Video

Reverend David McArthur

The archetypal patterns of our spiritual journey are found in our ancient tales, like “Rapunzel”. In the beginning the woman who will become Rapunzel’s mother wants a beautiful garden flower very badly, thinking, “if I get that, I’ll be just fine.” But there is a cost for relying on the outer world for fulfillment. It will not fulfill who you are. It does not have that power.

Losing control of Rapunzel, the witch puts her in the tower. Her hair represents the long-focused thought or out-pouring of the brain. But our brains focus on fear. When we’re in fear we don’t connect with the whole of life. Rapunzel herself represents the feminine in all of us, the feelings of beauty and harmony (for which the men in our society get no support). Our growing spirituality – feelings of the Presence – are isolated in lots of us, as is Rapunzel so isolated in the tower. So she sang, her beautiful voice symbolizing attunement gained through meditation in silence. Her beautiful singing attracts the prince, who symbolizes thought, mind, knowledge. He lives with the King (God) and so the prince knows he a child of God. I’m a child of God. Rapunzel learns from the prince that she’s a child of God. I’m a spiritual being, living in a spiritual world, governed by spiritual laws. We come to awareness through focusing on spiritual things. We awaken to the power of choice.

The witch cut Rapunzel’s hair and sent her to the desert. The desert is depression. So Rapunzel no longer had choice or the support of her knowing. There is no stimulus in the desert.

The prince again climbed up the braid of hair only to find the witch, not Rapunzel. He does not choose to be with fear and so he leaps out the window. He falls in the thorny bushes below. He feels pain. He goes blind. When we run into pain we go blind – not seeing the divine, not seeing the truth. We say, “Why did God do this?” “How come I have to go through this?” It is painful. Giving up fear means you have to give up the drama. That is painful for many of us.

We must move from knowing to being. Rapunzel returns to singing, to being in harmony, to attunement. So the beauty she is comes back into her life. The prince hears her. When she sees the pain and blindness of the prince she responds with tears of compassion. Compassion heals pain. You find healing. Vision is restored. We’re able to know and understand. The power comes from within, not from anything without. Choose a greater state of being. Experience a new state of consciousness and live happily ever after.

Reverend David McArthur

We live the dream we hold. If it isn’t big enough, we don’t live as fully as we are capable. Dream a higher dream. Say yes to the dream in your heart. We won’t live in a world of harmony until we decide to live in harmony with those around us in our lives. We won’t have justice or forgiveness until we live with justice and forgiveness in our own lives. The time has come to make a commitment to the dream. Say, “This is the quality of life I want.” This year, like never before.

This year is a time we’re being asked to step into our dream, a time when the power to do so will rise to levels previously hard to even hope for. Rumi: “There is a candle in your heart waiting to be kindled. There is a void in your soul, ready to be filled. You feel it, don’t you?”

Say “no” to what no longer serves. Say no to what is no longer a part of your higher dream. No is a commitment to have only that in your life which supports the life you are committed to. “To be uncommitted is to be full of hesitancy, ready to go back, ineffectiveness.” Saying no to what doesn’t work is committing to what does. That is the point where your commitments become most real. Let go of that which doesn’t work and no longer serves.

There is no holding back on the part of the Divine. From Lao Tzu: “The Tao gives birth to all beings …creating without possessing, acting without expecting, guiding without interfering. That is why love of the the Tao is in the very nature of things.” Everything you need is provided by that Infinite Intelligence which guides you when you say “yes” to the big dream. “The moment one commits oneself, Providence moves.” All sorts of things begin to occur in support of the dream. Open up to assistance you couldn’t have imagined before. Once you commit to a dream that’s big enough to fill what your soul is about, you are letting that amazing spiritual being you are live who you are. You know it because you can feel it. Feel the candle be kindled. Feel the void be filled. It’s the dream. The time has come. When you commit, when you say yes, the fun begins! Kindle that candle in your heart!

Guest Speaker: Karen Drucker

Let your big bright beam of light inside of you shine!  When you are shining your light your energy is up and it helps everybody else around you.  When you “get” your divinity you come alive.  You can see it in other people– in their eyes.  “I am the light of the world” refers to the divine light within us.  Stand up and let it shine.  Say, “When you see me you will see Spirit.”

Shining is a choice. Say, “I am not giving my power away!”  Connect to that power.  Change yourself, but only go as fast as the slowest part of you will go.  (That’s the other side of this.  Hold yourself as if you were holding a baby.)  But you will know when it is time to shine.  So practice everyday– practice kindness.  Be aware of the people around you.  Notice people.  Shine.  Twinkle.  Sing, “You are the face of God.  I hold you in my heart.  You are a part of me.  You are the face of God.”

