I also have my connection with the Divine. My pure and perfect spirit. Which, when I quiet my body, transcends the physical. Freely allowing the exchange of energy to pass through me. Renewing my partnership with God. Refilling my cup with spiritual wisdom. Imbuing my heart with perfect love and perfect trust.
Romans 5:5 “and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us” Then there is my physical body. Elements and chemicals derived from stardust across galaxies, across millennia. I really am made from the stars. What a miracle it is that I am me! That my cells are all pre-loaded to know exactly how to be a body. In fact - traces of me may well have been present at the beginning of all that we know. When light became light. Now that is pretty amazing and magical. Psalm 8:3-4 “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are humans that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?” Well I guess in God’s eyes human beings are super awesome magical beings. All of us. Diverse, unique and amazing. I am. You are. We are. Let’s not forget it. Roald Dahl “And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.” Stefanie Bridges, Unity Office Adminstrator
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OK – we may not be as exalted in understanding and realisation as Jesus was. We are not claiming that we are Jesus the Christ! Yet we can recognise and claim that we are different people from whom we were when we started the Lenten season and this is important. We have applied ourselves, as best we can, to the practice of letting go of painful, disturbing and defeating human attributes, knowing we are so much more than this.
Perhaps you are like me. Because of the daily reminders to let go, I recognise when I am being negative or critical and pull myself back to centre more quickly. I recognise when I feel resentful – and instead of spiralling into that energy, find a way to be kind and compassionate with myself, be present to my feelings and needs, re-centring and re-connecting with my loving self instead. I now notice when I am deeply shocked, upset or angered by what someone says or does and how my gut reaction is so strong I just want to walk away rather than be with the energy. When I felt this reaction recently, instead of staying in the energy of anger and blame I stopped, stepped back from the energy as it were, took a moment to breathe and move through it, so I could continue with the meeting. That evening, in our Lent meditation, the affirmation was, “In the middle of chaos, by the power of my spirit I declare, ‘Let there be light!’” It was as if a light shone in the darkness. I knew this light was the answer. I gave thanks for the light shining in and through the whole situation. No blame, no anger, just gratefulness and peace. These are a few of my examples of how the application of letting go is helping me shift. There is, as Myrtle Fillmore our co-founder said, ‘less of me and more of Thee’. How joyful and freeing this is. It truly is something to celebrate. You may like to take some time over Easter to recognise these inner shifts in you. They may not be volcanic in your mind or heart. However, every small step is one in the right direction. Every time we let go of some of our defeating human responses, the more brightly shines the light of God through us and as us. This is the Christ energy being born in us each day. Let us celebrate and sing songs of praise today. Rev. Kimerie Mapletoft
It is excellent mind training. For most of us, this busy world has many distractions. Our minds are often unfocused and far from present to what we are feeling and experiencing in the ‘now’ moment. In fact, we often try to avoid these feelings and sensations, as they can be overwhelming and difficult. Mindfulness teaches us that when we practice being present, we find underneath the turmoil and anxiety, a deeper peace and sense of well-being. Consequently, we experience calmer, healthier and more fulfilling lives.
