Albert Einstein brilliant physicist and philosophical scientist stated that the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Here are some very real experiences of participating in behaviors that you know do not serve your greatest highest good, but you do them anyway:

• Eating food that saps your energy and causes major distress in your body.
• Spending money that you don’t have.
• Participating in gossip because it’s familiar.
• Having the same argument with loved ones.
• Procrastinating or failing to complete something.

Participating in behaviors that lead to disempowerment can leave you feeling exhausted, discouraged, and even hopeless. Have you participated in an “insanity loop” of your own? If you have, you’re in good company. In Romans 7:15 Saint Paul wrote, “I don’t understand myself. I want to do what is right but I do not do it. Instead, I do the very thing I hate … It seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what’s right, I inevitably do what’s wrong.”

Charles Fillmore, co-founder of Unity, reminded us of the importance of self-knowledge and that our most important study was observation of our own consciousness to uncover hidden motives that influence our thinking and behaviors. Exploring the following questions can help you claim Dominion and end an insanity loop.

• What is the pay-off and is it worth it?
• What does my heart truly long for?
• Am I motivated by fear or love?

First, ask yourself what pay-off do I receive by participating in this behavior? Could it be the pleasure or thrill of instant gratification? We live in a world of instant gratification and frequently when we are hungry, lonely, tired, or frustrated the tendency is great for us to look for something we believe will give us a quick fix. Therefore, many turn to substances or behaviors that can give them a “temporary ”high”. Additionally, a payoff could be postponement of doing something you deem unpleasant, so you reach for or participate in something “more pleasant”. For example, sitting in the silence in an effort to transcend loneliness can seem daunting, and so you choose to reach for a few glasses of wine or busy yourself with mindless activities instead of facing feelings of sadness and unworthiness. If you are one who procrastinates, ask yourself, “ Is my free and mindless time more important to me than taking action in order to get my dreams off the ground?” Ultimately, the gratifying feelings of a chosen quick fix will subside only to elicit deeper pangs of unhappiness.

Another area to explore is to uncover what your heart truly desires. Often individuals who desire financial security, love, and/or joy in their lives reach for external substitutes to fill the perceived void they are experiencing. Ponder,
“How might I bring joy or love into my world and into the lives of others, and what is one small step I can take to make that happen today?” Reflection on whether your choices are fueled by fear or love is another important contemplation. Are your desires to participate in nourishing your body with healthy foods and movement conceptualized as “should s” because it is the right thing to do or a means to thwart aging and getting ill? Or, do you desire to participate in empowering practices because you love yourself and are devoted to nurturing your body, mind, and soul with acts of loving-kindness? When the motivation comes from loving you an activity moves from dread to pleasure.

So, my friends, as the season of Lent, a time of reflection and elimination of what no longer serves you, comes to a close, what are you willing to release? Free yourself from an “insanity loop” and rise in all of your glory to claim your Power and you will be resurrected to new life.

