Pray Knowing

Prayer is not a pious gesture at all. It is a response to the One whose heart beats with ours. - Joan Chittister

No matter our religion or spiritual views, the longing to have an active relationship with something greater than ourselves seems universal. There are a thousand names for God and a thousand ways to pray yet beyond labels and forms of worship, we all share a yearning to know and be known by the Divine.

Because we are offspring of the Divine, we carry within us the imprint of our creator and deep remembrance of our true nature that calls to us to heal the divide and restore our primary relationship with Life. The urgency of this calling and our response is often related to how well we are doing 'on our own.' When our lives are relatively peaceful and to our liking, the call can be just a whisper in the background. When our life "hits the fan," the volume and intensity of the call can be like a siren in our heart that brings us to our knees in surrender, to prayer, and sometimes, to insight.

In Unity, our prayers are entirely self-directed. There is no capricious God apart from us withholding our good. There is only the presence of God in its fullness at every point in space and time radiating its blessings in every direction. This sweeping realization can both soothe us and trouble us. We love the notion of an unconditional loving God that is always there for us. The discomfort arises when we realize in those dark hours of our lives, that God has not left us, we have left God. Like the prodigal, it is up to us to reverse our wayward search in order to find the loving parent who awaits our return home.

Prayer is our attempt to correct our perception of any separation between us and the Divine and see the answer in the midst of us, even as us. As author, Eric Butterworth wrote, "prayer is not a matter of conquering God's reluctance, but of attuning our selves to God's eternal willingness."

Any words or practice or mantra that closes the gap in our awareness of the Infinite arms that constantly enfold us is useful to bringing us to a place of remembrance and comfort. As Buddha noted, "better than a meaningless story of a thousand words is a single word of deep meaning which, when heard, produces peace."

A simple phrase, such as God is here, God is now or Be Still and know repeated slowly and mindfully can calm the raging waters of our mind and soothe our aching hearts. Even a minimal choice, to pause momentarily in our busyness and take 3 conscious breaths can, in an instant, change our reality. In that simple practice we can suspend history and mystery, find a moment of timelessness, and let ourselves be enfolded by the One whose heart beats with ours.

Shaping the Light

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Jesus-Mathew 7:7

We have been exploring the major tenets of Unity philosophy in these articles and our Sunday lessons. This week we look at the principle that perhaps causes the greatest confusion and difficulty in accepting and understanding its implications and application in our lives. It is the notion that each of us has co-creative power to affect our lives. Sometimes called the Law of Mind Action, it claims that "thoughts held in (our) mind, produce after their kind." Quite simply this spiritual principle contradicts the fatalistic belief that life happens to us leaving us helpless to affect its outcome, and conversely suggests that have dominion over our lives. It is the conviction that our thoughts and feelings have creative, formative power in our life experience.

While most people, regardless of religious or spiritual orientation, would agree in general with the idea that our state of mind can affect our state of affairs, there is significant disagreement as to just how literally and to what extent this principle is valid and useful. This is a long discussion that the scope of this article cannot do justice (that's for Sunday) but suffice it to say that when it comes to this principle there is a wide range of understanding of what it really means. Just like in religious circles within a given faith, adherents to this principle range from literal fundamentalists, who believe that we can, and do, create everything in our lives by the content of our minds, to those who see it as an awareness to take us deeper into our true self. I'll admit my prejudice to the latter camp. Again, the whole explanation can't be unpacked in this short treatment, but let me give you a glimpse of my take on this much debated spiritual question.

Clearly we are creative beings, as offspring of a Creator; we share its creative nature. Quantum science bears out the implication that our presence in the field of infinite possibilities is significant and causative to particular outcomes. There seems to be no escaping the idea that our perception of reality is fundamental to our experience. As some have said, "we see the world not as it is, but as we are."That said, the question for many of us is how we use that ability to create better lives; a better world. For some of us who have played with the manifestation powers of focused intention, created treasure maps of ideal life situations, and witnessed the magic unfold before our eyes, there remained a lingering discontent that the stuff of life did not alleviate. That is the ache for inner wholeness, the back story of every human want or desire. Simply, it is our desire to know God, or more universally, to know our true self, the imago dei.

