Everything is just an illusion anyway

There was a time when I was so overwhelmed and distraught by conditions in my life-- over which I had no control --that I actually lost big chunks of my waking hours. 

In fact, I don’t remember days or even weeks during that time. 

My marriage was falling apart—truth be told, it was over.  I took it very hard.  I was very young and very hurt and emotionally devastated. 

I had a seven-year old to care for and because of my emotional state, wasn’t capable of caring for myself, let alone a seven-year old.

However, I didn’t think I had a choice in the matter. 

After all, there was a child depending on me.  I carried on, went into what you might call auto-pilot for the sake of my daughter, and existed in a sort of half-life for a while. 

Finally, one day, while walking to work, I heard a bird singing. 

Then I noticed flowers that were growing in gardens along the way, and realized the sun was shining and the sky was blue. 

 My sepia-tone world was transformed to Technicolor. 

 I felt like Dorothy entering the Land of Oz.  As emotionally bruised and battered as I still was, I had a rather enormous realization.  Awakening from my pain in such a beautiful way was truly a blessing.  After a time, I realized I was doubly blessed, and that sense of gratitude has stayed with me ever since.

Recently, someone reminded me of how important it is to give thanks even when you think you have nothing to give thanks for. 

 Hearing this, reminded me of a time when I did just that.  I gave thanks for awakening to life.  I was in pain and I gave thanks anyway and I continue to give thanks every day. 

It’s been 40 years since my divorce.  I’m still grateful for my awakening. 

I’m a relatively new student in The Course in Miracles, but anyone who has studied that course knows it teaches that everything is just an illusion anyway.  The only thing that’s real is love. 

Love leads to forgiveness. 

Love leads to gratitude. 

God is love and love is all there is. 

That old saying, “We’re spiritual beings having a human experience” is much easier to say than to live.

And, because I can be categorized in that statement, sometimes the going gets tough for me.  When that happens, I remind myself to keep it simple and bring it back to gratitude. 

Whatever is happening in my life I say to myself, “embrace it and be grateful anyway . . . forgive yourself and be grateful anyway. . . love yourself and be grateful anyway”.  Wake up in the morning and be grateful . . . go to sleep at night and be grateful. 

 Whatever is happening in your life right now, whether you see it as good, bad, beautiful, or ugly, love yourself, forgive yourself, and be grateful anyway.

Lesson . . . I am much stronger than I ever thought possible, and I am blessed with the awareness of all of God’s blessings.

Thank you God; thank you God; thank you God, and so it is.

---Kate Morgan for Unity of Charlotte

Amplifying God's Attributes

When we serve others, we are amplifying the "givingness" of God. When we express love to family and friends, we are amplifying God's Love. When we engage in creative expression such as art, writing, singing and dancing, we are amplifying God's creativity. Every "Aha!" moment we experience is amplifying God's Light.

So, the sacred activity of meditation likewise allows us to amplify God's Peace. Let us permit the practice of being "an instrument of peace" to become part of our daily activities. Let us demonstrate more Love for Peace in this manner. Loving the attribute of Peace enables more of it to show up on our planet.

 --Lawrence J. Toliver

Four eyes are better than two

If you wore glasses as a child, you might have had the experience of being called 
“four eyes.”

Now, as adults, we can realize that we do have four eyes.

We each have 2 pairs of eyes, our physical eyes and our spiritual eyes. 

Our physical eyes are uniquely ours by their shape, color and vision.  We use our physical eyes to see in the world we live in, the world of time and space and form.

We use our Spiritual eyes to see into the realm of possibility and potential. 

Our 2 sets of eyes were given to us by God so we could live in the world as the Divine expression of God.

When we use our physical eyes to see what is as it is, without evaluating, analyzing or judging what we see, our Spirit is open. 

We now can see into the Spiritual realm.

 When our 2 sets of eyes are open and working together, we see as God sees with eyes of compassion, caring and kindness.

 We see the Spirit of God in each person and experience the great joy of seeing God at work in our life.  

--Nancy Ennis for Unity of Charlotte

The Gift of Forgiveness

Forgiveness is a gift given to us by God to heal the hurts of the past, and to give us the hope of a better past.  Forgiveness is a gift we give ourselves and the world.  It keeps our Spirit open, flowing and growing into greater awareness and experience of God’s goodness and abundance.

  When our Spirit is open everyone benefits.

The act of forgiveness is said to be one of the most difficult things life asks of us.

 Yet it is one of the most necessary things we can do.

 

When we don’t use our gift of forgiveness, it hurts us on every level of our being: body, mind, and Spirit.

Our creative power of thinking is used to relive past events so often making them worse than they were.

Our emotion are frozen in unprocessed anger and resentment as we try to suppress the pain of the past.

This can eventually cause disease in our physical body.

  

Our Spiritual arteries are clogged with the accumulation of unprocessed emotions. Our Spirit is constricted and our heart is closed so we don’t get hurt again.  When we go through years of carrying baggage from the past, we can often become bitter and hardened against life.

 

Probably the best way to understand our gift of forgiveness is to change FORGIVE to GIVE FOR.

  When we forgive, we give up  that something that blocks our Spirit for something that opens our Spirit.

When we forgive, we give up Resentment for Good Will; Revenge for Kindness; Blame for Understanding; Separation for Oneness; A Closed Heart for an Open Heart; Criticism for Support; Doubt and Fear for Faith and Courage; Anger for Love; Self condemnation for Self esteem.

