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!