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July 26, 2015 – Goodness Is Now

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07/26/15 Rev. David McArthur
Goodness Is Now

In the midst of that “stuff” we get into, there is a beautiful moment of wisdom we can get. It is the now moment. One of our favorite and best teachers about this is Uncle Remus: Bre’r Rabbit and Bre’r Terrapin have made a fine fire for the evening and are talking about a great dinner they don’t have when they hear a scary noise in the forest. It’s Bre’r Fox and Bre’r Bear comin’! They’ll likely roast them up and eat ’em both right there at their own fire! Hiding his fright, Rabbit invites them over for a delicious fish dinner! But Bre’r Fox and Bre’r Bear don’t see any dinner at all. Rabbit explains they have to go down to the pond to catch the fish. (Bre’r Rabbit here is the Christ self and shows us there is always an answer!)

With the bright moon’s reflection on the water, Rabbit tells everyone the moon has fallen into the pond and scared all the fish away. “Unless we get that moon out of the pond, we ain’t gonna get any fishes!” (The moon in the pond is the lower reality. We get so involved with the stuff in our lower reality!) While Rabbit runs back for a fishin’ net, Bre’r Terrapin tells Fox and Bear about a secret pot of gold in the pond. “Don’t tell Bre’r Rabbit.” Rabbit brings the net and Bre’r Fox and Bre’r Bear jump in the pond with it. They spread it out in the muddy water but no moon, no gold. When they get sufficiently tangled in the net, Bre’r Rabbit and Bre’r Terrapin take off into the forest skipping and laughing.

In this moment the wisdom is no matter what is taking place. In this moment God is, but only at one time—in the now moment. In Buddhist mindful meditation, we learn to be in the present moment. When someone in traffic makes a sudden move, we’re in the present moment, but this isn’t the now moment, the connection with the pure love that is God-expression within us.

I was walking down the beach one wonderful day. A dad was showing his baby the ocean for her very first time. As the waves washed over her toes she squealed with delight, with a joy so pure it brought everyone into their hearts. It was a goodness that was an expression of God, of love, of love of life and discovery for that little being. In that moment there was a beautiful burst of love added to the universe. I guarantee no one was thinking of their taxes or of filling their tanks with gas. We were all there in this heart-awakened moment—here—now.

One way is just to appreciate the wisdom and presence in these people about you here, now. God’s goodness fills this moment! Right now! God’s goodness fills this moment! God’s goodness fills this moment! In this moment this goodness, this wisdom is present in each of our worlds. And we can laugh and skip like Bre’r Rabbit and Bre’r Terrapin when they took off into the woods!

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July 19, 2015 – Our Greater Purpose

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07/19/15 Rev. David McArthur
Our Greater Purpose

Today we’ll explore a new state of consciousness: the one where we go, “Why me?!!” when those red lights start flashing behind us or when the computer crashes and everything we have is lost. But it’s the very last question answered!

Fortunately, you already set up an answer to use when you made the commitment to come into this life. You committed to love. You made the choice to be here as part of the heart-awakening of humankind, a shift of perception of the 3D world into the experience of the connection in the heart to see the goodness. We are in the midst of this change.

These changes are a journey through the chakra system. The first was, as primitive man, we learned to survive. Then we developed the tribal, group, consciousness. Then, in the 3rd dimension, we have observed and learned and were able to analyze, to be scientific in our journey. We have gone deeper and deeper into the human brain and today we understand power is no longer “out there”, but in our awareness.

We have gained power over the dimensions. Look at our power over food. What would happen of we looked at food from the 4th dimension? —we’d share it! In the 4th, we awaken the heart. We have wisdom. Infinite intelligence flows through us. We share our emotional and mental oneness that is there. We know humankind needed the wisdom in these hearts. That’s why we came. We do our spiritual work; we accept abundance and beauty into our lives.

With all the knowledge we have, we do not have all the answers for the problems of humankind, but we are guided by the wisdom in all our hearts. Through the greater wisdom and presence, we make that change every time we choose love. It’s what we came into this life for—to share the heart-awakening of humankind.

