Unity Church of Christianity
Spiritual Teachings for a Positive Life
Thought for the Week
Note: Thought for the Week essays are listed from newest to oldest
For the next few weeks, the current Thought for the Week will not be available here.
To receive the current Thought for the Week, email Richard at:
minister@unitychurchbillings.org
July 31, 2008
Planning your dreams
Once upon a time there was a boy who had a dream. He wanted to be a Forest Ranger, living and working in one of our nation’s beautiful National Parks. He wanted to live in one of our national treasures like Yellowstone National Park or Yosemite National Park. He mentioned this to a vocational counselor at his school and was told, “Wonderful! What a great goal! Now, make a plan and work your plan.”
So he did. He wrote for, and received all sorts of information about what it takes to be a Forest Ranger. He put together his plan and began to work it. First of all, he had to have really good grades, so he worked very hard on making good grades in school — and he did. Of course, you need to be physically fit beyond the average, so he worked on that as well. Money for school was necessary, so he planned to get the highest paying kind of work he could right out of high school so that he could put the money away for college and realize his dream. Days went by and he graduated and took a good position in sales where he would have an opportunity to make good money. He had to study and learn about sales, and, of course, there are deadlines, and quotas, and then the car, and the house, and then the girlfriend who turned into a fiance and then a wife, and then a mother. Months went by and then years.
One day, many years later, as head of the sales department, he was talking to a new recruit. The young man mentioned that one day he wanted to be a bush pilot, flying through the Canadian wilderness, but that he needed to make some money so he could buy an airplane. The man looked at the boy for a while as visions of Yellowstone National Park and Yosemite National Park flashed through his mind, and he saw himself standing before a towering, snow-capped mountain in a crisp, sharp uniform, a peaked hat upon his head, talking — not to a sales recruit — but to visitors to the park. Then he snapped back to reality. He looked at the young man and said, “Perhaps you should be thinking about airplanes instead of money. I think if you keep your mind on flying, the money will come.”
Do you have a dream? It could be a big one or a small one. It doesn’t matter because all dreams are big in Spirit. All dreams, big or small, lead to a further revelation of God and your relationship with Him. But you have to dream the dream. Certainly, make a plan, take the steps you need to take, but never let the plan become the dream. Never worry about how the dream becomes real — that is the providence of Spirit. Dream your dream and let God lead the way.
P.S. Our hero retired early and took a job as a docent at the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone Park. He wears a crisp, sharp uniform and there is a peaked hat upon his head. Visitors all flock to him because he speaks with such authority — and such love — of his park. And the dream is all the sweeter for coming when it did.
July 17, 2008
One
Okay, here is the question for today: Ladies (and gentlemen, if the question fits), why do they call what some of you do to your hair a “permanent” if it has to be done over and over again?
Now, here is another question: Ladies and Gentlemen, why do we consider failure so permanent if we experience failure over and over again?
Part of the answer, of course, is that failure only seems permanent until it doesn’t. It can seem an overwhelming task to move beyond limitations, challenges, and failure. That’s because there seems to be so much to do in order to change failure into success. This is true of relationships, employment, personal challenges — all challenges in life. There often seems to be an insurmountable list of things to overcome.
One last question: how many steps does it take to reach the top of 14,430 foot Mount Rainier?
Answer: Just one — the last one.
Child of God, heir to the heavens, the universe, to all that God has caused to be, you are only one step away from your dreams. The road from failure to success takes only one more idea, one more book, one more affirmation, one more set of the jaw, one more prayer, just one more step to change your life forever.
You think time is running out. Yet eternity lies in the infinite reaches of your mind. Will you wait upon God to act once again? To help you take that one last step — that one last time?
One. Only one more is needed. Because you are the One.
July 10, 2008
Regrets, remorse and discontent
How embarrassing! How awful! I know better than that! What was I thinking? I’ll never live that down! My life is ruined (over, the pits, a freak-show)! How could I have said (done, thought, believed) that?
