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Unity Spiritual Life Center
February 12, 2014 ~ Weekly Update
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MISSION
To be a center of positive, practical, progressive Christianity devoted to helping people awaken to the Spirit within and to inspire one another into a grater experience of God and life through prayer, meditation, education, and service to others.
VISION
To create a loving and engaged Unity Truth Community that transforms the spiritual consciousness of the planet...one thought, one word, one action at a time.
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Every moment of life is a spiritual experience. Michael Singer
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Sunday, February 16, 2014, 10:30 am
UNITY THEME FOR 2014: Teach Compassion
Affirmation: I behold the Christ in others.
Check out unity.org/resources.
LESSON FOR TODAY: Unlimited Forgiveness
Forgiveness is a practice of releasing and a compassionate way of living. If we are willing to sincerely practice letting go of the stories that keep us trapped, no matter how painful
or unjust it may seem, we will experience a freedom and feeling of wholeness we thought not possible.
SPECIAL MUSIC: Sandy Hemenway
Childcare provided for the service.
MEET & GREET follows the service ~
spend time munching and mingling,
as you greet old friends and meet new ones!
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PAULA'S PERSPECTIVE
I have had a few opportunities in the last week to practice being in the moment. I've noticed that this one small practice shifts me into gratitude and appreciation. It is a life pause, a deep breath, a yield sign on the road of living. How often do you blow through the yield signs?
Yield means to give way to...and in this case to give way to the current moment...to make this moment the most important. Yielding to the current moment puts us at the center of living like nothing else can. We can look around and see and feel exactly where we are. I think that clarity comes out of being present to the moment we are in...especially when we can be in that moment without judging it.
I was listening to an interview on NPR, Here and Now this week. Jeremy Hobson was interviewing David Menasche, a high school teacher diagnosed with a deadly brain cancer in 2006 at age 34. He suffered a stroke in 2012 that left him mostly blind and partially paralyzed. He decided after that stroke to travel across the country to visit his students as they are what means the most to him. Read the full story at http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2014/01/22/teacher-david-menasche.
David said this in the interview: "Being diagnosed with terminal brain cancer gave me a sense of urgency. And I realized that if there was things I wanted to say, I had to say them now; places I wanted to see or things I wanted to do, all I had was the moment to go and do it. And I've come to realize that the only moment any of us are truly guaranteed is this one."
All we have is this moment and then the one connected to the next and the next until they are no more. Yield to it, be grateful for it, let it inspire greatness in you, hug the ones you love, take a deep breath and feel the cold in your lungs. Really look around and see and feel this moment. Use it to be all you can be and let it be the springboard into the rest of your life.
Peace always
Paula
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Silent Meditation: 9:30-10am Sunday
Fun First Friday every month: 7-8:30pm
SPECIAL EVENTS
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
SMALL GROUP OR INDIVIDUAL BOOK STUDY, Living Originally by Robert Brumet. Two Groups will be meeting...one on Tuesday evenings at 7pm and one on Thursday evenings at 7pm. The Tuesday meeing will be held at the home of Janice Escott, 126 Essex Drive, Chapel Hill, 27514...10.6 miles from the Center. The Thursday meeting will be at the home of Jeanie Rodgers, 605 Quartz Drive, Durham, 27703...8.3 miles from the Center. Join us as we discover how to "live originaly". Next week: Tuesday, February 18th and Thursday, February 20th.
DINNER AND DISCUSSION, Wednesday, February 19th, 6:30pm. Sign up for this fellowship event! We will be serving chili (meat & vegetarian), side salad, crusty bread, and tea or coffee. BYOB...Bring your own BOWL! Cost is $10.00 Reservations required and money due by Sunday, February 16TH. Topic: Getting to know Rev. Paula and USLC 2014.
BOOK STUDY MEETING with Rev. Paula - Monday, February 24th,
7-8 p.m.
A time for connecting with others who are practicing Radical Self-Awareness & Deep Self-Acceptance as presented in Living Originally, Ten Spiritual Practices to Transform Your Life by Robert Brumet. Do you have a question or want to share an experience? Join Rev. Paula for this open discussion.
COMING SOON
FUN FIRST FRIDAY: GAME NIGHT at 7pm. Bring your favorite game, cards, dominoes. Participate as a team in Pictonary. Anything goes! Popcorn and a raffle too! More details to follow.
