Spiritual Solutions

When I think about spiritual healing, my mind goes to thoughts of Myrtle Fillmore, co-founder of the Unity movement, who had been given a diagnosis of tuberculosis and six months to live. The story goes that, in 1886, she and her husband Charles attended a lecture in Kansas City given by Eugene B. Weeks, and Myrtle left with insights that changed her life. Ringing in her head were the words, “You are a child of God, and you do not inherit sickness.”

She had believed she inherited tuberculosis but now, at age forty-two, worked on casting aside that old belief and blessing all the cells of her body with new life, declaring that they were indeed filled through and through with God-life. And with her new-found spiritual understanding and the application of spiritual principles, she healed herself of tuberculosis.

In this article, I’d like to draw upon the work of Neal Valhe in his biography of Myrtle Fillmore, Torch-Bearer to Light the Way, so you may capture some of the essence of the activity of Spirit in the healing process.

Myrtle Fillmore came to understand that mind and body are not separate. There is intelligence contained in every cell of our body, and it responds to our thoughts. It responds to how we react to circumstances or situations in our lives, and it stores that information for playback in all the experiences of our lives.

But Myrtle said that understanding is not enough. It’s good for us to understand Truth principles if we are to make progress in unfolding our spiritual awareness, but it’s not enough. In her own life, she made a commitment to practicing the Truth principles. She began to speak to the intelligence within her body; she affirmed the presence of God within herself. She focused on that healing activity, and gradually began to see it manifest in her life.

Then Myrtle began to use the techniques in working with others and helping them to heal themselves. Notice I said “to heal themselves.” Although people looked to her as a healer, she recognized it was not she, herself, that was the healer but the spirit of God within the person was the healing power. She encouraged them always to look to the spirit within, to come to understand the spiritual principles and begin to apply them in their own life. Get to know the truth of God within, then the healing transformation can take place.

As she began to work with people, friends and neighbors sought her out for help and they began to see marvelous healings taking place (many of these are recorded in the book, Torch-Bearer to Light the Way, by Neal Vahle). And always, Myrtle focused on God’s healing power. She said that the key to healing is having faith in the healing power of God within you. The book goes on to say she soon came to realize that physical healing was only one aspect of the work. The real goal was advancing the spiritual development of the person.

Both she and Charles Fillmore came to understand that the role of the healer and the teacher were interrelated, and they began to emphasize spiritual instruction to enable people to understand the healing power of God within. They didn’t tell them what to think but how to think, so that their lives could be different, empowered and nurtured by the spirit of God within them.

Myrtle said that the whole aim of their method was to quicken the spirit within the person until they grasped the Truth for themselves. Healing prayer was also connected with the instructions, and excellent results nearly always followed.

They also began to realize that they were actually getting better results with what they called “absent healing,” where people would write in for healing. The work began to grow and they eventually had other people to help them do the healing work. They developed a system of working with people who wrote or called in for healing; they would pray with them over the phone and hold them in a consciousness of God’s presence within, with miraculous results. People wrote in with testimonials about the things that had happened for them through the absent healing.

That was the beginning of the work that became Silent Unity and became the Silent Unity healing department, which grew and has continued for over a hundred years now. You can call Silent Unity any time of day or night and a Silent Unity worker will pray with you (1-800-669-7729). There is an activity of Spirit that goes on when you release something in that way and you know that someone is praying with you. And healing can take place.

In the teachings and in absent healing, Myrtle Fillmore always focused on the importance of finding the healing power of God within. She stressed what she called a “threefold healing.” In the spiritual, it is an activity of aligning with the true spirit of God which is at work within you at all times.

The mental work is to recognize that when you have negative thoughts about yourself or about situations, you can change those thoughts; you can choose your thoughts. She encouraged people to think in a positive way knowing that God’s presence is active within. It’s a matter of aligning your thoughts with the presence of God within.

In regard to the physical, recognize that God’s activity is in every cell of your being and that you can speak to the cells of your body and know that your body will respond. She speaks not only of our physical body but also the body of our experience; God is at work in the physical body and the body of our experience. Wherever we are, God is; we can take comfort from knowing that. And healing can be made manifest.

Your healing is at hand, my friend. If you are going through anything that needs healing, whether it’s body, mind, emotions, relationships, whatever it is, just keep your thoughts and attention on that idea: “My healing is at hand.” As Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is at hand.” And that means the kingdom of God is right here, it’s handy, it’s at hand right now, because God is omnipresent. Say that to yourself: “My healing is at hand.” Know that for yourself, put your attention on that, keep your thoughts on that; no matter what the appearance, be persistent and steady in your efforts. Not trying hard, but letting yourself turn to the spirit of God within, for it’s the spirit within which always does the work.