What about meditation? The Oxford English Dictionary defines meditating as, “focusing one's mind for a period of time in silence or with the aid of chanting, for religious or spiritual purposes or as a method of relaxation.” In Unity, meditation is “a steady effort of the mind to know God. It is man’s spiritual approach to God.” (Taken from Revealing Word, Charles Fillmore) Immediately there is a different focus from mindfulness. It is not just about focusing our thoughts, although we begin here, training our bodies and minds to be still. It is about contemplation and reflection – creating space in our minds and hearts to ‘know God’. In Unity, meditation is about transcending thought and feeling; moving beyond a single one-pointed focused thought. It is a practice inviting us to move into pure consciousness – the quality in us that knows itself as the Christ: the Self beyond thought and feeling where oneness with God is the true experience. Unity calls this practising the Silence. For in the Silence we know ourselves not as simply human, but as divine beings who are so much more than our human experiences. In April, I will be leading a 5-week evening class on meditation. We will practise different techniques to relax the body and focus the mind. All with the intention of moving into the Silence and the deeper part of us that is beyond thought. Would you like to join this class? Click here for more details. Meditate on the possibility and book your place if the answer is yes! Rev. Kimerie Mapletoft Director of Silent Unity and Daily Word UK
What does peace mean to you? It can mean peace and quiet just to hear myself think! Peace can mean no more arguments or disharmony in the home or workplace. Peace could mean relief from noisy neighbours. Of course, we may be yearning for peace in the world – all of us learning, finally to get on with each other. Peace has many meanings. Yet, as many of you have heard me say in the past, peace begins with us. If we want peace in the world we begin with peace in ourselves – and this can be hard, especially when we find ourselves caught up in the turmoil of human living. Like me, you may have a busy mind that, by itself, can become agitated, focused on a problem or event, and just will not switch off (especially at night time). Sometimes anxiety about something can take over, and before I know it, my energy is lost down a rabbit hole that is not of my spiritual choosing. Either way, I am no longer experiencing peace. So, what do I do about it? Over the years, I have learnt some techniques: using my breath to still my mind, body work to get re-centred and out of the automatic thinking mode, being in nature and practising the silence in meditation. My ongoing journey is to keep practising them, keep re-tuning to Spirit, remembering I am spiritual as well as human. Yes, there are times when peace seems beyond me and it takes a little time to move through the turmoil. Yet as soon as I remember there is a part of me not impacted by human struggle, which we call the Christ within, I can step back and tune in once more. Anything we can do to help us reconnect is vital. Do you have specific tools you use? This is my focus right now, as we are busy preparing for our April online workshop, “The Path to Inner Peace.” We will ask these questions, share tools to help us and share meditations to encourage the stillness. As we move into spring, and enjoy the flowers, warmth and fresh greens of nature, let us also commit to reconnecting with the peace that is within us. You are also very welcome to join our online workshop – it is by donation so you choose the amount you wish to pay. Be part of a day that helps us be the peace we want to see in the world.
For me nothing quite nourishes my soul more than a walk in the woods. Forest bathing I think they call it. As I head inward the sound of the road fades and all I can hear is the birds happily chirping. The trees of green envelop me and my to-do lists and worries no longer hold the importance that they had on the drive over. I feel free. I feel that I am within touching distance of the Divine. I notice flowers and insects and details that evade me during my normal working week. I feel peaceful. My connection to all that good and perfect is renewed.
Sometimes I even take off my shoes and socks and tread the Earth barefoot, a practice called Earthing. It is important in my personal practise to synchronise my emotional and spiritual energies with my physical body. Afterwards I breathe deeper and feel less anxious. This is the gift I give myself this week. The gift of feeling grounded, anchored to this magical place, long after I leave. Stefanie Bridges Unity Office Administrator I do not think I have ever cut away so much deadwood in one year. The photo now would show a big gap in the middle of the shrub. It is almost shocking to see because of course, I want it to look full and beautiful. However, in cutting away the deadwood, I found so much potential new growth waiting to burst forth as little tiny buds, which I would not otherwise have seen and potentially would not have grown.
