"Abide in my Word""

Dear Unity
"If you continue in my word you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free."
(John 8:31-33)
What are the words you are abiding in right now?
If we are practicing spiritual principles, we set our intention and our attention to looking for the good, as Saint Paul advises us in
(1 Thessalonians 5:18) "Give thanks in all circumstances."
When our four year old granddaughter Emily was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, I am reminded of what my beautiful daughter, Jill, said as she and her family walked through a year of doctors, weeklong stays at the hospital to have chemo treatments and then her daily trips to Boston for proton beam radiation treatments. She said "We will face this as a family. For now, this is what our family is doing."
Her intention and attention was focused on being with her family and living life fully. So, after treatments they treasured every moment by going to the museum or for a ride on a swan boat or ice cream treats. Jill created a lovly book, "Emily's Story,"which shows Emily's spirit beaming from her eyes.
And in the midst of this crisis, her family and her community and even people as far away as Australia were abiding in the idea, in the vision, in the word that the Spirit in Emily was healthy and whole, and she was receiving the best of the best medical and spiritual treatment possible. We were so thankful we lived in a time medical treatment is as advanced as it is today.
How then can we live when we are faced with seemingly impossible situations?
I invite you to take a lesson from Emily. She cried when she cried; she slept when she slept; she watched Nemo and other movies dozens of times; she played with her big brother and little sister when she could; she played doctor with her mom and her dad and her granddad and nana and grandma, and aunt, taking tumors out of all of our heads and each of her dolls.

In other words, she abided in life.

This April Emily turns six and her little sister, Amy, four. They plan to visit us here in Florida. And we will celebrate this little girl with her smiling eyes and beautiful curls.
I give thanks to you, my Emily.
I am grateful
Rev Janice

Dear Friends,

I had a wonderful conversation with a friend this morning; we were enjoying the taste of some freshly brewed coffee while listening to catch the meaning and emotion behind the words.

Communication is like driving down a two lane winding roadway. Our heart's first response is to wait and listen, knowing one cannot pass (speak) while the other is speaking and you must pace yourself by keeping behind the words.

Our minds first reaction is like that of a racehorse biting it's bit at the opening gate. It is as if the words in the story turned into a horn, and our mind takes off because we have run this course before.

How then can we engage the wisdom of our heart to listen and the wisdom of our mind to keep us detached from the story?

John Maxwell Taylor says in his book, "The Power of I Am" to practice Body Centered Spirituality. One way to remember yourself is to place your attention in your toes, feet, arms and legs and then move it upwards, centering behind the navel.. Then, if and when we do respond, the words travel up through your body and have a rich resonance.

This is also called "Listening Lowly," and allows the depth of the meaning to reveal itself at the very moment we taste the sweet underlying tones of the hazelnut in the coffee.

Communication moves from being a quick fix to tasting a full bodied, aromatic and delicious cup of communion.

With this Cup, I am
Rev Janice