Unity Connections

   In recognition of Memorial Day, we will hold our annual candle lighting ritual this Sunday. This will offer us an opportunity to honor those who have given their lives in service of our country, and to remember our loved ones who have passed. We will draw on the following two beatitudes given by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.  (Matthew 5: 4) Mourning is the outward expression of the inner process of grief. As we share the experience of our loss with others, we are supported in moving through our grief in a healthy way. We come together to hold the space for that process in community. This is the value expressed in memorial services. This is how we show up to comfort each other in the shared experience of loss and grief. Grief has a way of breaking us open.  When we lean into that process we feel the depth of our capacity to love, and of our emotional response to the loss of those that we love. Depen...

The power of our thoughts is a central component of Unity’s foundational teaching. We believe that the quality of our thoughts directly impacts our experience.  Ultimately, our goal is to grow in our ability to think empowering God (good) thoughts over the more commonly limited, negative or fear-based thoughts. If we truly believe that the nature of God is good- and that we are expressions of that good (God) then it follows that our thoughts should reflect that belief. This Sunday, we will resume our series looking at the teachings of Jesus as a means for transforming minds, using  Discover the Power Within You  by Eric Butterworth as our guide.  If effect, Jesus was asking his followers to actually live as if they believed their sacred texts and laws rather than simply reciting them. While many thought that Jesus had come to overthrow the Roman government, he clearly stated that he had come to fulfill the law, not to break it. He was speaking of the universal spiri...

This Sunday we will celebrate Mother’s Day by honoring our mother figures- those in our lives that who have loved us and nurtured our growth. Few of us had ‘perfect mother’ relationships. For those who have become Mothers, the reality of the experience often sheds light on the impossibility of perfection.  We do our best, and often run head first into our own limits and weaknesses. We do well to learn from our mistakes. Fortunately, we can always access the nurturing, loving feminine energy within us; offering  her healing balm to our own heart and enabling compassion for our own Mother. Regardless of our gender identity or parental status, we all innately possess aspects of both feminine and masculine energies. While most of us were socialized to express one over the other, we are healthiest when these energies are balanced within us. Our modern world has long bent toward the expression of the masculine energies. Yet, we can all benefit from developing a stronger connection w...