Yesterday, when I went for my morning walk as the sun was rising, I became vividly aware of the wet grass shining and sparkling like millions of diamonds as they reflected the light of the sun. And the strong, solid trunks of the trees stood like sentinels over the moment.

I was struck by the beauty of the new day and all its possibilities. The early morning sun seemed to be reflected in the smiles and greetings of the people I met along the way, and as I walked I thought about each new day as being a new dawning in each of our lives.

Are you discouraged? Is your life monotonous and humdrum? If so, you are missing a great deal; let’s do something about it. If you look upon life as a routine experience, then today will probably be just another day to you.

Try greeting the new day with a smile. Let the dawning sun be reflected into the faces and the hearts of those with whom you come in contact.

Someone has said, “Nothing on earth can smile but a human being.”

Wet grass and gems may flash reflected light and catch our awareness, but what is this compared to the flash of the eye? Flowers cannot smile; this is a charm that even the loveliest blossoms cannot claim. It is the prerogative of a human being. Love, cheerfulness, joy, these three are like lights in the window by which the heart signifies it is at home and waiting. A face that cannot smile is like a bud that cannot bloom, that dries up on the stalk.

Consider each dawning of a new day as the beginning of new life for you. Know that not a single self-imposed limitation of yesterday can prevail in your new day. The world is yours. You have power within you to conquer every situation. Everything lies before you. As the Bible says, “I have put all things under your feet.” (Ps. 8:6) You stand right now, this very moment, at the threshold of opportunity.

Believe that each morning heralds a new existence for you. Can you think of yourself as being reincarnated each night, invested with new wisdom and strength, empowered with new might to accomplish whatever you set out to do?

Think of yourself as being brought into a new world with the blessing that everything that happens to you during the day is to contribute to your highest good. Think of yourself as having a charmed life, of bearing within you the essence of divinity, the power to do all things.

Have you wanted to meet new friends? You may have thought yourself weary of your old ones. What could be finer than seeing all friends as new friends? Such they will be when you look upon them with a fresh, understanding gaze.

Possibly, by the time you have gone through this day and night has arrived, you will think you could have improved upon your living of today. If that is the case, remember that tomorrow’s dawning will arrive with another fresh opportunity. Just be sure that you do not condemn yourself for your mistakes or failures of today. At tomorrow’s daybreak, another new life will unfold before you.

Do you not rather like this philosophy of a new world dawning every day? Do you not desire to live for an eternity, in order to see what these worlds have in store for you? This is what is necessary in order to live life to the fullest – you must see life in the right perspective; you must approach each day with an uplifted heart. You may think it looks pretty much the same as it did yesterday, that today presents just as many problems, that things look just as hopeless and discouraging, that today there is no clearer path to better things than there was yesterday. If that is the case, then you need to busy yourself with right thoughts.

Dismiss yesterday in your mind as nothing but an experience that held a helpful lesson. Start today with the idea that today is new, created for your use. Let today appear to you as much finer, a better potential for grating you blessing. Try thinking of today as the very best day of your life. Then, be happy and joyful in it. Set your mind and heart on your ability to take a new hold on life.

Your life is enriched to the extent that you live in the present. The present moment is the only time recognized by the spirit within you and the Creator of the universe. You must grasp opportunities right now. You must take a new hold on yourself now; you must enjoy your present blessings now.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Live now, right now. Let this be your new outlook: only the present contains true reality; only the present offers you opportunity. Fill your mind right now, today, with new ideas, ideals, and interests. And remember this: you are greater than any experience that comes to you. You are greater than any circumstance that seems to surround you or fill your life. You have the ability to solve your problem. Live in the world of today.

Remember, God is Blessing You Right Now!

The Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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

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Are you bogged down in the belief in sickness and impotence? Then right now bring yourself to the present moment, and become aware that you can use your God given dominion over all things. God’s spirit of life, dynamic energizing life, dwells within you. It is there, and you have only to call it forth, put it into action, and you will begin to manifest perfect health in spirit, mind, and body.

Perhaps you have allowed yourself to be handicapped by fear and indecision. The first thing to do is to take your mind off the problem and perplexities and fix your faith in God. When you place your affairs in the Father’s loving care, all anxieties cease. Worrying incapacitates us for meeting life’s crises.

