On this Christmas morn, Denese and I are filled with gratitude and deep joy for the privilege of being your spiritual leaders at Unity Center of Davis. When we pause to realize the divine appointment that has brought us together, to explore, deepen, and transform our lives we are awed, humbled and grateful for such a precious gift.
I have been profoundly blessed to bring forth these words of inspiration each week. It is a deepening and clarifying experience for me. Yet today my attention is on our family, and the rare privilege of spending this day with both of our boys and Denese's sweet Mom, so we leave you with these beautiful words from Mary Walden:
At this time of the dark of the year, all of life is drawn inward. We, too, are drawn into ourselves, and if we find there the humility of a lowly stable, perhaps, deep within us will occur a great mystery of the birth of a child. Not a physical child born of passion, but a spiritual child, born of virginal innocence and purity. Our deepest nature rejoices at this birth, for it holds the greatest promise of life: spirit reconciled to flesh, unconscious to conscious, symbolic to physical, the divine to the ordinary.Yet this new spirit will find danger. The old habits have power and fear this child. They may seek to destroy it. In our simplicity, we gaze in awe; in our wisdom, we offer nurturing gifts. For the wise know that in this lies the hope of the world -- that divine love may be born and flourish in each human heart. - Mary Walden
Merry Christmas to all, with love and gratitude,
Larry and Denese
About Me
- Rev. Larry Schellink
- Unity Center of Davis is an inclusive spiritual community that honors the many paths to God and helps people of all faiths apply positive spiritual principles in their daily lives.
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Thursday, December 25, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Uncommon Birth - Extraordinary Possiblity
I need to believe, that something extraordinary is possible.(Alicia says to John in scene from A Beautiful Mind)
However we view the birth story of Jesus in the bible, either as fact or a dramatic yet unbelievable ancient tale, it is a wonderful example of the hero's journey that can inspire our own journey. Every character in the story is challenged to move beyond the ordinary, out of their comfort zones, in order to take part in something extraordinary. Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, each called to a journey filled with danger and promise.
We too experience tension between motivation and trepidation, as our own callings at once excite our passion, and raise our fears, as an invitation to discover a deeper dimension of ourselves is neither devoid of risk nor certain in outcome.
We may not have had an angel visitation in the night announcing God's plan for our life, like Mary, but we've all been visited by intuitive nudges, calling us out of our slumber of forgetfulness, to champion a higher way of living this life. So often, our journey to unchartered territory is instigated by setback and loss, when our familiar identity is shattered by life changes and it becomes clear we cannot stay in the same groove any longer. We may have never been guided by a star in the sky, like the shepherds, but we've all been compelled by a passion to live more authentically, to bear witness to and navigate by the light of truth within us.
What determines whether these callings lead us to an extraordinary life event or merely momentarily quickens our pulse, is how we respond to the dragons that confront us along the way. Mary was afraid. When told Spirit had plans to do something magnificent through her, she reacted with disbelief and unworthiness. Ultimately, she surrendered and offered willingness to be used for God's purposes, despite what it would mean for her. The decision would have repercussions: she would be judged and outcast by her community, her betrothed would be shocked, and she would have a baby with no explanation. Against a noisy backdrop of rational objections to the plan, she moves forward, because the Divine calling is more compelling than the sum of her fears. And the wise men, surely did not want to ride blindly across the desert after a star ....surely they had other plans!
We can decide, as these characters did, to trust the process and rely on the divine promise that has stirred us, to overpower the inertia of our fears and move us forward. We are all on a hero's journey, with pivotal moments when divine discontent won't leave us alone and we know we are being called to something higher, greater, more authentically us. If we allow this feeling to consume us, we can prevail against the dragons of fear and self-doubt. In such rare moments, we can believe that something extraordinary is possible for us. It is our willingness to let the Holy Spirit come upon us that invokes substantive change, real transformation, when we can be literally reborn from above.
Jesus life and teachings are a testimony to the new life that is seeded in each one of us. It also testifies to spiritual life being a journey. As much as we would like Christ awareness handed to us like the proverbial bundle of joy, in a sudden birth of enlightenment, for most of us it seems to come at the end of a journey.
