A Holy Temple

Recently, I had a conversation with a young man who is new to Unity. He asked me to tell him some of the history of the movement. I was thrilled that he asked, and I was happy to honor his request. I shared with him that Unity is one of several spiritual movements, including Christian Science, Religious Science, and Divine Science, that evolved out of the “mind cure” movement of the late nineteenth century. I also shared with him Myrtle Fillmore’s story of healing from tuberculosis, which was truly the catalyst for the initial founding and growth of the Unity movement. It was her experience of healing that inspired others, including Unity cofounder Charles Fillmore, to learn more about the power of the mind to affect healing in the body.

During our conversation I was reminded of a question I received during a new member’s class a while back. After showing a short film about the history of Unity, a participant questioned why, given that Unity was founded on the belief in the power of the mind to heal the body, we don’t talk more about that in our Sunday services or in our classes. That’s a good question!

Additionally, as I think back over the past few months, the topic of ‘the body’ has come up several times. I am listening! I am inspired to present lessons on ‘the body,’ beginning this Sunday, June 3, with a talk entitled “A Holy Temple.”

I gained some insight and inspiration from the following excerpts from Myrtle Fillmore’s Healing Letters in the section titled “Understanding the Body.”

Paul says, "Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God . . . glorify God in your body" (I Cor. 6:19-20). Unity says, "God in the midst of you is mighty to quicken, to cleanse, to heal, to restore to wholeness, to prosper.

There is a divine law of mind action that we may conform to, and that will always bring satisfactory results. There is also a physical side to the operation of this divine law. The body and its needs must have our consideration. We must not drive the body or neglect its normal needs. This body is the result of our use of God-given faculties and powers. We have needed such a temple, and the soul has built it.

The body responds to changes of mind; and when this is accompanied by truly wise living habits, the conformity to true ideas of life and power and love and substance and intelligence will renew it and make it every whit whole. We must see the life of God in our flesh.

This is profound and contains a wealth of spiritual knowledge and wisdom. It cannot be covered in one or even in a few messages. So, over the next couple of weeks, we will explore what the body is, how it responds to our thoughts, feelings, beliefs and living habits and how we can make choices and take actions that support the body’s well-being.

Join us this Sunday, June 3, at 10:00 for our service as we begin this exploration. Also, plan to be with us on June 10. Following our service, several of our members and supporters will be on-hand to share information about products and services they offer that support physical well-being.

In The Wilderness

Over the past two weeks, in my Sunday lessons at Unity Spiritual Center Denver (listen here) and my post from May 10, I have shared some of my thoughts about a quote from Unity cofounder Charles Fillmore. He said, in effect, that we must realize that we are Jesus of the Christian Scriptures and until we do, we will continue to experience the effects of our limited understanding and acceptance of who we truly are. What a powerful statement of Truth!

As I have contemplated that Truth over the past two weeks, I have become more conscious of the ways I have limited myself and my experience by believing that I am something other than and less than the full potential and possibility of all that the master Jesus embodied. I am working on it, however.

In preparation for writing this post, I was looking back through some of my previous posts and rediscovered one from March 2015 which explores this idea from a little different perspective, yet still in alignment with the same Truth. I decided to update that entry and repost it today. I hope it will inspire you to an even greater realization of the Truth of who you are.

Charles Fillmore, Unity cofounder wrote,

“We cannot separate Jesus Christ from God or tell where man leaves off and God begins in Him. To say that we are men as Jesus Christ was a man is not exactly true, because He had dropped that personal consciousness by which we separate ourselves from our true God self. He became consciously one with the absolute principle of Being. He proved in His resurrection and ascension that He had no consciousness separate from that of Being, therefore He really was this Being to all intents and purposes.

Yet He attained no more than what is expected of every one of us. ’That they may be one, even as we are’ was His prayer.”

