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November 15, 2015 – Saving The Bride & Groom

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11/15/15  Rev. Larry Schneider
Saving the Bride and Groom

In good literature there is always a story within a story within a story, and the last one to be told is always about you. The greatest story ever told is one about us. I have two stories for you today. The first is about two beautiful sisters living just beyond town. As siblings often do, they argued one day. Which one was most beautiful? They decided that each would walk through town, and the sister who attracted the most people would be the most beautiful. The first sister, Truth, walked through town naked. People retreated inside their homes, shutting their doors and windows. They were afraid of the Truth, especially the naked Truth. But when her sister “Story” joined her, people came out of their homes to join them both. You always have to accompany truth with story.

My next story is called the Bride and Groom. It is from the Jewish tradition. It refers to the 36 righteous people placed on the Earth by God. A very famous rabbi known for his compassion and “gift of sight” (he could see into a person’s soul) was called to a dying man’s bedside. As he entered he got weak and turned white. Quickly recovering, he went to the man’s side. The old man said he was afraid of dying; he was afraid the scales of judgment would be too light on the side of good deeds. The rabbi asked him to remember a good deed from his past. The man did recall when he was walking into town one day, there was a team of horses running wildly with a bride and groom in the wagon. He slowed the horses and shouted “Jump!” to the bride and groom. They did but the team was out of control and the wagon crashed; the horses perished. But the bride and groom were saved. Then the old man recalled other good deeds he had done in his life. Then the rabbi asked that after he got to heaven, would the old man come back and tell him about it.

A few days after the man passed, the rabbi was again seen to blanch then regain his color. He explained that the first time he had seen into the old man’s soul and saw that he was one of the 36 righteous, so pure that even the old man himself did not know he was one of the 36. This time the old man returned to tell the rabbi that when he got to the gates of heaven, they were closed. Angels brought the scale of justice, but then he heard a team of horses with a wagon coming. As they passed he jumped up on one and rode it right through the gates into heaven!

There are moments when we get a glimpse of heaven, like when we are honest on our tax returns or with the spouse. So when you do the right and loving thing this week, in that moment you will have just saved the bride and groom!

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November 8, 2015 – Climbing The Beanstalk to God Within

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11/08/15  Rev. David McArthur
Climbing the Beanstalk to God Within

Jack and the Beanstalk is a story of our spiritual journey. Jack is the son of a woman so poor she sends Jack to town to sell the family cow, which he does for a handful of “magic” beans. His mother gets so upset she throws the beans out the window. The mother is our “poor” state of consciousness. For some it’s body poor, relationship poor, whatever your favorite “poor” is.

The beans grow to the clouds. Of course, Jack has to climb the beanstalk. At the top it is beautiful, with lush fields and a beautiful castle. The giant had killed the Knight and everyone else in it but the Lady, who escaped. She was a Fairy (an angel which brings higher consciousness to us here).

The giantess tells Jack that he (us) is heir to the castle, the kingdom, but he has to kill the giant to get it. Emily Cady has written, “…to be ‘heirs of God…means every man is the inlet, and may become the outlet, of all there is in God… that all that God is and has is in reality for us, His only heirs, if we only know how to claim our inheritance.”

The giant is the god-thought that controls all, is far away and doesn’t love us. We believe that when we do our “poor” thing. Jack is enslaved by the giant. The giantess, the feminine feeling of fear, protects Jack because she wants him to serve her. It’s fear that enslaves us (fear of God). So Jack is hidden in the closet. When the giant falls asleep Jack steals the hen that lays golden eggs, goes down the beanstalk, and gives it to his mother. It is a symbol of divine ideas which bring fertility, abundance, and success for the labors of the farm-based life of the early nineteenth century.

The next night the giant counts his gold coins. They represent the abundance of God in this moment, the experience of divine capacity we are related to. Jack takes them to his mother too. The next night the giant commands his harp to play its beautiful music. (It’s a symbol of love, the harmonizing power.) Jack steals the harp, too, but it calls out to the sleeping giant, “Master…” Jack tells the harp, “I am your master now.” When he gives it to his mother (the symbol of the feminine) she gives him the axe to cut down the beanstalk, to undercut the God we fear. Letting love be felt removes the fearful God from our consciousness.

Jack still lives in the cottage and the Fairy tells him he has to remove the giantess (fear) to live in the castle. She takes him to town and shows the people that he is the rightful heir to have the gifts in the castle. We have to integrate it. We aren’t separate. We are one with all that love, goodness, abundance—our powers. We have to climb the beanstalk. Jesus put it this way, “The Father and I are one.”

For me it is helpful to say I am one with the goodness of God! Feel that goodness. There is no money lack, no need to do relationship lack. I am one with the goodness of God! There is nothing that’s against you because you are a radiant child of God. I am one with the goodness of God! Knowing that, may all your giants come tumbling down!