Every Sunday I experience the true pure love that comes from the people here. I choose love. I know you’ve made that choice many times. There are many times I don’t want to do that, but I know once I get there it will be easier.

We came because the love in our hearts lifts all humankind. We took that on. “I choose love—the world awakens.” “I choose love—the world awakens.” “I choose love—the world awakens.” I know that again and again you make that choice. For that I thank you!

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July 12, 2015 – The Perception Trap – The Projection Game

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07/12/15 Rev. Sheila Gautreaux, L.U.T.
The Perception Trap –– The Projection Game

If your eyes are healthy [your perception is true], your whole body [your body of affairs, your life] will be full of light [illuminated, aware of truth].” (Matthew 6, 23-24). If our perception is unhealthy, it is darkness within. So we see events in the moment erroneously, and are triggered by past pain. That’s the Perception Trap. We then project the past pain into the present and into the future. That’s the Projection Game. Until we heal that core negative belief, we react from that belief, and it gains energy over time. We update our pain with the Perception Trap and the Projection Game.

We all have core negative beliefs that cause us to react in a way that has nothing to do with the situation, but with something that happened to us when we were young. That young man in South Carolina acted from a misperception; he felt he had to act to protect himself. But what he expected would happen didn’t. Instead people came together in love and compassion. “When… we see as God sees—that all is whole and perfect… we avoid recreating the pain and suffering of the past.” Elizabeth Sand Turner (Be Ye Transformed). That’s what we are being called to do in our world right now.

Anytime we get triggered there’s something else going on. The core negative beliefs come up because they are still there, not to hurt us, just calling for healing. These things come up FOR us; they do not happen TO us. We have to consciously hunt for them and heal them.
The world is calling on us to help it heal. We’re a microcosm of the macrocosm. If a large percentage of us are carrying core negative beliefs the world is going to reflect it. Take an inventory of your core negative beliefs. Write them down. Look at where they came from. Decide to forgive where it was imprinted in the first place and then forgive yourself for carrying it all this time.

Each time we face a situation without letting it trigger us we stand in our power. Keep “tilling that soil” of your consciousness to discover what is in there that is showing up out here in our world. When you see something on the news that makes you say, “Oh my God!” say instead, “That’s a part of me, too!” “That possibility lives within me too.” I See As God Sees And My Vision Is True! I See As God Sees And My Vision Is True! I See As God Sees And My Vision Is True! Lao Tzu said, “The caterpillar sees the end of the world. The rest of the world sees the butterfly.

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July 5, 2015 – Freedom from Within

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07/05/15 Rev. David McArthur
Freedom From Within

That freedom thing! Have you been celebrating? Freedom to choose our leaders, and freedom to disagree with them. Freedom to worship as we choose. They’re from without.

For the spiritual being there is another kind of freedom from within, which preserves the quality of our lives and what our lives are creating. Like 7 years ago when we were replacing our old building and there was a recession when everybody got afraid at once and the economic flow stopped. The lenders stopped lending out of fear. Fear took away freedom. But here, we chose to be free. God is our source. We can free ourselves from the fear of lack.

Jesus said, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” Charles Fillmore, in “Prosperity”, wrote, “Pour your living words of faith into the omnipresent substance, and you will be prospered though all the banks in the world close their doors.” God is our source, not banks. Because of that no one and nothing can withhold my good from me. We kept to this and our fear started to release. So a bank which had quit lending and which didn’t do church loans did for us.

Of those who lost family in the church in North Carolina, many said to the gunman, “I forgive you.” “Hate won’t win.” “We have no room for hate.” “I pray God for mercy on your soul.” “May God bless you.” That’s freedom! It was not an easy choice, but in it they found freedom from hate and destruction. It’s one of the most powerful choices available to us. They made the choice of love and used it to go to forgiveness. Freedom from hate, from what we’ve all done, that’s freedom!