To me this is a real metaphor for life. We carry a lot of ‘deadwood’ around with us. Old, outdated belief systems, habits, situations and sometimes people that have run their course. Yet we often continue to carry them with us, not even realising they are no longer relevant or helpful to anyone. When we realise we have been carrying all of this around and prepare to let it go, it can feel like a huge hole in our lives. We may ask, ‘What do I do now?’ or, even more importantly, ‘Who am I?’ Yet this is a powerful moment in our lives. We have made space for something new, something that we would not have experienced if we had not cut out that deadwood. Further, this ‘newness’ has the potential to be beautiful and profound for us. Right now, as we move through Lent, we are using Unity‘s Lenten booklet to let go of something different every day. I joked at the beginning of the season, that if we were able to let go of everything listed, we would rise up like angels, so light would we be. Yet really, this is no joking matter. It is true. How much are you carrying around with you today? How much are you holding onto something or someone that feels like a dead weight, restricting and limiting you? Can you find a way to recognise that which you no longer need and let it go to its good? Something I really desire to let go of, is people pleasing. It can still have an unconscious hold on me, which then creates resentment, frustration, limitation etc. My response is to breathe through this quality and associated feelings, to free myself and everyone else as well! In its place, I claim and know strength, authority and wisdom. For when we let go, it is important to remember that we must claim something positive and empowering in its place. Otherwise, the old feelings and habits return multiplied. As explained in the parable in Matthew 12: 43-45. There is a quote by Lao Tzu: In the end, the treasure of life is missed by those who hold on and gained by those who let go. This Lenten season, I encourage you to join me in letting go of the old ‘deadwood’. Look for the new growth that may have previously been hidden, but is waiting to bloom and grow in you. Claim it, feel it, give thanks for it. For there is untold treasure waiting for you and our world. I invite you to break free of limitation and know the full potential that is bursting forth through you this year. Many of you have heard me say that letting go and letting God be God in any given situation, or person, was one of the big revelations Unity gave me when I first came, over 20 years ago. It has become a lifelong daily practice. For I have come to see how hard the mind wants to hold on. When we hold onto negative repeated thoughts; when we hold onto resentment, bitterness, shame, guilt – all these big emotions, we feel depleted of energy, our bodies get as tense as our minds and our whole energy system is blocked. We cannot see a way forward and we often slip further into depression and despair. In a way, this is rather like algorithms on the internet, which can lead us deeper into the dark side of life. We end up feeling lost; separate from our Source of love and energy, God. We forget who and what we are – spiritual beings having human experiences. What are we to do? We let go! Our minds may say – let go, you must be kidding, this is their fault, or even all my fault. Unconsciously we hold onto negative thoughts or feelings, thinking this will bring forth a resolution and it rarely does. We remain stuck and our energy blocked. Now for a simple exercise … Imagine something you have been holding onto. How does it feel in your body and heart? Check in … do you want to continue this way or would you like a new experience? Where is the tension in your body? Can you breathe into the tension and feel it ease away through your breath? If you can you will feel freedom and release. Now give yourself permission to let the associated negative thoughts go – see them drift off away from you. Any negative energy that has held you down, let it simply flow through you – stop holding on, just let the energy flow. How does this feel now?
If you would like to experience being guided through these techniques, we will practice them at our April online workshop, sharing the challenges and results together. Let us give ourselves permission to open our hearts and be set free. Rev Kimerie Mapletoft Director Silent Unity and Daily Word UK Michael Singer, author of The Untethered Soul and published in Unity Magazine, writes about this. He writes about ‘the maniac’ that lives inside our heads – these thoughts that dictate, criticise and chatter away. Truthfully, when I read that statement it made me laugh. To help us find some distance from this experience, he says to imagine these thoughts as a person outside of us. How would you respond if you sat next to someone who does not stop talking! Well, you wouldn’t keep sitting there for one thing. Yet we sit with the incessant thoughts that keep us stuck in our heads and out of the silence. To my thoughts, I now say, with love and laughter – enough already. This is done! So how do we switch off from this incessant chatter? We learn to recognise that we are not these thoughts. We are the witness, the observer, who notices the thoughts. The thoughts are a product of our personality. The silence is where we access our spirituality and the beauty, power, love and grace that is God. Indeed, we can only truly experience God in the silence. I invite you to start noticing your thoughts as the