We live again

In “Talks on Truth,” Unity co-founder Charles Fillmore urges the disciples of Christ to ‘raise the dead.’ The shrouds of death may not be visible to our eyes, but we each know a Lazarus who awaits the quickening that only Truth can provide for being born anew.

When the sun rises each morning, our physical bodies go through the movements and motions of the day, but often without purpose. The routine of our lives becomes the shroud that cloaks our brilliant spirits from the dynamic world of the living.

Those who truly live are able to consciously live each moment of their day with an awareness of all that we do. The roads each morning are populated with self-driving drones that happen to have someone sitting In the driver’s seat.

The coffee that is supposed to sharpen our senses creates a false reality of being awake. We know this because our make our daily commute in a fog of unconsciousness that may be punctuated by the perfunctory ‘good morning’ and saluations that we share with our colleagues.

When we work this way, we are mere instruments or tools that are part of a larger, lifeless machine that pays our wages but does litle to foster the life that we wish to support. We prosper in our pay but atrophy in our daily transactions with our clients and customers.

Many of us openly wonder if our ideals are dead. We recall the years of our youth when we dreamed of a world where we were truly following our ambitions and surrounded by hope.

Since those halcyon days, we are led to believe that adulthood has no time for our starry-eyed optimism as it is not practical or relevant to what we are doing today. The only thing missing is a death certificate.

The naysayers and critics around us think that they are helping us when they discourage us and they shame us into believing that we cannot achieve our potential. We fail to realize that ego-driven attitudes serve to keep us underfoot so our so-called friends can climb over our metaphysical corpses.

These crosses that we bear in life and the caves in which we entomb ourselves do not have to be the end of our story. The message behind Easter is that we can breathe new life into ourselves and resurrect the spirit within us that wants us to live the life that we are truly mean to enjoy.

When the sun rises on Easter Sunday, this is a moment of clarity for us to seize and embrace. We can remove the shroud and we can push that rock that blocks our own caves. We can step out into the daylight and claim the rest of our lives with joy knowing that we are living eternal life as taught by the story of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection.

Our mental and physical withdrawal from our world can and will be reversed by finally appreciating that our presence requires our presence. Besides simply showing up wherever we go, we must enter every room and every place with the essence that expresses our true being.

As Fillmore said, death is the cessation of our vital functions without capability of resuscitation. We know that death is a lie in this sense. Our time for resuscitation is now. Our time for applying the story of Easter to ourselves is now. Our time for being born again is now.

Happy Easter!

Desiderata and the new year

The new year is less than an hour away and I take comfort in the wise words that have held up to the changing times. And these words will endure long after I depart this material world. Desiderata is from the Latin word for 'Desired things,' and I know that we all desire good for the coming year. This was a lesson that I enjoyed teaching to my Sunday school classes and I hope that you will find lessons from as well... Happy New Year!

Desiderata by Max Ehrmann (1872–1945)

Go placidly amidst the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its shams, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful.

Strive to be happy.

We are Newtown

The proverbial rock under which we have been hiding has been kicked away by the latest spate of violence to visit our nation.

The wake up call does not have to be a political donnybrook over who needs firearms or over whose individual rights are being compromised for the sake of our collective safety. This wake up call, however, does not necessitate the creation of yet another feel-good commission that claims to listen to people but has about as much bite as a toddler gumming away at a chew toy.

The central issue of this tragedy, and those leading to it, is in our minds. I am not saying that this is an imaginary problem, but I am saying that our mental health is at stake in a crisis of confidence that our nation is experiencing at this time. We have no problem with going to a doctor when our nose runs, our stomach cramps or our muscles ache. We, however, continue to ignore the illnesses and maladies that plague our minds. We stigmatize those who indeed recognize and seek treatment for the unseen disease that kills more than just those it directly affects.

We may joke about being crazy, loony or psycho, but the joke simply isn't funny any more when the basket-weaving stereotypes are challenged by a more deadly side effect of our naive attitudes about mental health.

For those who say that our resources cannot sustain increased investment in real mental heath, I would reply that our criminal justice system is already paying the hefty price of delegating mental health services to a line item with no perspective of the toll that mental illness is taking on those who suffer from it and those who become its collateral damage.

I was listening to Dr. Jeff Gardere explaining it more eloquently when he said that mentally ill people are treated more like criminals than patients. He bemoaned the fact that he had to advise families to call the police to best serve their loved ones in times of crisis and serious need.

Could you imagine calling the police to help someone who is having a heart attack? Could you imagine jailing someone who is suffering from appendicitis? Could you imagine that? We are already doing this for many sick people who need medical help. If there is any change to be made to help us learn from Newtown, the change needs to be in our thinking about mental health.

Power to the people!

We are not powerless. When we say that we lack power or strength, we are affirming not just the negative, we are telling a serious untruth about ourselves. We are all born with an indwelling and innate power that propels us into this world of the living and wakes us to a new day for the entirety of our lives. Power is not some abstract dream of absolute control. That is the abuse of our natural powers that were meant for good. Power is a natural force that we harness each day to bring about the best in our world and is a natural force that he harness each day to build a world that works for all. Call this internal engine what you want - God, Light, Spirit, Life, Truth or whatever - this is the motivation that is readily available for us all of the time. What is my motivation? What is your motivation? It depends on what your purpose is in this world That is not for me to decide for you. You must take charge and decide why you do what you do or do not do. What I do not believe in is allowing our engines to idle when our work is yet to be complete. I learned this important lesson once upon a time when I was in high school and president of my Youth of Unity (YOU) chapter in Jacksonville, Florida. Please forgive me for revisiting this topic as I have touched upon it earlier in my blog, but this experience is what directs my actions today. In the early 1980s, our church experienced a terrible split over differing philosophies about what Unity means. There were no heroes or villains, just friends who disagreed and decided to part ways. This parting of ways was never meant to be the end, but the beginning of new Unity in our community. Instead, it marked the beginning of exile for brothers and sisters in Truth who shared the same path with my church community. When I was elected to be president of my YOU chapter, I was only sixteen years old but I knew that power meant nothing if I did not express it for the good of my community. With the lessons that I learned in Unity, I reached out to our friends across town. I paid the price because this was not a popular move - especially for a Young Turk who was not supposed to know any better. Yet, I did not walk away because the Truth is what ultimately set us free from the bondage of division. I did not walk away because my brothers and sisters in Truth did not allow me to. Instead of being discouraged, I wanted to do whatever I could in my power to bring more Unity into the commUNITY. It did not matter if I was elected, appointed or chosen to do so. We have the power of ourselves and not position to affect change. Did it help for me to be a member of my church board of directors to continue bringing our Unity churches together? Yes, it did. It also helped that I was surrounded by friends and family who supported me every step of the way. When I saw our former ministers return from a long exile to visit with us, it made me proud to be a 'Unitic.' Their return marked a homecoming for the true unity that brought us to the movement in the first place. Do not misunderstand, power does not necessarily mean that we have to move mountains every day. The power that we have speaks to its own strength. Our power may manifest itself in moments, minutes, months or even beyond our lifetimes, but we do indeed have the power to make things happen. Namaste