Ring out the old, ring in the new. Ring, happy bells, across the snow; The year is going, let it go; Ring out the false, ring in the true. These words written by Alfred Lord Tennyson reflect the practice of releasing the woes and challenges of the passing year while welcoming the promise of new beginnings. As you usher in the start of a new year, it is customary to vow to refrain from participating in self-defeating ways of thinking and being and to initiate a shift in consciousness that would lead to the experience of greater vitality, health, wealth, harmony, love, and joy.
Making New Year resolutions and setting intentions are practices that elicit excitement and hope. According to researcher John Norcross, the feelings of possibility and excitement within many, and the promises made by individuals to keep resolutions are strong the first few weeks of the new year. However, by February the level of motivation and commitment begins to wane. Additionally, his work and the studies of others show that only 8% of the people experience the fulfillment of intentions set. Are you part of the 92% who fail to see the manifestation of your aspirations? If so, have you ever pondered how you can be more successful in realizing your dreams?
If you are truly serious about bringing your intentions into expression you must apprehend that the penning of intentions is only the first step in the creative process. Setting intentions are the seeds of Divine Ideas. Like seeds you plant in the earth, you must tend to them regularly with great care in order for them to bloom and thrive. Other nutrients that will allow the desires of your heart to sprout are affirmative prayer and the conscious activation of your Spiritual Powers of Faith, Imagination, Elimination, Life, Will, and Order.
Faith is synonymous with belief. You must ask yourself the following: “Do I have an unwavering belief that I Am worthy of that which I desire?… Do I know with my whole heart and soul that I am a Divine Being who has the ability to draw forth from the Invisible Absolute Realm my Good?” If you answered no to one or both of these questions your soil is arid and will not support the germination of the seeds of your intentions. If you doubt your worthiness and co-creative abilities, through the Power of Elimination you can disengage your energy from self-limiting beliefs and through the practice of affirmative prayer you can passionately declare your Divinity and claim your Good.
Water helps to transport nutrients from the soil throughout the seedling and helps it to stand tall. Like water, the Power of Imagination is a carrier of needed nutrients. It becomes the vibrational conveyor of what we zealously intend in image form. Daily devotion to visualization sends passionately charged radio waves to the invisible, energetic Substance of the Universe and singles it to produce after its kind. Not only must you visualize your intentions in manifest form, but you must be willing to give the nutrient of Life to your visions. Life is given to your desires by taking action to animate your intentions. You further vitalize your seedling by embodying the attitude and behaviors as if you were living the Truth of your intentions.
Seedlings in fresh bloom are susceptible to the unpredictable weather patterns of Mother Earth. Likewise, along our journey, we often experience unexpected challenges, and we must call forth our Powers of Will, our determination, and Order, our flexibility, to stay the course and adapt to the day to day changes that occur in our lives long after the first of the year passes.
Finally, you would not expect a newly planted seed to grow into full bloom in a couple of weeks or even months, yet many naively believe that the sole practice of writing or speaking an intention passionately for a few days or weeks will produce their heart’s desire like magic. As you set your intentions for 2018, may you be willing to cultivate them with the needed nutrients and only then will you come to realize the desires of your heart.

Daylights Savings Time ends on November 5, 2017, at 2:00 AM when we “fall back” by setting our clocks back one hour. Although many enjoy an “extra” hour of sleep this weekend, many feel a bit of melancholy as the sun sets earlier and nightfall appears to shorten our day. During this time of the year, we begin to prepare to bring light into our experience as we enter the seasons of gratitude and advent. During the Thanksgiving holiday, we are invited to practice acts of gratitude as we call forth from within the light of appreciation. In preparation for Christmas, the illuminating awakening of the birth of the Christ within, we are beckoned to animate the lights of faith, peace, love, and joy.

In 1990, President George H.W. Bush approved a joint resolution to designate November to be National Native American Heritage Month. Thanksgiving is a popular and cherished holiday in the United States. However, to Native Americans it is a day of mourning. Thanksgiving is a day when Native Americans hold in hallowed remembrance their ancestors who perished in a genocide and lament over the oppression of native people that began when European settlers colonized North America. During the month of November, many Native Americans vow to leave to posterity their sacred customs and traditions. In the following passage, White Feather, a native American Navajo, shares eloquently what is venerated:

“We believe everything is sacred from the largest mountain to the smallest plant and animal. A lesson can be found in all things and experiences and everything has a purpose. To sum up Native Spirituality; it is about honor, love, and respect. Not only do we love, honor, and respect our Creator and our Mother Earth, but also every living thing. It is about being in touch with ourselves and everything around us. It is about knowing and understanding that we are part of everything, and everything is a part of us. We are all One. We also believe that our Elders hold the answers. Our Elders keep our culture alive. We have much to learn from our Elders, and they deserve and receive our utmost respect.”

We the people of this great land can join our Native American brothers and sisters in holding with devoted reverence the natural world and the sacred worth of all sentient beings. There are many ways you can enshrine the light of appreciation by caring for our planet, embracing diversity in others, and honoring our elders and our ancestors.

