Listening

To listen at the level of the Soul is a spiritual practice that scares many of us. Soul listening brings to us revelations that we don't want to hear, so we turn away.

Last week cruising the Western Caribbean I listened and took in the advice of Master teachers such as Yogi Amrit Desai (founder of Kripalu Yoga) and Michio Kushi (who brought Macrobiotics to the West). But the most inspiring people were those who sat on a recovery panel and shared their stories of returning to health through following the practices of a Macrobiotic or a Vegan diet.

Macrobiotics focuses on the vibrational energy of food, and it helps people reclaim the visceral energy connection between ourselves and the magical qualities that are innate in our food.

One woman on the panel shared her story of recovery with a friend whose daughter had been diagnosed. She created a basket full of information regarding the Macrobiotic diet but the friend refused to accept the basket and denied his daughter the opportunity to choose for herself.

What is it in us that stops us from listening or hearing?

I am reminded of Jesus who as he came near the city of Jerusalem wept over it, saying "if you had only recognized the things that make for peace..."

Cultural conditioning gets in the way of us slowing down and seeing eating as a spiritual practice. If we take this challenge and listen as we eat, we will feel the energy and wisdom of our bodies as they show us what foods balance our body/mind so we can live in harmony and peace as spiritual human beings.

Listen & Be Well,
Rev Janice

Let your Light Shine

"You are the Light of the World...let your light shine)
Many religious and spiritual traditions, self help, psychological and spiritual books, including the Bible, A Course in Miracles and many others all say words to the effect that we become lost when we identify with the roles in our life, for we lose our soul, which causes much suffering.

One way we know that we've forgotten our true Soul nature is when we take things literally or personally and our emotions surge causing in us a diminished or elevated sense of self or me which needs protecting or defending.

A friend shared with me that while at work, a gentleman came in and handed her a card which read something to the effect: "Repent and be saved." My friend said there would have been a time when this would have caused feelings of guilt or resentment to surface, but since she has been on the spiritual path and practicing the four agreements, one of them being, "Don't take anything personally," she noticed she became aware that she was able to take a breath and say to him, "Thank you,"

This is a beautiful story of regaining awareness, for awareness creates in us a spaciousness that ushers in a sense of dynamic serenity and freedom, allowing the beingness to rise up in human being;

Before the light of awareness dawns, we are strictly being human.

Let your Light Shine

"Be Impeccable with your word"

"Be Impeccable with your word."

One morning in Mrs. Thomas' third grade class, she asked the children to state what they wanted to be when they grew up. As they went around the room, each child responded to the question with answers such as: "I want to be a policeman, a fireman, an astronaut, a chef... until they came to Melissa who said, "I want to be possible." Mrs. Thomas asked Melissa to say again what she wished to be, and again she replied: "Possible, I want to be possible. My mother is always telling me 'I am impossible,' so when I grow up, I want to be Possible."

When we practice being impeccable with our word this spiritual practice plants seeds of encouragement, kindness, compassion, forgiveness and love.

Just what we all need to live in a world that is Possible.

"Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem...But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth... God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."

I had some meetings to attend yesterday up in Vero. I had arrived early and did some window shopping. I stepped into a kitchen shop, which was filled with unique pots, pans, aprons, dishes, grinders and a multitude of gadgets. I was not looking for anything, when my eye came upon a lemon colored lemon container that one can use to place cut lemons in, so as to keep them fresher longer. Now, I am a lemon user. I use lemon in many recipes, so this was a find, and it was only $4.50.

Spiritual author Paulo Coehlo says in order to see miracles, magic and mystery in life, upon awakening, before the mind steps in, take a moment and breath in, "I accept all the good the universe gives," and breath out, "I send peace, love and harmony into the universe." He says to do this ten times, as it will clear the mind of any unwelcome negative occupants lurking about.