Use your faith, declare your dominion now. In II Corinthians 6:2 we read, “Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” And Jesus said, “Do you not say, ‘There are four months, then comes the harvest’? I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see how the fields are already white for harvest.” (John 4:35)

Instead of having faith that sometime in the future your healing might take place, you can exercise your faith now, give thanks that your healing is already taking place and accept it now. “This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Ps. 118:24)

God is ever with you. Let Him quicken your mind, put the proper tools in your hands and lead you in the right decision. Through the guidance of the indwelling power of God you will be able to say the right word and do the right thing in every situation that may confront you.

If you seem to be weighed down by some circumstance, a steadfast faith in God will help you to lift up your head and to face the situation unafraid and confident. God’s omnipotent power is yours. God’s love surrounds you. His light is within you to guide you.

Perhaps you’ve allowed yourself to be fettered by hatred, resentment or suspicion. Turn your eyes instead upon the blessings of life and the blessedness of other human beings. If you feel that you’ve been treated unfairly, misused, or abused, it‘s time to exercise forgiveness. Then put it out of your mind. The only reality in any situation is the thought we have concerning it, the way we feel about it. This is the law of life.

“Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely . . . think on these things.” (Phil. 4:8) Put the unpleasant thoughts right out of your mind by thinking of God’s goodness and greatness and love. Bless the person who has seemingly injured you. Behold the Christ in him or her.

Could it be that you have neglected the power of prayer? Prayer is the open sesame to the joys and riches of the kingdom, and yet we fail to use it.

Many marvelous answers to prayer have been outlined through the spontaneous faith of persons utterly unlearned in theology, psychology or metaphysics.

Remember the woman who came to Jesus for healing, hoping to push through the crowd to touch the hem of his garment without speaking or even being blessed by him? She probably knew nothing about the working of faith, but she had the secret of prayer. She had absolute faith, the courage to act, and the simplicity to accept. She used the necessary means. She believed if she could but touch the master, the healing would follow. And, confident in that faith, she pressed on, touched him, and was healed.

Simplicity of faith is the thing that always gets an answer, sometimes in the form of immediate, even seeming miraculous results. Sometimes, it may come slowly. Sometimes we lose patience and our faith grows weak. If we become faint hearted and fall back in our faith, then we must try again. Long years of wrong thinking, of imperfect practice, have often made deep grooves in the brain. It takes effort and continued practice before change.

Don’t be discouraged. Never give up. Keep faith in the latent powers within you. Remember those who have overcome insurmountable handicaps, and keep constantly in mind that you too can overcome. And you don’t have to wait. Whether your faith is small or great it is the key to riches of which you never dreamed. Remind yourself that “now is the acceptable time.”

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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

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“Guidance” is a common word in our day. Everyone seeks some kind of guidance: guidance for children, for adolescents, for marriage relationships, for the businessperson, and so forth. Occasionally, someone might suggest the idea of spiritual or “Divine” guidance.

Unfortunately, that suggestion may be looked upon with distrust, simply because the term “Divine guidance” is usually related to the magical, mystical or psychic. Yet there is an almost instinctive feeling in every person that there is a “Something” beyond personal prejudices, different from the mental state of worry and concern, and that this “Something” can be reached.

But this feeling for the “Something” has often been dealt with on the level of superstition. Thus, many persons look for guidance through a sign or leading, all the way from the flipping of a coin to reading the stars or the numbers, the cards, the tea leaves or the crystal ball, and then on to Indian guides and spirit readings. This is not to put down any of these pseudo-sciences, but rather to point up the fact that involvement in them is a subtle form of self put-down.

If any person evidences, even in a brief showing, some kind of inner direction or direct knowing, it is often identified as ESP or psychic phenomenon or spirit guidance. This is to malign our potential as a spiritual being, and to deny the inherent flow of guidance within us that is just as natural as the instinct of animals. Remember this dynamic statement from the book of Job: “There is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty gives him understanding.” So why do we refuse to accept this inner knowing?

Maybe it is that religion has not really dealt with the whole of the person. The dictionary defines “religion” as “divine revelation for human guidance.” But most religions have become exteriorly oriented, dealing with God “out there” or “up there.” We may be told in impassioned sermons that our need is “to find God.” But God is not to be found – for God is not lost. 

