Spiritual Solutions

There is a flow of love and harmony everywhere, whether you are aware of it or not, and whether you are consciously moving in it or not. This is what the omnipresence of God means. In life we are on a journey from unconscious to conscious. You do not leave the Presence of God or the flow of life and love when you are negative or resistant. You leave the consciousness of the Presence, the consciousness of harmony and love. Yet the potential for harmony and its outer expression bringing light to those who dwell in darkness is always present within you.

I am reminded of one of the most significant events in the history of Christianity, the transforming experience of Paul on the Damascus road. You may remember the story. Paul, or Saul as he was called in those days, was very much involved in persecuting the Christians. He made a career out of it. He was a sincere person who devoted his life to stopping the spread of this upstart movement. While on the road to Damascus, nevertheless, he had the cosmic experience of a blinding light which left him physically in pain for several days, but which gave him an insight into his relatedness to the spiritual process so that he was guided to go to Damascus and visit a disciple named Ananias.

Visiting Ananias, he had some conversations that helped him to open his eyes. It is said that the scales dropped from his eyes, and his sight was restored. He then suddenly came out as a tremendous advocate of the Christian teaching and became one of its leading supporters. Here was man whose whole life was dedicated to the destruction of Christianity who suddenly became its chief advocate and spokesman. He had a complete reversal of life and threw himself into the new cause with all the ardent, twenty-four hours per day self-abandoning zeal that he had previously invested on the other side. Whereas previously he brought nothing but darkness and fear, he now brought light, love and inspiration into the lives of others.

If you have the desire to change your life, to be or do more or have more, if you have spent many unhappy moments wishing and hoping that you could be different, that you could overcome some overmastering weakness, then consider well the unmistakable meaning of Paul’s encounter for a moment. Paul revealed that a person can change.

The reason for Paul’s conversion was not that God had worked some special miracle for him because he was a specially endowed creature, but because he had the potential for change within him. Even though he might not have been consciously aware of it, he had the innate desire for change. The first step for us is to believe that we can change, that we err when we say, “I’m only human – what can you expect?” We are not only human – we are divine. We must look to the divine within us and begin to think about and act from strength rather than weakness.

The great moment in the life of Paul was the sudden impact of an idea that had obviously been running through his troubled mind for years. Have you ever puzzled over a problem for many hours or even days and months, and then suddenly said, “Oh, yes, I see,” suddenly when the light breaks through? It has been said that “there is nothing in all the world more powerful than an idea whose time has come.”

Paul had always been intrigued with the Christian idea, though like many of us he had resisted it, argued over it, and put his whole weight against it. Paul’s bitter and long struggle with the Christians was really an inner struggle with himself and his growing faith, a war being waged between his keenly developed intellect which reasoned against the Christ idea and his sensitive feeling nature which felt the truth.

We need to provide for ourselves opportunities to change our thoughts, manners, actions, through incentive, open-mindedness, and an eagerness to keep in step with life itself. This is what the study of Truth will do for you. There is little hope for change in your life unless you make frequent encounters with dynamic ideas. Eventually, one of them will hit you with the force of blinding light. It matters not what your weakness or problem may be, when you receive the impact of a dynamic idea, “the scales will fall from your eyes.” When we truly let go, or stop looking in a certain direction and start looking in another, we will find that the change for the better is not only easy, but divinely natural.

Paul’s experience of blindness is a symbol of this change of seeing. He could no longer see things as he did. He was helped by Ananias to see things in a new way. So, we too can begin to see the possibilities of a new way of life, of healing, adjustment, new blessings. Therefore, dare to behold and see yourself as already expressing and experiencing these things. Look for them, and expect them.

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

————————————————————
Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over forty years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend. You may also reproduce and publish this article if you also include this reference box. Thank you!

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at www.alanrowbotham.com
————————————————————
 

Tweet This Post

Trust and Surrender are such important elements in a unified consciousness. We tend to think of trust as something we give in response to something we get but, as spiritual teacher Jeddah Mali reminds us: “In the spiritual world it works exactly the other way around. First we extend trust and then we experience the fruits of safety.”

Many people feel that it is naïve to extend trust without a good reason or a good history to back up such a decision, that with so many violent and disturbing events on our planet, fear is a valid response. But is it? What does fear do for us? It produces an environment where we see different circumstances as a threat. If we are fearful we are putting out a strong message, and thoughts held in mind tend to produce after their kind. We draw our fears toward us and we can say with Job, “That which I feared has come upon me.” Then when we experience the very circumstances we were afraid of we often use it as a justification for being afraid in the first place. Little do we realize that we are creating it over and over again.

How often do we question the validity of our fears? When you come to think about it, you can see that all fear stems from something imagined that may happen to us in the future. We seldom have fears about anything in the past, and we rarely fear what may happen today.