Once we come to realize the deepest need of our soul then that becomes our focus, our raison d'etre, and it follows that the most appropriate and effective use of our creative power is to maximize that awareness. Jesus taught this in many of us parables about the kingdom of God, suggesting that the worldly gains would not take us where our souls will find respite. He said "seek first the kingdom of God...and these things will be added unto you." In other words if we make peace, love, wholeness, harmony the predominant thoughts and goals for our life, we direct the universe to match our life experience according to these inner qualities. If we do it in reverse (I have) we get the sports car, or house overlooking the ocean, and still feel spiritually bankrupt, and then were back at the drawing board trying to figure out what would really satisfy us.

The truth says that you have the kingdom of god within you now, this inner treasure. When we focus our creative power on manifesting these spiritual qualities, we create a world that works for us, without exception or condition. And incidentally, the rest of the world is equally blessed by your brighter light.

Life As You Know It Can Be

Today, the first day of a new year and decade, a blank slate of time and promise lies before us, and many of us reflect back on what has been and look forward to what might be for our lives.

Last week I wrote about the necessary cleansing and preparation that must precede any lasting new change in our lives. In that discussion I said that the greatest impediment to personal growth is not what we don't know; rather it is what we know that isn't so.

There is an equivalent truism that will determine our success in manifesting new possibilities for our lives and that is, the quality of our motivation. A strong enough why can move us over, around, or through the myriad of obstacles that might thwart our progress with a lesser impetus. There seems to be a direct corollary between the depth of our onward impulse and our chances of reaching our goals.

Any of us could sit down today and with a little imagination make out a long shopping list of wants and desires for the coming year or decade. We could stick those up on the wall as our treasure map to guide our thoughts and actions in the days ahead. That is a familiar time honored process of clarifying what we want out of life in specific terms. However, I suspect that many of these goals and desires might not be realized, and some might actually lose luster or significance over time. Why is that? Because these goals are not rooted in our deepest self. They emerge from the surface mind with its false understanding of what would bring us true and lasting fulfillment.

Eckhart Tolle, author of A New Earth suggests that instead of asking the question, what do I want out of life, the greater and deeper question is what does life (or God) want out of me? Unless we sincerely entertain this question, we are living outside the Divine impulse for our life, and thus likely to suffer disappointment and emptiness as we try to carve out a life based solely on our desires. When we ask the deeper question that links our inner passion and purpose to a new vision for life, we are really asking who have we come here to be at this time in our lives.

When our doing arises out of our Being we build new life on a rock solid foundation that will not be toppled by ephemeral winds of desire and whim. By calling forth our deepest impulses to navigate the direction of change, we will have the inner resolve and fervor that will be necessary to keep us on course when the going gets rough. If we are to climb the mountain it will take all the love we can give it.

Each of us has our own unique set of talents, gifts, propensities, and affinities that are unlike anybody else. When we look honestly and listen deeply, and silence the critic (last week's article) we can emerge knowing what is within us that aches for greater expression in our lives. This ache is our calling to something greater and truer. It is the most natural and powerful process we can honor with our willingness to heed its call. It is the same impulse that morphs a butterfly from an earthbound creature; that springs the seed out of its husk of darkness into light; that releases a flower from its shrouded beauty. In you and in me it is our imprisoned splendor given its freedom so that we might give the world our best, and in so doing fulfill our personal destiny. When you do this, you will at once know how you can best serve because the world needs you at your best to meet the challenges of these times.

Crossing the Mind Field to Possibility

Although every day is a new day, rife with possibility for new beginnings, many of us mark the first of the year as a desirable launching point for change. It’s a chronological line in the sand of time where we can separate what has been from what might be for us. The New Year can be a time to let go of what has not served us and embrace a higher vision for living.

As the busyness of holiday preparations diminish, there is time to reflect on the past year, and ponder our goals for the coming year. My experience with this process over the years has taught me one important truth; you can’t change the future by merely setting goals. Unless we prepare the soil of our minds, the new ideas will be like seeds sown on rocky soil…they will not take hold and grow. In Unity speak this idea is expressed through the two-pronged spiritual tool of denials and affirmations, where a denial refutes the reality of an untruth, and an affirmation avows a new reality based on truth. It is tantamount to sanding an old surface before applying a new finish.