May this story of old, and this season of remembering the Christ, encourage you to listen attentively and deeply to Spirit's call. Like the characters in the nativity, it really comes down to being willing to just play your part in the story. May you have the courage and faith to follow the divine plan for your life. Do not be disillusioned by appearances. The night may be long, dark and cold, and the odds of success may seem remote, but the promise of extraordinary possibilities will be fulfilled as you remain willing to stay the course. Your willingness to move forward, joined with God's promise will surely magnify your soul, and lead you to the scene of new life.
However we view the birth story of Jesus in the bible, either as fact or a dramatic yet unbelievable ancient tale, it is a wonderful example of the hero's journey that can inspire our own journey. Every character in the story is challenged to move beyond the ordinary, out of their comfort zones, in order to take part in something extraordinary. Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, each called to a journey filled with danger and promise.
We too experience tension between motivation and trepidation, as our own callings at once excite our passion, and raise our fears, as an invitation to discover a deeper dimension of ourselves is neither devoid of risk nor certain in outcome.
We may not have had an angel visitation in the night announcing God's plan for our life, like Mary, but we've all been visited by intuitive nudges, calling us out of our slumber of forgetfulness, to champion a higher way of living this life. So often, our journey to unchartered territory is instigated by setback and loss, when our familiar identity is shattered by life changes and it becomes clear we cannot stay in the same groove any longer. We may have never been guided by a star in the sky, like the shepherds, but we've all been compelled by a passion to live more authentically, to bear witness to and navigate by the light of truth within us.
What determines whether these callings lead us to an extraordinary life event or merely momentarily quickens our pulse, is how we respond to the dragons that confront us along the way. Mary was afraid. When told Spirit had plans to do something magnificent through her, she reacted with disbelief and unworthiness. Ultimately, she surrendered and offered willingness to be used for God's purposes, despite what it would mean for her. The decision would have repercussions: she would be judged and outcast by her community, her betrothed would be shocked, and she would have a baby with no explanation. Against a noisy backdrop of rational objections to the plan, she moves forward, because the Divine calling is more compelling than the sum of her fears. And the wise men, surely did not want to ride blindly across the desert after a star ....surely they had other plans!
We can decide, as these characters did, to trust the process and rely on the divine promise that has stirred us, to overpower the inertia of our fears and move us forward. We are all on a hero's journey, with pivotal moments when divine discontent won't leave us alone and we know we are being called to something higher, greater, more authentically us. If we allow this feeling to consume us, we can prevail against the dragons of fear and self-doubt. In such rare moments, we can believe that something extraordinary is possible for us. It is our willingness to let the Holy Spirit come upon us that invokes substantive change, real transformation, when we can be literally reborn from above.
Jesus life and teachings are a testimony to the new life that is seeded in each one of us. It also testifies to spiritual life being a journey. As much as we would like Christ awareness handed to us like the proverbial bundle of joy, in a sudden birth of enlightenment, for most of us it seems to come at the end of a journey.
May this story of old, and this season of remembering the Christ, encourage you to listen attentively and deeply to Spirit's call. Like the characters in the nativity, it really comes down to being willing to just play your part in the story. May you have the courage and faith to follow the divine plan for your life. Do not be disillusioned by appearances. The night may be long, dark and cold, and the odds of success may seem remote, but the promise of extraordinary possibilities will be fulfilled as you remain willing to stay the course. Your willingness to move forward, joined with God's promise will surely magnify your soul, and lead you to the scene of new life.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Uncommon Love
...enlightenment is the moment we realize that we are made of love. At that moment, all fear of living disappears. For grace comes to the heart when it realizes what it is made of and what it has risen from. In that moment, grace comforts us, that no matter the joy or pain along the way, we are already part of where we are going. -Mark Nepo - The Book of Awakening
Radical love was the cornerstone of the uncommon life of Jesus. While every major religion espouses love as its major tenet, the depth and unflinching nature of the love that Jesus taught, embodied and revealed is in a rareified league of its own. Most of us cannot conceive, let alone achieve, a love so pure and uncompromising. It is easy to see why so many readily believe that Jesus was God who became a man, rather than the reverse transformation. Yet Jesus was clear in his invitation to all who followed him that his attainment was within reach of all of us. He pointed to an inner dimension of being as the ground of our true nature, the source of godlike qualities and potentialities inherent in each and every one of us.
