The Metaphysics of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day traditionally is a time for families and friends to get together to overeat and overdose on football. But for many, it is a day of service to others through food banks, feed the hungry programs, visits and calls. We at Decatur Unity Church will be delivering food and cold weather clothing to a local shelter this week.

Thanks-giving is an opportunity for each of us to consciously, and with purpose, give thanks by giving back to the family of God. As Joel Goldsmith wrote in Leave Your Nets:

There is no kingdom of heaven
except on earth,
so there is no way to achieve heaven
except through achieving it on earth;
and the only way to achieve heaven on earth
is to serve God on earth,
and the only way to serve God on earth
is to serve man in the realization
of God as man's real being.

Unity uses the metaphysical approach to understanding the deeper meanings in life and living through study and prayer. Jesus taught by word and by example often using phrases such as he who has ears to here, let him hear. Jesus sought God's presence through prayer and always gave thanks.

Thanksgiving is a state of consciousness and the more open we are to giving thanks, the more receptive we are to the Kingdom of God and all it's blessings. Every blessing we give, flows through our hearts and minds and then into the world--it isn't possible to give a blessing without being the blessing.

Rev. Claudia Naylor

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Surrender in Faith

Charles and Myrtle Fillmore founded Unity upon the power of prayer--to heal, to prosper, to change lives. We who follow in their foot steps often find ourselves struggling with the concept of surrender. To say Let Go and Let God! is easy to say, but to do it requires a large measure of faith in God. Jesus said:

Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me;
nevertheless, not as I will but as You will.

(Mt.26:38)

We have all faced tremendous challenges at times in our lives and have cried out to God to spare us the pain, to ease our fears and doubts. We long for understanding and comfort. Well meaning friends urge say: just have faith or God never gives us more than we can handle....

Surrender to God is not about giving up, but about getting out of the way! We are told that good can come out of bad, that the ill will of Joseph's brothers put him in the right place at the right time. When we are hurting, that's not all that comforting. It has been said that God can do no more for us, than he can do through us. When faced with loss, I can choose to act as I feel or as I believe.

The search for answers can lead us into a closer, more conscious awareness of God. Robert and Janet Ellsworth wrote in Come Apart for Awhile,

"God, I don't understand what is happening here.

I don't like it. But I know that Your will for me is good.
I trust in You. I surrender."

Rev. Claudia Naylor

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Claiming the Future

Many of us have been faced with almost overwhelming changes over the past year. Some of us have sailed through the seeming chaos and found our way to a better life. For those who feel stuck or unable to find the way out, these words from Roy Eugene Davis are right on!

"A time of decision can be the turning point in a person's life. One can take the line of least resistance and fail to grow; he can give in to despondency and withdraw into his private psychological world and become uncaring, neurotic or even psychotic; or he can use his faculties of discrimination and intuition to make the correct decisions and follow through with intelligent and responsible action. The decision is man's alone to make. And how he makes it determines his future experience. "

Light on the Spiritual Path by Roy E. Davis

Unity's message is one of hope and promise in a changing world. We are not bound to the past, nor limited by false expectations. We are the sons and daughters of the Most High, heir to unlimited possibilities! But we must keep faith with God and the promises of the Son if we are to grow into our full potential.

Rev. Claudia Naylor

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Breaking Out!

Spiritual growth, stretching mind and spirit, is a keynote to every self help message in the marketplace. But what does that mean and how do we do it? Stripped down to its basics, spiritual growth means coming to a place of knowing God more deeply and learning to express more of God in everyday living.

A root bound plant is an excellent example for being stuck spiritually. A plant that is root bound sends its roots in search of room to grow and nourishment. When those roots hit the walls of the pot, they begin circling and climbing up toward the light and the source of water. In the process, they begin to strangle the plant quite literally so that water actually flows almost straight through the pot. The plant fails to thrive and will ultimately die.

We suffer a similar condition which manifests physically, mentally and spiritually when we hit the walls called "lack and limitation". We can get bound up by resentment and an unwillingness to forgive and let go. We can be bound up in a grasping, hoarding mentality, constantly on guard against theft and envy. We get stuck and caught up in the everyday "struggle to survive", to "make a living" and never lift up our eyes and see God's creation.

Where there is no vision,
the people perish.
Proverbs 29:18

If we would thrive and flourish like the beautiful creation we were meant to be, we must have a vision, a goal which inspires us with a sense of passion. It is the deepest longing of our souls to find meaning and purpose in our lives. Breaking out of stagnation and inertia will open up a whole new world of infinite possibilities!

Rev. Claudia Naylor

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A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose

The Discovery of Inner Space

The sense of balance and perfect peace which comes with finding one's center is pure joy. Eckhart Tolle quotes the phrase This, too, will pass to point the way through adversity and unanticipated changes. My Mother's preferred version was And it came to pass. The key, here, is in not getting hooked into roller coaster emotions, but maintaining a sense of perspective. In A New Earth, Tolle wrote:

Once you see and accept the transcience

of all things and the inevitability of change,

you can enjoy the pleasures of the world while they last

without fear of loss or anxiety about the future.

He went on to say that it is through detachment that we gain a higher point of view which allows us to see and experience the wholeness of life as a journey rather than as a specific event. Last Sunday I talked about making choices without expecting or demanding the cooperation of others. If I choose to arrive at work early and get organized for opening, co-workers may choose to let me do all of it. I can get angry and self-righteous at being "used". Or I can acknowledge that my choice is just that--my choice.

Tolle defines nonresistance, nonjudgment and nonattachment as the path of true freedom and enlightenment. And in a helter skelter world, it is also the path of peace, a life focused on the journey rather than the destination.

Rev. Claudia Naylor

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