into the life that is calling you.

The Purpose of Lent

Lent began this week as we celebrated Ash Wednesday. In the Christian liturgical calendar, Lent is time of preparation for Easter. Many Christians observe Lent by giving up something as a way of honoring the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. In Unity, Lent is not about self-denial or self-sacrifice. It is not a time to deny our human experience, but to grow in understanding of our spiritual nature so we might live more fully in conscious connection with it.

Charles Fillmore, the co-founder of Unity, in Keep a True Lent, says, “Lent is a season of spiritual growth, a time for progressive unfoldment.” It is a time for removing our focus from the things of world, and instead placing our attention on the things of Spirit. Lent is a time to “Let Go, and Let God.” 

It is a time for letting go of our attachment to our limited thoughts and beliefs about who we are which constitute our “ego structure,” and fully embracing ourselves as the embodiment of the Christ, our true nature. Setting ourselves free from the bonds of the ego structure is in essence the purpose of Lent.

Many, if not most of us, live within this ego structure without being conscious of it. It becomes our comfort zone. We derive a sense of safety and security from these familiar mental constructs. We operate under the false belief that, within this structure of clearly defined meanings, we have some control. However, these structures can become prisons of our own making. We are often imprisoned by them until we begin to become conscious of them and question them. We have the power, no – we are the power to set ourselves free.

It is not that the ego must die as some spiritual teachings suggest, but that our identification with it, as it, must cease. Also, contrary to some spiritual tradition, we must not try to dismantle the ego structure by attacking it.

Our attempts to dismantle the ego structure by trying to eliminate it or by dissecting and analyzing it are futile. In fact, that only serves to fortify it. The only way to free ourselves from the ego structure is to strengthen our conscious awareness of the True Self, the Christ within, and allow its Light and Love to dissolve the imprisoning walls of the ego structure.

We need not struggle and strain with letting go. We only need invite the awareness of our Christ nature to awaken in our hearts and minds through the practice of prayer, meditation and contemplation. We need only, as the master teacher Jesus instructed, “Seek first the Kingdom of God” (Matthew 6:33), and to know that the “Kingdom of God is within” (Luke 17:21).

As Mr. Fillmore also stated, “When we can blend and merge our mind with God-Mind, the way is open for the Lord [the Spiritual activity of the I Am, the Christ] to glorify us and to lift us into a higher, purer, more spiritual state.”

We then attract into our life all that reflects and supports our expanded awareness. All that is not in harmony with our “higher, purer, more spiritual state” will fall away because we will no longer be attracting it to us. We do not need to know what we must release. It will be revealed to us as we are ready to know it. Further, letting go will only be painful if we attempt to hold on to that which is no longer in resonance with us.

In Unity, we teach that Jesus was not here to “save” us through his sacrifice on the cross. Instead Jesus was here to show us how to “save” ourselves. In other words, he taught us how to free ourselves from imprisonment within the ego structure. We can only do this by strengthening our conscious awareness of the Christ within and allowing the ego structure to fall away or be transformed.

Jesus knew that in order for us to experience resurrection, which Father Richard Rohr in his book Immortal Diamond equates to the “revelation of the True Self,” that we must also experience death. The death that we must experience is a transformation of the ego structures that we have allowed to define and confine us.

I encourage us to commit time daily to the practice of going within to make conscious connection with the Christ of our being, to sit in the heart space of love with it, to see ourselves and the world through the eyes of the Christ, thus to free ourselves to live as the Christ in the world. Freed from the ego structure, the True Self enjoys the space to express in the freedom that it is. This is the purpose of Lent. This is the potential of Easter. This is the promise of the resurrection.

 

 

Dear God, How Do I Love Thee?

In my post last week, I mentioned the work of Rev. Paul Smith, author of the book, Integral Christianity. He is also the author of the book, Is Your God Big Enough? Close Enough? You Enough? in which he explores an integral approach to understanding and relating to ‘God.’ He delves into the concept of the “three faces of God” which I first read and heard about through the work of philosopher and author, Ken Wilbur.

In a series of articles published on the Integral Life website, Rev. Smith expresses it as follows:

The integral viewpoint gives us a revolutionary new way to speak of God in the “Big Three,” the three basic perspectives from which everything can be viewed. As applied to the Divine, this translates into:

·        the 3rd- person objective “IT” face which I call the Infinite Face of God,

·        the 2nd-prson intersubjective “WE” face which I call the Intimate Face of God, and

·        the 1st-person subjective “I” face which I call the Inner Face of God, our own identification with God as our True Self.

Further, he states that most Unity, as well as other New Thought churches and spiritual centers, have a tendency to focus most, if not solely, upon God in the 1^st-person, and all but ignore the other two.

I can attest that from my Religious Science studies I understood that it was not in alignment with New Thought philosophy to speak of or to an external God, but to only speak from the awareness of God consciousness. I was taught not to begin a prayer with “Dear God” or to end a prayer with “Thank you, God” as either denoted separation from God.

