In praying for oneself or another, first there is the awareness of a need. Not a sense of lack that implies a limitation, but the concern of a need and the concern of its fulfillment. The concern you may have over someone you love or about conditions in general is a step in the direction of demonstration, but we cannot stop with concern alone or else we settle into the dead-end street of worry and despair.

If you are concerned about another, nothing can be accomplished in prayer until we overcome this concern. Whatever or whoever you are praying for, remember this first step. Lay aside your concern and dwell in the consciousness of your Oneness. It is your attunement with power. Then you are ready to pray.

The next logical step is faith in and awareness of the principle. First the concern, or the awareness of the need, then the healing of the concern, or the awareness of God’s all-sufficiency in all things. The thing for us to do is to realize the Truth of the promise, “The Lord will perfect that which concerns me.” (Ps. 138:8)

By nature the average person is concerned about the health or the welfare of those about him or her. The most helpful step that we can take, in the interest of that with which we are concerned, is the step in faith from the thought of concern to the dynamic idea of Truth.

You can pray about the situation and pray for the welfare of the one who concerns you, but your prayer must be based on right thinking and right seeing. To hold the problem in negative thought or to see it in anxious concern is, as Paul would say, seeing “in a mirror dimly.”

The most helpful thing you can do for another, regardless of his or her need, is to think positive thoughts about the person. Positive thinking might actually be a synonym for prayer. You may define prayer in many ways but essentially it is the act of changing our thought from the limited to the limitless. “Be transformed by the renewal of your mind,” we have been told in Romans 12:2 and this must be the starting point of all effective prayer.

Certainly, almost unbelievable, wonderful demonstrations of health and guidance and success through prayer can be observed all the time. However, we must clearly understand that prayer is not begging God to do something for someone or something that concerns us. When you pray about something, if there is any action as a result of prayer, you help in the action. But God can do no more for you than God can do through you. You are a channel for the expression of His wisdom, love, substance and power.

Often we are urged, “Let go and let God.” This means to let go of your tense, anxious concern over a situation and let God express His omnipresence through your positive awareness. True prayer is the stirring up within you a sense of God-power and turning the full force of this power, like a powerful searchlight, on that which may concern you.

When you desire to help someone else, the starting point of that help must be within yourself. You may say, “But it’s my husband (or wife, or friend, etc.) who needs help.” Yes, but it is you who are concerned and, as long as you feel anxious concern, you are giving life and substance to that about which you are concerned.

Your thought of fear, your image of some terrible possibility, or your gnawing anxiety is really a very powerful and continuing prayer in reverse. No matter how great may be your desire to help or bless someone or some condition, your negative concern may effectively completely negate your successful wish and prayer for healing.

No matter what you may be concerned about in the life or experience of another, if you really want to help, you must change your thought from fear to faith; you must correct your faulty vision in which you are focusing your attention on that which is disturbing. You must heal your thought of concern.

When you feel a release, a sense of freedom from fear and concern, then the work within you is done. At that point, in the consciousness and with a positive declaration of Truth, speak the word of healing, harmony and peace, and know that “it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” (Is. 55:11) It is in this way that you fulfill the assurance which is “The Lord will perfect that which concerns me.”

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over forty years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend. You may also reproduce and publish this article if you also include this reference box. Thank you!

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at www.alanrowbotham.com
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To be truly dedicated to God, we must understand what God is and what God is not. We are plainly told in the Bible what God is, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24) But in the Book of Numbers we are also told just as plainly what God is not.

It relates how the children of Israel came out of Egypt and camped on the plains of Moab. When Balak, the king of Moab, saw them he was afraid of this mighty nation. He sent for the prophet Balaam to put a curse on the invaders, offering wealth and honors in return. Balaam came, but when he spoke, the Lord had put words of blessings into his mouth.

In our imagination we can hear the king’s exasperation when he says, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them.” (Numbers 23:11) Balaam answers that he must speak what the Lord tells him to speak. Then he uses words to describe God in which we can find a great lesson: “God is not a man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? Behold, I received a command to bless: he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.” (Numbers 23:19-20)

“God is not a man . . .” What a marvelous realization of faith and life it gives us to grasp this truth! This explains why things that are impossible to man are possible with God, because “God is not a man.” The solutions for every problem, the supply for every need we can ever have, exists already in God-mind, but we cannot unite ourselves with God-mind and use its power if we conceive of it as being simply human mind raised to a higher level. “God is not a man,” and God-mind is not at all like our human mind.

Thinking of God-mind as simply a higher type of human mind, a sort of super-brain, is the same old error as thinking of God as a person. As Balaam said, “God is not a man.” God is something else entirely, something infinitely greater and more wonderful. When we go to God, we do not go to a judge – we go to justice itself. We do not go to a king – we go to power itself. We do not go to a healer – we go to healing itself. God is not a man (or a woman) – he/she is God. God is justice, power, healing, and abundance. And God does not change.

God is always there, always the same, helping us solve our problems at the vey moment we turn to him. But “God is not a man.” God is something infinitely greater. God is as kind and generous, yet as impersonal as the rain. He becomes my personal God and your personal God as we personally turn to him and seek to bring our mind into the pattern of God-mind. When we realize this, when we get a true understanding of God in our heart, then we are able to pray in a new way.

