goodness

June 14, 2015 – The Future of Religion

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06/14/15 Dr. Matthew Fox
The Future of Religion

Ancient as the home is the temple… as the workbench is the altar… Older than written language is spoken prayer; older than painting is the thought of a nameless one… diverse symbols represent that which stands beyond and within. Yet…heart communicates with heart. —“An Eternal Verity” by Waldemar Argow

The question of our time is where are we going with religion? Since the Age of Enlightenment, effectiveness is the measure of everything. But even Einstein said there are 2 powers of the human mind—intellect and intuition, and not to overvalue the intellectual.

Howard Thurman, a great mystic and the genius behind the Civil Rights movement, wrote, “man builds his little shelters …his little altars, and worships his little gods.” But ultimately, each is a human soul stripped to its substance before God.

Are our altars too little? The altar is an archetype; it’s a focusing device. What altar are we taught to worship at today? Wall Street rather than Main street? The altar of human anthropocentrism? In California we are rediscovering how sacred water is. Let us learn how not to take water for granted. Maybe there is only one sin—“taking for granted”. Do we worship at the altar of the divine feminine/sacred masculine or at the altar of the toxic masculine? Rigid sexual roles or of sexual preference?

Rene Descartes, the father of Western philosophy, threw out the philosophy of aesthetics and beauty, of art, music. Our societies are controlled by our reptilian brain. The reptilian brain is win/lose and power trips. But when you wrestle with an alligator, there’s only one winner.

Thomas Aquinas said the reason for the universe was joy—God’s and ours. —That the noblest aesthetic is joy. Do you worship at the altar of joy? Or at the altar of addiction? Society is very good at selling addiction—drugs, sex, shopping. The alternative is the god of freedom. Aquinas said that God is the artist of artists. Every artist loves his painting, every singer her song. How could God, artist of everything, hate anything?

Do you worship the god of comfort and couch-potato-itis? I don’t believe Jesus ever said, “Blessed are the comfortable.” Act on your moral outrage, turn your passion into compassion; into a fire within. Aquinas said nothing great was ever done without anger, but we’re told to sit on our anger and eat potato chips ’til we burst. Meister Eckhart spoke of the “spark of the soul”, the manger inside of us where the Christ is born. It is yourself, your work, everything you do.

I’ve boiled the prophetic work of our time down to what I call the four E’s. First is Ecumenism. Unity has always been open to it. Ecology is an obvious E; for not so obvious reasons Economics is too. It is time we have an economy that works, not just for the 1%, but for all the two legged people, and all the four legged, and all that fly in the sky or swim in the sea. We are capable of an altar that large!

The fourth E is Education. Bring the intuitive brain back! Art, celebration, the joy of life and of creativity.

The new monasticism is to step from old religions and secular cynicism. We can all be contemplative, active spiritual warriors. Howard Thurman says we can move to a God as big as the universe and invite our hearts to grow as big as the universe, too. “God is delighted to watch your souls enlarge,” says Meister Eckhart.
 

May 3, 2015 – Secret to Greater Spiritual Growth

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05/03/15 Rev. David McArthur
Secret To Greater Spiritual Growth

I saw how my parents grew by sharing with others what was valuable to them. Every time we give spiritual support to another we open ourselves to spiritual growth. When I was drawn to Unity, I found it was all right to be appreciative of different ways to grow. But it was a while before I could share because I carried pain from my experiences. I had to heal. So often the first inflow of spiritual energy goes to healing. I had to fill to overflowing before I could share. That’s when it becomes the instrument of our growth. It’s a spiritual truth. It must happen. That beautiful flow through us is a principle which always works. This overflowing energy draws to us those who are quickened by it (but there are those in our lives we know not to share it with).

Jesus spoke this truth: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” He was not so much teaching as sharing a truth, and it’s more about the attitude you use is the attitude it will be given to you.
Lao Tsu, “If you want to be given everything give everything up.” When we give beyond ourselves, when we give up “it’s mine”, we open to the flow. “To be lived by the Tao,” the divine presence, is to be living by what’s most important to us. Then can we be taken to who we really are. Every time we give we give to ourselves.