I keep looking back at the experience of Viktor Frankl as he told it in “Man’s Search For Meaning”. Suffering the worst of man’s depravity in a Nazi concentration camp, he clung to his wife’s image in his mind until it grew more luminous than the rising sun. For the first time in his life he knew that love is man’s highest goal, that the salvation of man is through love and in love. He said he understood how even a man who has nothing left may still know bliss. This freedom from within that even the worst depravity cannot take away is in you. It is yours anytime you choose to love.

If Viktor Frankl can do it where he was, then maybe I can do it. If those families in North Carolina can, we can too. That’s the real freedom. We have freedom to choose love. If I understand his journey, that is the only choice that matters. I am grateful for those that showed me how. I choose love; I am free. I choose love; I am free. I choose love; I am free. What a treasure to live in a country that holds that. What a way to be! Enjoy!

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June 28, 2015 – A Greater Love

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06/28/15 Rev. David McArthur
A Greater Love

This place that has been prepared for us by prayer and caring and it’s easier to enjoy the beautiful heart-field we are in when we are here. We do that for our families, too—create those heart-fields.

What’s challenging is when something disturbs this field. For example, when someone is in the pain of addiction it is so difficult to draw the boundary of safety and care for the family and say, “no, you have to take this elsewhere.” Such abuse often ends relationships, but there are times when, for self-care, a person has to say no.

In this pain when your love cannot care for the other there is a movement in spirit which shows there is a greater love. Dr. Emilie Cady, in How I Used Truth, tells of a time when someone in her life struggled with alcohol addiction. She went to Spirit and asked, “What do I do?” It took hours of surrender, but the answer was clear: “Lose him. Let him go… God is leading your friend in a way you cannot know. The Christ presence at the heart of every soul is working just as hard to bring your friend to it.”

I worked to heal a situation here with someone who was increasingly angry with me. My guidance said, “This is not yours. Let it go. Any more you do is co-dependancy. Lose her and let her go.” This raised my vision to that greater love/presence. Then the husband threatened my life and that of a board member. The board and I sought guidance and I have been so impressed with their care for me and particularly their love and compassion for these two people. That’s what we are here for, and it is the responsibility of the Board of Trustees to care for our community. We called the police.

These difficulties call us to love and trust beyond what we see or understand. They open the door for us to step into forgiveness and go forward. It is so freeing. When these things happen my head wants to figure it all out, but we are being asked to step into that greater love for someone who is in conflict with himself.

The Prodigal Son “came to himself” and remembered he was a son of the father. That awakening is within each of us. When we touch it the judgments, right/wrong and the need to figure it all out just fades away. Who knows what is good and what is bad?

What we know is there is a presence, a greater love, in that person’s life and in ours. Know that. Keep opening to the awareness that “God’s goodness fills my life right now.” It’s beautiful, powerful, the very fabric of our lives. There are families here who have had to draw boundaries with someone caught in that pain. Hold for them, “God’s goodness fills your life right now.” We discover it in our lives and in others’ lives, and in those who don’t know. We discover it’s everywhere. “God’s goodness fills our lives right now.” Let that awareness fill us. Create a field which uplifts all of us way beyond what we know. For that I thank you!

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June 21, 2015 – Principles of Abundance Part 3: Source

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06/21/15 Rev. David McArthur
Principles of Abundance Part 3: Source

It’s wonderful to recall the blessing a father is! But in the Gospel of John, “I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” Jesus was speaking of a oneness, a spiritual divine presence he was discovering in himself. A giving Spirit. “Fear not…for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Imagine that divine desire to give. We tap into it as parents and grandparents.

One way to experience divine love is to open to abundance and let it flow into your life by opening to the discovery of your purpose. We have also looked at being co-creators, making choices to call what we need into our lives. Thirdly, today, we look at the experience of God as our source, as the provider of all we give and receive.

Last week Matthew Fox, quoting Howard Thurman, said “In the presence of God a human soul is stripped to its essence.” It is part of our journey of abundance. Look at your true core beliefs; discover the spirituality at the core of your experience. People came to Jesus with disease, a belief that the materiality of the body controls life, but he called forth the spirit of wholeness within them. With the loaves and fishes he overcame belief in lack by calling forth the spirit of abundance. And when people died he overcame death by calling forth the spirit within.

