From the 21st century B.C.E. with and the Sumerians’ Amorite Wall to the 21st century C.E. with the Russians’ Berlin wall, history records many attempts to keep people separate by the building physical walls. History shows that eventually physical walls have not succeeded. As we continue to evolve, we are more and more aware that we are becoming one people. The efforts that are being made to separate us are evidence of a last attempt of keep us unaware. This, as in all the attempts before, is bound to fail.
The latest of these more notorious walls was the Berlin Wall that came down when people were no longer willing to be separated. It is now known as the wall of shame. The present attempt will eventually fail because people are even more unwilling to be separated; perhaps before it can ever be built.

This one's a little long, but please read to the end. -- Rev. EJ

​Erich Fromm wrote a book called “Escape from Freedom.” The main topic of the book was that people are afraid of freedom because every new step away from the bondage or slavery or even the established, simple routine contains the danger of failure. We are tempted not to move forward, to stay where we are, to regress even, because we do not want to risk making a mistake. What if we could know that there are no mistakes, only opportunities to learn? What if we could know that there is no power in the universe that is against us?

I do not truly understand how it all works when we look at the world around us. But I know that when I think of freedoms that I have seen come about in my own lifetime, I am convinced that it is a highly positive process and that it is going in an onward, upward direction. The progress we have made may be obscured by the fact that we have the capability as never before to see everything that is going on. The fact is that we are freer than we have ever been as a world, as a nation and as individuals, even if it does not always seem so.

We are free because many before us believed in the benevolence of the universe, the goodness of God and the potential for the individual. Many who have come before us have risked, have dared and have believed that the future was full of hope and promise.

At some level of human consciousness, there must be a deep faith in the benevolent nature of the Universe, the faith in the goodness of whatever we believe God to be. I choose to believe that it is the inherent pull of spiritual evolution. I also choose to believe that the sooner we all become aware of it and surrender to it, the sooner we will all be able to experience the freedom that leads us out of whatever bondage or slavery, or even simple routine we find ourselves in.

We have talked about the courage it takes to opt for freedom in our nations. We have said that our freedom as a nation was gained through the courage of those who have fought and died to secure it. However, I would like to submit that freedom is more about faith than courage. It is about faith that the cause for which they were fighting was just and good. That may not have been true for every person who ever fought a war. However, it must be true for the majority of those who fought or anarchy would have reigned.

I recently came across a quote again from Seneca the Elder that says, “It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that things are difficult.” And we remember the quote from Anais Nin, “There came a time when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” We see many people today who seemingly choose to remain tight in the bud; but I am convinced that as a people we have progressed.

​In all of the things happening today that seem a threat to our freedom and our way of life, ours is to recognize how far we have come; to dedicate ourselves to daring to contribute to the onward, upward movement of Spirit and to give thanks every day for the Truth that has set us free, the Truth that there is only one presence and one power in the Universe, God the good. This power has brought us this far and will continue.

In November of 2016 I shared the following article with a few people. Looking at the world right now, I feel it is still very true.  So, I thought     I would share it more broadly.

Over the past few days, I have been reminded of the Book of Job. In the story, it appeared that he had he lost everything that he held dear and was being told by his closest advisors and friends all that he had done wrong

Some of us may have had a similar experience. Since the 2016 election, like Job, we are still trying to figure out how it happened that things we held dear, the ethics, the morals, the sense of decency and the belief that we were on a path to a better, more loving world has been taken away.
In terms of the Spiral*, we can say that it looks like we have regressed in a very major way. Another way we can see it is as unhealed consciousness coming up to be healed.

There is unhealed PURPLE as we are experiencing many different "tribes" still seeing the "other tribes" as the enemy. There is unhealed RED seen in the anger and the aggression. There is also unhealed BLUE as various groups try to hold onto their belief system as being the “only right one.” Unhealed ORANGE is still resident in those who would control all the wealth and power. And, yes, there is unhealed GREEN -- the blaming, the resistance to hierarchy and the anger against institutions.
But what do we do now?

