In the World, Not of the World

When I first began my conscious spiritual quest, I believed that if I meditated and engaged in other spiritual practices every day I would eventually become enlightened, transcend the cares of the world, and live thereafter in a perpetual state of bliss.  In fact, if I am totally honest, I held on to that dream until fairly recently.  I hoped that when I “awakened” I would no longer have to deal with the concerns of everyday life.  I have since discovered that awakening is not about escaping the world, but about living more fully present while in it and responding to it accordingly from a consciousness centered in divine nature.  This is evidenced beautifully in the story of Jesus’ life. 

My current series of talks is entitled, “Wake up with Jesus” and I am exploring the Jesus story as a metaphor for our awakening.  In Unity, we view Jesus as our Way Shower, one who exampled the potential we all possess to awaken to divine nature and respond from that divinity while continuing to live in the “nitty gritty” of life.  In other words, Jesus showed us what it means to be in the world, but not of the world.  His life experiences, albeit dramatic portrayals, are metaphorical representations of what we may encounter as we awaken and choose to live in the world centered in divine nature.

In the fourth chapter of Matthew’s gospel we are told that after Jesus received baptism, he was carried away into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit where he faced the temptations of Satan.  Satan first tells Jesus, who is fasting, to turn stones into bread to ease his hunger.  Jesus responds stating that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.   Satan then suggests to Jesus that he leap from the pinnacle of the temple to prove that God will save him.  Jesus chooses not to test God.  Finally, Satan encourages Jesus to worship him in order that he might be ruler over the entire world.  Jesus rebukes Satan.  He tells him that only God is worthy of worship and then tells Satan to leave.  Satan goes away and leaves Jesus alone.

From a metaphorical perspective, Satan is the personification of Jesus’ conditioned mind.  He is not an entity external to Jesus; he is the limiting thoughts that arise.  Jesus experienced this confrontation and so do we.  When we experience a shift in how we see ourselves, and awaken to a deeper understanding of our true nature; we are inevitably confronted with the myths, messages and beliefs of the conditioned mind that tell us we are something less than the awakened Christ.  We may even question the validity of our newly awakened state.  Unlike Satan in this story, the thoughts of the conditioned mind are not there to threaten us, or to possess us. They arise as opportunities for us to meet them, question them and release them. 

Only by our willingness to enter the wilderness of our own minds and encounter the temptations to discount our awakening experience will we truly be able to claim our truth and stand firmly in our conviction.  We can take solace in knowing that while it may seem daunting, it does not have to be a scary, painful struggle.  We can follow Jesus’ example.  He did not argue with Satan or attempt to do battle with him.  Instead, Jesus stood in his truth and chose not to give power to his conditioned mind.  He responded from a consciousness grounded in divine nature, and eventually Satan left him.  We must be willing to come face-to-face with our limiting thoughts and allow the truth to be revealed.  Then we can respond to them just as Jesus responded to “Satan” from his Christ awareness, from a level of understanding gained as the result of a newly awakened state.

As we “Wake up with Jesus” let us remain mindful that the world around us does not change as we awaken; our perspective of the world changes.  No matter how scary it may first appear, we are free to respond to whatever life brings our way from a consciousness centered in divine nature.  We are in the world, but not of the world.

Surrender to Truth

Earlier this week I recognized that I had spent the previous few days going through the motions of my life as if sleep walking.  I was showing up and doing what I needed to do to take care of tasks, but I was not really present.  I realized this only after a friend asked me about it, and pointed out that I seemed preoccupied and withdrawn.  Once I was willing to admit to myself that I had been unavailable and detached, I became aware that I had fallen back into old patterns of thinking and behaviors that are based in fear.  It amazes me how quickly and easily I can sometimes revert from being connected to the powerful being I know I am, back to acting as if I am the limited ego-identified human being that my family and society conditioned me to be, and that I accepted in order to fit in and feel safe.  And, I feel dismayed at times that I don’t yet immediately recognize when I am doing it.  My greatest desire is to know the truth of me and live from that truth every moment of every day.   When I don’t fulfill that desire, I feel the negative emotional impact. 