Walking aimlessly in Reno, Sherry Maddox was awed by an astounding sunset. She wanted to share it, but everyone just shuffled by. So she grabbed a saleslady just inside a store and insisted she step out to see the sunset. They looked for several seconds when Sherry said, “God is in his heaven and all’s right with the world.” A few years later, divorced and living in a trailer park, Sherry was doing her laundry in the laundry room. She picked up a Unity magazine and read a story by a saleslady that had been pulled out into the street in Reno to see a gorgeous sunset. The lady wrote that the truth that was shared with her turned her life around. That turned Sherry’s life around! It comes back!

It’s a heart commitment, not with everyone, but those who value it. I share freely and I receive joyously! I share freely and I receive joyously! I share freely and I receive joyously! It comes back! What a way to live! It unfolds again and again. We really are one, and we know who we are giving to. What a delightful way to live!

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May 3, 2015 – Secret to Greater Spiritual Growth

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05/03/15 Rev. David McArthur
Secret To Greater Spiritual Growth

I saw how my parents grew by sharing with others what was valuable to them. Every time we give spiritual support to another we open ourselves to spiritual growth. When I was drawn to Unity, I found it was all right to be appreciative of different ways to grow. But it was a while before I could share because I carried pain from my experiences. I had to heal. So often the first inflow of spiritual energy goes to healing. I had to fill to overflowing before I could share. That’s when it becomes the instrument of our growth. It’s a spiritual truth. It must happen. That beautiful flow through us is a principle which always works. This overflowing energy draws to us those who are quickened by it (but there are those in our lives we know not to share it with).

Jesus spoke this truth: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” He was not so much teaching as sharing a truth, and it’s more about the attitude you use is the attitude it will be given to you.

Lao Tsu, “If you want to be given everything give everything up.” When we give beyond ourselves, when we give up “it’s mine”, we open to the flow. “To be lived by the Tao,” the divine presence, is to be living by what’s most important to us. Then can we be taken to who we really are. Every time we give we give to ourselves.

Walking aimlessly in Reno, Sherry Maddox was awed by an astounding sunset. She wanted to share it, but everyone just shuffled by. So she grabbed a saleslady just inside a store and insisted she step out to see the sunset. They looked for several seconds when Sherry said, “God is in his heaven and all’s right with the world.” A few years later, divorced and living in a trailer park, Sherry was doing her laundry in the laundry room. She picked up a Unity magazine and read a story by a saleslady that had been pulled out into the street in Reno to see a gorgeous sunset. The lady wrote that the truth that was shared with her turned her life around. That turned Sherry’s life around! It comes back!

It’s a heart commitment, not with everyone, but those who value it. I share freely and I receive joyously! I share freely and I receive joyously! I share freely and I receive joyously! It comes back! What a way to live! It unfolds again and again. We really are one, and we know who we are giving to. What a delightful way to live!

April 26, 2015 – Discover The Goodness

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04/26/15 Rev. David McArthur
Discover The Goodness

We speak and study the truth that divinity is omnipresent and absolute goodness. To step into it as our reality happens step by step. Then we have an experience where we wonder “where is God in all of this?”

When she was about 20, Susan got a German Shepherd she named Kisha, and they became best buddies. Kisha was bright and learned quickly and Susan could take her anywhere. Susan and Kisha began to teach dog training. Kisha loved the dramatic parts like playing a dog showing her teeth about to bite. But Kisha got mouth cancer and the pain made that difficult. Still she remained enthusiastic. Eventually even running and playing were painful and Kisha slowed down, but her enthusiasm still remained. When Susan had to finally release Kisha from her life of pain, the dog seemed to know what it was all about, and still there was complete trust. Kisha reached out her paw to Susan’s arm. Susan couldn’t see God in all this. Then Susan herself developed a tumor in her mouth. Later, cancer free for two years, she saw how there had been amazing goodness and love in Kisha’s experience to teach her that it was all goodness.