As in the story of Job, we can realize there is still a power and presence in the Universe that has been in evolution for billions of years and continues to move in a direction that is positive and more loving. And, we can, like Job, accept that all is still well. It is the first step we need take to see that what we still hold dear, even though it seems to have been taken away, will be "given back" again.

In the story of Job, the answer was to stop blaming, stop analyzing, and trust the Universe…trust the process…the story of an evolution that is still in process.

We can recall in the story of Job that he was listening to his "friends" who were telling him all of the things he had done wrong and what circumstances or other people had done him wrong. It caused him to suffer physical, mental and emotional pain and distress. We, who are concerned about what is happening in our world right now, have spent some time blaming people who have done us wrong, hacking our computers, rigging the election, giving out false information, continuing to create what could look like certain disaster. If use our energy focusing on these things, it can cause us physical, mental and emotional pain and distress.

Or, we can use our energy to engage the question, "What do we do now?" When Job asked the question, "What do I do now?" he stopped trying to figure it all out. He became aware of something he had to do which was to trust a higher power at higher work in the universe. This is what is ours to do now.

The story of Job was written from the consciousness that was prevalent in the writer's time period; but it contains insights that are ahead of the writer's time. It is beautiful poetry and a powerful message that is still true for our time. Job was challenged to remember that he was a product of a force that was greater than he knew and that he could trust it to continue in ways he could not possibly imagine.

We now have ways to know that the journey has continued for billions of years, and we have every reason to know it is continuing. It challenges us to become aware of how far we have come and to become more aware that we have progressed in ways we could not have imagined. It reminds us of the millions of advanced souls who have held the vision

Millions of people are focusing on individual concerns today, all a part of the overall concern. We can remind and support each other as we find ways to co-operate within the larger common goal: to create a world that works for all. We can trust that the power that has led us this far will not leave us now, a power and presence that continues to work in the universe and in our individual lives today.

* Spiral Dynamics -- Mastering Values, Leadership and Change by Beck and Cowan

I bought a new flashlight.  In fact, I bought more than one. I am finding that I need more light to look into small places, etc.

I think of something I read from Mary Manin Morrissey. It went something like this: “We sometimes in our life would like to have a floodlight but God gives us a flashlight.”

I know there have been times in my life where for a little while I got a glimpse of a larger picture. These have been times when I became aware that there is something more that I am to be exploring in my life.  So many times I have wanted to know what the whole picture looked like.  I wanted to ask, like Abraham, when God told him to go: “Now the Lord said to Abraham, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.'” What Abraham found, as have I, is that we are shown not all at once, but one step at a time. We want a floodlight and the Universe gives us a flashlight. I recently came across a wonderful quote from Teilhard de Chardin about being patient.

"Above all, trust in the slow work of God. We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay. We should like to skip the intermediate stages. We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.

And yet it is the law of all progress that it is made by passing through some stages of instability—and that it may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you; your ideas mature gradually—let them grow, let them shape themselves, without undue haste. Don’t try to force them on, as though you could be today what time (that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will) will make of you tomorrow.

Only God could say what this new spirit gradually forming within you will be. Give Our Lord the benefit of believing that his hand is leading you, and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete.”

Retrieved from: http://teilhard.com/2013/04/29/teilhard-de-chardin-quote-of-the-week-april-29-trust-and-patience-prayer/

As we consider that may be in store for us this New Year, we can  trust the process and become more comfortably with seeming “instability.”

I awoke this morning thinking of end of the year rituals. In Unity the one’s I think of the most are the Christmas Candlelighting and the Burning Bowl. There was a time when we tended to dismiss them altogether or at most lessen their importance.

But to keep the Spiral healthy in our lives we need to go back and assess whether rituals can continue to serve us, and rituals are characteristics of healthy PURPLE consciousness. They tend to call to mind the things that served us well in our ongoing evolution.