This exercise prepares us to worship God in Spirit and Truth by allowing us to appreciate the beauty of life that is right in the midst of all the clanging pots and pans, the apron ties of the past, the grinding justifications that make us weary. With a clear mind and open heart, we are in harmony with life and God is revealed, turning every experience, every encounter, everything we see and find into a treasure that supports our spiritual growth.

Who knew that such joy and salvation can come in the form of a cute little lemon holder.
Yum,

Rev Janice

When I was a little girl, I spent many summer weeks at my nana and pop's home in Grimsby, England. Their home was a small townhouse type nestled in a circular grove. It had a small patch of land in back that flourished with roses and a wide variety of plants and flowers that my grandparents would nurture. If a plant's petals looked ill, my nana would snip off the tops and sing a love song to the elemental fairies calling them to come and nourish the root, inviting it to bloom. And it did.

So many of us do not know that we live in the midst of a Presence and Power that willingly rushes in to support us. Some call this the Spirit of Pachamama , Gaia, Mother Earth and that all we need do is tap into the stream and allow it to flood our being with love.

One of my favorite spiritual authors, Paulo Coehlo writes: "Miracles occur all around us, signs from God show us the way, angels plead to be heard, but we pay little attention to them because we have been taught that we must follow certain formulas and rules if we want to find God. We do not recognize that God is wherever we allow Him/Her to enter."

Miracles are about shifting our perception, perspective from the intellect and into our heart, and this takes Faith.

Our co-founder, Charles Fillmore said: "Faith is the perceiving power of the mind linked with the ability to shape substance."
Faith is having the wisdom to See with the eyes my nana had as she would snip off the decaying petals and sing in the elementals so health and beauty could blossom.

I invite you to enter into your inner garden and as you look about, if error thoughts surface, thoughts of lack, doubt, dismay, snip them off and sing into yourself a song of love.
You will bloom.
In love
Rev Janice

 

©2012 Unity of Fort Pierce | 3414 Sunrise Blvd, Fort Pierce, FL www.unityoffortpierce.com

The tax collectors came to Peter and asked: "Does your teacher pay the Temple tax?" Peter answered, "Yes he does." And when he came home Jesus asked him what he thought. Then Jesus instructed him, saying: "So we do not give offense, go to the sea and cast a hook; take the first fish that comes up and when you open its mouth you will find a coin; take that and give it to them." (Matthew 17:24)

Some explain this story by saying there are certain kinds of fish, Musht, that are six inches long and they swim near the bottom of the sea and sometimes swallow coins; others explain that some fish swim with their babies in their mouths so when you catch one you are actually catching two, kind of like a Publix buy one get one so we can give that one to the food bank.

But Jesus asks Peter what he thinks, so here is a tipoff this story is about consciousness. We live and move and have our being in God and in God we walk in the world of matter. Yes, we know all things pass, yet in the meantime we walk amidst cultural systems, organizations, institutions, schools, hospitals, roads, law enforcement - but wait I'm wandering too far afield...

In Consciousness lies a sea of unlimited ideas (fish). If my intention is to be creative, perhaps a writer or a musician, then I must take up the discipline of focusing and giving my heartfelt attention on writing or practicing every day, bringing this image into physical reality.

To live in the yin and yang of life is to live balanced in giving and receiving. To be guided by God is to accept life as it is; even when it is uncomfortable or inconvenient, even when it is raining.

The process is to listen, hear, and be willing to move (give and receive). We always stand at the seacoast yet some get tangled in the nets (beliefs) called unfairness; wanting things to be different.

To live from God consciousness is to give of our time, talent and treasure to our spiritual center, to self-care, to family, friends, strangers, society, willingly. To accept the world as it is, is to SEE through appearances and notice where am I in this process of Life, which is giving and receiving? Am I enjoying all the cycles of God, the growth, the sun, the rain, the wind? Am I grateful for the roads, the parks, the beaches, or am I rationalizing, struggling, and dismissing its relevance to me.

