Back to the Garden

How many times have you heard someone bring up the question: what is my purpose? Have you ever thought about that question? Do we have a purpose?

In today's episode, we finish our review of Unity's Five Principles with a look at Principle #5 and a general overview of the Principles.

In this episode, I will focus on Principle #5 which essentially is “walking the walk”. That is to say, putting the knowledge we have of the principles to work in our lives. Join us this week as we conclude our review of Unity’s Five Principles.

In the episode, we continue our review of Unity's Five Basic Principles with a look at principle #4 which states: prayer is creative thinking that heightens the connection with God-Mind and therefore brings forth wisdom, healing, prosperity and everything good.

In this episode, we continue our discussion of Unity’s Five Principles with Principle 3 which states: “Human beings create their experiences by the activity of their thinking”

Unity has Five Basic Principles that summarize our entire philosophy, our theology.

In her book about the Five Principles, Rev. Ellen Debenport writes: "As well as offering tools for daily living, The Five Principles suggest answers to the great questions of existence that humans have been asking since the dawn of conscious awareness."

The Five Principles are:

#1: God is absolute good, everywhere present.

#2: Human beings are created in the image of God and our very essence is divine; therefore, we are inherently good.

#3: Human beings create our life experiences through our thoughts and our beliefs.

#4: Through affirmative prayer and meditation, we align with God (Source) and bring out the good in our lives.

#5: I do and give my best by living the truth I know. I make a difference.

If we were to express these in a concise manner, they might be something like this: GOD IS, I AM, I think (create), I pray (align), I act!

Based on these principles, Unity's view of God, man and our "relationship" is quite different from that of traditional Christianity.

In particular, the concept behind second principle. Of this idea Ralph Waldon Emerson wrote: the greatest revelation is that God is in every man.

In this episode, we examine principle #2: Human beings are created in the image of God and our very essence is divine; therefore, we are inherently good.

These next two weeks, Unity Spiritual Center Georgetown will be conducting new membership classes. In order to become a member of any Unity center it is not necessary to believe any particular dogma or creed. We do this for a specific reason. We teach and appreciate an open mind, and an open heart. We do so because we know that every moment is a new moment, and every day our consciousness expands as a result of the experience of the day.

Unity co-founder, Charles Fillmore, never wrote down anything for the first twenty years of Unity’s existence. His reasoning was: the person I am today, is not the person I will be tomorrow. He knew that to hold a steadfast set of beliefs was, and is, a limitation contrary to life’s unlimited nature.

Eventually, he was persuaded to compile some kind of “theology” for the sake of passing on this new understanding of the relationship between God and Mankind. A number of books were written as a result of this effort. It was part of the birth of the New Thought Movement.

Many years later, Connie Fillmore Bazzy, great-grand daughter of Charles, was asked if she could summarize Unity teachings for a Daily Word article back when she was the president of Unity school in Kansas City. She came up with five principles that since have become the cornerstone of our teachings.

These Five Principles are:

1. God is absolute good, everywhere present.

2. Human beings are created in that image of God and our very essence is divine; therefore, we are inherently good.

3. We create our life experiences through our thoughts and beliefs.

4. Through affirmative prayer and meditation, we connect with God and bring out the good in our lives.

5. I do and give my best by living the Truth I know. I make a difference.

In his book: Meeting Jesus (Again) for the First Time, biblical scholar and professor, Rev. Marcus Borg presents us with a different view of one of the most influential people in  western civilization.

We, in the west, have all “met” Jesus. The image we have of him is largely dependent on the religious, or non-religious, background we come from. The book presents us with an overview of these images as well as a view from the scholars.

One review notes: “In this small, but eloquent and learned book, Borg directs his readers, especially those who have found no meaningful image of Jesus, away from confessed doctrines about Jesus (what the gospels and the churches say about Him) and toward a relationship with the Spirit of God.”

In Unity we believe there is a major difference between the life and teachings of Jesus, and the story created about Jesus which ultimately became tradition.

According to Rev. Borg, the traditional view of Jesus, as the "Christ of Faith" the only Son of God, who died for the sins of the world, was a view Jesus would have found foreign.

Rev. Borg aims to present us with a new image of Jesus not commonly known. Jesus as a teacher who’s central purpose was to show us how to know God as an experiential reality.

Join me this episode as we meet Jesus (again) for the first time.

This episode I will cover the first of a two-part series on a book by Unity Minister Robert Brumet titled: “Birthing A Greater Reality, A Guide For Conscious Evolution”. The conversation continues with the questions: where are we (spiritually), where are we going, and how do we get there?

Brumet’s book is divided into three sections. Chapters 1 and 2 focus on the big picture of who we are and our history. Chapters 3, 4, and 5 parallel this approach, but the focus is on the personal level. Chapter 6 integrates our understanding of global evolution with the wisdom derived from our personal transformation.

In the book Rev. Brumet brings up the ideas of three very influential authors/philosophers: Henri Bergson, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, and Ken Wilber. Influential that is, if you are familiar with them.

I would like to believe that we are at the point of birthing a greater reality for our community and those whose lives we touch. Our fundamental belief is that there IS a greater reality, and we must ever be open to the awareness and expression of that consciousness. Unity offers a distinctly unique approach to spirituality. Our open-mind and open-heart approach puts us in a receptive mode towards that end.

Join me for this episode as we continue to explore ways to ever expand our awareness as individuals and as a humanity into a higher reality.

This episode is based on two ideas. The first is the concept of integral theory as developed by American Philosopher and mystic, Ken Wilbur. The second on a book by Rev. Paul Smith applying the integral approach to Christianity. The title is: “Integral Christianity, The Spirit’s Call to Evolve.”

From Ken Wilbur (the innovator of integral thought) comes this: “The word integral means comprehensive, inclusive, non-marginalizing, embracing. Integral approaches to any field attempt to be exactly that—to include as many perspectives, styles, and methodologies as possible within a coherent view of the topic. In a certain sense integral approaches are “meta-paradigms” or ways to draw together an already existing number of separate paradigms into a network of interrelated mutually enriching perspectives”

In simple English, it means taking existing points of view and bringing them together to form a BIGGER, broader point of view! Basically, it’s making a bigger puzzle using smaller puzzles.

From the forward, by Jim Marion, comes this: “[Rev. Smith’s book] sets forth the evolutionary stages of human spiritual development. It also explains the three stages of human spiritual development as well as the three standpoints through which humans experience the reality of God”.

In his introduction to the book, Rev. Paul says, “We all wear glasses, our glasses are our worldview. The lens through which I now look at Christianity had not taken shape and did not have a name 50 years ago…. What if there is a Christian path that more closely follows Jesus than many of us have seen in the past? What if it is possible to hear the continuing voice of the Spirit as Jesus promised?”