David McArthur

September 8, 2013 – The Teaching of Acceptance from Carol Ruth

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September 8, 2013 – The Teaching of Acceptance from Carol Ruth

9/8/13 Coy Cross with Rev. David McArthur
The Teaching of Acceptance from Carol Ruth

Of the many wonderful ministers over the years here at Unity of Walnut Creek, Carol Ruth Knox stands out for me because of her teachings of non-duality and acceptance. She taught that life was a dance with the divine. Acceptance is not laying down and giving up, but like St. George, it’s knowing the dragon can knock you down, but you get back up—that’s acceptance. My favorite affirmation is “I let everything be as it is.” It lets my mind be clear so I can decide my course of action. There are tremendous gifts in confronting a major challenge in life with acceptance. When you can’t change or fix the challenge, what you can do is be consciously present. It means to take it all in, to accept it as it is. To be totally present with someone. Bring your best self. How it turns out is none of your business. There are things you can’t change. Part of your commitment is to listen consciously. Be totally honest, authentic, grounded. Focus on what you know to be sure at the time. Create a new normal. For those things you can’t do, especially men—ask for help. Even in the worst challenge, acceptance allows your relationships to deepen.

Non duality: In my Fundamentalist upbringing, I always tried to please God but ended up filled with guilt. When I heard Carol Ruth, I heard, for the first time in my life, TRUTH! When you look back over your life you see the “coincidences” are like the dots in a child’s dot-to-dot, and when they are connected, your picture emerges. You have your Dark Night but sharing it in acceptance makes you stronger. God is in this too, and you will find courage through prayer, meditation, and acceptance.

From Rev. David: There is only one presence, not two. It is not good and bad. It may be difficult, but it’s all part of our journey. Acceptance opens us to be able to be in and open to this beautiful power that guides us. Whenever our challenges arise, we remember God Is Good All The Time! It doesn’t mean it’s always comfortable or easy all the time. But is does mean that you are able to be present and experience the challenge which is worthy of the being that you are!

September 8, 2013 – The Teaching of Acceptance from Carol Ruth

by

9/8/13 Coy Cross with Rev. David McArthur
The Teaching of Acceptance from Carol Ruth

Of the many wonderful ministers over the years here at Unity of Walnut Creek, Carol Ruth Knox stands out for me because of her teachings of non-duality and acceptance. She taught that life was a dance with the divine. Acceptance is not laying down and giving up, but like St. George, it’s knowing the dragon can knock you down, but you get back up—that’s acceptance. My favorite affirmation is “I let everything be as it is.” It lets my mind be clear so I can decide my course of action. There are tremendous gifts in confronting a major challenge in life with acceptance. When you can’t change or fix the challenge, what you can do is be consciously present. It means to take it all in, to accept it as it is. To be totally present with someone. Bring your best self. How it turns out is none of your business. There are things you can’t change. Part of your commitment is to listen consciously. Be totally honest, authentic, grounded. Focus on what you know to be sure at the time. Create a new normal. For those things you can’t do, especially men—ask for help. Even in the worst challenge, acceptance allows your relationships to deepen.

Non duality: In my Fundamentalist upbringing, I always tried to please God but ended up filled with guilt. When I heard Carol Ruth, I heard, for the first time in my life, TRUTH! When you look back over your life you see the “coincidences” are like the dots in a child’s dot-to-dot, and when they are connected, your picture emerges. You have your Dark Night but sharing it in acceptance makes you stronger. God is in this too, and you will find courage through prayer, meditation, and acceptance.

From Rev. David: There is only one presence, not two. It is not good and bad. It may be difficult, but it’s all part of our journey. Acceptance opens us to be able to be in and open to this beautiful power that guides us. Whenever our challenges arise, we remember God Is Good All The Time! It doesn’t mean it’s always comfortable or easy all the time. But is does mean that you are able to be present and experience the challenge which is worthy of the being that you are!

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July 14, 2013 – Abundance Principles

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7/14/13 Rev. David McArthur
Abundance Principals

You are a beautiful child of God, a beautiful spiritual being, with spiritual assignments and challenges—challenges like “not enough”. We might experience it financially and emotionally, as individuals and as a community. We might feel we are not drawing support and wisdom from family and friends. We might not be allowing ourselves to be provided for with abundance in our lives.

We have learned in our response to feelings of lack to put God first and pray. We pray to open our hearts and minds to accept the loving abundance that we know is always there. We pray to let this awareness in. “God is my instant, constant, abundant supply. I am grateful for more than enough.”

Our second response is love and appreciation. We acknowledge the loving abundance flowing into and through our lives, and appreciate the wonderful people in our lives. We have also learned that putting God first means we tithe the first ten percent, from love, and through this experience of love, all else follows.
There is also the principal of balance. We are most effective at allowing the flow of abundance in our lives when we are in balance, like not spending more than we have coming in.