So, we are at the sea, let us cast our hooks knowing all of life is a two for one illusion as we shift from thinking we must humanly survive and enter into the Christ consciousness of Oneness, where we spiritually thrive.

"Gone Fishing"
Rev Janice

"State of Grace"

Dr Rachael Remen tells a story of how she became close with a six year old little boy who was the son of a friend of hers. The boy's father was an artist she knew from college and his mother a stay at home mom, who brought beauty into their home but they had little money.
The boy had two Hot Wheels cars that he would race around every window ledge in the home. Rachael said she had wanted to buy the boy the whole set of Hot Wheels but could not think of a way to do this without embarrassing her friend.
Then one of the major gas companies began a Hot Wheels giveaway. A Hot Wheels car with every fill-up. She made a list and asked everyone in her clinic to fill up at this type of gas station for the next month in order to collect each model. A month later she handed a box filled with the complete set of Hot Wheels to the boy. Hot Wheels' Volkswagens, Porsches and fire engines filled every window ledge but he no longer played with them. Puzzled, she asked him why. He looked at her and said:

"I don't know how to love this many cars."

Jesus, our way shower said:
"For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away."
I don't think Jesus was referring to toy cars or toy boats or any kind of toys, for that matter; He was referring to Consciousness - as we deepen our awareness of spirit through applying spiritual principles and practices to our lives, we become attuned to Spirit and our perceptions become more refined. Having a direct experience with life allows us to experience the pulsating, invisible realm of Spirit that lies beneath all appearances.

This Sunday is Mother's Day. Join us as we honor the many ways in which the feminine qualities of caring, nurturing and love express themselves in all life.

Meister Eckhart, a Christian metaphysician said:

"If you do nothing, truly nothing, God cannot help but come into you. If you leave, God can enter."

We call ourselves in Unity the path of positive practical Christianity, practical spirituality. How then does the above quote by the Meister make any practical sense?

When I was a young mother with two small children, I used to read the latest child care theories. I also drew on the experience of my childhood, doing what I considered to be good parenting and promising I would not do what I thought unskillful.

One day when my son was grown, he gave me a Mother's Day card which read "I know you wished you had found Unity when we were young, but I want you to know I could not love you more."

What I've come to realize is when we put down the theories, leave the past, dismantle our structures of how things should look, we leave the ego, the sense of a personal "me" and what we discover is God/Love rushes in and moves us to care, nurture, and love.

Happy Easter,
Rev Janice

"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

"ASH WEDNESDAY"

From ancient Egypt comes the story of Anup, who lived in the dark and empty reaches of the earth. We are told his voice rang out, " I am the preparer of the way of the other world. I am the power making straight the paths to the upper realms of heaven." We see this divine mystery play out years later, only the role is played by John the Baptist in (Matthew 3:3) and his lines were: " Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven has come near...Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight."

Here is the Esoteric key to understanding Ash Wednesday.

You are an eternal spiritual being , the beloved expression of the One life. You are unconditional love and you are loved unconditionally. You know this and have sensed the allness of God, as Eric Butterworth says, lives in you, as you.
And then one Friday afternoon, along with your check you are handed a pick slip, saying "your services are no longer required." You may go through your drill "I have faith that God is in charge." But there is that "practical" part of you that says "Look at my age, no one wants to hire me." And there we are on our knees before the God of lack, running off with the gods of negative energy saying "I am afraid, worried, at the end of my rope."

The problems and appearances seem solid and real. This is not to minimize the challenges we face but is to maximize the power of the principle.

Today let us cast ourselves in the role as Anup/John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Christ; Let our voices call out in the wilderness, "Repent, I am the preparer of the way of the other world." In other words, "I am willing to shift, reframe and refocus, my attention on my intention to co-create something that makes my heart sing out Yes."

Ash Wednesday is for you to use esoterically, and realize this Divine Mystery plays out in us. Take this Ancient Wisdom that came into the world along with humanity to help us lift our eyes up from the physical, animal, horizontal plane, and as our Co-founder Charles Fillmore did, "call into manifestation our world according to thy perfect law."
You get my drift. Come inside, but before you enter, wipe the dust from your feet.

