Finding Unity Principles in The Secret Garden

My granddaughter asked if I had read The Secret Garden. I had not. “Should I?” I asked. Her reply was an emphatic “Yes!” So I did. It’s a story about a 10 year old English girl named Mary who is raised in India mostly by her Ayah and other native servants. When her Ayah and both her parents die of cholera, she is sent to Yorkshire, England, to live with her guardian. Some of the cast of characters include thehousemaid’s younger brother Dickon who has a way with animals, the gardener who introduces Mary to the robin who leads her to the key to the Secret Garden and a sickly boy named Colin who is the son of her guardian.

The menagerie of animals Dickon brings to Mary’s home and eventually to Colin’s sick room include a crow named Soot, a fox cub named Captain, two squirrels named Nut and Shell and a shaggy little moor pony named Jump.

Mary transforms from a cross, tyrannical, selfish 9 year old to an eager, curious, healthy little girl of 10 as she learns to run and play outside and then to plant a garden and then to make friends. Magic appears throughout the story: “Mary Lennox had heard a great deal about Magic in her Ayah’s stories, and she always said that what happened almost at that moment was Magic.” That moment was when a small gust of wind “swung aside some loose ivy trails” that revealed the door to the Secret Garden. Soon the robin leads her to the key to the door. More Magic.

Pictured in Tasha Tudor's illustration are Mary (clockwise, starting
bottom left) with the gardener, Dickon (with shovel)
and Colin planting a rose bush

As Colin gets better Mary introduces him to the Secret Garden. He takes to it, gets healthier and healthier and then begins lecturing on Magic. “Magic is a great thing and scarcely any one knows anything about it except a few people in old books – and Mary a little, because she was born in India where there are fakirs. I believe Dickon knows some Magic, but perhaps he doesn’t know he knows it. He charms animals and people… I am sure there is Magic in everything, only we have not sense enough to get hold of it …”

“’When Mary found this garden it looked quite dead,’ the orator proceeded. ‘then something began pushing things up out of the soil and making things out of nothing…I keep saying to myself. ‘What is it? It’s something. It can’t be nothing! I don’t know its name so I call it Magic…When I was going to try to stand that first time Mary kept saying to herself as fast as she could, ‘You can do it!’ and I did. I had to try myself at the same time, of course, but her Magic helped me – and so did Dickon’s.’”

“Every morning and evening and as often in the daytime as I can remember I am going to say, ‘Magic is in me! Magic is making me well! … You learn things by saying them over and over and thinking about them until they stay in your mind forever and I think it will be the same with Magic.’”

Later Colin does a chanting meditation: “The Magic is in me – the Magic is in me. It is in me – it is in me. It’s in every one of us…Magic! Magic! Come and help! Now I am going to walk round the garden,’ he announced. Colin is able to walk and wants to celebrate his healing “I feel as if I want to shout out something – something thankful, joyful!”

The gardener suggests that Dickon sing the Doxology. “Dickon answered with his animal charmer’s smile. ‘They sing it i’ church,” he said. ‘Mother says she believes th’ skylarks sings it when they get up i’ the’ mornin’.” And so Dickon sings:

“Praise God from whom all blessing flow,
Praise Him all creatures here below,
Praise Him above ye Heavenly Host,
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen.”

Colin declares “I like it. Perhaps it means just what I mean when I want to shout out that I am thankful to the Magic.”

When Dickon’s mother visits the garden she tells the children that there are many different names for the Magic. She calls it the Big Good Thing and the Joy Maker. Colin’s distant father who was traveling around the world experienced something that “seemed to have unbound and released him, very quietly.” Coincidentally (or not) that was the same day as Colin cried out “I am going to live forever and ever and ever!”

I recognized Unity principles throughout the story. I wondered if Frances Hodgson Burnett, the author, was a Unity student. I found this on Wikipedia:

“In December 1890, Burnett's oldest son Lionel died from consumption in Paris. After his death, she turned away from her traditional faith in the Church of England and embraced Spiritualism and Christian Science. These beliefs would have an effect on her later life as well as being incorporated into her later fiction.” (Ms. Burnett wrote The Secret Garden in 1911.)

When I finished the book, I asked Unity people if they knew this book. Two adults both said it was their favorite book growing up - reading it at about the same age (14) as my granddaughter. I love when I run into anything that introduces Unity principles to the general public. And I love that thousands of children have read this story and gotten a feel for some of our principles in a story they love. I wonder what my granddaughter thought of all this. Can’t wait to talk to her about it.