In the parable of The Prodigal Son, Jesus drew a beautiful picture of what is there. The father (God) is the source of all his sons’ abundance. One son asks for his inheritance. Without argument, “It is given.” The son goes to a far land. (Our perception shifts from our Father, God, to the world.) With his attention “out there” it leads to lack, even famine (fulfillment is not out there). He ends up hungry and full of guilt. So do we. We say, “I blew it. I am not worthy.” The son “comes to himself” (our growing consciousness within). He recalls his father. (We remember, “I am a child of the divine.” Divine is source, but we feel too guilty to let ourselves receive much.) So the prodigal son heads home. On seeing his son approach, the father goes out to him and embraces him. The son says, “I am not worthy,” but his father just calls for celebration. There is no punishment, no “pay it back later.”

You are loved. Source has no requirements of us, no limit put on it. All the mistakes we make are paid for in advance. Wouldn’t it be dumb for a god to send us out and not expect mistakes? We are here to learn and the tuition is paid! God holds for us the pattern of who we really are, and allows us to learn. When we let that in, we find that we are really blessed. We let love in. We let in abundance and health into this physical world. We let in the stimulation of our mental faculties. Emotionally we find peace and harmony and joy. At the spiritual level we have love. Know God is my source; I am richly blessed. God is my source; I am richly blessed. God is my source; I am richly blessed. And I know a secret that God knows: you deserve it!

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June 14, 2015 –The Future of Religion

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06/14/15 Dr. Matthew Fox
The Future of Religion

Ancient as the home is the temple… as the workbench is the altar… Older than written language is spoken prayer; older than painting is the thought of a nameless one… diverse symbols represent that which stands beyond and within. Yet…heart communicates with heart. —“An Eternal Verity” by Waldemar Argow

The question of our time is where are we going with religion? Since the Age of Enlightenment, effectiveness is the measure of everything. But even Einstein said there are 2 powers of the human mind—intellect and intuition, and not to overvalue the intellectual.

Howard Thurman, a great mystic and the genius behind the Civil Rights movement, wrote, “man builds his little shelters …his little altars, and worships his little gods.” But ultimately, each is a human soul stripped to its substance before God.

Are our altars too little? The altar is an archetype; it’s a focusing device. What altar are we taught to worship at today? Wall Street rather than Main street? The altar of human anthropocentrism? In California we are rediscovering how sacred water is. Let us learn how not to take water for granted. Maybe there is only one sin—“taking for granted”. Do we worship at the altar of the divine feminine/sacred masculine or at the altar of the toxic masculine? Rigid sexual roles or of sexual preference?

Rene Descartes, the father of Western philosophy, threw out the philosophy of aesthetics and beauty, of art, music. Our societies are controlled by our reptilian brain. The reptilian brain is win/lose and power trips. But when you wrestle with an alligator, there’s only one winner.

Thomas Aquinas said the reason for the universe was joy—God’s and ours. —That the noblest aesthetic is joy. Do you worship at the altar of joy? Or at the altar of addiction? Society is very good at selling addiction—drugs, sex, shopping. The alternative is the god of freedom. Aquinas said that God is the artist of artists. Every artist loves his painting, every singer her song. How could God, artist of everything, hate anything?

Do you worship the god of comfort and couch-potato-itis? I don’t believe Jesus ever said, “Blessed are the comfortable.” Act on your moral outrage, turn your passion into compassion; into a fire within. Aquinas said nothing great was ever done without anger, but we’re told to sit on our anger and eat potato chips ’til we burst. Meister Eckhart spoke of the “spark of the soul”, the manger inside of us where the Christ is born. It is yourself, your work, everything you do.

I’ve boiled the prophetic work of our time down to what I call the four E’s. First is Ecumenism. Unity has always been open to it. Ecology is an obvious E; for not so obvious reasons Economics is too. It is time we have an economy that works, not just for the 1%, but for all the two legged people, and all the four legged, and all that fly in the sky or swim in the sea. We are capable of an altar that large!

