Spiritual Solutions

Some time ago I received an email article from a friend with the title, “The Birth of the Song ‘Precious Lord’.” The article ended with the name Tommy Dorsey and appeared to infer that it was the well-known big band leader who had written the story.

The article aroused my curiosity and upon research I discovered that it was in fact Thomas Andrew Dorsey of gospel renown who wrote the story after the death of his wife, Nettie, and their newborn child in 1932. The story, sad and tragic as it is, is also a powerful and inspiring illustration of God’s grace. The article was published in the inspirational magazine Guideposts in 1987 and in the July/August 2000 edition of Hidden Wisdom magazine.

Here’s the story:

Back in 1932 I was 32 years old and a fairly new husband. My wife, Nettie, and I were living in a little apartment on Chicago’s Southside.

One hot August afternoon I had to go to St. Louis, where I was to be the featured soloist at a large revival meeting. I didn’t want to go. Nettie was in the last month of pregnancy with our first child. But a lot of people were expecting me in St. Louis. I kissed Nettie good-bye, clattered downstairs to our Model A and, in a fresh Lake Michigan breeze, chugged out of Chicago on Route 66.

However, outside the city, I discovered that in my anxiety at leaving, I had forgotten my music case. I wheeled around and headed back. I found Nettie sleeping peacefully. I hesitated by her bed; something was strongly telling me to stay. But eager to get on my way, and not wanting to disturb Nettie, I shrugged off the feeling and quietly slipped out of the room with my music.

The next night, in the steaming St. Louis heat, the crowd called on me to sing again and again. When I finally sat down, a messener boy ran up with a Western Union telegram. I ripped open the envelope. Pasted on the yellow sheet were the words: YOUR WIFE JUST DIED.

People were happily singing and clapping around me, but I could hardly keep from crying out. I rushed to a phone and called home. All I could hear on the other end was “Nettie is dead. Nettie is dead.”

When I got back, I learned that Nettie had given birth to a boy. I swung between grief and joy. Yet that night, the baby died. I buried Nettie and our little boy together, in the same casket. Then I fell apart.

For days I closeted myself. I felt that God had done me an injustice. I didn’t want to serve Him any more or write gospel songs. I just wanted to go back to that jazz world I once knew so well. But then, as I hunched alone in that dark apartment those first sad days, I thought back to the afternoon I went to St. Louis. Something kept telling me to stay with Nettie.

Was that something God? Oh, if I had paid more attention to Him that day, I would have stayed and been with Nettie when she died. From that moment on I vowed to listen more closely to Him. But still I was lost in grief.

Everyone was kind to me, especially a friend, Professor Frye, who seemed to know what I needed. On the following Saturday evening he took me up to Madam Malone’s Poro College, a neighborhood music school. It was quiet; the late evening sun crept through the curtained windows. I sat down at the piano, and my hands began to browse over the keys. Something happened to me then. I felt at peace. I felt as though I could reach out and touch God. I found myself playing a melody, one I’d never heard or played before, and the words into my head – they just seemed to fall into place:

Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on, let me stand! I am tired, I am weak, I am worn.

 Through the storm, through the night, lead me on to the light. Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.

As the Lord gave me these words and melody, He also healed my spirit. I learned that when we are in our deepest grief, hen we feel farthest from God, this is when He is closest, and when we are most open to His restoring power. And so I go on living for God willingly and joyfully, until that day comes when He will take me and gently lead me home.

- Tommy Dorsey

The song has been translated into 32 languages and was the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s favorite, the one Mahalia Jackson sang at his funeral. It was also sung by Leontyne Price at President Lyndon B. Johnson’s funeral.

Thomas Andrew Dorsey was born in Villa Rica, Georgia, on July 1, 1899. He was a blues band leader for singers including Ma Rainey, but after becoming a Christian he turned to writing gospel music, reportedly after undergoing a spiritual experience while hearing the hymn “I Do, Don’t You?” at a Baptist convention. Across the course of his lifetime he wrote more than a thousand gospel hymns, including “Say Amen,” “Somebody,” “Take My Hand” and “Peace in the Valley.” He died in Chicago on January 23, 1993.

Remember, God is Blessing You Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

—————————————————–             

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-eight years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, Spiritual Solutions.

Please feel free to publish this article in your blog or newsletter or share it with a friend, as long as you include this resource box.

If you’d like to receive weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at Rich Words.

—————————————————— 

Tweet This Post

“I have unshakable faith in the perfect outworking of every situation in my life, for God is in absolute control and all things are working together for my highest good.”

This affirmation, coined by my wife Kathryn many years ago, has helped countless people find confidence, hope, and positive outcomes in all kinds of circumstances and situations in their lives. It is my prayer that, if you use it consistently and faithfully and expectantly, you also will experience positive results in your own life.

The former Unity minister and author, Eric Butterworth has said, “This that we call faith has been much misunderstood. The Anglo-Saxon word from which we derive the word ‘faith’ means ‘to live by.’ Faith is not a theory that we hold to, but a power that holds us. It is a level of thinking by which we actually become a part of the all-accomplishing Infinite Mind.”