Have you ever said or thought any of the above? Most of us have. You do or say something dumb (stupid, mean, thoughtless, careless, hurtful) and wish you could take it back (do it over, not do it at all, run away and join the circus). You look back at life and wonder how you could have come to a point of such regret, remorse and discontent.
Ok, let’s look at regret and remorse first. To feel regret and remorse is “to feel sorrow and distress caused by loss, affliction, disappointment, a deep and painful regret for wrongdoing.” So, what you are feeling here is sorrow, which brings on distress, because you feel a loss, afflicted and disappointed. You lost your good opinion of yourself, and you feel afflicted because of the embarrassment and disappointment in yourself for not living up to your standards. Is this realistic?
First of all, what most people feel, instead of, or along with regret is shame. Shame suggests inferiority. Shame is a an attack upon one’s own self. Regretting something is natural, and a proper response because regret suggests that you wish you had acted differently. Shame can last a lifetime, but you regret something, learn from it, and move on. Discontent is “a restless desire or craving for something.” You desire to do better, crave to improve. Shame is a crime against the self. Discontent is good because it motivates change for the better.
Here is something to think about: how many times a day are you successful at something? You couldn’t possibly keep track of them. I wager you rarely, if ever, remember or think of your successes and yet, every day, every hour, even every minute, you are successful at doing something – preparing a nice meal, washing the car, repairing something, writing something, making a decision, saying no, saying yes, driving in traffic, a hundred things a day, a thousand! You are successful at a thousand different things a thousand times a day, but it is the one time that you spill coffee on the boss that you remember. Well, that’s because spilling coffee on the boss is pretty memorable. But the better question is: how did you handle it? Will the boss hate you forever for spilling coffee on him, or tell it to his friends and enjoy the laugh he gets? Will he remember you as a hopeless bumbler or remember you fondly for your sincere and pitiful apology? What would your response be if the situation was reversed? Thought so. And most people are just as gracious as you.
Here is another question: if you do not remember your thousands of successes, but remember every one of your debacles, from which experiences do you suppose you learn the most? These experiences are painful because you need to experience regret, remorse and discontent in order to learn to think, speak, and act differently.
There is one more consideration. When you feel shame and painful regret over something done or said, or not done or not said, you feel, as stated at the beginning, inferior and attack your own sense of self. You attack one of God’s wondrous creations. But the truth is, you are not your mistakes. Mistakes are something you make, something you do, but they are not who you are. So, you charge through life bumping into things, careening around life, falling down, getting up and falling down again. And it is good. How else would you learn you are not your mistakes? How else would you learn that you are a magnificent creation of a loving God learning to express your magnificence and beauty.
July 3, 2008
Life like a movie
Reader Rating: this article is rated MD, “Mildly Depressing” at the beginning, but HE, “Happy Ending” for a Big Finish.
Sometimes — not too often — I wonder why in the world I agreed to come to this planet and experience some of the things I have and am experiencing. Often this happens after reading the news. Gas prices are higher than Stephen Hawking’s IQ. Food prices make me ill. Houses are worth less than the loans. We’re still killing and dying in various and sundry places all over the globe. Well, that’s enough of that — you get the idea. Add these things to a long list of personal experiences that are painful to devastating — or just plain irritating — and I can begin to wonder why I signed up. Then I began to think about how life is like a movie.
How many movies, or books for that matter, do your watch or read and enjoy that do not include some sort of challenge to be overcome? Would you watch a movie that chronicled someone’s successes one after another? Perfect parents, perfect scholar, perfect wife, perfect kids, perfect job? Probably not. You might even get irritated — “Why don’t I have a life like that,” you might ask. Nope. Most movies, especially the ones we love the best, have protagonists that face difficult challenges, face doubts and fears, and overcome them. We love our heros and love to see them defeat their dragons. We want to live lives like that. What we forget is, in life, like in the movies, dragons come with the adventure.
Well, life is like a movie, isn’t it? One dragon after the other, little ones, big ones, medium size ones. They breathe fire and singe the tush. Ouch! We cry, and complain “Why me?” The problems is, we forget: we wrote the script.