~ JEAN

P.S. All of the quotes from the story are from The Tasha Tudor Edition of The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett; illustrated by Tasha Tudor; published by J.B. Lippincott, New York, in 1962.

P.P.S. I grew up in a Methodist Church in Wheaton, Illinois, where we sang the Doxology after the offering every Sunday.

Something New

Today's Daily Word is

Willingness.

I love the concept of being willing. It works for me to be willing to forgive and love, to be open and receptive to forgiving and loving someone in my life when I'm not completely ready to say Yes I can. Yes I'm willing is a great first step.

In today's meditation, the affirmation is:

A willingness to try new things brings freshness to my life.

The challenge within the meditation is

Today I purposely choose to do something new.

I find myself scoffing when I run into a challenge like that. It's unlikely that I will have the opportunity to do something new that day because my day is likely to go along in its usual way. (For me having a day go along in its usual way is a good thing.) Sometimes driving home a different way is given as an example. Meaningless to me. See I'm still scoffing.

As I often do, I took the meditation challenge literally. Then I gave the idea some more thought and realized that's not the intention of the meditation. I can take the challenge like this: If I run into an opportunity tomorrow or the next day to do something new, I will choose to be willing to step into that opportunity.

I get it. When I get the chance I will step into something new - no fear, no doubt, just openness and excitement at the opportunity. Just willingness to try something new and enjoy the freshness it brings to my life.

~ JEAN

My Pathway Within

Last time I wrote about all the beauty where I live.

Then I read the Daily Word for Monday, August 21, which was Inner Peace. Part of the meditation reads:

There are sounds and images that instill a sense of harmony in my heart. A babbling stream, a breeze rustling the leaves of trees, the crackling of a fire, or the soft shimmering light of a candle bring comfort.

I would add to that list looking at my flower gardens and walking my dogs. The meditation continues:

These outer phenomena calm my mind and spirit and help me get in touch with internal peace. Whenever I need serenity and quietude, I call upon one of these sensory experiences to move me into the realization of who I am. I spend quiet time in the secret place of the Most High, reflecting and listening.

No wonder I love where I live so much. Not only is it physically beautiful. It also provides a pathway for me to go within - to listen to my inner guide and know that, no matter what, all is well.

~ JEAN

Handling Summer

Readers may know that I struggle with the summer heat every year and, unfortunately, too often not successfully. Some days when it's very hot and I've been active - walking the dogs, pulling weeds, etc. I sometimes feel that no matter what I do - stand in front of the air conditioner and drink an ice cold drink, my body will never cool off again. That is a very unpleasant feeling.

Cosmos

Blue Morning Glory

This summer I've been happy to experience cooler (mostly) summer temperatures. That has allowed me to notice and appreciate the beauty around me at home without mixing in grousing about the heat. Here are some of the dahlias, morning glories, cosmos, sunflowers, and animals in my life at home.

Sunflowers and Dahlias and Bumblebees

Callie and Big G (gray) our female and male feral cats who come every morning for breakfast.

I hope you have some similar sweetness and beauty to appreciate where you live.

~ JEAN

Blessings

Last week I wrote about Day 29 in A Forty-Day Guide to Prosperous Living in Even Mystics Have Bills to Pay by Unity Minister Jim Rosemergy. Today I'm writing about Day 30. It is titled:

Today I am aware of my blessings.

Here is part of Rosemergy's meditation:

"Thanksgiving is one of the doorways to a consciousness of God. Today I give thanks for my blessings, but the day will come when thankfulness will rise up within me whether or not there is something to be thankful for in my outer world. Eventually I will always walk a path of thankfulness with God 

This evening before you go to sleep, write what has blessed you most today."

I've heard in the past of people keeping Gratitude Journals and this lesson reminded me of that. I found a small notebook in my office and decided to use it to begin keeping a daily record of my blessings at the end of each day. So far I have recorded three days but only every other day - and I know I need to get into the swing of writing down my blessings - remembering each evening to pay attention to my day.

Where will I keep my little notebook so I always remember? When will I make the time - right after brushing my teeth every night? If I do that, I can keep my notebook on my bathroom counter.

As you can tell I've set my intention to do this - now I'm working on how to make sure I do it. One step at a time...

Blessings to all my Unity family.