Happy Ash
Rev Janice

"Mindsets"

My dad was a master builder and in England he was considered an architect; His style followed the Modernist expression and he would say that form was only beautiful if it was functional and ornamentation hid poor workmanship. This mindset expressed itself in streamlined and functional designs of homes and furniture he built with integrity and no frivolity.

My mom, on the other hand came from parents whose shop, Gurnhill's nestled on a corner in downtown Grimsbey baked and sold cakes and tarts, pies and puddings piled high on excessively decorated tables surrounded by displays of silks, wools, beads and baskets filled with ornamental ribbons, buttons and bows. She loved texture, gems, frills, fragrance and flowers.

These two cultural mindsets sometimes collided over the purpose of giving birthday or Valentine's gifts, cards and flowers. But through the neutralizing and harmonizing aspects of love, mindsets learn to honor and create a third more eclectic one. Perhaps this is the meaning behind the story of Jesus healing the blind man.

As Jesus walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus replied "Neither this man nor his parents, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me. As long as I am in the world I am the light of the world" And the Teacher healed him.

The way we live is an act of worship. We heal our hearts and souls as our mind turns away from believing there is only one right way to worship and sets on SEEing and experiencing the unconditional love that emerges when praying in monk-like austere fashion to celebrating elaborate, ornate and carefully crafted rituals, to crafting an article, rocking a baby or watering flowers.

We heal our blindness by being still and know "I am God."

Be well,
Rev Janice

"War of the Gods"

As I drove back from breakfast with a friend, I saw a marquee on a Pawn Shop that read "The gift of jewelry = Love." What surfaced for me was the paradox life holds that one of us was faced with having to "pawn" something while another one of us could purchase a treasure and give it to a loved one.

Paradox plays out everywhere in life. We must develop within ourselves the capacity to be present with sadness while at the same time rejoice with another.
If we cannot hold the paradox of life in our heart, our head thinks we must shoulder the responsibility and make it 'right' for all, condemning us to the fate of the Greek God Atlas.

In the story, the Titans and Olympians were at war over control of the world. Atlas, the leader of the Titans, along with his brother Menoetius fought against the Olympians, led by his father Zeus and his other two brothers, Prometheus and Epimetheus.

In other words, this was the "original" family feud

The Olympians won and Zeus condemned Atlas to holding up Uranus (the sky). This feeling of needing to shoulder responsibility is universal, as the photo above shows a statue of a Greco-Buddhist Atlas. Our Atlas qualities surface when our heart is not content for our mind is hovering over a hurt.

The key to releasing ourselves from "holding up the sky" lies in understanding God does not take sides; God loves as the sun shines and the earth renews in its season.

We bring peace to the Titans and Olympians within us, as we are able to hold the entire world in our hearts, the sadness and the joy, for we understand Love is not in the jewelry, the home, the job, the relationship itself, Love, Life, God is experienced in between the giving, the receiving and the letting go.

Put down the sky, and receive a spiritual Valentine; a realization that Centered in God, all is well with the world and the Gods.

Happy Valentine's Day
Rev Janice

"Sunrise "

I love to walk the beach in the morning and watch the sun rise turn the sky from dark to dawn to the clear break of day. Feeling the waves splash against your legs and the sand beneath your feet slip from under you, calms us like a lullaby, creating in us a sense of wellbeing. This renewing experience is not only found at the beach; it is found everywhere.

Everywhere, as Mark Nepo says, in "The Book of Awakening," that we allow ourselves to live slowly.

When I was recovering from a car accident, I was forced to live slowly. Yet what I recall most was the appreciation I had for being alive. I recall the kindness of friends, family and strangers who supported me in every way imaginable. Not only did front row parking spaces show up when snow covered the ground and elevator doors open as I approached, I noticed that in living slowly I stepped into endless moments of Seeing and Tasting the miracles of life.