Do you have a problem? And have you become dedicated to your problem? God’s power cannot flow through your mind if it is clogged with negative thoughts. It can and will flow instantly through the clear mind that is attuned to good, which is dedicated to God. Attune your mind to God-mind by getting away from the personal, and thinking about the infinite goodness, wisdom and love of God. Say to yourself, “I am dedicated to God. There is nothing in my life but God. God is in my heart. God is in my world. There is nothing but God here. There is nothing but good here.”

What a difference it makes in your entire experience when you become established in a right understanding of God. You begin to realize that God is not a person to whom you pray, but a spirit by which you live. You begin to realize that Brother Lawrence’s ideal of “The practice of the presence of God” is completely relevant to your life today. It means, very simply, realizing that life is lived from within out and that when you think of God you draw on infinite intelligence, that you are guided by divine creativity, that when you love you are the focus of the great love of God. You can practice the presence of God in your life today. It is a way of dedicating yourself to God, through which you can be and do and have more than you ever imagined possible for you.

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over forty years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend. You may also reproduce and publish this article if you also include this reference box. Thank you!

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at www.alanrowbotham.com
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When I think about spiritual healing, my mind goes to thoughts of Myrtle Fillmore, co-founder of the Unity movement, who had been given a diagnosis of tuberculosis and six months to live. The story goes that, in 1886, she and her husband Charles attended a lecture in Kansas City given by Eugene B. Weeks, and Myrtle left with insights that changed her life. Ringing in her head were the words, “You are a child of God, and you do not inherit sickness.”

She had believed she inherited tuberculosis but now, at age forty-two, worked on casting aside that old belief and blessing all the cells of her body with new life, declaring that they were indeed filled through and through with God-life. And with her new-found spiritual understanding and the application of spiritual principles, she healed herself of tuberculosis.

In this article, I’d like to draw upon the work of Neal Valhe in his biography of Myrtle Fillmore, Torch-Bearer to Light the Way, so you may capture some of the essence of the activity of Spirit in the healing process.

Myrtle Fillmore came to understand that mind and body are not separate. There is intelligence contained in every cell of our body, and it responds to our thoughts. It responds to how we react to circumstances or situations in our lives, and it stores that information for playback in all the experiences of our lives.

But Myrtle said that understanding is not enough. It’s good for us to understand Truth principles if we are to make progress in unfolding our spiritual awareness, but it’s not enough. In her own life, she made a commitment to practicing the Truth principles. She began to speak to the intelligence within her body; she affirmed the presence of God within herself. She focused on that healing activity, and gradually began to see it manifest in her life.

Then Myrtle began to use the techniques in working with others and helping them to heal themselves. Notice I said “to heal themselves.” Although people looked to her as a healer, she recognized it was not she, herself, that was the healer but the spirit of God within the person was the healing power. She encouraged them always to look to the spirit within, to come to understand the spiritual principles and begin to apply them in their own life. Get to know the truth of God within, then the healing transformation can take place.

As she began to work with people, friends and neighbors sought her out for help and they began to see marvelous healings taking place (many of these are recorded in the book, Torch-Bearer to Light the Way, by Neal Vahle). And always, Myrtle focused on God’s healing power. She said that the key to healing is having faith in the healing power of God within you. The book goes on to say she soon came to realize that physical healing was only one aspect of the work. The real goal was advancing the spiritual development of the person.

Both she and Charles Fillmore came to understand that the role of the healer and the teacher were interrelated, and they began to emphasize spiritual instruction to enable people to understand the healing power of God within. They didn’t tell them what to think but how to think, so that their lives could be different, empowered and nurtured by the spirit of God within them.

Myrtle said that the whole aim of their method was to quicken the spirit within the person until they grasped the Truth for themselves. Healing prayer was also connected with the instructions, and excellent results nearly always followed.

They also began to realize that they were actually getting better results with what they called “absent healing,” where people would write in for healing. The work began to grow and they eventually had other people to help them do the healing work. They developed a system of working with people who wrote or called in for healing; they would pray with them over the phone and hold them in a consciousness of God’s presence within, with miraculous results. People wrote in with testimonials about the things that had happened for them through the absent healing.

That was the beginning of the work that became Silent Unity and became the Silent Unity healing department, which grew and has continued for over a hundred years now. You can call Silent Unity any time of day or night and a Silent Unity worker will pray with you (1-800-669-7729). There is an activity of Spirit that goes on when you release something in that way and you know that someone is praying with you. And healing can take place.

In the teachings and in absent healing, Myrtle Fillmore always focused on the importance of finding the healing power of God within. She stressed what she called a “threefold healing.” In the spiritual, it is an activity of aligning with the true spirit of God which is at work within you at all times.

The mental work is to recognize that when you have negative thoughts about yourself or about situations, you can change those thoughts; you can choose your thoughts. She encouraged people to think in a positive way knowing that God’s presence is active within. It’s a matter of aligning your thoughts with the presence of God within.

In regard to the physical, recognize that God’s activity is in every cell of your being and that you can speak to the cells of your body and know that your body will respond. She speaks not only of our physical body but also the body of our experience; God is at work in the physical body and the body of our experience. Wherever we are, God is; we can take comfort from knowing that. And healing can be made manifest.

Your healing is at hand, my friend. If you are going through anything that needs healing, whether it’s body, mind, emotions, relationships, whatever it is, just keep your thoughts and attention on that idea: “My healing is at hand.” As Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is at hand.” And that means the kingdom of God is right here, it’s handy, it’s at hand right now, because God is omnipresent. Say that to yourself: “My healing is at hand.” Know that for yourself, put your attention on that, keep your thoughts on that; no matter what the appearance, be persistent and steady in your efforts. Not trying hard, but letting yourself turn to the spirit of God within, for it’s the spirit within which always does the work.