While at the core of my being it felt true, when I began to read and comprehend what Mr. Fillmore was saying, that each of us not only can, but is expected to achieve the level of Oneness consciousness that Jesus did, I was a bit mystified. My thinking went something like, “How can I achieve Jesus’ level of consciousness? There is only one Christ, one son of God, and Jesus is it.” It was actually not until much later in my own journey that I was able to assimilate that Jesus and ‘Christ’ are not synonymous. Even though in some traditions the terms are used interchangeably, in Unity they are distinct.

The traditional Christian assertion is that Jesus was the one and only son of God, born knowing his divinity and living in concert with it from the moment of his birth. In other words, he was born fully awakened in Christ consciousness and he never diverged from it. In Unity we teach that Jesus was a human born into time and space just as each of us is and that his life was a journey of awakening and self-mastery as is ours.

We believe, as Unity minister, author and teacher Eric Butterworth stated, that Jesus was the great example, not the great exception. Like each of us, his personal consciousness was conditioned by his family, the oppressive society in which he lived and the religion of his birth. He, too, had to release himself from the bonds of the personal consciousness, often referred to as ‘ego,’ in order to awaken to his divine nature.

Through a series of events, Jesus awakened to the fullness of the Christ, which as Charles Fillmore said is, “the higher self…the spiritual man…the one complete idea of perfect man in Divine Mind.¹” As in the quote above, Mr. Fillmore reminds us that we are expected to do the same.

When we explore Jesus’ journey as a metaphor for our own process of awakening from an ego-dominated consciousness to Christ consciousness, we can see that although his experiences were dramatic, they can represent the phases we may go through on our path to awakening.

Immediately following his baptism “the Spirit drove him into the wilderness” (Mark 1:12 NRSV) where he spent forty days and forty nights with the “wild beast” and “Satan.” This is an essential aspect in the journey of awakening.

Like Jesus, when we have an awakening such as the one he experienced, we are often drawn into the wilderness of our own minds. Charles Fillmore said, 

“In individual consciousness the wilderness is symbolical of the multitude of undisciplined and uncultivated thoughts.²” We are brought face-to-face with all the thoughts that would deny our newly revealed nature. All the things we have been taught to believe about ourselves and the world arise in order to challenge us. We are given the opportunity to release them and let them go.

And, if that weren’t enough, Satan who represents the “great universal negative²” shows up with all the powerful beliefs of collective consciousness to tempt us from our initiatory awakening with promises of pleasure, power and riches, things that the ego-dominated mind often craves.

The story tells us little of what Jesus endured during his forty days and nights in the desert. We can only surmise. However, when we are willing to look at how the “personal consciousness by which we separate ourselves from our true God consciousness” shows up as the limiting thoughts and beliefs in our own minds, we have a pretty good idea of what he was dealing with. We do know that he persevered. He walked out of the wilderness a changed man ready to continue his journey.

I hope you will join us Sunday as we continue to explore the Truth of Mr. Fillmore’s assertion that “You are Jesus” and how that relates to our willingness to enter the wilderness of our own minds and reclaim the awareness and embodiment of our Unity in the Divine and with all creation.

¹Metaphysical Bible Dictionary

²The Revealing Word

I Hate Mondays!

I love it when I have an “Aha” moment. I had one after reading the Daily Word from Tuesday, May 15, 2018, which begins,

Spiritual prosperity is like electricity that powers a light. When I flip the switch off and the light goes away, the electricity is still present, flowing out of my sight. I have simply cut off the current so it cannot light the bulb…

My “Aha” was the reminder that I have authority over the switch. The current is always flowing. I get to determine the level at which it flows through my life. Further, I was once again reminded that the switch is controlled by my thinking. I have dominion over my thinking. It is what I teach and what I do my best to live, but yes, sometimes I need reminders.

My realization, while seemingly simple, was impactful for me. It was powerful because it clearly revealed to me a thought that I have been hanging on to and allowing to limit my good for most of my life. That one thought is “I Hate Mondays!”

When I became consciously aware of that thought, I reeled with the recollection of the number of times I have said those words, either aloud or silently to myself, even recently. I had said them just the day before - Monday!