We are conditioned from birth to accept a limited concept of ourselves, and we often suffer because we are in bondage to it, whether or not we are conscious of it.  Through realization of truth we enjoy freedom from the limiting myths, messages and beliefs that our families, society and churches often thrust upon us, and to which we can become enslaved.  As Jesus said,

“You shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall set you free.”

-- John 8:32

And, knowing the truth is not enough; as Unity’s fifth principle tells us, we must also live the truth we know.

When we do not live from our truth we withhold, not only from ourselves, but also from the world; the unique aspect of the only begotten of God that each of us is.  I am reminded of the words of Jesus, 

"For this I was born and for this I came into the world; to bear witness to the truth.”

-- John 18:37

The truth is that each of us is the Christ in expression and we bear witness to that truth as we realize it and commit to living it in the world. 

This is yet another reminder of the reason I chose my current Sunday morning series, “Wake up with Jesus” and why I believe it is so valuable to our understanding.  The purpose of this series is to help us connect with the transcendent reality of being.  Our freedom, both individual and collective, lies in the realization of our true nature.  As we review the Jesus story as presented in the Canonical Gospels in the Bible, we can see a man who realized his truth, stated his mission and lived it.  His story, as a metaphor for our own awakening, reveals how we can relate the events in Jesus’ life to our own similar experiences, and we can choose to know our truth and set ourselves free as we bear witness to the truth of our divine being.

This past Sunday, we explored Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist as a metaphor for our willingness to stand against the societal mores and religious dogma and lay down the limiting concept of ourselves, to surrender it, and to welcome the cleansing and clearing of Spirit represented by water.  And, once cleansed, to allow ourselves to accept and embrace the transcendent life of Spirit that is our truth.  Jesus’ baptism was not simply a baptism by water, but also a baptism of the Holy Spirit.  Just as Jesus was “anointed” with the Holy Spirit as he came up out of waters of the Jordan River, we too are “anointed,” not by an external power or force, but by the innate presence and power of the Holy Spirit within our own consciousness.  The Holy Spirit is eternally present and awaiting our acceptance and recognition of it.  It is the guiding principle for our lives in Spirit.  Charles Fillmore, co-founder of Unity, said in describing the Holy Spirit,

“It is the movement of Spirit…it is through the help of the Holy Spirit that humankind overcomes.”

As we accept that we are anointed with the Holy Spirit, we can choose, moment by moment to surrender to it and to overcome our limited beliefs about ourselves.

Receiving our baptism and anointing does not mean that we will never again be faced with life’s challenges.  On the contrary, we will continue to be in the world and we will be met every day with opportunities to choose how we will respond.  We bear witness to the truth when we are willing to stand in the power and strength of who we are, and respond by speaking and acting from that place.

Please join us this Sunday as we continue to “Wake up with Jesus”.  We will explore his forty days in the desert facing the temptations of Satan, and we will see how Jesus’ experience mirrors our own.

Answering the Call

For the past few days Jami Lula’s song, “Something’s Calling Me,” has been running through my head.  Could it be that something is calling me?  Could it be that something is calling you?  Could it be the same “something” calling us?  Yes.  It is our true nature calling us to a place of remembrance.  It is the voice of the Divine at the center of our hearts calling us to let go of limited concepts of ourselves and accept who we truly are.  It is saying, “Wake up.  Wake up.  Wake Up!” 

I am convinced that whether we are conscious of it or not, our deepest desire is to awaken to our true nature; to know ourselves as the Divine; to live in conscious awareness of the One Power and One Presence expressing in, through and as these human forms.  We desire to experience what in some Eastern traditions is known as “awakening” or “enlightenment.”  In the Christian tradition it is referred to as “salvation.”  In other words, our hearts’ desire is to be saved from the illusion that we are our bodies, beliefs, emotions, or possessions, an image of self that often stimulates suffering.  We are saved from this illusion by awakening to the awareness of who we truly are.

