Unity of Vermont

A Window Opening … by Rev. Lane Williams

There’s a humorous take on one of our long held truths that I love to say: When a door closes, somewhere a window opens. The rub is that often the hallway between them is so dark and long! As I write this essay we are about to enter a New Year, 2012 – a year that promises many opportunities for people of faith, we human beings who are aware that we’re on a spiritual journey, to do our thing, our divinely appointed task. There are folks who point to the predictions that the world as we know it will end in this year 2012. And it appears that the last few years have brought many earth changes, political and economic changes too. Yet we do realize as we turn within that the spirit of God empowers us for positive change. For if nothing ever changed, there’d be no butterflies. 

                     Kahlil Gibran in The Prophet writes, “Pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.” We create shells, and to a degree, we need these shells. We need containers in our life experience such as belief systems, relationships, structures and such. And just as the chicken in the egg, there is a time when the container nurtures and is absolutely necessary. And there is a time when the shell has to break so the chicken can come out. Ironically, the very same shell that nurtured, protected, and provided life for that little chick could also imprison and entomb this little being, and ultimately kill it, if the chick does not break free.

         So it is with all the structures of our life. We take them on, and they nurture and support us, and then the time comes when they need to change; when we need to let them go. Doing this is often so painful and people resist it. We, as loving, kind and compassionate spiritual beings can be there for others in these times. Our thing, as I see it, is for us to be there as a light and spiritual support to those who need comforting, loving, accepting and remembering that we are not alone. God is always available, closer than our breath. In our Chaplain program we call this holding a spiritual space.

         Holding spiritual space is to be aware, conscious and connected with Spirit; to be attuned to our internal and external connection to life. It is to hold open the realm of possibilities, knowing that in the midst of the circumstances, situations, and conditions of people’s lives God is greater than any of these things. Holding a spiritual space is about simultaneously being both a compassionate listener and a conduit for God’s guidance to come through you.

         Just because everything is different doesn’t mean anything has changed. God is the changeless constant you can depend upon. The ultimate Truth of God is you are a spiritual being, ever one with God and you are never alone. Through all the days of your life, many outward changes have taken place, but the real you created by God has not changed. In time of failure, it has not been defeated; in time of accomplishment it has not been inflated.

          God’s power is greater than any change we face. We are enfolded constantly in God’s love and perfect guidance. We allow our thoughts to rest in the realization that God is all power, all-knowing, and everywhere present. We keep our eye spiritually fixed on God’s constant, protecting presence which guides our steps and blesses our lives. We give thanks for this awareness, for it is from this spiritual space that we can meet whatever changes come our way.

A Window Opening … by Rev. Lane Williams

There’s a humorous take on one of our long held truths that I love to say: When a door closes, somewhere a window opens. The rub is that often the hallway between them is so dark and long! As I write this essay we are about to enter a New Year, 2012 – a year that promises many opportunities for people of faith, we human beings who are aware that we’re on a spiritual journey, to do our thing, our divinely appointed task. There are folks who point to the predictions that the world as we know it will end in this year 2012. And it appears that the last few years have brought many earth changes, political and economic changes too. Yet we do realize as we turn within that the spirit of God empowers us for positive change. For if nothing ever changed, there’d be no butterflies. 

                     Kahlil Gibran in The Prophet writes, “Pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.” We create shells, and to a degree, we need these shells. We need containers in our life experience such as belief systems, relationships, structures and such. And just as the chicken in the egg, there is a time when the container nurtures and is absolutely necessary. And there is a time when the shell has to break so the chicken can come out. Ironically, the very same shell that nurtured, protected, and provided life for that little chick could also imprison and entomb this little being, and ultimately kill it, if the chick does not break free.

         So it is with all the structures of our life. We take them on, and they nurture and support us, and then the time comes when they need to change; when we need to let them go. Doing this is often so painful and people resist it. We, as loving, kind and compassionate spiritual beings can be there for others in these times. Our thing, as I see it, is for us to be there as a light and spiritual support to those who need comforting, loving, accepting and remembering that we are not alone. God is always available, closer than our breath. In our Chaplain program we call this holding a spiritual space.

