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!