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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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

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HEALING

24th Day, Tuesday. Read Matthew 9:14-38.

Health, real health, is from within and does not have to be manufactured in the without. It is the normal condition of man, a condition true to the reality of his being.

The first step in all spiritual healing is the using of faith, and the next step is to become open and receptive to the stream of healing life. Spiritual healing restores to perpetual health because it erases the error thought and cleanses the mind.

Through the exercise of faith and our word, our spiritual quality is fused into unity with the power of Christ, and the healing is marvelously accomplished.

It is said that the early Christians, before going forth to do their mighty works, commanded the new life in Christ to come forth and to imbue their consciousness with its healing potency to such an extent that it would flow through them and heal all those to whom they ministered.

They discovered that when they repeated over and over the most powerful prayer Jesus ever uttered, the Lord’s Prayer, the hidden Christ within each one of them was called into action. They further discovered that the fifteenth time they realized the prayer the waters of tribulation as well as all manner of diseases began to subside, and that their realization lifted the consciousness of those who were asking their help. All tribulation and disease dropped away.

Experience proves the power of words to bring health. In healing myself, I talk to my body, repeating necessary denials and affirmations. This raises my consciousness to spiritual reality where all healing power originates.

I faithfully affirm: “Through Jesus Christ, God’s vitalizing energy floods my whole being, and I am healed.”

1. What is the normal condition of man?

2. What is the first step in spiritual healing? The next?

3. How did the early Christians do their mighty works?

4. How do we raise our consciousness to spirituality?

Quietly, confidently, I turn to God. His vitalizing life and energy floods my whole being. I am healed. Praise God, I am healed.

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

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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 following article by Ram Dass reminded me of the series we have just completed on The Practice of the Presence of God, where Brother Lawrence often speaks of taking things in one’s stride, no matter what, and keeping the focus on God’s presence, even of seeing the particular condition as a blessing. In the same way, Ram Dass speaks of using the incident for our spiritual healing provided we learn to see through new eyes.

I especially enjoyed this excerpt from his book since, as senior minister of First Unity Church, I had the opportunity to have Ram Dass speak at our church and to feel the spiritual power emanating from this man after he experienced a stroke and was confined to a wheelchair. And to witness his compassion for others was amazing; after his presentation he invited people to come up to speak with him individually and he stayed until the very last person who wanted to speak to him personally. We started at 7:00 pm and didn’t leave there until after 1:00 am.

So enjoy this excerpt from his book:

I reached for my phone, on the table near my bed.

“R. D.? Are you there?”

I heard the voice of an old friend in Santa Fe. When I didn’t respond coherently, he asked, “Are you sick?” I suppose I still didn’t answer, so he said, “If you can’t speak, tap on the phone. Tap once for yes and twice for no.” When he asked whether I wanted help, I tapped “no” over and over again.

Nonetheless, he contacted my secretaries, who live close by, and the next thing I knew they rushed into the house and found me on the floor. There I was flat on my back, still caught in my “dream” of the very old man, who had now fallen down because his leg wouldn’t work. My assistants seemed very frightened; they called 911. My next recollection is of a group of young firemen, straight out of central casting, staring into the old man’s face while I observed the whole thing as if from a doorway to the side. I’m told I was immediately rushed to a hospital nearby, but all I remember is being rolled down the hospital corridors, looking up at the ceiling pipes and the concerned faces of nurses and friends. I was fascinated by what was happening.

Only afterward did I learn that I had a stroke and realize how close to death I had actually been. The doctors told my friends I had a massive cerebral hemorrhage, and only a ten percent chance of survival. I noticed the looks of deep concern on the faces of the doctors and my friends, but the thought of dying was nowhere in my mind, so I was perplexed by their grave expressions.

Three hospitals and hundreds of hours of rehabilitation later, I gradually eased into my new post-stroke life as someone in a wheelchair, partially paralyzed, requiring round-the-clock care and a degree of personal attention that made me uncomfortable. All my life I had been a “helper”; I had even collaborated on a book called “How Can I Help?” I now found myself forced to accept the help of others, and to admit that my body needed attention. Because I’d spent my adult life concentrating on the realms of the spirit, I’d always been able to rationalize the distance I maintained from my body by saying that my detachment was a spiritual witnessing of the physical form. But that had been only partly true. The truth is that I distanced myself from my body. I saw my body as merely a vehicle for the soul. I ignored it as much as possible and tried to spiritualize it away.