~ JEAN

Loving and Lovable

I’m sure it’s no coincidence that this is coming to the surface while I am in the process of facilitating a book discussion course on Myrtle Fillmore’s Healing Letters.  This morning I woke up feeling anxious, as I sometimes do.  In searching my mind for the source of my discomfort, I determined that I was anxious because I hadn’t completed an assignment on time for a class I am taking through Unity Worldwide Spiritual Institute.  In searching further, I concluded that it wasn’t as much the fact that the assignment was late that was causing me anxiety as it was that this particular instructor might be upset with me for not handing it in on time.  Every once in a while I become aware of the inordinate amount of time and energy I expend on a daily basis worrying that somebody might be upset with me.

I’m past the point of delving deep into my childhood memory banks to figure out what might have happened to me to make me behave this way.  I have done that work, and my conclusion is that it’s just as much my own nature as it is anything that my parents might have said or done to make me believe that I am only worthy of love if I do things perfectly.  I have three children, and only one of them shares this need-to-please character trait of mine.  Maybe I passed it on to him energetically, as perhaps my father passed it on to me.  Or maybe we all just came into the world with that inclination.  I think I have decided that ceaselessly analyzing this kind of thing gets me nowhere.

What I do know is that my worrying that people will be upset with me stems from a deep feeling of unworthiness, a feeling that I am somehow inherently unlovable.  The affirmation “I am a loving and lovable Child of God” seems to neutralize this error thinking.  So I use that affirmation to remind me of what’s true.  My feeling of unworthiness seems to be seated in my solar plexus.   I feel nauseous when I become aware of it.  So I breathe into that part of my body to help get the “stuck” energy moving again.

So what now?  I’m not sure there’s anything earth-shattering for me to do.  I’m just grateful for the awareness that this script is still playing in my background.  Every once in a while it comes to the surface for me to look at.  And when it does, I get an opportunity to adjust course a little.  Each time it rises into the light of day and is bathed in my awareness and attention, it loses a little of its power before it dives back down into my subconscious.  Maybe I’ll always have this script playing subtly in my background.  Who knows? But it doesn’t have to keep me from doing what’s mine to do.  Awareness is everything.  Spiritual principle is empowering.  I am a loving and lovable Child of God. 

And so are you.

~REBECCA  

Blessing My Bills? Yep!

When Rebecca decided to facilitate a book discussion on "Even Mystics Have Bills to Pay" in March and April earlier this year, I decided to participate. There was a group of us who showed up on six consecutive Monday nights.

"Even Mystics" is subtitled "Balancing a Spiritual Life and Earthly Living." The gist of the book for me is when I know that God is my Source and a consciousness (or awareness) of God is my supply I am taken care of. The book was written by Rev. Jim Rosemergy and consists of twelve chapters in three Sections plus Section Four is A Forty-Day Guide to Prosperous Living. I first finished the book and then on June 1st I began making my way through the Forty-Day Guide, not getting hung-up on proceeding literally over 40 days.

Today I'm writing about Day 29 in the Forty-Day Guide. It is titled:  Today I bless my bills and their payment. Rosemergy writes:

"When we are rich in Spirit, we pay our bills with joy. When we are poor, if we pay our bills, we often do so begrudgingly. The power company has supplied us with electricity for a month, allowing us to live in relative comfort and to do things associated with modern living, but we resent having to pay the bill. We have so many current needs, and what about tomorrow? We reluctantly mail the payment but wish we can use the money for another purpose. This attitude and behavior are signs of a consciousness of lack, a belief in a limited supply and fear of tomorrow. 

Many people have begun to pay their bills in a different way. In the lower left-hand corner of their checks where "For" is imprinted or on the bills they return with payment, they write, "Blessings" or "Thank you, God." They have received a service, so they give thanks. This does three things. It acknowledges God as the Source, expresses joy rather than resentment when paying bills, and establishes a giving state of mind. These are chief ingredients in the heart of a prosperous person."

Yesterday was bill paying day for me. Actually I had two bills and one membership to pay. The instructions in the lesson were for me to "write a simple blessing that expresses an attitude of thankfulness. Hold each bill or invoice or payment between your hands. Hold your hands prayerfully and speak aloud the blessing you have written. Do this whenever you pay a bill until thankfulness is a natural part of your way of being."

I wrote: Thank you, God within, for this organization and for the ability to easily and comfortably pay this bill or membership or gift. I am so blessed and I am so grateful.

I had never looked at my credit card bill or any of my bills in quite this way. I realized I am very grateful for the vet who takes care of my doggies, for the grocery stores where I buy the food and other supplies for my home, and for the service station that supplies the gasoline for my car so I can drive to my appointments, to visit friends, to attend meetings and many other things. These are just a few of the companies I appreciate that show up on my credit card bill.

I choose to be rich in Spirit and I pay my bills with joy. Thank you, God within.

~ JEAN