Traditional Christianity teaches that we receive salvation through the belief that Jesus Christ sacrificed himself to save us from an eternity in hell, and to give us the promise of an eternal afterlife in heaven; provided, of course, that we accept his atonement.  The theology is that Jesus is the source of our salvation.  In Unity, we believe that the source of our salvation is our acceptance and realization of our Christ nature.  It is not Jesus but the Christ that is the source of our salvation, and the Christ is the eternal essential nature of each of us.  Awakening to and living from our Christ nature is our salvation.

In the Metaphysical Bible Dictionary (MBD), Unity co-founder, Charles Fillmore offers an expansive explanation of “Christ.”  The following is a short excerpt.

“Christ is the only begotten Son of God, or the one complete idea of perfect man in Divine Mind. [Christ] is the embodiment of all divine ideas, such as intelligence, life, love, substance, and strength. This Christ, or perfect-man idea existing eternally in Divine Mind, is the true, spiritual, higher self of every individual. Each of us has within him the Christ, just as Jesus had, and we must look within to recognize and realize our sonship, our divine origin and birth, even as He did.”

While we do not view Jesus as the source of salvation, we see him as one who awakened to and lived fully from his Christ nature.  His life experience serves as a road map which can lead us to our own experience of salvation; if we choose to follow it. 

Last Sunday, I began a series of messages entitled “Wake up with Jesus.”  I am experiencing a great deal of enthusiasm for this series because it speaks to where I am and where I believe many of us are along life’s journey.  My hope is that this series will help us see Jesus as a metaphor for our own potential and possibility and that we will commit to following his example.  We are saved by our willingness and commitment to walk his path. 

Please join us on Sunday for our 10:00 a.m. service as we follow the call, encounter John the Baptist and experience the baptism of water and of the Holy Spirit.

Awakening

Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus? 

Oh, what memories that question stirs in me.  Having lived all my life in the “Bible belt” I have heard that question asked far too many times for my comfort.  And yes, there was a time in my life when I also asked that question. However, my question today is not whether you have a relationship with Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior.  Instead, I ask, “Who is Jesus and what does he represent to you at this point in your spiritual journey?”

Christianity is the predominant religion in this country. Christians have a relationship with Jesus through the story of his birth, death and resurrection, the foundation for Christianity.  A recent survey by Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life shows that more than 78% of Americans identify themselves as Christian. Christianity is pervasive in our culture; therefore in America there is no escaping a connection with Jesus, regardless of what we believe about him.

My personal relationship with Jesus has evolved considerably over the years.  It began when I was 10-years old.  The minister at the church where my family was attending came to our house, and after he convinced me that I needed to accept Jesus as my savior, I did.  As I reflect back on that day now, I can honestly say that I “professed” to accept Jesus.  I was baptized sometime soon after.   “Great!  If that’s all it takes,” I thought; “I am good to go.”

My family didn’t attend church regularly, so I soon lost my personal connection with Jesus through religion even though I continued to live within the Christian culture of small town Georgia.  However, at fourteen, when I got to high school, I became involved with a group of “church-goers,” so I started going to church again.  The preacher soon convinced me that I was a back-sliding sinner, so I repented of my sins, confessed my belief in Jesus and was baptized – again!

I swallowed the whole Jesus story hook, line and sinker.  I felt guilt when I thought about anything that even hinted of sin, and since that’s about all fourteen year old boys think about, I was feeling a whole lot of guilt and doing a whole lot of praying for forgiveness. 

To make a long story shorter, I went through many years believing that Jesus was Lord and Savior and that he died on the cross for my sins.  And, I harbored a great deal of shame and guilt as a result of my belief that I was not worthy and that I could never be worthy.

Fast forward to my late twenties and early thirties when I began exploring the concepts of the New Thought movement through Unity and Religious Science; I was introduced to a Jesus that I had never before considered.  He was a brother, a way-shower, a guide.  He was grace and love. He was no longer the great exception, but the great example of the possibility and potential for me.  He was one who had awakened to the Christ – the Divine Idea of each of us.  This new vision of Jesus inspired hope for me.