witness, the Self that is beyond thought. As we learn to detach from our personality-driven thinking, we make space to know our divinity – this is the power of being in the silence. It is why Unity teaches it as a core practice. I know how important this is for me right now. This is why Silent Unity will be leading a one-day workshop on Zoom entitled, “The Path of Peace” and I will be leading a meditation class, all designed to access this glorious silence. Are you interested in exploring this further with us? Click through to the website for more details. Today, let us each commit to start the practice of being the observer of our thoughts, not the victim of our thoughts – now there is a challenge I set myself too! Rev. Kimerie Mapletoft Bad noise is everywhere, mostly masquerading as good noise. After all, we ‘need’ to keep in touch with the news don’t we? We ‘have’ to listen to that ghastly music on the phone as we hold for the customer service we are seeking. And it’s only polite to listen to that person moaning about the state of the world after church or at the coffee morning (worse if it’s a relative who whinges at you regularly and has no interest in solutions!). The trouble is, we learn very early to drown out both Spirit and our own needs and desires in that noise. We will involve ourselves in ‘busy work,’ which is an alternative version of bad noise; we will binge-watch a TV show we or spend half the day on social media. Bad noise is very clever; it is an archetypical form of resistance. Resistance to what? To that still, small Voice inside that speaks only for our own good and happiness and which will suggest our taking the road less travelled; our road, not anyone else’s. Did you know that the algorithms in websites like YouTube are set so that if you follow on from one video to the next, the system will show you steadily more and more negative stuff? That’s because the creators of the algorithm know that human brains are wired like Velcro for fear and Teflon for happiness. We still think there’s a sabre-tooth tiger out there waiting to eat us and we naturally seek out any cause of fear that we can find so we can protect ourselves. Is this healthy? Not really! What’s the solution? Ah, that’s the difficulty, because the solution requires discipline and bad noise is just the opposite of that. Grace flows to every being in the Universe, naturally. It cannot be deserved; it goes to everyone. But you can tell the people who have blocked it off and those who are open to drinking this Divine benediction. The latter are the happy ones. Yes, they have their issues too but their base station is peace of mind. Today, allow yourself the discipline of taking just two minutes of saying, ‘I am open to Grace. I am willing to receive’ and see what happens…. You may well be amazed. Rev. Maggy Whitehouse Yet as a minister, I also witness how much stress and concern people are experiencing right now. Many feel overwhelmed, fearful even, as much as others feel the newness of which we spoke. So what is ours to know and do in this moment? How do we respond to both experiences? As I check in with myself, again I am reminded about the importance of giving to ourselves – giving ourselves time to rest, relax, have fun, be in nature, sing, dance, be ourselves, meditate and pray. This helps us refocus our attention, instead of responding to external pressures, which push us to constantly take and get more: more stuff, more money, more work. For me now, life is not about getting, it is about giving. This pushing and striving often brings more stress – it is not natural to live this way for very long. I know, because I have pushed and pushed myself. Now I recognise it is time to simply be and receive, to be able to give more fully. Therefore, this month, again, I invite us to recognise the importance of giving time, space and energy to ourselves. As we make space for God, for our divine selves to shine, we experience the fullness of Spirit. Divine grace manifests, bringing forth our good without pressure or force – it is a natural result. To help us with this, our Lent focus (which begins 14th February) is all about releasing and letting go of states of consciousness that block our good. As we do, we are able us to receive God’s grace as infinite love, wisdom and potential. Every evening through Lent, we will hold a meditation, free and open to everyone, focusing on the particular quality the Lent booklet invites us to release, like resentment, blame or the need to be right (that is a big one). It truly is a freeing experience. You are warmly invited to take part with us – it is a gift you give to yourself. To enable us receiving this gift of grace, so vitally important to our mental, emotional and spiritual health, we are delighted to welcome Rev. Maggy Whitehouse, who is leading a Saturday workshop, “Drinking in the Divine” February 17th on Zoom. Maggy’s focus is all about releasing the blocks to our good so that we may receive divine grace as our birth-right. She has some fabulous meditations and exercises to share with us, all for just £35 (concessions offered). As you can see, we are beginning this year in a very positive way. Join us, release the blocks to receive the flow of divine grace as infinite love, wisdom and potential. Now we are able to give the world, and all its inhabitants, that which we all truly need – we find now that we are all blessed. We directly experience – as we give, we receive. |
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