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November 1, 2015 – Focus On The Source, It Brings Understanding

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11/01/15  Rev. David McArthur
Focus On The Source, It Brings Understanding

13.5 billion years ago the Singularity, the point of infinite density, expanded. (The Big Bang.) In that expansion is the evolution of the universe. On that little speck called Earth, evolution developed to where we began to gain knowledge and find out the laws that brought all this amazing stuff into being. I believe now there’s another level of evolution happening: our ability to know the source of all that. A description is found in the Gospel when Jesus took Peter, James and John up the mountain and appeared in light to them with Moses and Elijah, the Transfiguration. Moses=the law, i.e. gravity, chemistry, etc. Elijah, the flow of energy into creation and us; and Jesus, the incarnation of God expressive within each being. These are the symbols of the source, the divine presence. The symbols of our capacity to perceive the divine, are the three apostles. Peter=faith. James, the capacity for wisdom, to see the nature of this reality. And John, love, that beautiful harmonizing power within.

Karen’s son CJ, sixteen years old, lost his life. In extreme pain, she prayed, “Why? Why?” But then her prayers came from a different part of her being. “My soul cried out, ‘I need to know that he is all right!’” When she met her ex’s new wife in the driveway, his new wife said that she had to tell Karen something. That very morning, her five year old, CJ’s half brother, told her that CJ had come to him in a dream and told him to “please tell my mother I’m ok”!

I too did a lot of “why?” praying after I lost my first wife. I had to have a baby sitter for my one year old. The sitter’s little boy told her he saw a woman in their house, but he wasn’t afraid. His mother didn’t know what to think. One day they brought my daughter home and came into our house and the boy pointed to a picture of my dead wife and shouted, “That’s the woman!” This was not an answer of information, but of understanding, the response to my prayer which took me to my source.

Who we are is not limited to the forms we touch. I understood then that when we shift our awareness from the stuff in our universe to the source of it, there is an understanding, a beautiful flow to our need, our being, of understanding. After that we see life differently. Life is sacred. Not just forms, but joy, laughter, tears, discovery, confusion, loss—all is sacred—all is within what we call God.

God is my source. I experience the sacredness of life! What a beautiful thing to experience! God is my source. I experience the sacredness of life! The beautiful, the scary, the magnificent. God is my source. I experience the sacredness of life! What we find is that ALL of life is incredibly beautiful!

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October 25, 2015 – Interfaith Journey Into Oneness

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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 18, 2015 – Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys

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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!

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October 11, 2015 – Tithing Partnership

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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!

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October 4, 2015 – Can’t Touch This!

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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!”

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September 27, 2015 – Serving From Our Hearts

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09/27/15  Rev. David McArthur
Serving From Our Hearts

There are really only four spiritual practices. The first is love—that state of consciousness. 2nd is prayer—every religion has a way to pray. The 3rd practice is meditation, in which we transcend the mind. But they all come together in the 4th practice: service. Service is not just completing a list of tasks. It’s focusing on the feeling of the awareness of the divine, and leaving “I” and “mine” for the “one” of us all. For example, Jesus came to the home of two sisters, Mary and Martha. The women represent two parts of our feelings, one with a list of tasks, Martha, and the other, Mary, who sat at Jesus’ feet. Martha complained to him that Mary was doing nothing while she, Martha, was doing everything. Jesus answered that with her focus on the awareness of the divine, Mary had chosen well and that nothing could take that away from her.

In San Francisco, Cary had gotten $200 out of an ATM in the Tenderloin, a poor seedy part of the city when a gust of wind blew his cash and cards and ID all about. A young boy and girl brought back the plastic insert with his photos. Somebody brought him his Medicare card. Others returned more cards and twenties from the ATM. He returned to his hotel room and emptied his pockets on the bed. Everything had been returned to him! Every dollar! Those people had been in service in those moments, responding with compassion to one in a difficult moment. It is a natural part of us. It’s the gift of being willing to be an instrument—a way to respond and touch others.

We always receive so much more than we give! Toby was a college freshman who joined a group that distributed food to a retirement home. He met a ninety-two year old man, Loki, who taught Toby about whittling and even the sacred art of tying flies. Christmas came and Toby took him a present, but Loki had passed the night before having left Toby a letter. Loki explained that his body was tired but his spirit was soaring, because it was time for him to rejoin his beloved Esther, who had passed years before. He told Toby that he had become one of the most important people in his whole life. He said, “You were a good friend… I love you Toby.” Toby said this was life-changing. He went from being a party guy to a young man who knew he could make a difference. Addressing students, Albert Schweitzer once said, “the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.”

It’s been said, “love one another and help others to rise to higher levels simply by pouring out love. It lifts others to those higher levels.” Move from receiving to experiencing the awareness of the divine presence in others. It’s simple. It takes us from being “Martha” to being “Mary”. Affirm I behold God’s light in you! I behold God’s light in you! I behold God’s light in you! It opens that beautiful light within you! Enjoy doing it!

