The Father and I are one

In June in the UK we remember our fathers on Sunday 16th. For some of us it is a happy day as we have, or had, a good relationship with our father or father figures. In my case, I remember my father with deep love and affection. Looking back, as he passed many years ago, I know he was not perfect. Yet growing up, I also knew how much he loved my sisters and me. Remembering this love is perhaps what counts most of all. I certainly continue to feel dad’s love even though he is no longer with us, and I am so grateful for that.

However, I also know that many of us did not have such a good relationship with our father. Perhaps you did not even know your father and feel that something worthwhile is missing in your life. It is important to recognise our childhood experiences for what they were, good, bad or imperfect, with as much compassion and understanding as we can, for our fathers were not perfect. This can help bring healing to our relationship with our father and to other men in our lives. 

Holding the space for compassion and understanding in this way, we can build or develop a healthy and loving relationship with God, for to many God is Father. Whoa – stop, I can hear some of you say! In Unity, we speak about God as Oneness: As the principle of Truth, Love, Divine Mind and Heart. Well yes we do. Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, our co-founders, wrote and spoke of God in this way. Yet their writings were also very much about God as Father – that felt experience of God as wisdom, love and activity present in, through and as us all. It was a personal experience.

The same was true for Jesus, as he spoke about God as his loving father: as Abba meaning Papa or Daddy. Jesus had a powerfully loving relationship with God in this way. This relationship guided him, sustained him and took him through the crucifixion to the resurrection. By himself, as Jesus alone, I believe this would not have happened. It was because Jesus knew, “I and the father are one” (John 10.30) that he was able to do all he did and be the way-shower and example he is to us in Unity today.

Life is complex – it is all about relationships, which we first experienced through our parents and parent figures. It is also through our relationships that we can know for ourselves, the father and I, God and I, are one. We can move from the complex to the simplicity of this statement and abide here.

As we honour and remember our fathers on 16th June, with compassion and understanding, perhaps we can also be like Jesus and come to know our oneness with God so that we, too, can say, the father and I are one.

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

The Father and I am one - Sunday Service