Unity Spiritual Life Center Blog

One summer the accomplished British violinist Peter Cropper was invited to Finland to perform at the prestigious Kuhmo Music Festival. In recognition for his outstanding music ability, the Royal Academy of Music in London offered him an extraordinary opportunity - he would be able to play a priceless 258-year-old Stradivarius.

It is well-known that Antonio Stradivari of Cremona, Italy brought the art of violin-making to its highest pinnacle of perfection. Each instrument was crafted out of 80 pieces of specially selected pine, boxwood, and ebony. Then, by a secret process, unduplicated even today, 30 coats of a soft-textured varnish were applied.

Even today a Stradivarius produces wonderfully resonant notes, which intensify the farther they travel from the strings.

The evening of the performance, as Peter Cropper hurried onstage, the unimaginable happened. He tripped on an extension cord which had not been taped down and landed on the Stradivarius, breaking the neck of the instrument completely off.

Somehow, with a borrowed violin, Cropper managed to keep his composure and play. Still in shock, he flew back to England. Far from blaming him the members of the Royal Academy tried to console him. But he was inconsolable.

A well known London violin dealer named Charles Beare offered to repair the Strad. The Academy thanked him but assured him that a broken Stradivarius would never be repaired. At Cropper’s insistence the Academy finally agreed and Beare started his work.

Two months later Beare notified the Academy and an anxious Cropper that the work was done. When the violin was brought to him Cropper stared at it, astounded, as the aproned craftsman showed them where the repairs had been made. Try as they might the distinguished Academy officials and Cropper could not see them.

But the crucial test was yet to come. How would the Stradivarius  sound? Cropper picked it up, said a quick prayer, hesitated for a moment, and then began to play a concerto.

As each soaring note resonated through the shop, the spellbound group of music experts was astounded. The tone seemed even more pure than before.

The unbelievable repair job fell well outside the parameters of conventional wisdom. It didn’t fit existing beliefs about the possibility of Stradivarius repair.

Sometime later Peter Cropper led the Lindsay Quartet on an international tour. Night after night he drew beautiful notes on the Stradivarius he once believed was ruined forever.

Its repair was made possible because the broken parts were placed in the hands of a master craftsman who brought his masterful touch to bear.

What if Cropper had taken to heart the conventional wisdom that says, "Take what fits and leave the rest?" or said another way, "Take what resonates and leave the rest?" or in the case of a broken Stradivarius, "If it IS broken you can’t fix it!" Messing with a Strad was considered irresponsible. Ludicrous! Even blasphemous!

That’s how we feel about the New Thought phrase, "Take what resonates and leave the rest." It’s ludicrous! It’s even blasphemous! It’s exactly the kind of thinking Charles Fillmore was referring to when he said, "I reserve the right to change my mind."

‘Taking what fits and leaving the rest’ is a status quo philosophy. It keeps us glued to the way things are. It worships convention. We may as well walk around with a security blanket over our ear like Linus in the Peanuts cartoon.

Not being willing to embrace something new is cartoonish! It keeps us in a RUT. And a ‘rut’ means ‘rigid unchallenged thinking.’ Many people have PhD’s in ‘rut management.’ They champion the status quo. They GO along instead of GROW along.

Moving out of comfort zones is what we are proposing.  We encourage you to turn ‘existing’ beliefs into ‘exiting’ beliefs when they become stale beliefs.

We are absolutely convinced that your health, wealth, and happiness are the result of heart-to-head resuscitation . It is your openness and receptivity to change and newness that will bring you immense happiness and joy.

• If you believe all lightning strikes go from cloud to ground - get over it!
• If you think the Dead Sea is the world’s saltiest body of water - get over it!
• If you think there are no incurable diseases - get over it!
• If you think people’s ability to levitate is just a magical trick - get over it!
• If you believe you have to die to go to Heaven - get over it!
• If you believe we can’t build a spiritual education center that can change the spiritual consciousness of the planet - get over it!
• If you think you can’t make your dreams come true - get over it!
• If you think you can’t ‘get over it’ - get over it!

Drs. Bil & Cher Holton are Spiritual Leaders at Unity Spiritual Life Center in Durham, NC, where they practice positive, practical, progressive Christianity. Visit their website at Unity Spiritual Life Center and sign up to receive a complimentary 4-week e-course.

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A balloon salesman was selling balloons on the streets of Mobile, Alabama one October day. He sold them in multi-colored packets of various sizes of balloons. He also sold helium-filled balloons. When business was slow he would twist the balloons and turn them into animal and flower shapes.

As he turned the balloons into shapes children would converge with their parents in tow. In the middle of his balloon-shaping routine he would occasionally launch a helium-filled balloon to add to the drama and excitement for the children.