Now the good news — like movies we love most, there is a happy ending to this. The hero (that’s you) wins in the end. Every time. No matter how big the dragon. Dragon of lack? Not a chance — God’s good is ready to unload on you as soon as you learn to accept it. Cancer dragon? No way — cancer can’t kill the you that is really you or keep you from coming home to God.
More good news: the movie of your life is more comedy, love story, and song and dance than tragedy. When tragedy seems to intrude, change theaters! I guarantee there’s something better playing if you just look for it.
The best news: You can rewrite your script any way you want, any time you want. You are the Writer, Producer, Director, and Actor. Oh, maybe the best news: the rumor is, you get an Oscar in the end.
Reader Rating: this article is rated MD, “Mildly Depressing” at the beginning, but HE, “Happy Ending” for a Big Finish.
Sometimes — not too often — I wonder why in the world I agreed to come to this planet and experience some of the things I have and am experiencing. Often this happens after reading the news. Gas prices are higher than Stephen Hawking’s IQ. Food prices make me ill. Houses are worth less than the loans. We’re still killing and dying in various and sundry places all over the globe. Well, that’s enough of that — you get the idea. Add these things to a long list of personal experiences that are painful to devastating — or just plain irritating — and I can begin to wonder why I signed up. Then I began to think about how life is like a movie.
How many movies, or books for that matter, do your watch or read and enjoy that do not include some sort of challenge to be overcome? Would you watch a movie that chronicled someone’s successes one after another? Perfect parents, perfect scholar, perfect wife, perfect kids, perfect job? Probably not. You might even get irritated — “Why don’t I have a life like that,” you might ask. Nope. Most movies, especially the ones we love the best, have protagonists that face difficult challenges, face doubts and fears, and overcome them. We love our heros and love to see them defeat their dragons. We want to live lives like that. What we forget is, in life, like in the movies, dragons come with the adventure.
Well, life is like a movie, isn’t it? One dragon after the other, little ones, big ones, medium size ones. They breathe fire and singe the tush. Ouch! We cry, and complain “Why me?” The problems is, we forget: we wrote the script.
Now the good news — like movies we love most, there is a happy ending to this. The hero (that’s you) wins in the end. Every time. No matter how big the dragon. Dragon of lack? Not a chance — God’s good is ready to unload on you as soon as you learn to accept it. Cancer dragon? No way — cancer can’t kill the you that is really you or keep you from coming home to God.
More good news: the movie of your life is more comedy, love story, and song and dance than tragedy. When tragedy seems to intrude, change theaters! I guarantee there’s something better playing if you just look for it.
The best news: You can rewrite your script any way you want, any time you want. You are the Writer, Producer, Director, and Actor. Oh, maybe the best news: the rumor is, you get an Oscar in the end.
June 18, 2008
Couldn’t you just do it my way?
If people would just act the way I want them to act. I mean, really, people can be dishonest, untrustworthy, mean, lazy, crazy, and emotionally unavailable. And that’s just the lawyers! Ha, ha, just kidding, all you lawyers out there. Please don’t sue me. But in general, people are generally low achievers when it comes to our expectations, wouldn’t you say? Consider your latest relationships. How many times have you thought to yourself, “If she (or he) would just act the way I want her (or him) to act, things would be just fine!” I also imagine that you have discovered by now that there is only one person you can change, and that’s the person who sticks the spoonful of cereal in your mouth in the mornings. The one that looks back at your from the mirror when you brush the cereal out of your teeth. But changing other people? Good luck with that.
However, there is a way to facilitate change in other people, that is, to open the door for them to change themselves, if they want to. Not only that, but the change is always the very best for them. It is always the perfect change. A bonus to this is that the other person has no idea that you are doing it. What a concept! Bring about the perfect change in people you know, and be sneaky about it at the same time!
Here is what you do: whenever someone does something or says something that is obviously in error, hurtful, mean, or otherwise tilting your sagely view of your universe out of kilter, merely look into their eyes and see only the highest and best that is there, behind their eyes, in the deepest Christ nature of their souls. Look past the pain, past the anger, or whatever you find there on the surface of their words, actions, and eyes, and see the perfect child of God that they are. You can do this. You merely look for it and in the looking, you will see it. Not with your eyes, but with your heart. You will feel a little love — or perhaps a lot of love — as you decide not to see what is apparently there and look at what is really there on the deepest soul level. It requires some practice, but it’s worth it.
