Love Trumps Fear

Well, it’s official.  Donald Trump will be sworn in as President of the United States of America on Friday, January 20^th.  The Electoral College cast their ballots yesterday, and it comes as no surprise that they upheld the decision that they made on November 8^th to elect Mr. Trump to the highest leadership post in the nation.

As I look back to that fateful Tuesday in November, I can vividly recall the sinking feeling I experienced as the numbers began rolling in.  My uneasiness gave way to a wave of intense panic when it became clear to me that my least favorite candidate in the history of candidates actually had a chance of taking the White House from my favorite President in my lifetime of Presidents. And finally a feeling of deep sadness washed over me as the inevitability of Mr. Trump’s win began to sink in and thoughts of the hatred and bigotry that have been stirred up by this contentious election rattled around in my brain.  

When I woke up on November 9^th, I was confused and afraid.  Despite my best efforts to see a silver lining, I still went through a period of heightened fear and anxiety, compounded by a sense of profound grief.  I thank my lucky stars for the foundation of spiritual teachings I have gradually absorbed over the course of this lifetime because with the help of those spiritual principles it didn't taken me too long to come back (mostly) to my Center.

Let’s face it – I can’t believe that God is everywhere present and all-knowing and all-loving and still be terrified of the results of this election.  I can’t believe that all is in Divine Order while maintaining that Donald Trump’s presidency is a mistake. I can’t believe that we are all growing constantly and endlessly toward the Light and at the same time believe that any President somehow has the power to cast us all into darkness.  I can’t believe that the Christ is present and active everywhere and in everything and look at Donald Trump as anything less than a child of God.  It isn’t possible for me to truly live the spiritual principles I have been learning and at the same time be completely undone by the results of this election.

On January 20^th, Donald Trump is going to be President of the United States of America.  That is a fact.  And on January 20^th, I will continue to practice the spiritual principles that I believe make the world a better place.  I will continue to practice being loving and kind and present.  I will continue to focus on the good – in my family, in my community, in the world.  I will continue to find ways to be of service to others.  I will continue to cultivate an awareness of God’s presence in my life.  I will continue to hold a vision for a world where everybody has the same opportunity to reach his/her divine potential.  I will continue to use my voice to speak out for what I believe is true and just.  

No matter who is in the Oval Office, no matter who is in the House or the Senate or in the Executive Cabinet, Love is at the helm.  Love is the highest law.  And we are Love’s hands and feet.  We make the difference – in the way we carry ourselves, in the way we speak and act toward one another, in the way we live our divine purpose in the world. And as we continue to be the Love we wish to see expressed in the world, we will continue to experience Love abundantly in our lives. 

God bless America.  

~REBECCA

A Light Bulb Moment

I've been picking my nails lately. This is a signal to me that I'm anxious about something. When I finally paid attention in early September, I set aside some time to just sit and think and write.

My resulting list (remember I'm a list maker) included:

• Hot humid summer. Will it ever end? I have no get up and go. I'm always hot and sweaty. I'm miserable.
• Sore right foot. Will it ever get better? What can I do about it? Will I ever get to hike again? I'm in pain and I'm miserable.
• Going to physical therapy doesn't seem to be helping. But ... I have discovered I've lost flexibility in my joints. My ankle is weak. What should I do about that? 
• I know I need aerobic activity for my fitness. (See my foot problem.)
• Is there enough money for my future? I'm afraid there isn't. I'm scared.

My list ended with: I'm paralyzed with fear. I need to Golden Key all of this!

I had lunch with a friend later in September, a couple weeks after writing this list. I was telling her a little bit about it and she said that it sounded to her like I was fearing the future and that I needed to find some way to stay in the present.

That was like a light bulb going on in my head.

And since the middle of September I have been thinking about the present and how I am going to meet each day. Then on October 15, I turned my daily calendar "Simplicity. Inspiration for a simple life." The picture was a placid river with tall golden grass in the background and two rowboats in the foreground. The message was a quote by Buddha:

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.

I have a loner part of my personality. I love being alone and quiet. I like spending time in my sitting room at home writing, playing a game on my phone, reading or even just sitting quietly. When I get upset, the most important thing for me is regain my peace. I look around for it and then remember it's in me; it's been in me all along.

I've been asking friends about good books to read about staying present. If you have any ideas, let me know.

In the meantime, I know that my peace comes from within me. And all is well.

~ JEAN

Teachable Moments

Recently I received an important reminder from my oldest child.  I was in the middle of a negative rant about the things that were currently “broken” in my life – my broken laptop, my broken car, my broken house.  I was laughing as I spouted on, but I was completely unaware of the impact my words were having on my teenage children, who were riding in the car with me at the time.  At the end of a particularly toxic sentence, my oldest child (17 years old) said, “Mom!  Be impeccable with your word.”  His advice snapped me out of my runaway train of thought.  

“Thank you, Avery,” I said.  “Can you remind me of what that means?”  I knew he would have a wise answer because he is studying The Four Agreements in his Y.O.U. class at Unity.  

“It means you should only use your words for good.”  He went on to say that he has noticed I have been a bit less positive in the last year or so (whoa).  And that was all he had to share.  

