"Lift your Eyes Up and SEE"

The Holidays can be a lovely yet also stressful time for many. The excitement of gifts and extended visits with family, putting together new toys, bikes or kitchen island carts, which Dave built this past week, can cause stomachs, hearts and heads to churn.

Being willing to face and work through the challenges presented when our routines and experiences are changed, invites us to keep our eye focused on the desired results while keeping our attention in an observation mode of noticing and allowing the thoughts and emotions to pass.

Like the story found in (Matthew 14:25-30) when Peter asks to join Jesus walking on water but, having got out of the boat and feeling the great power of the wind and waves began to sink, crying out in fear, "Lord, save me!
Esoterically, this passage is about the power of the Christ within each of us to still the strong, restless power of the elements in our lower animal nature, symbolized by the wild and rolling sea.

Keeping our eye and intention lifted onto the horizon we are not detered by the warning "assembly required," and we are able to complete the bike, finish the dollhouse, or assemble the kitchen island with grace.

And afterwards perhaps go out with family and friends for a fish dinner.
Amen, it is done!
Rev Janice

"Lift your Eyes Up and SEE"

A few years ago Dave and I went snorkeling at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park located in Key Largo in the Florida Keys. This is a beautiful underwater playground where you go out on a two and half hour snorkeling tour and play in the warm waters among the coral reefs.

In the midst of the waters you come upon a statue of Jesus. His head and his hands are reaching upwards and fish swim around and through his outstreached arms. After about an hour and a half of snorkeling, the captain sounded the horn signaling us to return to the boat.

As I reached the boat's ladder and brought myself up and onto the deck of the boat, suddenly I felt dizzy and my stomach was turning summersaults. The first mate told me this was a common experience for a lot of people, and he gave me a bottle of water and told me to tilt my head up and keep my eyes looking up and onto the horizon, above the water until the feeling passed.

This was indeed the antidote as the queasiness passed away.

There is a spiritual Principle here: To lift the focus of our attention above any situation or concern, to lift it upward, Godward, onto the horizon and give thanks.
Jesus always lifted up his eyes and gave thanks; he lifted up his hands and gave thanks, he lifted up others and gave thanks; he lifted up little children and gave thanks.

When we lift our eyes onto the horizon, the queasiness passes, as the fear lifts. What emerges is a sense of Faith, a sense of gratitude, a sense of peace and love as we realize: We Are an integral part of something much Bigger, grander, glorious, we are the twinkling, blinking, colorful expressions of Christmas Light.

Shine On!
Rev Janice

"Many Decorations, One Message"

Coming back from a breakfast meeting this morning, I was driving down Bayshore, which seems to have the most "blow up" Christmas decorations of Santa, reindeers, and snowmen. Of course, being the daytime they were collapsed into piles on the lawns.  Our subdivision also seems to have many blow up Christmas decorations including bears and the polar express train. There are very few "traditional" decorations of Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus in a manager.

A friend sent me a link to a youtube song, called "Where's the line to see Jesus." It's a nice song actually, yet it brings up for me, anyway, a tinge of expectation that one needs to worship a person called Jesus in a certain way. And I am sure that many of us have seen the bumper stickers that say: "Keep Christ in Christmas."

Now, I love the nativity story; and when viewed spiritually, I can see how Mary, Joseph and Jesus lives in us. For fun, let us see how Santa, the reindeer and snowmen also live in us.

Santa is our heart's generous desire to give and receive gifts, eat cookies and drink hot chocolate; reindeer are our strong and fast luxury vehicles that can move us above congested traffic with one upward kick off; and snowmen, well, to me, they are about relationships. Their button noses and eyes made out of coal sure make me remember being dressed in layers of leggings and scarves, hats and gloves, rolling the snow, with the help of my friends, into as big a ball as we could manage to lift.

Decorations, whether they be traditional or contemporary; whether balloon type blow ups or made from plastic, whether they have a religious or secular theme, really all have one message in common to share.....

