Unity Village2011 - The Year of Abundant Living
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Winter 2010
We spent all of 2010 exploring how to increase our consciousness . . . with the understanding that if we want things in our lives to be different we must become different. We learned how to elevate our consciousness to a thought-process that is greater than where we presently find ourselves. And that is the nature of the spiritual journey called Unity.
In Unity we call ourselves Metaphysical Christians . . . which means we study and practice being in a state of consciousness that transcends the physical state of affairs in which we find ourselves. This is not to say that we do not live in the now moment . . . rather it is learning to be in the now moment without being consumed by the moment. Thus, our spiritual goal is, if we are experiencing something unpleasant we know how to transcend the unpleasantness by not aligning our sense of whom we are in Truth with that physical experience. Thus, the term, metaphysical Christian.
In line with this thought, the worldwide organization of Unity is proposing that the theme for 2011 be, The Year of Abundant Living. The idea here being that regardless of the world’s economic struggles we practice metaphysical Christianity . . . meaning, we practice what is true in Truth (metaphysical), rather than what appears to be true in the world (physical). For example, the sub-theme for January is: Live Your Dreams, and the Bible verse is from Job 22:28, You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you, and light will shine on your ways. The idea being, no matter what you are experiencing you can decide to have a different experience. No, it is not easy . . . but, yes, it is possible to develop a state-of-mind that can redirect your thoughts and emotions in a way that will cause the Universe to work in concert to change the state of your experience . . . you will decide on a matter and it will be established for you.
The next part of the verse from Job says, and light will shine on your ways. The light being referred to here is the divine understanding that comes into your mind when you are ready to transcend what you are experiencing, and instead enter into a new experience . . . one that expresses abundant living. And, as we always explain, abundance is defined in your life according to what you need it to be . . . whether that be finances, or health, joyful, prosperous employment, or harmonious relationships, or whatever you need it to be. The practice here is the faith to hold onto the Truth idea that what you decide upon will be established unto you. Faith is the foundation of abundant living.
The Christ ideal of Faith, taught and demonstrated by the life of Jesus, is for us the ultimate expression of faith in its absolute perfection . . . as opposed to hope or trust . . . that, while good in their own right, are not in the same category as the Christ Ideal of Faith. Why . . . because whereas hope and trust are subject to change, the Christ Ideal of Faith is not . . . no matter what happens in the physical, the Christ Ideal of Faith . . . which is metaphysical . . . remains what it is . . . faith in the unseen power and presence of God to manifest in our lives as abundant living.
The advantage of hope and trust, however, is that they are conceivable and achievable. But, try to imagine the level of faith it takes to allow yourself to let go of all within you that is holding you back from fully experiencing and expressing the peace, the love, the joy of a life filled with all the good you envision. As it is recorded in Mark 9:29, Jesus said, This level of faith can only be achieved by prayer.
Prayer is that constant practice of learning how to connect with your spiritual nucleus. We each have within us a spiritual nucleus . . . a Christ Ideal, which is completely unaffected, unchanged by what happens in the world. Our spiritual work is to eventually bring all of our thoughts into perfect harmony with our spiritual center . . . our Christ Ideal. What is our Christ Ideal? It is our innate ability to be able to conceive the Truth that God is absolute perfection, which is the Truth of our being. As it is written in Matthew 5:48, Jesus said, Be ye perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect. The perfection Jesus is referring to is the ability to know the Truth about ourselves, as well as the ability to hold onto that Truth no matter what.
So, as you think a thought of lack or limitation, or illness, or job insecurity, or contention with someone, or whatever fearful thought you may be harboring . . . your spiritual work is to do the prayer work necessary to let go of that thought . . . empty yourself of that thought . . . so that your mind reconnects and re-harmonizes with your spiritual center . . . your Christ Ideal.
As Truth students our work is to develop one perfect idea in our mind . . . that being, God is in charge of my life and affairs. To get to that one perfect idea we practice learning how to become still (under any situation or circumstance) and empty ourselves of anything that is not serving our highest good, so that we can know the presence of God.
So, I end with this quote from Ellen Debeuport, author of, The Five Principles: We choose our experience with our focus. We face a universe of unlimited possibilities, and we choose which ones become ‘real’ for us by focusing on that possibility.
With this in mind, we at Unity Center of Light, look forward to working together in 2011 to experience The Year of Abundant Living.