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over forty years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend. You may also reproduce and publish this article if you also include this reference box. Thank you!

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at www.alanrowbotham.com
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This week’s message is an article by Kevin Schoeninger, of Spiritual Growth Monthly. I hope you enjoy the article and I heartily recommend the site to you if you are interested. Just click on the following link: http://www.mindbodytrainingcompany.com/go.php?af=1103102

Over the years, I endeavor to keep SGM minds active and growing by reviewing the latest books in the field of mind-body training, personal development, and spiritual growth.  In this process, I attempt to repeat essential points in many different ways and through many different practices so that we take in this material deeper and deeper.  I also like to keep things fresh by adding the latest research to the mix.

This week I’d like to highlight three insights that I’ve found absolutely crucial on the spiritual path.  Sometimes amidst the complexity and quantity of information coming at me everyday, I find it necessary to re-iterate the essentials to myself.  You may feel the same way. 

While variety is interesting, the essentials are what help us filter complexity and stay on track with what is most important.  So, with that in mind, here are three things that have guided my spiritual path for the past three decades.  I hope you find this Week’s presentation a good reminder and an inspiration to deepen your personal practice.  If you’re new to Spritual Growth Monthly or to our programs, you might find this to be a good introduction, as well:

The Three Most Powerful Things I’ve Learned

1.  What you experience is the result of what you bring to your experience.  Life is an interpretive act.  While we endeavor to grow in consciousness and to see things more clearly, we do not experience things “as they are.”  Instead, we experience everything through the lens of our intentions, thoughts, feelings, beliefs, mood, and physical state at the moment.

You have probably heard this many times in many ways.  Nevertheless, it’s likely that at certain moments you forget.  When you forget this, it’s likely that you experience tension, conflict, and resistance. 

While you may know this concept in your mind, it is another to practice it in all areas of your life.  You may master it in one aspect of your life or in one or more relationships, while finding it more difficult in another area of your life or in a particular relationship.

You can practice regaining this insight whenever you experience tension, frustration, or conflict, by asking yourself the following question:

What role am I playing in this situation? 

Asking that question shifts you away from blaming or judging others or circumstances.  You take responsibility for your side of the equation.  That doesn’t mean that others or circumstances don’t play a role.  It simply means that you have a responsibility for your side of every situation.  How much conflict could be avoided or resolved with that simple realization?

Secondly, the way you are interpreting things makes a huge difference.  You do not see things “the way they are”; you see them from your perspective at the moment—and your perspective can easily change.

For example, have you noticed that when you are relaxed, well-rested, and have a positive outlook, good things tend to happen?  And when you’re tired, stressed, and overwhelmed more negative and overwhelming things seem to pile up?  I’ve noticed when I am tired and feeling like “I have to do it all” more people ask me to do things. 

When you really understand this first insight and take it to heart, it leads you to a second point:

2. You can shift your life experiences by shifting your inner state.

When you realize the role you play in the experiences you are having, you may get motivated to play that role better.  You may develop a strong desire to create positive shifts in your inner state to create positive results in your life.  You can do this in any number of ways, from self-observation, to meditation, to affirmations, to physical exercise, to dietary supplements, to actively listening and communicating better, to taking up a sacred mindset by acknowledging your relationship to the Universal Life Force, to seeing all things and every being as an expression of the One Life that we all share.

Having practiced all of the above for the past three decades, I’ve found one practice that creates profound shifts on all four dimensions of my being: body-heart-mind-spirit.  That practice is Core Energy Meditation™.

If you have the “Raise Your Vibration” program, you have a full exploration of this practice as it relates to the Law of Attraction.  I’ve also posted an early guided version of this practice on the SGM website in the Toolkit, so that all of you have access to the basic practice.

Core Energy Meditation™ incorporates physical cues to relax and align your posture, along with deep breathing, inner smiling, and visualization and feeling of your three primary energy centers to create a state of strong, positive, clear and coherent energetic vibration.  I call this a Core Energy State (CES).

The more you become familiar with this state, the more you practice it, the more it becomes a consistent background for all your life experiences.  Your background state strongly influences what you experience in the foreground of your consciousness.  Remember from the earlier diagram that the “figure” you see is strongly shaped by the “background” against which it appears.

Becoming familiar with a CES also makes you more sensitive to times when you are not experiencing that.  You more easily recognize when you are caught up in reactivity, tension, and unnecessary drama.  Through consistent practice over time, a CES becomes a clear, relaxed, background presence that you can return to whenever you get caught up in stress or lost in the tangles of life.

Personally I’ve found Core Energy Meditation™ to be a lifelong practice that refines with each year that I work with it.  If you’re at all like me, you’ll find that, when you first start practicing, you have certain energy centers that are more open and clear.  At first, your energy flows smoothly in some areas of your body and not in others. 

Wherever you’ve had injuries or store past tensions and unresolved traumas in your body, your energy will be congested in those spots.  By practicing a calm accepting attitude as you become aware of your inner tensions, you facilitate release.  Through meditation, you learn that while you have had trauma and tension, these do not define who you are.  Though you have thoughts and feelings running through you, these also, do not define who you are.  Though you get caught up in stress, it doesn’t have to rule your life. 