It is hard to see that goodness. Rumi wrote, “you dwell in this hall of images and illusion… Leave this house now and be silent.” We get caught up in what our brain sees as valid. The brain does not see the absolute goodness. So leave this “house”, this right/wrong, this duality. Say “God is Good All The Time!” Keep the mind silent. When we are able to take a hold of the divine goodness, the mind stills. Breathe that feeling. Be conscious of it. Breathe the goodness. The nature of the divine is wholeness. Our challenge is to step into it. Breathe goodness. “The light enters the darkness and fills all… You will have the Lord for an everlasting light… Greater than the day (sun) or the night (moon).” The Quran: “God is the light of the heavens and earth…like a …lamp within a crystal… Light upon light.”

The farther we go within we enter into light. That radiance within, the light of the heavens, the goodness within ourselves opening to infinite levels of expression. The wholeness is already given. Opening to this goodness we don’t know the form but are open to all possibilities, to infinite means of expression. It doesn’t mean there are no challenges. When we get to that place — It won’t work. I’m no good – God Is Good All The Time! God Is Good All The Time! All The Time God Is Good! When it really looks impossible, God is there. Take control of the mind. Let it be silent. Open. Breathe the goodness into your heart. That goodness is who you really are!

April 26, 2015 – Discover The Goodness

by

04/26/15 Rev. David McArthur
Discover The Goodness

We speak and study the truth that divinity is omnipresent and absolute goodness. To step into it as our reality happens step by step. Then we have an experience where we wonder “where is God in all of this?”

When she was about 20, Susan got a German Shepherd she named Kisha, and they became best buddies. Kisha was bright and learned quickly and Susan could take her anywhere. Susan and Kisha began to teach dog training. Kisha loved the dramatic parts like playing a dog showing her teeth about to bite. But Kisha got mouth cancer and the pain made that difficult. Still she remained enthusiastic. Eventually even running and playing were painful and Kisha slowed down, but her enthusiasm still remained. When Susan had to finally release Kisha from her life of pain, the dog seemed to know what it was all about, and still there was complete trust. Kisha reached out her paw to Susan’s arm. Susan couldn’t see God in all this. Then Susan herself developed a tumor in her mouth. Later, cancer free for two years, she saw how there had been amazing goodness and love in Kisha’s experience to teach her that it was all goodness.

It is hard to see that goodness. Rumi wrote, “you dwell in this hall of images and illusion… Leave this house now and be silent.” We get caught up in what our brain sees as valid. The brain does not see the absolute goodness. So leave this “house”, this right/wrong, this duality. Say “God is Good All The Time!” Keep the mind silent. When we are able to take a hold of the divine goodness, the mind stills. Breathe that feeling. Be conscious of it. Breathe the goodness. The nature of the divine is wholeness. Our challenge is to step into it. Breathe goodness. “The light enters the darkness and fills all… You will have the Lord for an everlasting light… Greater than the day (sun) or the night (moon).” The Quran: “God is the light of the heavens and earth…like a …lamp within a crystal… Light upon light.”

The farther we go within we enter into light. That radiance within, the light of the heavens, the goodness within ourselves opening to infinite levels of expression. The wholeness is already given. Opening to this goodness we don’t know the form but are open to all possibilities, to infinite means of expression. It doesn’t mean there are no challenges. When we get to that place—It won’t work. I’m no good— God Is Good All The Time! God Is Good All The Time! All The Time God Is Good! When it really looks impossible, God is there. Take control of the mind. Let it be silent. Open. Breathe the goodness into your heart. That goodness is who you really are!

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February 1, 2015 – Snow White – God is Good

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02/01/15 Rev. David McArthur
Snow White – God is Good

Each archetypal symbol in “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” is some aspect of ourselves on our spiritual journey. When the soul enters the Earth it loses sight of its identity as a child of God, taking on a false idea outpictured by the stepmother, the Queen. She goes to the mirror. That outpictures our insecurity. We are concerned how people see us. We need the world to like us.