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September 20, 2015 – Pooh’s Path to Peace

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09/20/15  Rev. David McArthur
Pooh’s Path to Peace

Monday is the International Day of Peace organized by the UN. Please hold the consciousness of peace with everyone. But how do we do that? One way is meditation, but it’s not always a regular practice. And I do have to get out of my meditation chair and be in the world, a world which is not trying to meditate with me. How do I bring peace into that part of my world?

Charles Fillmore said that to get to peace, to that in-depth experience in prayer which is beyond the challenges we face, get still. Let the body relax and the mind quiet. Silently say over and over to yourself, “Peace. Be still.” A great stillness will pervade your whole being.

In A. A. Milne’s first story Pooh hears a buzzing noise—a bee! Honey! To eat! So Pooh began climbing the tree. But a branch broke and he fell onto another branch which broke and he landed in the bushes. O help! He goes to Christopher Robin, who represents the Christ bearer, our spiritual self connected to the oneness, the fullness.

Christopher Robin gives Pooh a blue balloon. When Pooh grabs it, Christopher Robin lets go, and Pooh drifts up as high as the bee’s in the tree. Pooh could see them and he could smell the honey, but the wind didn’t blow him any closer. Pooh consoled himself, saying, “These are the wrong sort of bees.” So Christopher Robin told him to let go of the balloon. Pooh objected that he’d fall too fast and get hurt. So Christopher Robin shot a small hole in the balloon and the air let out slowly. Pooh floated down to the ground and back to Christopher Robin. If you’re involved with your “bees” and are trying to get your honey, Christopher Robin (the Christ connection) will help you float down. Our fulfillment is not with our bees but down on the ground with Christopher Robin. Just because it is simple don’t mistake it as not profound. In the Gospel of John, Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”

At the heart of each great religion is a prayer to go to the deep peace. One in particular calls to me. It is the Prayer of Saint Francis, Make me an instrument of your peace. Make me an instrument of your peace. Make me an instrument of your peace. When you are dealing with your bees: Make me an instrument of your peace. Take that deep breath. Our power here is the sincerity of our heart. If we want to move away from the bees: Make me an instrument of your peace. It draws us to our hearts and that beautiful consciousness. Feel that beautiful shift! Make me an instrument of your peace.

Right in the midst of all the bees there is an alternative. It’s called “peace”.

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September 13, 2015 – Experiencing Self-Forgiveness

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09/13/15  Rev. David McArthur
Experiencing Self-Forgiveness

It is easy here on Sunday to go into that place within where you are completely loved, completely at peace, where there is no room for that past stuff, just love—feeling complete unconditional love. It’s always there. The problem is getting there on Monday, with the people at the office and with family. How do we get there, with all the guilt we carry for what we’ve done even long ago? Self-forgiveness! When we get to self-forgiveness we can get to the peace.

Have you ever noticed that peace and guilt don’t go together? When we have guilt it’s when we have perceived the universe as out of balance. Jesus taught, “…forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us… But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.” In this, “the Father above” means the divine power we each have within to let go or to hang on! It’s our power, our choice.

Charles Fillmore wrote the book Prosperity, and said that connecting with debt is a feeling of being out of balance. If we hang onto it, we get (have) it. If we let go, we dissolve that idea inside us. There was a lawyer with a couple of substantial bills owed him. Every time he thought about the debtors, he said, “oh, I am out of balance” and then he’d see them as whole and complete. In a surprisingly short time, on the same day, he got a check from each paying up in full! Why did it happen? Because it no longer was real within him. How do we do it?

I have a dear friend who had a lot of guilt that his alcoholism had hurt so many. We talked of how the divine presence of love will heal and release. But his childhood experience had not been about a God of love. He could think of it, but he could not feel it. Additionally, in his family he was always “not good enough.” I asked if there weren’t someone in his life that just loved him. He said, “My grandmother loved me as I was! All my life! ” So he imagined her bringing her unconditional love to his guilt, and his guilt just faded away.

The capacity to receive love often came to us in the form of the feminine. Imagine that divine feminine/Grandma/Mom/special person/Infinite Love—has their arms around you. (Hug yourself.) Relax into that feeling of love. I am loved! Feel that wonderful presence of love (hugging yourself). There is no judgment whatsoever. I am loved! Accept its gift. I am free! That’s what’s there, isn’t it?!!
So on Monday when you walk into the office and someone starts their stuff (if the air-conditioning is on, no one will notice you cross your arms on your chest) say to yourself, I am loved! I am free! Do it when you’re with the people in your family that make you fell guilty faster than anyone else. This is a week of self-forgiveness. I am loved! I am free! Enjoy it! Bless you!

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