My first response is to pray, holding all of us, everywhere, in prayers of support, guidance and healing. Bringing us together in One Vision of Life connected. It reminds me of the film, Avatar, which depicts the great might of the US military trying to destroy a world on another planet for monetary gain, and the native people connecting into the One Tree of Life that sustained them all.
 
My second response: What is my simple message that enables me to walk my truth and stand strong in my faith? In many ways, Donald Trump is an example of authority and power. Can I, can we, claim and fully know God-power, alive in us, through us and as us? Can I, can we, stand in our Truth and live from that Truth of community, working together with our neighbours, looking after our planet and environment, because of the Oneness I believe in? What actions can I take? How can I live my life through Divine authority and power? This is what Jesus did and he is our way-shower in Unity. It is a big ask – but perhaps this is the call right now. We stand in the Light of Truth and live it.
 
Rev Kimerie Mapletoft
Director of Silent Unity and Daily Word UK

The animation film, Wild Robot, (out right now in the cinemas and highly recommended) portrays this idea beautifully. There are some powerful messages in the story line: We are more than our programming. Kindness brings communities together. Our sense of Self, our divinity, is found and lived through our hearts.

The film reflects how a robot went from, ‘I have not been programmed to do this’, to bringing a whole community together. The questions that arise for me, and I suggest for all of us are: 

- Where and how do I limit myself in my thinking and speaking? 
- Do I respond with kindness to myself, my community and my world? 
- How can I more fully connect into my heart centre and reveal the inner splendour that is my True Self? 

These important questions are worth reflecting on. Not with judgement and the ‘I am only human, don’t blame me’ response, but with compassion, understanding and wisdom. Enquiry work, looking into who and what we really are – spiritual beings living in a spiritual universe – one with ALL and part of something so much greater than ourselves, is a powerful investment of our time. Spending time in silence with God as Good without an opposite enhances and blesses all of us.

Ephesians 5:14 invites us: “Sleeper awake! Rise from the dead and Christ will shine upon you.”

This Christ light, as our true identity beyond the ‘I am only human programming’, is not to shy away from or hide from; and not to claim from an egoic perspective. Instead, we are invited to recognise, with humility, this light is the true light within everyone, waiting to be revealed as our inner splendour. When we begin to do this, there is a flood of heart energy: compassion, kindness and wisdom. We find we can respond to ourselves and our world in a way that is beyond our ‘only human’ programming, because it is our spirit, already within, expressing through and as us. Jesus lived this way. Ghandi and others, live this way. We can, too.

When the leaf is freed to the wind – that is not the end. Wherever it lands, if it is harvested, eaten or decays, it provides food, life or nourishment for potential in the soil. It undergoes a transformation. It becomes something else.
 
Removing our worries from the forefront of our minds might give us sense of space, but transformation from pain to healing, anger to forgiveness, fear to love, needs to happen to complete the cycle. So when we close our eyes and exhale, returning our fears, our anger, our pain to the Earth. Let us remember, to be brave.
 
We may not know what exactly will happen when we let go of something we have held on to for so long. But we must trust, like the leaf, that we will end up where we need to be. 

Stefanie Bridges
Unity Administrator

It can be holding the space of affirmative prayer, for all those who reach out to us at Silent Unity, and all whom I hold in prayer. When I pray, I know my 'work' is to hold the space to know God as love, life, joy, peace, etc. is here, present and working through them and me. Then I can let go – I have nothing to do other than know – God is here as ultimate goodness expressed.
 
In each instance, I am holding the space for God as Divine Heart and Mind, to be felt and known in, through and as me and you. (I write about this a lot because I have to practice it a lot!) In taking time to become still, centred and present, my busy, critical mind feels safe: now it can quieten down enabling peace, love, joy, etc. to become our connected reality.
 
Recently, I realised that I have learnt, from my dear mother, to respond critically when under stress. Mum uses it as a coping mechanism to bring more control into her life as, like most of us, she was not taught to recognise her needs and feelings, let alone express them in a peaceful way. Instead, we often get resentful, critical and stressed. When I respond this way, other people then struggle to respond authentically and peacefully.
 