The Huntsman cannot kill Snow White (the feminine, our feeling side). He thinks he can hide her like we think we can hide our feelings. The 7 Dwarfs (the 7 chakras) can be seen as not fully grown, an early picture of our spiritual development. The mirror tells the Queen that there is something more powerful, more beautiful than she. So the poison apple.

The Dwarfs are so dualistic. Full of fear that Snow White is dead. But it is a false fear. Our journey is to know fear but learn there is nothing but God. Snow White is taken up the mountain by the 7 Dwarfs, the 7 centers of knowledge. It is the rise of awareness that there is no duality. But they cannot put her in the ground because they are still touched by her presence. The Prince just has to come riding by. He is also us, the thought part of us that knows but cannot feel. He finds the feeling self (Snow White) deep asleep. So we open to our feeling world and find incredible beauty with Love’s First Kiss.

A young 20-something guy lost his very closest companion, his dog, and plummeted into a deep depression. His friends wanted to help, so held a memorial. The young man wrote a eulogy, but found it difficult to deliver. “I could barely continue, but right at the point where I released myself into my feelings there was a pinpoint of light through my grief, and a smile. This point of happiness expanded rapidly, vastly, and immensely into a paradoxical experience of grief and happiness, into a greater sense of well being than I had ever had.”

 Give into that where the soul is awakened. It is not loss because there is only one power—the goodness of God. There is no fear. It is beautiful. Once we touch it there is no more evil Queen. She holds no power over us. This is what Jesus and Lao Tzu taught. God is good all the time. Yes, there is strain when things all come apart, but God is good all the time. This week there will be someone to challenge you, but check it out: God is good all the time.

I Am There
By James Dillet Freeman

Do you need Me?

I am there.

You cannot see Me, yet I am the light you see by.

You cannot hear Me, yet I speak through your voice.

You cannot feel Me, yet I am the power at work in your hands.

I am at work, though you do not understand My ways.

I am at work, though you do not recognize My works.

I am not strange visions. I am not mysteries.

Only in absolute stillness, beyond self, can you know Me as I am, and then but as a feeling and a faith.

Yet I am there. Yet I hear. Yet I answer.

When you need Me, I am there.

Even if you deny Me, I am there.

Even when you feel most alone, I am there.

Even in your fears, I am there.

Even in your pain, I am there.

I am there when you pray and when you do not pray.

I am in you, and you are in Me…

When you get yourself out of the way, I am there.

You can of yourself do nothing, but I can do all.

And I am in all.

Though you may not see the good, good is there, for I am there.

I am there because I have to be, because I am…

February 1, 2015 – Snow White – God is Good

by

02/01/15 Rev. David McArthur
Snow White – God is Good

Each archetypal symbol in “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” is some aspect of ourselves on our spiritual journey. When the soul enters the Earth it loses sight of its identity as a child of God, taking on a false idea outpictured by the stepmother, the Queen. She goes to the mirror. That outpictures our insecurity. We are concerned how people see us. We need the world to like us.

The Huntsman cannot kill Snow White (the feminine, our feeling side). He thinks he can hide her like we think we can hide our feelings. The 7 Dwarfs (the 7 chakras) can be seen as not fully grown, an early picture of our spiritual development. The mirror tells the Queen that there is something more powerful, more beautiful than she. So the poison apple.

The Dwarfs are so dualistic. Full of fear that Snow White is dead. But it is a false fear. Our journey is to know fear but learn there is nothing but God. Snow White is taken up the mountain by the 7 Dwarfs, the 7 centers of knowledge. It is the rise of awareness that there is no duality. But they cannot put her in the ground because they are still touched by her presence. The Prince just has to come riding by. He is also us, the thought part of us that knows but cannot feel. He finds the feeling self (Snow White) deep asleep. So we open to our feeling world and find incredible beauty with Love’s First Kiss.

A young 20-something guy lost his very closest companion, his dog, and plummeted into a deep depression. His friends wanted to help, so held a memorial. The young man wrote a eulogy, but found it difficult to deliver. “I could barely continue, but right at the point where I released myself into my feelings there was a pinpoint of light through my grief, and a smile. This point of happiness expanded rapidly, vastly, and immensely into a paradoxical experience of grief and happiness, into a greater sense of well being than I had ever had.”