         Holding spiritual space is to be aware, conscious and connected with Spirit; to be attuned to our internal and external connection to life. It is to hold open the realm of possibilities, knowing that in the midst of the circumstances, situations, and conditions of people’s lives God is greater than any of these things. Holding a spiritual space is about simultaneously being both a compassionate listener and a conduit for God’s guidance to come through you.

         Just because everything is different doesn’t mean anything has changed. God is the changeless constant you can depend upon. The ultimate Truth of God is you are a spiritual being, ever one with God and you are never alone. Through all the days of your life, many outward changes have taken place, but the real you created by God has not changed. In time of failure, it has not been defeated; in time of accomplishment it has not been inflated.

          God’s power is greater than any change we face. We are enfolded constantly in God’s love and perfect guidance. We allow our thoughts to rest in the realization that God is all power, all-knowing, and everywhere present. We keep our eye spiritually fixed on God’s constant, protecting presence which guides our steps and blesses our lives. We give thanks for this awareness, for it is from this spiritual space that we can meet whatever changes come our way.

Never Doubt … An Essay by Rev. Lane Williams

 Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead

            In the beginning, there were only thirteen original Christians, although they did not call themselves such; thirteen people who knew they were connected with the higher power of God. Those thirteen changed the entire world to the way it is today. These men, as you know, were ordinary men like us. They had doubts and perhaps more failings than you have ever dreamed of having. But they were un-ordinary in one major way. They had an awareness of the Divine power that was with them. This is the most valuable and powerful thing we can have – the knowledge and experience of our connection to Source.

            Richard Bach said this in his book Illusions: “You were never given a wish without the power to make it come true.” Our wishes and dreams, the way we dreamed that life would be, we have the power, inside of us all to make them come true. We have the power of the Unlimited, All Knowing, and Everpresent Possibility within each of us to make anything in our life become a reality.

            In the Book of Genesis it’s written: “So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.” NOWHERE In the BIBLE DOES IT SAY MAN WOKE UP. We are still asleep. We are asleep to who we are and what abilities we have to co-create the world we envision, the world we dream of and pray for. Now is the time to awaken – to become aware that we are aware. This is the time for our spiritual awakening. We can be that small group of committed thoughtful people who change the world.

            In Robert Brumet’s book, Birthing a Greater Reality, he points out that as we look at the development of the human form we can see that over time, our evolution has occurred at the intellectual rather than physical level. We have learned to adapt by creating physical things – clothing, housing, technology – rather than fur covered bodies, sharper teeth and claws, etc. as animals have done. Rather than adapting to the natural world through biological evolution, we have evolved a brain which gives us the ability to create internal virtual worlds. When environmental conditions change, we can readily adapt. And this way of adapting has done us well. We have mastered living in many different climes – deserts, forests, high altitudes – but our development has been dangerously one-sided. We are out of balance with nature and with ourselves too.

            Our human mind has evolved from a useful tool, from being our servant, to being our master. We have failed to parallel our external development with growth in self- awareness. Waking up, becoming aware is necessary for us to survive. Evolution is calling us to awaken but we have identified with our survival strategies and we remain asleep. You can hear that conflict all around you in the world today – the force for change in thinking, beliefs and the resistance to changing the values, beliefs, ways of doing life.

Our survival is at risk, but in a way this is good news, for necessity is what drives evolution.

            Something is keeping us asleep. What is it? It is our mistaken identity with who we are. Our mind set, our consciousness, the way we think and relate to others must evolve, for the same mind set that created the problem cannot solve it. We must find the solution at a different level of consciousness.

            There is a movement going within our civilization today, a small but mighty awareness is expanding and we in Unity are part of it. We can be a part of that small group of thoughtful, committed people who can change the world. We can sow the seeds of a deeper, higher awareness of who and what we are. We can sow these seeds and allow the evolutionary process to unfold. We can keep on spreading love, peace, compassion for all people and trust the process to do its thing in perfect order.

            Let us be the real and authentic person we were meant to be. Let us be shining examples of the Christ light and hold high that light to shine for others. Let us be the change we want in the world.