ON-GOING
PRAYER AND HEALING MINISTRY GATHERING. Healing prayer, guided meditation, and opportunity for hands on healing. Be still and know. Every 1st Sunday at noon and 3rd Monday at 7pm, Fillmore Chapel. Next meeting: Monday, February 17th at 7pm.
BOOKSTORE: Featured Books. Living Originally by Robert Brumet; The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer; Discover the Power Within You by Eric Butterworth; The Exquisite Risk by Mark Nepo. Check out our Featured Book table!
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WOW!
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COMMUNITY LIFE
When community life is based on voluntary work...it is a very good thing. It is justified because people depend naturally on each other. Living (and volunteering) in a community is rather like living in an enormous family that meets our needs.
Dalai Lama,
Daily Advice from the Heart
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YOU CAN HELP USLC GET FREE MONEY
***HOW?***
* Pick up a gift card from Carla; $5 is already on it to get you started.
* Take it to Kroger Customer Service Desk and put your grocery money on
the card.
(Be sure you do this at least 12 hours before you plan to use it. It takes time for it to be put in Kroger's system.)
* Go grocery shopping with the gift card.
This does not affect your regular rewards from Kroger.
Every time you use your card to buy groceries or gas at Kroger, the amount is credited to USLC toward a 5% reward when our total reaches $5000...that's $250 for the Center.
You continue to receive all your regular Kroger rewards. Encourage friends and family to join our fund drive.
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Opportunities to Serve at USLC
Sunday Service Ministry
Director: Rev Paula. This ministry takes on the responsibility for an exciting and inclusive experience for all who attend Sunday Services. Most team members arrive at least 20 minutes before the start of the service and some stay after everyone is gone to put our space back in order.
Hospitality Team: Sets up coffee, tea, refreshments, and snacks and puts hospitality area and kitchen back in order at the end of fellowship time.
Collection Counting Team: Two members count the Sunday collection and fill out the forms necessary for accurately recording tithes and love offerings.
Greeter/Usher Team: Greets visitors and members, hands out bulletin, and collects the offering during the service.
Sound Team: Sets up microphones, checks sound with musicians, provides sound control during the service, records service ,and provides CD's for purchase after the service.
Worship Assistant Team: Reads announcements, provides inspirational reading, and hands out welcome packets.
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Please check out our Facebook Page -- and Click "LIKE" We want to grow our readership! | | |
Join us on Meetup.com
And forward this newsletter to your friends!
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| Sundays:
9:30
Silent Meditation
Fillmore Chapel
10:30
Celebration Service & YOU/Uniteen classes
(Childcare available) | | |
Directions: Exit 175 off of I-85. Turn NORTH on Guess Road; Turn right onto Carver Street. Go approximately half a block; USLC is located in the small business park on your left. |
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COMMUNITY ZONE
NEW BOARD OF TRUSTEES
President: Ginny Brendlen
Vice President: Janice Escott
Treasurer: Jeanie Rodgers
Secretary: Mary Lea Richards
Member at Large: Jim Kimbrough
A HUGE "THANK YOU!!"
Please accept my heart-felt "THANK YOU" in gratitude for all the love and appreciation you so graciously bestowed upon me on Sunday. It was obvious that the reception and gifts were carefully thought about and planned for and I am humbled by the love I felt from all of you. It was a wonderful day and certainly one of the best Annual Meetings I have ever facilitated. J Please know that each and every one of you holds a special place in my heart and will carry your love with me where I may go.
Blessings and love always,
Renée Piere
THANKS TO ALL
who attended our annual meeting last Sunday.
featuring The Transzenders
Join Unity Church of Raleigh for the Hearts in Unity Funraiser Concert and Italian Night Dinner (plenty of Lasagna, meat and vegetarian!), February 22 from 6-9pm. The event includes a raffle of prizes...tickets $1 each. Special pizza, games, and movie for kids. Adults $10 ($70 for table of 8) and kids $5 ($2.50 for additional sibling).
www.unitychurchofraleigh.org. Pay on line, after church on Sunday, or mail a check to the office. Make checks out to UCR and write "Hearts In Unity" on memo line.
CD's of Sunday Lesson available for $3.00. Check at the Sound Booth after
the service.