Check up on your fears, find out their origin, and doubtless you will find that every one of them has some reference to the future. And therefore it is based upon an unreality, because the future is unreal; it doesn’t exist. Only the present is really important. So stop thinking so much about the future or living in it, and you will no longer be tortured with thoughts about what tomorrow might bring. If you learn to do this, you will experience a richness of life that you could never have dreamed possible. The anxieties and petty fears that now keep you upset about the future will be gone.

The future as we think about it cannot be lived ahead of time. We are in the midst of life now, so let’s live in the present knowing that those things that do not really exist, such as things in the future, cannot harm us or hurt us. As we learn to live today, we shall discover more resources in our lives than we ever thought existed.

To live a completely happy life, all of life must be lived in the present, not in the future and not in the past, which is, of course, impossible except for the mind. When we try to live in the past, our lives are often lives of regret and remorse. If we live in the future, it is usually a life of fear and worry. Only the present is truly important and if it is lived happily, joyfully, filled with peace and comfort both in mind and body, then the future is bound to be more of the same.

From the activity of the Divine Presence time comes to you one moment at a time, and it is your joyous privilege to live each moment as it comes. Into each moment comes the power that is God, poised in influence and action. Therefore, there is never a moment when you are really lacking in strength, wisdom, harmonizing love, and creative power to do all the things that need to be done by you.

There’s only one thing you cannot do – you cannot stop that central light of God shining in you. You can completely surrender to that understanding, for you have no presence outside the Divine Presence; you live in it, move in it, and have your being in it. And surrender is not giving up what we love; it’s giving up engaging in what’s holding us back, our doubts and fears and limiting thoughts. Profound trust surrenders us to our good.

There is never one moment when you are farther from the all-sufficiency of the Infinite than one prayerful thought. Remember this when you are tempted to worry about the future. I love the thought expressed by one man in his realization of the Divine flow in and through his life: “I am spiritually drenched with divinity.” Can you imagine anything that could bring you more happiness and peace of mind? Once you begin to feel the presence of the eternal in every fiber of your being, you will give up worry and dread in regard in regard to the future. You will give up trying to live in a world that is yet to come.

You have only the present at your command. Let the past remain past, and let the future come to you as it will. Possess life now and live each day as it comes, serenely, joyously, comfortably and with a deep active trust and faith in the presence and power and love of God expressed in and through and as you.

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

————————————————————
Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over forty years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend. You may also reproduce and publish this article if you also include this reference box. Thank you!

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at www.alanrowbotham.com
————————————————————
 

Tweet This Post

(Note: This article is composed of adapted excerpts from The Healing Flow, an article by the former Unity minister and author, Eric Butterworth, which I have also made into a 9-minute audio meditation for your use and enjoyment. You can scroll down to the bottom of the article to access the audio.)

If you feel the need of healing of any kind right now, begin to envision your whole body enveloped in God’s radiant health. See your body as a “temple of the living God,” the perfect dwelling place of the Infinite. No matter what you are going through at the present time, you can be sure that God is with you, and that the healing flow is manifesting through you.

Let your mind be open to the activities of life. Let go of any thought that there is any condition beyond help, beyond relief. “Come unto me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). Enter the stream of wholeness now, the free flow of divine life, and flow along with its current. Fill your heart and mind with thoughts of the activity of the divine process, knowing that no power on earth can in any way dim the light of life that shines eternally in you and through you. See your whole body glowing in every atom, coursing through every artery and vein; see your body as the perfect dwelling place of the creative life of God.

As John says in Revelations 22:1, “Then he showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal . . .” This cleansing river of life is right now flowing through you, dissolving every condition of imperfection, renewing every cell of your body with abundant life. Consciously banish every tense or anxious thought about your health. Think of every cell of your body being filled with the pure life of God; think of every organ, cell and nerve as blessed and harmonized by God’s presence in you as healing life, and know that you are one with God, that through this oneness you are part of an unbroken flow of life, circulating constantly, steadily, regularly through you, healing, flowing, healing, flowing, for “in Him we live and move and have our being.”

If you could envision your life as a tapestry and yourself as the weaver, you could begin to see how every experience has added something to the picture of the whole. Even the experiences that you have resisted and resented have added to its depth and strength. You cannot see the complete design, but by knowing that the experiences of today will blend with the experiences of tomorrow, even as they blended with the experiences of yesterday, they will form a beautiful and satisfying pattern of good. Let each day, each experience, in the spirit of a creative artist with faith in yourself and the pattern of life that you are weaving in ways perhaps you cannot completely understand, let it be that all things work together for good.