The Law of Mind Action—thoughts and emotions in mind produce their kind—is referred to by Eric Butterworth in Spiritual Economics, “If ever there is lack of any kind, whether it is a need for employment, or money, or for guidance, or even healing, something is blocking the flow. And the most effective remedy: Give!” Give!—change from the feeling of lack to the feeling of rich abundance. It is a different, powerful state of consciousness. In his book Prosperity, Charles Fillmore says, “God is the divine givingness of the universe. In your spiritual quest you are striving to establish alignment with that givingness.”

Spirit understands that we want to see proof. Some see it quickly, others not so. This is not a magic bullet. It comes according to one’s alignment to universal laws of abundance. Step into the alignment of consciousness with that divine givingness. Give from the never ending flow of God’s goodness. “God is my instant, constant, abundant supply. I am grateful for more than enough, for more wisdom, creative opportunity, beautiful peace, and love to heal all that stands in the way of abundance!” Bless you!

July 7, 2013 – Freedom From Not Enough

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7/7/13 Rev. David McArthur
Freedom From Not Enough

As spiritual beings we have access to an experience which can completely free us. Jesus said it this way, “Know the truth and the truth will set you free,” and “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and …all these things will be given unto you.” Viktor Frankl said it in Man’s Search For Meaning, “…Love is the ultimate and highest goal… The salvation of man is through love and in love… Man can, through loving contemplation… achieve fulfillment… ‘The angels are lost in perpetual contemplation of an infinite glory.’ ” To be in that state of appreciation!

That is your capacity to be free, to touch that love regardless of what’s happening on the outside. Knowing this is experiencing the reality within that God is love; your love is God. Seeing transcendence of limitations within helps us see the amazing power we have.

Outward conditions are reflections of our own limitations. We are caught in a world of emotions and judgments that sometimes what we have is not enough—not enough harmony, vitality, or money. In our spiritual community now we have the state of consciousness that there is not enough money. But we can bring wholeness into expression; we can transform these things together. And in our personal lives as well. Change your consciousness first. Go into prayer. In Unity we don’t ask a God “out there” to intervene in a situation we think He didn’t know anything about. It is not as if our abundance is not here; we know everything needed already exists in the spiritual realm. We pray to open ourselves to it. “God is our instant, constant, abundant supply.” Otherwise you focus on something which is not the truth.

Considering the hours spent by our generous congregants in preparing the beautiful music we enjoy, the systems which let us hear it, and see it online, and considering those whose financial commitments renewed and continue to support our beautiful facilities, where’s the lack? Move from “not enough” to “more than enough”! Don’t even consider “just enough”. There is always more of the divine which wants to move through you! (Abundance does not come to you but through you!) Because we are one, what comes to one of us comes to all. Repeat, I am grateful for more than enough! I am grateful for more than enough! I am grateful for more than enough! There is an infinite power setting you free now. Freedom is a good thing. Enjoy more than enough!

June 30, 2013 – I See The Love

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6/30/13 Rev. David McArthur
I See The Love

Does the traditional god thought lift you to the next level of your spiritual journey? It does not support or nurture me. Yet, I still experience an amazing love.

An old mission church in remote New Mexico has a very plain room with a hole in the middle of the floor. Out of it I’ve seen people take the dirt and rub it on themselves, seeking healing which others have found there. The walls are lined with crutches and in the hallway outside there are many many pictures and letters about those healings.  In Rome I have seen magnificent churches. They illustrate so fully the primitive god thought that was so prevalent at the time, that God is way up there and we’re down here. In one, people were singing with great beauty and love, their voices expressing a complete and total love for God. How these people understood God is not how I do, but their love of God touched me at depth!

In the walled city of ancient Jerusalem I passed a woman dressed in religious robes. When she looked at me, she sent such a great flow of love that it took my breath away and stopped me in my tracks. She chose to know love and it grew in her, around her, and was her. We shared God together. I was powerfully blessed—even now! Whether she was Muslim, Jewish, or Christian, I was certain she was deeply devout in her perception of God, which was probably as alien from mine as you can get, yet I experienced the love of God!

(From the gospel of John), Jesus said, “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?” In New Mexico, I saw the people in the love of the Father and the love of the Father in them—a beautiful love, visceral, so real I could step in and feel it. The people brought it there. It was there for me and from me. When we felt the love of the singers in Rome, we felt the one unifying, harmonious power that keeps our universe in order. We were in that love and it was in us. It didn’t matter that they wouldn’t explain it that way. When I saw the woman in Jerusalem, she was in that love and it was in her. As my heart opened to receive it I was in that love.