It is not God’s hiddenness, but our blindness that is the problem. We live in a state of ceaseless guidance, in a field of Infinite knowingness, but we are blind and deaf to the process. Emerson says, “There is guidance for each of us, and by lowly listening we shall hear the right word.”

To find God, to understand God, we need to expand our thoughts to the realization of the omnipresence of God and then know, in the words of former Unity minister and author Eric Butterworth, “The whole of Spirit is present at every point in space at the same time, and in its entirety.” There is no distance between us and God. There is nowhere to go to get guidance or inspiration or creativity. We are in it, all of it, all the time!

Divine guidance, or spiritual guidance or “direct knowing” is the same as getting an immediate answer to prayer in time of need. It is but another way of explaining the work of intuition. The ancient wise ones called these occurrences “illumination.” The mystics called them “showings.” Many call them “leadings.” But again we lose the real idea if we see these things as some kind of special access to the inner secrets of the Universe, or some kind of psychism or divination.

The term “Voice of God” is purely a poetic expression. It is found all through the Bible.   And it has been terribly misleading for many people. The classic instance is Moses’ experience at the burning bush. “God called to him out of the bush: ‘Moses, Moses!’” This was an experience of direct knowing. The Bible writers used highly symbolic language and overstatement, such as describing locusts as big as giants that jumped from hill to hill. So they are saying in this passage about Moses that it was a knowing so clear that it was as if God was actually talking to him.

Remember, “The Father knows even before you ask Him”; “Before they call, I will answer.” This means that God is present – always and in all ways. God knows. God knows in you, for you. Knowing is, and it is at hand. It is now. The way out (the way to escape the difficulties at hand) is at hand.

But this guidance or direct knowing comes into consciousness most easily through a mind that is uncluttered with the known. If you know about a lot of things, it is difficult to know the Truth, which is to know the Knower. A creative mind, or a mind in a creative experience, is so involved in knowing that it lets go of what others know about, even if they know about things that indicate impossibilities.

Most people have preconceived notions which they bring into their prayer time. They have a strong idea of what they want to have happen, and often, even in seeking guidance they are actually looking for “Divine approval” of something they have already determined to do. To have the mind full of preconceived notions, even images and treasure maps representing outlined goals, is to frustrate the process of direct knowing.

The important thing to remember is that wherever you are, God is. The whole of Spirit, the Holy Spirit, is present in its entirety at every point in space at the same time. Spirit is present, as presence. All-knowing is present. The answer to your dilemma is present – here and now. There is nowhere to go, nothing to reach for, and no one to contact and plead with.

Prayer is communion, oneness, a listening. “Be still and know that I am God.” When you know that I AM is God, you humble yourself to listen; you expect to be guided. In childlike faith, you know the Knower within you that is always present.

Remember, God is Blessing You Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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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.

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Harry Houdini, a great escape artist in the early part of the twentieth century who claimed he could escape through any locked door of a cell, vault or submerged trunk in three and a half minutes, explained some of his escape methods in his memoirs.

In one very famous incident, he was challenged to get out of a state-of-the-art bank vault in London. All his clothing was checked before he went in the vault. But it was in his contract that any time he was going to do an escape exhibit; he was able to kiss his wife goodbye because he never knew if he was going to get out again. On this particular occasion as he kissed his wife goodbye, his wife passed a little wire from her mouth to his. So when he went down into the bank vault he had a piece of watch spring in his mouth and, when everyone left him to try to get out, he took the watch spring and started to pick the lock on that vault door.

Usually he could hear the clicks as he worked on a lock but this time after working on it for one minute, he didn’t hear any clicks. He was puzzled. He kept trying, but still no clicks and time was passing quickly.

He got to two minutes and thought, “I’m going to fail this; I only have a minute and a half left. All the press is here, it’s the height of my fame and here I am; I haven’t been able to do it yet.” Usually he would do it in half the time.

It got to three minutes and he was no closer. He was sweating profusely, so he reached in his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his forehead and attempt to open the lock in the last thirty seconds. As he pulled out the handkerchief, he accidently leaned against the vault door – and it opened! It wasn’t even locked. The people who put him in there had forgotten to lock the door.

