From the love of power to the power of love

What an incredible time we are living in!

 It is called a time like no other in human history.  We can see the love of power being challenged and breaking down in so many ways.

  At the same time we can see the power of Love breaking forth on the horizon of a new day on planet earth.

  We are being called to become the most loving persons we can be and to make Love the real work of our lives.

  We are being called to come together and work together for a better world for all. 

 We have much work before us.

 Now is the time to ignite our hearts with the fire and passion of Divine Love and step out in service together, remembering we are the ones. 

 If the better world is to be, it is up to us. 

Rev. Nancy Ennis for Unity of Charlotte

Judging Love

When we think about love, the word “judgment” may not enter our minds. But too often judgment builds a wall that separates us from love. I am not talking about just romantic love, but agape, universal love, including self love.

When you judge you miss the experience of being present to the love that is right before you. Judgment requires comparison and measurement. How can you possibly be present to love when your mind is distracted by what should be, could be, once was, or might have been?

In the New Testament as part of his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus asks, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”

It is this plank—our misinformed beliefs that have separated us from Christ consciousness--that cause us to judge. We judge if we have the need to be right and believe we are more than others. We judge if we believe we are less and we make others our heroes, not understanding that we are One and equally capable of expressing God.

We can only love one another fully when we are equal and not judging ourselves to be powerless or victims.

Matthew 7 asks: “How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?”

We are told to take the plank out of our own eye first, and then we will see clearly to remove the speck from our brother’s eye. This is enlightenment and through grace we have this ability to heal ourselves by looking at our own selves, not with judgment by the ego but with the true self, which always includes love and understanding.

--Patrice Gaines for Unity of Charlotte

The Slow Process of Being Human

 Practical spirituality—that’s one of the ways in which Unity teaching has been explained to me.  You know, kind of like “I’m a spiritual person having a human experience.”  There are times when I feel far more human than I’d like to admit, and it’s the human side of me that most often slows up the process, but the older I get the more willing I am to truly embrace those constructs. 

 When I first came to Unity those words tried my patience to the “enth” degree.  “Right,” I’d think, “easy for you to say, hard for me to do,” and then wonder just how long it would take for me to “get it”?! 

One day, when I asked the “when I get it” question, I was told that for some, the Light comes with a sudden burst of understanding, while for others it’s a very gradual process, similar to that of a glacier.  Hardly encouraging to someone who has a tiny little person tearing about in her mind screaming “Now, Now!” and I remember thinking, “Please, Lord, hit me with a brick!  I want it now!”   Years later, I realize it has been the methodical processing of Truth Principles that has woven them so tightly into the fabric of my life.

 It has taken patience, kindness, love, and forgiveness-- all directed toward myself--for me to start to get it, for if you don’t treat yourself in the best possible way, how can you do that for others?  The better I get at embracing the process, the easier it becomes to allow that goodness to radiate out to others.  

                

 Are there times I still wish I could go at “warp speed”?  Yes, but my lesson has been this:  The longer I live the more clear I am that true Spirit isn’t “out there” somewhere.  It indwells me.  And on those “human” days I do my utmost to go back to love, kindness and forgiveness.

  With this in mind, I leave you with a favorite quote from Lewis B. Smedes:

“You will know forgiveness has begun when you recall those who hurt you and feel the power to wish them well.”

. . . and that starts with yourself.  As my mother used to say, “be your own best friend.”  It’s a very good place to start.

--Kate Morgan for Unity of Charlotte

So, what do you think?

What's Your Mind-Set?

Your mind-set is your way of thinking about anything. It’s the baseline for all your thoughts. It’s from your mind-set that all your conscious and unconscious thoughts spring. Your mind-set dictates the colors and flavors of your thoughts. Your mind-set is what tells you your place in your universe. Your mind-set is happily inhabited by your ego, which, by the way, hates change.

Take a look at your mind-set.

Do you have a scarcity mind-set or an abundance mind-set? 

Do you have an illness mind-set or a health mind-set?

Someone with a scarcity mind-set sounds a lot like Daffy Duck at his most possessively manic: “It’s mine! Do you hear me? It’s all mine! Mine! MINE!” In the scarcity mindset, you create fear, desperation, depression, and anxiety. You are stuck in the rut of lack and limitation with no hope of ever digging your way out. In fact, the scarcity mind-set loves to dig deeper into your pond-scum filled reservoir of fears, frights, frets, and anxieties. 

Resembling an out-of-control hoarder on one of those reality TV shows, you keep things you think are valuable. Before you realize it, you are trapped by all that “stuff” and negative thinking. “Never can tell when you will need a piece of string, can you?” asks the scarcity mind-set. “And save that rubber band with the thousands of others in your collection,” it implores. Your scarcity mind-set believes the universe will take away everything if you don’t hang on to it.

On the other hand, a person with an abundance mind-set knows deep down that the Universe is a place of giving, not taking. An abundance mind-set sees opportunities where others may not. An abundance mind-set sees life with a long-term outlook. Your abundance mind-set knows that your life is filled with opportunities and promise. And, yes cliché fans, that glass is half full. 

What kind of mind-set do you have?   

A very basic Unity teaching principle is:

 “To change your way of life, change your way 

of thinking.”

---Alan Batten for Unity of Charlotte