spirituality

May 27, 2012 – Celebrating the Gifts and the Source

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5/27/12 Rev. David McArthur

We are spiritual beings, working on expanding our awareness, but our minds focus on the concrete. If you really want to know, you have to give up your judgment of how things look. Jesus said, “Do not work for food which spoils, but food which does not spoil.” It starts by a shift to awareness of the Source, from which the goodness flows. A shift to the awareness of your connection to the presence of the divine. When you focus on the giver, the Source, the true gifts are known.

Even in great pain from losing a loved one or from suffering tremendous guilt, value the beautiful life there. See the gift that was given. See the gift in the willingness of an addict to say, “I need help.” See the gift of those who can provide the skills for recovery and healing. God is good all the time. When we see the real gifts, we recognize the source and can touch it with our hearts.

You might ask, is there goodness when a wonderful being dies young? A life whose promise would never be fulfilled? You hear the answer, “It’s only God, and God is absolute goodness, so it’s all good.” That’s a hard teaching. But would you rather not have had the wonderful time with this person just to avoid your sorrow? What was there was the gift of goodness. It doesn’t mean we don’t travel through pain, through loss. But when we see the real gift, we touch the soul. Look for the real gift, even if the part of the journey you are on is difficult now. Look for the Giver, the Source, always there caring for you throughout your life.

Enjoy the gift; enjoy the giver!

May 20, 2012 – Pinocchio – The Choice That Leads to Mastery

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5/20/12 Rev. David McArthur

We desire to master the material realm to draw forth all we need so we can accomplish what we came for, and to master our spiritual being to bring forth our very highest. In a marvelous story, “Pinocchio”, Geppetto, a creator symbol, brings forth this limited being, Pinocchio. Given life, he first has to master the experience of growth. He joyfully goes to school, but this is a world of choice and, like we do, Pinocchio gets sidetracked by fame and fortune. When he wants to go back home, he isn’t allowed to leave; he is caged. There is something which happens when we give our power to something outside of ourselves– we can’t go home.

Jesus said, “You cannot serve two masters.” Not both faith and things. Pinocchio goes back to school—but then, again, leaves for Pleasure Island. He joins a group which tells him what to want. When our validation comes from outside, we lie to ourselves. What will fulfill you? Out there, “they” tell you, expressing their ideas. We want to cover up our fears by getting “their” approval. We need to learn self awareness, become aware that we had been experiencing “fact”, not cause.

We are not our animal body. We were on our journey long before developing that. Pinocchio, expressing his animal awareness, becomes a donkey and has to go down into the mine to work, out of the light. It wasn’t easy, but he ran from the island. He returns home, but it is empty, Geppetto is not there. This is one of the most difficult parts of our journey. It is the dark night of the soul, when you look within and do not find a presence there. It is when we have entered into the density, the belief that we find validation without. We have looked outward because the fear of lack and separation is greater than awareness of our God. You have to look deep into your fears in your subconscious, the ocean, and Monstro, the whale dives deep. Pinocchio, swallowed by the whale, finds Creator—Geppetto—who doesn’t become powerful and make everything better—no, he just loves Pinocchio, just the way he is. Love transforms Pinocchio, and the presence flows through him. He builds a fire, the transformative power, which provides the way out. Pinocchio dies (to the belief he is the physical) but is brought back to life by the Blue fairy, who brings awareness of his spiritual power. From choosing love, he becomes a real live boy, as we become real live spiritual beings able to allow the flow of love within, of overcoming fear of lack and separation.  We came to take the part of real live spiritual beings, and live “happily ever after”.

May 13, 2012 – The Divine Mother Feeling

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5/13/12 Rev. David McArthur

There are many paths of spiritual growth. Motherhood is one of them. Fondly, we recall our mothers’ counsel and comfort. “If this is the worst thing that happens to us today, then we’ll be ok.” “If you ever want something, come and talk to me.” And even on her deathbed, one mother rallied herself to open her eyes and tell her daughter, “Everything is just fine.”

Author Patricia Grabow, recounting some of the most difficult times in her life, stated, “There’s something about hugging your mother after you’ve come through a bad time yourself.” When you hug your mother, you are stepping into the energy, the aura, that is Mother—the expression of divine mother. You are in the arms of the one who has said, “Yes, I’ll be mother to you.” No matter the journey and mistakes you’ve made. It is tangible. You can feel the love.

