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Sunday
Message Let me start with a brief Bible lesson. What we call the bible (or biblios which is the Greek word for library) is a collection of books, which fall into two sections: the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament books record Jewish history as the Children of Israel discover the presence of God and unfold their relationship to the Lord they called Yahweh. Theirs is a varied history with many ups and downs, triumphs, challenges and reversals. But through it all the Israelites clung to their covenant relationship to Yahweh and anticipated the arrival of a Messiah that would finally bring God's promised rule to the earth. The New Testament books were compiled by people who believe that, in Jesus, the promise of a Deliverer, a Messiah, was fulfilled. These writings form the core belief shared by all Christians, and animates the expectation of God's Heavenly rule to be established on earth. Metaphysical Christianity, of which Unity is a part, believes that Jesus revealed the Messiah or Christ in Himself--not as something unique to Him, exclusively, but rather as a Universal Principle which He invited everyone to experience and express in their own lives just as He did in His. In Unity we believe in this revelation and in this promise, and we set our intention on allowing ourselves to experience more and more of that same state of consciousness. Our belief is that the"Second Coming" of Christ foretold in the New Testament, is not a return of Jesus, the man. Rather, the second coming is Christ consciousness in YOU and me--experienced on earth in individual consciousness. It is as we allow the Christ principle to express in us, through us, and as us in the world, that we bring more of the Kingdom of Heaven into manifestation here and now. Our Unity view is that the whole of the Bible--both Old and New Testaments --depicts the symbolic journey of the soul as it progress through stages of unfolding consciousness. Like the Bible characters, we live along a spectrum of awareness of our relationship to Source Energy. Wherever we may find ourselves in our life, we can discover similar circumstances in the lives of the personages in the Scriptures, and through their example, find understanding, inspiration and guidance for our own lives. At the high end of our emotional scale are the wonderful times when we feel utterly connected to Source, one with the Source, loved and empowered by Source Energy, free to live a joyful, creative and fulfilling life--as did Jesus. We feel a sense of empowerment and freedom as we set our intention on fulfillment of the spiritual mission to which we agreed before coming here. WeÊcame to the leading edge to experience more and more of the joy and creativity of a Child of the Infinite Source. This condition is depicted in the New Testament as a New Jerusalem state of consciousness. Rev. 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from Source. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, "Look, God's home is now among his people! Source will live with them. God himself will be with them. We have all had times of feeling totally carried by a current of love and wisdom empowering and guiding us to manifest our heartfelt desire for more good. We felt the presence of Sustaining Source energy and experienced joy and ease as we interacted effectively in the world. At those times, it is like clicking into auto pilot, going with the flow, progressing smoothly, creating more happiness and fulfillment in alignment with the universal current, regardless of outer circumstances. The seamless connection to the Source feels good and we are learning to pay attention to it. We are spiritual energy--consciousness vibrating. We are getting our bearings in the manifest realm and noticing that life at the Leading Edge--is a constantly changing thing. Sometimes we are up, sometimes down. At the lower end of the emotional scale, from time to time people may live in the overwhelming feeling that the Power is outside of them, opposing them. They project power upon as some external authority, a person or condition, and in that resistant state they experience bondage and long for their deliverance, For the Jewish people the desire was for liberation from the Egyptians, from the Babylonians, from the Romans. Lots of Old Testament stories have the recurring theme of liberation from captivity. It's symbolic, but we have all been there, feeling stuck and disempowered. They say that all Jewish religious celebrations boil down to the same thing: "We struggled. We endured. We survived. Let's eat!" At this time in our evolution, we are discovering that we were created with an Emotional Guidance System which unfailingly reveals our relationship to Source Energy from moment to moment. We are observing that our emotions always disclose how much Source Energy we are letting in, how much we are allowing to flow through us at any given time. We are also learning that we have the power to deliberately reset our emotional gauge and allow more Source Energy IN. We can move up the emotional scale, no matter where we find ourselves. We can deliberately eliminate resistance and allow more of the Source Energy to express. As Jesus taught and demonstrated: We make peace with where we are and tend to our feelings of oneness with the Source, just as He did. We tune in, tap in and turn on! As deliberate co-creators, we have the same authority to make a difference. The realm of contrast is continually awakening preference in us. Some desires are stronger than others and charged with summoning power and launch rockets of desire that set our intention and determine our desired course. However, there a times when having set a course, we may have second thoughts and begin to engage in a systems check-up. Or we find ourselves at a moment of choice and freeze, hesitate and not choose at all. We may be confused