"Be of good cheer"
Peace
Rev Janice

Thanksgiving

"Be a Parade of Thanksgiving"

Dear Unity,
One Thanksgiving Day, long ago, when I was eight, I was part of a baton twirling majorette group that included many of my closest friends. We were invited to walk and twirl our batons in the Thanksgiving Day Parade. We were so excited and thought it was the best thing in the world!
Now the parade was not the Macy's Parade in New York nor the Hudson's Parade in Detroit; No, this was a local community parade put on by area Service Clubs and held in beautiful downtown Mt. Clemens.
Bands from local high schools, Chappawa Valley, Clintondale, Lans'Cruse walked in front of the floats made by the high schools and Service Clubs and the reigning school kings and queens rode in the backs of convertibles.
Clowns walked the streets while making balloon animals and trucks followed them filled with local politicians and their families waving and throwing candy as they went past.
Then near the very end of the parade just in front of Santa being pulled on a tractor and wagon was us; a group of aspiring majorettes, twelve eight year olds dressed in short blue dresses with white fur trim, white tights, white boots, hats and gloves, all freezing.
We tried valiantly to twirl our batons as the wind whipped our faces turning our noses red and tearing through our not warm enough uniforms. But we did not care about the cold, for all along the route our attention was captured by cheers and waves from our families and many from the community who lined the two blocks wrapped in warm coats and blankets.
The whole parade lasted about three hours but the memory of this parade continues to live on in me.
This Thanksgiving remember everywhere we go and everyone we interact with, we are creating in them childhood memories. May you help to create memories filled with gratitude for family, friends, community and the unlimited possibilities that compassion, love and attention nurture in children of every age everywhere.
God Bless and Happy Thanksgiving
Rev Janice

Thanksgiving

"Be a Parade of Thanksgiving"

Dear Unity,
One Thanksgiving Day, long ago, when I was eight, I was part of a baton twirling majorette group that included many of my closest friends. We were invited to walk and twirl our batons in the Thanksgiving Day Parade. We were so excited and thought it was the best thing in the world!
Now the parade was not the Macy's Parade in New York nor the Hudson's Parade in Detroit; No, this was a local community parade put on by area Service Clubs and held in beautiful downtown Mt. Clemens.
Bands from local high schools, Chappawa Valley, Clintondale, Lans'Cruse walked in front of the floats made by the high schools and Service Clubs and the reigning school kings and queens rode in the backs of convertibles.
Clowns walked the streets while making balloon animals and trucks followed them filled with local politicians and their families waving and throwing candy as they went past.
Then near the very end of the parade just in front of Santa being pulled on a tractor and wagon was us; a group of aspiring majorettes, twelve eight year olds dressed in short blue dresses with white fur trim, white tights, white boots, hats and gloves, all freezing.
We tried valiantly to twirl our batons as the wind whipped our faces turning our noses red and tearing through our not warm enough uniforms. But we did not care about the cold, for all along the route our attention was captured by cheers and waves from our families and many from the community who lined the two blocks wrapped in warm coats and blankets.
The whole parade lasted about three hours but the memory of this parade continues to live on in me.
This Thanksgiving remember everywhere we go and everyone we interact with, we are creating in them childhood memories. May you help to create memories filled with gratitude for family, friends, community and the unlimited possibilities that compassion, love and attention nurture in children of every age everywhere.
God Bless and Happy Thanksgiving
Rev Janice

Lessons of a swan

There is a graceful black swan that lives in our subdivision. She glides up and down the stream that runs behind our house.

She often hangs out with a family of ducks, who have clearly adoped her. She is well fed by the stream and also the neighbors who come out from their homes to visit with her and throw her bread.

I have heard, and conventional wisdom says:
"It is not good to feed wildlife," And I have read many signs saying "Don't feed the wildlife."

The reason, I have been told is because it makes the wildlife depend on humans for food and they need to care for and find food for themselves.
Now if this were an alligator, I would have no problem following that advice.

But as she glides along, she is beautiful, regal. She honks when she sees you, as if to say "hello." Her tail feathers waggle as she dives her head into the water for the crumbs that fall around her; and if a fish or turtle grabs the crumb first, you hear her hiss.