The whole presence and power of God lives within you, and would have you rise and walk in pleasantness and peace. When you become completely immersed in the sea of healing and renewing life, you feel waves of vitalizing energy radiating in your entire being, you feel the warm, radiating life of Spirit flowing through you as it floods your consciousness with peace and joy. It vitalizes your body temple, making it every whit whole. No matter where you are, no matter what challenge you have to meet or situation to undergo, you are never in any way separated from this divine flow. No matter what you are going through right now, you can be sure that God is with you as a guiding hand, a healing influence and flow.

Don’t ask yourself why things are the way they are. Rather than ask why, face the fact that any need for harmony or healing reveals the need for a closer attunement with the divine flow, the need for a greater realization of oneness with all good, the need for an increase of faith, the need for more time in quiet reflection and prayer.

Healing comes through oneness with the divine flow. Open your consciousness to this flow. Turn all of your mind and heart to this healing flow that is moving from within your being. As you lift your thoughts to this consciousness, feel your body temple being filled with health and harmony, feel every nerve and cell being charged with glorious life that continually rebuilds and revitalizes after the pattern of perfection that is in the divine plan for you.

Be still, and consciously feel life tingling within you, in every nerve, cell and organ of your body. Feel the warm, soothing, adjusting, cleansing power of this flow of life bubbling up within you. Open your mind and heart to the healing flow of God-life. Clear away any obstruction of thought or feeling or belief in anything that would accept something less than perfection by quietly, persistently affirming that you are an open channel for the healing flow of life.

Gently know that the life and peace of God permeates your entire being right now, and quietly rest in the assurance that you are healed no matter what the outer condition seems to be. Take firm hold of the promise and belief, “I will restore health to you and your wounds I will heal.” (Jeremiah 30:17) Rejoice that the Spirit in you is the activity of God in you and that you are one with this divine flow. Right now, know that God’s infinite life and wisdom is permeating every part of your being and every part of your life and affairs. Give thanks that God’s wisdom and intelligence are constantly guiding you, that His love is harmonizing you and blessing every detail of your life. You are now established in the divine flow; you are healed, renewed and restored.

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham
————————————————————
Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over forty years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend. You may also reproduce and publish this article if you also include this reference box. Thank you!

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at www.alanrowbotham.com
————————————————————
 

 Other Media: Download

Tweet This Post

A woman who is supposed to have reached a considerable degree of spiritual unfoldment once said: “I just don’t know what’s the matter with me. I’ve got the jitters, so that I can’t seem to make contact with God or have the demonstrations that I used to. I’ve tried to figure out how I’ve erred, but the more I think abut it, the worse I seem to get.”

As with many of us, this woman had allowed herself to be affected by the tension that is not unusual in uncertain and anxious times. Because of the state of her nerves or state of mind, she had lost that tranquility of spirit which is the primary essential for spiritual realization. Instead of letting go and leaving her problems in the hands of the Father, she was struggling desperately and constantly to solve her problem herself.

When we find ourselves in such a condition, the need is to say to ourselves, “Be cool!” In other words, we need to let go and to stop thinking about ourselves altogether. Stop the tense, anxious concern. Most of us believe in God and in divine power, or at least we say we do. So, why not give God a chance to express through us. Say to yourself over and over again, as did the Psalmist: “Be still and know that I am God.” If we can manage to let go and to realize that “the battle is not ours but God’s,” then we shall soon be at peace again.

An affirmation that my wife, Kathryn, and I often use when we find ourselves struggling with over-concern or anxiety is: “I relax; I release; I let go in the love and power of Jesus Christ. Thank you, God.” We usually say it three times and not only say the words but we consciously take the inner action, first of relaxing our mind and body, then of releasing everything to God, then of totally letting go of the whole situation or concern, in the consciousness of the love and power demonstrated by Jesus Christ. Finally, we say “Thank you, God!” in gratitude for God’s abiding presence with us. This little exercise helps us develop the habit of calmness and poise in the midst of upsetting thoughts or conditions.

Let’s look at some of the ways we let ourselves get out of control. First of all is the obvious habit of hurrying. Constantly rushing around for any purpose is a complete waste of divine energy and a transgression of the law of harmony. Whenever we hurry, we are out of tune with God and out of step with the orderly rhythmic movement of the universe. If you want the flow of your life and the demonstrations of good within it to be regular and constant, then you must learn not to hurry. Stop the furious driving of yourself by thinking and speaking and acting in a quiet, even manner.

Whenever the temptation to rush comes upon you, stop short and say to yourself: “Be cool! What’s the rush? Be still. Relax. You might take a few deep breaths and affirm: “I am quiet and calm and relaxed. I am cool. I am one with God, and God is infinite peace. I partake of the calmness of infinite Spirit. I am poised in the peace of God.” By meditating upon calmness in prayer time, you can overcome the tendency to rush. And as you conquer the hurry habit, you learn that you accomplish so much more by taking your time than you ever did by rushing.

