I live the truth I know – putting our principles into practice Unity’s five principle invite us to:
One or more of these principles is always covered when we share any Unity discussion, study class, meeting or talk, as each one is core to our teaching and practice. For me personally, I relate so much with Jesus’ statement, ‘I and the father are one’ (John 10:30). To live life remembering this as my truth as well, invites me to let go of personal burdens or needs; invites me to rest, abide, in God-experience. This sets me free. However, I also know that if I am to engage with this as a truth statement, I must live my life in response to this. This is quite a claim and to be honest, quite a feat. To know my oneness with God is also to know your oneness with God. If we live in oneness with God and each other, there can be no opposition, no blame, no judgement; no form of attack. How can there by when we know we are one? I would only be hurting myself. This is truly a daily practice – I am a work in progress! For I recognise that the daily practice of living these principles calls me to let go of my human responses and connect with the spiritual Self that knows only oneness. Therefore, my daily practice has become one of letting go – of blame, resentment, condemnation, criticism when things do not go the way I want. Even when I witness the tragedy of war, with so many innocent people hurt or killed. In Silent Unity, our prayers and hearts go out to everyone impacted by the conflict between Israel and Gaza and indeed any conflict. At the same time, my response has to be – how can I bring peace into the world instead of conflict? The answer must be, by living peace, being peace and responding as peace: living the truth I know. This is why I write, living the truth is perhaps the hardest thing to do. Yet as we make this our practice, it does get easier, I promise. We start to live in a new way that brings blessings of peace, life and love, which can only be good for everyone.
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Love – Yes, it is our true spiritual nature, but I would also say to express Love in our human experience, we need to balance it with divine wisdom, guidance, and discernment. Love without wisdom and discernment (right judgement) can be like a ship without a sail. It may flounder in the doldrums without the breeze of “wisdom” to push it along. Then, when right judgement is added, the ship will be pushed along in the right direction …. For me, this is God in action working in and through us. How blessed we are.
Love can be interpreted in many different ways. An impermanent love is when we relate love to things that give us instant pleasure and perhaps say; “Oh, I loved that film, or I love chocolate, or I love that author, etc.” All worldly things are impermanent and changing. We can and often do, change our minds about them. Then we have romantic love, which can be very consuming and passionate for a while, but will over time either disappear or change. We may decide that the fire has gone out. Alternatively, we don’t really like or have anything in common with that person anymore and we move on. Or, it can turn into something deeper, and the relationship becomes one of companionship and comfort maybe; still love, but more permanent. And, coming up another level – unconditional love, which is love that endures and is permanent. The obvious example being the love of a parent for their children. The children may go off the rails, or even do bad things, but I would say that in our hearts we still, and will, always love them, whether they are small children or fully grown large adult children! Finally, I come to the constant, eternal and enduring Love with a capital L, which is God, Spirit, Life, All that is, and many other names, or even no name. It is the core of our beingness, the animating loving energy, the Presence, the Peace, that surpasses all understanding. This to me is who and what we are: Pure Love. I can’t talk or begin to understand the limitlessness of God, Life, because I’m not clever enough and I haven’t got the words, but at the core of my being I just know, that God is Good, and in my quiet times I feel my oneness in God…. Yes, we express from our human nature. However, we can also express from our indwelling Truth, which is Love. For we are one in God, God is Love, and we are made for goodness. This is our Truth. We cannot be separate from our truth, however much our humanity likes to think otherwise. These are my thoughts up to now, but I do acknowledge that as my spiritual understanding unfolds they may be different, next week, next month, next year or even tomorrow! Thank you. Carran Stephens Leader, Unity Birmingham In a recent metaphysics class, we explored the paradox of Divine Law and Grace. Divine Law, according to Charles Fillmore, Unity co-founder, is ‘the orderly working out of the principles of Being into expression and manifestation throughout creation.’ (Revealing Word). One of the ways we witness this is through the law of cause and effect: The idea that as we sow, we reap. Also according to Charles Fillmore, ‘Divine Law cannot be broken. It holds humankind responsible for the results of its labours’.
However, the experience of Grace exists as well. Eric Butterworth, in his book, Celebrate Yourself, writes, “Grace is simply an explanation of a wonderful facet of the activity of God in you. It is not something to work for, to develop. It simply is.”