But when the last morsel has been swallowed, she glides away, without looking back.

Maybe she is teaching us a Swan Lesson:

Yes, we need to learn the lifeskills to care for ourselves
Yes, we need to accept gifts from one another
Yes, when it is time to leave, we need not look back, but carry the grace of this swan with us in our heart.

Blessings,

Whole Foods

I remember growing up and my mom insisting I eat my vegetables.  Those brussel sproutes could sit on that plate for hours, I wasn't gonna eat them, or I'd be happy to help ship them to Ethiopia or wherever they needed to go. 

Today we are much more aware of the nutritional value and benefits of eating in a more healthy way.  Staying away from fast foods, processed foods and loading up on fruits, vegetables, whole grains.  You can feel the difference in eating fresh veggies.  After a while your taste buds come alive and eating an organic tomato reminds us of childhood and what tomatoes used to taste like.

We are what we eat, and whole and fresh foods are a better grade of fuel, but  to take that deeper, you can eat as many whole foods and grains as you like but if you have deep seated anger, resentment  or are holding erroneous beliefs, those thoughts will eat you up. 

That is why the best whole food we can eat is the manna from heaven,  which is to get in touch with our higher self or God self every day.   It's not enough to eat healthy and then hold thoughts that we are less than;  You don't have to go anywhere or do anything to "get" wholeness -  it is under all the getting  and doing. 

We feel whole when we let go of any pretense, any mask, any trying and just read a story to a child; when we just play with our dog;  when we just water the flowers.  Life is in the "Just" doing something for the simple pleasure of doing it.  When we "just" do it, wholeness surfaces like a friend who never left.   

Chickens

Growing up, my best friend, Debbie's grandparents lived on a farm in Michigan.  During the summer, they would visit them, and I occassionally went also.  To my eight year old eyes they lived and worked a big farm.  It had a large vegetable garden, dozens of cats, dairy cows, pigs, dogs and chickens. 

Her grandfather, wore the blue denim uniform of a farmer and seemed to be endlessly working on a tractor.  Her grandmother was small and round and  seemed to spend her time going between the clothes line, baking, cooking and canning.  There always seemed to be a pie cooling on the window ledge, while she also stopped everything to take care of the cars that honked when they wanted service at her outside fruit and vegetable stand.

One morning, she gave us a basket and shooed us out of the kitchen, telling us to go to the chicken coop and bring back some eggs. Her grandpa told us to be quick about it though as those chickens were just plain nasty.  Excited and dizzy from the heady smells of the barn and the chicken coop in back we had the idea that one of us was to distract the chickens while the other snatched up the eggs.  Yes, they squacked and pecked, but I thought it really was because they were trying to protect their young.

Recently I read an article in Mark Nepo's book Finding Inner Courage, that chickens peck at each other when they don't get enough light.  For many years farmers thought that it was the "nature of chickens" to be nasty, as they were loners and couldn't mingle.  Come to find out, they are nasty when they are cooped up in small spaces and live without much light.

I think our nature is similar.  If we don't allow ourselves time to bathe in the light of love and to refresh ourselves with good food, sunshine, open air, exercise, and building relationships with one another, we start to peck; first at ourselves and then at each other. 
Blessings, Rev Janice

Fifteen Minutes

When I was a child travelling any distance, about an hour into the drive, I would ask the quasi whiny question, "How much longerrrr."   Likewise, when my children were young, they too became resteless  and board in the car and would ask:  "how much longerr?"  The answer was always the same, "just another fifteen minutes."  Then we would play another round of eye spy (this was before the i-pod, i-pad, and entertainment systems in cars).

 But what I didn't realize until later is that that this is a powerful Truth Principle. 

I've been using this fifteen minute tool when those inner thought people chirp "you don't know how to do this," or  "why bother, no one will like it."  and it puts me in the attitude of "nevertheless" I am willing.   I mean, it really helps us if we think we're only going to put fifteen minutes of our time into a project.  