I do not claim to know the truth about who the historical Jesus was, what he actually said and did, or whether the narratives presented in the Canonical Gospels or the letters of Paul in the Bible are fact or mostly fiction.  Even those who have researched the topic for years do not agree.  I have come to the decision that it really does not matter how much, if any, of the Jesus story is factual.  What matters is one’s personal relationship with the Jesus story.  My personal relationship with Jesus today is one of pupil to teacher.  My desire is to allow the Jesus that we meet in the Gospels to teach me the path to my own salvation; salvation from my limiting thoughts and life patterns.

I am currently exploring the Jesus story as the story of awakening which we can, if we choose, allow to serve as a template for awakening to the Truth of who we are.  We are the Christ. That same presence is within each of us.  When we explore the Jesus story though this lens, we see that Jesus experienced the steps of awakening that we all must take. His path was in a dramatic fashion that most of us will not experience, but there are day-to-day analogies we can learn from even in his spectacular moments.  As we explore the journey of Jesus from his baptism to his ascension, we will discover that he outlined a path for us to walk.  If we adhere to the path, we will know our truth – the Truth that sets us free. 

I hope you will join us on Sunday mornings, beginning August 18, at 10:00 a.m., as we walk together the path that Jesus walked; the path that leads to awakening.

Choose Happiness

This Sunday I will complete the series of lessons based on Michael A. Singer’s book, The Untethered Soul, with a talk entitled “Unconditional Happiness.”  In his book, Mr. Singer posits that life is actually quite simple, that we only need to make one choice in life; that choice is whether we want to be happy or not.  He asserts that, “Once you make that choice, your path through life becomes totally clear.” 

My assumption is that every one of us, if asked, “Do you want to be happy?” would respond with a resounding “Yes!”  If it is indeed a choice, and I fully believe that it is; why do we ever choose to be unhappy?  We would certainly choose happiness over unhappiness.  Or, would we? 

No one consciously chooses to be unhappy.  However, we routinely place conditions on our happiness.  We choose happiness as long as everything in our world goes according to our predetermined set of conditional criteria.  Even though we resolve to choose happiness, when we lose a job, our significant other leaves us, we get sick, or something else occurs that might conflict with our plan for a “happy” life what happens to our happiness?  In these instances, happiness is often fleeting.  In order to live a life of unconditional happiness we must be willing to choose to be happy even in the midst of a life event that we consider unwanted or judge as unacceptable.  When we allow external conditions to determine whether or not we are happy, we abdicate our power to something or someone other than ourselves, and we live lives of conditional happiness.

In choosing unconditional happiness it is important for us to realize that it is not the events in life that cause us to be unhappy; it is our resistance to the events that stimulates unhappiness.  Life happens, things change, people leave, jobs end: It is the way of life.  We are either present in the moment, experiencing life and appreciating “what is” which demonstrates happiness; or we are standing in a place of pushing against what has come before or reaching for what has yet to be, thus stimulating our own unhappiness.

Happiness is a choice, and choosing unconditional happiness is a spiritual practice.  As Mr. Singer says, the path becomes clear once we make the choice to be happy.  The path to unconditional happiness requires that we practice nonresistance, acceptance and gratitude.  In order to follow that path, we must be willing to release our preconceived ideas about how life should or should not be.  Life is not going to conform to our prescript, so we are best served to “Let go and let Life;” to accept things as they are and express gratitude in every moment. There really is no other path to a happy life.

Please join me on Sunday as we explore how to traverse our individual paths and discover what it means to live a life of “Unconditional Happiness”.

Threefold Healing and Wholeness

I am at Unity Village this week enjoying the final series of classes required for me to be a Licensed Unity Teacher.  That brings me one step closer to ordination and I am full of gratitude.  My days begin at 8:00 a.m. with four hours of class focused on prayer, both principle and practice.  It is a wonderful way to begin the day.  As part of the class, we attend the daily prayer service at the Silent Unity Chapel.  It is a present reminder that the Unity movement was founded on the healing power of prayer as was demonstrated by co-founder, Myrtle Fillmore.  While Charles Fillmore is often given credit for advancing the movement, it was Myrtle who began the prayer ministry upon which it rests. 