Another habit which is an effect of a lack of calm is letting the attention flip from one thing to another, instead of holding it firmly focused. A good instance of this is when we sit down to eat. Maybe we’re thinking of all the things we have to do next, so unconsciously we rush through the meal. I suggest we pause before our meals, maybe to say grace or just to turn our thoughts within and feel a sense of oneness. We want to take time to eat slowly and refuse admittance to disturbing thoughts.

In other activities, too, many of us try to do several things at once. Maybe we try to read while listening to the radio or watching television. It’s small wonder that our children study with the radio or television going full blast. Perhaps a person can attend to two things at once, but one or the other will be slighted. Divided attention never brings the best results, and multi-tasking reduces our ability to give our whole self to what we do. Truth students well know the necessity for concentration in prayer. But if we want to have poise and calm in all things, then we have to carry the habit of concentration over into our ordinary activities.

Another common habit which is another effect of lack of poise is talking too much. A lot of us may feel that we don’t talk much, but we probably talk more than we should. Wise persons have always recognized the virtue of silence and the danger of too much speech. All religions teach the wisdom and the power of silence. Let’s learn to control our minds so that we can speak or be silent as we wish.

I suggest that we discipline ourselves steadily to eliminate the thought of hurry. If you find the slightest evidence of restlessness or haste, stop at once and say to yourself: “Be cool. Relax. Let go.” At your prayer time, relax so completely that every muscle of your being is free from tension. And think of those things which suggest peace: still waters, a cloudless sky, gentle falling snow. To imagine these things at such a moment will help you to attain the inner peace that is the prelude to prayer and the first step to all creative activity.

Remind yourself that you are in harmony with the steady rhythm of the universe, that there is no need for haste. Keep calm and poised and steady, knowing that the whole universe is functioning perfectly and harmoniously, and that you are in tune with the universal good.

Always Remember . . . God is Blessing You Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham
————————————————————
Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over forty years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend. You may also reproduce and publish this article if you also include this reference box. Thank you!

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at www.alanrowbotham.com
————————————————————
 

Tweet This Post

Whenever you feel bitterness, resentment or unforgiveness, it is a time for-giving. If you truly forgive from your heart, in that moment letting go of whatever situation prompted the bitterness, resentment or unforgiveness you will find it is also a time for-getting. It is a time for getting a sense of peace, for getting in touch with the love in your heart, for getting an opportunity to express your true self, and for getting into the flow of love and harmony.

We hear it said, “Well, I’ll forgive, but I won’t forget.” Forgiveness is not an obligation or a “have to.” If you continue to feel the emotions and sensations around the situation, forget about forgetting; just focus on the forgiveness. However many times it comes to mind, forgive. Remember the response of Jesus when Peter asked whether he should forgive even seven times: “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.” In other words, keep forgiving as long as it takes.

You see, for-giving is a form of giving which brings an appropriate return according to the sincerity of our actions. We must give in order to receive. And, of course, as in all our giving, our motivation must not be to get something in return, but for-giving simply out of the awareness that forgiveness is a choice and a necessary action for our own spiritual health. For forgiveness to be authentic, it has to be a choice and not a chore. Let it be a spontaneous flow of love and forgiveness toward the other person.

Forgiveness and understanding go hand in hand. Remember this, just like you, the other person is doing the best that he or she can at any given point in time. Forgiveness of yourself starts with self-acceptance, and forgiveness of others is the acceptance of others just as they are. Forgiveness is recognition that, in essence, we are all the same.

At all times, there is a wellspring of Infinite life, substance, and intelligence within you, and you can give way to its flow into your experience. Sometimes we block that flow, and the most effective remedy is to give and forgive. There’s an old saying that when things get tight, something’s got to give. And that means you. You must give, by giving way to the flow of infinite and eternal energy from which all things proceed.

One of the most effective ways of getting back into the flow is through giving. You may have been thinking lack, thinking “get” or the need to “get.” Now you need to “think give.” It’s the “give” in it that makes all the difference! The need is to think “give,” to give way to the inner flow. Jesus says, “The Father knows what you need before you ask him.” Couple this with the promise that it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom, and we realize that the answer is always within.

When we think “give” and “for-give” not only will our thoughts be in the flow of spiritual power, which will invest our own words with creative power, but also we will become ready and willing channels for giving in life’s relationships, which in turn will draw even greater good to us. It is a continuing cycle that is always in evidence with the spiritual healthy-minded person.

Life is a flowing experience and, as Emerson says, ”Within every person is an inlet that may become an outlet to all there is in God.” All that is required is that we “give way,” let it be, or as Meister Eckhart said, “let God be God in us.” Think “give,” for life is lived from within-out.

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

————————————————————
Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-nine years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend. You may also reproduce and publish this article if you also include this reference box. Thank you!