But in his mind even though the door was not locked, until he leaned against it by accident, it was locked.

When we are facing obstacles in our lives we are often in that same state of mind; we think we are locked in to a particular state of being. And yet all we have to do is keep moving forward and push on that door, and we find that it wasn’t locked at all.

Freedom is always present, but we have to be willing to push the door; we have to discover that we can move through that obstacle, through that barrier, or under it, or over it, or around it. We have to keep moving forward.

In the year 1985, twenty-five years ago, I became a naturalized citizen of the United States at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s home in Virginia.

We drove our car up to Monticello from Roanoke, Virginia, where we lived and worked as ministers of Unity Church of Roanoke Valley. Forty-two members of our church rented a bus to take them to the ceremony; they all had little flags to wave for this very special occasion.

In the process of applying for citizenship, taking the required tests, and then attending the naturalization ceremony, I had some trepidation; I thought after all that preparation I may not get accepted as a citizen because I had lost my green card.

On becoming a naturalized citizen you have to surrender your green card, or alien registration card, before you can become a citizen. I could not find that card anywhere; it was not in my wallet in its usual place, and I scoured the house but couldn’t find it.

I said to Kathryn, “Well, let’s just go anyway. We’ll just go up there and see what happens. They may not take me, but we’ve got to follow through on this process.” So we went up there and there were people from a great many different countries coming into citizenship. Everyone was in line, getting their papers in order. The Daughters of the American Revolution were helping process the people and I saw everyone handing in their green card.

I got up there and the person before me said, “Have you got your green card?” And I responded, “I’m sorry, but I have mislaid it or lost it somewhere.” She said, “Oh! Well, don’t worry about it; if you find it you can send it in to us.” After all that concern it was so easily resolved.

Our fears often keep us from enjoying the freedom that is naturally ours. Things happen, but we need to know that our freedom can never really be taken away from us because the true freedom is within us.

We often think that things have to be let go of in order to have freedom; we can’t have freedom if we have sickness, we can’t have freedom if we’re tied to a certain job, we can’t have freedom if we’re not getting along with our spouse, or whatever it might be. We relate freedom to escape, of escaping from something.

True freedom is not escape; true freedom is finding spiritual resources within ourselves; we can change our attitude, we can change the way we think about something, and then the situation itself can change.

Victor Frankl, the Viennese psychiatrist, talked about his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp. He said it was amazing in these awful and debasing conditions that the people would not surrender in their minds; they were able to think the thoughts that they wanted to think. He said it was amazing, that there were people who were kind to everyone and would give their last crust of bread to someone else, or would share a kind word or a smile, in the midst of those conditions. They determined what they were going to think; they were not going to let circumstances determine what they thought.

We too can recognize that, in any condition, we can choose the thoughts that we think and we can choose the attitudes we have. We don’t have to be controlled by circumstances or by people; we can choose what we want to think.

The freedom is where you are, not somewhere else. There is a freedom that you can have now, and that’s the freedom I believe Jesus was talking about when he said, “If you know the truth, then the truth will make you free.”

You can make your choice of how you will think about a situation, and that choice can be better or bitter; it’s up to you. The gift of choice that each of us has is a great gift of God.

So let’s be creative in thinking about our freedom. Let’s think about it as freedom to be, freedom to draw on those spiritual resources in the midst of whatever we are facing. When you are facing something, don’t try to escape from it, decide to be strong, decide to understand, and decide to find a way that is transcendent. You’ll move right on through the situation; and find yourself free.

Remember, God is Blessing You Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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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.

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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

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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.

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“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.

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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

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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.

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It happens to all of us. Perhaps you may be looking forward to attaining some goal or moving toward something you want to accomplish and things don’t go just as you planned; obstacles come up, you have setbacks, you have discouragements, you have disappointments.

We have to know how to meet those things.

When obstacles come into our lives there are two end results: either it defeats us or it strengthens us. We want any obstacles that come into our lives to strengthen us, and the best way to have those obstacles strengthen us instead of defeat us is to be prepared for them from the very beginning.