I brought that understanding with me into my Unity studies, and was appalled when I heard others speak of God in the 2^nd or 3^rd person. I was thrilled when I read Rev. Linda Martella-Whitsett’s book, How to Pray without Talking to God. She confirmed that I was correct about everything I believed was right. I just love it when that happens; however, I also love it when I can expand my beliefs.

While I still appreciate the methods of affirmative prayer and spiritual mind treatment, I am happy to say that my perspective of ‘God' has continued to evolve. I am hopeful that I now have a more integral perspective. And I am continuing to contemplate and meditate on it.

I apologize to all whom I may have criticized or judged in my previous classes on prayer. Thankfully, we can all continue to grow in our understanding.

As I contemplate my message on Love for this coming Sunday, I am considering how to live Jesus’ greatest commandment in light of this integral approach to ‘God.’

 

Integral Christianity Network

To love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength¹ is the greatest commandment according to our master teacher and way-shower, Jesus, so it is certainly something one should aspire to, but how do we do it?

In my way of thinking, God is not a being, but is the ground of all Being. God is no thing, yet is the Life that imbues All. God is Light. God is Wisdom. God is not someone or something to love, but is Love itself. Therefore, I questioned, “How do I love God? How do I love Love?”

“To love” implies devotion of time, energy and attention. We devote time, energy and attention to God through prayer, meditation, contemplation, presence, and giving time, talent and energy in service to others and the world.

Prayer opens the mind and connects us with God Mind, the Infinite or 3^rd-person God. Prayer is a practice of intentionally redirecting attention from the effects in the outer manifest world to the cause in the inner spiritual world. It is a conscious activity that moves us from the usual focus on the third dimensional realm to the fourth dimensional realm which Jesus called “The Kingdom of Heaven“ or as Unity cofounder, Charles Fillmore preferred, “the Kingdom of the heavens.”

Charles Fillmore, in The Revealing Word says,

Fourth dimension - A transcendent realm that Jesus called the "kingdom of the heavens." Here one can discern the trend of spiritual forces and see with the spiritual vision of the Christ Mind.

The fourth dimension (which embraces and encompasses the other three dimensions) is also realization, the doing away with time and space and all conditions. The human mind, with its limited reasoning faculties, is bound by time, space, and conditions and can get no farther into the spiritual than reason will take it, but when we go beyond reason into the realm of realization, then we have attained the consciousness of pure being, the fourth-dimension mind.

Charles Fillmore also stated in Keep a True Lent,

Mind is the great meeting ground between God and humankind, and it is only through the most highly accelerated mind action, as in prayer, that we consciously make union.

We love God as we devote time to our prayer practice.

We love God as we meditate and open to the inflow of inspiration. Meditation, going into the Silence, slows the mental activity and provides a space into which Divine Ideas flow.

In his book, Christian Healing, Charles Fillmore said,

A daily half hour of meditation will open up the mind to a consciousness of the inner One and will reveal many things that are hidden from the natural man.

We love God as we focus time and attention in contemplation, such as the one discussed here. Contemplation helps us move beyond our normal way of thinking, let go of our preconceived ideas about what things mean and how things should be, and open to higher knowing and understanding. Contemplating on Divine Ideas and spiritual teaching helps to activate the powers of Wisdom and Understanding and allows us to see ourselves and the world from a different perspective.

We love God, the Intimate or 2^nd- person face of God, as we open and invite the physical awareness of God, by whatever name we call it - Life Energy, Chi, Holy Spirit, or Shekinah – to name a few. Heart-focused breathing, a practice promoted by HeartMath Institute helps to bring awareness into the body. The practice involves focusing attention in the heart while breathing more deeply than normal. It helps to connect, through the breath, with the Life of God that is breathing us. Practices, such as yoga, Tai Chi, and others, also help to connect us with the breath and bring focused attention to the Life Energy that is God moving in and through all creation. These practices, when engaged in consciously and intentionally, are ways to love God through our devoted attention.

We also love God by being present and aware of the activity of God in and through all creation. When we take time to stop and witness the beauty of nature, listen to the song of the birds, sit beside a rushing stream, walk on the beach, gaze in awe at the night sky or simply delight in the taste of strawberry, we are loving God.

Most importantly, we love God through witnessing, appreciating and serving God in others. This is one aspect of Jesus’ second greatest commandment. We love the God in others when we devote time and space to listen deeply with them and share empathic connections. We love the God in others when we show compassion and kindness. We love the God in others when we give from our hearts to help them meet their needs, whether physical, emotional or spiritual. We love the God in others through the gift of our presence.

In addition, and certainly not to be forgotten, we love God, the 1^st – person or Innate face of God, by loving ourselves. We love God by speaking words of kindness and support to ourselves every day. We love God as us by taking care of bodies, getting rest, eating nourishing foods, drinking water.

