affirmations

September 28, 2014 – Eeyore’s New Consciousness

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9/28/14 Rev. David McArthur
Eeyore’s New Consciousness

Growing spiritually, you notice that “something is unfolding in me.” Questions come up as we’re drawn on the journey. So I looked at all kinds of scripture and ended up in the Hundred Acre Woods, and it’s Eeyore’s birthday.

Pooh walked up. “Good morning!” Eeyore answered, “If it is a good morning.” He commented about all the presents and cake he didn’t get. Some of us do Eeyore very well (“Ain’t it awful!” “Life’s so hard!”). Pooh realized everybody forgot Eeyore’s birthday, and tore off to his house to find Eeyore a present. He’d give him honey! He passed by Piglet and told him what he was going to do. Piglet had a balloon he could give Eeyore and he ran home to get it. He wanted to get to Eeyore before Pooh got back so Eeyore would think he had thought of Eeyore’s birthday himself, so he held the balloon very tightly and ran fast. He tripped, and BANG!, the balloon popped! Pooh was hurrying, too, but realized with a tingle that he was hungry, and look!—there’s a pot of honey under his arm! Yes, soon it was all gone. Then he realized he had no honey to give Eeyore, just an empty pot—Oh! He could give Eeyore the pot! When we start toward that new state of consciousness it doesn’t mean the old consciousness is gone. The old consciousness still affects our creation. Our balloons pop and honey is eaten.

Pooh gave Eeyore the pot without any honey in it, and told him he could put things in it and also take them out. Piglet dropped the piece of balloon in the pot, and Eeyore took it out and put it in, and took it out and put it in, quite delighted to have a pot to put things in and take things out of, and delighted too to have something to put in it and take from it. He was as happy as can be, in a new state of consciousness.

The truth is they thought they wanted Eeyore to have balloons and honey, but they really wanted to change his unhappy state to a happy one. They brought connection, care, and love. A new consciousness was born.

From Corinthians, “Love is patient. Love is kind.” Take care of yourself in your growth, with patience and kindness. We’re good at giving these to others, but how do we treat ourselves? Instead of looking at yourself harshly, do it with patience and kindness.
I grow with patience and kindness. I grow with patience and kindness. I grow with patience and kindness.

Eeyore figured it out. It was his choice to accept love and care on his journey. The love and care lets us choose for ourselves to go where our heart is telling us to go—where that amazing state of consciousness calls us to grow.

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September 28, 2014 – Eeyore’s New Consciousness

by


9/28/14 Rev. David McArthur
Eeyore’s New Consciousness

Growing spiritually, you notice that “something is unfolding in me.” Questions come up as we’re drawn on the journey. So I looked at all kinds of scripture and ended up in the Hundred Acre Woods, and it’s Eeyore’s birthday.

Pooh walked up. “Good morning!” Eeyore answered, “If it is a good morning.” He commented about all the presents and cake he didn’t get. Some of us do Eeyore very well (“Ain’t it awful!” “Life’s so hard!”). Pooh realized everybody forgot Eeyore’s birthday, and tore off to his house to find Eeyore a present. He’d give him honey! He passed by Piglet and told him what he was going to do. Piglet had a balloon he could give Eeyore and he ran home to get it. He wanted to get to Eeyore before Pooh got back so Eeyore would think he had thought of Eeyore’s birthday himself, so he held the balloon very tightly and ran fast. He tripped, and BANG!, the balloon popped! Pooh was hurrying, too, but realized with a tingle that he was hungry, and look!—there’s a pot of honey under his arm! Yes, soon it was all gone. Then he realized he had no honey to give Eeyore, just an empty pot—Oh! He could give Eeyore the pot! When we start toward that new state of consciousness it doesn’t mean the old consciousness is gone. The old consciousness still affects our creation. Our balloons pop and honey is eaten.

Pooh gave Eeyore the pot without any honey in it, and told him he could put things in it and also take them out. Piglet dropped the piece of balloon in the pot, and Eeyore took it out and put it in, and took it out and put it in, quite delighted to have a pot to put things in and take things out of, and delighted too to have something to put in it and take from it. He was as happy as can be, in a new state of consciousness.

The truth is they thought they wanted Eeyore to have balloons and honey, but they really wanted to change his unhappy state to a happy one. They brought connection, care, and love. A new consciousness was born.