Your mother is that expression. It is an amazing gift to you that she allows the divine presence of love to flow through her in spite of her difficulties. Sometimes, struggling through difficult patterns herself, her ability to allow the flow was severely limited; sometimes she was just not able to allow the flow at all. As you recall those moments, hold yourself in compassion; hold your mother in compassion. Open to that divine mother who gave birth to your divine, infinite being. Allow that love to heal you and to heal your mother.

And there is always mother’s wisdom. No mother would put their child to bed on the top bunk in Super man jammies. Even as the family around the dinner table complains of their many failures that day, she declares “Let’s celebrate! If it’s true that from our biggest failures we learn the most, then today was great—we learned a lot!” It is that you were loved by Mom just because you are. She lets that divine love flow through to you.

We all have this divine mother in us. Affirm, “The divine mother’s love fills my heart and flows through my life!” That makes this a very happy and blessed Mother’s Day. Bless you!

May 6, 2012 – Tithing – Tool of Abundance

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5/6/12 Rev. David McArthur

There’s more than just meditation. There are other tools. Chas. Fillmore, in Prosperity, said “It is perfectly logical to assume that a wise and competent Creator would provide for the needs of His creatures in their various stages of growth… Temporal needs would be met by temporal things, mental needs by things of like character, and spiritual needs by spiritual elements.” In the physical, the spiritual tool is giving. The primary, central tool is tithing to open to and touch that level of vibration, but the teaching of tithing has been much abused.

Tithing is protective in nature, not allowing us to get involved with lack. When you start, you shift your relationship with God. You’re saying, “I know I’ll be taken care of, so I can give this back to God.” It affects all aspects. Finances stabilize. You shift from a frightened child asking for protection, to that of an adult partnering with God. It’s not about winning the lottery, but of getting on with your life. There is nothing that isn’t already given you. You are loved whether you tithe or not. The question is, are you going to let it flow through you or will you “get and hold”? It’s about “attunement”. There is only one mind.

A Quaker church in the 1940’s experimented with the law, and planted one cubic inch of wheat. After tithing it’s yield they planted the remaining 9/10’s. They continued for six years. The tithe alone at the end exceeded what would have normally been the whole amount gained without tithing! A mathematician among them projected that if the process continued for 6 more years, there was not enough land on earth to plant the twelfth year’s 9/10 of wheat.

Are you willing to have an expanded flow in your life? Malachi 3:10, “ ‘Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.’ ”

April 29, 2012 – Snow White & the Codependent Queen

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4/29/12 Rev. David McArthur

Snow White symbolizes a part of our spiritual growth. She loses her parents (the knowledge of who we really are). We lose this as we grow up and our feminine (feeling) side follows false outside values. “Mirror, mirror…” The Snow White part of ourselves is the beautiful, pure experience of touching the divine in our soul, and the harmony of recognizing the beautiful qualities of those around us. If we look without for the world to tell us we are right, then we have conflict when we find out we are not “the fairest”.

But you cannot kill the soul. So Snow White is sent into the forest (our subconsciousness); we cannot see what’s in there So we stay with what we see “out there”. When we feel we are “not good enough”, we send our Snow White part into the subconscious (the forest). We give over our authority to the wicked Queen. That which we value most highly in ourselves, the ability to touch the beauty—the divine—is suppressed.

When you choose that which is right for you, you come into conflict with your culture, your outside values, and “the wicked Queen” brings a poison apple. Not everyone’s poison apple is the same. Anita Moorjani, was born in India into a society which devalued women. To survive she became a people pleaser. She wrote, “I…feared this approval. Everything I did was for others’ approval, not my own. I lost myself. The fears were the poison.” When, literally, her poison (cancer) was killing her, she had a near death experience. Transformed, she was cancer free in days. What was found, she said, was that “I am magnificent!…Love, joy, ecstasy, and awe poured through me. I was swallowed up and enveloped in more love than I ever knew existed.” What frees the Snow White in us from the forest is the love. The Prince is our ability to focus, which, as the Prince, you command. And as the Prince, you give permission by acknowledging your need to be lovable and to be loved, and we discover we are loved!