I attended the Christmas Candlelight service and felt the power of collective observance It reminded me that divinity is inherent in each individual. It allowed me to also remember that we first become aware of that divinity as a birth and that we grow into our knowledge of it as we continue to grow and develop in our spiritual lives.

The newborn child does not immediately feel guilt because he or she is not already full grown but goes the process of becoming. We, too can honor the process within us that will allow us to focus on where we are now but reminding ourselves that there is “more” to come.

I am reminded of James Dillett Freeman’s poem “More.”

 “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…” These are the first words of what we call The Magnificat – a [poem or song of praise and Thanksgiving.  They were recited by Mary, the mother of Jesus, when her cousin Elizabeth met her at the door and confirmed that she knew of the coming birth of Mary’s child.

To magnify means to enlarge or make greater than the apparent size.  It also can mean to dramatize. When I use a magnifying glass I make things more readable. I place the magnifying glass over what I want to read and I am able to bring the desired passage into focus.  That doesn’t change the rest of the words on the page, it just brings what I want to see closer.

We have many things going on in our lives.  So many that it sometimes seems overwhelming.  But we can place our focus on one thing at a time. We choose what we want to magnify. We live in a universe of infinite possibilities. Every day we must choose which of those possibilities we want to magnify… which we want to see more clearly, which we want to dramatize.

Often in the past I have chosen to enlarge or dramatize those things that I did not want to focus on. Instead of the many, many things that are going right I had allowed myself to dwell on that which didn’t seem to be going right.   The result was that the things that were going right became the background.  The thing I didn’t want to increase I magnified. 

Metaphysically “The Lord” represents the spiritual dimension of us.  When we can remember to magnify, enlarge, even dramatize that spiritual part of ourselves our lives can become more productive and more joyful.

We all have within us the knowledge that we are made in the image of God.  We have access to all the wisdom, abundance and wholeness that is our true nature.  It is most important to focus on this during this season. By enlarging and dramatizing the knowledge of the reality of the Christ presence being born and reborn in us, we are “magnifying the Lord.” Let us make a conscious effort to affirm that reality in everything we thing, say and do.  And let us, as Mary and Elizabeth did, remind each other.   #

We are reminded every year of all the things for which we are so thankful, for all of the many major blessings in our lives. This year I have been made aware, again and again, of all the little things that I have experienced that have made my life much easier.

From April to September my family and I were busy getting our house ready to sell, selling the house, arranging for storage and finding another place to live- along with all the little, and sometimes big, challenges associated with a move.

It seems from the first we were guided to the right people to help us in this endeavor.  A great couple came to take down wallpaper.  It turned out they were members of our local Unity Chapel.  A real estate agent became our angel in disguise.  He guided us, supported us and led us through what could have become a difficult transaction.

From the beginning of the experience I was able to have so many “God’s little Burma Shave signs” (those of you of a certain age can recall these- little signs that kept you waiting for the next one!)  I should have documented them all.

And now that we are settled, well almost completely, I took the time to revisit Bandon, Oregon where I had my first experience as a minister in a Unity Church. It was a rewarding time. I renewed acquaintances, met new people and had a time to enjoy the beautiful Ocean beach and a renewal of body and soul. I had so many “little” Burma Shave signs as I drove that I lost count all the way to Oregon and then returning home.

So I am grateful for the people in my life, the work that I feel I am called to continue to do and the promise that, in the words of Daniel Nahmod’s song, God’s infinite love is “more than enough.”

On the whole world stage, in spite of how events are happening around us now, there is more than enough wisdom, resources of all kinds, and certainly more than enough infinite love to sustain us through what seems to be a discouraging time. So let us step back, see things in the long term and acknowledge how greatly humankind has been blessed over the ages and how far we have come. We can trust the process that has brought us this far and can continue to see that infinite love is still at work in our own lives and in the world.