Give into that where the soul is awakened. It is not loss because there is only one power—the goodness of God. There is no fear. It is beautiful. Once we touch it there is no more evil Queen. She holds no power over us. This is what Jesus and Lao Tzu taught. God is good all the time. Yes, there is strain when things all come apart, but God is good all the time. This week there will be someone to challenge you, but check it out: God is good all the time.

I Am There
By James Dillet Freeman

Do you need Me?
I am there.
You cannot see Me, yet I am the light you see by.
You cannot hear Me, yet I speak through your voice.
You cannot feel Me, yet I am the power at work in your hands.
I am at work, though you do not understand My ways.
I am at work, though you do not recognize My works.
I am not strange visions. I am not mysteries.
Only in absolute stillness, beyond self, can you know Me as I am, and then but as a feeling and a faith.
Yet I am there. Yet I hear. Yet I answer.
When you need Me, I am there.
Even if you deny Me, I am there.
Even when you feel most alone, I am there.
Even in your fears, I am there.
Even in your pain, I am there.
I am there when you pray and when you do not pray.
I am in you, and you are in Me…
When you get yourself out of the way, I am there.
You can of yourself do nothing, but I can do all.
And I am in all.
Though you may not see the good, good is there, for I am there.
I am there because I have to be, because I am…

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September 7, 2014 – Prayer of Connection

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9/7/14 Rev. David McArthur
Prayer of Connection

Early one morning this week I was on the road in redwood country. The beauty of the trees and hills in the fog and then in the dappled morning sun was almost overwhelming. When you’re in the middle of so much beauty, look at how gorgeous our world is and the amazing Presence we find ourselves in. It is easy to touch such beauty. It opens my heart and invites me in. But the blessings that flow through our lives, moment after amazing moment are so much more. There is something else—a connection. We are one with it. Our minds are quite incapable of knowing it, but we feel it—a oneness with the connector.

The mind goes to the most concrete thing; it’s how it works. The mind makes the connection, but the heart experiences the connector. It’s always there. I say, “Thank You God!”, but then the mind says who are you talking to? What are you talking to? At times it’s Jesus or God, or even Mary or Krishna, but it doesn’t matter. Whatever we want to call It, It is there! As long as I allow the connection, it’s just fine. The focus on prayer brings us closer. Pray, Thank You God! Thank You God! Thank You God!

Angela Tucker, in the “Daily Word”, awakened from a coma of six weeks to find herself in a hospital bed, and that her husband had not survived their automobile accident. Her survival, as well, was in question. And then she found her ability to function was in question. So she drew on her love for her family and friends, and theirs for her. It was a couple of years before she returned to her home in New York. There she formed prayer connections with others, particularly a prayer partner. They don’t focus on circumstances, but instead, “We focus on knowing the truth that God is always present, no matter the situation or need.” She began to go beyond the simple awareness of the presence of God to a conscious connection with the Presence in every moment.

I know we all have done it, and I know too how hard it is at times. I do know the more we do it in those times of beauty when it is easier, the easier it is in the times of darkness. So when I wake up in the morning, I say, Thank You God! Thank You God! Thank You God! And then there’s a hot steaming cup of coffee, Thank You God! Thank You God! Thank You God! And there’s a computer crash and I don’t have to check email, Thank You God! Thank You God! Thank You God!

We are in the presence of unlimited goodness, infinite eternal pure love constantly poured into us! It’s morning! There’s coffee! It’s beautiful! It’s pure love!

September 7, 2014 – Prayer of Connection

by

9/7/14 Rev. David McArthur
Prayer of Connection

Early one morning this week I was on the road in redwood country. The beauty of the trees and hills in the fog and then in the dappled morning sun was almost overwhelming. When you’re in the middle of so much beauty, look at how gorgeous our world is and the amazing Presence we find ourselves in. It is easy to touch such beauty. It opens my heart and invites me in. But the blessings that flow through our lives, moment after amazing moment are so much more. There is something else—a connection. We are one with it. Our minds are quite incapable of knowing it, but we feel it—a oneness with the connector.