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at www.alanrowbotham.com
————————————————————

Tweet This Post

Consciousness is the light of awareness, the in-seeing ability to know itself, self-reflection. You can direct consciousness like a flashlight to bring focus on a desired state of being, or consciousness can act like a mirror to reflect back to you the desired state of being in experience.

Consciousness shapes experience through a kind of out-forming process. Imagine, if you will, sitting in a darkened room with the shades drawn down. Let’s say that the sun is shining brightly outside, and you cut a hole in the window shade. If the hole is round, the light will assume a shape of roundness since light assumes the shape and color of the aperture through which it comes; for instance, in a stained-glass window there are many hues and shapes. Consciousness is like this, and thus could be called an out-forming process.

The philosopher Spencer said, “We are forever in the presence of an infinite internal energy from which all things proceed.” This energy flows into our life in accordance with the shape of our consciousness. Rollo May says that “Consciousness is the intervening variable between nature and being.” We see that May is referring to that which is between the infinite allness of God and the person in focus. In other words, consciousness determines the degree to which the “allness” of God is manifest in, through, and as the individual.

The important work before us, then, is the expansion of consciousness into higher states of awareness, and this really is what prayer is all about. It is a conscious remembering of our true nature, our oneness in God, the allness in which we live, move, and have our being. There is nowhere to go and nothing to reach for; we are forever one with all that is or can be.

The key to transcendence of the expanded state of consciousness is to “Be still and know that I am God.” Be still, close your eyes, center your attention at the center of your being, and come to know the point where you are Being being you. At this higher state of consciousness, know your oneness in God and rest in this realization. Your prayer is a simple acknowledgement of the fact that there is a flow of Spirit in expression. Bring this light of conscious remembering to all that you are, all that you think, all that you feel, and all that you do.

Remember, we are told, “Awake thou that sleepest that Christ may shine upon you.” This is an important realization. We can never understand ourselves or our lives until we wake up in God consciousness. Gurdjieff says, “You can wake up and know your real self, and then love and intelligence and peace will no longer be mere words and theories; they will be you.”

Remember, there is always an oak tree in the acorn; there is always a child of God within the troubled person. So be still and know this truth, become aware of it. Let yourself become centered in this realization. Then, the new state of consciousness will actually be an influence, a conditioning force upon the outer experience.

The late poet William Stafford wrote, in the poem You Reading This, Be Ready:
 Will you ever bring a better gift for
  the world
 than the breathing respect that you carry

 wherever you go right now? Are you
  waiting
 for time to show you some better
  thoughts?

(William Stafford, The Way It Is: New and Selected Poems, p.45)

Always Remember . . . God is Blessing You Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

————————————————————
Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-nine years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend. You may also reproduce and publish this article if you also include this reference box. Thank you!

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at www.alanrowbotham.com
————————————————————

Tweet This Post

The 91^st Psalm reveals a consciousness of the “protecting Presence,” and the stability and security that follows when one lives at what T.S. Eliot calls “the still point of the turning world.”

The following is a beautiful meditation by the late Unity minister and author Eric Butterworth, but you are challenged first to let go of the personal God “out there” and dwell in the awareness of the “permanent core of reality” within yourself.

“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” It is not a place in space, but a level of consciousness. The “secret” is the key awareness that within you is a place of wholeness where you are forever in the flow of the creative process. Dwelling in this consciousness you “abide under the shadow . . .” This is an Oriental expression of security. People in a desert look on the heat of the sun as an enemy, and a shadow represents protection from the sun.

“I will say of Jehovah, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God in whom I trust.” This suggests that you affirm that you have faith in God for you know you are always in the flow of life, love, and wisdom. In this consciousness you never know danger or depletion.

“For He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly pestilence.” This begins the series of benefits that accrue to one who has the secret and uses it. Through the Bible the evil work of enemies is likened to the snare of the fowler, which refers to trapping birds. It means the adversary, the human consciousness that causes us to become entangled in error and limitation. The “deadly pestilence” is fear. When we are ruled by fear, it is a pest and makes us fear to try to be the person we want to be and do the things we desire to do. “He will deliver” should be thought of in the way light delivers from darkness. Fears and doubts dissolve into nothing when the light of Truth dawns.

“He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you take refuge; His truth is a shield and buckler.” Note how a mother hen draws her chicks to her and covers them with her wings. As God is all-encompassing mind, the relationship with humankind is an idea in God Mind. Our mind is always I the flow of creative ideas which keep anything destructive from entering the mind. To take refuge “under His wings” means to find light by realizing our wholeness, our source of good within, knowing oneness with God who is our health and prosperity. “His truth is a shield and buckler” . . . the most ancient pieces of armor. Knowledge of Truth will protect us from all kinds of illness or lack.