Sometimes we bring obstacles into our experience because we don’t do any planning. When we plan we are able to control the obstacles that come into our lives instead of having them control us.

Obstacles come to us from two directions: From the results of our own thoughts and actions, from within, or from outside in our environment.

It’s really a matter of how we look at things; it’s a matter of our viewpoint and our attitude.

The first major obstacle that we face in any situation is to eliminate the negative beliefs that we bring to our current needs. We want to attain something, but we bring those old negative beliefs with us which block us from attaining something new. So we have to identify them and eliminate them.

We must remember that the inner thoughts always condition our outer world. And if we want to change our outer world we have to start with our inner thoughts. We have to eliminate the negative thoughts and bring in the positive thoughts to move toward the goals we want to achieve. Even in the most difficult of challenges we have to do this.

Even a cancer patient has to participate in his or her healing by growing as a person.

Dr. Bernie Segal, who is a cancer surgeon and is founder of the Exceptional Cancer Patients Inc. in New Haven, Connecticut, said that “When a person grows, the cancer doesn’t.” In other words, we have to learn to love ourselves, to recognize ourselves as being valuable and important and in control of our lives.

One of Dr. Segal’s patients, after her cancer went in remission, had this to say: “I realized that I lacked love; it was like emptiness or a space within me, and what happened was that I grew something to fill that space. It was only after I realized this that the cancer went into remission.” She realized that she was able to begin to love herself.

We all have to love ourselves as God loves us. We are expressions of God at the point of His creation, so we are valuable, we are unique, we are wonderful, and we are filled with His presence. But we have to see that. Another patient said, “I was not able to help in bringing about my healing until I realized how negative I was about myself.”

If you’re having difficulty identifying the feelings or beliefs that you have, beliefs that you need to change or beliefs that you need to have, think in terms of yourself at this stage as the perfect you. What would you be like if you had already attained that which you want to attain? What would you be like if you were already that perfect you? Take a typical day. How would you act on that day? What kind of thoughts would you have on that day? What kind of interactions with people would you have? How would you feel about yourself on that day? Then compare the thoughts that you would likely have if you were your perfect you with the thoughts you’re having now. And if there is something to change, then you know where the change needs to take place.

Several years ago our daughter Bonnie attended a seminar on how best to discipline children. The instructor was an ex-nun who had seven children of her own and had to find a way to deal with them. Her basic philosophy consisted of three basic beliefs which she taught the children. But she also taught the adults who were in the seminar to adopt these beliefs for themselves and then to teach them to their children. The beliefs were simply these:

1. I like myself.

2. I have the ability to think for myself.

3. There is a solution to every problem.

If we would adapt those things to our own lives we can face any challenge and we can come through successfully.

I like myself. That’s our basic teaching, to realize that we are children of God, that we are unique and wonderful beings, that we inherit all the good of the kingdom, that we are worthy. When we like ourselves we can survive anything, we can move through any challenge.

I have the ability to think for myself. We don’t need to have others think for us. We can make our own decisions about things. If we have a healing challenge and people are treating us like sick people, we don’t need to accept ourselves as a sick person. We don’t need to be victims of our world. We can see ourselves in a different way; we can think things through for ourselves.

There is a solution for every problem. The constant attribute found among geniuses in a study that was done at Harvard University some years ago on genius and problem-solving was that every one of them looked at every problem as though it had a logical, workable solution. If we approach every problem in that way, we’ll find that solution. The solution is always there, waiting for us to find it.

But in all things, no matter what we’re facing, if we would know that we need to put our faith in God instead of putting our faith in the obstacle then we can face any challenge. We can move through it successfully, we can know that God is in charge and God will see us through. Just know for yourself, “God will see me through.” Take your attention off the problem and onto the solution.

Let me remind you again to focus upon faith in God as I share with you these words of a past Daily Word:

“I am faith-filled, fearless and free. I know that God is always with me, my help in every need. I am not afraid of any person, circumstance, or condition, for I know that God’s power undergirds me and is the one power over all. My faith enables me to triumph over negation and claim the spiritual victory that God has prepared for me.” The scripture is from Matthew 21:21, 22, “If you have faith and never doubt . . . even if you say to this mountain ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will be done. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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 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.