His business would pick up for 15 or 20 minutes and so he repeated his shaping and releasing sequence three times every hour. He also changed the color of each balloon he released, first releasing a white one, then a red one, and later a yellow one.

One day an Afro-American youngster pulled on his coat sleeve. The salesman looked down at the boy who was wearing a soiled ball cap.

"Well. Hello there young fella. Would you like a balloon?"

"No, sir. I have my bottle caps." He dug a handful out of his pocket and showed them to the salesman.

"Oh, I see," said the salesman, grinning at the boy’s innocence. "I’m afraid you can’t purchase balloons with bottle caps."

"I can’t afford no balloons," the youngster said. Then he looked the vendor directly in the eyes and spoke softly, "What I want to know is, if you released a black balloon, would it rise up too?"

The balloon salesman knelt beside the little boy and put his hand on the boy’s shoulder. "Yes, son, it would. As a matter of fact I’ve got some black Halloween balloons with me. I only sell them on Halloween. But, yes, they rise like the rest of them. Here, I’ll demonstrate for you."

The salesman dug a Halloween balloon out and inflated it with helium. Both of them watched as the balloon soared upward.

The youngster grinned, relieved that the black balloon was as good as the white, and red, and yellow balloons.  As the balloon salesman rose he noticed a tear in the boy’s eyes. He stooped down again.

"See, the balloon is going very high, it’s almost out of sight," he announced as he tugged the bill of the boy’s cap. "Son, it’s what’s inside the balloons that makes them go up. And it’s what’s inside of you that makes you to succeed in life. There’s greatness in you. Will you remember that for me?"

The youngster smiled brightly this time. "Yes sir, I will."

"Here," said the salesman, "These balloons are for you." He pulled two black balloons out, inflated them with helium, and gave them to the youngster. He watched the little boy leave with a smile on his face.

One of the bystanders who over-heard the conversation said to the salesman, "The boy is from the ‘Down the Bay’ area of Mobile, the poorest side of town. He uses bottle caps as baseballs and hits them with a stick. It’s a common practice for kids down there."

They both watched the boy let go of one of the balloons and then quickly grab its string. He repeated the release and catch move as he walked away from them.

The youngster remembered what the balloon salesman told him, "Son, it’s what inside the balloons that makes them rise. There’s greatness in you."

The boy grew up to become a professional baseball player. He stopped hitting bottle caps and hit baseballs farther and more often than anyone else.

During his professional career, ‘Hammerin’ Hank Aaron hit 755 home runs, a feat that held for 33 years until Barry Bonds broke his record in August of 2007.

‘Hammerin’ Hank is the only player to hit 30 or more home runs in a season at least 15 times. He is one of only four major leaguers to have at least 17 seasons with 150 or more hits.

Hank Aaron made the All-Star team every year from 1955 until 1975. That’s 20 years! He still holds the ML record for the most runs batted in (2,297), the most extra base hits (1,477), and the most total bases (6,856).

Not bad for a boy who smacked bottle caps with a stick. Was it fate, or an accident, or chance that he met that particular salesman, at that particular time, on that particular street?

Hank Aaron’s coincidental meeting with that balloon salesman is the subject of our 7th in a series of ‘Get Over It’ talks. This morning we will examine the well-known New Thought phrase ‘nothing happens by accident.’

The phrase itself is true, but misleading. Of course ‘nothing happens by accident.’ There are no accidents in the sense that in and of themselves they suddenly appear out of nowhere, without a precipitating cause.

Any competent safety professional will tell you that. Accidents are created. They are the effects of a series of events which lead up to them.

It is the way people toss this saying around that has put it on our list of phrases to ‘get over.’ This phrase is used much in the same way as people use ‘divine timing’ and ‘divine appointment’ to describe what happens to them.

The statement that ‘nothing happens by accident’ implies that everything happens as it is supposed to happen.

And what is supposed to happen is determined by fate, or karma, or God, or cosmic beings ‘out there’ who are in charge of engineering our earth experience.

Cher and I invite you to ‘get over’ that way of thinking immediately. It puts your power, and self-determination, and your ability to be the captain of your fate outside of you.

We are NOT here to be the products of an ‘outside in’ mythology. We are here to be the architects of an inside out theology.

It will require a change in consciousness. It will take a transformation in consciousness. And that transformation includes becoming more aware of what we say, think, and do.

Our message is - it is NO ACCIDENT that you are reading this today:

• It is NO ACCIDENT that you are where you are on your spiritual journey.
• It is NO ACCIDENT that you are seeking answers to complex human challenges.
• It is NO ACCIDENT that you are becoming aware that you are divine beings having a human experience.
• It is NO ACCIDENT that you are the Christ expressing as you.

And so, it doesn’t matter what color your balloon is - white, red, yellow, black, or brown - you can soar as high as anyone else, because it’s what’s inside of you that counts.