I didn’t need to delve too deeply to discover where that thought originated and how it has been perpetuated. When I was a school-age child I dreaded Mondays. It meant that I would have to leave whatever fun I was having and go to school. I didn’t mind school. I was a good student. It was never that difficult for me, but I hated Mondays. And, like many children that age, I lived for Fridays and holidays.

Then, when I entered the corporate workforce, Monday was again just the beginning of the five-day drudgery leading to Friday. I, along with millions of others I’m sure, often proclaimed “I Hate Mondays!”

I can easily understand all of that, but I did not so easily connect with the reason why “I Hate Mondays” has been resonating with me lately. It is not because Monday is the beginning of my workweek. I take Mondays off. Well, I am supposed to take Mondays off, and I usually do. Still, “I Hate Monday!” was resonating in my mind.

Again, “Aha!” Like all thoughts, until they are questioned, understood and challenged they hang around.

When I recognized this limiting, life-draining thought, I claimed my power to release it and choose another one. Using my power of release, I said “the thought that I hate Mondays is not true and I deny any power I have given it to limit my enjoyment of Mondays.” I used my power of dominion to proclaim, “Mondays are days for my rest, renewal, rejuvenation and restoration. I welcome Mondays!”

As I said, it may appear simple, but even the smallest and seemly absurd thought has energy that can limit our expression of the Allness that God is in us. Charles Fillmore, cofounder of Unity, once said that self-awareness is the prelude to Christ consciousness. Only when we are aware, can we make the choice to choose something different and move into greater alignment with the power within us.

Rather than waiting 50 years to change a limiting thought as I did, I encourage us to invite self-awareness. Take time to feel into your energy, question your thoughts, and when you find that they are limiting use your powers to release them and choose again.

Join us on Sunday, May 20, at Unity Spiritual Center Denver. We welcome musicians Bettman & Halpin at our 10:00 service. My lesson is based on one of their songs, “It All Comes Back to Love.”

You Are Jesus!

Early in my Unity journey, I participated in my first S.E.E. (Spiritual Education and Enrichment) week. These are five-day intensives offering four two-hour classes each day. This was my first exposure to Unity cofounder Charles Fillmore’s books. It was a challenging experience. I found it difficult to read and comprehend his teaching. Not only was I not accustomed to his style or his terminology, I was also confounded by some of the concepts he presents. Mind you, I was not at all new to New Thought. Prior to studying Mr. Fillmore, I spent years in Science of Mind reading Ernest Holmes, Thomas Troward, Emma Curtis Hopkins and other trailblazers of the movement. Still, Mr. Fillmore spoke what seemed like a foreign language. Further, his concepts appeared much too esoteric for practical application. I struggled to do the reading assignments and make it through those first classes. I dare say that others have had similar experiences with his books.

As I continued my studies over the next few years, I grew more accustomed to his style and began to understand more of what he expressed. Also, I believe that continual study, application and spiritual practice helped me to evolve my own consciousness to a point where I could more fully resonate with the level of consciousness from which Mr. Fillmore was teaching. While I still do not always fully grasp his teaching at first read, I now thoroughly enjoy and appreciate much of his teaching.

Both Charles and Myrtle Fillmore are often referred to as mystics, ones who through dedicated time “in the Silence”¹ obtained a consciousness of Oneness in the Divine. A consciousness which the name ‘Unity’ embodies. Much of their writing, lectures and other teaching were delivered from that level of conscious unity. It, therefore, requires us to read and comprehend from a higher level of conscious awareness.

If you, like me, have struggled with reading Mr. Fillmore, I suggest that prior to reading the very first word that you take time to meditate, go into the “Silence” and connect deeply with your own Spirit. Open to your innate powers of wisdom and understanding, engage the heart center, the space of Divine Love, and enter communion with the indwelling Divine. As you read, allow the energy of the words to reveal their deeper meaning.

