unity of walnut creek

July 7, 2013 – Freedom From Not Enough

by

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

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!

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?

by

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?

by

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 16, 2013 – Who’s Yo Daddy?

by

6/16/13 Rev. Sheila Gautreaux
Who’s Yo Daddy?

The word “father” has many aspects, and invokes many things in us. Some warm and loving, some not so warm and loving. Metaphysically, the Bible uses “Father” as the Divine Masculine; the Intellect; the Masculine aspect of Creative Principle. It uses “Son” to mean the Soul; the Image and Likeness of God; the Perfect Self; the Student on the Journey.

So in Luke 10:22, “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal to him” means only the divine masculine knows the soul and only the soul (Son) knows the divine masculine. The Son is that truth of our being that has the relationship with the divine masculine.

Regardless of how you might feel about him, what if you had the perfect human father for the development of your purpose for being here, for what your soul intended by coming into this world? If you had known this would you have experienced the pain which caused you to seek the relief and the benefits then gained? To the personality judgment is the result of suffering. To the soul suffering is the result of judgment. Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional. The soul sees there is a reason, a blessing to be found. What if the person gave you exactly the experience you need to fulfill your purpose? What if the father was perfect for you? The people who cause us the most suffering are the souls who love us the most, to lower themselves to bring you just what your soul desired.

Breathe into possibility around that person called father. You cannot be a victim and creator at the same time. There are no victims. You are a creator. Affirm: I honor myself. I honor my father. I honor my experience of my father. I am willing to see the perfection in what happened. I choose peace. I am at peace. I am at peace. I am at peace.

So who’s your daddy?

June 9, 2013 – The Lazarus Blueprint

by

6/9/13 Rev. Suzanne Leonard
The Lazarus Blueprint

The story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the tomb teaches us to bring back to life a state within us that has been dead. Use the power of your voice. There are 100 trillion cells excited about what you’re going to say. A hundred trillion cells wait the direction of your voice.

Your own voice is the most important voice for you to hear. Recently I broke my foot. The x-rays showed the foot, which is God’s although I am using it, was broken in 3 places. I did not claim this as mine. Aloud, I gave thanks and claimed health. I used the “G” force—I claimed my Good, my Glory, my Growth, and my Guidance. As givers we miss the receiving part. (Just try to breath out without breathing in.) Your heart has to open and close. You have to be “in circulation”. As the medical professionals tended to me, I spoke to myself, “I’ll co-operate with your healing while instituting mine.” There was hardly any pain. Today I am walking in high-heels!

Lazarus was already dead when Jesus arrived at his home. But Jesus is the perfect presence, and had taken the time to prepare. So He had arrived at the point in time in which the miracle needed to happen. The Lazarus in you is the unhealed part, the pain entombed in a dark corner of you. Arrive at the point in the time that healing needs to happen. Roll away the stone of believing in your problem and let the “stink” come out, and with it the possibility of healing. Mary and Martha are the hope, the knowing that something else can be done. Explore and then expect healing. Jesus spoke with laser-like expectancy, “Lazarus, come out!” Not someday. Now is the time.

Then give thanks before receiving! Write a pre-thank-you card. Pre-pray the situation, put your light out there. “Come out!” Heal what is entombed in you. What are you waiting for?

Then “Unbind him and let him go!” Pray the prayers and walk the steps. Use affirmations and evict those negative people in your head. “Open sesame!” It’s the power with which you say it—the conviction. I invite you to roll away the stones in your life today. Unbind what you were told you are and be the person you truly are. You are precious to your family, your community, the world. Step forth and be who you are! God bless you!