Unity of Walnut Creek
– Captured Live on Ustream at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/unity-center
October 25, 2015 11:30
Month: October 2015
October 25, 2015 – Interfaith Journey Into Oneness
10/25/15 Rev. David McArthur
Interfaith Journey Into Oneness
Last week at the Parliament of World Religions in Salt Lake City, 9500 people of 60 different religions came together for several days—without a problem! Rev. Sheila and I were there and my perspective has been changed for life. I now say, “A rabbi, an imam and a minister walk into a bar…”
The main theme of the Parliament was, “What is at the core of your religion? What is at the core of the practice of your people?” I was surprised to hear a rabbi say it is the experience of oneness. When I was the leader of Unity World Wide Ministries, we all agreed our Unity practice was that of oneness. I didn’t know we were Jewish!
Buddhists said their basis is compassion. And an imam at the event said the core teaching of Islam is also compassion. The Koran speaks of God the Compassionate. We know a local imam who is an expert on the Koran who says “God the Compassionate” is a mistranslation, that it should be God IS compassion as we in Unity don’t say God loves, but rather God IS love. And here we’ve designated next year as The Year of Compassion. Oh my God, we’re Muslim!
When we look at the teachings of Jesus, we find there too at the very core of Christianity the practice of compassion, of unconditional love. We move from a world of conflict to one of peace by unconditional love, allowing forgiveness to lift us. Through unconditional love and compassion we experience our oneness with humanity. That’s a truth. During the events of the Parliament, the Sikh and Muslim communities related many instances of how forgiveness healed them after the many hate crimes they’ve suffered since 9/11.
I may be Jewish, Muslim, Christian. But we are all here to awaken to the power of divine love. What a gift it is there are so many paths to get there—to get into the wholeness and potential of humankind! Through this we experience the oneness with all humanity. Through my unconditional love and compassion, I experience my oneness with all humanity. Through my unconditional love and compassion, I experience my oneness with all humanity. Through my unconditional love and compassion, I experience my oneness with all humanity.
We came in for this. That’s why we’re here. What an experience for humanity your beautiful hearts are providing for all of us! Thank you!
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October 25, 2015 – Interfaith Journey Into Oneness
10/25/15 Rev. David McArthur
Interfaith Journey Into Oneness
Last week at the Parliament of World Religions in Salt Lake City, 9500 people of 60 different religions came together for several days—without a problem! Rev. Sheila and I were there and my perspective has been changed for life. I now say, “A rabbi, an imam and a minister walk into a bar…”
The main theme of the Parliament was, “What is at the core of your religion? What is at the core of the practice of your people?” I was surprised to hear a rabbi say it is the experience of oneness. When I was the leader of Unity World Wide Ministries, we all agreed our Unity practice was that of oneness. I didn’t know we were Jewish!
Buddhists said their basis is compassion. And an imam at the event said the core teaching of Islam is also compassion. The Quran speaks of God the Compassionate. We know a local imam who is an expert on the Quran who says “God the Compassionate” is a mistranslation, that it should be God IS compassion as we in Unity don’t say God loves, but rather God IS love. And here we’ve designated next year as The Year of Compassion. Oh my God, we’re Muslim!
When we look at the teachings of Jesus, we find there too at the very core of Christianity the practice of compassion, of unconditional love. We move from a world of conflict to one of peace by unconditional love, allowing forgiveness to lift us. Through unconditional love and compassion we experience our oneness with humanity. That’s a truth. During the events of the Parliament, the Sikh and Muslim communities related many instances of how forgiveness healed them after the many hate crimes they’ve suffered since 9/11.
I may be Jewish, Muslim, Christian. But we are all here to awaken to the power of divine love. What a gift it is there are so many paths to get there—to get into the wholeness and potential of humankind! Through this we experience the oneness with all humanity. Through my unconditional love and compassion, I experience my oneness with all humanity. Through my unconditional love and compassion, I experience my oneness with all humanity. Through my unconditional love and compassion, I experience my oneness with all humanity.
We came in for this. That’s why we’re here. What an experience for humanity your beautiful hearts are providing for all of us! Thank you!
October 18, 2015 11:30
Unity of Walnut Creek
October 18, 2015
11:30 – Captured Live on Ustream at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/unity-center
October 18, 2015 9:30
Unity of Walnut Creek
October 18, 2015
09:30 – Captured Live on Ustream at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/unity-center
October 18, 2015 – Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys
10/18/15 Cindy Farris, L.U.T.
Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys
This one friend always says, “It’s not your circus! They’re not your monkeys!” Do you know what that means? Have you ever taken on more than you had to? Have you ever felt like you were the only one who could fix it? —the only one who was doing it right? Are you a control freak? Are you “capable”? Do you get hooked into things you wouldn’t normally do?
I do. I am partners in a yarn shop. 11 women in a co-op. Now there’s a circus! A few weeks ago we moved the shop. It had been decided it would be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday for the move. Unbeknownst to me, a couple of the “sergeants” decided to start moving on Sunday. I usually work there on Mondays, so on Monday when I texted “When should I come in?” the reply was “Don’t come in. Stay home.” My ego was a little miffed, but I got a lot of work done at home. Over the next few days I did go in for a few hours. There were plenty of Ringmasters and I was not needed. It was a circus, but it wasn’t mine. I got to see what it looks like when I’m in controlling mode. The sergeants mirrored it back to me.