Our difficulty in loving the way Jesus loved is not a deficiency in our hardware, but much like my computer experiences, stems from operator error. When it comes to our relationships, we mostly deal with each other externally. We react, judge, assume, compare, criticize, resent, expect, infer, using the surface mind, the ego, which sees itself as separate from everyone, and everything, and most of all, separate from the One that unites us. The sense of separation we feel from God and one another is the common bane of our human experience; the root cause of our struggle to love unconditionally.
The uncommon love that Jesus demonstrated was rooted in an unqualified awareness of his unity with God, and an equal awareness of the shared divinity of every person. For Jesus, the scales of judgment were completed removed from his eyes, so that he perceived the pure loving wholeness and innocence in everyone around him, friend or foe. He knew at depth, what we aspire to know, that we all are cut from the same spiritual cloth, that beyond all appearances to the contrary we are the holy offspring of the one life, love, and power we call God. It is only in such extraordinary consciousness that we can truly follow the radical teachings that implore us to "love thy neighbor as thyself," "pray for those who persecute you", and "love your enemy."
When I cling to the truth that I cannot be separate from the love of God, I am more likely to risk loving more radically, more wastefully, knowing, like the wave that rises above the surface that it cannot be separate from the sea that formed it. Our work in relationships with other people is the most potent spiritual practice we undertake, because it brings us face to face with the greatest illusion of our human experience; that anyone or anything could separate us from God. Knowing this requires us to go deeper to access that dimension of ourselves that is guided by the indwelling spirit of love, and from that awareness, we can rise above appearances and see our brother or sister as they really are. Then, like the wave, we can settle peacefully back into the sea of love, the illusion of separation vanquished by our willingness to trust loves promise. A Course in Miracles says this so beautifully:
You are one Self with me.
United with our Creator in the Self
I honor you because of what I am
And what He is, Who loves us both as one.
In this season, that celebrates peace on earth and good will among (wo)men, let it be more than a song on our lips, let it be a reality that lives in our heart.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Uncommon Faith
Faith is the songbird that feels the light and sings before the dawn. - Rumi
What comforts you in the face of life's challenges?
What calls up a deeper kind of courage or conviction when the way seems treacherous or unclear?
What allows you to entrust yourself to others or God?
The answer for most of us is Faith.
Our focus this week is on faith, particularly, the uncommon faith of Jesus, who modeled an inner knowing of his Oneness with God. Since we look to Jesus as the great example (not the great exception) we can find great hope in these teachings because they reveal a way to reach this well of faith within ourselves. The Christmas story, the birth of Jesus, is a wonderful and beautiful story of a Divine idea being birthed through humanity. It is our story, through every character and experience. Beyond the literal facts of that story of old, there is a timeless message that speaks of difficult circumstances; of a dark, cold night, and dismal odds, that are finally overcome yielding a birth of something wonderfully life affirming.
Just because we decide to say yes to a Divine idea that wants to be birthed through us, does not mean that the labor will be easy. We need faith to get us through; a deep abiding faith that knows that the Universe is working as a beneficent presence on our behalf at all times - regardless of the worldly appearances. Even when our precious bundle is born in a lowly stable amongst all the animals. Even when the job offer doesn't come. Even when the relationship of many years begins to disintegrate and we are left not knowing what to do next. Even when the retirement account shrinks in a declining economy. Jesus taught that God's all providing good is always available to us, "According to your faith be it done unto you." Matthew 9:29---"Thy faith has made thee whole." Matthew 9:22---"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you receive it, and you will." Mark 11:24
So what do we do when our dreams get shattered? What do we do when we pray for a situation and it turns out differently? Are we unworthy? Is our faith not sufficient?