When you speak, speak to that highest part of them. No matter what they say to you, or do to you, speak to the Christ within them. You don’t have to use those words, Christ, highest, or child of God, just speak to them in ways that you would speak to God, if God were standing right there. In other words, speak to them in loving ways no matter how they speak to you. This may be difficult for you. If it is, just do your best, and know that your best is what God intends for you and the other right now, right here.
I still would rather people think, speak and act the way I want them to think, speak and act. But they don’t, so I have a wonderful opportunity to treat them as though they do, and in doing so, to open the door to more love for them — and for me. I hope you agree with me, but if you don’t, I honor the Christ in you, and see the love in your heart bubbling up into your eyes, your words, and in everything you think, say and do.
However, there is a way to facilitate change in other people, that is, to open the door for them to change themselves, if they want to. Not only that, but the change is always the very best for them. It is always the perfect change. A bonus to this is that the other person has no idea that you are doing it. What a concept! Bring about the perfect change in people you know, and be sneaky about it at the same time!
Here is what you do: whenever someone does something or says something that is obviously in error, hurtful, mean, or otherwise tilting your sagely view of your universe out of kilter, merely look into their eyes and see only the highest and best that is there, behind their eyes, in the deepest Christ nature of their souls. Look past the pain, past the anger, or whatever you find there on the surface of their words, actions, and eyes, and see the perfect child of God that they are. You can do this. You merely look for it and in the looking, you will see it. Not with your eyes, but with your heart. You will feel a little love — or perhaps a lot of love — as you decide not to see what is apparently there and look at what is really there on the deepest soul level. It requires some practice, but it’s worth it.
When you speak, speak to that highest part of them. No matter what they say to you, or do to you, speak to the Christ within them. You don’t have to use those words, Christ, highest, or child of God, just speak to them in ways that you would speak to God, if God were standing right there. In other words, speak to them in loving ways no matter how they speak to you. This may be difficult for you. If it is, just do your best, and know that your best is what God intends for you and the other right now, right here.
I still would rather people think, speak and act the way I want them to think, speak and act. But they don’t, so I have a wonderful opportunity to treat them as though they do, and in doing so, to open the door to more love for them — and for me. I hope you agree with me, but if you don’t, I honor the Christ in you, and see the love in your heart bubbling up into your eyes, your words, and in everything you think, say and do.
June 12, 2008
Money for Nothing
Mark Knopfler, of the rock group Dire Straights, wrote and sang a song called Money for Nothing that was quite controversial when it came out because it has some disturbing lyrics. However, the theme of the song was about Rock and Roll excesses. I thought about that today for some reason and realized that this theme is a universal one. Right now, money – or the lack of it – is on just about everyone's mind. Gasoline prices are rising, rising, rising. Home values are falling, falling, falling. No one expected that. Groceries, clothing, vacations, everything is escalating in price. Our money is worth a lot less today than it was just a few months ago. Or is it?
"Money for Nothing." The idea is that rock stars get paid lots and lots of money for doing nothing. That of course, is obviously not true: if they weren't doing something that fans deem valuable, fans wouldn't buy their records and go to their concerts. But the money, the money is for nothing. I have a twenty dollar bill in front of me right now. There is nothing on this piece of paper that says what it is worth. It does indicate that it is a "20 Dollar Federal Reserve Note" but it doesn't say what it is worth. Right now, it is worth about 4 gallons of gasoline, or three or four meals at a fast food place, or one nice dinner, or maybe a movie if you don't get the wheelbarrow-sized box of popcorn. But it doesn't say any of these things on the twenty dollar bill. That's because the twenty dollar bill, along with all currency, is worth exactly what we believe it is. The key is, there has to be agreement.