Repeat, “I am lovable. I am loved. I am love.” Yes you are! And when you know that, you create that state of consciousness known as “happily ever after!”

April 15, 2012 – Happiness Through Service

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4/15/12 Rev. David McArthur

There are cycles in our spiritual growth where we need to be filled up, to be healed. We open to Spirit and let that divine love flow to us, in us. The next part to know is it keeps on flowing when we give it away. Albert Schweitzer said, “The ones among you who will be truly happy are the ones among you who have sought and found how to serve.”

Grace was a vibrant young co-ed when she came down with polio. But she met and married a wonderful man, a delightful being, David. The polio kept them from having children but they felt the need to give. They opened themselves to adopting an “unadoptable” child. Eventually they had seven children of all colors and special needs and made a wonderful family. Unable to personally care for more, they created an adoption agency for other such children.

Grace is a paraplegic. David lovingly gets her up every morning and places her gently in her wheelchair. She is unable to do anything from the shoulders down, but she said, “Yes, I can care for a child.” Surely she had no plans to raise seven, each with special needs, but they brought them into a home where they’d be loved. She wrote, “I was overwhelmed by the wealth that was ours.”

Through service we experience the fulfillment of joy and happiness when we open to divine love. Mahatma Ghandi said, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself through service to others.” We each reach a point where we are ready to expand. The way to expand that life and energy that flows through us is to give.

Jesus said, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

That tremendous gift you have to let the light which you are flow not just to you, but through you, means everyone of us can experience that deep fulfillment and joy simply by letting it flow through us in service to others.

April 8, 2012 – Awakening

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4/8/12 Rev. David McArthur

“Awakening”

Spring! New life! —then there’s the resurrection thing. Some of us are skeptical; some need to know how it happened. Well, He did it as the Son of God—and so are you Sons and Daughters of God, as He is “The Elder Brother”. In Unity we recognize He went before. That means there is something in there that you can do.

Anita Moorjani, born to a Hindu family in India, was raised in Hong Kong. She went to Catholic school and was exposed to many cultures in Hong Kong, and grew up to become a professional. Then she developed cancer. Not wanting chemo, she looked elsewhere for healing. But the deterioration continued to advance until she went into a coma. Her doctor was shocked how close to death she was. She had only a few hours to live. Anita “awakened”, feeling no pain, but could not communicate. Bt she felt finally awakened, her soul finally realizing its true magnificence, expanding/awakening to a greater awareness of total love greater than anything imagined. She knew she could go further into this experience of radiant love and freedom, or she could return to her body, sick and full of pain. Then she knew there was a purpose to her return. “I learned who I really was and recognized the true magnificence of who I really was.”

She is not an exception—you too are that magnificence. You are holy, like Jesus. That’s who you really are! Affirm, “I am magnificent!” Take a hold of that amazing power! Anita went back to heal in not months or weeks, but days to be cancer free. “I understood my body was only a reflection of my internal state.”

Is that what went on for Jesus? He might have realized how magnificent He was and how that power was His and He could step back into that body knowing that magnificence! Anita was cancer free in four days! That’s resurrection! It comes from knowing who you are. When you know that—your body, your relationships, your finances, your creativity reflect that magnificence. “I am magnificent!” You truly are! Happy Easter!

April 1, 2012 – Street Spiritual…I Am Love

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4/1/12 Rev. David McArthur

It is our connection with God which takes care of us—that love that is God, that love that you are. However, you do have to deal with things and people who don’t seem to know you are spiritual. But since God is good all the time, even those things are good. Still, the mind wants to sort through things, so we do blame and guilt; we feel shame and failure, no matter how spiritual we are. So when you don’t feel good about something, it’s the “me” that needs the help. Deal with yourself instead of the situation.

Focus on divine love. You can go from anguish to overwhelming peace when you connect with that spiritual presence and power. Emma Curtis Hopkins said, “Everything is really full of love for you. The good that is for you loves you as much as you love it. The good that is for you seeks you and will come flying to you if you see that what you love is love itself. All people will change when you know that they are love. We shall change toward all people when we know that we ourselves are formed out of love. All is love. There is nothing in this universe but love.”

