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Sunday
Message The word Advent means a coming into being or use, as in the advent of Spring, or the advent of personal computers. "Advent" is also the name given by the traditional Christian church to the weeks before Christmas observed as season of prayer, followed by anticipation, hope and joy. Last week, I shared that in Unity our Christmas celebration emphasizes the birth of Christ consciousness in each one of us. We anticipate an individual awakening of our own Spiritual identity as we kindle the aspiration to express our Christ nature using Jesus as our model. A Unity celebration has all the warmth, joy and reverence of the traditional observances and takes Christmas deeper to make it personal, interior and mystical. The Bible tells us that when the Angels came to shepherds to announce the holy birth they declared: "We bring you Good news that shall be a great joy to all the people." During his ministry, Jesus affirmed: Jo 15:10 "I have taught you these things so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete." And in The Epistles, the Apostle Paul exhorted his followers: "Be joyful always; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit's fire." Joy and love are essential aspects of the Jesus Christ teachings, but over the centuries orthodox religion has shifted the emphasis from the joy of Jesus, to His blood sacrifice and atonement. Most of us are still carrying some of that perspective as our religious baggage from the past. For some people the emphasis on feeling good and having fun, which we have received from the Abraham-Hicks teachings, seems almost sacrilegious, heretical or unrighteous. There is something in most of us that says "I don't think I should allow my life to be absolutely easy," because a part of us seems to want to justify our existence by a little bit of struggle... as if it's not right for us to have any great success in life without, at least, a little bit of suffering. After all, look at how Jesus suffered! The official orthodoxy is: suffer now, here on earth, and enjoy yourself later in Heaven. But the Abraham message is, no suffering is of any value. You don't have to go the hard way to things; instead emphasize everything that feels good. The premise that so many people come from is that good isn't natural; that good must be demanded or manipulated or orchestrated, that it must be earned to be deserved. And yet WE say that there is only One Presence and One Power in the Universe and in our life--God the Good. Good IS natural! Good is the only Stream that flows. Abraham teaches: "Feeling good is what is most natural to you. And so, anything that anyone wants, whether it's a material object, a relationship, a state of being, or a pot of money... anything... ....anything you want is because you think, in the having of it, you would feel better...You have this natural barometer inside of you that is always helping you reach for an improved feeling. No matter what the issue is, don't try to justify why you don't feel good. And don't try to justify why you should feel differently. Don't try to blame whatever it is you think is the reason that's keeping you from feeling good. All of that is wasted effort. Just try to feel better right now. Keep yourself in a place of feeling good. Reach for the thought that feels better -- and watch what happens. Emily Cady, one of the earliest teachers in Unity, explains in the book Lesson in Truth: "In reality God is forever in process of movement within us, that He may manifest Himself (all-Good) more fully through us. Every person in his heart desires, though he may not yet quite know it, this new birth into a higher life, into spiritual consciousness. Everyone wants more power, more good, more joy. And though to the unawakened mind it may seem that it is more money as money, or more goods that he wants, it is, nevertheless, more of good (God) that he craves; for all good is God." Abraham encourages us to expand our thinking and feelings of worthiness and empowerment. The message is: "All the resources you will ever want or need are at your fingertips. Many years ago I took a workshop in which the facilitator asked this simple question: "Would it be OK with you if your life was easier?" The question was not, "Do you know how to do it? or "Do you think you can do it?" It was simply, "Would it be OK with you? Are you willing to have your life BE easier?" The process offered for this shift was to become conscious of, and begin dismantling the subconscious pattern that has been running us from about age five--our basic assumption about how the world is, how I am, and how I am to live in the world. By looking and seeing and telling the Truth, the workshop participants uncovered what had been unconscious, hidden programming.These Assumptions ranged from: I'm not good enough; there's something wrong with me; I can't; I'm not sure; and life is hard!" We all pick up that misinformation from our family, from our culture, and also from our earliest exposure to religious indoctrination. These self-defeating patterns become a structure of knowing that imprisons us in self-imposed limitations. No wonder that Jesus announced at the beginning of His ministry, Lk 4 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed." Abraham offers a similar message: "There is nothing you cannot be or do or have. You are blessed Beings; you have come forth into this physical environment to create. There is nothing holding you back, other than your own contradictory thought. And your emotion tells you when you're doing that. Life is supposed to be fun--it is supposed to feel good! You are powerful Creators and right on schedule. Savor more; fix less. Laugh more; cry less. Anticipate positively more; anticipate negatively less. Nothing is more important than that you feel good. Just practice that and watch what happens." Good is the only Stream that flows. But IT must be asked for, and it must be expected.Worthiness, in very simple terms, means, that we have found a way to let the Energy reach us, the Energy that is natural, reach us. As simple as that sounds, the fact is that it takes practice to realign ourselves with joy and celebration after years of living in states of self-abnegation that we were taught were spiritual virtues. That's why we are encouraged to practice the Art of Allowing--and like other arts it does take practice.That is why I encourage you to use the simple, playful processes presented in the Abraham-Hicks material. They serve to shift us into life more joyful & abundant. We can each claim our Spiritual inheritance as a child of God, beloved and worthy in God's sight. Awakening to BOUNDLESS JOY and well-being is the REALLY Good News of a UNITY Christmas. Allow yourself to receive the gifts of your spiritual inheritance of Good from the only Stream that flows. These gifts must be asked for, and they must be expected, and they must be allowed. Be willing to have your life be easier and more fun. Have
a true Unity Christmas and share your love and boundless joy! To
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