Will we let ourselves experience that love, be one with it? I wish to be able to walk into any church and feel the love. Choose to see their love. Affirm with me, I am love; I behold the love in you. I am love; I behold the love in you. I am love; I behold the love in you. Can you do it in your family, where they do not understand your path, where words do not serve? Can you see their god thought and their love there? Can you see the world this way—where there is only love? There is only love!

June 30, 2013 – I See The Love

by

6/30/13 Rev. David McArthur
I See The Love

Does the traditional god thought lift you to the next level of your spiritual journey? It does not support or nurture me. Yet, I still experience an amazing love.

An old mission church in remote New Mexico has a very plain room with a hole in the middle of the floor. Out of it I’ve seen people take the dirt and rub it on themselves, seeking healing which others have found there. The walls are lined with crutches and in the hallway outside there are many many pictures and letters about those healings.  In Rome I have seen magnificent churches. They illustrate so fully the primitive god thought that was so prevalent at the time, that God is way up there and we’re down here. In one, people were singing with great beauty and love, their voices expressing a complete and total love for God. How these people understood God is not how I do, but their love of God touched me at depth!

In the walled city of ancient Jerusalem I passed a woman dressed in religious robes. When she looked at me, she sent such a great flow of love that it took my breath away and stopped me in my tracks. She chose to know love and it grew in her, around her, and was her. We shared God together. I was powerfully blessed—even now! Whether she was Muslim, Jewish, or Christian, I was certain she was deeply devout in her perception of God, which was probably as alien from mine as you can get, yet I experienced the love of God!

(From the gospel of John), Jesus said, “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?” In New Mexico, I saw the people in the love of the Father and the love of the Father in them—a beautiful love, visceral, so real I could step in and feel it. The people brought it there. It was there for me and from me. When we felt the love of the singers in Rome, we felt the one unifying, harmonious power that keeps our universe in order. We were in that love and it was in us. It didn’t matter that they wouldn’t explain it that way. When I saw the woman in Jerusalem, she was in that love and it was in her. As my heart opened to receive it I was in that love.

Will we let ourselves experience that love, be one with it? I wish to be able to walk into any church and feel the love. Choose to see their love. Affirm with me, I am love; I behold the love in you. I am love; I behold the love in you. I am love; I behold the love in you. Can you do it in your family, where they do not understand your path, where words do not serve? Can you see their god thought and their love there? Can you see the world this way—where there is only love? There is only love!

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June 23, 2013 – What Is Your God Thought?

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6/23/13 Rev. David McArthur
What Is Your God Thought?

We have grown in the way we think of God. Imagine you were a shepherd 3000 years ago and the night sky filled you with incredible awe. You wondered about the power that created it. You sensed how much greater than us that power must be, and how insignificant we are. With the light of dawn the fears of the night faded as the sun revealed the familiar world. In the dark what we didn’t know, what we couldn’t see, we feared must be evil. All cultures have had these natural thoughts.

So we developed stories explaining our understanding of God, and passed them down, like the pillar of fire. We thought that if we follow the rules, God will give us the goodies; if we don’t, we’ll lose them. The God thought handed down to us is probably as wrong as it is right. We tend to use the God thought that lets us feel close to the power, the I Am, Atman, the Buddha Mind. What works for you?

There are beings who see this relationship more clearly than others. Over time these people were written about. “The light that shines above all others is within you.” is from Hindu scripture. Jesus taught “The Father and I are one.” (Not out “there” and separate, like a pillar of fire.) He taught to move our consciousness to the divine part within, as in “The kingdom of heaven is within.” (And that it is not possible to be lost.)

In Unity we say we are spiritual rather than religious because we feel we have no need to defend the God thought of others who went before. Our God thought is expressed in “God Is Good All The Time.” What if we replace “God” with “Goodness”? “I AM Goodness All The Time.” “I AM Goodness All The Time.” “I AM Goodness All The Time.” Which God thought is most helpful to your journey?

Do you know you are more aware of the different God thoughts around the world than any of the people who wrote the Bible? You can look at the world with a new God thought! Again, imagine you are on the hillside 3000 years ago looking up at that sky in the night. But look with awareness that you are a part of the creation you are observing. Be aware that you are One with the creative force that set those heavens in motion. As you observe, you are aware of the life you have created—with love and loss, with tremendous joy and tremendous pain. You are observing the Created and the Creator, observing the Divine unfolding. What God thought works for you?

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June 23, 2013 – What Is Your God Thought?

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6/23/13 Rev. David McArthur
What Is Your God Thought?

We have grown in the way we think of God. Imagine you were a shepherd 3000 years ago and the night sky filled you with incredible awe. You wondered about the power that created it. You sensed how much greater than us that power must be, and how insignificant we are. With the light of dawn the fears of the night faded as the sun revealed the familiar world. In the dark what we didn’t know, what we couldn’t see, we feared must be evil. All cultures have had these natural thoughts.