Jesus loved sharing parables as a way of teaching Truth principles. But sometimes His stories sound somewhat strange and even harsh. It is necessary to delve a little deeper, to figure out the metaphysical interpretation and how it relates to our lives.

A perfect example is the story of the unclean spirit, shared in Matthew 12:43-45 and Luke 11:24-26. Jesus shares the story of when an unclean spirit leaves a person; it wanders waterless regions searching for a resting place. Finding none, it decides to go back to the house from which it came. Finding it swept clean and in order, the spirit then brings along seven of his buddies to join him. The end result is that the state of the person is worse than it was before.

Wow! That’s a strange story to read. So let’s explore some of the important elements, for a deeper meaning.

Unclean Spirit: error thoughts or habits that contradict our Divinity and get in the way of our Spiritual growth.

Waterless region: environment that lacks spiritual enrichment.

House: our consciousness.

Swept and put in order: a consciousness that has created a vacuum by recognizing and eliminating error thoughts, without replacing them with spiritual ideas and principles.

Seven: represents completeness in the world of phenomena (unusual or extraordinary)

So let’s take a look at this parable again, with this new information. Here’s what it is saying:

When a person identifies error thinking and, through denials, refutes its power, those error thoughts depart, leaving a void which must be filled. If it is not filled, the bad habits will return, and become even stronger than before, making the person more skeptical and frustrated with the world of appearance than when they started their spiritual journey. This is why it is so critical to create a regular practice of prayer and meditation, coupled with denials and affirmations, to refuel and rejuvenate yourself as you continue strengthening your life built on Truth principles.

3 Keys to Unlock a New Level in Your Spiritual Consciousness

Denials: cleansing your Consciousness by refusing to give any power to your error thoughts;

Affirmations: claiming a mighty spiritual principle and affirming it. Keep in mind, things do not become true because you affirm them; you affirm them because they are Truth!

Prayer and Time in the Silence: providing opportunities to realign, reconnect, and receive Divine guidance, ideas, and inspiration.

When, with good intentions,  you clean up your spiritual act, without creating Truth-based spiritual practices, you will feel like that poor subject of the parable  you will feel too busy to practice Truth principles; too embedded in the world of appearance to focus on Truth; and too skeptical to allow Divine Wisdom and Ideas to flow to you.

But when you create the time to practice denials, affirmations, and time at headquarters, you will have "cleaned your house" and redecorated your thinking and habits, so there is no space for those spirits to come back with their negative buddies! You are aligned and ready to co-create the amazing, healthy, abundant, spiritual life that you deserve by right of Consciousness!

Drs. Bil & Cher Holton are Spiritual Leaders at Unity Spiritual Life Center in Durham, NC, where they practice positive, practical, progressive Christianity. Visit their website at Unity Spiritual Life Center and sign up to receive a complimentary 4-week e-course.

It sounds really good that we desire to be totally connected - that we increase our spiritual might simply by giving all we have to Spirit. But that really scares a lot of people. They believe you have to go to a mountaintop somewhere, or escape into the wilderness in order to be that committed. But nothing could be further from the truth!

The truth is we are always connected, regardless of where we are or what we are doing. We cannot be not connected to Spirit! The issue is that we are not always grounded in that awareness of our connection ~ and that’s when we begin to feel a sense of separation. So to really increase our MIGHT, we must become so completely grounded in our awareness of our oneness with spirit that no outer appearance can throw us off balance. Then it becomes a way of being to live life full out!

A great analogy of this is the ocean and the wave. They are one, and cannot be separated, yet each wave is unique and individual. However, it is still a part of the ocean. You can take a pail and bring some of the ocean water home collect some of the ocean water to take home - and you know that even though it is separated, it’s still the ocean. But a wave can no longer do what waves are meant to do, unless it is where it’s destined to be  in and of the ocean. Only as a part of the ocean can waves live life full out!

It is the same with us! We are in and of this daily life we have chosen to live. Our adventure is to allow our Divine nature to unfold as we live our life full out! When we have that solid grounding in our oneness, it becomes second nature for us to give our all to Spirit.

The question remains: How do we do that? We’d like to suggest three ways you may want to try. It is the "3-S Formula for Living Life Full Out!:

SILENCE:

You create a solid grounding in Spirit by spending time in the Silence. The connection gets stronger even if you think nothing is happening.

It’s like going to Weight Watchers! You stick to the eating plan, and each week you go in for your weekly weigh-in. You may not feel any different - but you find out you are a mere quarter of a pound lighter! It is so teeny you almost deny its value. But several weeks of this, and all of a sudden you are able to wear a pair of jeans that were uncomfortably tight, and now, magically, they feel great! You didn’t realize what was actually happening, until you performed some kind of action that made it real.

