Minister’s Message, May 11, 2011

May 15, 2011 – 6:29 pm

Holding the High Watch

            Everyday we are told of another upsetting event in the world – floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, revolutions, high gas prices, and financial troubles. There is a lot to concern us and it’s no wonder we’re scared and angry and frustrated. It is as if there is this dark cloud of despair covering all of us. Just as soon as a clearing appears on the horizon another storm blows in and again we’re vigilantly alert to ward off this new calamity. So many of us, our neighbors and friends tell us how powerless and at loose ends they feel.   Many ask how can we maintain calm and remain peaceful in the midst of the turmoil all around us. This is the true challenge of a spiritual being, perhaps better called a spiritual warrior because it’s not an easy undertaking. With a smile just for a moment imagine each of us getting ready for the day, girding up our loins so to speak, as we embark from our inner sanctuary, prayed up and ready to hold high the light of Love, Truth, Faith and Divine Order. Our mission – we have chosen to accept it of course, shall be to BE the Light of Spirit showing the Way, smoothing the path and being LOVE to all.

            A friend told me yesterday that the banks around her house on the lake are in danger of eroding away. Some of the banks have already fallen in. The lake’s water levels have been rising past flood stage and she was worried. She called Silent Unity several days ago and asked for prayer. Then the next day she watched as a log floated up and nestled into the bank, helping to support the bank and all the plants on it. She felt her prayers were answered.

            We here at Unity in Vermont shall hold the high watch to all who come our way. We shall smile and say something kind and loving, maybe rejoicing in the day or maybe we’ll say nothing and just listen as we send waves of LOVE attentively. For we know that when we focus on what we want, we draw it to us; when we raise our vibrations, we draw to us that which is a match. When we are happy, we draw happy situations to us and when situations aren’t happy, we can bring our uplifted awareness to them. We can be there for all who hunger for calm and peace no matter the dark clouds around them. I invite you to hold the High Watch with us. We shall be a beacon of Love, Peace and Joy.

By peggy | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off

Minister’s Message, May/June

May 3, 2011 – 6:23 pm

A Good Day to Die by Rev. Lane Williams

       There’s a fable of an Emperor who told his loyal knight that in appreciation he would be given as much land as he could cover on horseback. The horseman quickly jumped onto his horse and rode as fast as possible to cover as much land as he could.  He kept on riding and riding for hours and then days, whipping the horse to go as fast as possible. When he was hungry, thirsty or tired, he did not stop because he wanted to cover as much land as possible. He came to a point when he had covered a huge area; he was exhausted; he was dying. On his last breath he asked himself, “Why did I push myself so hard for all this?  Now I am dying and I only need a six feet to bury myself.”

         In moments of reflection we may notice we live an unbalanced life, unconsciously and unaware. We live as if we’ll live forever or least for many, many more years. We put off doing the things we have always wanted to do. We catch ourselves thinking there will be plenty of time to be with the people we really love, filling our days with stuff that will get us ready to be, do and have the important things later – later when we’ve got it all worked out and we’re all put together.

         When disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, cancer diagnosis, and other life changing events suddenly befall us, we realize what we’ve missed. People who have been diagnosed with life threatening illnesses report that after the truth and reality of their approaching death has settled in, they begin to examine their life, what they had hoped for and what they’ve achieved. What they see then is what they will never have the chance to do and what is most important now, and then choose how they will live in the time remaining. Rarely if ever do they say, I wished I’d spent more time at the office or kept the house cleaner. They are more apt to say, I wish I’d been kinder. I wish I’d spent more time with my family.

         We know of course that death is a part of life, that life and death are two sides of one coin. We can imagine that being close to death has us be more vitally alive and aware of the precious poignant moments of everyday life. We savor every breath and take in the wonder and beauty around us. There is a Native American saying, “Today is a good day to die!” The point being that if we live this day as if it was our last day, how much richer would be the experience? Instead of trying to avoid death, we could choose to be fully alive. For in the resisting pain, loss, grief and separation we are already as good as dead.

         In reflecting on our lives it’s important to let go of what we can’t change, and make amends for our mistakes, forgive and release the past. We often say, “Let Go and Let God” A better phrase might be, “Let it be.”  As we allow what is to be, it works itself out and often in ways we could not imagine.

