Greetings!   

Each individual has the right to experience his own spiritual dimension fully, without outside control of any kind. The church merely sets the stage on which the play of spirituality can take place

from "The Beautiful Way of Life",   

by Unity Minister, Rev. Charles Lelly

Have you ever wondered why we do church? I surely have! As one who walked away from traditional church and organized religion at the ripe old age of 12, I frequently find myself amazed and amused at the amount of energy I invest in "doing church"! I don't believe that outer rites and rituals are at all necessary to our spiritual growth, and I certainly do not believe that it is any kind of "sin" not to attend church. I also believe very firmly that- much as I love our physical space- there is nothing really special about the buildings that house churches, and that people can know their spiritual Oneness without ever walking into any kind of church. I don't believe any organization (even Unity) has exclusive rights to Truth. So why do it? Why bother?

I have come to realize that, for me, the spiritual path is enhanced by walking in the company of others. I could develop my spirituality in solitude, and indeed, I am a huge fan of solitude. And yet... something amazing and wonderful happens when we come together with the intention of knowing and expressing the Truth of our Beingness. If we are each a portion of God made manifest, and I believe that we are, then it seems somehow logical and reasonable that a part of our journey ought to be invested in getting to know those other portions of God made manifest who travel alongside us.

When we come together in spiritual community, we have, on some level, made agreements with each other, whether we have verbalized them or not. We will do our best to cultivate relationships that are characterized by the presence of honor, respect, love, kindness, and care. We acknowledge that there is a need for authenticity in our relationships: and that requires that we be authentic. We understand also that, in our human-ness, we will stumble, we will not always agree, and sometimes we will get so wrapped up that human-ness that we will forget completely that we even have a spiritual path, much less how to walk it in love. At some point we will again remember our Truth, and when we do, we will do our best to clean up those human messes through forgiveness of ourselves and others. We will "own" our "stuff". We will practice loving ourselves and our neighbors, one step, one word, one action at a time.

Relationship with others cannot be developed in solitude. The readiness for right relationships can certainly be cultivated in solitude, but we cannot truly know Oneness without knowing the other Lights of God with whom we share this planet. It is my belief that at some point in time, we humans must learn to live together as the Wholeness that we are. To do that, we need safe spaces to practice the peace and the love that God is. It is one thing to know the bliss of Oneness sitting in your meditation space. It is another thing entirely to learn to take that awareness of Oneness into everyday life: going to work, shopping for groceries, driving in rush-hour traffic, managing conflict with family members, speaking with tech support, listening to political rhetoric, and simply doing all of the things that life on earth requires us to do.