Clutter dims down your life.  Clutter is the things that don’t represent who you are anymore– the clothes that don’t fit, the old books you read decades ago.  Everything has energy.  Are there things in your  life that no longer serve you – a job?  – a friend?  – that dim you down, even slightly.  Clutter will make you feel overwhelmed and stop you from expressing Spirit.  It is who you used to be.  You send a message to the universe that you want to stay with what you used to be.

Then what brings you joy?  Who brings you joy?  How much am I allowing life to come in?  Make a point to ask, “What is it in my life that will light me up today?” To amp yourself up and clear the clutter out, go to gratitude every morning.  Sing, “Gratitude above me.  Gratitude below me.  Gratitude before me.  Gratitude behind.  Gratitude to the left of me.  Gratitude to the right of me.  Gratitude above me.  Gratitude below me.  Gratitude within me.  Gratitude all around me.  I’m so grateful!  I’m so grateful!  I’m so grateful!  I’m so grateful!  I’m so grateful!

Affirm, I am a big bright radiant being of radiant life!  I shine that light to everyone everywhere!

Reverend David McArthur

This is a beautiful new year when Spirit is focused on supporting you in being what you came here to be – your purpose, your growth, that desire in your heart, your “heart’s desire”. What is in your heart? You might say, “Give me a hint!” Jesus said it’s not your duty or station – “What is that to you? Follow me.” He said “me” as the Christ self rather than as “Jesus”. As humankind has awakened to the divine within, we are called by the higher self, the Divine Presence, the Buddha Nature. We experience it in ourselves as our purpose at this point in life. We experience it as our heart’s desire.

Look at your heart’s desire. Take a hold of what you want to put your energy into. As it unfolds it empowers you. Meet the needs in life without struggle. When you touch your heart’s desire you touch Oneness. One mind, one heart – which beats in all of us! When you’re at a point of choice and you find it’s time to take a step, touch your heart’s desire. At this point, maybe it’s just to heal. Whatever it is, every experience of your heart’s desire calls you into something greater. Thank goodness we don’t know the full extent of our choices. Say yes. It will show you oneness. It will remove the illusion of separation.

Take the time and go to your heart. “What has meaning to me?” “What has value?” “What is important to me? What do I really want to say “yes” to?” Ask your heart. It will take you far beyond your mind. When you say “yes”, you don’t know ­where it will eventually lead. Say “yes” anyway! This is a beautiful new year when our “yes” is part of many yesses. That is what we all will step into this year.

Sheila Gautreaux, L.U.T.

This is the season of hope. The season of energy, hope, and possibility is at its height. Even in the face of violence and fear there is hope– you cannot destroy the human spirit. It will rise up and more than survive, it will thrive. Hope is not a weak energy. Hope is to “expect”, to know that something is coming. You have a “confident desire”. You are certain and you will persevere until it happens. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” Hope is the match that lights the fuse of faith. They go hand in hand. Hope is having our power engaged, knowing our good is already given, manifested. You can’t help yourself from moving toward it. Hang on to possibilities enthusiastically. There’s hope!!!

Hope is having your past erased. It doesn’t matter what you did. Who you are is a child of God. Congress and unemployment are not your source. Hope is holding your possibilities, your power, engaged enthusiastically. Hope might be a teeny tiny small flicker. Hold on. It expands, gets larger, until the faith is engaged and nothing can stop you. Here are the steps to do this–

Step 1) H Heal past core negative beliefs, forgive those whose negativity you learned.
Step 2) O Open the channel for the flow of good by loving/giving/serving – not martyrdom. Giving and receiving are the same energy– and it comes back multiplied. Know it is not about them– it’s about you.
Step 3) P Perceive perfection in everything. Be willing to. Be willing to be willing to. Holy Spirit will do the rest. See it;believe it. It will rise up and show itself to you. When something goes badly, know it didn’t happen to you, but it happened for you.
Step 4) E Energize. Move forward eagerly. Everything awaits you. Expect. Express. Engage. It will happen if your expectation is based on the expectation of perfection and you have healed your past. “It doesn’t cost a thing to smile. You don’t have to pay to laugh.”

HOPE – Heal – Open – Perceive – Energize. No matter what is going on with you now, there’s hope. Light the flame! The God we serve can bring anything back 100%!

Reverend David McArthur

Music calls us to a place where we see differently.  A soul awakens when it is touched by that which is seen differently.

Emmett Fox said, “Mary is really the soul itself.”  Mary, trusting in Spirit, accepted the role of birthing the One, the Consciousness that would change the world. When we, as Mary did, open our souls in faith to Spirit, we each give birth to something so new, so beautiful, it lifts us to a whole new consciousness that will change the world. We see the people in our life differently when we see and touch the Presence and Power that lifts us to a place we have not been before. An amazing awakening happens within us.

Christmas is a call to awaken. The music of Christmas is a call to awaken. Allow yourself the full experience of Christmas and see what the heart feels when it awakens!