Do you see lots of things that aren’t being done well? “If they just did them my way I’m sure things would go better”. There are clues which can tell you if it’s your circus or not. Ask, “Does this situation really involve me?” Most of us have gotten involved when it was not our business. And at what cost? —our time and money, energy and health? Can I really bring something to a table I wasn’t asked to sit at? This is the butt-out part.
When we butt in, we could be taking someone off their path. We have to be mindful, “Do I have some responsibility here?” If the answer is no, butt out. Am I doing my actual work or taking over someone else’s job? Am I butting in because of my ego or lack of self worth? Am I doing something so I feel more fulfilled, to show I am capable? I could be in places where I am truly filled with joy on my path. It is ultimately God’s will to be done. At times I have to be the monkey with my hands over my mouth, or my eyes, or over my ears.
Tuesday through Thursday I teach science at a charter school. I am a master teacher, and I am Ringmaster in my classroom. That’s what I was hired for and I am good at it. I like it. It is my circus. Most of my students are boys and often the coach will come by and call all the guys to the baseball field. This school was founded and is paid for by a major league baseball player. When my students leave, I am no longer responsible for them. They are not my monkeys. I am free. I know when it’s my circus when I have empowered my monkeys to soar!
October 18, 2015 – Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys
10/18/15 Rev. Cindy Farris, L.U.T.
Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys
This one friend always says, “It’s not your circus! They’re not your monkeys!” Do you know what that means? Have you ever taken on more than you had to? Have you ever felt like you were the only one who could fix it? —the only one who was doing it right? Are you a control freak? Are you “capable”? Do you get hooked into things you wouldn’t normally do?
I do. I am partners in a yarn shop. 11 women in a co-op. Now there’s a circus! A few weeks ago we moved the shop. It had been decided it would be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday for the move. Unbeknownst to me, a couple of the “sergeants” decided to start moving on Sunday. I usually work there on Mondays, so on Monday when I texted “When should I come in?” the reply was “Don’t come in. Stay home.” My ego was a little miffed, but I got a lot of work done at home. Over the next few days I did go in for a few hours. There were plenty of Ringmasters and I was not needed. It was a circus, but it wasn’t mine. I got to see what it looks like when I’m in controlling mode. The sergeants mirrored it back to me.
Do you see lots of things that aren’t being done well? “If they just did them my way I’m sure things would go better”. There are clues which can tell you if it’s your circus or not. Ask, “Does this situation really involve me?” Most of us have gotten involved when it was not our business. And at what cost? —our time and money, energy and health? Can I really bring something to a table I wasn’t asked to sit at? This is the butt-out part.
When we butt in, we could be taking someone off their path. We have to be mindful, “Do I have some responsibility here?” If the answer is no, butt out. Am I doing my actual work or taking over someone else’s job? Am I butting in because of my ego or lack of self worth? Am I doing something so I feel more fulfilled, to show I am capable? I could be in places where I am truly filled with joy on my path. It is ultimately God’s will to be done. At times I have to be the monkey with my hands over my mouth, or my eyes, or over my ears.
Tuesday through Thursday I teach science at a charter school. I am a master teacher, and I am Ringmaster in my classroom. That’s what I was hired for and I am good at it. I like it. It is my circus. Most of my students are boys and often the coach will come by and call all the guys to the baseball field. This school was founded and is paid for by a major league baseball player. When my students leave, I am no longer responsible for them. They are not my monkeys. I am free. I know when it’s my circus when I have empowered my monkeys to soar!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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October 11, 2015 – Tithing Partnership
10/11/15 Rev. David McArthur
Tithing Partnership
We often focus on the amazing capacity within, which is love. If you are working with spirituality you are working with love. Another way to work with this is with the spiritual practice of tithing. I watched people who followed it. I realized there’s a quality, a difference, as to how they met their challenges with a presence of peace. They weren’t always peaceful but they could get to it. There was a fear not present in their world.
Two things are generally shared in teaching this, expansion and protection. From the book of Malachi, 3:10, “Bring the whole tithe…and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven…” and “I will prevent pests from devouring your crops…” 3:11. But there is a third not often spoken of: 3:12, “…yours will be a delightful land…” This isn’t talking of quantity but QUALITY, the real blessing of opening to a deeper relationship to the divine presence.
The Quaker church tested tithing. A cubic inch of grain was tithed and the remaining 90% was planted. Each crop for six years was tithed and proved to be protected from the pests of the surrounding fields. The miller engaged for this test said normal practice would have yielded over 52 hundred bushels of wheat. At the end of the six years, however, the tithed crops yielded over 72 THOUSAND bushels—you can’t get there by coincidence! We have at-oneness with divine presence in the material world. It is a major challenge in our lives to see expansion as the expression of oneness.