This realisation helped me understand my mum better. It also helped me realise this reaction was not me – it was a learned response from my mother. My authentic self is calm, wise, loving and can express needs and feelings without being angry or critical. It was a huge realisation for me. In saying, ‘this is not me’ – I have made space for my authentic self to shine. I have apologised to my husband, to Paul, for all the times I have been critical of him, often without realising what I was saying, and asked for his understanding as I learn and practice a new response. This is setting me free to let my inner light shine more brightly, experience the freedom this brings, and be present more authentically to those around me.
 
I invite all of us to hold the space for God – let love, wisdom and understanding into your body, mind and heart. As we do this, we are changed and life around us changes. In the midst of all we are seeing on the news and around us – let us hold the space for God.
 
Rev. Kimerie Mapletoft
Director of Silent Unity and Daily Word UK

So instead of thinking you are a human being and that is it; instead of thinking you are a spiritual being having human experiences; how about opening into the idea, and experience, that you are a spiritual being, living in a spiritual universe, and as spirit – you express the love that you are. “I express the love that I AM.”

It does mean being vulnerable – being open – sometimes feeling into that which is not love, to witness it being dissolved, so that the Love, underneath the pain and discomfort, shines through. When we lean into the discomfort, and are simply present to it without the critical mind, it really does dissolve – for we have made space for God, God as Love and Love is healing us now. Further, this Love is so powerful, we are transformed. We are made new.

Have you felt God's incredible love for you? I invite you to open into the experience: "God as Love is the truth of me." Feel it. Know it. Begin to claim this as your truth and surrender into Love. Let Love dissolve the walls of doubt and fear. Then, as we view the world and all that we see happening around us, we can all come together and hold the vision of Love healing each mind and heart, returning us to peace.

Join me on the journey – open to Love and know yourself as the Love you are.

“You are my beloved, in whom I am well pleased.” Luke 3:22

Rev. Kimerie Mapletoft
Director of Silent Unity and Daily Word UK

As always I go back to … breathe … relax … let go … and know God as Pure Beingness is my energy too. It is through practising the presence, coming back to my heart-centre and becoming still, that always brings me back to peace. I may rant and moan for a moment, but then I can laugh and let it go.

To deeply experience Grace, this for me, has become my practice. It means that I can witness grace in the small and big events when they happen, as I am more present to the moment.

Recently, I was not concentrating when using a sharp knife to cut some very hard cheese. My emotions were a bit unfocused, the knife slipped and it cut into my nail and finger. Straight away, I realised that grace had been at work as this could have been so much worse. My nail took the brunt of the cut rather than my finger. I had the best cream to help the wound heal and my nail is growing out.
​
It might seem like a small thing – but Grace is an experience we all have. I invite you to take time to see the blessings in your life as an experience of Grace.

Rev. Kimerie Mapletoft
Director of Silent Unity and Daily Word UK

I find my oneness by giving attention to all the parts of me. I honour my masculine traits, such as reasoning, intellect, action and marry them with my Divine feminine, intuition, emotion, healing. Finding a balance that allows all aspects of myself to shine in harmony. I take time to nourish my inner child, I take her to feed the ducks and give her a safe space if she needs to cry. I ensure my introverted self is provided with abundant jigsaw puzzles and given a break from the rat race. I spend time in meditation and prayer to focus on my spiritual self. Child. Mother. Carer. Warrior. Administrator. Creative. I can unify all these things. My strength, my energy, my oneness. It all comes through when I focus on myself with love.
 
“Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” Colossians 3:14
Amen. Awomen. 
 
Stefanie Bridges
Unity Administrator

I recognise that change is a good thing, even though it can often feel uncomfortable.  It begins, for me, with the realisation that something different is seeking to be known or done because I experience a degree of restlessness, discomfort, a mind and heart niggle at the very least.
 
Depending on my energy levels, it feels good or it doesn’t. Sometimes it is simply exciting – a call higher: for Spirit to flow through in a different way. However, if I am experiencing exhaustion, due to overwork and not taking care of myself, I can over-react and respond with the thought that everything must change – a rather dramatic response!
 
