Free to be me —
“God expects spiritual fruits not religious nuts.”
I saw the above quote on a church marquee on 25th Street. It invites us to ask ourselves how we wish to show up 2022. Are we on a spiritual quest, communing with our inner Source, or are we seeking confirmation for our belief systems?
We are born into a world with a mind that is open to every experience. We don’t have a preference on who we love, we love all of creation. Through indoctrination from our culture, parents, teachers, peers, our sense of authenticity slowly erodes as we seek to fit in, rather than express from the love from which we came.
Monday was MLK Day. A day to honor the ideals of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose inspiration and encouragement raised our consciousness to aspire to create a world that is more true to the vision of our constitution.
I went to see West Side Story on Monday. I loved the music, the dancing and of course the love story of these two young people who are caught in the web of turf wars and cultural differences. West Side Story has been called a modern-day Romeo and Juliet, yet the story is on ego conflict and is as old as time, for we can even see it on display in the Story of Ruth. (which we will look at this Sunday).
The quest of Unity is to see beyond culture, appearances and into the heart of all matter, which is Spirit, and Spirit is Love. God is Love and Love knows no culture, no laws, nor dogma nor rules. Pure love poured out quenches the hot-headed ego mind and gives it rest.
Charles Fillmore, Unity’s co-founder, writes in Revealing Word: “The ego of itself is possessed of nothing. It is a mere child of innocence floating in the Mind of Being, but when the ego attaches itself to sense consciousness (appearances) it builds the antichrist.” (RW 61) .
When we have attached ourselves to an ideology, when we insist on being right, we have fallen in line with the adverse ego. (Religious Nut). The only way we can crack open that nut and be free to be our true selves, to create a world that is more equitable for all, is to tend to our inner garden and to cultivate, nurture and grow our spiritual fruits of compassion, love, kindness, forgiveness.
Be at Peace,
Rev. Janice