What I've discovered though, is in those fifteen minutes I become engaged in the creative aspect of the job or chore and time is lost to me.  A sense of accomplishment and gratitude for doing this job replaces the whiny anticipatory woe.  

What I've discovered is: working in fifteen minute increments keeps me present to what I am doing, and I find I have so much more energy.  It's worrying about the future or regretting the past is what drains our energy.  Oprah spoke of this fifteen minute idea on on her last program on Wednesday.  She said something like there's nothing you can't endure for fifteen minutes. 

So we have taken the answer to the question "How much longer" and made it into a tool for successful living. "Fifteen minutes."  Fifteen minutes is all you need to do what you need to do to get done what you need to do.    
 Pick one thing and do that, for fifteen minutes, and I promise you will experience timelessness and that feels so good.
   

Devotion

What would it be like if you knew that gratitude, peace and serenity are not just for a chosen few who seem to have their lives all together, but that these qualities are available for everyone to experience!  And, what would you think if restlessness, anxiety or divine discontent are normal symptoms showing that you have tapped into an idea and the aggitation is the idea looking for an open and willing outlet.

There are tools we can use when we notice our thoughts are swinging back and forth from the branch of doubt to fear that will lift us into a spacousness of creative possibility.

Tending our inner garden clears away the debris that is strewn about inside us, so we can have an unconditined and direct experience with life.  Devotional chanting is one tool we can use to keep our energy field clear.  Chanting shifts our attention away from any limiting conversations, and into a communion with life/God/Spirit/Universal Love.  Connected with Source, we cultivate the courage to take the steps necessary to move forward with our dreams.
 
This Sunday, Unity of Fort Pierce will host Swami Ashram who will lead us in a devotional experience of  Lila-Kirtan.   Kirtan is an interactive  mantra meditation session, where we chant the many names of the Divine to musical accompaniment which fills us with a sense of ecstascy.

Join us and learn this tool of Self cultivation
   

Right where I Am, I Pray

When I was in Fort Myers, my friend, Dea, who has since passed, gave me a gift of a little plaque that reads, "prayer changes things."  Many people have a misunderstanding of prayer and believe that prayer changes our external reality, and so they pray for things exterally.  They pray for jobs, healing, relationships.  Then they look around and say, "where is it?" I'm praying, I'm asking and I'm still without the job, the healing, or the relationship. 

We look to scripture, and Jesus tells us "if you have faith and do not doubt...it will be done.  Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive."  (Matthew 21:21). 
Receive when?  Receive how?  Receive where? 

This passage is sharing with us a process.  There is One light, One life, One presence, One power and that is right where we are, right here, right now.  And so we turn within and commune.  We feel a sense of our true spiritual nature building and then we ask what is ours to do in preparing ourselves to receive creative work?  We ask how can I contribute to a healthy lifestyle?   We ask am I being the kind of person that I would like to meet? 

Praying for things, as Joel Goldsmith says, is praying amiss.  For it's practicing the absesnce of God.  Prayer, indeed changes things, because it clears the lens through which we are looking.
Right here, right now, right where I am, I pray!
Blessings, Rev Janice

Are you Listening?

I quit smoking about 30 years ago.  It was one of the most difficult and rewarding experiences of my life.  I thought: "if I can quit smoking, I can do anything."  I went to a support group called Smoke Enders, which put us through a process of noticing and changing our habitual patterns. 

One evening, the people went around sharing the reasons why it would be so difficult to quit.  One man said he would be able to quit if his job wasn't so stressful.  A teen said: "School was really challenging with all the papers," and a woman said: "If I had a job outside of the home and could get some help with from her husband, with the house and taking the kids everywhere it would be easier to quit."

The common theme that runs through these stories is they were listening to their monkey mind.  That part of the mind that swings from doubt to fear and wants to keep you in limitation, addicted to smoking, to drinking, to gambling, to anything that will distract you from listening to your Higher Self. 

Another name for the Higher Self is your Soul, which always wispers, I am with you,  you can do this, you are amazing, I love you.  Are you Listening?