Cloaked in the energy of appreciation, may you welcome the month of December and the practice of embodying the lights of advent. Each week of advent is symbolized by a Divine quality. During the first week, boldly examine where you are placing your Faith and set the intention to be led by the voice of Divine Wisdom within. Peace, is the luminous focus of the second week. Take time each day to find inner stillness that comes when you release the busyness of the world and rest in the breath of the Divine. In a place of quietude, ask how may I be the living prayer of peace? Entering the third week of advent, you are called to walk in the light of the harmonizing power of love. What may need harmonizing in your life? Dare to listen to your Authentic Self and take the necessary actions that will empower you to be the unifying presence of love. During the last week of advent, may you ignite the candle of joy within your soul. When you remember what you truly are, the light of the world, joy will naturally arise as your heart becomes filled with zeal as you spring forth with enthusiasm spreading good cheer and joy.

As we embrace the coming of cold, crisp air, earlier sunsets, and the history of our nation, let us rise as emissaries of light. Let us stand on the shoulders of our Native American ancestors and hold sacred the natural world, may we sanctify all life with reverence, and may we boldly be the light of faith, peace, love, and joy.

“I am in a state of despair, hurt, anger and disbelief that we are at this point in America — again”, remarked Myrlie Evers a Civil Rights Leader, on August 18th while being interviewed by a reporter after Heather Heyer, was plowed down and killed by a neo-Nazi white, supremacist who drove his car into KKK and neo-Nazi counter protesters. This tragedy is all too familiar to Evers. In 1963, her husband was cold bloodily shot and killed in the driveway of their home by a white supremacist. She continued to share her incredulity over the vehement intolerance that still exists in our nation.

As I watched footage of the KKK and neo-Nazi gang members marching in the streets of Charlottesville with torches shouting, “Jews will not replace us”, I was filled with gut wrenching trepidation. I was chilled to the bone while I watched white supremacists violently push, trample and mace throngs of people who gathered to stand against their prejudice and hostility as they chanted, “ No Nazis…No KKK!”. Immediately after the events of Charlottesville, groups across the nation organized to take a stand against racism and hatred. I received several notifications from local groups who were organizing marches and rallies for citizens to take a stand against hatred, bigotry, and racism. As I read these emails, I felt uneasy. I understand and profess how important it is to be an active and engaged citizen and to not blindly be a bystander as injustice and harm are inflicted on my brother and sisters. However, the universal law of cause and effect reminds me that what I resist persists. Additionally, Martin Luther King Jr. masterfully taught us, “Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. I am not unmindful of the fact that violence often brings about momentary results. Nations have frequently won their independence in battle. But in spite of temporary victories, violence never brings permanent peace.” Let us be aware that violence is not only the act of physically attacking someone but occurs when we, judge, criticize and condemn others.

Additionally, when we take a stand against something the vibratory energy we send out in our words and actions is one of fighting and warring. In a “stance of against” we take on the very energy of that which we do not want.

So, how can we the people embody our Divine Nature to bring about harmony, equality, and peace to our nation and the world? I turn to the Master Teachers, Jesus the Christ, Charles Fillmore, and Mother Theresa. In Mark 4:39 while out at sea on a stormy night, “Jesus woke up rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm.” In this precept, Jesus teaches us the importance of embodying our Power of Dominion. During stormy times, we can easily be overcome with fear and our emotions can elicit within us a flight, fright, or freeze reactive response, instead of a Spiritually, conscious and empowered stance. In stormy situations, it is important to be self-aware and to become still by taking several deep breaths and dropping to your heart as you speak words of Truth and Power, such as, “ Peace Be Still and know I Am centered in Dominion, Strength, Wisdom, and Harmony!” From that place of center, you become the embodiment of peace and can discern how your actions and words can embody wisdom, courage, compassion, and power in any situation. Charles Fillmore states that a peacemaker is, “One who has the ability to say peace to the turbulent waves of thought and have them obey. A peacemaker is one who reduces to peace and harmony all the thoughts of strife, anger, and retaliation in his/her own mind.”