Recently, I was searching for a Fillmore quote related to my series of lessons on “Conscious Co-creating” when I “stumbled” upon the following. I place the word ‘stumbled’ in quotes because I trust that there are no accidents and that I read this passage because it is what I need to hear, learn and practice. In Keep a True Lent, in the chapter entitled “Faith-Thinking,” when speaking about Peter as the disciple who represents the Power of Faith, Mr. Fillmore says,

“Get clearly into your understanding that you are not the faith-thinker, Peter. You are Jesus; Peter is one of your twelve powers. Before this dawns on you, you are a carpenter; you are a builder in the realm of matter. Peter is a fisherman, one who draws his ideas from the changeable, unstable sea of sense. When you realize that you are Mind, and that all things originally generated in the laboratory of Mind, you leave your carpenter’s bench and go forth proclaiming this Truth that has been revealed to you.”

When I first read it, I was doing a quick search and didn’t think much about it. But, the words continued to resound in my mind. So, I did as I suggested above. I stopped, took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and turned my attention within. I focused my awareness in my heart. I engaged my powers of wisdom and understanding, and opened to a greater revelation of the Truth, especially as it relates to “Conscious Co-creating,” since that was my initial reason for doing the search. The following is the interpretation I discerned.

Metaphorically and metaphysically, Jesus of the Scriptures represents the directive power of the indwelling I AM presence, also known as the ‘Christ,’ inherent in each of us. Jesus, through his attainment of unity consciousness, as proclaim in his declaration “The Father and I are one” fully embodied his Christ potential and lived it. We all have the potential to do the same. As Unity minister, author and teacher, Eric Butterworth said, Jesus was the great example, not the great exception.

It is only through our acceptance and realization of the power of the I AM, the directive power of mind, which Jesus represents, that we become “Lord” of each of our innate powers. Our power and ability to manifest our hearts’ desires lies in our willingness to claim that we are “Lord” or ruler of our powers and direct them in productive ways. This is depicted metaphorically in Scripture as Jesus called each of his twelve disciples, each representing one of our twelve powers, to him, teaching them and directing them to follow in his way. He was their “Lord.”

In following the example of our way-shower, Jesus, if we are to manifest a world that reflects our highest potential and embodies our hearts’ desires, we must embrace our spiritual authority, as he did, and begin to exercise it. Until then, we will continue to engage in unconscious, rather than “Conscious Co-creating.”

Jesus told us, taught us, led by example and implored any one that would “listen” to live in unity, know Oneness and step in to their divinity.

Join us at Unity Spiritual Center Denver on Sunday, May 13, as we explore this idea further. My lesson is entitled “You are Jesus.”

¹ “Sitting in the silence” is not merely a sort of lazy drifting. It is a passive, but definite, waiting upon God. – H. Emilie Cady, Lessons in Truth

Definite Chief Aim

Last week, I attended a series of lectures by award-winning author and speaker Mitch Horowitz, who refers to himself as a “chronicler of metaphysical experience.” The lectures were sponsored by New Thought Channel as a series of featured videos on their website ¹. These lectures could not have come at a better time for me. That comes as no surprise as I have learned that’s how the universe works. As I have often heard, “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” ² Mitch was certainly my teacher last week. He not only inspired me, but also annoyed and challenged me. I will elaborate.

Mitch is an avid proponent of New Thought and mind science teachings. He is especially knowledgeable about the methods taught by writers, philosophers and self-help authorities of the early to mid-twentieth century. People such as, Neville Goddard, Napoleon Hill, Ernest Holmes, Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, Florence Scovel Shinn, and others. In his lectures, he quoted extensively from Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich and other books.

I am a bit reluctant to disclose it, but until I knew I was going to attend these lectures, I had not read Think and Grow Rich. Even though it is one of the most widely read and popular books about the power of the mind, I resisted reading it. Mitch said during one of his lectures that many people in the New Thought movement have an aversion to the book because they think the title is too materialistic. I admit it. That was my thought and the reason I avoided the book. I have since downloaded Mitch’s abridged audio recording of the book and am now on my third time listening to it.