You learn instead that you are an energetic presence who can inhabit anything—any intention, thought, feeling, action, place, relationship. . . How would your life be different if you lived from that understanding?  You are an energetic presence who can inhabit anything you choose.

This brings us to the third essential point:

3. You have an authentic life path which is your unique contribution to the One Life that we all share. 

You are here with purpose.  You are not here to do anything at all, but to engage in certain things that you are particularly gifted to share.  On a spiritual level, you are part of an infinite field of unlimited possibilities.  Here in this body, in this life, you have some very specific things that are yours to do.

When each of us do what we are here to do, we all benefit.  Your authentic path is not just for you.  It is your service to “Us.”  It is what you add to the whole.  You are specially resourced and situated to express specific talents, insights, skills, and gifts. 

Each of us is here to fully express our unique perspective and to support others to do the same.

When you choose that which is authentic for you, your life unfolds with greater meaning and purpose as well as greater ease, health, and happiness.  That doesn’t mean that your authentic path is without pain and struggle.  Yet it is how you relate to these things, the awareness you gain, what you learn, and the way that you deal with any experience that makes all the difference.  The more you learn to dis-identify with your pain and struggle, your life history and negative conditioning, the more you release those imprints from your consciousness.  As a result you open to deeper peace and joy, greater love, and expanding wisdom.

A primary roadblock to walking your authentic path is the inhibition resulting from what you think you “should” do.  You may have had experiences where others told you that being yourself was unacceptable.  You may have been traumatized into keeping your head down, being quiet, and not making waves.  You may have come to believe that “how you are” is not  worthwhile or good enough.

On the path to authenticity, it’s important to recognize when you are “shoulding” and instead practice loving acceptance of yourself, others, and circumstances—exactly as we are.  That doesn’t mean that all things are helpful or beneficial.  It simply means that negative emotional judgment creates resistance that stops life from moving forward in the best way possible.  When you release the negative emotional charge, you can more clearly see what is best for all.  When you release “shoulds” you free yourself and others to take up our authentic paths.

You can look at these three essential points as a three-step process.  Try this out whenever you feel tense, negative, or just “off track” from “who you are.”  Ask yourself these three questions:

1.  How am I contributing to this experience?

2. How can I let that go and relax my inner state right now?

3. What is my most authentic response, the response that is best for all, in this situation?

 Those of you who have read or listened to me for a while know that I call these steps the 3Rs: Recognize, release, and return.  Recognize what you are doing, release your attachment to that, and return to your Core Energy, to your most authentic response.  This is another powerful life-long practice. . . I’d love to hear how this works for you!

Until next time,

Walk boldly on your path,

Kevin

(If this article has been helpful to you, you can find information on the Core Energy meditation, the “Raise Your Vibration Program,” and Spiritual Growth Monthly  just by clicking on the following link: http://www.mindbodytrainingcompany.com/go.php?af=1103102)

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham
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Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over forty years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend. You may also reproduce and publish this article if you also include this reference box. Thank you!

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at www.alanrowbotham.com
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(Note: This article is composed of adapted excerpts from The Healing Flow, an article by the former Unity minister and author, Eric Butterworth, which I have also made into a 9-minute audio meditation for your use and enjoyment. You can scroll down to the bottom of the article to access the audio.)

If you feel the need of healing of any kind right now, begin to envision your whole body enveloped in God’s radiant health. See your body as a “temple of the living God,” the perfect dwelling place of the Infinite. No matter what you are going through at the present time, you can be sure that God is with you, and that the healing flow is manifesting through you.

Let your mind be open to the activities of life. Let go of any thought that there is any condition beyond help, beyond relief. “Come unto me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). Enter the stream of wholeness now, the free flow of divine life, and flow along with its current. Fill your heart and mind with thoughts of the activity of the divine process, knowing that no power on earth can in any way dim the light of life that shines eternally in you and through you. See your whole body glowing in every atom, coursing through every artery and vein; see your body as the perfect dwelling place of the creative life of God.

As John says in Revelations 22:1, “Then he showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal . . .” This cleansing river of life is right now flowing through you, dissolving every condition of imperfection, renewing every cell of your body with abundant life. Consciously banish every tense or anxious thought about your health. Think of every cell of your body being filled with the pure life of God; think of every organ, cell and nerve as blessed and harmonized by God’s presence in you as healing life, and know that you are one with God, that through this oneness you are part of an unbroken flow of life, circulating constantly, steadily, regularly through you, healing, flowing, healing, flowing, for “in Him we live and move and have our being.”

If you could envision your life as a tapestry and yourself as the weaver, you could begin to see how every experience has added something to the picture of the whole. Even the experiences that you have resisted and resented have added to its depth and strength. You cannot see the complete design, but by knowing that the experiences of today will blend with the experiences of tomorrow, even as they blended with the experiences of yesterday, they will form a beautiful and satisfying pattern of good. Let each day, each experience, in the spirit of a creative artist with faith in yourself and the pattern of life that you are weaving in ways perhaps you cannot completely understand, let it be that all things work together for good.

The whole presence and power of God lives within you, and would have you rise and walk in pleasantness and peace. When you become completely immersed in the sea of healing and renewing life, you feel waves of vitalizing energy radiating in your entire being, you feel the warm, radiating life of Spirit flowing through you as it floods your consciousness with peace and joy. It vitalizes your body temple, making it every whit whole. No matter where you are, no matter what challenge you have to meet or situation to undergo, you are never in any way separated from this divine flow. No matter what you are going through right now, you can be sure that God is with you as a guiding hand, a healing influence and flow.