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In Psalm 37, three times we read “Fret not yourself . . .” followed by the admonitions to “Trust in the Lord . . . ,” to “Take delight in the Lord,” to “Commit your way to the Lord,” and to “Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him” and the positive results of so doing.

Yet how often do we find ourselves fretting about the future, fretting over our loved ones, our work, our health, our prosperity or lack of it. Many people are fretting about politics, about the trend of government, the problem of our cities, the protests of our young people. Certainly we should be concerned, and we should exercise the options available to us to participate in the democratic process of change. But fretting about conditions never helps anyone.

To “Trust in the Lord,” “Take delight in the Lord,” “Commit your way to the Lord,” and to “Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him,” means that we have to learn the cultivate the art of letting go. And most of us know this takes some doing when we are faced with certain conditions in our life. 

For myself, when asked about my wife, Kathryn, being recently in hospital and now in a rehab center, and then asking how I’m doing in all of this, I find myself saying all too often, “I’m hanging in there,” or “I’m holding on.” Most of the problems we fret about are bound to us by the hold we have on them. We have to let go and let God, or “trust in the Lord.” There is an answer to every problem and a right guidance for every turning of the way – and it exists within me even while I am facing the need.

Every person must determine for himself or herself whether he or she is going to go through life fretting over the challenges that come through change, or whether he or she is going to let the activity of the whole Spirit of God (the Holy Spirit) express through him or her. Letting go is a fine art, and like all fine arts it is achieved only through the discipline of practice. Fear tends to hold on, but faith lets go. Practice faith. Human love holds on, but Divine love lets go. Practice Divine love.

I love the ancient Taoist story about the old man and his son. Whenever you find yourself fretting over what the future holds for you, you might want to remind yourself of the story. It goes something like this:

There was once a farmer. He was a gentle and humble man. His wife had died a few years before, and he and his son lived near the border region in China. One day their horse ran away; they were dependent upon the horse. The neighbors came to console the man for the loss of his horse. He answered them, “Who knows what the future brings?”

Several months later their mare returned with a wild stallion. Everyone at the village marveled at the magnificent stallion and congratulated the man on his good fortune, saying, “You are wealthy now.” He answered them, “Who knows what the future brings?”

One day the son mounted the wild stallion but, not knowing the ways of the stallion, within a hundred meters he fell off the stallion and broke his leg. The leg healed but the boy limped. The villagers went to console the man. “What a terrible misfortune,” they said. “Now your only son is a cripple. Your living will be limited and, worse still, how will your son be able to care for you in your old age?” The simple man answered his neighbors, “Who knows what the future brings?”

“He’s a simpleton,” the neighbors said of the man.

A year later, a tribe from across the border was preparing for war. The army arrived in their village and every young man was drafted except the lame boy. He was of no use to the army. He stayed home.

It was a dreadful battle, and only a few of the boys drafted returned alive. The lame boy cared for is father until his father’s death.

“Who knows what the future brings”

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.

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When I was in ministerial school at Unity Village many years ago, a Unity minister from Germany, Peter Wenzel, told me a story of when he was a member of the West Berlin police force. That was way back, before the Berlin Wall, when there was a demilitarized zone between East and West Berlin.

One of Peter’s responsibilities was to patrol the demilitarized zone; and it was common knowledge that if someone got too far into the East Berlin side of the demilitarized zone they were subject to being shot. One day Peter found himself in that area by himself and, all of a sudden, he was confronted by a Russian soldier with a rifle pointed right at him.

Peter, remembering that moment said, “All of a sudden I felt the presence of God with me; I looked at the other soldier and I saw that he was about my own age, a very young man. I looked in his eyes and without realizing what I was saying I said, ‘You cannot shoot me; I am your brother.’ And the man put down his gun, turned and walked away.”

How wonderful to recognize that core of oneness and know that we are, indeed, all brothers and sisters. It’s when we focus on our differences that we sometimes get into conflict and into wars.

Myrtle Fillmore, co-founder of Unity, said, “Nations will forget to fight as long as we continue to remember that we’re all expressing the one life.” We’ll forget to fight one another. So we must come to that realization of oneness and connectedness.