For me, Grace is Divine Love in action. There is more love here for us all than we can ever know. We do not need to work to deserve it – Love is our birth right for it is our essence; our True Self. I believe we are here to be the expression of Love, using wisdom, to bless all of life, including ourselves. Eric Butterworth writes that ‘God’s desire to express completely through you and as you is so great that you never completely reap the harvest of error and you always reap more good than you sow.’ I believe this is to enable us to know ourselves as Love, the image and likeness of God. For me, this was a huge part of Jesus’ message. He moved from Mosaic Law to using this law of love and grace to do what was right and good, instead of what the law dictated. The parable of The Good Samaritan in Luke 10 is a perfect example of this. When we live this way, as Jesus taught us to do, we move beyond being simply Children of God, living only through the law of cause and effect, to the knowing that we are the hands and feet of God: Divine Love is lived and shared through us. Love is the first and last cause. Ours is to simply abide in Pure Presence and let this love flow out to all, through our thoughts, words and actions. How do you experience the activity of Divine grace in your life? Rev. Kimerie Mapletoft Director, Silent Unity and Daily Word UK The Unity movement has certainly travelled many steps, far and wide, branching out to hundreds of different places all around the world. From its first affiliate Silent Unity prayer ministry in England in 1946, building to the first Unity World conference in Birmingham, UK, in 1995 which was attended by 700 people from 38 countries, Unity’s message continues to expand. We can see that Charles and Myrtle’s first steps in America soon grew exponentially to the worldwide organisation Unity is today. At present Silent Unity is available in English, French, German, and Spanish, and has affiliates in Argentina, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, United Kingdom, Germany, Ghana, Guyana, Jamaica, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, and Trinidad.
Myrtle Fillmore’s discovery of spiritual growth and healing in the late 19th C. came from a lecture within the New Thought movement, which led her to affirmative prayer. She discovered, read and wrote about Christian Science and practical Christianity. Her healing experiences were so profound, that along with her husband Charles, they founded Unity and in 1897 Myrtle wrote the article “How I found health” in the Unity magazine. An article still reprinted today. I love the way she writes. “I told the life in my liver that it was not torpid or inert, but full of vigor and energy. I told the life in my stomach that it was not weak or inefficient, but energetic, strong, and intelligent. I told the life in my abdomen that it was no longer infested with ignorant ideas of disease, put there by myself and by doctors, but that it was all alive with the sweet, pure, wholesome energy of God.” Listen to the article here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=perTZng1ubc Read the whole article here: https://www.unityuk.org/uploads/1/3/6/7/136768850/how_i_found_health.pdf Today, as we go about our business in the world, let us remind ourselves of what great things can come from the smallest steps. Let us be mindful of the goals we wish to reach, and of the energy we wish to create. Let us invoke the power of imagination. Let us be brave enough to take the first step out in to the unknown, ready to live our dreams, ready to be receptive to the beauty and wonder of this awesome, magical, sacred world. Stefanie Bridges Unity administrator
I agree with Steve. I must admit, repeating an affirmation 50 times to make me believe something, is a struggle for me. I believe it is not about forcing a new idea down into me to change me – I believe it is about allowing the divine flow to rise up within me and pour forth from me. For we are now and always one with God-energy, Source, substance – it is already here and now. We are simply tuning into the energy, as we tune into a radio station to hear clearly.
Eric Butterworth in the introduction to his book, Spiritual Economics, writes that wealth is not about pounds and dollars; it is about well-being, which is such a beautiful, feeling-full word. Prosperity is not about having lots of stuff! Prosperity is about moving forward hopefully. To this, I would add positively and with faith. For us in Unity, prosperity, abundance, is about spiritual well-being – it incorporates a wholeness approach: A whole experience of life and healing, loving relationships, harmony, peace, fulfilment. Therefore, we talk about shifting our thinking, our consciousness, to align with the divine flow. Instead of focusing on getting more money, more things, better people into our lives, we practice lifting our awareness, our thinking, so that we know we abide within the divine flow. This is when we really experience, as Jesus knew and taught, that we live in an abundant universe, where every need and more is met. The thing about this last point, of course, is that this is not about just my need. It is about knowing, and thereby living, within the understanding that there is more than enough for everyone. When we start to live with each other in a way where every person is honoured, respected and valued, every person is then free to share their wisdom, creativity, skills and knowledge and we are all blessed. Moreover, not just human beings, but also all of life is honoured, respected, valued, enriched and blessed. What a prosperous way to live! Let us value and respect ourselves, each other and our planet. Let us shift our awareness, our consciousness, into the divine flow. For as we do, we will all experience greater abundance, prosperity and wealth, through the true meaning of these words.