I thanked him for giving me such a valuable piece of advice, and the conversation was over, but his words have really stuck with me.  When I find myself slipping into a negative frame of mind and being tempted to allow my mouth to follow suit, I think of Avery.  

I am so thankful that my children are as well-versed in the Unity principles as I am.  Not only because it makes them excellent at at holding me accountable, but especially because their Unity upbringing puts them well on the path to living empowered, fulfilling lives of their own – despite any negativity that life (or their knucklehead mother) might throw their way.  

~Rebecca 

My Lists - Part 2

I love my daily calendar of The Little World of Liz Climo. This comic appeared right after I wrote "My Lists" post.

For the sloth "hang from a tree branch" is the best. And then "relax" completes the picture.

I totally agree that I need to and, in fact, it's okay to include "relax" on my to-do lists for personal well-being. Enjoy!

My Lists

I'm a list person. I have scratch paper all over our house so I can write lists when the ideas come to me. Some of the lists are what I need to do around the house. Some are errands I need to do out and about town. I have shopping lists and study lists. These are "to-do" lists. I get a lot done because of my lists. (And of course I get to cross items off when I've accomplished them.)

Last Wednesday evening I made a list of what I wanted to accomplish at Unity the next day. "renewal member info update" was about adding all the contact information from our membership contact cards onto our Excel spreadsheet so we can create a merge document for each Unity Spiritual Center voting member to approve and update as necessary. (I got that done.)

Another to-do list was about my upcoming trip to Illinois to see my mom and the rest of my Illinois family. "email Wes" was to remind me to ask my brother-in-law Wes if he could pick me up at the airport and to send him my flight information. (Driving from O’Hare Airport to my mom’s house with Wes is always a treat - we get to spend 40 minutes or so one on one catching up.)

I've been putting "write" on my lists for a long time now - months or maybe even years. But I haven't been doing much writing.

Also for quite awhile I have been seeking guidance for what's next for me. I have posted about that a couple times. I've been waiting patiently for the guidance to appear, believing, actually knowing, that it will come at the right time and place.

An answer came to me last Thursday morning: I need to be more specific about what I mean by "write" when I put it on my list. As I thought about that I realized that I’ve read many times about how to accomplish a goal: break it down into manageable pieces. Do one at a time and the next thing you know the project is done. So one of my most recent lists says: "write for 20-30 minutes about the next five letters from my dad." Now that's specific, it commits me to a finite amount of time and will be easy to accomplish.

In other words: I can do that.

~ JEAN

The Wisdom of the Tortoise

My new goal is to be the tortoise . .

Mindful,
slow,
one thing at a time,
breathing,
paying attention,
being present,
not rushing,
it's not a race . . .

I have long been the hare,
hurrying,
to and fro,
frenetic,
harried.
exhausted,
scattered . . . 

It's time to try a different way,
slow,
steady,
wise,
connected,
focused
present . . .

I'm tapping in to my inner tortoise. . .



~REBECCA

Everything I Need

I'm still grappling with the idea that a human need is not an avenue through which God can work - that God does not fulfill needs.  I first read it in Jim Rosemergy's book The Gathering:

"This gut-wrenching fact is obvious.  Whatever God is doing, God is always doing it.  Spirit does not rest from Its creation.  There is no vacation or furlough for God.  If God could end the wars that plague the earth, it would be done.  If the Almighty could end the pandemics, they would be no more.  The hard truth is this: God does not fulfill needs."

I have read this many times since, in many different forms, and it seems to go against everything I came to believe when I first began attending Unity seventeen years ago.  Doesn't God answer prayer?  Won't God take care of my needs? Isn't it true that if I just think positive thoughts, all good things will come to me?  Isn't this what Unity teaches?  Even though my experience says otherwise, I want to continue to believe that God will handle my affairs for me.  After all, this relieves me of the heavy burden of having to take responsibility for my own life.

If it's true that God doesn't fulfill needs, then how will my needs get met?  This is the urgent question that lingers in the back of my mind day in and day out, especially when I am in the midst of a challenge or crisis.  I can hear the little child within me asking, in a panic,  "What if I don't know what to do?  If I can't count on God to take care of things, then who can I count on?  Am I all alone in the world?"

I don't believe that I am flying solo through this lifetime.  I still have faith in an all-loving, all-knowing, ever-present God.   And I believe, as Unity teaches, that this God resides in me and that all of God's qualities are also present within me.  My needs serve a purpose, and that purpose is to turn me toward God.  When I release my needs and turn toward God - when I cultivate an awareness of that all-loving, all-knowing Presence - I learn that I have everything I require to maneuver through even the stickiest of life's situations.  Like a loving parent, God is with me and supporting me at all times.  But it is up to me to live my own life and to handle my own affairs.

I have come, kicking and screaming, to the conclusion that my greatest ally is my mind.  By developing a state of mindfulness and by continuously seeking a greater awareness of God's presence, I can maintain a connection to the Source of my own deepest wisdom and authentic power and I can access the very qualities I need to navigate the ups and downs of this human life.


~REBECCA