Like many spiritual mystics, Charles Fillmore, co-founder of Unity, professes that our life’s purpose is to awaken from our slumber, discover the Power of our innate Divine Nature, experience the Love and Joy of our being, and to be a force of Light and Love in the Universe. The spiritual path of awakening is not for the faint of heart. In The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell calls one who is willing to awaken and courageously transcend societal domesticated group mind a hero. He explains, “During our life’s journey, as with every hero’s quest, we have to suffer certain losses, leave the predictable comforts of home, and set out into unfamiliar terrain to realize our dreams. Along the way, the hero inevitably meets with dragons that block the way. Usually, her/his quest takes the hero into dark places to do tremendous battle with unseen forces for hidden treasure. Out of these struggles, the hero emerges with a grail of jewels or wisdom that he/she shares with others.”

To say yes to the quest means you are willing to live your life fully consciously and to courageously make choices that beckon you to boldly embody your spiritual gifts and to live from the consciousness of Oneness. For many, this will require you to leave behind ways of being that are comfortable and familiar. Living a life of Truth will demand you, to be honest with yourself. You must be willing to take a fearless inventory of your life and to release where you have been out of integrity and playing small. Once you look, see, and tell the Truth about where you have been living from fear, lack, jealousy, envy, hatred, resentment, greed, control, unworthiness and any other form of not “enoughness” you will be summoned to make amends with yourself and others. The act of forgiveness will stare you in the face again and again. You will be called to let go of deep pain and suffering caused by the betrayal, abandonment, selfishness, abuse, and deceit of “others”. Some of whom are your closest family members and friends. It will no longer feel comfortable to engage in gossip or to stand in judgment of yourself and others. Yes, even of our politicians. Your higher self will beckon you to challenge discrimination, violence, injustice, and selfishness in your behavior and in the behaviors of your friends, family members, community members, and institutional leaders. Challenging the consciousness of separation does not mean you have to fight or attack back with harsh and violent rhetoric and actions. It means you will embrace Principle and take action to bring about changes that are characterized by fairness, equity, empowerment, respect, dignity, and Love of our planet and all of humanity.

Living a life fully engaged as a spiritual warrior requires you to be stretched out of your comfort zone again and again. At times, this may seem daunting and downright exhausting. Some days you may even wish you could meet up with the character Morpheus from the 1999 movie The Matrix and ask him to give you the “blue pill” so you can just blissfully fall back asleep for a couple of days, weeks, months, and even years. When fatigue sets in remember two things. First, know how important it is to take the time to retreat as the Master Teacher, Jesus, demonstrated again and again. Taking time to rest in the stillness of your Being and to take respite in the beauty and Power of nature does wonders for the weary soul. Lastly, individuals who embark on a hero’s journey long enough will begin to experience a deep sense of passion, as an authentic sense of purpose wells up inside of them, and they truly discover what it means to be Alive! There is no greater joy than experiencing your Divinity as you open your heart up and boldly dare to rise up in all of your Glory to be what you came here to be, the Powerful embodiment of the Divine and a Universal Force of Goodness.

“Once the soul awakens, the search begins and you can never go back. From then on, you are inflamed with a special longing that will never again let you linger in the lowlands of complacency and partial fulfillment. John O’ Donahue

Meatless Mondays is a mainstream global observance that has gained popularity with many individuals. This practice allows us to reduce our carbon footprint, thereby, saving precious resources like fossil fuels and fresh water, as well as reducing our risk for diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity.  Growing up in the Catholic Faith during the season of Lent I can recall observing meatless Fridays.  The purpose of this ritual was created to remind individuals of their duty to sacrifice and abstain from the “sins of the flesh”.  As a young child and even as a young adult, I was a faithful observer of meatless Fridays and to be totally honest it was not a sacrifice at all.  In fact, I thoroughly enjoyed it!  Fridays meant that homemade pizza, pasta fagioli or another pasta dish, potato and egg omelets on crusty semolina bread, and many other Italian soul food delectables would be on the menu.  My home was filled with heavenly aromas of garlic, basil, and fresh baked pizza and calzones. Fridays were more characterized by indulgence than sacrifice and repentance, although I would feel guilty if I forgot what day of the week it was and ordered a turkey sandwich or a burger for lunch.  Throughout the years, how many religious practices have you observed without them having had any significant ability to change or transform your life?