The fourth E is Education. Bring the intuitive brain back! Art, celebration, the joy of life and of creativity.

The new monasticism is to step from old religions and secular cynicism. We can all be contemplative, active spiritual warriors. Howard Thurman says we can move to a God as big as the universe and invite our hearts to grow as big as the universe, too. “God is delighted to watch your souls enlarge,” says Meister Eckhart.

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June 7, 2015 – Principles of Abundance Part 2: Co-Creator

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06/07/15 Rev. David McArthur
Principles of Abundance Part 2: Co-Creator

Divine nature is pure love and gives us all. How do we open to let this flow take place? One important way is to say yes to our purpose. It constantly invites us to open to the flow. Another is opening to the desire to have things, like buying a house, which fulfills nurturing and spiritual needs.

Judeo-Christian religions focus on world affirmation. Judaism teaches if one is in alignment with the spiritual, the material comes. Jesus taught of the flow of material blessings—water to wine, the loaves and fishes, the gold coin from the fish’s mouth, etc. But he put a limitation on it. He told the wealthy young man to give his money to the poor and “follow me.” But the young man didn’t know that with God as our source, it all comes back. Jesus then told the parable that a rich man getting into heaven is as likely as a camel passing through the “eye of the needle” (a gate in the city wall of Jerusalem so narrow a camel could only pass through if its cargo were removed, something a rich man wouldn’t do). When we perceive through the brain, it wants what is “mine”. To take the goods off a camel to pass through shows non-attachment to material things, to see through love, through the heart.

It’s all right to have good stuff. It lets you be more flexible. Use spiritual energy to call into your life that which is good. “Ask and it will be given to you… For everyone who asks receives… Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? …If you…though…evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” Edwene Gaines says there is this assignment for spiritual beings to set clear attainable goals. Don’t make it a game of 20 questions. State clearly, three times a day, “I’d like ____.” And each time ask, “What do I need to change to be open to that happening?” Ooops—a change of consciousness is needed! Change the consciousness of “asking is selfish” or “having things for myself is not spiritual”. Or use the hologram technique from HeartMath. It’s a powerful way of filling your asking with love. It opens us to that flow. The only assignment really is to take care of yourself. So ask.

And in the end, what happens? We are guided to say yes to something, to recognize more and more, God is my source. There is an old Unity affirmation, God is my instant, constant, abundant supply! It makes it much easier to open to the flow.

A friend, in his meditation, was remembering a perfect day he had had when he was drawn to a book on a shelf. As he opened it out fell a piece of paper, a list he had written in college long before entitled “My Perfect Day”. He had just lived that day, everything on the list! We are co-creators. Allow yourself to have. We create the life before us, and as we do we grow less and less attached. God is my instant, constant, abundant supply! God is my instant, constant, abundant supply! God is my instant, constant, abundant supply! And as far as I can tell, when they show up, are they really about having fun?!

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May 31, 2015 – Principles of Abundance Part 1: Purpose

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05/31/15 Rev. David McArthur
Principles of Abundance Part 1: Purpose

We keep running into the parts of us where we are not whole, individually and together, but there’s a drive within us to go further. In Unity we understand that we always have the capacity to open to greater abundance, in relationship, health, or finances. We’ll look at several ways, but I thought I’d start with the hard one—purpose.

Have you ever thought to yourself, “What in the world are you doing here in this Earth experience?! —again?” Well, we all do the learn and grow thing and know we are co-creators, that we came in this time to give, to lift the consciousness to a higher level. But what is my purpose? I know the more I am aligned with it the more enthusiastically the universe pours my blessings in. The more we open to it, the more easy it comes. Divine intelligence is extremely efficient.

Edwene Gaines teaches we are children of God, but children grow up. When we live according to our purpose, it is part of growing up. She says God gave us an inner guidance system—it is the part of us that feels joy. Good news! It is the part that makes your heart sing!

