Spiritual Solutions

“In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.” (Isaiah 30:15)

In our last newsletter and blog post, we talked about the importance of the open door and the now moment, of clearing your mind of doubt and letting God direct your steps in how you spend each precious God-given day.

In this message, by no means do I want to diminish the importance of the open door and the now moment, but I do want to focus a little bit on the need for quiet, the need for silence, and periods where you can enjoy open areas of consciousness where you sit back and relax and just know your oneness.

We are living today in a period of speed and accomplishment, and we go more places and do more things in less time than at one time would seem imaginable. Without a doubt, it is the spirit of industry and ingenuity that has made our nation great. But I think we have come to the place where we must make a decision whether the machines and technology we have created are going to master us or whether we are going to master them; in other words, to dance to a little different drummer and keep ourselves in tune with the rhythm of the universe.

Whenever you feel that you have so much to do that you can’t possibly get it all done, then that is the very time to stop and take a break. If you go forward at this point, trying to do what you believe cannot be done, it is unwise and possibly dangerous. You have lost your focus, you are out of attunement, and you are out of the rhythm of life. And when you are out of rhythm then you are susceptible to all sorts of problems, accidents or anything else.

In a study a few years ago some specialists said that they were more concerned now, when a person had fallen and broken a bone, with why the person had become out of tune with the universe that caused the person to fall than the actual break in the bone. The idea behind this is that when a person is in tune on the inside with the rhythm of life, then there is always a compensating factor whereby he or she can adjust to the conditions on the outside.

If at any time you find yourself in a hurry, the need often is to pause for a moment; just allow yourself to get still and get yourself in tune, getting the thought of hurry and its related worry out of the mind.

There is a scripture that is helpful in these times: “In returning and rest shall you be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.” (Isa. 30:15 KJV)

Quietness would seem to suggest something soft and easy – but it really isn’t that at all. Quietness is strength. Only the really strong person can be quiet, and only the quiet person is really strong.

One of the great problems of the industrious, ambitious person is that he tends to cram his life full of every activity conceivable, and he prides himself on never having an idle moment. His or her philosophy often is, “Keep busy, get things done, do it now.”

The emphasis on “Do it now” sometimes keeps you in a rush and a bind and in a pressure, whereas sometimes to let things wait for a little while will allow the unfoldment of the divine process. The need is to rediscover the pleasure of the pause, the pause that refreshes.

Sometimes the most urgent need in the midst of a feeling of urgency is to pause and relax. Quite often we make rush and urgency such a habit that we come to a place where honestly we cannot really tell whether we are rushing because we feel things are urgent or whether we feel things are urgent because of the habit of rush.

The reason we feel so tense about things that must be done is that we are not realizing our inward resources through which they can be done easily and well. “Wait on the Lord.” Put off doing the thing so as to dispel the tension that results from urgency, and then let the subconscious mind help you to organize your ideas and solve the problem for you. If you plunge into a thing with the thought, “I must get it done immediately,” you are cutting yourself off from the creative flow, that subconscious creative activity that does much of the work for you.

All of us need to relearn the art of pausing, and it is an art which takes practice and skill. We need to practice the art of pausing, the art of doing nothing. We need to make time and not wait to find time. In this way we can, as someone has said, “Let our souls catch up with our bodies,” and get in tune with the rhythm of the universe. And let us resolve that we won’t be rushed, that we won’t necessarily “Do it now,” for as the prophet of Ecclesiastes puts it, “For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven.” (Eccles. 3:1)

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.

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

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This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. – Psalms 118:24

Each day is God’s special gift to you. Great things can happen as you become open to its possibilities.

In the Book of Revelation we read, “Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut.” (Rev. 3:8) You could say that this door represents your eternal relationship with the Infinite, a divine desire to guide you in the complete unfoldment of your inherent potential.

Ralph Waldo Emerson put it this way: “There is no screen or ceiling between our heads and the infinite heavens, so is there no bar or wall in the soul where man the effect ceases and God the cause begins. The walls are taken away; we lie open on one side to the depths of spiritual nature, to the attributes of God.”

All of us experience exalted moments of inspiration, at which times we see greater possibilities for ourselves and resolve to pursue some course of betterment. But often this resolve and this course fade because we do not feel that we have enough to begin. Or perhaps we have just tried something new and are disappointed in the outcome.

If you announce, after a seeming disappointment, “Well, there go my chances of success,” then that is the level of consciousness on which you will be working for the immediate future. Is that what you want to happen? You can close your heart and mind to life this way, but life never closes its doors to you!

No matter what happens in your life, do not forget the promise of the open door. No individual has the power to shut the door to the real source of your good; nothing can stand in your way. Feel the relentless spiritual power within you seeking to lead you to the perfect fulfillment of your uniqueness.

So, how will you spend this precious God-given day?

William James once advised: “Seize the very first possible opportunity to act on every resolution you make and on every emotional prompting you may experience in the direction of the habits you aspire to gain.” When an urge to do or to have something comes to us, we must get into our consciousness that it is but the vanguard of a train of ideas, abilities and substance – all that is needed to make the ideal a reality, the hope a fulfillment. The important thing is to get started; to begin is often half the battle.