The following is an article I wrote last year after attending a class entitled “Myrtle and Charles on Healing and Wholeness.”  One of the texts for the class is Myrtle Fillmore’s Healing Letters which is a collection of letters Mrs. Fillmore wrote in response to prayer requests that were sent to Silent Unity.  I was particularly struck by one of her letters that affirms the power of prayer, but seems to dissuade the writer from the belief that it is somehow magical.  It affirms that while prayer is a powerful practice, it is not magic, and one must take personal responsibility for his or her own demonstration of wholeness.

In her response to two statements from the writer in which he asks to be “sent some healing vibrations” and “to relieve us through Silent Unity healing,” Mrs. Fillmore reminds us all that the path to healing and wholeness is three-fold, involving all aspects of our being - spirit, mind and body.  This three-fold path to healing and wholeness applies to all aspects of our life experiences, including physical health, financial well-being, self-expression through our chosen vocation and avocation, and our relationships with others.  If we are to demonstrate the full expression of all the Good that God is as us, we must realize our Truth in spirit, mind and body.

We know that the spiritual Truth is that each of us is an expression of Divine Intelligence, Substance, and Supply, that which we call “God.”  As the allegorical story in the book of Genesis tells us, we are created in the image and likeness of God.  Not only that, but we are created to live in the Kingdom of God represented in the story as the Garden of Eden where all is provided, there is no need, and there is nothing lacking.  As in this story, God gave it all at the moment of creation, and we eternally exist in this state of wholeness and perfection.  We only “separate” ourselves from this state of being as we hold the belief that we can be separate.  It is a state that can only happen in our minds.  Thus, we must keep our minds stayed on the Truth.

The mind, as we understand it, is more than our thoughts; it also includes our feeling nature.  Since our thoughts and feelings are so closely interlinked, it is difficult, if not impossible to determine which comes first.  There are those who assert that thoughts elicit feelings, and others will argue the reverse.  Because they happen almost simultaneously in most cases, it is of little concern which arises first.  For the purposes of healing and wholeness, it only matters that we are aware of our thoughts and feelings and intervene on those that are not in alignment with our Truth.  Often, our feeling nature will alert us when we are out of harmony with our spiritual Truth.  Any feeling that does not have its foundation in peace, love or joy can be our signal that our thoughts are off track and are in need of investigation and realignment.  We establish a consciousness of healing and wholeness as we keep our thoughts and thus our feelings in alignment the Truth of our being.  It is this consciousness which establishes the foundation for the demonstration of life experiences that embody the fullness of our Truth as it opens us to receive the divine ideas that we are to bring forth into manifestation and sets the stage for our action.

The body, or the physical, is the final aspect of establishing the demonstration of Truth in any aspect of our lives.  From the consciousness of Truth, we open ourselves to the wisdom, understanding and imagination, as well as other faculties of our nature which co-founder, Charles Fillmore, indentified as “The Twelve Powers of Man.”  We open to the guidance that is available to us in the quiet of our peaceful, loving, joyous minds, and we use our powers of strength, will, and power to move forward, and take the action that we are called to take in order to bring forth into the physical realm the manifestation of a body, career, relationships, and bank account that mirror the Truth of our nature as God in expression. 

Thus, spirit, mind and body must be three-in-one, as one, in order that we may demonstrate healing and wholeness in all areas of our lives.  Myrtle Fillmore encourages us to, “Daily declare that your spiritual life and world, your mental life and world, your physical life and world are unified and that you are expressing harmoniously the ideas of the Christ Mind on these three planes.”