The mind goes to the most concrete thing; it’s how it works. The mind makes the connection, but the heart experiences the connector. It’s always there. I say, “Thank You God!”, but then the mind says who are you talking to? What are you talking to? At times it’s Jesus or God, or even Mary or Krishna, but it doesn’t matter. Whatever we want to call It, It is there! As long as I allow the connection, it’s just fine. The focus on prayer brings us closer. Pray, Thank You God! Thank You God! Thank You God!

Angela Tucker, in the “Daily Word”, awakened from a coma of six weeks to find herself in a hospital bed, and that her husband had not survived their automobile accident. Her survival, as well, was in question. And then she found her ability to function was in question. So she drew on her love for her family and friends, and theirs for her. It was a couple of years before she returned to her home in New York. There she formed prayer connections with others, particularly a prayer partner. They don’t focus on circumstances, but instead, “We focus on knowing the truth that God is always present, no matter the situation or need.” She began to go beyond the simple awareness of the presence of God to a conscious connection with the Presence in every moment.

I know we all have done it, and I know too how hard it is at times. I do know the more we do it in those times of beauty when it is easier, the easier it is in the times of darkness. So when I wake up in the morning, I say, Thank You God! Thank You God! Thank You God! And then there’s a hot steaming cup of coffee, Thank You God! Thank You God! Thank You God! And there’s a computer crash and I don’t have to check email, Thank You God! Thank You God! Thank You God!

We are in the presence of unlimited goodness, infinite eternal pure love constantly poured into us! It’s morning! There’s coffee! It’s beautiful! It’s pure love!

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July 13, 2014 – Sleeping Beauty, Part II: One Power

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7/13/14 Rev. David McArthur
Sleeping Beauty, Part II: One Power

The “folk scripture” Sleeping Beauty is our story. We have forgotten we are children of God. Like Sleeping Beauty, everyone of us has touched that “spinning wheel” and felt pain, lack, hurt, rejection, and we have fallen asleep to the greater presence and goodness because the pain has numbed us. We need the Prince (our seeking mind) to bring the true love kiss moment. It is the acceptance of our union with the pattern of God within.

But the Prince is captured and put in chains, as we are bound by the chains of our experiences. However, his chains fall away, as do ours, when the focus is put on the truth, the Presence, through the feelings of love. The Prince picks up the Shield of Virtue, which is our capacity of choice to focus on the greater goodness, and heads into the field of thorns and cuts through them. Thorns are all the things we “have” to do, the things that are not true. Our perception makes the difference. The choice is to focus on the good.

But the mind is good at finding why we can’t. Enter the dragon, the great old God-thought of the “fear of God”. Or you feel you have to be a cynic—that’s your dragon. It is only fear.

We also looked at Jasmina Agrillo and her struggle with a brain tumor. From the brain surgery she lost all control of her body. She did discover she could see “…my heart and my brain. I could see my brain go into seizure with emotional stress. And I’d see my heart light up with the song of a bird. I could then see that energy go from my heart up to my brain. What I could see was the power of my healing heart.”

She chose to journey through the thorns up into the tower, the “secret place of the Most high,” according to Emily Cady, that “… is the point of mystical union between man and Spirit (or God in us), wherein we …feel our oneness with the Father, and we manifest this oneness.” Jasmina said, “I learned it is one thing to experience the presence of God. It is the other part of the journey to become love.” She had to reconstruct her life one small step at a time. She had to choose to bring the “true love kiss” to every thing she tried to do. She built a great new life.

Then the tumor returned. This time she chose spiritual healing. But let me be clear, surgery and medicine are equally manifestations of the Presence in healing. She chose to rebuild her goodness one choice at a time. That’s the way it is done. What ever comes up, just choose the goodness, because God is good all the time! God is good all the time! All the time God is good!

If it’s all good, then why the pain and suffering? The story tellers have brought out “Maleficent” to tell us. What is the pain and suffering for? We’ll answer that next week.