Midweek Faith Lift
July 26, 2023
Unity Principle 2, Quantum Leaps
& Christianity
Rev. Deb Hill-Davis
Spiritual Reflection
July 17, 2023
When I realized I had locked my keys in my car in a store parking lot, and that my wife couldn’t bring her key because she was home without a car, a teenager on her bike saw my predicament. “Call your wife and tell her I’m coming to get her key.” She rode seven miles and, an hour later, returned with my wife’s key. When I offered her money, she said, “No, it’s okay. I needed the exercise.” Then, like the hero in the movies, rode off into the sunset.
“The end of the hero's journey is not the aggrandizement of the hero. The ultimate aim of the quest is not ecstasy for oneself, but the wisdom, and the grace, and the power to serve others.” – Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth
Affirmative prayer: Infinite Presence, today my soul awakens to the heroic nature of my true self. I cast off detached, passionless living and I give myself in service to the greater good, to the wellbeing of others. I honor the Divine presence in which we all live and have our being. Thank you, God, forever, Amen.
And then, the very next day, there was this…..
Spiritual Reflection
July 18, 2023
Some members of Congress are making legal threats against retailer Target, pressuring the company to remove merchandise for transgender customers and backtrack on its diversity initiatives. Separately, A federal appeals court allowed Tennessee to ban certain health care services for transgender minors.
“Our teaching of Oneness and Wholeness creates the moral compass and a welcoming environment that affirms transgender people as exquisitely individualized expressions of Divinity and celebrates their contributions to society.” - Edward Viljoen, Spiritual Leader, Centers for Spiritual Living
Affirmative prayer: I live in spiritual empathy. Even as I stand for inclusion and justice, I release animosity toward those who try to oppress others. Remembering that we are all connected in pure essence, I affirm that kindness, compassion, and respect are the life-affirming qualities of our relationships, our communities, our government, and our culture. Thank you, God, forever. Amen.
Today we are exploring Unity’s second principle, Christianity and the Quantum leap possibilities. Our second principle states: “Human beings have a spark of divinity within them, the Christ Spirit within. Their very essence is of God, and therefore they are also inherently good.” When I read the first story, about the girl on the bicycle helping out the guy locked out of his car, it is easy to believe the second principle because she is evidence of it. When I read the second story about members of Congress and the transgender community, it was a lot more challenging, for sure! So now what? Is there really Truth in the second Unity principle? Because when I watch the news, I can for sure become skeptical!
There are several paths to take to navigate this dilemma….what I see and experience and what I believe as the “Truth” or higher reality about human beings as essentially good. The first came to me through the “Suspend Disbelief” chapter of Quantum Leap Strategies. Price Pritchett acknowledges that on a personal level, we are not sure; we want to believe we can make a huge leap in consciousness, but we don’t trust it. Belief is sort of like love or trust, you can’t force it, that’s for sure. What he recommends about handling doubt is to ignore it, don’t deal with it right now. This is a long game, and doubt develops in the absence of proof. We want to collect the evidence to prove the essential goodness of all beings, and that is just not going to happen. It’s a long game!
It isn’t about the evidence, it is about the internal changes we need to make to believe in our inherent goodness. We can say it logically follows from the first Unity principle, that if there is only one Presence and one Power, then the created Universe, which includes us, is also an expression of that Goodness and Love. That makes sense, until we watch what humans do to each other that is so harmful and hurtful and then we doubt. HOWEVER, our doubt does not make it untrue. Our behavior does not make it untrue. It is not about collecting the “evidence to support” this principle, it is about “acting as if” we know it to be true.
The quantum leap is for everyone to wake up to this higher understanding of what our true nature is, that our essential nature is good. We can all act like we believe this is the “Truth” and that our efforts to make it a reality are and will be successful. Price Pritchett writes, “There’s pure magic in such a move. This kind of bold experiment in living produces breakthrough behavior. . . what would you attempt if, starting today, you knew your efforts would be successful?” Quantum Leap, p.11. That is a question worth answering, for sure!