Reverend David McArthur

Every religious group has a myth about the birth of the divine in human form. The Incarnation; the truth of the divine presence expressing in and thru us. They have added onto the story, but use what works and let go of what doesn’t.  Edgar Cayce told how the prophet Elijah, knowing a higher consciousness, taught his awareness to a group that eventually became the Essenes. As a collective instrument, they brought in the greater consciousness. The Essenes were aware they were coming to a time when a Soul would enter That would raise the consciousness of all. There was this intention to prepare for the Soul and the consciousness of change. They began to train girls in their group so one could become the mother of that Soul. What love of that Soul to give up the greater consciousness and enter into the sleep of this earthly life, to awaken in the density of the human experience! In Unity, we speak of Jesus as the Elder Brother who broke through first, who broke the way for us.

We are in the birth of a new consciousness– a new paradigm. What we do allows a greater consciousness to unfold. The story of the selection of Mary to be the mother shows that, even when we are “prepared”, we reach a point where we have to face something and we don’t have it all figured out. Know there are levels of support far beyond our ability to understand. Shakespeare’s Hamlet proclaims, “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

We always have support to live in the new consciousness. We are always about things which bring forth a new consciousness. That’s why we’re here. However, open any great scripture, you will find many wonderful beings inviting us to follow into the pure radiant love that God is. What Christmas is about is that consciousness of love which more than circles back, it spirals. Each year we have greater knowledge, greater understanding. We have touched more beauty, goodness, wholeness of the people around us– the presence of that love. The greatest part of the story is that we are never alone. Whether we see angels, or Jesus, or the greater consciousness. We can only see a few, but there are many with us and among us! We are so loved! We are so supported! At Christmas we get to open up and receive the light like never before!

Reverend David McArthur

The commercialization of Christmas is one of the most sacred parts! Thank goodness Spirit doesn’t confine itself to just the religious community. Perhaps you do not like God at all. Yet, Santa gets to you. Metaphysically, Santa shows up Christmas Eve when we celebrate the birth of a new baby, which represents the birth of a new consciousness. Santa comes from the sky– from that greater consciousness. And it doesn’t seem possible that Santa can come to every house in just one night, but, metaphysically, the higher consciousness is omnipresent, and Santa (the God figure) responds to every one of us. Within the house (your state of consciousness) Santa enters through the place of light and warmth. That is the greater consciousness coming through the heart– that child place of fulfilling dreams and desires. And you don’t get to see Santa, you just get to see the gifts he leaves.

How God – Santa – shows up in an even greater way is the experience of the amazing consciousness of Christmas. It is one of the deepest and most important parts of Christmas. It happens through us. We are the love that happens, that touches, uplifts, and blesses. We are Santa. We understand that Jesus came to give us the awareness of the love that flows through us. Now we get an opportunity to bless. You can be Santa. You are invited to give to a Santa fund in the sanctuary or in the book center. The second way you can experience the amazing consciousness of Christmas is to open and accept that which blesses you. Express your need or the need of someone you know. Make out your Christmas list. Email Unity Walnut Creek or call the office with you request. Who has the greater joy– the giver or the receiver? Give and receive. Allow the flow. Budgets are not as important. Let the love be your only guide. Because of you, “Santa Claus is coming to town!”

Reverend David McArthur

Ceremonies will undoubtedly last as long as the Earth herself lasts. We use ceremony to acknowledge our unity, that all humans are related. We use ceremony to honor and acknowledge our unity with everything to the four points of the Earth –East, South, West, and North. And we seek guidance in ceremony. In a very critical time, the ancient Ojibwa elders sought guidance from Spirit, and the Ojibwa moved into the reality of the vision of their elders by following the Megis. It appeared daily and led them on a journey to a land of food and water, health and happiness.

The wisdom of the elders also guides each of us to seek answers by undertaking our own individual journey, no matter how arduous. We might slip and slide backward, climb seemingly vertical obstacles, go up, down, and around. We might feel tired, wet, and scratched, as if our emotional “clothes” are torn. Yet the wisdom of our elders will guide us to a place where there is a connection to Spirit, and we find our answers are right in front of us, that they are inside of us all the time!

A favorite wisdom story from our elders tells that the first humans were confused. They didn’t know their purpose. When they looked around they saw that the animals didn’t ask their purpose. They just did the things they knew to do. The humans decided their job, then, was to learn from the animals and every other thing that’s here. That’s our job – we are learning.

And when we look around, we learn that people everywhere honor Spirit in what ever way they understand Spirit. And they have learned that they should be grateful. Many of us, too, are grateful, and say thank you every morning and every evening. But during the day we are busy and we forget. So stop even with the simplest things and give thanks. Stop and look. Say, “God, that’s nice!” Our first Americans would even stop on a journey or a hunt to look at the beauty around them. They would give thanks, and then go on their way. When you notice something nice, think of God dropping bombs that hit you so that you can stop and say “Thank You!”
And remember, we are all one!

Reverend Lacy Atkinson