What do we need to release or deny in order to prepare our minds for new possibilities? Everyone will have their own particular list of “untruths,” but generally speaking most of us carry beliefs about ourselves that are rooted in our own story, not based on factual reality nor rooted in our essential being. It’s been said that the biggest impediment to personal growth is not what we don’t know; rather it is what we know that isn’t so.

For many of us these untruths emanate from a sub-personality that becomes a voice in our head, known unaffectionately as the inner critic! This character often lurks in the shadows and pops up at the most inopportune moments to sabotage our creative impulses, or quash a new project or intention. Can you relate to this experience? How often have we set out with great zeal and passion with an idea to do something new and exciting in our life, only to be talked out of it by this critical censor? Too often to count, I admit. So how can we do it differently this year, and break free from the influence of the inner saboteur, and manifest the changes we envision for our lives? You may be surprised to hear that it’s not a battle you must wage with this apparent enemy of your best interests. It’s an approach rooted in compassion, and an exercise of non violent communication. Here’s the rationale and approach:

Your critic, like all aspects of us, has needs and feelings. Try to understand your inner critic’s motives. What if you realized that he or she is not trying to do you harm, rather trying to protect you from being disappointed or hurt. It knows you have been hurt and disappointed in the past when something you tried didn’t work out, so it’s just doing its job as critic to question every new idea where that potential risk exists. From its perspective this is an act of kindness, not antagonism. Once understood, you can thank this voice for its caring concern.

Speaking directly to this inner voice is powerful. It’s worked for me lately as I’ve undertaken this dialogue response to its commentary. By doing so you recognize that it only one aspect of your inner enterprise and by addressing it directly you disarm it. Once you have thanked it, you can then tell it that you are going forward with the idea because it’s very important to you.

Maybe with this new approach we can cease the endless battles with our minds that hold us back from living out new and exciting possibilities in the coming year.

The Journey of Christmas

"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 both danger and promise.

We too experience tension between motivation and trepidation, as our own callings at once excite our passion, and raise our fears. The invitation to discover a deeper dimension of ourselves is neither devoid of risk nor certain in outcome.

We may not have had an angel visit us 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 beset by difficulty 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 trust and navigate by the light of truth within us.

What determines whether these callings lead us to an extraordinary life event or merely quicken our pulse momentarily is how we respond to the challenges that confront us along the way. Mary was fearful. When told Spirit had plans to do something magnificent through her, she reacted with disbelief and unworthiness. Ultimately, she surrendered and offered her 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.

We too can trust the process; 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.

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 where true joy will be found in the manger of your own heart.

Unwrapping the Gift of Love

A Guru asked his disciples how they could tell when the night had ended and the day begun.

One said, "When you see an animal in the distance and can tell whether it is a cow or a horse."

"No," said the Guru.

"When you look at a tree in the distance and can tell if it is a neem tree or a mango tree."

"Wrong again," said the Guru.

"Well, then, what is it?" asked his disciples.

"When you look into the face of any man and recognize your brother in him; when you look into the face of any woman and recognize in her your sister. If you cannot do this, no matter what time it is by the sun it is still night."

(Taking Flight, by Anthony de Mello)

The birth of Jesus of Nazareth took place in a dark time in the history of the Jewish people. When he arrived on the scene, there was a heightened expectation of a messiah who would come and save the day; one who would grow up to become a just and mighty ruler that would overthrow the oppressive Roman occupation. Jesus was seen as the light that would dispel the darkness; the precursor to the coming of the kingdom.

We live in a dark time, with many oppressed by the circumstances of these times. People are looking expectantly to better times; for something or someone to save the day. Many thought our current president would be that light to cast out the dark scenarios. Even though the slogan was Yes We Can, Not Yes I Can we leaned into the hope that one man could make a difference in our world and restore order and prosperity to our world.