Don’t ask yourself why things are the way they are. Rather than ask why, face the fact that any need for harmony or healing reveals the need for a closer attunement with the divine flow, the need for a greater realization of oneness with all good, the need for an increase of faith, the need for more time in quiet reflection and prayer.

Healing comes through oneness with the divine flow. Open your consciousness to this flow. Turn all of your mind and heart to this healing flow that is moving from within your being. As you lift your thoughts to this consciousness, feel your body temple being filled with health and harmony, feel every nerve and cell being charged with glorious life that continually rebuilds and revitalizes after the pattern of perfection that is in the divine plan for you.

Be still, and consciously feel life tingling within you, in every nerve, cell and organ of your body. Feel the warm, soothing, adjusting, cleansing power of this flow of life bubbling up within you. Open your mind and heart to the healing flow of God-life. Clear away any obstruction of thought or feeling or belief in anything that would accept something less than perfection by quietly, persistently affirming that you are an open channel for the healing flow of life.

Gently know that the life and peace of God permeates your entire being right now, and quietly rest in the assurance that you are healed no matter what the outer condition seems to be. Take firm hold of the promise and belief, “I will restore health to you and your wounds I will heal.” (Jeremiah 30:17) Rejoice that the Spirit in you is the activity of God in you and that you are one with this divine flow. Right now, know that God’s infinite life and wisdom is permeating every part of your being and every part of your life and affairs. Give thanks that God’s wisdom and intelligence are constantly guiding you, that His love is harmonizing you and blessing every detail of your life. You are now established in the divine flow; you are healed, renewed and restored.

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham
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Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over forty years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend. You may also reproduce and publish this article if you also include this reference box. Thank you!

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at www.alanrowbotham.com
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A woman who is supposed to have reached a considerable degree of spiritual unfoldment once said: “I just don’t know what’s the matter with me. I’ve got the jitters, so that I can’t seem to make contact with God or have the demonstrations that I used to. I’ve tried to figure out how I’ve erred, but the more I think abut it, the worse I seem to get.”

As with many of us, this woman had allowed herself to be affected by the tension that is not unusual in uncertain and anxious times. Because of the state of her nerves or state of mind, she had lost that tranquility of spirit which is the primary essential for spiritual realization. Instead of letting go and leaving her problems in the hands of the Father, she was struggling desperately and constantly to solve her problem herself.

When we find ourselves in such a condition, the need is to say to ourselves, “Be cool!” In other words, we need to let go and to stop thinking about ourselves altogether. Stop the tense, anxious concern. Most of us believe in God and in divine power, or at least we say we do. So, why not give God a chance to express through us. Say to yourself over and over again, as did the Psalmist: “Be still and know that I am God.” If we can manage to let go and to realize that “the battle is not ours but God’s,” then we shall soon be at peace again.

An affirmation that my wife, Kathryn, and I often use when we find ourselves struggling with over-concern or anxiety is: “I relax; I release; I let go in the love and power of Jesus Christ. Thank you, God.” We usually say it three times and not only say the words but we consciously take the inner action, first of relaxing our mind and body, then of releasing everything to God, then of totally letting go of the whole situation or concern, in the consciousness of the love and power demonstrated by Jesus Christ. Finally, we say “Thank you, God!” in gratitude for God’s abiding presence with us. This little exercise helps us develop the habit of calmness and poise in the midst of upsetting thoughts or conditions.

Let’s look at some of the ways we let ourselves get out of control. First of all is the obvious habit of hurrying. Constantly rushing around for any purpose is a complete waste of divine energy and a transgression of the law of harmony. Whenever we hurry, we are out of tune with God and out of step with the orderly rhythmic movement of the universe. If you want the flow of your life and the demonstrations of good within it to be regular and constant, then you must learn not to hurry. Stop the furious driving of yourself by thinking and speaking and acting in a quiet, even manner.

Whenever the temptation to rush comes upon you, stop short and say to yourself: “Be cool! What’s the rush? Be still. Relax. You might take a few deep breaths and affirm: “I am quiet and calm and relaxed. I am cool. I am one with God, and God is infinite peace. I partake of the calmness of infinite Spirit. I am poised in the peace of God.” By meditating upon calmness in prayer time, you can overcome the tendency to rush. And as you conquer the hurry habit, you learn that you accomplish so much more by taking your time than you ever did by rushing.

Another habit which is an effect of a lack of calm is letting the attention flip from one thing to another, instead of holding it firmly focused. A good instance of this is when we sit down to eat. Maybe we’re thinking of all the things we have to do next, so unconsciously we rush through the meal. I suggest we pause before our meals, maybe to say grace or just to turn our thoughts within and feel a sense of oneness. We want to take time to eat slowly and refuse admittance to disturbing thoughts.

In other activities, too, many of us try to do several things at once. Maybe we try to read while listening to the radio or watching television. It’s small wonder that our children study with the radio or television going full blast. Perhaps a person can attend to two things at once, but one or the other will be slighted. Divided attention never brings the best results, and multi-tasking reduces our ability to give our whole self to what we do. Truth students well know the necessity for concentration in prayer. But if we want to have poise and calm in all things, then we have to carry the habit of concentration over into our ordinary activities.

Another common habit which is another effect of lack of poise is talking too much. A lot of us may feel that we don’t talk much, but we probably talk more than we should. Wise persons have always recognized the virtue of silence and the danger of too much speech. All religions teach the wisdom and the power of silence. Let’s learn to control our minds so that we can speak or be silent as we wish.