We don't all agree on the worth of things, of course, and so we all spend our twenty dollar bills in different ways. Some would never spend them on a movie, popcorn and soda believing it's not worth it. Some buy new cars, others buy used cars. Some buy collectibles, others buy boats, motorcycles, camping gear, a thousand different things depending upon what they value. Gas, to me, isn't worth $4.00 a gallon, except that I have to have it to drive. Oil speculators and producers agreed that a barrel of oil is worth so much, and therefore a gallon of gas is worth so much, and so it is. But we need to understand that money is for nothing, that is, it has no worth itself. Money represents something — it represents the fruits of our labors, whatever they are. We have agreed that our labors, whatever they are, are worth whatever it is that we are paid for them. We might think that we are underpaid, but we have agreed to our compensation.
This is true in our spiritual lives – especially true in our spiritual lives. Consider that you have a different kind of bank account — a "time account" and an "energy account." The time you "spend" on spiritual activity is worth exactly what you think it is. If you meditate everyday and realize great and powerful results, then that activity is priceless. If Sunday at your church is the most important day of your week, a time in which you are fed and empowered for the rest of the week, then that day is a valuable day, indeed. If prayer time is a valuable time for you, you will "spend" your time in prayer. If meditation is important, if Sunday church time is important, you will "spend" your time that way. I encourage you to think about what is valuable to you. What do you truly love? Are you "spending" enough of your spiritual currency that way? Are you "spending" your time and energy there or somewhere else?
You can spend your money for nothing, for nothing is what you will have when you leave this world, and you can "spend" your time and energy for nothing as well. Why not spend your spiritual resources, your time and energy, on what brings you peace, love and joy? Now, that's money for something!
"Money for Nothing." The idea is that rock stars get paid lots and lots of money for doing nothing. That of course, is obviously not true: if they weren't doing something that fans deem valuable, fans wouldn't buy their records and go to their concerts. But the money, the money is for nothing. I have a twenty dollar bill in front of me right now. There is nothing on this piece of paper that says what it is worth. It does indicate that it is a "20 Dollar Federal Reserve Note" but it doesn't say what it is worth. Right now, it is worth about 4 gallons of gasoline, or three or four meals at a fast food place, or one nice dinner, or maybe a movie if you don't get the wheelbarrow-sized box of popcorn. But it doesn't say any of these things on the twenty dollar bill. That's because the twenty dollar bill, along with all currency, is worth exactly what we believe it is. The key is, there has to be agreement.
We don't all agree on the worth of things, of course, and so we all spend our twenty dollar bills in different ways. Some would never spend them on a movie, popcorn and soda believing it's not worth it. Some buy new cars, others buy used cars. Some buy collectibles, others buy boats, motorcycles, camping gear, a thousand different things depending upon what they value. Gas, to me, isn't worth $4.00 a gallon, except that I have to have it to drive. Oil speculators and producers agreed that a barrel of oil is worth so much, and therefore a gallon of gas is worth so much, and so it is. But we need to understand that money is for nothing, that is, it has no worth itself. Money represents something — it represents the fruits of our labors, whatever they are. We have agreed that our labors, whatever they are, are worth whatever it is that we are paid for them. We might think that we are underpaid, but we have agreed to our compensation.
This is true in our spiritual lives – especially true in our spiritual lives. Consider that you have a different kind of bank account — a "time account" and an "energy account." The time you "spend" on spiritual activity is worth exactly what you think it is. If you meditate everyday and realize great and powerful results, then that activity is priceless. If Sunday at your church is the most important day of your week, a time in which you are fed and empowered for the rest of the week, then that day is a valuable day, indeed. If prayer time is a valuable time for you, you will "spend" your time in prayer. If meditation is important, if Sunday church time is important, you will "spend" your time that way. I encourage you to think about what is valuable to you. What do you truly love? Are you "spending" enough of your spiritual currency that way? Are you "spending" your time and energy there or somewhere else?
You can spend your money for nothing, for nothing is what you will have when you leave this world, and you can "spend" your time and energy for nothing as well. Why not spend your spiritual resources, your time and energy, on what brings you peace, love and joy? Now, that's money for something!
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