So we developed stories explaining our understanding of God, and passed them down, like the pillar of fire. We thought that if we follow the rules, God will give us the goodies; if we don’t, we’ll lose them. The God thought handed down to us is probably as wrong as it is right. We tend to use the God thought that lets us feel close to the power, the I Am, Atman, the Buddha Mind. What works for you?

There are beings who see this relationship more clearly than others. Over time these people were written about. “The light that shines above all others is within you.” is from Hindu scripture. Jesus taught “The Father and I are one.” (Not out “there” and separate, like a pillar of fire.) He taught to move our consciousness to the divine part within, as in “The kingdom of heaven is within.” (And that it is not possible to be lost.)

In Unity we say we are spiritual rather than religious because we feel we have no need to defend the God thought of others who went before. Our God thought is expressed in “God Is Good All The Time.” What if we replace “God” with “Goodness”? “I AM Goodness All The Time.” “I AM Goodness All The Time.” “I AM Goodness All The Time.” Which God thought is most helpful to your journey?

Do you know you are more aware of the different God thoughts around the world than any of the people who wrote the Bible? You can look at the world with a new God thought! Again, imagine you are on the hillside 3000 years ago looking up at that sky in the night. But look with awareness that you are a part of the creation you are observing. Be aware that you are One with the creative force that set those heavens in motion. As you observe, you are aware of the life you have created—with love and loss, with tremendous joy and tremendous pain. You are observing the Created and the Creator, observing the Divine unfolding. What God thought works for you?

June 2, 2013 – Ease Into The Now

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6/2/13 Rev. David McArthur
Ease Into The Now

We have been on an adventure lately, looking at things in a different way. One of the best parts of an adventure, though, is coming home. Right here, right now It is exactly who you are. Here and now, time and space is where you are and where the divine Presence is. Often we’re preparing for what’s coming up, or going over what’s past. But focusing on the now is what I’m reaching for. In the gospels, the term that is translated as “now” likely had more meaning, as in John, when it was written that Jesus said, “as the Father has loved me so how I have loved you. Now, remain in my love.”

It’s a state of consciousness. Being aware of the Presence in the present. How do I get there? I enter the moment not through the head, but through the heart, because in the heart I can have a sense of the Presence. So breathe ease [into your heart]. It’s a natural feeling. It has a sense of flow. You can go from there to other places, such as peace. It has no tension. An awareness comes to you of the loving people around you, of a greater wisdom unfolding—a connectedness with people rather than with stuff—being in the present moment aware of the Presence, of the beautiful people they are, that you are. Breathe the feeling. The feeling builds—a sense of greater order and of flow. Its like slowly floating down a river on a raft and drifting around the bend.

Breathe ease and be aware of the feelings in your body. Be aware of the presence of hope, of those in pain and stress who come in hope and amazing love. They breathe ease, as do you, bringing love and care into this moment. Bringing wisdom; being present with the Presence. Breathe ease. Be aware of the all-loving goodness around you without limit. We are together in a magnificent spiritual moment. That moment is here, now. Welcome home!

March 31, 2013 – Every Time I Love

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3/31/13 Rev. David McArthur

Every Time I Love

5 days after 9/11, in an Egyptian coffee shop in Queens, New York City, Labib Salam and his friends were trying to understand it all when 4 young men entered and smashed everything. The police quickly caught all four, but Labib didn’t press charges. He said, “I understand their rage.” Labib and his friends began to clean up, and within an hour the four young men returned to help. In Labib’s compassion and forgiveness, we are reminded of the forgiving Jesus did from the cross. It is an amazing thing.

Resurrection is a little different. It’s an inside job. You can’t do it for someone else. When those four guys went back to Labib, they thanked him for not pressing charges. They grabbed brooms to help and soon were sharing coffee and conversation. Labib and the 4 left as friends the next morning. That’s resurrection!

Jesus’ resurrection was a demonstration of the things he had shown all along. You too have done all those things—feeding the crowds and supporting those needing healing. We do it sometimes “because we gotta”, but other times in a consciousness of wholeness and love. That’s different. Love transforms. It cannot not. Every time I love, love transforms. It does every single time. So you’ve been that demonstration! You are that life—that love. Every time I love, love transforms.

When we really screw up we usually blame others or just run away. The sense of connection is dead. Your compassion is dead. There is only you. But these guys touched the compassion of responsibility and brought back life.  Death is not the end. Those parts of us that are lifeless then are brought back to life. What makes the difference is the love. Every time I love, love transforms.

Sugar transforms the bitter cacao bean into chocolate, and the whole world loves it! Chocolate, as in the chocolate Easter egg, is a symbol if, every time you take a bite, you know love transforms. Make the commitment. Every time you take a bite of chocolate remember, Every time I love, love transforms. It is who you are—the beautiful child of God! And Every time you love, love transforms.