Praying Our Way to Wholeness

"To Live Until We Die"  --Kubler-Ross

God is the Source of all Being, all substance and an unfolding universe of infinite possibilities.    Learning to express more  of our true nature, our God self, leads us out of limiting thought patterns and into an understanding Faith in God as our Father.  When challenges arise in our lives, we are better able to seek underlying meaning in what is happening and to grow through those events.

I grew up in Unity and was taught early on that "I am a child of God. Nothing can hurt me or make me sick". Freeing words of wholeness, yet a heavy burden when I stumble and fall.  Feeling guilty about getting sick just adds insult to injury!  Life is hard enough without beating up on myself.

I believe that our purpose is to learn and grow in wisdom and understanding and to express more and more of God everyday in every way.   Charles Fillmore, co-founder of Unity, wrote in Teach Us to Pray,

God's life is my life, and I vibrate with harmony and wholeness.

It is vitally important to remember that in all of nature, wherever we look, life has a beginning and an ending.  As Rev. Mary Storm once pointed out, we all have to die of something.  This should be a no-brainer, but our teaching can lead one to believe that dying is the ultimate failure to demonstrate the Truth.

Bernie Siegel, MD wrote in Love, Medicine and Miracles that

No one lives forever; therefore, death is not the issue.  Life is.  Death is not a failure.  Not choosing to take on the challenge of Life is.

The ability to love oneself, combined with the ability to love life, fully accepting that it won't last forever, enables one to improve the quality of life.

Dr. Siegel, an oncology surgeon, found that all too often, a patient who should survive his illness died, while the patient whose case appeared hopeless recovered!  He also realized that his profession only studied the "failures" and developed statistics and procedures based upon those who died, explaining away those who survived.  He came to the conclusion that

Getting well is not the only goal (in healing).  Even more important is learning to live without fear, to be at peace with life, and ultimately death.

Kubler-Ross' mantra was that we should Live until we Die! Dying is not a failure--giving up is.  Whatever life we have is a gift of God and learning to honor that gift by the way in which we live is a statement of faith in God.  Fear and self doubt blind us to the love of God, but prayer reconnects us to our Source.  When we praise the love of God indwelling us richly, we are investing our attention and energy right where it is needed.  Charles Fillmore said it this way:

When we direct the mental powers upon a definite idea, faith plays its part; we break into a realm of finer mind activity, called faith or the fire of Spirit.

We Pray Our Way to Wholeness with every God centered thought, with every word of praise in the name of God directed into the very core of our being.  We begin by accepting and affirming that we are a child of God, made in the image and likeness of God. Through prayer, we seek a deeper understanding of God in our lives and the promise in Psalm 16:11 that

"You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy, At Your right hand are pleasures for evermore."

And, finally, we come to know in our hearts and minds that in God we have the power to transform our lives, to live the best possible life, one day at a time.  With no regrets.

Rev. Claudia Naylor