BUDGET REPORT
January Income: $4,816
Expenses: 7,291
Profit (Loss) ($2,475)
KEEPING UP: What's happening in your neighborhood? Are you traveling, hosting visiting friends or relatives, having a yard sale, announcements, other activites? Send your information to rodgers.jean@gmail.com by Tuesday of each week.
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FEATURE
The Three Stages of Transformation
An excerpt from the Daily Word by Joan Borysenko, Ph.D
...if you're in the midst of an unwanted change, rather than thinking of yourself as an unwilling victim, think of yourself as an initiate of the journey of the soul, which will bring you solace as well as wisdom.
1. Separation: The Journey Begins.
When I directed a mind/body clinic at a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital, patients often told me that the day they were diagnosed with cancer or AIDS, they died to who they were. They felt as if they were falling into an abyss. When illness, job loss, financial reversal, betrayal, divorce, or death of a loved one disrupts our world, our ego identity shatters and we are separated from what was. The human response is fear. At a deeper level, however, a spiritual process is beginning to unfold. The shell of ego cracks, and its habitual way of constructing the world falters. Deprived of familiar frameworks, we are invited to enter the ritual process of transformation.
2. Dwelling at the Threshold: Surrendering to the Unknown.
The late anthropologist Victor Turner, who identified the three stages of transformation, termed the second "the time between no longer and not yet." We have died to who we were, but are not yet reborn to who we might become. We are at the doorway, the threshold of new potential. When the Israelites escaped from slavery in Egypt-which in Hebrew means "the narrow place"-they had to wander in the desert for forty years. We all go through narrow places where we're challenged to let go of old beliefs and habit patterns that limit us. It may take time for them to surface and for us to let go of them in order to heal. The journey across this desert is not one in which we hurry. This is the great unknown where ordeals are faced, allies appear, and the gifts of trusting in and surrendering to a larger divine reality are claimed.
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3. The Return: Transformation and Rebirth.
The caterpillar who died to itself in the phase of separation-then dwelled at the threshold in its chrysalis-is finally reborn as a butterfly that can spread beauty and inspiration with its very presence. Our spiritual transformation entails dying to the false-self with its fears, attachments, and need to control. With the rebirth to our true nature, or God-self, we are in alignment with a larger whole and truly support the inner freedom and well-being of all. The strengths discovered in the second phase of our transformation are powerful gifts that we bring back for the good of family, community, and the world.
Whether it's an unwanted circumstance that happens to us or something that we initiate voluntarily, change is an invitation to actualize the wisdom and compassion that make us both fully human and evident manifestations of the divine. Life, after all, is a journey into the unknown where change is constant. The challenge is to pay attention, heal what needs healing, and grieve what we've lost as a testimony to how precious it has been. Staying faithful to the certainty that we live in a spiritually meaningful reality, we are called by change to authentic trust and surrender. Answering that call, we live in peace, joy, and service right now in this beautiful and holy world.
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MINISTRIES
Creativity and Play Ministry: Director - Robin Johnson. This ministry schedules an event each month that is fun and provides an opportunity for fellowship.
Bookstore Ministry: Director - Janice Escott. Many people love to browse our books and gifts after the service on Sunday. Team members are available to ring up and record purchases.
Music Ministry: Works on special singing projects during the year including Christmas and Easter. Team members sing on Sundays.
Healing and Prayer Ministry: Co-Directors - Lisa Giragosian and Rev Paula. Twice monthly this team conducts healing and prayer service. Team prays with members requesting prayer one on one and also prays for requests dropped into our prayer box. One member carries the prayer box at the Offertory during the Sunday Service.
Youth Education Ministry: This essential ministry provides Sunday lessons from an established curriculum for our youth during the 10:30 service.
Adult Education Ministry: Director - Rev Paula. Unity classes are offered for credit and other classes for spiritual enrichment by Rev Paula and other teachers.
Media and PR Ministry: Director - Jeanie Rodgers. This team handles all things media...social, print, electronic and visual.
Earthcare Ministry: This team is focused on activities related to caring for our planet. If you are called to this ministry you can help guide us into the next greatest expression for how we accomplish this goal.
Community Service Ministry: Giving to our community and to the world is important at USLC. This team helps identify ways we can do this and organizes our efforts.
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