Boldly, Courageously

I was touched by your expressions of gratitude this past Sunday in recognition of my five year anniversary as Spiritual Leader at Unity of Arlington.  Thank you for sharing your love with me. I have a wonderful vivid memory of preparing for my first visit as guest speaker and musician here in 2007.  As I meditated, I heard very clearly the words, “You are going to be their minister.”  While I shrugged it off and even argued with the voice, somewhere deep within I knew it was true.  I did not know how it would happen, but I had a knowing that somehow it would.  I could not be more delighted to affirm the truth that “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).  As I contemplate these first five years and envision what is to come, I know that I am being called to a greater expression of who I have come here to be, not just at Unity of Arlington, but as I live in the world as well.  I trust that I am not alone as I have heard others in our community express similar thoughts.

In my recent messages based on the book, The Untethered Soul, by Michael A. Singer I have talked about the ways we restrict our souls from their fullest expressions.  Whether it is the mind that will not be quiet, the walls of our psyche that keep us imprisoned, or the elaborate structures of the ego that we build to protect ourselves from the pain we fear, we often prevent ourselves from living courageous, wholehearted lives.  I have often heard the adage, “You teach what you need most to learn,” and I have certainly proved that to myself over the course of this series.  This series has given me the motivation to explore for myself the areas in which I do not allow my soul to express “untethered,” and discover how I can I change that.  It is my greatest desire to live life wholeheartedly and soulfully, and to encourage each of you to do that as well.

While I will complete the series on The Untethered Soul when I return to the platform on Sunday, August 11, I have begun researching my next series which I am calling “Wake up with Jesus.”  I have been reintroduced to Jesus, the man who is the epitome of living life courageously and wholeheartedly. I see him as our guide to living a life of “the Untethered Soul,” and I look forward to exploring that with you.  The writer of the Gospel of Luke gives us a glimpse of the power of conviction that Jesus displayed at the beginning of his ministry.

"He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom.  He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him.  Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

'The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.'

Then he rolled up the Scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down.  The eyes of eveyrone in the synagogue were fastened on him.  He began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." – Luke 4:16-21

According to this scripture, soon after being baptized by John and later tempted by Satan in the desert, Jesus entered the synagogue in Nazareth and proclaimed his mission to all who were listening.  After reading from the prophetic writing of Isaiah, he boldly stated that he was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy.  He was not shy or hesitant about claiming his anointing by the Holy Spirit nor did he shrink from his authority to teach the truth that would loose the ties of bondage, restore sight to the blind and set free the oppressed.  He stated his intention clearly, and according to the gospel narratives he never wavered.    Whether or not this account is factual, and many biblical scholars believe that it is not, this story, like many stories in the Canonical Gospels, is told by the writer of Luke in order to share what he believed to be true, a very basic tenet upon which the Christian movement was founded – Jesus is the Messiah, the anointed one of God.

Jesus’ statement is an unequivocal declaration of his presumed life purpose.  According to Luke’s Gospel, this event is the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and it set the tone for all that was to come.  He began his ministry in the same way he lived it, with courage and conviction.  It is an example of the way that Jesus approached his life and the work that he was here to do.  He owned his truth and he lived it, and by doing so he engendered criticism and persecution.  Yet, he did not allow his detractors to dissuade him in his mission.

Jesus was not the great exception; he was the great example.  He is our way-shower.  Just as Jesus did, each of us must choose for ourselves what our mission in the world is to be, declare it boldly and live it courageously.  Just as Jesus was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, so are we. The difference is that he was willing to boldly claim it and live it.

Now is the time for each of us to open ourselves in order to accept the baptism of the Holy Spirit, claim our anointing, and allow ourselves to be the vessels through which the Spirit of God pours into the world.  Each of us is here to share the good news - the Kingdom of Heaven is here and now - to all who are open and willing to receive it; proclaim that the Christ of our being sets us free from the bondage of fear in the moment we realize it; assist humanity in seeing ourselves and all creation as manifestations of the One Life; claim and live a limitless life and help others open to the unlimited potential and possibility that they are; and proclaim now, this day, this moment replete with the Glory of God.  Let us stand with Jesus and state emphatically, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

May we choose to claim our truth and stand firmly in it.  When we fully commit ourselves to living the truth, not allowing anything to dissuade us, we will truly live the life of “The Untethered Soul,” and we will live life wholeheartedly.  This is my prayer for you, and for me.