On this level of thinking, our mental capacity is expanded, somewhat as sunlight unfolds a flower into full bloom: capacities hitherto undreamed of are released, and the way is open to confidence, creativity, and success.

Faith is a willingness to work in the dark, to walk a trail that the heart can see but the eye cannot. It is knowing there is an ocean because you have seen a brook, that there is a Universe because you have seen a star, that there is a Father of all humankind because you have seen a man.

Faith gathers up your life, pulls it together, places foundations under it, indicates horizons around it, and points it toward goals that are definite and worthwhile.

George Santayana gave us these classic words:

“O world, thou chooseth not the better part!

It is not wisdom to be only wise,

And on the inward vision close the eyes;

But it is wisdom to believe the heart.

Columbus found a world, and had no chart

Save one that faith deciphered in the skies;

To trust the soul’s invincible surmise

Was all his science and his only art.

Our knowledge is a torch of smoky pine

That lights the pathway to but one step ahead,

Across a void of mystery and dread.

Bid, then, the tender light of faith to shine

By which alone that mortal heart is led

Unto the thinking of the thought divine.”

Faith is the acceptance of the greatness of God. We do not make God great by our faith in Him, but we become great by accepting God’s cosmic greatness, by lifting ourselves to a level of consciousness of thinking in which we act from strength instead of weakness, in which we see possibilities instead of problems.

Have you ever wondered what your life would be like if everything you tried or reached for turned out in fulfillment of your expectations? It would be a little different from the way it is now, since most of us expect so little! Most of us go through life holding a small tin cup into the Niagara of God’s plenty.

Our faith is generally shakable and most often decidedly shaky. We prepare for problems and are rarely disappointed. We are in tune with the indefinite instead of the Infinite; we are practicing the absence, instead of the presence, of God.

It is human and normal to have doubts, to question, to not always understand why something has happened or is happening. There will appear to be limits: You are too old or too young; there is too little time, not enough money, and so forth.

The world will always give you tuition, but you must take time to cultivate “in-tuition.” Jesus said, “In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Unshakable faith is a perception that is born of intuition; intuition will always reveal a way, a means, and a magical solution to the seemingly impossible.

“Fact thinking” may reveal many closed doors, but “unshakable faith thinking” shows us where the keys are. Fact thinking reveals empty vessels; unshakable faith thinking reveals upturned receptacles waiting to be filled by divine action.

You can create a vacuum for the Spirit to rush in; create a receptacle. Reach inward to the desire in your heart; form a picture of it in your mind, a picture not of emptiness but of possibility. It will be an attracting force to draw your desire to you. See it as accomplished. Believe, and let that believing consciousness go out ahead of you to lead the way.

Amazing things will happen, whether or not a “miracle” takes place in terms of an immediate demonstration. The important thing is that you will be different. You will see differently. Something will unfold in your life, making the whole process of faith a reality to you.

As George Santayana wrote, “. . . the thinking of the thought divine.” Let this unshakable faith consciousness become a whole way of thinking. This kind of faith thinking will lead you into the greatness of life that you envision for yourself and that you can live by.

Affirm for yourself, “I have unshakable faith in the perfect outworking of every situation in my life, for God is in absolute control and all things are working together for my highest good.”

Remember, God is Blessing You Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

—————————————————–             

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-eight years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, Spiritual Solutions.

Please feel free to publish this article in your blog or newsletter or share it with a friend, as long as you include this resource box.

If you’d like to receive weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at Rich Words.

—————————————————— 

Tweet This Post

(Shakespeare: “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” – Hamlet, Act II, Scene 2)

We Live in a Universe of Thought

Albert Einstein called the fundamental laws of our universe “God’s thoughts”; the latest thinking in physics supports the idea that, as Einstein’s fellow physicist Arthur Eddington said, “The stuff of the world is mind stuff.”

Swami Sivananda writes that “Thought alone is the whole world, the great pains, the old age, death and the great sin, earth, water, fire, air, ether.”

Thinking forms the stuff of our lives: the ideas that guide us, the technology that connects us, the wars that divide us, our jobs, homes, clothes, entertainments.

Thinking Shapes our Personal Responses

Thinking shapes our personal responses to this mind stuff.

Swami Sivananda; “Thought binds a man. Whoever controls his thoughts, is a veritable God on this earth.”

Our lives and affairs are completely influenced and shaped by the character of our thoughts. We are not limited by God’s will or by heredity or environment or by fate or circumstance – but by our own dominant state of mind.

The Unity writer, Imelda Shanklin, wrote: “Your mind is your world. Your thoughts are the tools with which you carve your life story on the substance of the Universe. When you rule your mind you rule your world. When you choose your thoughts you choose results. Your life is what you think: Think straight, and life will become straight for you.”

William H. Peck once said, “Your morning thoughts may determine your conduct for the entire day.” Optimistic thoughts will make your day bright and productive, while pessimistic ones will make it dull and wasteful. It seems practical and advisable to face each day cheerfully, smilingly, courageously, so that your tasks will be a pleasure to perform and progress will be a delightful accomplishment.