From a physical perspective, the lack of love I’d shown toward my body contributed to my stroke. I was negligent about taking my blood pressure medicine and, a month before the stroke, ignored an unusual one-side hearing loss while scuba diving in the Caribbean. Before the stroke, although I was in my 60’s, I saw myself as young and powerful, with my MG, golf clubs, surfing, and speaking gigs. Illness had shattered my self-image, and opened the door to a new chapter in my life.

After any major physical “insult,” as they call it, it’s all too easy to see yourself as a collection of symptoms rather than as a total human being, including your spirit — and thus to become your illness. Fear is powerful and contagious, and at first I allowed myself to catch it, worried that if I didn’t do what the doctors ordered, I’d be sorry. But now I’m learning to take my healing into my own hands. Healing is not the same as curing, after all; healing does not mean going back to the way things were before, but rather allowing what is now to move us closer to God.

For example, since my speech was severely impaired by this stroke, I considered not speaking publicly anymore, since the words came so slowly, but people insisted that my halting new voice enabled them to concentrate on the silence between the words. Now that I speak more slowly, people tend to finish my sentences for me, and thus to answer questions for themselves. Though I once used silence as a teaching method, it now arises without my control and allows for a sense of emptiness, an emptiness that listeners can use as a doorway to their inner quiet.

My guru once said to a visitor complaining about her suffering, “I love suffering. It brings me so close to God.” In this same way, I’ve learned that the incidents associated with aging — including this stroke — can be used for our spiritual healing, provided we learn to see through new eyes.

Although my outward life has been radically altered, I don’t see myself as a stroke victim. I see myself as a Soul who’s watching “him” experience the aftermath of this cerebral hemorrhage. Having accepted my predicament, I’m much happier than I was before. This troubles some of the people around me. They have told me that I should fight to walk again, but I don’t know if I wanted to walk. I’m sitting — that’s where I am. I’m peaceful like this and I am grateful to the people who care for me. Why is this wrong? Though I can now stand and move around with a walker, I’ve grown to love my wheelchair (I call it my swan boat) and being wheeled about by people who care. They carry Chinese emperors and Indian maharajas on palanquins; in other cultures, it’s a symbol of honor and power to be carried and wheeled. I don’t believe it’s all-important to be what our culture calls “optimal.”

Before the stroke I wrote a great deal about the terrible things that can happen in aging, and how to cope with them. Now I’m happy to say that having gone through what some would view as the worst, it’s not so bad after all.

Getting old isn’t easy for a lot of us. Neither is living, neither is dying. We struggle against the inevitable, and we all suffer because of it. We have to find another way to look at the whole process of being born, growing old, changing, and dying, some kind of perspective that might allow us to deal with what we perceive as big obstacles without having to be dragged through the drama. It really helps to understand that we have something — that we are something — which is unchangeable, beautiful, completely aware, and continues no matter what. Knowing this doesn’t solve everything — this is what I encountered and told about in “Be Here Now,” and I’ve still had my share of suffering. But the perspective of the soul can help a lot with the little things, and it is my hope that you’ll be able to take from this book some joy in being “still here.”

Recently, a friend said to me, “You’re more human since the stroke than you were before.” This touched me profoundly. What a gift the stroke has given me, to finally learn that I don’t have to renounce my humanity in order to be spiritual — that I can be both witness and participant, both eternal spirit and aging body. The book’s ending, which had eluded me, is now finally clear. The stroke has given me a new perspective to share about aging, a perspective that says, “Don’t be a wise elder, be an incarnation of wisdom.” That changes the whole nature of the game. That’s not just a new role; it’s a new state of being. It’s the real thing. At nearly seventy, surrounded by people who care for and love me, I’m still learning to be here now.

About the Author:

Ram Dass is a beloved spiritual figure, who teaches and promotes service in ecology, socially-conscious business practices, and care for the dying. His book “Be Here Now” is a great spiritual classic of the 20th century. http://ramdass.org 

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God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-six years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, Spiritual Solutions or go directly to the Spiritual Solutions Blog

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

To make a donation to “Spiritual Solutions,” just go to Send a Love Offering and it will take you to a simple form you can use. Thank you – I am very grateful for your generosity!

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