         This winter I was worried that the heavy snows would break my young birch tree. I watched from my window during a blizzard. The tree was already bent over with the weight and more snow was falling. I thought I should go out through the drifts and shake off the snow. I thought of how awful a tree snapped off near the base would look and the cost of replacing this precious tree. Then as I watched, one last snowflake fell upon it and the tree shed all the snow and straightened up. 

         Right now be still and silently ask yourself, if I had but a few months to live what would I do?

         Can you imagine that if this was true how your days would be filled with only the important things?

         If I had but a few months to live it probably wouldn’t matter if I stopped the car to watch the geese flying by or went out late at night to watch the full moon or played in the dirt. If I had just a little while left on earth, I wouldn’t care too much about looking stupid or naïve or doing embarrassing things. How would you BE in the last few days of your life knowing that you would die?

         In the silence we ask ourselves what did I come here to do and how will I be in the days remaining to me? What will I release, allow just to be and what will I change? In the time I have left on earth what brings me beauty and peace? What do I want to be remembered for by the people I leave behind? That’s how I shall live!

By peggy | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off

Minister’s Message, March/April

March 8, 2011 – 6:26 pm

Coming Home

         I just came back from a journey home after six years away and it was a transformational, healing adventure.  It was an opportunity to put my spiritual practices at work, accepting, allowing and being present in the midst of a flurry of activity.  One of the things I noticed is that the idea that we have of who someone is, their attitudes, personality and characteristics is often stuck in the past, inflexible and fixed for all time.  A decision we make about who each of our beloveds is, fits nicely into a neat and tidy box. There is no room for any spiritual evolution, growth and maturity.  People are who we said they are back then and that’s the way it is.  Period.  End of conversation.  Knowing this about my loved ones and me too allows for loving compassion and kindness, for gently updating and being in the present with an internal conversation, judgment and evaluation going on beneath the surface of our interactions.

         There is a German folktale about a man whose ax was missing.  He suspected that his neighbor’s son had taken it.  He was a lazy boy and looked like a thief.  He walked like a thief; he talked like a thief.  But then one day the man found his ax while digging in the field.  The next time he saw his neighbor’s son the boy was industrious and helpful, and he walked and talked like any other boy.

         What happened to this man is what happens with us all too often.  We act on our assumptions and judgments as if they were fact and proceed with this “truth” before us in all our interactions.  We see the people and events in the world through the colored lens of our beliefs.  When we can step back and look with clear vision, we see other possibilities. And in an instant our reality and our relationships are transformed.

         One of the most important philosophical questions that humanity has wrestled with for centuries is Who Are We?  Who am I?  Are we spirit, are we flesh?  What is the core of my being, the true nature of my being? Am I so shaped by my heredity, genes, DNA, and by my life experiences that I cannot change, develop and choose a new path? Is my path etched in stone and predetermined for all time or is there flexibility and freedom to choose at all times?

         In Zen monasteries there are many tasks to be filled to run the order efficiently and the students are given these roles as a part of their practice of discovering wholeness. There is the cook, the gardener, the keeper of discipline, the librarian, the maintenance person, etc. The students are assigned these roles for a year or two so that they come to know themselves in that role.  As the cook the student may see himself as the nurturing presence preparing the meals with great care and reverence.  The keeper of discipline may be called upon to awaken the sleepy students and correct those who are lazy in their practice.  The roles will then shift and the cook may now become the person who cleans the toilets and then the gardener. From being at the hub of activity, the student’s task will shift to a solitary one. And so one’s sense of self remains flexible. Thus the roles that we play remind us of the impermanence of life and that change is part of being human.

         I have experienced that we do change; we can become more of the perfect being we were designed to be.  As we practice holding to our vision of what is possible and focus our attention there, we can bring forth what it is that we want and who we want to be.  We can be the loving force for change in the world.  And we can change our perception of who the people are in our lives.  We can see their words and actions from a new prospective – from the prospective of a strategy they adopted to get them through tough situations.  We can give our selves and every one of our beloveds some slack, relaxing and enjoying our time together. Then truly we have come home again.

By peggy | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off