I suggest that we discipline ourselves steadily to eliminate the thought of hurry. If you find the slightest evidence of restlessness or haste, stop at once and say to yourself: “Be cool. Relax. Let go.” At your prayer time, relax so completely that every muscle of your being is free from tension. And think of those things which suggest peace: still waters, a cloudless sky, gentle falling snow. To imagine these things at such a moment will help you to attain the inner peace that is the prelude to prayer and the first step to all creative activity.

Remind yourself that you are in harmony with the steady rhythm of the universe, that there is no need for haste. Keep calm and poised and steady, knowing that the whole universe is functioning perfectly and harmoniously, and that you are in tune with the universal good.

Always Remember . . . God is Blessing You Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham
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Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over forty years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

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Consciousness is the light of awareness, the in-seeing ability to know itself, self-reflection. You can direct consciousness like a flashlight to bring focus on a desired state of being, or consciousness can act like a mirror to reflect back to you the desired state of being in experience.

Consciousness shapes experience through a kind of out-forming process. Imagine, if you will, sitting in a darkened room with the shades drawn down. Let’s say that the sun is shining brightly outside, and you cut a hole in the window shade. If the hole is round, the light will assume a shape of roundness since light assumes the shape and color of the aperture through which it comes; for instance, in a stained-glass window there are many hues and shapes. Consciousness is like this, and thus could be called an out-forming process.

The philosopher Spencer said, “We are forever in the presence of an infinite internal energy from which all things proceed.” This energy flows into our life in accordance with the shape of our consciousness. Rollo May says that “Consciousness is the intervening variable between nature and being.” We see that May is referring to that which is between the infinite allness of God and the person in focus. In other words, consciousness determines the degree to which the “allness” of God is manifest in, through, and as the individual.

The important work before us, then, is the expansion of consciousness into higher states of awareness, and this really is what prayer is all about. It is a conscious remembering of our true nature, our oneness in God, the allness in which we live, move, and have our being. There is nowhere to go and nothing to reach for; we are forever one with all that is or can be.

The key to transcendence of the expanded state of consciousness is to “Be still and know that I am God.” Be still, close your eyes, center your attention at the center of your being, and come to know the point where you are Being being you. At this higher state of consciousness, know your oneness in God and rest in this realization. Your prayer is a simple acknowledgement of the fact that there is a flow of Spirit in expression. Bring this light of conscious remembering to all that you are, all that you think, all that you feel, and all that you do.

Remember, we are told, “Awake thou that sleepest that Christ may shine upon you.” This is an important realization. We can never understand ourselves or our lives until we wake up in God consciousness. Gurdjieff says, “You can wake up and know your real self, and then love and intelligence and peace will no longer be mere words and theories; they will be you.”

Remember, there is always an oak tree in the acorn; there is always a child of God within the troubled person. So be still and know this truth, become aware of it. Let yourself become centered in this realization. Then, the new state of consciousness will actually be an influence, a conditioning force upon the outer experience.

The late poet William Stafford wrote, in the poem You Reading This, Be Ready:
 Will you ever bring a better gift for
  the world
 than the breathing respect that you carry

 wherever you go right now? Are you
  waiting
 for time to show you some better
  thoughts?

(William Stafford, The Way It Is: New and Selected Poems, p.45)

Always Remember . . . God is Blessing You Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-nine years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend. You may also reproduce and publish this article if you also include this reference box. Thank you!

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The 91^st Psalm reveals a consciousness of the “protecting Presence,” and the stability and security that follows when one lives at what T.S. Eliot calls “the still point of the turning world.”

The following is a beautiful meditation by the late Unity minister and author Eric Butterworth, but you are challenged first to let go of the personal God “out there” and dwell in the awareness of the “permanent core of reality” within yourself.

“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” It is not a place in space, but a level of consciousness. The “secret” is the key awareness that within you is a place of wholeness where you are forever in the flow of the creative process. Dwelling in this consciousness you “abide under the shadow . . .” This is an Oriental expression of security. People in a desert look on the heat of the sun as an enemy, and a shadow represents protection from the sun.

“I will say of Jehovah, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God in whom I trust.” This suggests that you affirm that you have faith in God for you know you are always in the flow of life, love, and wisdom. In this consciousness you never know danger or depletion.

“For He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly pestilence.” This begins the series of benefits that accrue to one who has the secret and uses it. Through the Bible the evil work of enemies is likened to the snare of the fowler, which refers to trapping birds. It means the adversary, the human consciousness that causes us to become entangled in error and limitation. The “deadly pestilence” is fear. When we are ruled by fear, it is a pest and makes us fear to try to be the person we want to be and do the things we desire to do. “He will deliver” should be thought of in the way light delivers from darkness. Fears and doubts dissolve into nothing when the light of Truth dawns.

“He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you take refuge; His truth is a shield and buckler.” Note how a mother hen draws her chicks to her and covers them with her wings. As God is all-encompassing mind, the relationship with humankind is an idea in God Mind. Our mind is always I the flow of creative ideas which keep anything destructive from entering the mind. To take refuge “under His wings” means to find light by realizing our wholeness, our source of good within, knowing oneness with God who is our health and prosperity. “His truth is a shield and buckler” . . . the most ancient pieces of armor. Knowledge of Truth will protect us from all kinds of illness or lack.

