A 12-pound hawksbill turtle crawled up to die on a North Carolina beach. An autopsy showed that half of its weight was plastic. Its stomach and intestines contained multi-colored beads, part of a comb, two golf tees, a toy wheel, rope, balloon, part of a plastic bottle, a plastic toothpaste cap, the top of a plastic medical syringe, baggies, and a plastic flower.* Its contents were carb-free, but had no nutritional value. (As referenced by Paul Varo Martinson in World Religions: The Problem of Imaging Christ, Imaging Christ: Politics, Art, Spirituality, ed. Francis A. Eigo, Villanova, PA: Villanova University Press, 1991, 111).

Apart from the environmental and ecological travesties associated with the turtle’s poor food choices, this unfortunate incident speaks to the message of this post: Unless we are open to personal and spiritual transformation and to the transformational languaging which goes along with it, we risk having our spirit choked and clogged with the plastic half-truths of conventional thinking and embedded theology which can clutter half, or all, of our thinking.

We encourage you to ‘get over’ carrying around plastic thoughts and attitudes like the plastic trash in the turtle’s stomach before they send you crawling up on beaches of convention instead of soaring up mountains toward enlightenment.

This blogcast is based on a chapter from a really neat book entitled ‘Get Over It’ (It’s our book so we’re naturally high on it!). This article is designed to help you move from plastic to platinum in your thinking — from blind acceptance of conventional thinking to the unlimited openness and joy of transformational thinking.

The phrases we’re inviting you to ‘get over’ in this blogcast usually come as a pair. They are: “Birds of a feather stick together” and “opposites attract.”

We’re going to give you a bird’s eye view of these assumptions which we believe are flying out of formation. These two phrases, we think you’ll agree, have been winging it for some time. (Forgive us … we couldn’t resist the puns! But there is a serious message nesting here.)

The “birds of a feather stick together” proverb has been around a long time … since at least the mid 16th century. It first appeared in 1545 in William Turner’s version of his papist satire The Rescuing of Romish Fox:

“Byrdes of one kynde and color flok and flye allwayes together.”

No such origin can be found for “opposites attract,” although its origin may be closer than we think. It is actually a social psychology concept called “common belief factor.” It springs from the word “heterocentrism.”  “Hetero” is the Greek word for “different. “Centre” is Greek for “centered on” or “drawn toward.”  To use a similar analogy, a “heliocentric” plant, like a sunflower, is one that grows toward or is drawn to the sun. So, something which is “heterocentric” involves two or more UNLIKE things that are drawn towards each other.

Do opposites attract? Or do birds of a feather flock together? What does the latest research literature have to say about that? In one of the most comprehensive studies ever undertaken on these questions, researchers at the University of Iowa found [those of you who are looking for the perfect soulmate or business partner may want to listen carefully]:

• that people tend to hang around people who are similar in attitudes, interests, philosophy, religion, and values.
• However, it is the complementary nature of our personalities that appears to be more important in maintaining enduring and happy relationships. Those similarities include character traits like: assertiveness, introversion and extroversion, compassion, even-temperedness, sense of humor, and so on. (The findings appear in the February issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 88, No., 2, published by the American Psychological Association (APA).

Other than that, nothing is definitive. The concepts of ‘birds of a feather flocking together’ or ‘opposites attracting’ seem to boil down to one thing: the power of choice.

There is no automatic, incontrovertible, mindless magnetism that pulls people together. If that sounds like fowl language, we invite you to consider the fact that in order for these two sayings to be absolute sayings they would have to be true in all circumstances.

People who are the same don’t always hang out with each other. Opposites aren’t always attracted to each other. We choose with whom we flock, herd, swim, swarm, or hibernate.

We (the authors f this blog) like to hang around with open-minded people and other truth seekers. We also like to flock with dancers, people who love the performing arts, open-minded people, high energy people, bloggers, philosophers and metaphysicians, possibility-thinkers, healers, and frozen custard lovers, good conversationalists, movie goers, people who love to travel, people who have a good sense of humor, and banana pudding lovers, to name a few!

So who do you prefer to flock with — and what impact do they have on your life? Choose wisely, because the right people will help you walk the spiritual path on practical feet!

With February comes a new look at Rekindling ~ as we explore the timeless Beatitudes. Found in Matthew 5:3-12, the Beatitudes are some of Jesus’ best known teachings. They were Jesus’ opening comments to the Sermon on the Mount.

As usual, we want to give them a Unity perspective. This week, join us and discover what “poor in Spirit” really means, why mourning has nothing to do with death and sorrow, and why the meek would even want the earth! Using both the New Metaphysical Version of Matthew and Eric Butterworth’s Discover the Power Within You as resources, Revs. Bil & Cher will inspire you to take action to transform your human experience, grow your spiritual consciousness, and let your light shine!

This month we have been exploring the Divine Power of Order, and how we can use it on a daily basis from our highest, most elevated level of Consciousness!

True Order in all areas of your life comes when you carve out a block of time every day for meditation. That time in the Silence is your key to a powerful life experience, and a strengthened ability to handle anything the world of appearance throws your way!

Two questions to take into your meditation:

1. What is Spirit’s voice telling me is mine to do today?
2. How am I showing up as I go about living my life?

Where there is an appearance of disorder in our lives – where it seems like the Principles are not working – this is when we most need to focus on Spiritual Alphabetical Order! So what does that mean? Did you realize there are all kinds of “alphabetical orders,” when you think of it in terms of creating the proper sequence of things? Cooking alphabetical order would be the sequence of how you combine ingredients to create the final dish you are making. For example, you don’t mix the cream cheese icing of a carrot cake in with the cake batter! When I recently indulged in a morning of self care at a Day Spa, I noticed that my technician had a very specific order in which she did things. That would be Pedicure Alphabetical Order. So let’s talk about Spiritual Alphabetical Order.

Spiritual Alphabetical Order, put quite simply, might look like this:

A. Be Prayed Up! (Time in the Silence, at Headquarters)

B. Follow Your Intuitive Guidance (which comes from being prayed up!)

C. Affirm the Truth of Who You Really Are (which you know that you know because you are prayed up.)

When we approach life in this order, the Divine Ideas we recognize will always be grounded in the strength of our awareness of our Oneness, and we will have the guidance of Spirit to direct our out-picturing Online of those ideas. That way, we end up with Divine Order instead of diddlysquat order – and we can affirm with confidence: I AM mastering the art of living as I walk the Spiritual Path on Practical feet.