Midweek Faith Lift
Unity Principle 5, Quantum Leaps
& Christianity
August 16, 2023
Rev. Deb Hill-Davis
Spiritual Reflection
August 7, 2023
A poll from the UK found that many adults consciously limit themselves in life because they fear what others would think if they moved out of their comfort zone. People reported that they feel more alive when they take a risk, or when they engage even in simple adventures, like singing out loud, expressing their feelings, and – maybe the whackiest behavior of all – dancing in front of others.
“It is during the times I am far outside my element that I experience myself the most, that I see and feel who I really am. It's during those scary moments, hurling myself into the unknown, that I am like a comet hitting a new atmosphere. Suddenly I illuminate magnificently. I discover a smile I didn't know I had. I uncover a feeling that I didn't know existed in me. I see myself.” - C. JoyBell C., author
Affirmative prayer: Today, I boldly go where the Infinite is always coaxing me to be. I advance to the forefront of consciousness, to the place where there is no sense of otherness, no judgment – just the love of pure Beingness and the certainty that anything is possible. Thank you, God, forever. Amen.
What a fun invitation to step into the joy of the infinite, which is what our 5th Unity principle asks us to do! The 5th Unity principle, as stated in Unity and World Religions on p. 13, reads as follows: “Knowing and understanding the laws of life, also called Truth, are not enough. A person must also live the truth that he or she knows.” The first 4 Unity principles are all about our “Beingness,” discovering and discerning our true nature. It is from this energy of discernment, of transformation, of awareness and our vibrant connection to our Christ Consciousness that our “Doingness” flows. Our call to action from that place in consciousness clearly is unique to each one of us, according to where we are in our own spiritual development, growth and evolution.
In the first 4 Unity Principles, we have been talking about the power and presence of God, our Christ nature, how to align our mind with our higher nature and the process of prayer to help us stay in alignment with our higher nature. We navigate our lives within the energy of our own “holy trinity”- our human self, our observer self and our higher self or Christ- self. The trickiest part of all this is to discern which part of us is calling the shots and what action do we take and for what reasons! We can be very “self-conscious” and NOT act when it would be very fruitful, effective and powerful TO act.
An example of that would be if our teacher, in last week’s story, remember, Alvin, the teacher who decided to put lots of kid’s books in inner city barber shops? What if he were filled with self-doubt about this and talked himself out of doing it with statements like, “why bother, the kids won’t read them anyway” or “what if they rip off the books?” and on and on and on. You get the idea! We can become so self-conscious that we can talk ourselves out of anything! Like the fun of dancing, for sure!!! And the joy of reading for all kids!
That is exactly the issue that Dr. Price Pritchett addresses in Quantum Leap Strategy in the chapter he titles, “Choose a Different Set of Risks.” He notes that making the quantum jump from you to you2 requires you to take risks, different risks than you typically take. These are not hazardous or dangerous risks, just ones outside of your comfort zone. What would we do if we believed we could not fail? What is Spirit asking us to try that will push us just a bit further? What is it that we don’t want to try, and what holds us back?
Pritchett says that we take refuge in the “naïve psychological safety we find in not trying, as if that insulates us from the discomfort, pain or embarrassment of falling short in our efforts.” We find all kinds of excuses to avoid taking action, speaking up, taking risks: that is our human dilemma. Pritchett says, on p.20 of Quantum Leap Strategy:
Looking back over your life, which do you regret more: the risks you’ve taken or the risks you’ve avoided? Our risks of omission usually do us more damage than our risks of commission. When we shy away from a risk, it grows in its ability to bluff us out. We need to call the bluff….today….and find the edge of reality in the risk. Self-doubts that go unchallenged grow stronger. Challenge them and you grow stronger.
That is a powerful invitation to step out of your comfort zone, into your spiritual strength and dance, for sure! Our true spiritual growth happens when we challenge our self-doubts.
On the other end of the scale, we can become so self-righteous that we are completely sure we are “right” and then impose our beliefs, opinions and will on everyone else. That is what is happening right now in the whole abortion question. Throughout history, that has happened repeatedly in the name of Christianity and other religions as well. It is a misuse of power in the name of religion and is ultimately as harmful and destructive as the supposed “harm” that those holding power were intending to prevent. Regarding abortion, it is not about whether you are “pro-choice” or “pro-life”: it is about the individual autonomy of each person to make decisions in alignment with their spiritual growth, evolution and awareness. We cannot make those decisions for others; it belongs to them.
So how do we find the middle way that calls each one of us to take action and to take responsibility for the actions that we take? One thing is very clear in this process and that is that for our actions to bear fruit, those actions come from our lived experience and what we have learned on our human/divine spiritual journey. We make mistakes, we hurt ourselves and others and then we learn from that experience and we make choices that do bear fruit. In his teachings on how to discern the pure hearted from the impure, Jesus said, “You will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16) We are spiritual beings having a human experience, so the interplay of our human and spiritual energy, our divine/human/observer selves guides us and grows us into spiritual maturity.
We have the capacity to choose to act, to take action and then observe what happens to us, to others, to our world as a result of our actions. We have the capacity to be self-reflective, self-aware and self-possessed so that our actions come from a place of love and compassion rather than pure self-interest, self-aggrandizement, or self-consciousness. Are we “reactive” or “proactive” in what we choose to do? One isn’t necessarily better than the other. A parent abruptly pulling her child out of the path of an oncoming car is a reactive, loving decision. A parent saying “Absolutely not!” when the child presents a prospective marriage partner is not a helpful or skilled reactive decision.
The bottom line question is whether or not what we do creates more love and compassion in bringing us closer to each other or did it drive us apart? We want to cultivate the skills and consciousness that brings us together and fosters love. In our human condition, we have a sense of separation from each other and often from God. In our human condition, we can get caught up in naming and defending our differences. We can get so attached to our “identity,” how we describe ourselves and what we feel about things that we lose track of the essence of who and what we really are. As spiritual beings, we invite an inner transformation that results in a deepening consciousness and greater skills in making more effective and fruitful choices. The observer part of us can empower us to find the healthy balance we are seeking in this journey.
When we take action that comes from a place of preserving our identity and sense of separation we are at risk for abandoning humility and the sacred self that is part of all of us. When we step into the energy of love, pure love, we bridge that sense of separation without even knowing how we did it. It is a mystical experience that illuminates our Oneness with God and each other. In his 8-6-23 Meditation, “True Self/Separate Self” Richard Rohr shares what mystic, Thomas Merton writes about experiencing the “True Self” or what we would call Christ-self:
At the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusion, a point of pure truth, a point or spark which belongs entirely to God, which is never at our disposal, from which God disposes of our lives, which is inaccessible to the fantasies of our own mind or the brutalities of our own will. This little point of nothingness and of absolute poverty is the pure glory of God in us.… It is like a pure diamond, blazing with the invisible light of heaven. It is in everybody, and if we could see it we would see these billions of points of light coming together in the face and blaze of a sun that would make all the darkness and cruelty of life vanish completely.
We take action from our human awareness, illumined by what we have suffered as a result of our limited understanding and each time we learn more about our true divine nature, our spiritual or Christ self. It is as Henri Nouwen, the mystic writes: “In a strange way the spiritual life isn't "useful" or "successful." But it is meant to be fruitful. And fruitfulness comes out of brokenness.”
In other words….in spite of everything, go out and dance!
Blessings on the Path,
Rev. Deb