Spending time in the Silence is sort of like that. What you are doing is putting your Intuitive Connection on Alert. You’ll find that by spending time in the Silence, you begin getting messages, insights, ideas, strength, wisdom, things you need. By giving time to Spirit, you gain a life of spiritual growth, inner peace, and pure joy.

SERVICE (Through SHARING):

Albert Schweitzer said, "I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve."

It’s interesting that all of us can give. We all have gifts, talents, opportunities to help others. We just need to be aware that there are some things an individual can’t do alone. For example - We’ve read that people are able to hold more weight in one hand than the other. In fact, we bet we can think of something you can hold in your right hand that you cannot hold in your left hand, regardless of how strong you are! Ready? Stretch out your left arm - and bend it. Now, place your left elbow in your right palm. Okay - you are now holding your left elbow in your right hand. Show us how you can hold your left elbow in your left hand!! See - there are certain things we just can’t do on our own!

It’s incredible - whenever you are experiencing a sense of self pity, or going through a difficult time, one of the best remedies is to do something for someone else! It transforms your whole viewpoint!

There are lots of opportunities to serve: community projects; volunteering; visiting people who are shut in or sick; taking food to a family in need.  A first grade class in Green Bay WI saved their chore money and bought 22 baby books for a hospital’s newborn intensive care unit. A group of nursing home residents created quilts, which they donated to a homeless shelter in Ohio.

Giving and receiving is a cycle, and we get into that cycle through giving. It doesn’t have to be money. (A friend of ours observed that it was much easier for her to tithe when she had a little money than when she got a windfall!)

By giving to Spirit through sharing, you claim a permanent spot in the cycle of giving and receiving!

SNACKS!

We know - this sounds weird! But give us an opportunity to explain! What do you think about with snacks? Feeding yourself, in delightful ways that bring you joy! The snacks we’re talking about in this formula are low calorie/high Consciousness ones. Snacks like making time to feed yourself spiritually, by consuming books, classes, retreats, labyrinth walks, or group discussions.

The neat part is, just like food snacks, spiritual snacks become addictive. You find that the more you snack, the more you want! And the more you want, the more you snack! And the more you snack, the stronger your grounding in Spirit, the stronger your awareness of NO separation! And that changes the way you THINK - the way you ACT - the way you live your life! When you hit life’s little problems - or the BIG ones - they just can’t knock you off center! You are grounded, and able to stand firm in Truth.

This week, make it an adventure to live life full out by give your whole self to Spirit! As you strengthen your grounding in Spirit, you’ll increase your spiritual might by practicing Silence  sharing  and spiritual snacking. Know that your time will reap millions in spiritual currency. Don’t settle for a penny less!

Drs. Bil & Cher Holton are Spiritual Leaders at Unity Spiritual Life Center in Durham, NC, where they practice positive, practical, progressive Christianity. Visit their website at Unity Spiritual Life Center and sign up to receive a complimentary 4-week e-course.

So - what fiery furnace are you living through? What "outward appearance" is attacking your belief system? The good news is each of us has within us the Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego qualities that, when strengthened, give us the power to stand solid in Truth in the midst of the fiery furnace, and not merely survive, but thrive!

Of course, the question is, how do I do that? We’d like to share a quick formula, with a very specific "How-To" added as a bonus.

1. Know your Truth! Know that you know that you know the Spiritual Essence of who and what you are. We call this the Abednego quality of spiritual wisdom. It is one thing to repeat Truth rhetoric; it is a totally different thing to KNOW and understand it. One of Unity’s Truth principles is "There is only one presence and one power in the universe and in my life and affairs: God the good, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent." We say it - but do we truly understand the meaning of it? Whenever we give power to outward appearances of lack, or jealousy, or anger, or fear, or health challenges, we are creating a rift between ourselves and the Truth of what we know.

I am reminded of children reciting the Lord’s Prayer. These are things that I have actually heard! One child believed God’s name had to be Harold, because he always said, "Our Father who art in Heaven, Harold be thy name!"

Another contemporized the prayer by saying, "Leave us not in temptation, but deliver us some email!"

In our understanding of the Truth principles, we encourage you to move beyond just saying Truth, and grow in your understanding so Truth becomes a part of your consciousness and shows up in your reality.

2. Recognize the LINT (Listless Impoverished Negative Thinking) and stop it as soon as possible! How important is that? Think about a beautiful black wool suit, with one little teeny piece of lint. Where do your eyes go right away?? To the lint! The same is true in our consciousness.

Allow us to share the Parable of the LINT (not from the Bible) - from the Holton household we were presenting a Prosperity class at another church, and were   staying in church member’s home. We shared a nice breakfast in the sun room before leaving for the church. When we got to the church parking lot, we realized that Bil’s suit was covered with long white cat hairs! We had not even been aware of it before!