It was also good to discover how people came to Unity. After I shared a little about how Paul and I discovered Unity, we divided everyone into small groups of 2 or 3 people, to share their own unique stories of how they came to Unity. Some stories were similar, and others very different. Such is life of course. We wanted the time to be informal and friendly, sharing ideas and personal experiences, and it was definitely that! Already in this short time we have begun to learn more about each other and ourselves. Then the discussion went a little deeper, as I spoke about how Unity is described as Practical Christianity. It has to be something that is real, something we can do in our lives, to find deeper meaning, fulfilment, joy and peace. I had intended the second breakout room to be general – what did they think about the idea of practical Christianity, connected with the idea that Jesus is our example and guided, not an exception to worship from afar. However the discussion ended up being more about sharing what practical things they did in their lives to support and enable themselves. A good discussion to have of course. I have noticed that meetings often do change when we are open to what wants to be experienced in that moment. We have an idea when we begin, but the meeting demands something different and the discussion goes another way. The lovely people who showed up all seemed to get something out of the meeting. For sure, the hour went by really quickly. I look forward to meeting more folk this way and exploring how Unity ideas bless our lives. This meet up was part of our Friends of Unity scheme, a monthly membership of £5 which includes special zoom sessions, a library of meditations, talks and a Daily Word digital membership. For more details click here
As far as I can explain it, we are all One, abiding within one energy field, which we can call God, substance, Divine Mind: whatever term works best for you. Because we are connected within this subtle energy field, we notice or feel each other’s energy. Sometimes this feels good and sometimes it really doesn’t! I am sure you have experienced this for yourself. Because there is only love in this blessing of release, it releases any negative pull or expectation I may have on the other person. This enables them to feel free and make a loving and wise decision for themselves. It also frees me to make wise and loving decisions as well. Some people are in our lives for a long time and others are not. Do you have a situation or relationship in your life that is causing tension? You may like to you use this blessing for 21 days. Speak it from your heart. Really let them go with love. Then see what happens. Truly, this is a gift you give to the world. Rev. Kimerie Mapletoft Director of Silent Unity and Daily Word UK Join us in the comfort of your own home; take a few moments in your day wherever you are; to connect in silent prayer. Join us on Zoom and share the energy of united prayer in a very real way.
We will hold a vigil of prayer from 9am-9pm, holding the silence and sharing meditations throughout the day. Send us names to hold in prayer with you. It is our honour and privilege to connect with you in this powerful way.
I trust in the evolutionary impulse of loving goodness In Unity, we describe faith as more than believing: It is an inner knowing. Charles Fillmore, our co-founder, taught that faith is our foundation, from which we experience our lives. Today, if we listen to all the news we may have faith in a declining economy, struggle, debt and lack. Not very inspiring or helpful, is it. How do we turn this around? Our practice in Unity is to spend time each day in prayer, meditation and silence. It is here we come to know God in a real and personal way, yet also active as a constant, unchanging and limitless energy. We ‘persevere in faith’ and practice. Why? Because as we make space for God-awareness and experience, we are changed and our lives change. It is a powerful process and one that blesses all of life. Truthfully – we have to start somewhere! Let us use our faculty of faith to tune in to the loving goodness of God. Trust that God is evident as an evolutionary impulse working through all of life, inviting us to awaken into our divinity, lived through our humanity. My lovely friend and Unity teacher, Isabel Compton, used to say, ‘we are being done’. I must admit I struggled with this idea at first. Now, when I let God as the impulse of loving goodness express through and as me, I begin to experience Life as an evolutionary impulse that is drawing all of life into a deeper awareness of oneness and wholeness. Life is changing everywhere. Let us see this change positively as evolution. Let us use our faith to tune into life as an evolutionary impulse of loving goodness working through us. Then we will show up in a way that others may know this too. How is the evolutionary impulse of loving goodness expressing through you? For as you seek it, you will find it. Enjoy the journey. |
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