In honor of the 174th birthday of Myrtle Fillmore (co-founder of Unity), I thought I'd share a few of my favorite OPENING lines from letters, as well as a couple poetic verses and lessons. Myrtle Fillmore is responsible for the beginnings of Silent Unity, the 24-hour telephone prayer ministry that is more than 125 years [...]
About 600 years before the writers of the Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke penned Jesus’ Parable of the Mustard Seed, Buddha told a parable of a mustard seed. It revolves around a woman, Kisa Gotami, who lived during the time of Buddha. Kisa’s only child had died, and unwilling to accept his death, she [...]
This July 4th feels very different to me. For several reasons, not the least of which is Trump’s spectacle for today. For me and my memories, it is too reminiscent of the imagery of Tiananmen Square, or Communist China military parades. Echoes of an animal that puffs itself up, sporting for a fight. I think [...]
When was the last time you participated in something sacred with 1.5 billion people? The thought of that may sound exciting or possibly a little daunting, but I can tell you it is enlightening and deeply rewarding. I am referring to the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. It is considered the holiest month of [...]
Peace is one of those seemingly intangible, shape-shifting things in life, such as love, that molds our lives so intensely. It’s not necessarily something I can hold in my hand or perhaps physically give to you, and there are no words to adequately define the experience or even give a “correct” definition. Yet it is the [...]
It's the second week of Advent, the week we focus on PEACE, and I am wondering how much peace everyone is feeling or practicing in light of events, both here at home and abroad. Sometimes peace can seem a little out of reach or maybe for a few folks, even difficult to define. I [...]
It’s been a strange year, which sounds woefully inadequate. Somedays it appears the world has gone mad. Not my first time thinking this or even saying it. Hell, almost everyone I know is saying the same thing. I’ve been watching the last couple years of f***ed up leadership in this country - watching people [...]
It’s official. We have entered the holiday season - even though I saw Christmas decorations at Target this past July… but let’s not go there. The bell has rung, and we are out of the gate - starting on Thanksgiving, running into Black Friday, zipping through Small Business Saturday, leaping over Sunday (there must [...]
Say these words out loud - I AM BLESSED. Now say it again with a pause in between each word. I. AM. BLESSED. Now one more time with a longer pause, and with your most powerful voice - I… AM… BLESSED. Even as I write the words, a smile emerges slowly across my face, my [...]
Do you ever hear words emanating from your lips, and instantly while the words break from your mouth you think, “Did I really just say that??” You are still in the nanosecond of surprise, when you discover you probably have a small list of sentences or phrases you could never have imagined uttering. If you [...]
I have a friend that I have known well for about 23 years, she’s also a recovering addict. She has been a sister, friend, sponsee and confidant. I have always maintained that the most challenging people in our lives are our master teachers – I guess you could also say she has been a master [...]
Caregiving is a complex journey that brings a flood of emotions including gratitude, frustration, compassion, sadness, guilt and yes–anger and resentment. We oftentimes have self-critical chatter saying “I’m inadequate” or “I’m not enough,” because we think we shouldn’t get angry. Then when we condemn ourselves for even getting angry, we wind up feeling guilty, and [...]
Christmas holds a special place in my heart because it was my dad’s favorite holiday, and because it’s a time of year for many family traditions and rituals to be played out. Every family has their own sacred, quirky, idiosyncratic rituals that frustrate and delight. Traditions that only need to make sense to the family [...]
My own spiritual discipline has been to challenge myself each year with an expanded understanding of the traditionalholidays, while maintaining a sense of reverence, even sentimentality to a small degree. One of the great paradoxes of navigating the landscape of religious holidays, ceremonies and traditions is dancing with reverence AND relevance at the same time. [...]
Jesus Speaks to the 12 is a 4-part series written for Holy Thursday. In each part, 3 disciples present at the Last Supper are highlighted. It is partially inspired by the Unity teaching of the Twelve Powers. Part 1 sets the context and Jesus speaks to Peter, Andrew and James. Part 2 is John, Phillip [...]