From Corinthians, “Love is patient. Love is kind.” Take care of yourself in your growth, with patience and kindness. We’re good at giving these to others, but how do we treat ourselves? Instead of looking at yourself harshly, do it with patience and kindness.
I grow with patience and kindness. I grow with patience and kindness. I grow with patience and kindness.

Eeyore figured it out. It was his choice to accept love and care on his journey. The love and care lets us choose for ourselves to go where our heart is telling us to go—where that amazing state of consciousness calls us to grow.

September 21, 2014 – Send Healing Love

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9/21/14 Rev. David McArthur
I Send You God’s Healing Love

Today is the UN’s International Day of Peace and is our chance to join in prayers for peace with others of all religions around the world. All people share an understanding, a consciousness, like an energy grid. The more we fill it with the consciousness of peace, the more we will see a greater consciousness of peace in the world. Our prayers and intentions are a part of that. However, I was watching the news about ISIS and the beheadings, and when I asked myself then what I was contributing to the grid, peace was not a part of my contribution.

One of those wonderful mystics we have been gifted with, Black Elk, wrote,“The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realize their relationship, their oneness with the universe and … [that] at the center of the universe dwells the Great Spirit, and that its center is really everywhere, it is within each of us.” I was forced to admit it is there in those people in the news. And in me. How can I get there?

I can start by being aware that I contribute to the lack of peace, but also that I have choice. I can focus my awareness, and respond with a state of peace within myself. But then I remembered my favorite spiritual leader didn’t say “Send peace to your enemies”; He said “Love your enemies”. Wow! That’s bigger than peace. How do I do that? I looked at how I perceived the people in that violence. I could find nothing to love. I knew that conflict comes out of pain, and I saw great pain and fear in these people with swords and guns. I also saw that peace does not heal pain. But when we step into the flow of love there is power there that changes us all.

I’d like to send love to those people in violence, in pain. Let’s go to the tremendous love in our own hearts. Now turn your attention to those people on TV with the swords and guns. Black Elk said the presence of the Great Spirit is within each of those. To them say, “I do not know your world, your pain, your fear, but I know that within you is the presence of Divine Love which loves you just as you are, without limit or condition. It can flow through you and heal your pain. We ask that for you. Mother Father God, we ask that their fear dissolves and they discover Your Divine Love and that it flows through them.

“We do not wish you suffering. We do not ask for justice. We ask the grace of God flow through your lives and that you are healed and free. We know this Divine Love can heal your hearts and we ask it be so here and now. Amen.”

There might be others at home, at work, who do not find peace in their worlds. When you see them with pain, send them God’s love. I send you God’s love. I send you God’s love. I send you God’s love. That is the moment when peace is created!

September 7, 2014 – Prayer of Connection

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9/7/14 Rev. David McArthur
Prayer of Connection

Early one morning this week I was on the road in redwood country. The beauty of the trees and hills in the fog and then in the dappled morning sun was almost overwhelming. When you’re in the middle of so much beauty, look at how gorgeous our world is and the amazing Presence we find ourselves in. It is easy to touch such beauty. It opens my heart and invites me in. But the blessings that flow through our lives, moment after amazing moment are so much more. There is something else—a connection. We are one with it. Our minds are quite incapable of knowing it, but we feel it—a oneness with the connector.

The mind goes to the most concrete thing; it’s how it works. The mind makes the connection, but the heart experiences the connector. It’s always there. I say, “Thank You God!”, but then the mind says who are you talking to? What are you talking to? At times it’s Jesus or God, or even Mary or Krishna, but it doesn’t matter. Whatever we want to call It, It is there! As long as I allow the connection, it’s just fine. The focus on prayer brings us closer. Pray, Thank You God! Thank You God! Thank You God!

Angela Tucker, in the “Daily Word”, awakened from a coma of six weeks to find herself in a hospital bed, and that her husband had not survived their automobile accident. Her survival, as well, was in question. And then she found her ability to function was in question. So she drew on her love for her family and friends, and theirs for her. It was a couple of years before she returned to her home in New York. There she formed prayer connections with others, particularly a prayer partner. They don’t focus on circumstances, but instead, “We focus on knowing the truth that God is always present, no matter the situation or need.” She began to go beyond the simple awareness of the presence of God to a conscious connection with the Presence in every moment.