I shared with you meeting Reverend Mary Wessel. How when I stepped into her room I saw the love flowing out from her. She was 105! As a young mother she had come down with a terminal illness. Unity publications told her how we can direct divine power in our bodies and heal, and she found healing. She joyously shared this with others all around Montana, and Unity churches were established. Once on the train she shared with a gentleman who turned out to be the owner of the railroad. He gave her a free pass to travel anywhere on his railroad in support of her work. This doesn’t happen if you’re looking the other way! She was on her purpose. It’s a conspiracy of the universe. God is on your side! Jesus taught, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods” ‘ ?…I have come that you may have life, and that you may have it more abundantly.” You can’t get it if you’re going in another direction!

As we get on purpose we open wider. Edwene Gaines says to get out of the daily grind. Find solitude. Listen to that which you long to do, to the yearnings of your soul. For Mary Wessel it was first being a mother, then healing, sharing it, then being in her room in prayer. What I did was to imagine I was at the end of my life thinking of the things I had done. Some were beautiful, some were “so what!” If you’re not ready for change don’t do this. If you are ready, ask, “What’s yours?” You’ll see ways to let the flow in, how it will provide for you. In the stillness throughout the coming week, say “Joyfully, I understand my purpose.” It’s just an opening to let it come. It is joyful. “Joyfully, I understand my purpose.” “Joyfully, I understand my purpose.” “Joyfully, I understand my purpose.” You came here to bless, to leave the world with greater consciousness than when you entered. For you to be willing to do this, I thank you!

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May 24, 2015 – Out Breath of God –– Silence & Pooh

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05/24/15 Rev. David McArthur
Out Breath of God –– Silence & Pooh

Last week we talked about the in breath of God—breathing in powerful presence and connection with who and what we really are: divine love on this journey of human experience. “Love fills me now. I am love.” The out breath, the other part, is the complete letting go, the entry into silence, stillness, the void, the empty.

Lao Tzu wrote, “Look, and it can’t be seen. Listen, and it can’t be heard… You can’t know it, but you can be it…” From the Koran: “Unable to find answers… [Muhammad] betook himself to the stillness of the desert…” For part of his awakening, Jesus, too, took himself to the desert, where there is nothing. That’s a symbol for meditation.

In the story of Jesus calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee, the wind is our thoughts that come up; the waves our emotions. The crossing of the sea is movement into the subconscious. The disciples represent our growing turmoil as fear comes up. Jesus awakening represents the conscious connection to the divine. Jesus rebuked the wind (the thoughts ceased) and the water (emotions) calmed. Jesus was in the moment, the stillness, holding the divine consciousness.

I really like how the book of Pooh tells it. Pooh, humming, is walking along on a beautiful morning. He joins Rabbit and finds good food and company, but is a good bit rounder afterward and he got stuck in the hole to Rabbit’s place as he was leaving. Just like Pooh and the disciples on the Sea of Galilee, we get full of our own stuff. We get stuffed. We get stuck!

After much unsuccessful effort, Pooh and Rabbit decide to summon Christopher Robin (who is the Christ bearer; he’s a symbol of that spiritual nature within us which is connected, of that flow of divine power within us). Christopher Robin decided to read to Pooh for a week. Then he’d be thin enough to get unstuck. Pooh concentrated only on Christopher Robin. The story doesn’t tell us the content of the book. When you meditate it isn’t about content; it’s about being there. It’s about letting go little by little of all the stuff. Just Pooh and Christopher Robin being there together. No thought.

At the end of the week Pooh was freed! That’s what we want—to be free of all that stuff we don’t need. To be free and go through our lives humming. We spend a lot of time here preparing in mindful study and I find that for those who reach for silence it is easier.

Through this week put the in breath of God together with the out breath: I am love. Peace, be still. Even if it’s just a minute or five minutes, or an hour. I am love. Peace, be still. I am love. Peace, be still. I am love. Peace, be still. And as he so often does, Christopher Robin left Pooh thinking, “silly old bear!” I wonder if the divine ever thinks that of us!

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