After you become still, and you do receive Divine Guidance to take to the streets, I invite you to organize or join a rally that stands for what you desire to bring into expression in our nation and the world. Mother Theresa wisely reminded us, “ I will never attend an anti-war rally; if you have a peace rally, invite me. Let us remember that if you focus on what you want instead of what you don’t want you will receive it in abundance. I invite you to be self-aware, speak words of Truth and Power, and be the living presence of peace, compassion, justice, tolerance, and generosity, and together we will have it!

Life, as we know, is changing so rapidly before our eyes. Every generation seems to reminisce about the good old days. My parents tell me stories of what life was like before TV was invented and extended family lived next door to each other or lived within blocks. They share stories of how fresh the food was and how staples were purchased at mom and pop shops run by butchers, bakers, produce grocers and how milkmen delivered diary items to your front stoop. I tell my children about the days before iTunes and smartphones were created that I listened to music on eight-track and cassette tapes, and I completed college assignments on a typewriter.

Even though each generation experiences change, I believe the transitions that are underfoot today are epic. We are in the midst of a paradigm shift. A paradigm shift occurs when the usual societal and worldview undergo a significant transformation. Scientist, Thomas Kuhn, who coined the term, states that during such a time individuals will experience chaos, uncertainty, and even periods of “intellectually violent revolutions” as the old way of thinking and being is collapsing as the new shift in consciousness is struggling to emerge. The caterpillar struggling from its cocoon to emerge into a spectacular, colorful butterfly is a perfect metaphor for this cycle of emergence of a new worldview.
Currently, we are watching the breakdown of our educational, religious, economic, and political systems while the harmful effects of Global Warming are being experienced by the whole of creation. Rapid advancements in technology are not only changing the delivery of our media, but is also replacing man/woman power, and is having an effect on our social-emotional intelligence, on our person-to-person contact, and how we define community. All of this is exciting and can be frightening at the same time as we bid farewell to the comfortable and familiar as the landscape changes right under our very own feet.

Not only are brick and mortar businesses feeling the effects of our shifting times as some of them are forced to close up shop, but churches and spiritual communities are experiencing the impact as well. Forty-eight percent of the population born between the years 1984-2002 consider themselves to be unaffiliated when it comes to belonging to a church or spiritual community. As a result, Sunday service attendance is down nationally across all religions and many communities have had to close their doors because they were unable to remain financially solvent. Two months ago, I became dismayed when I discovered that over the last year one Unity spiritual community a month had to dissolve for the same reason.
When I heard this news from Unity Worldwide Ministries (UWM), I became fearful about how the changing times would affect Unity by the Shore as I witness a drop in attendance during the summer months. I knew quickly that I had to begin to shift from fearing the changing times to welcoming it. I began looking deeper at the paradigm shift that we are in the midst of, and I believe we are collectively being called to shift from the consciousness of separation to the consciousness of Oneness. I have shared in previous articles, that I believe that the patriarchal ways of competition, greed, and every man/woman for himself is being played out before us as leaders try to resist change by going back to how things used to be and by constructing walls to keep “the others” out as solutions to what ales our failing institutions. The polarization of duality and the consciousness of the “other” are also being played out among us as we argue, defame, and resist those who have a different political belief or worldview than we do. Spiritual teacher Dr. Shariff Abdulla states that we are collectively feeling the effects of four major shadows, violence, “the others”, lack, and despair, as we encounter our current global challenges. In order to for us to shift into the experience of Oneness, we must collectively unite in our efforts to bring the four Lights, peace and security, inclusivity and community, true abundance, and fulfillment of embodying on Divine gifts in service to one another. Dr. Shariff Abdulla is partnering with Unity World Headquarters (UWH) and UWM in bringing a pilot program to Unity ministries called Shadow to Light (S2L), and I will be sharing this program with UBTS this fall.

In the meantime, know that the board and I are looking to embrace the technological age by raising funds to purchase equipment so that we can Livestream services and key events. Over the remaining lazy days of summer, I invite you to take respite, recharge, and to recommit to the spiritual transformation of yourself, UBTS, and the planet. We need all hands on deck!