If this is the case, my first step is to acknowledge that my body/mind/heart feels the need for rest and self-care. Then I enquire deeper – is this a spa-day calling me, (it is always yes to a spa day!) or a change in how I live and work?  As I rest in the silence to be with my experience, this urge for change, I seek clarity on what is mine to know and do. Until I am clear, I do not do anything. I rest, ‘wait upon the Lord’ and know that Divine wisdom is guiding me to my good.
 
I also remember that for change to be good for me, it must work for others as well. Certainly if this call to change involves others, it is about including them in the discussion and being honest that at this time, the urge to experience something new is calling me, even if I have no idea what that is or how it is to happen. Further, when I keep this affirmation as my intention – only good can come from this – I remember that this change will be good for those around me, too.
 
This is why Unity’s practice of ‘I let go and let God be God through me’ is so important. The trees do not try to hang onto their leaves. They let their beauty shine with one last show of glory before winter. Then, in the spring, new leaves, new life, bursts forth – made all the more beautiful because the old leaves have made way for these new ones.
 
Letting go has been one of my big life experiences in Unity. I have let go of many good people over the years, at first not always willingly. However, I do know that when I let go of someone dear, or something that no longer serves me, it is opening space in me and around me, for new good to flow and come forth.
 
This new good is important – it is required. We must all allow God as Spirit, as Good, to flow in, through and as us, if we want to move forward in our spiritual journeys, this lifetime. The flow, as Eric Butterworth (Unity author and minister) described, is important. Energy flows where intention goes. When it is time for the energy to flow in a new way, even if it feels uncomfortable and we are out of our comfort zone, we know it is a call higher for our souls and soul growth.
 
Is something calling you to change in your life? Do you have an urge or inkling that something different is calling you – a new way to show up in the world, a new place to serve, new people to be with? If so, I encourage you to sit with this feeling or thought. Take time to ‘wait upon the Lord’ with anticipation and expectation – God is always showing up as our good – let God be God through you and as you and lead you to the next place in your life that is yours to be.

Obviously, an explanation was due so I tried to explain as follows:
“We had a long but pleasant drive from Chesterfield to Birmingham. However, as my friend, Rita, and I reached the City Centre things became a little, shall we say ‘challenging’; the Sat Nav that had guided us safely thus far suddenly became uncooperative and Rita and I found ourselves going round in ever decreasing circles.
 
“I’m sure we’ve passed that Mosque at least twice before” I heard myself say. Rita remained calm and collected, but agreed we had in fact been here before. “I think it’s time to ask for help,” I said, looking skyward. “Angels we need a little help here, “I pleaded from my heart.
 
No sooner had the words left my mouth when we noticed a stationary taxi immediately in front of us. Rita stopped her car by the curb directly in front of the taxi and approached the driver on foot.
 
I heard Rita explain to the driver where we needed to be but that we could not seem to find the turning for the road on which our venue was situated. The driver of the taxi thought for only a second or so and then replied, “It’s too difficult for me to explain the way you need to go.”  I couldn’t see my friend’s face, but I’m sure Rita must have looked disappointed at the driver’s words, because we were now running about twenty minutes late.
 
Then a glimmer of hope shone out before us. “Follow me,” the taxi driver said, smiling. Rita took her seat behind the steering wheel once more and we proceeded to follow this ‘Guiding Angel’ for a considerable distance, a £10 fare at least, for him. The taxi driver led us right to the car park of the building where the celebrations were taking place. We agreed it was only fair to offer that amount to him, as this was his livelihood.  After all, he could have earned much more than £10 in the time he spent leading us to our destination. That lovely smiling man, our Angel in disguise, would not hear of it - however hard we pressed him to take the money.
 
It was as we thanked him profusely and waved him off that I felt God was very close indeed. I was reminded of  a line from Helen Steiner-Rice’s Poem -  

"On life’s busy thoroughfares we meet with Angels unaware"
​
---- Yes, God was surely at the heart of our brief encounter with that wonderful man who may never know how much his selfless gift of kindness meant to two ‘Lost Souls’ that Saturday, 27th of July 2024 in Birmingham City ..
 
With love and blessings to our ‘Angel’ and all those wonderful souls who perform selfless acts of kindness in service to others every minute of every day. Thank You, thank you, thank you. May you be blessed, as you are a blessing…
 
Nuala Sikorski
Unity Chesterfield, Derbyshire


“When was the last time you felt close to God?”