“You shall not be afraid for the terror by night nor for the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.” “Night” is the darkness of ignorance. “Terror” is the false and terrible beliefs that terrify one as the result of ignorance. “Arrows that fly by day” are the thoughts and suggestions of others that lead to fear, worry, and hate. None of these negative suggestions can harm you for they cannot enter your consciousness when you remember the “secret.” The “pestilence that stalks in darkness” is the lack and sickness and negation that circulates in the race consciousness and which are absorbed subliminally into one’s subconscious mind. The “destruction that wastes at noonday” refers to the experience through which we seem to pass as we advance in our quest for Truth . . . the result of inertia of mind. We thus need to bless them, seeing each condition as an opportunity for further growth.

“A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it will not come near you.” Things may happen around you and to you, but as long as you hold to your Oneness with God, nothing shall happen in you . . . thus it “will not come near you.” One may say, “What chance do I have when so many have failed?” A thousand failures do not disprove Truth. When you know the secret, and dwell in it, you cannot fail.

“Only with your eyes shall you behold and see the reward of the wicked.” This is not a promise but an admonition. To refuse to see the manifestations of adversity is to be dishonest with oneself. But “only with your eyes” shall you see them. Affirm what you see is the imperfect reflection of the divine flow. By keeping your eye single, keeping the secret awareness of oneness with God, you can look on false appearances and not be disturbed by them.

“Because you have made the Lord your refuge, the Most High your habitation, no evil shall befall you, no plague come near your tent.” “Evil” means discordant conditions; “tent” refers to the body. And “plague” means the diseases of the body. When we live and think and act in accordance with the Truth, our thoughts are in divine order, busy creating good for us.

“For he will give His angels charge of you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.” A continuity of good ideas support you and keep you from “stubbing your toe,” in other words from making mistakes.

“You shall tread upon the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.” These represent anger and hatred, conscious and subconscious. The “serpent” is the thought that makes you bitter toward God when sickness, lack, or accidents are experienced. When you dwell in the secret awareness of your wholeness in God, you have the power to dissolve all impurities in your mind.

“Because he has set his love upon me, I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he knows my name.” His “name” is the great I AM. In the Bible, “to know” means to experience union. Thus, it is to take on the I AM as our own, and to affirm “I AM” in wise and creative ways. “I will set him on high” means you will “sit on top of the world,” and have a sense of peace and well-being.

 “He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.” This is the great promise, “He will not fail you nor forsake you.”

 “With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” He blesses you with the knowledge that life is not something temporary, but eternal, and you are thus free from the fear of death or of irreparable loss. You are forever in His Presence and in the flow of His creative process.

Thus, the 91^st Psalm is the great promise. When you dwell in the secret awareness of your transcendent self which is forever in and of God, you abide under the shadow . . . in the charmed circle of God’s love.

Note: I believe that when James Dillet Freeman wrote Unity’s Prayer for Protection during World War II, in response to requests for a prayer for the troops and families to use, he may have drawn inspiration from this Psalm to write this simple yet powerful prayer:

The Light of God surrounds me;

The Love of God enfolds me;

The Power of God protects me;

The Presence of God watches over me;

Wherever I am, God is. . . .

And Unity people usually add . . . and all is well!

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

————————————————————
Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-nine years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend. You may also reproduce and publish this article if you also include this reference box. Thank you!

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at www.alanrowbotham.com
————————————————————

Tweet This Post

“There is sunshine in my soul today,
It is glorious and bright . . .

“O there’s sunshine, blessed sunshine,
As the peaceful, happy moments roll;
For I behold the Christ in every face
And there’s sunshine in my soul.”

So go the words of a long-time Unity joy song.

Yes, there is sunshine in your soul today, and all you have to do is tap into it and express it in your life. Let the sunshine radiate out from your smile and bless all whom you meet.

Jesus said, “You will know the Truth and the Truth will make you free.” (John 8:32) He is speaking of that which is eternally true; he is talking about a revelation of the depths within, giving rise to a perception that evokes a spirit of joy. Again, he said, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11)

One of the great discoveries of human unfoldment is that happiness is not an effect . . . but a cause, and that a person is happy, not because of what did or did not happen, but because he or she is a happy person. Unity minister Eric Butterworth was fond of saying, “Within every person is the unborn possibility of limitless joy . . . and ours is the privilege of giving birth to it.” And it was Charles Fillmore, co-founder of the Unity movement, who said, “Life for every person should be a journey in jubilance.”

Certainly everyone wants to be happy, for it is the “summum bonum of existence.” But we have been deluded into thinking that it is to be found in things, experiences, and relationships. Indeed, that viewpoint is reflected in another sunshine song which goes something like this:

“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine;
You make me happy when skies are gray.
You’ll never know, dear, how much I love you;
Please don’t take my sunshine away.”