We love God as us by acknowledging our gifts and talents and giving them authentic expression. We love God as us by receiving from others, whether it be words of praise and gratitude, gifts of their time and presence, or even gifts of a material nature. We love God as us as we recognize and realize the expression of the Christ that we are. We love God as us as we let the Christ Light shine in all we say and do.

Borrowing from Elizabeth Barrett Browning, I ask, “Oh God, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” Yes, I do love God. I love God in many different ways, in the formed and the unformed. I love God as the Life living in all, as all. Could I love God more completely and fully? Yes!

So, my contemplation continues and I invite you to join me. Count the ways that you love God in all God’s faces, and then ask yourself, “How can I love God more?” I am eager to hear your insights.

¹ Matthew 12: 30 - 31

Radical Christianity

Recently, on the Unity minister’s Facebook discussion page, a question was posed asking for feedback on whether Unity should embrace its Christian roots or distance itself from Christianity. As you might imagine, discussion ensued.

Some believe that we should distance ourselves from Christianity because of the hypocrisy and policies of exclusion, as well as other negative associations that many have with Christianity.

Others believe that we should continue to honor our Christian roots and provide an alternative perspective of what it means to be Christian, some citing Paul Smith’s book Integral Christianity as a model that we might embrace and promote. I have not yet read the book, but I have read articles by Rev. Smith. I am intrigued by the concept.

I have yet to respond to the poll. I see the case for distancing ourselves from Christianity so we may have the potential to reach more people with the Unity message. However, Christianity is so much a part of my DNA and the DNA of the movement that I cannot completely fathom disassociating from those roots.

While I am confident that Christianity is my chosen spiritual path, I am still exploring what that means for me. Further, I am continuing to explore my beliefs about Jesus, historically, metaphysically and theologically. My exploration may continue for the rest of my life. I am fine with that.

As I pondered, I was reminded of Deepak Chopra’s book, The Third Jesus, The Christ We Cannot Ignore. The Introduction to the book begins, “Jesus Christ left behind a riddle that two thousand years of worship haven’t solved. The riddle can be stated in one sentence: “Why are Jesus’s teachings impossible to live by?"

Dr. Chopra posits that for centuries Christians have tried to live according to what Jesus taught and they have failed, leaving us to question whether the Christian church misunderstood or possibly purposefully misconstrued his teachings to serve its own agenda.

Dr. Chopra asserts that what Jesus was actually teaching was more radical and mystical than most of us have explored or have been willing to comprehend. He states that Jesus “wanted to inspire a world reborn in God.” Further that Jesus, who had attained God Consciousness, was teaching his followers how to do the same, and thereby change the world and their experience of it.

So many of us have failed to live by the teachings of Jesus because we have, for centuries, attempted to live by a mode of behavioral, moral standards that have been prescribed by the traditional Christian church and have been superimposed upon humanity, most of whom are largely unaware that they can achieve the same level of spiritual consciousness that Jesus achieved; something that the traditional Christian church does not teach.

We have been expected to live up to the standard prescribed by Jesus, who lived in the conscious awareness of his Divinity; however, we have been expected to live by those standards from a consciousness grounded in a religion based on the idea of separation and punitive discipline. It is no wonder that so many of us have not been able to achieve the kingdom of God consciousness that Jesus promised, and thereby live from that consciousness.

Unlike the traditional Christian church, Unity teaches us that indeed Christ Consciousness is the potential for each of us, and that each of us is possessed of the same potential to attain the God consciousness that Jesus realized. It is the message that Unity has been teaching for over a hundred years.

In fact, the word ‘unity’ has multiple meanings, not the least of which is “a state of being one; oneness.” When Charles Fillmore, cofounder of Unity, adopted the name ‘Unity’ for what would become, not a denomination of the Christian church, but a Truth movement, he surely must have intended to capture the more radical and mystical intent of Jesus’s teachings.

As Mr. Fillmore once stated, “Unity is a link in the great educational movement inaugurated by Jesus Christ. Our objective is to discern the Truth in Christianity and prove it. The Truth that we teach is not new; neither do we claim special revelations or discovery of new religious principles. Our purpose is to help and teach humankind to use and prove the eternal Truth taught by the Master.”

Now I know how I will respond to the question. I encourage the Unity movement to honor its Christian roots by continuing to discern the Truth therein and prove it. Further, I encourage us to boldly proclaim a Radical Christianity. I certainly do not mean to imply that we should adopt what has become Christian fundamentalism. I assert that we should return to the roots of the Jesus movement, to what Mr. Fillmore referred to as “first generation Christianity” and strive to live lives grounded in the tenets of the religion of Jesus, which he stated very clearly – Love God, Love Others, Love Self.

I propose that we reclaim Mr. Fillmore’s stated purpose, and truly prove that the so-called riddle that Dr. Chopra says Jesus left behind is no riddle at all. Let us be the ones to prove that it is, indeed, possible to live by Jesus’s teachings. Let us be the ones to be reborn in God. Let us be the ones who establish God’s kingdom on the earth. Let us be the ones to instate the reign of peace. Let us be the saviors of world. And, let it begin with me.