Now let’s stretch the metaphor - we are often living smack in the middle of LINT (Listless Impoverished Negative Thinking). When we don’t recognize the source of it, it sticks to us and becomes part of our consciousness and experience.

You recognize the LINT by the way you are feeling (agitated, irritable, frustrated, stressed); by what you are saying (negative focus, self critical); and/or by what is manifesting in your experience. As soon as you spot it, perform the GAP assessment (Here’s that specific "How-To" we advertised at the beginning of this article):

• Guilt-free, go from where you are
• Acknowledge the separation
• Pray and meditate to close the gap and reconnect with Spirit.

3. Transform the LINT: Come out of your prayer and meditation, ready to use Truth principles in your life. Be proactive in living the Truth as you face the world of appearances, and be on the lookout for ways to see things from a new perspective.

A person who exemplifies this point is Cesar Lopez, a musician and composer from Bogota, Columbia. In USA Today, 04/19/06, you can read about how he created the escopetarra: an electric guitar he designs from shotguns collected by the police from crime scenes.  Lopez says, "the weapon is still present, but when you strike the first chord, everything that is violent about it disappears. That’s the kind of transformation we would like to see in our country."

So-as you identify the LINT in your life - Listless Impoverished Negative Thinking -that separates you from the Truth of who you are, perform the GAP assessment. Then you can use your power to transform the LINT into a life of joy, prosperity, and unbelievable spiritual wisdom.

Drs. Bil & Cher Holton are Spiritual Leaders at Unity Spiritual Life Center in Durham, NC, where they practice positive, practical, progressive Christianity. Visit their website at Unity Spiritual Life Center and sign up to receive a complimentary 4-week e-course.

This article is about lint-free living. L I N T - free living. It’s about moving past bothersome lint. Sometimes you have to pick it off or flick it off. Some people use a lint-free roller that has sticky paper which gets rid of the unwanted lint. Other people use Scotch Tape to lift lint off clothing. We’ve even seen people use clear packaging tape to dispose of lint.

Oftentimes one of your friends will remove a piece of lint from your clothing. ("Oh," they say, "you’ve got a piece of lint there, I got it! It was a piece of lint.)

Nobody likes lint on his or her clothing. We are even going to ask you to refrain from picking lint off your clothing while you’re reading this article.

Seriously, though, all of this L I N T discussion is raised to make a point. The L I N T - free living we are talking about is really an acronym which stands for Listless Impoverished Negative Thinking.

It’s the type of thinking that spoils our consciousness and soils our spiritual walk. It’s the kind of thinking that negates our goodness and conceals our Godness.

Listless Impoverished Negative Thinking comes from a consciousness of lack, fear, resentment, and discouragement. People who have PhD’s in this kind of LINT say things like:

"I can’t do that!"

"I’m not smart enough."

"I’m too out of shape."

"I’ve been a failure all of my life."

"I don’t have much to offer."

"I don’t I can’t I’m not" Those people wear their LINT like a badge.

In its simplest form, Listless Impoverished Negative Thinking expresses itself as racism, sexism, violence, gossip, envy, and jealousy. These types of LINT are caustic. They embed themselves in the fabric of our consciousness and are difficult to extract.

Complicated — but not impossible! The Hebrew Testament story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego gives us the recipe for lint-free living. You may remember the story. It appears in the 3rd chapter of the book of Daniel in the Old Testament.

It is the account of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who are friends of Daniel. They refuse to worship the golden image of King Nebuchadnezzar, and are thrown into a fiery furnace. In an amazing turn of events, they remain untouched by the fire, and they are joined in the furnace by a fourth individual. When the king sees they have not been destroyed by the fire, he permits them to come out and places them in high positions of authority.

From a Unity perspective, this is what the story means:

King Nebuchadnezzar represents a condescending ego

Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image signifies our egotistical, supercilious nature

Shadrach is that quality within us that represents humbleness

Meshach symbolizes an unfailing appreciation for the truth

Abednego means a high degree of spiritual wisdom

4th person denotes the Indwelling Christ

Fiery furnace is the all consuming, destructive power of negative thinking which filters our life experiences

So what does the story mean for us? When we experience an intense, consuming negative outlook (the furnace), we tend to give power to outer appearances.

However, if we remember who we really are if we remain humble to the direction of Spirit, stand firm in our unfailing love for truth, and seek a deeper understanding of principle, we will receive the guidance we need from the Christ of us, that uplifting Presence within us.

We don’t need to fear anything. We don’t need to bow to anyone or anything, or to any form of Listless Impoverished Negative Thinking. We are divine beings that have phenomenal spiritual abilities and inner capacities that can empower us over any physical situation.