Charles Fillmore, co-founder of Unity, professed, Lent, is a church institution embodying an exalted idea, the idea of cleansing and disciplining both mind and body toward the end of making them more receptive to the Christ ideas. Like many other religious practices it is too often observed in letter but not in spirit.  So how is one to live the spirit of the law of cleansing and disciplining, and abstaining from the sins of the flesh?

The metaphysical meaning of abstaining from the sins of the flesh is to cleanse one’s consciousness from error thinking and ways of being that are rooted in the fear based conditioning of our egoic selves.   Our consciousness is made up of our thoughts, beliefs, emotions, and behaviors.  So to cleanse yourself from erroneous thinking means to release from your life beliefs, words, and actions characterized by judgmentalism, criticism, scarcity, selfishness, self-condemnation, competition, discrimination, defensiveness, and all other forms of fear and separation.

Fillmore reminds us it is not only important to eliminate from our consciousness fear-based ways, but we must be spiritually disciplined to embody our Divine Potential.  Within us all are 12 Divine Attributes: Faith, Strength, Understanding, Wisdom, Love, Dominion, Will, Imagination, Zeal, Order, Elimination and Life. During the season of Lent, it is a good opportunity to select one or two of your spiritual powers to consciously activate and bring forth their Divine Potential.

On Ash Wednesday, during our white stone ceremony, you will be given an opportunity to reflect on what you desire to release from your experience and to select one of your 12 Powers to embody this Lenten season.   If you are not able to participate in the Ash Wednesday service, I invite you to practice the ritual of release and conscious, intentional embodiment of your Divine Potential. In the words of Charles Fillmore I challenge you to, Let the God within you express itself as you in the world!

As I reflect back on the past year, I am filled with gratitude for the many blessings I have received.  Gifts exchanged over the holiday season come in
many different packages, sizes and shapes. Some glisten and sparkle, while others come simply covered in brown paper bag. Some oddly shaped presents can be difficult or are too large to wrap.  The same can be said for our blessings.  Some like unexpected income sparkle in our hands while the loss of a loved one, or a new president-elect who opposes the ideals and morals many believe in may be too difficult for us to wrap our hearts and minds around.

When we are enveloped in Spiritual Principle, we know that all experiences despite the packaging and the size of importance we give them gleam with opportunities for our greatest, highest Good. My capacity to see and experience Life, Love and Wisdom as I stood at the bedside of several individuals in our community who were preparing to make their transition blessed me and opened my heart in ways I can’t begin to put into words.  As my father was admitted to the hospital 5 times this past year, fearing during his last admittance this fall that he was preparing to leave this Earth, I understood the gift of surrender and the sacredness of each moment.  As chaos and scandal plague our president-elect, and our government, although at times we may find the packaging to be distasteful, let us know and affirm that the gift of Goodness is contained in this experience.  

I am also appreciative for the love and support I received from members and friends of Unity by the Shore as I began to spread my wings this year by creating new services, activities, and made changes to our Sunday service. On a few occasions when interacting with other individuals from larger communities, I heard them refer to UBTS as a little church or a small church.  Does the size of a building or the number of members determine the value or the power of a community?  I think not. Like the various gifts we exchange as a token of our love the essence of a gift comes in various shapes and sizes.  Our community has heart and soul and is filled with creative, giving, caring, and spiritual conscious individuals.  

As I look ahead to 2017, I am excited about the limitless possibilities that lie before me and our spiritual community.  This year at UBTS, I will be asking the question, “How can we move from being comfortable to flourishing?”  We will look at our current vision, mission, and core values to determine if they are still relevant and create excitement to unite us to stretch ourselves to be our boldest selves.  I will be asking you throughout the year how can you and we as a community glimmer, glisten, and sparkle like the true gift that we are?

“Live your truth. Express your love. Share your enthusiasm. Take action towards your dreams. Walk your talk. Dance and sing to your music. Embrace your blessings. Make today worth remembering.” 
― Steve Maraboli

 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the
inn. Luke 2:7

Behold, the holiday season is upon us.  It is a time of year that can elicit a host of feelings.  Many are overcome with gratitude and joy as they gather with loved ones and friends and feast on a bounty of delectables and toast to the coming year with great cheer.  For some, feelings of sadness, grief, despair, and/or loneliness may arise as they face a healing challenge, cope with the physical loss of a loved one, or confront an “empty home” during this time of year.  We as a community have experienced the loss of several loved ones and have stood as Love with many of our brothers and sisters who have been faced with the experience of dis-ease this past year.  Let us continue to live with open hearts and also find room at our “inns” for those who welcome our support and our hospitality.  