If you have not yet read Think and Grow Rich, first published in 1937, I highly recommend it. I was amazed to find that many of the principles and practices delineated in Hill’s book form the foundation for much of what is still being taught and promoted by today’s self-help writers and mind power coaches.

One of the primary principles in Hill’s book and one that Mitch stressed again and again in his lectures is the importance of a definite chief aim. A definite chief aim is a clearly articulated statement of purpose, one that forms the guiding force of one’s life. In Think and Grow Rich, Hill says,

“Any definite chief aim that is deliberately fixed in the mind and held there, with the determination to realize it, finally saturates the entire subconscious mind until it automatically influences the physical action of the body toward the attainment of that purpose. Until a man selects a definite purpose in life, he dissipates his energies and spreads his thoughts over so many subjects and in so many different directions that they lead not to power, but to indecision and weakness.”

In particular, this is the aspect of Hill’s book and Mitch’s lectures that annoyed and simultaneously challenged me. Mitch shared that his definite chief aim is to be a chronicler of metaphysical experience, and for more than a decade has devoted his life to that aim. He shared stories of others who, through the power of a definite chief aim, have pursued it with passion and tenacity.

While I applaud that and feel excited for those who have identified and articulated the driving force of their lives, I also felt annoyed because I was telling myself that I have not. Now, before you interpret that to mean that I have determined that ministry is not my definite chief aim, let me expound. I also said that it challenged me. This concept challenged me to explore deeper.

Even though I took a circuitous route to becoming an ordained minister, I have known deep in my heart, since I was fourteen that I am here to be in ministry. What I have discovered, however, is that ministry is more about the “how” than it is about the “what.” With the help of Think and Grow Rich and Mitch’s lectures, I have become aware that, much like researching, interviewing others and writing is how Mitch lives his definite chief aim, ministry is a path that allows me the opportunity to live mine.

I am still seeking inner guidance about how to clearly understand and articulate my definite chief aim, but I know that it is connected to a heartfelt longing to understand and share deep spiritual truth, learn how to live the truth I know and assist others in doing the same. In my estimation, that qualifies as ministry. It is my sincere hope that I am living it already and will continue to discover ways to embrace it and live it more fully.

I encourage each of us to ask ourselves and our inner Knower to reveal to us our definite chief aim. It is also referred to by other names. Mythologist, writer and lecturer, Joseph Campbell, termed it your “bliss.” Others have called it the “soul purpose” or “soul mission.” It does not have to be epic or world changing. Once identified and stated clearly and emphatically, it can serve as a compass for the trajectory our lives. Identifying it can also give us clarity for what is ours to do and what is not. It can be the basis for our choice of whether to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to a project, invitation or other commitment of our time and energy.

Watch a video of Napoleon Hill talking about the principles of the power of the mind.

Join us on Sunday, May 6, at 10:00 for our service at Unity Spiritual Center Denver. I will continue my series on “Conscious Co-creating” with a lesson “Is God Laughing?” in which I will explore the concept of formulating and working a plan.

¹ My Sunday talks are featured on their website

² The origin of the quote is questioned

It's Not My Business!

I’ll be honest. Sometimes preparing lessons to present on Sunday mornings can be challenging. Not because it involves a great deal of effort. It does require time, prayer, contemplation and intentional listening for the inner voice, but I’m not talking about that. I enjoy those things. I am referring to the process of understanding and integrating the messages in my own life.

I have often heard the adage, “We teach what we need to learn.” I can certainly attest to the truth of that statement. My current series, Conscious Co-creating, is profoundly proving that to me.

Today, it is kicking me in the butt. I can think of no better way to express what I am experiencing. I find myself struggling against the message that I am receiving and being lead to speak about, as well as to integrate in my life.

In my lesson this past Sunday (listen here), I briefly mentioned Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith’s “Life Visioning” process. It is a powerful process, and one I recommend highly. As I mentioned on Sunday, one of the questions he suggests we ask as we vision is, “What is Spirit’s highest vision for (fill in the blank)?” Asking opens us to receive a higher vision for our desire.