Drs. Bil & Cher Holton are Spiritual Leaders at Unity Spiritual Life Center in Durham, NC, where they practice positive, practical, progressive Christianity. Visit their website at Unity Spiritual Life Center and sign up to receive a complimentary 4-week e-course.

Cher’s fishing expeditions can be counted on ONE FINGER! And it was not with her father, from whom she inherited her lack of fishing interest! It was with her maternal grandfather. He was a carpenter by trade, and in addition to the house that her mother still lives in, he also created his own fishing boat. My wife decided one summer that she would enjoy going fishing with him. But her concept of going fishing was to carry along the transistor radio (remember those?) and crank the music up loud! As you can imagine, her fishing adventure didn’t go too well! Her grandfather determined the music would scare away the fish ~ and Cher was adamant that it would attract them! Needless to say, my wife lost that battle, and lived through one of the most boring afternoons in her memory! Luckily, she has tons more joyous memories of times with her grandfather!

We both get much more energized about fishing for Divine Ideas  and we know we have access to an abundance of Divine Ideas! There is NO problem that does not have a solution  if we approach it the right way. But too often, we are like the disciples in John 21:1-6. who worked like crazy - yet came up empty. What does it take to connect with Divine substance which holds everything we need? For the disciples, it took a net, tossed on the right side of the boat. Here’s a spiritual net designed to catch so many Divine Ideas that you will just have to say, "Holy Mackerel!"

N = Narrow your focus

How many times do we get a great idea, and then proceed to talk ourselves out of it because of all the ridiculous issues we allow ourselves to get distracted by? Here’s an analogy: Whenever I watch basketball, I continue to be impressed at how the majority of these professionals can perform so well at the foul line, with the fans for the opposing team waving their arms, cheering and jeering, making all kinds of disruptive commotion. How do they do it? They narrow their focus. Larry Bird, winner of an incredible number of foul shooting titles, said it best, in his book, Drive: The Story of My Life. He said, "You’ve got to concentrate every time.  When I go to the line, I am always thinking, ‘All net. No rim or anything else. Just all net!’" That’s narrowing your focus. You only see what is important, what relates to your successful achievement. Everything else just disappears from your radar!

The best technique to narrow your focus is to spend some time at Headquarters. This should be your initial response to any overwhelming problem. When you receive some bad news, or run into a difficult situation, or  find yourself staring head-on at a problem that looks like an insurmountable mountain, and you experience the tension building, the worries starting, the imagination going wild — just stop! Take a few deep breaths, and then go somewhere where you can spend at least 15 minutes in the Silence. I literally say (yes, out loud), "Okay God" (I’m talking to my indwelling Spirit), "This is yours! My human self cannot see any solutions, but I will not allow this situation to have power over me. I let go of my hold on it, and give it over to you for divine solutions." Then I go into the Silence. Without exception, I come out of that experience with new ideas. They may seem weird or impractical, but I jot them down and give them thought. And if I don’t have ideas, I simply affirm that Divine Ideas are flowing to me, and I release all worry about this issue. Believe me, the ideas do start flowing!

E = Expect Solutions

One of the neatest things about Truth principles is that we don’t wish we’ll get results - we KNOW! And knowing what we know, we must approach our fishing excursions from that state of expectancy! When you expect something, you set your intention ~ and things just start showing up!

T = Take action!

The John 21:1-6 story shares that in order for the disciples to pull in that record-setting load of fish, they had to do something! Jesus didn’t just snap his fingers and cause the fish to appear. He told them what to do  and even though they were a little skeptical (we’ve fished all night right in this area and haven’t had a bite!), they followed His direction, and experienced outrageous success! You can discuss Divine Ideas all day long ~ but to see results, you must take action.

We are surrounded by Divine Ideas! But we often get so caught up in the busyness of paralysis of analysis and dealing with the distractions from the world of appearance, that we completely miss the Ideas! When you find yourself running on empty, and no solutions seem to be coming, it’s time for you to recall the NET formula.

Fish from the right side of the boat by going to Headquarters, then Narrow your focus, Expect solutions, and Take action! It really represents the Trinity: We go into the Silence and narrow our focus by becoming one with Divine Mind ~ that’s the Father; with our state of expectancy, we receive an idea ~ that’s the Son; and then we take action, which is the expression of those Divine Ideas ~ that’s the Holy Spirit. And then we take a step back and see what we’ve created, and we just have to exclaim: "Holy Mackerel!"

I can count the times I joined my dad on a fishing expedition on one hand, actually on three fingers. But those three fishing experiences were memorable indeed! I was an inquisitive seven-year-old and was ecstatic about going fishing with my dad.