and uncertain about where to go next, what to do next. In those circumstances we may be unsure if we have correctly understood the intuitive leading that is guiding our desires. Or we may begin to lose energy to the outer circumstances and see them as insurmountable and unmoveable. That's when we can allow one of the Old Testament characters to show how he clarified his guidance, so he could proceed with confidence and assurance. A man named Gideon demonstrates an effective process for confirming guidance that we call "casting a fleece." Most of you have heard me mention this technique which I use very frequently. For others it will be new. Today I want to remind each of you to use the casting a fleece method in your own life when you are at a crossroads and eager to figure out which is the right path for you. Like other spiritual tools, this works if you work it, and it won't if you don't. This is the Old Testament account in the Book of Judges:7: For seven years the children of Israel were oppressed by a neighboring tribe--the Midianites. At harvest time, Midianite henchmen came with their camels and ate up the crops. They were so many of them that when they left, the land was bare, with no food for man or the animals. The children of Israel cried out to God and wanted to know why this great trouble had come upon them, and He sent them a prophet to tell them that it was because they had not obeyed Him and had begin to worship other gods, and for this they were being punished. There was a man among the Israelites who did not worship any but Yahweh. His name was Gideon. One day an angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon and said, "The Lord is with you, mighty man of valor and you have been chosen to save Israel." Gideon immediately summoned a great army together. But, before he set out to save Israel, he wanted to be sure that he was really the one chosen to do it, so he said to God: "If I am the one chosen to this task, I should like a sign. I will put this fleece of wool upon the earth. If the dew forms on the fleece, but not on the earth, I will know that it is indeed so." God did so that night. But Gideon was still doubtful. So he asked for another sign. "This time I will put the wool on the floor, and if tomorrow the fleece is dry but the floor all around it is wet, then I will know for sure that the Lord will deliver us." Again it came to pass just as Gideon had asked. He returned to his army, and prepared for the battle. But God told him that his army was far too large, and he asked Gideon to send home all who were fearful and afraid. So twenty-two thousand went home, and ten thousand remained. Then Yahweh said that the army was still too large, told Gideon to bring the soldiers to the stream to drink water and send home all who got on their knees and drank directly from the river, lapping the water like dogs. Gideon was left with only three hundred men. Now go and fight the Midianites, God told him, in this way you will know for certain that it is I, the Lord, who wins the battle. The casting a fleece method is a way for us to confirm our guidance, so we can proceed without doubt or hesitation and dismantle the "I'm not sure" resistance that may come up. I learned this technique from Reverend Hypatia Hasbrouck, who includes this method in her Unity book, The Handbook of Positive Prayer, and it is simple: These are the instructions for Casting a Fleece:1)Relax and turn within and yield to Inner Wisdom. Determine to the best of your ability what is the right direction for you in the matter at hand. 2)Once you have formulated your decision, ask Source Energy for a sign to confirm your guidance, and wait till you "get one". 3)Determine the timing for receiving the sign you have agreed upon, and stay alert for its appearance. 4) If the sign comes by the time stipulated, take it as assurance that you are proceeding correctly and allow your summoning energy to flow, freely and joyfully. 5) If the fleece is not confirmed, accept this as a sign that there is a better choice and direction in the matter. Re-start the process to seek confirmation for the new decision. So here it is, again: Relax. Make the best choice possible. Ask for a sign that will confirm that decision in a timely way. Pay attention. Let it come. The first time I cast a fleece was during my first semester at Unity Ministerial School. I wanted to be assured that in spite of some of the contradictions I was observing at the Village, that I was in my right place. I asked for a sign and settled on hearing loud bells go off. I forgot all about it, and then weeks later, while in the basement parking of my apartment, a woman came up to me to ask if I was the new Unity minister in the building. She told me that her family was Baptist, but that they often called Silent Unity for prayer support. Then she asked me: "What made you answer the call to ministry?" I began to explain all my Unity studies and how I treasured the teachings as something I valued and wanted to share with others. Just then the Catholic church a block away starting ringing their bells calling people to mass. The loud sounds resonated and reverberated through the garage, as I was speaking and sharing my commitment to ministry. Of course, when I put two and two together, I started tearing up with the realization that my fleece was being answered right in that moment. Since that time, I have never doubted the rightness of my call to Unity ministry. Even when confronting challenges, I never question if I am in my right place. Spirit clarified that for me and I accepted the answer joyfully. Now
I use the Fleece method to confirm my guidance and have had amazing responses,
so I encourage everyone to use this spiritual tool. Allow Source Energy
to illumine your choices and confirm your guidance, and proceed with clarity,
peace, joy and confidence. It works, if you work it! To
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