A woman who was sick, burdened with financial crises, and troubled with discouragement, ran across these words in a Truth publication: “Until you are happy you will be neither healthy nor free.” “How can I be happy,” she thought, “when I have so much pain and trouble?” The words would not let her be. So she decided to test the idea.

Looking honestly at herself, she found that there were glaring defects in her disposition that needed correction. With effort, she began to live more calmly, to see life more clearly. She found other Truth ideas that suggested that God had implanted the spark of joy within each person, and that she had only to express joy to experience it.

The woman then discovered she could start the spirit of joy by simply “acting as if she were happy.” Now, this “act as if” practice can become a lure into sham and artificiality. It is valid only if it deals with the releasement of an inner power that is constant. You may act as if you are a child, or an expression, of God, for that is what you are. And you may act as if you are happy, for there is a bubbling fire of joy at the heart of you awaiting your commitment to express it.

The woman discovered an amazing thing. As she began to act as if she were happy, she began to feel happy, and the happier she felt, the stronger and healthier she felt . . . and thus the greater became her reasons for happiness. Before long her disposition improved, her affairs harmonized, and she was back in the fullness of life. And it all started the moment she realized that “until you are happy you will be neither healthy nor free.”

There is an important principle involved in this. We live in a world of rhythm and harmony which is limitless in potential, and each of us is limitless in the capacity to demonstrate a personal experience of that limitlessness. But we must become synchronized, and an important key is the bubbling forth of a jubilant spirit.

Begin every day with the insistent affirmation, “This is the day which the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it.” When you start your day in a happy spirit, with joy in your heart and a smile on your face, people respond. You leave a “mile of smiles” as you walk along, and all your business and social contacts are influenced by this contagion. Your day will be a day you can be happy about, because it is a day that you are happy in.

Here are some words from another Unity joy song to adopt as your own:

I let my light shine and the obstacles vanish,
I let my light shine and the light casts out fear,
I let my light shine and the radiance heals me,
I let my light shine and my way is made clear.
Son light is the Truth of my nature,
Son light is God shining through me,
I let my light shine, and my world is illumined,
I let my light shine and the light sets me free!

Remember, God is Blessing You Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

————————————————————
Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-nine years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend. You may also reproduce and publish this article if you also include this reference box. Thank you!

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at www.alanrowbotham.com
————————————————————

Tweet This Post

On my morning walk here in Florida when even early in the day the weather was warm and the humidity was high, I greeted a man who was walking his dog and he asked me, “Are you bothered by the no-see-ums?” I replied, “No, not really.” And he said, “They’re all over me this morning.”

After that exchange I began to notice the little biting insects making their presence felt on me as well. Up to that point I had not been bothered by the no-see-ums, but as soon as I gave my attention to them because of what the man said then they became evident in my experience.

I share this experience with you to show how easily what we give our attention to becomes our experience; and so I ask you now “To what are you giving your attention?” Your life experiences will give you the answer. Are you giving your attention to what you don’t want? Are you dwelling on your problems, on lack or limitation, illness or troubles in relationship? If so, know that the attention you give to these areas of your life magnify them in your experience.

Watching Joel Osteen on television recently I was interested to hear him addressing this matter of where we place our attention by suggesting that we can counter the “negative” aspects of our lives by turning to God’s promises in the scriptures and adopting them as our own. For instance, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Ps. 46:1), thus switching our attention to the presence of God rather than the problem. Or, “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you.” (Ezek. 36:26) Or, “I can do all things in him who strengthens me.” Phil 4:13).

Many others that may be used in that way can be found in the scriptures, for instance: “Your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly.” ((Is. 58:8), “I now do according to your word. . . . I give you a wise and discerning mind. . . . I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor.” (I Kings 3:12-13), “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10). Depending upon your condition or your need, you can research the scriptures for yourself to find appropriate promises.

In the same way, in Unity, many of these “promises of God” are personalized and used as affirmations of Truth; for example, “God did not give me a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control.” (2 Tim. 1:7). Or, “My inner nature is being renewed every day.” (II Cor. 4:16), or “This is the day which the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Ps. 118:24). Write them out for yourself and put them on your mirror or where you can see them every day and repeat them to yourself again and again.

You see, as spiritual teacher Jeddah Mali says, “We live in a sea of awareness” or in God presence, and as Unity Minister Sue Sikking titled one of her books, God Always Says Yes. The sea of awareness “in which we live and move and have our being” always reflects back to us in our lives what we are truly asking for in the depths of our being or expecting to experience. The sea of awareness, or God presence, is our true nature and we are always one with it; as Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.”