Goethe wrote: “Are you in earnest? Seize this very moment; whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”

If we want anything for ourselves we must accept it in our heart and mind now, today. Remember that there is no future tense in the eternal now of infinite mind. There will be no future time in which to know the truth or to make a demonstration. The only demonstration there is, ever was, or ever will be is God’s . . . and that is right now! Determine for yourself that now is the time.

Print that on a card – “Now is the acceptable time!” – and place it where you will be sure to see it every day. Charles Fillmore, co-founder of the Unity movement, used to say that any time is a good time to start doing something about a good idea. Remember that there is nothing futuristic about your oneness with God.

Build on this realization; affirm your unity, your oneness – not as something you might have, but as the very foundation of your life right now!  Affirm your wholeness now. Affirm that you are now in your right place. Affirm that you are right now God’s perfect child and are endowed with all the potentialities to be – right now – what you desire to be.

Whatever may be the problem confronting you, the door is open to the solution to it and to a greater good which no one can keep from you. Clear your mind of doubt and let God direct your steps.

As a final thought, let me share with you this poem by Hazel Thomas Wright:

The Door is Open

Be still and know whatever may betide;
No door is closed but another opens wide;
A door that opens to a boundless view
Of blessings, rich in promise, vital, new;
Blessings more wonderful than you have known.
Dare to step through the door and claim your own!
Keep clear your inner vision, thus to see
The good awaiting you, and constant be.
Face each new venture with a joyful song;
Lift up your head and heart, be valiant, strong,
With God as your protector, friend and guide,
No door is closed but that another opens wide.

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.

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

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One of the most beautiful thoughts from the writings of the mystic medieval thinkers is the thought of the seventeenth century Carmelite monk, Brother Lawrence, “The Practice of the Presence of God.” But what does it really mean? And where do you practice the presence?

The practice of the presence of God is the consciousness that you live and move and have your being in God. It is taking the time to be still, to turn from the realization of inadequacy, of confusion, of sickness, to turn from the thought of being alone in a heartless universe, to get away from the idea that God is “out there” somewhere; to instead get the realization of your oneness, to know that you exist in God – I am in God, God is in me. Then, there is no separation.

True prayer is the realization that God manifests in you and in me as a presence, and the word “presence” means present here and now. God is always with you!

Practice that presence by turning from the outer sense of separation to an inner realization of oneness, of wholeness. Feel that you are alive and alert in the presence, that you are guided and directed in the presence and that you are free and whole and fulfilled in the presence.

Practicing the presence means to let go of all tendencies to look up or to reach out for something. Just be still and know your oneness. Let yourself feel the activity of this all enveloping presence, this universal essence which we call God that is in you, expressing through you and within you, and which has no other desire for you except to heal and guide you and fulfill you. Just be still and rest in this consciousness. Then you will practice the presence.

The practice of the presence of God is the consciousness that wherever you are, God is; whatever you do, you are in the presence of God. And it is a matter of turning instantly from an experience of conflict, from a momentary sense of insecurity, to a realization of oneness, of wholeness.

Practicing the presence is a beautiful idea, but it is probably like the study of music or any other artistic endeavor – it requires a great deal of practice in terms of the discipline and diligence of experiences of prayer and meditation. To paraphrase Emerson, he says that when you have broken with the God of tradition and destroyed the God of your intellect, then God fires you with His presence. In other words, you must let go of the God of your intellect and of the God of tradition.

Take time in the quiet of your home, perhaps in the early morning hours when you have awakened or the last thing before you go to sleep at night to just get still and feel the sense that you are in the presence, that you are surrounded and enfolded in this consciousness of love and of life and of substance and of intelligence which is God. It is this consciousness that can give one the real sense of preparation for life. It will give you the realization that you can go forth in life without any real concerns or any anxieties, truly confident, truly prepared in every way for all that may come.

Determine that you will no longer practice the absence of God; get the sense that every time you deal with God “out there,” you are practicing the absence of God. Certainly, every time you say as so many people do, “How could God allow this to happen? How could God allow this good person to suffer so?” you are practicing the absence of God. You are thinking of God as something “out there.”

It is important to get the understanding of God as a presence and an activity. God doesn’t will sickness or death or confusion. God is, and as the scriptures say, “Behold, I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” There is a constant support of love and light and guidance forever within you that functions just as constantly as the force of gravity if we allow it, if we work with it, if we practice it.

So take the time right now. Just be still, close your eyes and practice the presence. You don’t have to tell God that you are doing this or what you need – the Father knows what things you have need of even before you ask. God is, and God is an activity in which you live and move and have your being. It is life supporting, loving, healing, harmonizing, ever with and around you, ever expressing as you. Practice it. Be still and know it. The go forth this day knowing that you are in the presence of God, that there is no way that you can be separated and, therefore, you know that this will be a good day.

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.

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

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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.

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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“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.

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

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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.

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

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(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

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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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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.

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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

—————————————————–             

 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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Tweet This Post

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.