Two of the follow-up questions to bring this vision into manifestation are, “What must be released? and What must be accepted?”

Asking those questions is where the “butt kicking” comes in for me. I am sharing this story with you because I have a sense that I am not alone. This is my story, but it may be yours as well.

As I meditated on what must be released, I was reminded of the story from Luke 18, in which a rich young ruler asked Jesus what he must do to follow him. Jesus told him to go and sell everything and give the money to the poor. The man turned and walked away.

I am coming face-to-face with what that means for me. No, I don’t plan to sell my possessions, give the money to the poor, and go live in a cave in the mountains. I do not interpret the story literally. I also do not believe that it is what I am being called to. What I feel I am being called to do, perhaps at a deeper level than at any time in the past, is to explore what I must release to follow the leading of my indwelling Christ.

I am being asked by Spirit to release attachment to every idea I have or have ever had about who I am and question everything that I have associated with those concepts.

Most predominant in my awareness today is the need to release the concern of what other people think of me. I realize that I care too much about whether others agree with me, like me, or appreciate what Spirit is inviting me to share. The message that came to me today in my meditation is that it’s not my business whether anyone appreciates me or approves of me, or resonates with what Spirit is expressing through me. My attachment to the need to be liked, approved of or appreciated is painful and can block my complete and full expression of my unique Christ nature. If I am to live fully as the Christ of my being, I must release that attachment. My inner knower also assured me that many do resonate with the message Spirit is bringing to me and through me.

When I asked, “What must be accepted?” I heard, “You must accept that you are a wonderful, unique expression of the One, living in this time at this place so that you can be in service to something higher and greater than yourself.” This is true for all of us. In my determination not to be perceived as conceited, I fear that I have limited myself and limited the Christ Light that I am here to be in the world.

Again, I am guessing that I am not alone. I am sure that many who are reading this right now can relate. We were taught not to be “too big for your britches,” (a Southern phrase), or not to be “too full of ourselves.” The unspoken, and sometimes audible, underlying message is, “Who do you think you are?” While well intended, these messages can and often do limit our full expression of all that we are here to be and do. They narrow the portal that allows Spirit to freely flow in this realm. To live large and in Spirit’s highest vision elicits fear that others will think us conceited, arrogant or contemptous.

As spiritual author and teacher, Marianne Williamson said in her book, A Return to Love,

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” ¹

If others are uncomfortable in our light, we can send them love and be compassionate, but we must not allow their discomfort to block us from shining our light brightly. Jesus told us that we were born to be the Light of the World. The world needs our Light.

It’s not my business what others think of me. It is my business to be all that Spirit is – as me, and to shine my Christ Light brightly. Likewise, it’s not your business what others think of you. It’s your business to be the best Christ you can be, in service to the light you are.

Join us on Sunday, at 10:00 for our service as we explore these concepts further. It is time for each of us to let our light shine as the indwelling Christ in Spirit’s highest vision. Do you have the courage? Do we dare?

¹ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/our-deepest-fear/

IT IS TIME!

In my post last week and in my lesson this past Sunday at Unity Spiritual Center Denver, I began a series which I am calling “Conscious Co-Creating.” I have been feeling the inspiration to do this series for some time. I have been resisting it. Honestly, I have grown tired of the numerous books, videos, and workshops purported to teach us how to create the lives we desire. I did not want to jump on that bandwagon with yet another perspective on the power of positive thinking, the law of attraction, or the power of our minds (thoughts and feelings) to manifest all the things we want in life. It seemed, to me, opportunistic and trite. However, the inner urge persisted, so I finally surrendered to it.

Through my introspection, meditation and contemplation on the subject, the purpose for my exploration of this topic has become clearer to me. It is not my intention, nor the sole purpose of Spirit expressing as me, to instruct anyone in the art of manifesting all the things they want, but more to support those who are willing and ready to hear the message on how we can connect with, use and strengthen the innate faculties we possess as self-conscious human beings to co-create a world that embodies the qualities of the Divine, as we understand them.