I know we all have done it, and I know too how hard it is at times. I do know the more we do it in those times of beauty when it is easier, the easier it is in the times of darkness. So when I wake up in the morning, I say, Thank You God! Thank You God! Thank You God! And then there’s a hot steaming cup of coffee, Thank You God! Thank You God! Thank You God! And there’s a computer crash and I don’t have to check email, Thank You God! Thank You God! Thank You God!

We are in the presence of unlimited goodness, infinite eternal pure love constantly poured into us! It’s morning! There’s coffee! It’s beautiful! It’s pure love!

September 7, 2014 – Prayer of Connection

by

9/7/14 Rev. David McArthur
Prayer of Connection

Early one morning this week I was on the road in redwood country. The beauty of the trees and hills in the fog and then in the dappled morning sun was almost overwhelming. When you’re in the middle of so much beauty, look at how gorgeous our world is and the amazing Presence we find ourselves in. It is easy to touch such beauty. It opens my heart and invites me in. But the blessings that flow through our lives, moment after amazing moment are so much more. There is something else—a connection. We are one with it. Our minds are quite incapable of knowing it, but we feel it—a oneness with the connector.

The mind goes to the most concrete thing; it’s how it works. The mind makes the connection, but the heart experiences the connector. It’s always there. I say, “Thank You God!”, but then the mind says who are you talking to? What are you talking to? At times it’s Jesus or God, or even Mary or Krishna, but it doesn’t matter. Whatever we want to call It, It is there! As long as I allow the connection, it’s just fine. The focus on prayer brings us closer. Pray, Thank You God! Thank You God! Thank You God!

Angela Tucker, in the “Daily Word”, awakened from a coma of six weeks to find herself in a hospital bed, and that her husband had not survived their automobile accident. Her survival, as well, was in question. And then she found her ability to function was in question. So she drew on her love for her family and friends, and theirs for her. It was a couple of years before she returned to her home in New York. There she formed prayer connections with others, particularly a prayer partner. They don’t focus on circumstances, but instead, “We focus on knowing the truth that God is always present, no matter the situation or need.” She began to go beyond the simple awareness of the presence of God to a conscious connection with the Presence in every moment.

I know we all have done it, and I know too how hard it is at times. I do know the more we do it in those times of beauty when it is easier, the easier it is in the times of darkness. So when I wake up in the morning, I say, Thank You God! Thank You God! Thank You God! And then there’s a hot steaming cup of coffee, Thank You God! Thank You God! Thank You God! And there’s a computer crash and I don’t have to check email, Thank You God! Thank You God! Thank You God!

We are in the presence of unlimited goodness, infinite eternal pure love constantly poured into us! It’s morning! There’s coffee! It’s beautiful! It’s pure love!

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August 24, 2014 – Words Have The Power To Create

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8/24/14 Rev. Blaine Tinsley
Words Have The Power To Create

I always think of this as my “home” church. Culliver Brookman would begin her Sunday lesson when she was minister here by asking “How are you?” and we’d all answer “Great!” and she’d reply “Good choice!” I learned we get to choose how we feel and we get to choose how we think. And here I also learned, “The presence of God is within me.” In Unity we want to do more than know about God, we want to experience the presence of God in everything we do—in everything we think and do and say.

So how can we use our words more effectively? There is a Hawaiian saying which says, “There is life in the mouth and there is death in the mouth.” Jesus put it this way,”You brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Both the Hawaiians and the Buddhists have a proverb that says that a person is born with an axe in his mouth!

But when we speak of good we lift our selves. When we are totally in alignment with our heart then we speak from the heart. What we speak creates. We are the One Presence, the One Power, individual expressions of that Oneness.

The first thing to do is to realize that! Affirm, “I am speaking words of truth and oneness to myself right now.” What we say to ourselves we convince ourselves of and experience it.

Second, my world changed for me when I beheld the presence of God in others. Say,”I behold the presence of God in everyone right now.” The second coming of Christ is the realization of our oneness.

Thirdly, in order for our words and thoughts to have real power, we have to know the truth to speak it. But the powerful way to create is to listen to the heart. What does Spirit want for you? That’s how Spirit works through us. Everything we do is because of a desire within us. “Spirit, what is it You want for me?” “… out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” Our words have the power to create. “I listen with my heart and speak words that create a loving world.”

Aloha! God bless you!