Within Christianity, in the traditional version, the version from Antioch, the essential nature of human beings, is that we are fallen, separate from God. This version holds fast to the doctrine of “original sin” and then explains the death of Jesus on the cross as the sacrifice needed for the redemption for our sinfulness. This shifts the focus from waking up to being saved. This prevailing notion of our essential “badness” has been the basic story of human nature for 2000+ years. However, it was never a part of the actual teachings of Jesus!! It was a doctrine imposed on Christianity that keeps the conflicts going, for sure! And a need for the church for redemption! It has been an effective tool, but people are no longer buying it and many have abandoned Christianity because of it.
Well, if it’s not really true, what if we could reframe that story? Would people believe it? Would they buy into it? Matthew Fox, a former Jesuit priest who was excommunicated from the Catholic Church wrote another version in his book, Original Blessing. His new theology was based on the premise that we are inheritors of an original blessing, not sin, and he offered a creation based spirituality rather than the sin, redemption story. The emphasis is on joy, oneness with God and each other….kind of like Greg Tamblyn’s song last week about how we share atoms- part of you is a part of me! And science tells us we are actually all made of star stuff—no exceptions!
As Rev. Paul Roach puts it, “We are worthy, as beloved children of God, to inherit the limitless good of God’s creation.” In Luke 12:32, Jesus says, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” The really compelling question is how do we wake up, realize this and prepare to receive our good? That is going to require a quantum leap, one that really moves the needle toward a new consciousness, a new way of experiencing God. What do we do about those who are stuck in the old paradigm of marginalizing, hating and restricting others who are not like them or don’t believe what they believe? It is going to take a quantum leap, that’s for sure.
Are people finally getting tired of all the violence and conflict in our culture? We can certainly act as if, that’s for sure. I was thinking a lot about Greg Tamblyn’s talk last week, how you can reframe challenging situations with humor. His creativity certainly demonstrates how possible it is to do that. His observation that we don’t have to give a serious answer to a question that doesn’t require it was a wonderful invitation to play and lighten up, to be silly. And there are so many questions that call for a light-hearted response. Remember, even something as simple as “How are you doin?” can generate:
“still gettin’ away with it….parts of me are excellent…..my lawyer said not to answer that….my tattoos are spreading…..” and so on! I am going to try some of those, just to get the creative juices flowing!
After last week and our wonderful 30th birthday celebration, it is clear to me that people are attracted by humor, laughter and fun. Cake isn’t too bad, either! And good food! And our desire for more people to join us here at Unity of Ames is not because we need more tithers or volunteers. No! Why it is important for us to attract more people to join us is that the world in all its suffering needs to know there is another way, because there is actually another way! We don’t and won’t fully have a handle on what that is, but this path is much more fun and joy filled and inviting! People, including me, have the capacity to be wonderful, loving, kind and generous and the opposite of all that!
What we offer them here at Unity of Ames is the opportunity to practice being generous, kind, accepting, loving, and to entertain the notion that that is your first impulse, your divine encoding, your truest self. Last Sunday, Greg mentioned the Sufi poet, Hafiz and so I leave you today with some of his words.
1. “Where is the door to God? In the sound of a barking dog, in the ring of a hammer, in a drop of rain, in the face of everyone I see.” ~Hafiz
2. “All the false notions of myself that once caused fear, pain, have turned to ash as I neared God.” ~Hafiz
3. “Run like hell my dear. From anyone likely to put a sharp knife into the sacred, tender vision of your beautiful heart.” ~Hafiz.
4. “Any beloved who has just one color of hair, one gender, one race, the same suntan all the time, one rule book…will only cause you grief.” ~Hafiz.
The Quantum Leap for Unity of Ames is to make real for all of us the Truth of ALL Beings as beings of Light and Love- no exceptions!
Blessings on the Path,
Rev. Deb