We are to know that we are never separate from Presence, and in any moment we can go beyond the appearance of things in our experience and give attention to the Truth of our being which is always present, often instantly dissolving the appearance as we become aware of the Truth in that moment. As the Apostle Paul said (Rom. 12:2), “Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Two very different examples of that instantaneous transformation in my own life are as follows:

Many years ago, when my children were young and rambunctious, I found myself yelling at them. Then in that very moment, I realized it was not really me yelling but it was my father yelling through me as he had often yelled at me. I shifted my attention in the awareness of that moment and decided I did not need to do that any more.

My second example I’ll share with you was when my youngest son, at age 26, took his own life in early 1992. My daughter had called from England and left a message on our answering machine for me to call her as soon as possible. When I returned her call, she told me Carl was dead and had taken his own life. A great animal cry issued from somewhere deep within me, and the things I’d heard about people who committed suicide came flooding into my mind.

Then within me, almost instantly, I heard the words “He is enfolded in God’s love!” And I knew that Truth with a certainty that could not be shaken. I was able to go to England to be with my other children, make the arrangements, and conduct a memorial service for family and close friends. I was able to go through all the sadness of the experience and carry the heavy stone of my grief and loss while still remaining centered in that sure knowing of God’s love.

No matter what we may be experiencing, we can always choose where to put our attention or direct our consciousness – even in life’s most difficult challenges.

Remember, God is Blessing You Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

————————————————————
Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-nine years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend. You may also reproduce and publish this article if you also include this reference box. Thank you!

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at www.alanrowbotham.com
————————————————————

Tweet This Post

We’re getting some new windows on one side of our house next week, and it got me to thinking about how our soul could sometimes do with new windows. It is said that your eyes are the windows of your soul; that means they’re not only for others to look into to catch a glimpse of your soul, but they are the windows through which your soul looks outward. So, ask yourself what you see when you look at your life, your world and others in it.

I am reminded of the scriptural passage in Isaiah 54:2, God speaking, “Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; hold not back, lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes.” It seems to me that we often need new windows to look through, to “let the curtains of our habitations (where we habitually dwell) be stretched out,” to see a larger vision for ourselves and for others. We need to grow in conscious awareness of God’s ever-present reality, in which we “live and move and have our being.”

As God said to Abraham (Gen. 13:14-15, 17) “Lift up your eyes, and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you see I will give to you . . . Arise, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” We are talking of awareness, of being aware of the benevolence of God active in your life right now and the gifts that are continuously given. This is the nature of God; it is the lovingness of God presence omnipresent, giving of itself in, through and as you. As it says in the scriptures, “We love because God first loved us.”

I well remember the words of James Dillet Freeman that made a distinct impression upon me when he spoke at the Unity church I attended in 1969, which at that time was located in Arlington Heights, Illinois. He said, “Look with the eyes of love.” I have found that when we really do that we align ourselves with our true nature, and we see rightly.

In answering the question, “Which is the great commandment in the law?” a question which was meant to test him, Jesus, referring back to the biblical books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, responded “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.”

When Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” he is giving us an imperative, to enable us to dwell in the warmth of our own Divine support. For to live is to be in relationship. If we look with the eyes of love at the other person, we will see that his life is as it is because of the way he is seeing life. We will be looking through a new window and making an attempt to stand with him or her and to see as he or she sees. One of the best ways to try to understand someone is to see the good in him or her. In many places in the scriptures it implies that this is the way of the saints, those who love God in themselves and in others.

All true saints have one characteristic: their ability to relate to all people, to walk and talk with all persons, to identify alike with the leper and the criminal, the disfigured and the stupid, the thief and the alien, the coward and the heretic, with the beast of the field, the bird of the air, and the fish of the sea. Somehow these saints comprehend the shared existence of creation.

A saint is one who is fulfilling the process; a saint is what one is intended to be. Jesus demonstrated the potential in all persons; he showed what a person will be if he or she releases his or her imprisoned splendor. This is what all religions are about, despite doctrinal differences: the proper way to be a spiritually mature person. It is the first and foremost lesson of life. The more creatures unlike yourself you can identify with, the more fully do you reveal what you can be.

Our problem is that we do not know or love ourselves fully enough to be able to truly know and love others. We can identify with the similar, and not with the dissimilar. This is why we tend to organize in groups or categories of people with common traits or needs or backgrounds.

By nature we are generous and loving, but we often frustrate and restrict our impulses in very subtle ways. We must challenge ourselves to change the tendency of simply looking at people, and try to look with them through the same window, which means that we must first accept the fact of their existence and thus the significance of their lives and our shared experience. In this way we are able to empathize and walk in their shoes for a while, as we together look through what may be for us a whole new window.

Remember, God is Blessing You Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

————————————————————
Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-nine years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend. You may also reproduce and publish this article if you also include this reference box. Thank you!

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at www.alanrowbotham.com
————————————————————

Tweet This Post