August 24, 2014 – Words Have The Power To Create

by

8/24/14 Rev. Blaine Tinsley
Words Have The Power To Create

I always think of this as my “home” church. Culliver Brookman would begin her Sunday lesson when she was minister here by asking “How are you?” and we’d all answer “Great!” and she’d reply “Good choice!” I learned we get to choose how we feel and we get to choose how we think. And here I also learned, “The presence of God is within me.” In Unity we want to do more than know about God, we want to experience the presence of God in everything we do—in everything we think and do and say.

So how can we use our words more effectively? There is a Hawaiian saying which says, “There is life in the mouth and there is death in the mouth.” Jesus put it this way,”You brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Both the Hawaiians and the Buddhists have a proverb that says that a person is born with an axe in his mouth!

But when we speak of good we lift our selves. When we are totally in alignment with our heart then we speak from the heart. What we speak creates. We are the One Presence, the One Power, individual expressions of that Oneness.

The first thing to do is to realize that! Affirm, “I am speaking words of truth and oneness to myself right now.” What we say to ourselves we convince ourselves of and experience it.

Second, my world changed for me when I beheld the presence of God in others. Say,”I behold the presence of God in everyone right now.” The second coming of Christ is the realization of our oneness.

Thirdly, in order for our words and thoughts to have real power, we have to know the truth to speak it. But the powerful way to create is to listen to the heart. What does Spirit want for you? That’s how Spirit works through us. Everything we do is because of a desire within us. “Spirit, what is it You want for me?” “… out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” Our words have the power to create. “I listen with my heart and speak words that create a loving world.”

Aloha! God bless you!

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August 17, 2014 – I Hold You In My Heart

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8/17/14 Rev. David McArthur
I Hold You In My Heart

The Spirit of Love keeps asking us to grow and explore the amazing possibilities that we are. One of the forms of daily connection I use is particularly effective with those things that don’t have an off button—like when you are with family or friends and there’s one that always gets to you. After they leave you can’t turn it off, going over what you’ll say or do next time. It’s called the monkey mind, but I call it the snakey mind. It’s snakey because there’s always some fear there—of rejection or I’m not good enough, and so forth.

It’s very difficult to deal with the physical or emotional illness of people very important to us. We can’t control or fix them or the situation. It is one of the great bummers of the spiritual world. We worry. We have anxiety. We don’t feel connected spiritually. We feel powerless even though we know we are one with the only power. We do understand that there is amazing power, intelligence, and guidance in the heart. We have done a lot with HeartMath techniques.

Today we involve the heart in a different way: to take that person and simply hold them in our hearts. We don’t have to choose what we feel, or call forth anything, we simply hold that person or situation in our hearts. For example, I have a particular affection for the people of the Mideast but I can’t do anything about their situation. I can’t fix it. I can’t control it. All I can do is hold them in my heart. It’s connecting to the great power in the heart. And one of my friends is experiencing something I can do nothing about. I don’t know if it does anything for him, but it does for me. This even works for people you don’t like. I say, “I hold you in my heart.” My hand automatically goes to my heart, and I change. How I look at that person changes.

After all the angels and visitors at the scene of the Nativity, the Bible says, “Mary took all these things and pondered them in her heart.” This is an instruction on how to take things in your life that are unfolding. When we take things into our heart, they have been lifted.

Lao Tzu said, “If you want to be given everything, give everything up…Only by being lived by the Tao can you be truly yourself.” It means give up control—give up figuring it all out—give up thinking that worrying is how to love. Bring it to where the Divine Presence lives in our lives. It is so simply delightful to find it in those divinely frustrating times.

“I hold you in my heart.” “I hold you in my heart.” “I hold you in my heart.” For those one’s you care for, and whose struggle you know, or for those parts of you that struggle. Fortunately we get a choice. Bless you!

August 17, 2014 – I Hold You In My Heart

by

8/17/14 Rev. David McArthur
I Hold You In My Heart

The Spirit of Love keeps asking us to grow and explore the amazing possibilities that we are. One of the forms of daily connection I use is particularly effective with those things that don’t have an off button—like when you are with family or friends and there’s one that always gets to you. After they leave you can’t turn it off, going over what you’ll say or do next time. It’s called the monkey mind, but I call it the snakey mind. It’s snakey because there’s always some fear there—of rejection or I’m not good enough, and so forth.