Whenever I threw out the line, I caught something — and my lines never even hit the lake. On my first attempt, I hooked my father’s favorite fishing hat, yanking it unceremoniously off his head. I remember his initial irritation turning to amusement as he helped me reel his hat in. I also remember how the wet hat looked on his head. He refused to fish without it.

On our second fishing trip, I hooked the back of my shirt — twice! I did manage to catch several fish. It wasn’t many. I remember they were little, and I learned how to talk fisherman’s talk. I discovered what is meant by ‘catch and release.’ If the fish are too small, you throw them back!

I’d catch a tiny cat fish or snag a turtle and look at my dad and ask, ‘Release?’ And he’d nod his agreement. When it came to fishing, I was not giving Dad much to celebrate.

On my third and final fishing expedition with Dad, I snagged his left ear lobe. I didn’t do it on purpose! But I hooked it good! I didn’t need to ask about ‘catch and release’ that time. I remember thinking, "Holy mackerel, is he going to throw me overboard?"

When I look back on those fishing fiascos with my dad, it struck me that our time together was the valuable thing. After I ‘hooked and released’ I wanted to immerse myself in a book, take/jot down notes, and compose something of my own while Dad fished. I didn’t realize it then, but those initial writing projects were the start of my writing vocation.

My father liked to catch fish — and I liked to catch ideas. Later I learned they’re the same thing. I also discovered that most fishermen catch their best fish by the tale — TALE — and I learned nothing grows as fast as a fish from the time it bites until it slips away.

I’ve got another fish story for you. It is found in the Gospel of John — John 21:1-6. But it is more than just a fish story. It’s about how the brain functions.

If you take this story at face value, seven fishermen took the advice of a person who never fished in the pond, so to speak. Obviously, there’s more to the story than meets the eye. Metaphysically, this story has incredible truths to teach us:

There are seven disciples mentioned: Simon Peter (faith), John (love), Thomas (understanding), Nathaniel — who is the same as Bartholomew — (imagination),  James, son of Jebedee (wisdom), and two more anonymous disciples who were most likely Simon, the Cananaean (Zeal), and James, son of Alphaeus (order). These seven disciples symbolize the spiritual qualities which assist us in manifesting ideas.

Sea of Tiberias = the spiritual insights we can gain when we put our spiritual powers to work

Fish = spiritual ideas. (In verse 11 it says the disciples caught 153 large fish — which they didn’t ‘catch and release’ — 153 represents the number of known species of fish at the time of this Gospel story. When we connect with Spirit, we have access to an inexhaustible supply of ideas)

Net = Our mind, which catches ideas

Fishing at night from the left side of the boat = literally means we are fishing in the dark if we try to comprehend spiritual principles from a left-brained material consciousness

Right Side = Always symbolizes the side of truth. It also stands for the right side of our brain, our intuitive side, our creativity.

So, when we work out of our sense consciousness (Fish at night), we find ourselves working like crazy, but end up empty. However, when we connect with Spirit and practice truth principles (fish from the right side of the boat), we can tap into an inexhaustible supply of Divine Ideas which bring us the prosperity, peace and joy we want.

Holy mackerel! All we have to do is harmonize both sides of our brain to capture Divine Ideas.  It just takes using a little bit of our "net" worth.

Drs. Bil & Cher Holton are Spiritual Leaders at Unity Spiritual Life Center in Durham, NC, where they practice positive, practical, progressive Christianity. Visit their website at Unity Spiritual Life Center and sign up to receive a complimentary 4-week e-course.

We invite you to consider three ideas as they relate to your life:

Everyone has the same life purpose: We are here to fully demonstrate the Christ within.

We have all got the same decision to make: We can choose to accept our Divinity and follow the guidance that comes from our Christ Consciousness — or not.

There is only one story in the Bible: That story is about how we use more won’t power than will power when it comes to “expressing our divinity.”

The following illustration is an example of our on-and-off-again relationship. The story comes from the 8th Chapter of John’s Gospel, verses 2-11:

1. Early in the morning He came again to the temple: (When we are centered in Spirit, we begin every morning connected to our Christ Nature. Jesus stands  for that aspect in us that understands  our Christ potential and is our unfolding pattern of excellence.) All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them: (As we intentionally “practice the Presence,” the more guidance we will receive.)

2. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand before all of them: (Our judgmentalness. which often is really hypocrisy, is represented by the Pharisees. This attitude tries to keep us mired in the letter of the law so we remain in the tight box of dogma and doctrine. Our personality attempts to discredit our receptivity to Truth principles,  represented by the woman, by pointing out our failures.)

3. They said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery: (Guarded by its self-righteousness duplicity, our ego even manufactures ways to make us feel less spiritual, while at the same time hypocritically hiding behind its own shortcomings.)

4. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They said this to test Him, so that they might have some charge to bring against Him: (Moses as an adult represents that within us that aligns more with the letter of the law instead of the spirit of the law. Our judgmental nature tests our spiritual growth because it wants us to adhere to the status quo.)

5. Jesus bent down and wrote with His finger on the sand. (This symbolizes our Christ Self lowering itself into our sense chakra to cleanse it. We  re-awaken to the realization that we are spiritual beings having a human experience.)

6. When they continued questioning Him, He straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to cast  a stone at her.” (We remind ourselves that our old tapes have no power over us.)

7. And once again He bent down and wrote on the ground: (Our ‘I Am’ Consciousness lowers Itself a second time to strengthen us and to lead us into a right relationship with our Christ Nature.)

8. When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders: (When the Spirit moves, its incredible vibration dissolves  even the strongest, most encrusted beliefs, assumptions and prejudices,  causing them to lose their impact and disappear.) And Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before Him: (Once we put the noise of our judgmentalness aside we stand firm in our awareness of our true nature).

9. Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”:  (When we allow that still, small voice to direct us, we  have power over any and all negativity).

10. She said, “No one, Sir.”: (We can say emphatically, through affirmations and denials, that nothing can separate us from our good). And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”: (Our Christ nature sees only the good in us. Once we become consciously one with our Christ nature, by going to our heart center, we will hear no evil, see no evil, and speak no evil. All we need to do is practice more will power than won’t power so we do not miss the mark.)

This story is about you and us and everyone on the planet. It reminds us to remember the Truth of who we really are, so we can express and enjoy our innate Divinity, the Godness that is present at our birth.

We orchestrate our experiences by the power of our thinking. Everything in the manifest realm has its beginning in thought.

The seat in which you are sitting was once a ‘Fig Newton’ in someone’s imagination. The clothes you are wearing were once a spark in someone’s thoughts. This article was once a figment in my imagination.

Everything you can see and touch has its start in thought. This is the Law of Mind Action. You already have a well-grounded understanding for thought power or you wouldn’t have been attracted to this article at all.

The reality of the matter is - we are what we think and we think what we are! Proverbs 23:7 tells us: “For as (we) think in our heart, so are (we).”

The brilliant Theosophist, Dr. Annie Besant, had this to say:

“(We) fix the normal vibration-rate of our minds. Thoughts which do not harmonize with that rate will be flung aside when they touch the mind. If (we) think truth, a lie cannot lodge itself in (our) mind; if we think love, hate cannot disturb us; if we think wisdom, ignorance cannot paralyze us. Here alone is safety and power. The mind must not be allowed to vibrate as it pleases, because that means it will answer to any passing vibration.”

Her last statement warns us to pay attention to what we think. “The mind,” she says, “must not be allowed to vibrate as it pleases, for that means that it will answer to any passing vibration.”

In other words, we’ve got to Feng ShuiShui our thinking.

When we fill our minds with the appropriate thoughts, arranged in the correct order, our choices and actions will be the perfect choices and actions. Our decisions will come from the right place, and the right place is from our Christ Consciousness.

Correct thinking comes from Divine thinking. Emmet Fox tells us: “Negative thoughts and feelings are like a spark that falls on your coat sleeve. Brush it off and it will do no damage. Let it linger and it will burn a hole.”

Charles Fillmore said in his provocative book, Atom-Smashing Power of Mind: “The most important issue before (us) today is the development of (our) spiritual (mindset) and through it unity with God The taproot of all our confusion is our failure to use our mind intelligently. The gods determining our faith are our own minds working on our brain cells and on the world. This will eventually be found to be true, and the discovery of the law of Mind Action will be the greatest revelation of all time.”

If he were writing today, he might say, “We’ve got to Feng Shui our thinking!”

Inquire of yourself what you desire out of life:

Do you want to be joyful?  Healthy?  Feng Shui your thinking!

Do you want to enjoy abundant prosperity?  Feng Shui your thinking!

Would you like to have financial security and be incredibly giving? Feng Shui your thinking!

Can you imagine yourself contributing significantly to your favorite ministry? Feng Shui your thinking!

Can you envision yourself in the perfect work for you and expressing your incredible gifts?  Feng Shui your thinking!

Have you found the perfect relationship? Someone who is the perfect life partner for you?  Feng Shui your thinking!

If you haven’t experienced those things already then - Feng Shui your thinking!

Charles Fillmore, co-founder of Unity, shared, “The most important issue before (us) today is the development of (our) spiritual (mindset) and through it unity with God The taproot of all our confusion is our failure to use our mind intelligently. The gods determining our faith are our own minds working on our brain cells and on the world. This will eventually be found to be true, and the discovery of the law of Mind Action will be the greatest revelation of all time.”

So, Feng Shui your thinking. And create the life you deserve to have.