As Thich Nhat Hanh says: "The miracle is not to walk on water, the miracle is to walk on the green earth dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling deeply alive."

Living slowly allows us to see that we, as creative "Godlings" have come to breathe in the morning, noon and eventide air while we play in the sand; Our breath anchors us, allowing us to birth from the ocean of Being the song, the recipe, the report, the birdhouse, the blueprint.

Every moment we stand at the shoreline of Being. Can you feel the life force pulsing? Your attention, like the sun rises, and the fog lifts. Before you appears an idea, an image, a note.
Shape it, mold it; play it, appreciate it and release it.

Like the sand as it slips from under us, another miracle has come to pass into and through you to bless our world.

I Am
Rev Janice

"I Am, God Is, and all I Am Is God"

What do you think about life? How do you view the world? Is the world a good place or bad? These are some of the topics we look at Wednesdays at 7 pm in our How to Speak Unity class, by Rev Temple Hays.

The intention of this class is to invite you to notice how your thinking gives rise to your worldview and that there is a paradoxical way to view the world, and that is from a perspective of Oneness based on Unity Principles.

Oneness/Non-duality/Interconnectedness/ interdependence of everything that exists is the way the scientific community is beginning to understand material reality. Most of us are still grappling with this Revolutionary revelation.

In Bonita Springs, a friend of mine shared a mystical experience he had while laying on the beach. He said as he relaxed, the boundaries of his mind opened and for a few seconds he glimpsed that he was part of everything, the sand, the gulls, the waves, the sun. He said he felt free, supported, surrounded and in-filled with a sense of love.

Intuitively we know we are interconnected. As I stay with this heartfelt awareness I not only hear but I can feel the hoot of an owl, for the heart lifts the veil of separation, even though it makes no logical sense.

Enter into the silence; notice and feel the biological, the psycho-spiritual processes that underlies your material form. Notice you are not all those processes and rise up into the "I AM" (the light of your soul) taking these words from the Gospel of John:
"In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God... All things came into being through him...

Realize in an awareness of Oneness, discrimination, exploitation, and abuse dissolves for we would never consciously deliberately hurt ourselves.

I Am
Rev Janice

"Discover the Power within you"

In our Burning Bowl ceremony we released the past year and any lingering limitations, and in our White Stone Ceremony we set our intention to call forth the qualities that we want to cultivate and express in 2012.

In the Bible, when a person receives a new name it is saying they received a new consciousness. The names (qualities) each of you chose to cultivate this year showed the depth of our spiritual community.

Our theme for 2012 is: "Discover the Power within you."

One of the ways we can unleash this power is to cultivate the art of being kind to ourselves, even when we don't feel kind.
Thoughts, moods, emotions arise in our consciousness, we cannot control this.
How then can we bring kindness to ourselves when we feel like we are burning up inside with hurt, restlessness, or anger?
Pema Chodren sees these emotions as opportunities to practice self-kindness. She says that criticizing yourself for how you are feeling is like criticizing the sky for having clouds. Minds think and emotions arise. The practice is to ask What now?

Attending Unity or engaging in Life coaching is about being more conscious with the energy of your life. Create a relationship with your life energy and as you do, you notice that thoughts, feelings, moods, emotions are all energy and they have their own tone;

Instead of trying to get rid of these feelings, acknowledge them and yourself for having the courage to look at them, and to see them as opportunities to become free from excessive suffering by shifting your attention onto something more interesting, like your life's intentions.

This year, I invite you to release old structures by cultivating a relationship with your life energy. Everything is impermanent; energy arises, the energy of provocation, irritation, feelings of inadequacy, yet energy doesn't stay frozen. What keeps it frozen is the story line that spirals into self criticism.

Unity is a Spiritual Center that heals with unconditional love. The best way to start this process is to enter into an unconditional friendship with yourself.

Discover the power within you, in 2012.
Rev Janice

"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