It’s very difficult to deal with the physical or emotional illness of people very important to us. We can’t control or fix them or the situation. It is one of the great bummers of the spiritual world. We worry. We have anxiety. We don’t feel connected spiritually. We feel powerless even though we know we are one with the only power. We do understand that there is amazing power, intelligence, and guidance in the heart. We have done a lot with HeartMath techniques.

Today we involve the heart in a different way: to take that person and simply hold them in our hearts. We don’t have to choose what we feel, or call forth anything, we simply hold that person or situation in our hearts. For example, I have a particular affection for the people of the Mideast but I can’t do anything about their situation. I can’t fix it. I can’t control it. All I can do is hold them in my heart. It’s connecting to the great power in the heart. And one of my friends is experiencing something I can do nothing about. I don’t know if it does anything for him, but it does for me. This even works for people you don’t like. I say, “I hold you in my heart.” My hand automatically goes to my heart, and I change. How I look at that person changes.

After all the angels and visitors at the scene of the Nativity, the Bible says, “Mary took all these things and pondered them in her heart.” This is an instruction on how to take things in your life that are unfolding. When we take things into our heart, they have been lifted.

Lao Tzu said, “If you want to be given everything, give everything up…Only by being lived by the Tao can you be truly yourself.” It means give up control—give up figuring it all out—give up thinking that worrying is how to love. Bring it to where the Divine Presence lives in our lives. It is so simply delightful to find it in those divinely frustrating times.

“I hold you in my heart.” “I hold you in my heart.” “I hold you in my heart.” For those one’s you care for, and whose struggle you know, or for those parts of you that struggle. Fortunately we get a choice. Bless you!

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August 10, 2014 – Weed Wackers

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8/10/14 Sheila Gautreaux, L.U.T.
Weed Wackers

The Parable of the Tares (Weeds), says to let the weeds grow along with the wheat until the wheat is ready for harvest. Then collect the weeds first and burn them before harvesting the wheat. Traditionally, it is understood as a lesson on good vs. evil. However, with the new Polarity thinking we get an even deeper meaning. Polarity thinking says that right/wrong, good/evil, light/dark, etc., are interdependent with each other. For example, Alaskans have their summer of constant daylight, but they need to create darkness for sleeping. You need right and left, up and down. Polarity thinking says this brings coherence.

Metaphysically, in the parable, the sower is the soul; the seeds are our thoughts or ideas (and they are real things). They are energy. The field is the world as it shows up in our reality (from our thoughts). The weeds choke off the new beliefs. The enemy is anything that comes in, like fear, doubt, feeling “less than”, or that we can never measure up. Just when we think we can grow into the new idea the enemy clicks in automatically. When we are new to learning spiritual truths the weeds crop up. But it is not good to get rid of them too soon because you could pull up the “wheat”, the new ideas, with them too.

Polarity thinking says it is no longer “you’re wrong and I’m right.” We’re both right and wrong, so what is best for our relationship, for our business, or for our community? How can we work together–the light and dark, opposing concepts–to create coherence? Can’t we discontinue bombing and the killing of whole neighborhoods just to be right? I’m right and you’re right–how can we go forward in love to bring peace for all? What can we do together to bring this new quantum leap in consciousness?

Concentrate on your wheat so that it grows strong. To do this and wack the weeds, use first, Prayer. Prayer is creating a relationship with God, our Source. Gratitude is powerful prayer, even having gratitude for our impairments, because we know something greater is there.

Secondly, use Meditation. That’s when God talks to us, and we can align ourselves with God’s guidance. Then there is Forgiveness. It is not so much letting somebody else off the hook for what they did, but letting ourselves off the hook for carrying that around 24/7. Forgiveness is your relief, your gift to you.

The HeartMath tools are the best way to bring coherence into your own life. And lastly there is Compassion. You can view Compassion, too, through Polarity thinking: the one that hurts others is also hurting, too.

As your spiritual evolution is occurring you discover who and whose you are. Don’t be so quick to pull up your weeds. As you get stronger the weeds get weaker and even merge with your “wheat”. Ask yourself, where is my abundance, my harvest? Where are my weeds? Look at them together. Be willing to have the weeds there but not let them choke off your harvest. They will diminish in time as your wheat grows stronger. Concentrate on your wheat.

Affirm, “I remember that I Am a Child of God and the Way is made clear for my Good to Manifest. I Am the Beloved of God!” Feel it. Feel the energy around you. “I Am the Beloved of God!” –And yes you are, my love!