As children of God we are all worthy of good-- heirs to the Kingdom, Jesus said. I believe when life shows up in a way that is unlike our desires or our prayers, it is best that we first suspend judgment and live by our faith. Time to sing like the songbird. Time to hold to the truth that the universe is working as a beneficent presence on our behalf at all times, regardless of what is showing up. If we react to our life knowing this truth, that the God of our being wants only for our good, then we can realize that the redirection is telling us there is something better on its way, the time is not right, or that we are just not ready to receive it yet.
When we live from God consciousness, then we know that everything that is happening in our life serves us, and we live in the realm of nonattachment, nonresistance, and nonjudgment. The fruit of faith is to know that God provides for all our needs, we feel connected to all life, that we live, move and have our very being in an assurance of this beneficent presence. Faith is not a mind trip, not an intellectual concept but activated by our intuitive feeling nature. You simply know that you know. The evidence is internal: you feel it with every fiber of your being.
Advent is a time for inner reflection and to prepare for spiritual rebirth-the rebirth of awareness of our inner Christ nature. It is a time to feel the light in us before the dawn. When we feel the light in us, we sense an inherent goodness and rightness to life, even before the child is born, the job manifests, or the new relationship blooms.
What comforts you in the face of life's challenges?
What calls up a deeper kind of courage or conviction when the way seems treacherous or unclear?
What allows you to entrust yourself to others or God?
The answer for most of us is Faith.
Our focus this week is on faith, particularly, the uncommon faith of Jesus, who modeled an inner knowing of his Oneness with God. Since we look to Jesus as the great example (not the great exception) we can find great hope in these teachings because they reveal a way to reach this well of faith within ourselves. The Christmas story, the birth of Jesus, is a wonderful and beautiful story of a Divine idea being birthed through humanity. It is our story, through every character and experience. Beyond the literal facts of that story of old, there is a timeless message that speaks of difficult circumstances; of a dark, cold night, and dismal odds, that are finally overcome yielding a birth of something wonderfully life affirming.
Just because we decide to say yes to a Divine idea that wants to be birthed through us, does not mean that the labor will be easy. We need faith to get us through; a deep abiding faith that knows that the Universe is working as a beneficent presence on our behalf at all times - regardless of the worldly appearances. Even when our precious bundle is born in a lowly stable amongst all the animals. Even when the job offer doesn't come. Even when the relationship of many years begins to disintegrate and we are left not knowing what to do next. Even when the retirement account shrinks in a declining economy. Jesus taught that God's all providing good is always available to us, "According to your faith be it done unto you." Matthew 9:29---"Thy faith has made thee whole." Matthew 9:22---"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you receive it, and you will." Mark 11:24
So what do we do when our dreams get shattered? What do we do when we pray for a situation and it turns out differently? Are we unworthy? Is our faith not sufficient?
As children of God we are all worthy of good-- heirs to the Kingdom, Jesus said. I believe when life shows up in a way that is unlike our desires or our prayers, it is best that we first suspend judgment and live by our faith. Time to sing like the songbird. Time to hold to the truth that the universe is working as a beneficent presence on our behalf at all times, regardless of what is showing up. If we react to our life knowing this truth, that the God of our being wants only for our good, then we can realize that the redirection is telling us there is something better on its way, the time is not right, or that we are just not ready to receive it yet.
When we live from God consciousness, then we know that everything that is happening in our life serves us, and we live in the realm of nonattachment, nonresistance, and nonjudgment. The fruit of faith is to know that God provides for all our needs, we feel connected to all life, that we live, move and have our very being in an assurance of this beneficent presence. Faith is not a mind trip, not an intellectual concept but activated by our intuitive feeling nature. You simply know that you know. The evidence is internal: you feel it with every fiber of your being.
Advent is a time for inner reflection and to prepare for spiritual rebirth-the rebirth of awareness of our inner Christ nature. It is a time to feel the light in us before the dawn. When we feel the light in us, we sense an inherent goodness and rightness to life, even before the child is born, the job manifests, or the new relationship blooms.
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