Think in the Heart

The Pueblo Indians told Carl Jung that all Americans are crazy. Of course he was somewhat astonished and asked them why. They said, “Well, they say they think in their heads. No sound man thinks in his head. We think in the heart.”

In Proverbs 23:7 we read “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he” (KJV)

To “think in the heart” is a form of higher seeing, or insight. Ralph Waldo Emerson speaks of this higher seeing as true prayer when he says that prayer is “the contemplation of the facts of life from the highest point of view.”

Charles Fillmore, in Atom-Smashing Power of Mind, speaking of this kind of thinking, says, “Every thought of goodness makes a place, a form, and sets up a friendly habit in the mind that is permanent and that in your time of need ministers to you. . . .  

“Your thoughts give back results of the same nature as themselves. If in the silence you have earnestly held to the pure and good, you have built in you a place for the pure and good. Every true thought has made a place in your mind.”

In Philippians 4:8, Paul instructs us in this way: “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

And Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, a master of Chabad mysticism, put it even more simply: “Think good and it will be good.”

In other words, look for the good and you will find it. For, as Charles Fillmore has said, the Spirit of good is working through you.

The apostle Paul sums it up this way: “You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on your hearts, to be known and read by all men; and you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”     (2 Cor. 3:2-3)

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

—————————————————–             

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-eight years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, Spiritual Solutions.

Please feel free to publish this article in your blog or newsletter or share it with a friend, as long as you include this resource box.

If you’d like to receive weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at Rich Words.

—————————————————— 

Tweet This Post

The slow-burning anger, frustration, annoyance, exasperation, resentment and irritation that we frequently experience toward others is one of the most troublesome and common personal problems to be met and handled in our fast-moving and complicated modern life. Understand that we are all human; certain things and certain people get to us at times.

But let me ask you, “Who is it in your life that irritates you most? Who do you resent the most?” Before you come to a conclusion you had better look in a mirror, because basically we all are our own worst enemies, our own worst problems. After a lifetime of meeting and working with all sorts of people, Dwight L. Moody said, “In all my years the one person I have had the most trouble with is Dwight L. Moody.” That could well be said of each of us. So, it is in the conquest of self that we can conquer irritation and resentment.

In a recent Daily Word message, it points out that accumulating resentments is like picking up rocks and putting them in our pocket and if we collect rocks and hold on to them day after day and month after month, we feel the burden grow. When we refuse to let resentments go, we are weighed down by the hurt and anger we carry.

When things disturb us it is because we have vested these things, or persons, with the power to do so. Nothing by itself could have this power. When we seem irritable and vulnerable, it is because we are putting forward the wrong side of our nature; as it is often described we “got up on the wrong side of the bed.” Jesus put it this way, “If any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Though this advice is not easy for everyone to follow, it is a tremendous, never-fail formula for overcoming irritation and resentment.

We each have two levels of consciousness, the human and the divine. When we are feeling irritable or resentful it is because we are meeting life from a very human level with a very low vibration. We must turn the other cheek, as it were, to the other side of our nature, the divine side, where we can be non-resistant, loving and forgiving.

You can meet life as a sponge or as a light. Don’t be a sponge, soaking up all the mishaps and annoyances. Remember that life is lived from inside out; let your light shine and deal with the day’s happenings from the diviner side of your nature. You can bring to each day an attitude that is positive and constructive and it will attract to you more desirable happenings and experiences with those around you. Develop the knack of being dispassionate and objective so that when someone affronts you, you will say to yourself, “What emotional conflict does he have? What trouble is in her life? This is better than reacting with “Why did he do that to me?” Cut off the “to me” and wonder instead, “Why did she do that?” Be a mental blessing to your offender in this manner.

In Luke 21:19 we read, “By your endurance you will gain your lives.” Another translation reads, “In your patience you possess your soul.”

Be sure that you possess your soul and make sure you are not possessed by a host of petty shortcomings and aggravations in the world around you. Jesus said, “Enter into the inner chamber and close the door.” Take time occasionally to go into that inner place to find that source of peace unreachable by the temporal problems of the world.

Another great teaching of the Bible, found in Romans 12:21, says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” If there is something that seems to be rubbing you the wrong way, cover it with the power of love and understanding. No matter what the other person does, enfold him or her in your blessing. There’s tremendous power in doing this, if, of course, you are sincere. Look beyond appearances to the diviner level of people’s nature and relate to it.

If you cannot bring yourself to forgive and lovingly permit an impersonal view of irritating people and matters, then face it; there is work to be done with yourself. You are irritated because you are irritable. So turn the other cheek; get into the other state of consciousness. Say to yourself, “Father, forgive me for expecting in the human that which is found only in the divine.”

Then let your light shine consistently, turning the other cheek when feeling offense; maintain an objective attitude toward people and things and seek to help them rather than taking their annoyances personally. In this way you possess your own soul and will be filled with tranquility, equanimity, and imperturbability, an attitude of mind that all the great of the world have developed. We can all work toward that development in ourselves.

God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

—————————————————–             

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-eight years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, Spiritual Solutions.

Please feel free to publish this article in your blog or newsletter or share it with a friend, as long as you include this resource box.

If you’d like to receive weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at Rich Words.

——————————————————   

Tweet This Post