“You shall not be afraid for the terror by night nor for the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.” “Night” is the darkness of ignorance. “Terror” is the false and terrible beliefs that terrify one as the result of ignorance. “Arrows that fly by day” are the thoughts and suggestions of others that lead to fear, worry, and hate. None of these negative suggestions can harm you for they cannot enter your consciousness when you remember the “secret.” The “pestilence that stalks in darkness” is the lack and sickness and negation that circulates in the race consciousness and which are absorbed subliminally into one’s subconscious mind. The “destruction that wastes at noonday” refers to the experience through which we seem to pass as we advance in our quest for Truth . . . the result of inertia of mind. We thus need to bless them, seeing each condition as an opportunity for further growth.

“A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it will not come near you.” Things may happen around you and to you, but as long as you hold to your Oneness with God, nothing shall happen in you . . . thus it “will not come near you.” One may say, “What chance do I have when so many have failed?” A thousand failures do not disprove Truth. When you know the secret, and dwell in it, you cannot fail.

“Only with your eyes shall you behold and see the reward of the wicked.” This is not a promise but an admonition. To refuse to see the manifestations of adversity is to be dishonest with oneself. But “only with your eyes” shall you see them. Affirm what you see is the imperfect reflection of the divine flow. By keeping your eye single, keeping the secret awareness of oneness with God, you can look on false appearances and not be disturbed by them.

“Because you have made the Lord your refuge, the Most High your habitation, no evil shall befall you, no plague come near your tent.” “Evil” means discordant conditions; “tent” refers to the body. And “plague” means the diseases of the body. When we live and think and act in accordance with the Truth, our thoughts are in divine order, busy creating good for us.

“For he will give His angels charge of you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.” A continuity of good ideas support you and keep you from “stubbing your toe,” in other words from making mistakes.

“You shall tread upon the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.” These represent anger and hatred, conscious and subconscious. The “serpent” is the thought that makes you bitter toward God when sickness, lack, or accidents are experienced. When you dwell in the secret awareness of your wholeness in God, you have the power to dissolve all impurities in your mind.

“Because he has set his love upon me, I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he knows my name.” His “name” is the great I AM. In the Bible, “to know” means to experience union. Thus, it is to take on the I AM as our own, and to affirm “I AM” in wise and creative ways. “I will set him on high” means you will “sit on top of the world,” and have a sense of peace and well-being.

 “He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.” This is the great promise, “He will not fail you nor forsake you.”

 “With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” He blesses you with the knowledge that life is not something temporary, but eternal, and you are thus free from the fear of death or of irreparable loss. You are forever in His Presence and in the flow of His creative process.

Thus, the 91^st Psalm is the great promise. When you dwell in the secret awareness of your transcendent self which is forever in and of God, you abide under the shadow . . . in the charmed circle of God’s love.

Note: I believe that when James Dillet Freeman wrote Unity’s Prayer for Protection during World War II, in response to requests for a prayer for the troops and families to use, he may have drawn inspiration from this Psalm to write this simple yet powerful prayer:

The Light of God surrounds me;

The Love of God enfolds me;

The Power of God protects me;

The Presence of God watches over me;

Wherever I am, God is. . . .

And Unity people usually add . . . and all is well!

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

————————————————————
Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-nine years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend. You may also reproduce and publish this article if you also include this reference box. Thank you!

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at www.alanrowbotham.com
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“Wherever you are is the entry point.” - Kabir

It seems to me there are certain moments in our lives when we have a powerful awareness and clarity about something, so much so that we remember it clearly though it may have been many years ago. And over time it also carries more meaning for us.

I remember when I first went to ministerial school at Unity Village, there was a moment when I felt I had come to and crossed a threshold in my life. All that had gone before, all the disparate experiences were spread out before me. All those experiences, which seemed to have no or little connection with one another, were linked together as a sort of threshold which I had crossed and were now providing a beginning for new experience and a new life as all those past experiences came together to form a cohesive new direction.

At the time it reminded me of the image of what Teilhard de Chardin called a “peduncle,” where all that had gone before had started from the Alpha point and moved in an outward direction and now, crossing the threshold, began to move in an inward direction so that it would all eventually join together at the Omega point at the top of the peduncle.

In the Spring 2000 edition of Parabola magazine, painter and author William Segal, at the age of 96, in an interview, was asked, “What is the nature of a threshold?” He replied, “It is an interruption in the ordinary response of our lives. It is difficult to realize how many reactions are merely mechanical. But smetimes our response to a certain situation can surprise or even astonish us. It is in such moments that a change in consciousness appears and enriches us in a quite unexpected way.”

In his article, Neither Here Nor There, in the same issue of the magazine, author Thomas Moore said of the threshold experience, “A mode of entrance is crucial. A door. A window. We need a chink iin the otherwise unbroken surface of what we consider real and proper.” He goes on to say, “The gap need not be physical, but it is required.”

In the dark wood at the beginning of his cosmic journey, Dante says, “I don’t know how to describe my entering there, I was so sleepy at that point that I lost track of the actual path.” “Standing in a doorway,” says Thomas Moore, “you are forced into the imagination, wondering what you will find on the other side. It is a place full of expectant fantasy.”

“This is the key point about thresholds. . . .” says Thomas Moore. “In their narrow confines you may find fantasy, memory, dream, anxiety, miracle, intuition, and magic. These are the means by which the deep soul prospers – neither in life nor entirely out of life. This is a good place from which to make a decision and get a hunch. It is the true home of creativity. It is also the claustrophobic place of greatest fear. Anything of moment takes place in these interstices – in the tunnels and passages and waiting periods. They are indispensable and yet must be kept tangential.”