Whatever emotions are stirring within you this season, I invite you to remember that all experiences are meant for your highest good as painful as life may seem at times.  One can only come to see and know this if he/she is willing to have a shift in consciousness.  Let us take a closer look at what it symbolically means to find a place in the inn.  Metaphysically speaking the birth of Jesus represents the birth of the awareness of our Christ or Divine Nature.  This awakening takes place every time you realize that although you have been given birth to in human form, the manger, you are the embodiment of the Divine.  This realization can only be brought into life by entering your upper room in consciousness where within the inn you overcome the world, the human domesticated sense of self.   

All experiences characterized with pain and suffering are opportunities for you to see where you have bought into the illusion that you are your experiences and are a separate limited human being.  All life events are ripe with the opportunity to return home to the Truth of who you really are.  Advent Season, the four weeks prior to Christmas, is a time to reflect on and give expression to our Divine qualities of Faith, Love, Peace and Joy.  When we do, we find room at the inn for the Christ to be born as us.  

You are the embodiment of Divine Faith when you  look beyond the craziness being played out politically in the US as a sign of new possibilities of hope and cooperation wanting to be birthed as the old paradigm of a “me” consciousness begins to collapse.  You are Faith in expression when you can hear a diagnosis of an illness and see Wholeness.  You are the embodiment of Love when you are gentle and nurturing to yourself during a challenging time, yet instead of contracting you choose to radiate mercy and compassion to others.  You are the embodiment of Peace when you choose to listen and look to understand instead of wanting to be right and prove a position, for you know that Peace begins within.    You are the embodiment of Joy when you count your blessings and see the beauty that exists within you and all around you.  Lastly, true Joy occurs when you show up as the radiant Christ light that you are, for nothing can bring greater joy.  So, my dear friends I invite you to find room at the inn to give expression to your boldest, brightest Divine Essence of Faith, Love, Peace, and Joy and behold the majesty of the birth of the Christ child.  

Recently, I have seen posts on Facebook that ask the reader to reflect on the varied plights of individuals from those who have cancer and have been forgotten about to children who are experiencing physical or cognitive disabilities who have been cast aside by society. These chain-like letter posts asks the reader to copy and paste the post to his/her timeline. These posts tug at the heart strings of the reader, and although I believe the intent of these posts is to raise awareness of the struggles of specific groups of people, I found myself feeling uneasy after reading several of them.

I began reflecting on my disturbed thoughts and feelings and discovered several things. One, the language used in many of these posts implies shame, victimization, and basically uses the language of separation. Most pressing for me was a thought that kept surfacing, “How do these posts really make a difference in the lives of the individuals being written about?” This question revealed something that has been alive in me and that is, “How do I and how does our community move from talking about and feeling sympathy for individuals to taking action to not only transform our own lives, but to make a difference in the lives of others? Simply put, “How do I/we move from understanding and talking Truth to living it?

Principle Five in Unity calls us to be the Presence in the world. I am grateful for the Love in action that many of you have displayed in reaching out to individuals in our community who have experienced loss or who are experiencing illness. You have provided meals and rides, and you have been empathetic companions who hug, touch, pray, and behold the sacred worth of those who really need a loving friend who can hold the high watch for them.

Now, I am calling us to be a Presence in our world beyond our walls. Recently, I have had several conversations with individuals from different organizations and non-profits who have elicited our support in out-reaches for foster children and the homeless in NJ. I have been in conversation with a representative from DYFS on how we can provide needed supplies, host a movie-fun night at UBTS, and bring Christmas gifts to foster children in our area. Additionally, on September 30th at 7 PM Jeff Ballo, creator of the movie Destiny’s Bridge, will be airing his documentary about how a minister begins a movement to find affordable housing for those in need. The movie will be free of charge, however, collections will be taken to support affordable housing. Although raising awareness and taking collections is important and noble, I would like us to go a step further. I have aspirations for us to establish relationships with foster children and the homeless. I ask you to join me in being companions of Love to these beautiful individuals who want to be seen, heard, hugged, and cherished. If you are interested in supporting either outreach please contact me at [email protected] Let our Presence heal and uplift our fellow brothers and sisters.