We most often see ourselves as separate. We are separate in expression, but we are all connected at a level we call the “Christ” level. When we come to the level of the presence of God in us it is the same God, it is the same presence, and it is the same power – the one presence and one power active in and through our lives, God, the good.

That is our level of connectedness, the Christ within us.

To give you an illustration, if you think of the Hawaiian Islands you see that there are many islands and they are not connected on the surface. But if you were able to go below the surface, you would see that under the surface all of the islands are connected. They are all joined together.

Author Paul Tillich called that connectedness in us “the ground of our being.” From his book, The Shaking of the Foundations, we read, “The name of the infinite and inexhaustible depth and ground of all being is God. That depth is what the word means and, if that word has meaning for you, translate it and speak of the depths of your life, of the source of your being, of your ultimate concern, of what you take seriously without reservation. For if you know that God means depth, then you know much about Him. He or she who knows about depth, knows about God.”

So depth is what we are seeking, a deeper understanding of ourselves. As we move deeper within ourselves, we also understand God in a greater way.

It was the poet Tennyson who said, “God is closer than breathing, closer than hands and feet.” God is as close to you as that. And that’s what we have to know, that there is no separation; we are one in God.

The apostle Paul talked about that also. We read I Corinthians 12: “For just as the body is one and has many members and all the members of the body though many are one body, so it is with Christ. For by one spirit we were all baptized into one body: Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and all were made to drink of one Spirit. Now you are the body of Christ and, individually, members of it.”

Sometimes we forget that we were made in the image and likeness of God; sometimes we forget that we are spiritual beings having a human experience.  We forget our connectedness. But the more we can remember our connectedness with God and with one another, the more individually and uniquely we can express the truth of our own being.

When we come from that deeper level of our life we will truly be ourselves. Charles Fillmore said, “The journey of life for each of us should be a journey of jubilance.” We should be enjoying life; it should be an expression of the highest and best of us.

We have to begin to be friendly toward ourselves because there is more to us than we have understood. It was Walt Whitman who said, “I have found that I am not only that which is between my hat and my boots.”

There is so much more to us. You are a living expression of the Most High God. You are like one of those islands that have popped up in the universe, just as the islands of Hawaii popped up in the Pacific Ocean. The universe needs you; the universe would not be complete without you. Literally, the universe is not complete without you.

We need to treat ourselves kindly. In fact, we need to celebrate ourselves; we need to validate ourselves as someone worthwhile.

As we begin to celebrate ourselves we are then able to celebrate others too, we’re able to recognize the truth of them, and we’re able to recognize the Christ within them. If we see the Christ in them, we will treat them as a Christlike being; we will treat them as a worthy person.

In the play, Pygmalion, Eliza Doolittle is talking about Professor Higgins. She says, “Anybody can do the simple things like learning how to dress properly and learning how to speak properly, but the way a person behaves is not what determines whether she is a lady or a flower-girl. It’s how she’s treated that determines whether she’s a lady or a flower-girl. Professor Higgins always thinks of me as a flower-girl, and to him I’ll always be a flower-girl. But you, you treat me like a lady and for you I can always be a lady.”

How we see a person is how we treat a person. If we see a person as stupid, then we’ll treat them as being stupid. If we see a person as being a loser, then we treat that person as being a loser. So we need to begin to look at people in a kindly way, as we would also hope to look at ourselves.

In the fairy stories, we find there’s very often a kindly act where the princess kisses a frog and the frog becomes a prince. Well, all of us feel like a frog sometimes and we all need a person to come along and affirm us as a worthy being. You are that other person; you can affirm the truth about other people.

So I invite you today and this week to do some frog-kissing. When you notice that someone is feeling low and unsure of themselves, give them a hug, give them a blessing, and give them a kiss. Do some frog-kissing; recognize the truth of them. And the truth is that they are one with you.

It was Walt Whitman who said, “In all men I see myself, not one barleycorn more and not one barleycorn less, and the good or bad I say of them I say of myself.” So when we celebrate with someone else, we are celebrating ourselves also.

Remember these words of Jesus: “If you did it to the least of these, my brethren, you also do it unto me.” In other words, he was saying we are connected; we are one with one another. Let us recognize the truth of that and celebrate the Christ within, celebrate our God-connectedness, and celebrate our oneness.

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.