top It's Your Choice - cooperating with the still small voice

 

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 activitiesCreative Journey

is back! 

 

We began again in April with instruction from Jeanne Fellow who taught us how to "Paint Peace" with acrylic inks. It was

great fun and very meaningful. Now, we're getting ready for summer by planning a list of fun activities to enjoy through the hot summer months.

 

If you're creative and enjoy getting together with others who love to create, come join the fun. We meet on designated Saturdays from 10:00 am to noon and then enjoy a brown bag lunch together.

 

For more details and to be added to the Creative Journey email list, please contact Barb McLawhorn.  

 

Creative Journey 

 

 

Greetings!

Life is choices. If there is one statement that really sums up my own personal day-to-day belief system, that would be it. Life is choices.

 

The process of change is messy. It's an uncomfortable place to be. We tend not to seek out change unless our current situation has somehow become unacceptable. The human mind in us, the ego, will put up with quite a lot before it willingly seeks change. There is much truth to the old adage that until the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change, we will stay the same.

 

We are indeed spiritual beings, AND we are having a very human experience. Since only the Absolute (God/ Spirit/ Beingness) is unchanged, unchanging and unchangeable, we can be assured that changes will happen during our human lifetimes. It may come gently or it may come harshly. We may know that we have invited this change, or it may feel thrust upon us through some sort of circumstance that we surely would not have chosen. Whatever the outer-appearing catalyst, it is up to us to navigate the waters of change. It is up to us to choose whether to move through those rocky waters kicking and screaming, or to cooperate with what appears to be a normal process of the human experience.

 

Most of us will initially choose to kick and scream. "Why me?" "I knew something like this would happen!" "How could they do this to me?" "What kind of god would let a thing like this happen...?"

 

Our human ego (the "adverse" ego as Unity co-founder Charles Fillmore calls it) wants to be in charge. It believes that it knows best how to do things and what is best for us and how to make the world a better and safer place for us. These are not bad things- they are just not very productive for spiritual beings having human experiences. If we were really "only human" perhaps the human ego would indeed have all the answers. But we are not 'only human". We are spiritual beings. Spiritual beings must, at some point, come into the willingness to be guided spiritually.

 

"Those who are unspiritual (or natural) do not receive the gifts of God's Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Cor 2:14, NRSV)

 

When we are through kicking and screaming, when we are complete with proclaiming our victimhood to all who will listen, we come to a point of willingness. We reach this point of willingness in part because the pain of victimhood has become greater than the pain of change. There is That in us which recognizes the need to either change or be doomed to keep playing the role of victim over and over and over again. There is That within us which says, "No! Victimhood is not my inheritance. There is another choice." That is the Christ mind, which Fillmore calls the "spiritual ego". It is That which the apostle Paul called, "Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Col. 1:27, NRSV) It is That which we call I AM.

 

That moment of choice is when we claim illumination and understanding: Let there be Light. In that moment of choice we put aside our preconceived notions and stand willing to allow Spirit to guide us in our next steps. In that moment of choice, we agree to stop fighting the currents of change and cooperate with the process of Divine Mind that is the orderly outworking of the Universe.

 

In that moment of choice, we are forever changed. We know that we are not victims. We know that there is no "god out there" throwing dice with our lives. We know that, in Truth, we are That Which God Is: Beingness, Oneness, Wholeness. We begin to listen with ears willing to hear, and we begin to look with eyes willing to see. In that moment of choice, we are transformed. And for that transformation, we are eternally thankful.                                                       top  

Divider classesWednesdays thru June 8th

110:30am - 12:30pm or 6:30 - 8:30pm

 "The Christ in the Bible"

 

Nita facilitates an exploration of the Christ idea as it relates not only to Jesus, but to each of us as well. We'll explore what "The Christ" idea is, where it came from, what it meant to the people of Jesus' time, and what it means to us.

 

You are encouraged to take a deep breath, open your mind and heart, and say, "Let there be Light" as you demonstrate your willingness to begin discovering the gifts contained in the Bible. Our preferred version of the Bible is the NRSV, and if you don't have a copy, we'll give you one at no charge!

 

There is never a fee for Unity Institute SEE classes at Unity Church of Peace; love offerings will be blessed. You are welcome to attend any or all sessions as your schedule allows.

 

Divider

eventSaturday - June 4

7:00 - 9:00 pm

"Filling the God Shaped Hole", an evening with Rev. Michael Brooks

 

Rev. BrooksCome and enjoy an evening of spirit, humor and wit as Michael shares what it takes to leave the past behind and move into the ever-present unquenchable NOW!


Michael is an ordained Unity minister and the spiritual leader of Unity of the White Mountains in Pinetop/Lakeside Arizona. He is approaching 25 years in 12-step recovery and knows the addictive mind intimately. He began practicing meditation at the age of 17 and will admit he is no closer to cosmic consciousness now then he was then. He has however, learned to enjoy the journey and wants to share with you how he filled the God shaped hole so that you might fill yours.   

 

No tickets are necessary - a love offering will be accepted. 

 

Monday - June 20

7:00 pm

Comedy Concert with Greg Tamblyn: Analog Brain in a Digital World
 
Greg TamblynEnjoy an evening of hilarious, heartfelt musical musings and mindful
mischief. Greg's songs and stories impart empowering life messages and spiritual insights through the right-brain doorway of music and laughter. It's "Ha Ha" with an "Aha!"
 
Elevate your endorphins, amplify your amusement, and improve your digestion
with hilarious songs and stories that help us celebrate the best in ourselves,
and laugh at the rest of ourselves. They're like WD-40 for our relationships, our moments of confusion, the things we want to accomplish in life, and our connection to the Big Mystery.
 
Join us on a musical joyride into Mystery and Mirth, the Profound and the Absurd, the Personal and the Universal, the Psychological and the Spiritual, the Sacred and the Silly.

 

Mystics, prophets, saints and psychologists have all told us that happiness lies in the Now. Many of us in the West have forgotten where that is. Silliness is a profound way to get there.
 
Streaming audio and FREE song downloads.
 
Tickets are $10.00                                                                                                           top 

 

Nita Strauss
Thank you!
  
Once again, thank you very much for reading. Your in-box is a busy place, I know! If you'd like to listen to past lessons, download mp3s, or find a map to our location, please click on the links above. If you know someone who might enjoy reading this message, you may easily send it to them with the "Forward to a Friend" button. Rest assured their email addresses will not be shared.

Please know that I join you in claiming Light on your journey. We travel this path together, and the Light you find helps illumine the path for those who follow. You are a blessing to all of us. I'll look forward to seeing you soon!

Blessings...
Nita                                                                                                                                   top