Perhaps you stand on a threshold right now.

Jesus said, “Strive to enter by the narrow door..” (luke 13:24) This is the door of faith and trust in the Presence. “I am the door,” said Jesus; “if anyone enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” (John 10:9) In Revelations we read, “Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut.” (Rev. 3:8) and “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him and he with me.” (Rev. 3:20)

So where is this threshold? Where is this door? Where is this entry point to your greater good, to what Jesus called life more abundant? The great Indian saint, philosopher and poet, Kabir said, “Wherever you are is the entry point.” Wherever you are! You are not separate from your good; you are filled with possibility and potential right now.

I would recommend that if you have not already done so, make a habit of taking a little time daily, alone in the quiet place of your heart, in communion with your Source, so that the illumination and guidance of the Holy Spirit may become alive and active in your life. Then go about your daily work, ever open to divine guidance, trusting it and resting in it, strengthened and sustained by its power.

God is always in communion with you, but sometimes you may lose sight of this communion. It is this loss of awareness of your innate oneness that brings a sense of separation. You can solve this great problem simply by the realization of oneness. Then you find that you have the working principle that will carry you through all times and all experiences. In your hour of need, in the instant of realizing your oneness in the Presence, you make the connection – and the separation is dissolved. As the Bible tells us: “You shall renew your strength, you shall mount up with wings like eagles, you shall run and not be weary, you shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)

Remember, God is Blessing You Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

————————————————————
Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-nine years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend. You may also reproduce and publish this article if you also include this reference box. Thank you!

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at www.alanrowbotham.com
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On my morning walk here in Florida when even early in the day the weather was warm and the humidity was high, I greeted a man who was walking his dog and he asked me, “Are you bothered by the no-see-ums?” I replied, “No, not really.” And he said, “They’re all over me this morning.”

After that exchange I began to notice the little biting insects making their presence felt on me as well. Up to that point I had not been bothered by the no-see-ums, but as soon as I gave my attention to them because of what the man said then they became evident in my experience.

I share this experience with you to show how easily what we give our attention to becomes our experience; and so I ask you now “To what are you giving your attention?” Your life experiences will give you the answer. Are you giving your attention to what you don’t want? Are you dwelling on your problems, on lack or limitation, illness or troubles in relationship? If so, know that the attention you give to these areas of your life magnify them in your experience.

Watching Joel Osteen on television recently I was interested to hear him addressing this matter of where we place our attention by suggesting that we can counter the “negative” aspects of our lives by turning to God’s promises in the scriptures and adopting them as our own. For instance, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Ps. 46:1), thus switching our attention to the presence of God rather than the problem. Or, “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you.” (Ezek. 36:26) Or, “I can do all things in him who strengthens me.” Phil 4:13).

Many others that may be used in that way can be found in the scriptures, for instance: “Your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly.” ((Is. 58:8), “I now do according to your word. . . . I give you a wise and discerning mind. . . . I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor.” (I Kings 3:12-13), “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10). Depending upon your condition or your need, you can research the scriptures for yourself to find appropriate promises.

In the same way, in Unity, many of these “promises of God” are personalized and used as affirmations of Truth; for example, “God did not give me a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control.” (2 Tim. 1:7). Or, “My inner nature is being renewed every day.” (II Cor. 4:16), or “This is the day which the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Ps. 118:24). Write them out for yourself and put them on your mirror or where you can see them every day and repeat them to yourself again and again.

You see, as spiritual teacher Jeddah Mali says, “We live in a sea of awareness” or in God presence, and as Unity Minister Sue Sikking titled one of her books, God Always Says Yes. The sea of awareness “in which we live and move and have our being” always reflects back to us in our lives what we are truly asking for in the depths of our being or expecting to experience. The sea of awareness, or God presence, is our true nature and we are always one with it; as Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.”

We are to know that we are never separate from Presence, and in any moment we can go beyond the appearance of things in our experience and give attention to the Truth of our being which is always present, often instantly dissolving the appearance as we become aware of the Truth in that moment. As the Apostle Paul said (Rom. 12:2), “Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Two very different examples of that instantaneous transformation in my own life are as follows:

Many years ago, when my children were young and rambunctious, I found myself yelling at them. Then in that very moment, I realized it was not really me yelling but it was my father yelling through me as he had often yelled at me. I shifted my attention in the awareness of that moment and decided I did not need to do that any more.

My second example I’ll share with you was when my youngest son, at age 26, took his own life in early 1992. My daughter had called from England and left a message on our answering machine for me to call her as soon as possible. When I returned her call, she told me Carl was dead and had taken his own life. A great animal cry issued from somewhere deep within me, and the things I’d heard about people who committed suicide came flooding into my mind.

Then within me, almost instantly, I heard the words “He is enfolded in God’s love!” And I knew that Truth with a certainty that could not be shaken. I was able to go to England to be with my other children, make the arrangements, and conduct a memorial service for family and close friends. I was able to go through all the sadness of the experience and carry the heavy stone of my grief and loss while still remaining centered in that sure knowing of God’s love.

No matter what we may be experiencing, we can always choose where to put our attention or direct our consciousness – even in life’s most difficult challenges.

Remember, God is Blessing You Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

————————————————————
Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-nine years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend. You may also reproduce and publish this article if you also include this reference box. Thank you!

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at www.alanrowbotham.com
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