Tithing brings the experience of the divine down into our world. A greater experience of goodness and flow is there, and we direct that connection. Tithing doesn’t make a difference in how God loves you—the love is never lessened. But it makes a difference in us and how we open to the flow.
There’s also a greater sense of protection. When my life was threatened several weeks ago I found a real potential for fear, but I also found a real sense of protection coming into the physical world which let me come to love and understanding more easily with the other party. That divine presence in the midst of the difficulties of life is part of my appreciation of the practice of tithing.
Be very conscious as you tithe. Reawaken to experiencing fully what’s there. If you are not tithing go to your heart and ask if this is a practice that would have meaning in your spiritual life, to know that God is my source. God is my instant, constant, abundant supply. God is my source. God is my instant, constant, abundant supply. God is my source. God is my instant, constant, abundant supply. Every time something is needed. It has to be so because God is good all the time!
October 11, 2015 – Tithing Partnership
10/11/15 Rev. David McArthur
Tithing Partnership
We often focus on the amazing capacity within, which is love. If you are working with spirituality you are working with love. Another way to work with this is with the spiritual practice of tithing. I watched people who followed it. I realized there’s a quality, a difference, as to how they met their challenges with a presence of peace. They weren’t always peaceful but they could get to it. There was a fear not present in their world.
Two things are generally shared in teaching this, expansion and protection. From the book of Malachi, 3:10, “Bring the whole tithe…and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven…” and “I will prevent pests from devouring your crops…” 3:11. But there is a third not often spoken of: 3:12, “…yours will be a delightful land…” This isn’t talking of quantity but QUALITY, the real blessing of opening to a deeper relationship to the divine presence.
The Quaker church tested tithing. A cubic inch of grain was tithed and the remaining 90% was planted. Each crop for six years was tithed and proved to be protected from the pests of the surrounding fields. The miller engaged for this test said normal practice would have yielded over 52 hundred bushels of wheat. At the end of the six years, however, the tithed crops yielded over 72 THOUSAND bushels—you can’t get there by coincidence! We have at-oneness with divine presence in the material world. It is a major challenge in our lives to see expansion as the expression of oneness.
Tithing brings the experience of the divine down into our world. A greater experience of goodness and flow is there, and we direct that connection. Tithing doesn’t make a difference in how God loves you—the love is never lessened. But it makes a difference in us and how we open to the flow.
There’s also a greater sense of protection. When my life was threatened several weeks ago I found a real potential for fear, but I also found a real sense of protection coming into the physical world which let me come to love and understanding more easily with the other party. That divine presence in the midst of the difficulties of life is part of my appreciation of the practice of tithing.
Be very conscious as you tithe. Reawaken to experiencing fully what’s there. If you are not tithing go to your heart and ask if this is a practice that would have meaning in your spiritual life, to know that God is my source. God is my instant, constant, abundant supply. God is my source. God is my instant, constant, abundant supply. God is my source. God is my instant, constant, abundant supply. Every time something is needed. It has to be so because God is good all the time!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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October 4, 2015 – Can’t Touch This
10/4/15 Rev. Sheila Gautreaux, L.U.T.
Can’t Touch This!
We have chaos and conflict around the world, religion against religion, violence, anger. It is said, however, that chaos precedes order; it is something calling to be birthed. Look at the shootings in Umpqua. Some say we need more guns, some say less. But the solution is in our hearts.
In Unity we use affirmations and denials. Many say that’s denying what’s really happening, but that’s not so. What we deny is that what’s happening has any power over us. That it has any power to take us out of the truth of our being, which is we are centered in the Christ Consciousness—we can get through anything! It is the “Christ in you; the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27.
It is not the Christ in Jesus which is your hope of glory, it is the Christ in you. Hope is not wishy-washy, mealy mouthed. It is the expectation of our future good that inspires the certainty that our good is ours right now. And glory is the merging of our mind with God mind. This is our “bookmark”. It holds the space for us as we wander off into our anger, fear, and doubt when we are lost. The Christ presence is our place holder. It’s always there. You can’t get rid of it even if you try. And it never interferes, but always leaves us our choice.
There are three steps to get there. 1) “There is nothing greater than God.” 2) “I AM one with God.” Finally, 3), “Therefore, there is nothing greater than me.” That last one might be difficult for you but it’s the truth. Can you believe it? Say, “yes!” It’s logic. You “Can’t touch this!”
When there’s less bank account and more bills, say, “I am poised and centered in the Christ Consciousness. Nothing can disturb the calm peace of my soul.” “Can’t touch this!” When you’re in the doctor’s office and the diagnosis almost stops your heart, it’s not that the condition is not real, it’s “I am poised and centered in the Christ Consciousness. Nothing can disturb the calm peace of my soul.” “Can’t touch this!” When a relationship sours, stand in the face of the impossibility of it and embrace the possibility that “I am poised and centered in the Christ Consciousness. Nothing can disturb the calm peace of my soul.” “Can’t touch this!” Take this home with you. Stuff will come up this week. Be prepared and say, “I am poised and centered in the Christ Consciousness. Nothing can disturb the calm peace of my soul.” “Can’t touch this!”