Jesus met the expectations of his time with a radical reversal that turned the prevailing understanding of leadership upside down and inside out. Jesus did not fit the mold of a king that ruled with a sword that would smite its enemy. He proclaimed that his kingdom was not of the earth, nor a heavenly place or a better future. He pointed to an inner kingdom, a heavenly domain in consciousness. He was aware of the light within him and it shone brightly, unfettered by guile, or fear, or outer ambition. He also saw that light in all people, friend or foe, as the "light that enlightens every man and woman who enters the world." This inner illumination allowed him to rule with a sword of love which he unflinchingly wielded no matter what came at him. He was defenseless in the face of his enemies; unwavering in forgiveness as his only response to perceived wrongs.

Such a radical love seemed foolhardy and unattainable when Jesus walked this talk on earth. Two millennia of evolution still leave us struggling with the notion that such a love is possible for mere mortals like us. But Jesus never intended for us to achieve this exalted state of consciousness capable of unconditional love alone. When questioned by Nicodemus, Jesus told him that he must be born again, born from above. And so must we. We, of our little selves, cannot see the light in our brothers and sisters who we call enemy. This calls for a holy perception. Only when we can make room for the Spirit to correct our vision and show us the inherent innocence of every person will we behold their light. This is immaculate perception, in which we like Mother Mary, allow the Holy Spirit to come upon us, let it have its way in our hearts, that we may birth Christ vision for all our brothers and sisters. This is the holy rebirth available to us in every moment and the way we bring light to our world.

Unwrapping the Gift of Peace

"What a different Christmas season might there be if we entered our inner sanctuary seeking fulfillment before we entered the mall seeking gratification."

This is the Christmas season in which there is such glaring contrast between the peaceful message of its celebrant, Jesus, and the frantic, anxious energy that emanates from the commercial message of this season. The world's Christmas message is buy, buy, buy, while the esoteric message which is barely palpable in the chaos, implores us to sell, sell, sell. It is easy to see why many people call for the return of Christ to Christmas.

To our surface mind, our peace lies on the other side of some preferred reality that is sometime in the future, when we have something or someone that we believe constitutes the missing peace for us. With such a scarcity view of life, it is easy to see why acquiring more in the outer is our preferred approach to having a merry Christmas (or any other day for that matter)

However when we drill down into this well of desire, we find that it has no bottom, and thus can never, no matter how much we pour into it, be filled. At first this is horrifying news. However, if we continue down this rabbit hole with rigorous, honest self inquiry into the motivation behind our desire we find it is also the way to fulfillment. This is so, because in the depth of us, beyond human hunger and thirst, is the empty and vast state of our being. This is a place of peace that Jesus aptly described as beyond human understanding. It is becoming familiar with this part of ourselves that can best inform our choices, so that we know when it is time take hold, and when it is time to let go, when it's time to pray and when it's time to fast. What a different Christmas season might there be if we entered our inner sanctuary seeking fulfillment before we entered the mall seeking gratification.

Peace alludes us quite simply because we believe it comes on the heels of good outcomes. To our egos way of thinking, peace is conditional. Yet, if we allow the conditions of life to determine our level of welcome or resistance, what hope is there for our peace? You and I face this choice each moment. We do not know what the next moment will bring. The continuum of misfortune and fortune is vast and imminently unpredictable in this life. Can well being ever be achieved if the winds of change must always favor our preference? The answer of course is no. Yet, the ego dies hard and thrives on a continuous stream of dissatisfaction, ignorance or resistance of the present moment. Even when things are going extremely well, there is only a fleeting embrace of the pleasurable moment, before a past or future thought edges out a hospitable embrace of the present moment.

The importance of this message is in knowing that we have a choice when life shows up. The way to peace is one choice at a time. How we cast our vote in any given moment will determine the world we live in. We may not be able to control what shows up at our door, but we can greet whatever it is with equanimity, maybe even befriend it. Such an approach to life can transform our hearts and that is the surest way to peace without condition. As Jesus said, there will be trials and tribulations in the world, but I have overcome the world.

There is an overcoming power in you and me, and one powerful demonstration of that power is making peace with the present moment. No matter what this moment looks like in the outer, it is the only temporal gateway to divine presence, which of course is the only way to deep abiding peace.