Spiritual Solutions

“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

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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
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           May this Christmas find you blessed
            In many different ways.
      May your stocking be filled with goodies
          And may joy fill up your days.
        May your heart and home overflow
           With the beauty that abounds
      And may these gifts all be reflections
           Of the inner gifts you found.
      May your heart be as pure as Mary’s
          And your soul magnify the Lord
       May your mind be as open as Joseph’s
         That you too can heed God’s word.
       May you be as vigilant as the shepherds,
           And may you hear the angels call
          May all of your gifts honor Christ
      And may they be blessings for one and all.
        May you, in the manger of your heart
           Make room this Christmas morn.
            For unto you this very day
            God’s sacred child is born.
             It is a sign from heaven
            God loves you, this is clear.
         May this gift bless your Christmas
          And uplift your whole New Year.

(This blessing was sent to all the Unity ministers of the Southeast Region of the Association of Unity Churches by Rev. Bob Fortner, president of the region, and now comes to you courtesy of Rev. Alan Rowbotham, of Spiritual Solutions.)

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When we lived in our previous home we had some French doors put in from our bedroom to the back deck and garden which overlooked the bayou. They had been delayed along the way and finally they got the doors in and painted and so on, and the head of the company came and apologized for the length of time it had taken. We got to talking – he was a young man – and he began to tell us some of his life story.

He shared with us that he was the eldest of nine children and that he’d had a pretty tough life but he had focused on this goal of developing this company. He remembered people along the way that had helped him; he said that his father had died when he was about five years old, his mother had remarried and he didn’t get along with his stepfather who, he said was a drinking man and was away a lot of the time and abusive when he was home. He said his mother always seemed to be working.

But he remembered a person who often came by to look in at the kids and bring them food if they didn’t have any; she would also come and take them to Sunday school – she was a Sunday school teacher. He remembered her as being one who had nurtured him and he told us he had just seen her again after many years and was going to have her over to dinner on the weekend.

As I listened to the story I thought that all of us

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