-- Rev. Nancy Ennis for Unity of Charlotte

 

Mighty Powerful Stuff

Ever think about how powerful your words are? 

Not just the words you speak aloud, but the words you think?  You know what I’m talking about . . . “self-talk” . . . all those things you say only to yourself, like “OMG, I’m having a bad hair day!” or “I hate how I look in these pants” or “Yuck! I’m getting old!” or “I feel terrible!” or “These people drive like freaks!” . . . the list goes on. 

Frequently, that negative self-talk creeps out of our inner conversation and insinuates itself into how we express ourselves to others.  The worst part is, we often don’t even know we’re doing it. 

Before you know it, those thoughts have become affirmations and, as we all know, affirmations have a way of manifesting into reality.

This is not our reality of choice.  Or is it? 

After all, we have created it . . . all with the help of our words.  Our finances, our careers, our relationships begin and end with our choice of words.

. . . very powerful things, words.

One way of looking at this is we are artists -- sculptors -- molding our experiences through our use and choice of the words we choose to describe ourselves, others, and the world in general.  Everything from the very mundane to the very important is colored by the words we choose to describe them.

Recently, a friend told me that when she awakens each morning she decides what kind of day she’s going to have.  She pictures it filled with good, peaceful, loving, abundant experiences and it sets the tone for her day.

What a wonderful place this world would be if we all took a lesson from her book!  She takes a moment, and it really takes only a moment, to close the window to negativity—not the least of which includes negative and hurtful thoughts and words—and opens the door to love.  Love then follows her throughout her day.  What a lovely way to choose to live. 

And it is a choice.

I’ve been cogitating on that idea ever since my friend presented it to me.  I like it.  It feels good.  How could it not?  After all, the one commandment Jesus gave to us is to “love thy neighbor as thyself.”  Being human, of course I stumble from time to time. Still, beginning each day thinking 'love' is proving to be a very positive experience. 

Will you join me?  Let’s start making a positive change in our world . . . one thought and one word at a time.

--Kate Morgan for Unity of Charlotte

Why Should You Agree?

The Four Agreements

Look at don Miguel Ruiz’s classic book The Four Agreements for clues on how to live a better life.

            His first Agreement is, “Be impeccable with your word.” Say what you mean and speak in integrity. Use the power of your word to speak your truth and reject gossip either from others or from yourself.

            The second Agreement is “Don’t take anything personally.” Nothing others do is because of you. When you are immune from their misguided statements and opinions, nothing can bring you down.

            The third Agreement is “Don’t make assumptions.” Ask questions and express what you want. Open communication with others to negate misunder­standings, drama and sadness.

            The final Agreement is “Always do your best.” Strive for excellence, not perfection. A perfectionist doesn’t finish a job, he just abandons it. By doing your best, you will avoid regret and self-judgment.

            No wonder that don Miguel Ruiz is one of Oprah’s favorite authors.

 ---Alan Batten for Unity of Charlotte

Where Do You Go To Find the Truth?

I went to Detroit to speak recently. When I told one friend, he asked with concern, “Are you going to be okay?” I reminded him he knew better than to believe everything he had read, or seen recently on the woes of the Motor City.

A Detroit activist hired me to inspire residents who have had a steady menu of “bad news” for some time now.  I called my talk “a spiritual pep rally.”

Some of my early advice to the audience: When you feel overwhelmed, turn off the radio and television news and don’t read the newspaper. What you get won’t be the real truth, anyway, and it may cause unnecessary worry or fear. Besides, you will only get somebody else’s perception of the truth.

As an example of real truth versus human perception, I offered my old story about losing my Jaguar. I was stopped at a light and when it turned green, I hit the gas pedal. But so did a bus in the oncoming traffic, which was turning in front of me. The bus plowed into my car and totaled my Jag. I was thankful to be alive, sore, and heartbroken about the loss of my car.

When I got home and I was safely in bed recuperating, I asked God, “Why did you let this happen to me?” Immediately, I was shown the accident as if it were happening the first time.

 Only this time I heard my subconscious mind, which was angry that the bus was trying to run the light, say: “Oh, no, you don’t.” I was obviously speaking to the bus. And after that, I floored the pedal.

What I was shown was that at that very moment that large vehicle was more than a bus to me. It represented every person, every boss, every institution—and so forth—that had ever run over me, figuratively, or used me as a doormat. The gas pedal was my revenge.

Now back to The Truth.

  A television reporter would have said, “A bus ran a stoplight and hit a woman driving a Jaguar today.”

But the truth was more than that.

 The truth, as it would have been recorded only on that heavenly network, W-G-O-D, would have said, “A woman was stopped at a light and when it changed, she saw a bus coming toward her. She did not stop because she was distracted by her thoughts about the people and institutions she believed had hurt her. Her own lack of forgiveness blinded her.”

The point: Don’t believe everything you hear about Detroit. Of course, the truth is much, much deeper.

 The way I see it, the city is bankrupt but the people aren’t. That would be impossible. They were born with a limitless amount of wealth and creativity. If anything, we should look to Detroit for possible solutions. What is happening in that city is the manifestation of the collective consciousness of our country.

And that’s the truth.

Patrice Gaines for Unity of Charlotte