Charles Fillmore, the cofounder of Unity, termed these qualities “Divine Ideals.” He stated that the Kingdom of God is replete with these Divine Ideals, and that they are our inheritance as expressions of the Divine. Some of these Divine Ideals are Love, Peace, Joy, Harmony, Wholeness, Abundance, Freedom, Beauty, and Unity. This is not in any way an exhaustive list. I recommend that you take time to discern others for yourself.

These Divine Ideals are universal and form the foundation for all that I consider to be true desire. We, as human beings, all desire to experience and express these Divine Ideals. In addition, in our heart of hearts, absent of any thoughts or feelings of judgment, resentment or resistance, each of us desires the same for all humanity, indeed for all creation. These Divine Ideals are our way of understanding, connecting with and expressing the nature of the Divine.

My intention with this series is to not only remind us of the Divine Ideals that are our deepest desires, but also to acquaint us with, or remind us of, the innate capacities that we possess to manifest lives that embody these ideals, not only for ourselves, but also for all creation.

As conscious expressions of the Divine in physical form, we are here to bring forth the Kingdom of God upon the Earth – to awaken to, embody and express Divine Ideals. In order to accomplish that, we must know the tools we have at our disposal and how to use them effectively. It is clear to me now that this is the message that Spirit is bringing to me and through me at this time. This is not a lesson in how to have all the good you want without respect to the impact on the lives of others or on the Earth and our environment. This is a message about how to claim our power to co-create a world that reflects the nature of what we can comprehend as God/Source/Creative Life/Divine, or by whatever name you know It. And, to do so from a conscious awareness of the Unity of all life and a deep value and respect for our Mother Earth and all her inhabitants.

The process logically begins with our willingness to learn the principles, connect with the powers, and apply them in our individual lives. It is like learning mathematics. We begin by learning the numbers, progress with simple addition and subtraction, move on to multiplication and division, and eventually to algebra and calculus. We learn the principles and how to apply them progressively.

We can, for a variety of reasons, sometimes stall in the lower levels of our learning and application. We master addition and subtraction, and possibly even multiplication and division. We reach our comfort zone. We see no reason to stretch ourselves, or stress ourselves attempting to learn the principles and practices of higher levels of mathematics. We say, “When will I ever need that?” So, we go no further.

This is similar to learning the principles of metaphysics, along with some of the universal laws and how they apply to our lives personally. We have what we need, maybe even most, if not all, of what we want. We have learned how to manifest parking spaces, possibly even how to attract a good job or the perfect life partner. We are in the flow. We can reach a comfort zone. As long as we can stay there and have a comfortable life, we see no reason to learn more. We may think, “I’m good. Why would I want to go further? When will I ever need that?”

We need to learn the principles, and we need to use our powers because we are here to manifest the Kingdom of God upon the Earth, not just for ourselves, but for ALL. In my estimation, we have a long way to go.

The message I am getting from Spirit is “IT IS TIME!” It is time for me to expand my learning, strengthen my innate powers, move out of my comfort zone, and use the gifts and talents I have been given to support and encourage a world in awakening to our full potential. It is time for me to take the inspired actions to be the change and to help affect the change I wish to see in the world.

I do not claim to have the answers, but I do claim that I am open and receptive to a clear understanding of what is mine to do. I do not claim to know or even suggest to anyone else what is yours to do. I simply invite us into the question and welcome our shared exploration and discovery as we share this journey.

Let us come together with a shared intention to discern how we can use our innate faculties, some of which Charles Fillmore identified as The Twelve Powers, to not only co-create empowered lives for ourselves, but also to co-create a world that works for all.

Join us on Sundays at 10:00 for our service and for the engaging one-hour discussion that happens in our sanctuary following the service. Over the next four weeks (maybe longer) we will be delving into these ideas more deeply. This Sunday, April 22, I will be exploring our powers of Imagination and Faith and how we can use them to this end. I hope to see you there.