When we are in the place where we are not experiencing our connection with God, when we are really attracted to who’s responsible, who’s guilty, who’s to blame, who’s right, it takes a few steps to get that connection. First remember “I am lovable!” Even when you’ve done your best to mess it all up! Second, acknowledge “I am loved!” You cannot do anything to not be loved. That’s the only power you don’t get! You are a beautiful, radiant child of God!

Third, there’s just the love. You are the love. All that you are is love. It’s what you are. And you are the creator of love. That’s what we’re here to learn. That’s our journey—to find out there’s just love. That’s all that’s real.

Say, “I am lovable. I am loved. I am love.”

Yes you are!

March 25, 2012 – When Things Get Tough…Breathe

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3/25/12 Rev. Sheila Gautreaux

Everyday breathing is not consciously thought of. However, there is so much power in the breath when we do think about it.

In the book of Genesis, when the Creator made the most complex creation—human kind—He breathed into it the “breath of life”. And after His resurrection, Jesus stood among His disciples and “Then He breathed on them and said, ‘receive ye the Holy Spirit.’” (John 20-22) It inspired them and gave them the ability to go forth and create. Charles Fillmore said that the inflow of the breath corresponds to the in-spiration of the spiritual life.
In Messages from the Body, Michael J. Lincoln says when people have trouble breathing, it is a longing for mother love. The Holy Spirit is the Divine Feminine. Breath in and be comforted by the Divine Mother. Connect with your Momma—breath in consciously that comfort you desire—the Mother Love which is right there. It is breathing you. Rest in the breath of God and be sure all is well.

When feeling lack, limitation, or financial trouble, stop and breathe. Take in Divine Inspiration. For health challenges it can restore the cells and make you well. Whatever the condition of your life. Why sit there and be freaked out? Breathe. Why let your power be taken away? Breathe and call upon the Holy Spirit. “Come Holy Spirit.” Let the Divine Mother comfort you. Feel something happening in your body. “Breathe in me, breath of God!” Breathe away all unforgiveness, resentment, anxiety. “Breathe in me, breath of God!” The breath of God is breathing you; know all is well.

Conscious  awareness of the breath is key—to peace, freedom, wellness, prosperity. Every goodness is available to you through conscious breathing. Whatever the challenge, all healing is available to you. Breathe!

March 18, 2012 – Oneness Through All Paths

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3/18/12 Rev. David McArthur

Oneness — It’s at the root of our spiritual journey. Emilie Cady wrote that man is at first living in the selfish, animal part of himself and will grow up into Divine or Spiritual Understanding to know his oneness with the Father, like Jesus when he said, “The Father and I are one.”

But there’s another thing, how do we do it?  Where is the oneness? When the Spiritual Self awakens, we experience a deep desire for connection with what has been expressed as the Divine.  Man’s limited understanding has tried to explain it in the terms of our various cultures.  Throughout the Ages, great teachers or guides have come to the people to explain this longing for connection with the Divine in the terms of each of our various cultures. They all taught on a level that was not fully apparent to ordinary people and so people have spent millennia trying to figure out what they said, which of course led to differences of opinion about what they meant and that led to most of the wars humanity has fought.

In the “Bhagavad Gita” from the Hindu tradition, we see Prince Arjuna just before his army goes to battle. He has family and friends on both sides, and expresses anguish over the coming slaughter.  God, in the form of Lord Krishna, his Charioteer, loses no time to use this “teaching moment”.  He tells Arjuna to not worry, that he must do his duty in the battle, and that all those who will die that day have chosen death and will return again (reincarnate), as they must.

WHAT??  Did he just tell Arjuna to just go ahead and slaughter his family and friends? Gandhi’s great teachings state that the “Bhagavad Gita” was the world’s greatest teaching of non-violence.  In his metaphysical interpretation, the conflict between the “armies” is actually within ourselves.  How can we harm another when it is really ourselves?

All religions teach the same things: prayer, meditation, spiritual service, love. There is only division if we choose to see division.  If we are aware of oneness, we see oneness. There is no separation, no difference.  There is only One.  As we always recite at the beginning of our services; “There is only One Presence and One Power in the Universe and in my life.  The All-Loving Goodness of God.”