Living the Truth We Know

I am currently facilitating an 8-week study of Spiritual Economics by Unity minister Eric Butterworth. I was first introduced to this book more than 20 years ago and have facilitated classes on it several times since entering Unity ministry. As occurs with many, if not all books of this kind, the teaching touches me more deeply each time I revisit it. This time has been no exception. Butterworth is quite clear and direct in his approach to prosperity consciousness. This class has been a powerful reminder of the importance of knowing that each of us is, as Butterworth says, “The self-livingness of God.” Knowing and living from this TRUTH is the key to living a prosperous life.

Unity offers some very powerful teachings related to prosperity, as well as to healing and wholeness, realization and demonstration, and other aspects of life. For many of us, once we discover Unity, we read books, go to classes and workshops, and attend Sunday services to learn the principles.

Unfortunately, it often stops there. We learn the principles, continue to sign up for the next great class or workshop, but often our lives change very little or not at all. When it doesn’t seem to be working in our lives, we may begin to question the validity of what we are learning. We may question, “If all of this is true, why do I not have enough money; why am I still single; why have I not manifested the perfect job?”  

If we are not living the prosperous life we desire, it is not because the principles we are learning are not true. It may be that we are not practicing the principles that we are learning, or that our practice needs to evolve to embrace a deeper level of understanding and embodiment. I have found this to be true for me. I share more about that below.

Unity’s fifth basic principle states, “Knowing and understanding the laws of life, also called Truth, are not enough. A person must also live the truth that he or she knows.”  We live the Truth by practicing the Truth in our daily lives. Our lives are not going to be transformed simply by a mental understanding of the Truth. To transform our lives and live our dreams, we must be willing to put into practice what we know.

As the famous joke goes, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?  Practice, Practice, Practice.” For most of us, anything that we have learned to do and do well has taken practice. And, with enough practice, these skills become as second nature to us. We were not born knowing how to tie our shoelaces, but after someone teaches us how and we practice for a time, we no longer stop to think about it: we simply tie them. The same applies to learning the basics of mathematics. We learn addition, subtraction, and multiplication, which may seem foreign at first, but with practice, the basic principles of mathematics become a part of our consciousness, and we use them without having to think much about it.

Oneness is one of Unity’s primary principles. We teach that there is One Power/Presence which we often refer to as ‘God.’ Additionally, we teach that God is our essential nature. We are the pure potential and possibility of all that we understand God to be and our purpose in this realm of existence is to embody and express that “Allness” to the best of our ability at any given moment. Unity cofounder Charles Fillmore said,

“It is your mission to express all that you can imagine God to be. Let this be your standard of achievement; never lower it, nor allow yourself to be belittled by the cry of sacrilege. You can attain to everything that you can imagine. If you imagine that it is possible to God, it is also possible to you. Whatever possibility your mind conceives, that is for you to attain. This is the law; let none belittle himself or dwarf the Supreme by trying to annul it.”

I realize that while I have been a student of Unity and other New Thought philosophy for close to 30 years, I am still evolving in my ability to truly understand the depth of this Truth. Even though I have embraced the concept of Oneness, my Unity in God, I have not completely practiced it; in part because I have not truly grasped its deeper meaning.

Even in my daily practice, I can hold myself apart. Recently, I have gained a deeper understanding of Oneness. I am revisiting the ways I have “practiced” it and am opening to the awareness of how I can practice it is more fully so that I may KNOW it. My contemplative question has been, “How do I practice the principle of Oneness?”

As I meditated on the question this morning, the following answer came.

You must first remove your attention from the world of effect and focus solely on First Cause (God). Know your Unity in God and realize that all you perceive in the phantasmal world is an effect of your consciousness.

Turn your attention from the outer to the inner and reflect upon God. Contemplate the nature of God as Peace, Love, Joy, Harmony, Order, Unity, Beauty, and all the concepts/attributes you most often associate with God. Further, focus your attention there and merge your awareness of self with those attributes.

You may need to penetrate layers of self-conception that seem to refute your Oneness but persist until you sense that there is no secondary cause, not even that which you have previously considered to be your mind, your thoughts, or your perceptions.

Join in awareness with the One Mind, free from attachment to the world of form. And, from there invoke your power of Imagination to envision a world that embodies all the Divine Nature of God as the Divine Nature of you.

Activate your Love center in your heart space and begin to harmonize all in alignment to Love as you attract all that is in vibrational resonance with your newly awakened Unity consciousness.

Using your Faith faculty, see beyond the evidence of what is, that which is currently manifested, to perceive what is possible as you align your vision to see as God sees as you.

In conscious awareness of Unity or Oneness, know that all you could ever desire is realized first as you know your Unity in God. All that you could ever desire is here and now present as Consciousness. Know, too, that you are endowed with faculties, twelve of which Charles Fillmore discerned as The Twelve Powers of Man. These powers or faculties, which include Imagination, Love and Faith, when activated, strengthened, and embodied are your innate abilities that empower you to bring into manifestation all that mirrors your conscious awareness of what is already fulfilled in Spirit.

The consciousness of Unity in God is the ultimate definition of Prosperity Consciousness. Living from that consciousness, intentionally using your powers, brings forth demonstrations of it. First Cause/God moves through you, as you, to create that which embodies the attributes of Itself.

I have distilled from the above the following:

In order to know, truly KNOW God and all the ways God manifests, I must contemplate only God and let go of any idea of a self that is separate. I must invite and allow the revelation of God and know myself as one who can realize the full potential of all the “God-ness” that I Am.

I must release all attachment to the world of form and trust that the power, presence, and substance of God is demonstrating in perfect Divine Order in accordance with my knowing of myself as that.

I also must know that I can and will only demonstrate at the level at which I know myself in Oneness. I know, too, that I will only demonstrate “God-ness” in my life as I am able to activate, strengthen and embody the Divine faculties innate in my humanity. This is how important it is for me to know that I am the Source in expression, my Oneness in God.

My experience of wholeness, prosperity, and all that I desire depends upon it. Practicing this principle from the perspective of the deeper awareness will bring forth demonstrations in my life of wholeness, prosperity, love, peace, and joy that I know God to be. I am sure of it. It is a knowing I have for you as well.

I hope you will join me in my recommitment to revisiting our Unity principles. My desire is that we invite a deeper understanding of them so that we not only have intellectual knowledge of them, but also embody them in daily living. My prayer is that these principles come alive for us in ways that we have yet to imagine.