Unity Spiritual Life Center Blog

No is one of the most difficult words to deal with, especially when we desperately desire something, or feel it is critical for our success and happiness. In sales, NO is the leading cause of ‘fear of rejection complex’ that causes so many people to get out of business!

‘No’ was a difficult word for Bil and me to hear when we created amazing proposals, only to discover someone else was selected to do the job. But here’s how we began to hear the YES in NO. We started saying “Thanks for saying no!”

For example, when we received news that we weren’t chosen to give a keynote presentation we immediately followed up with a note, thanking the prospective client for giving us the opportunity to be chosen ~ and included positive affirmations for them to have a terrific conference.

Then we offered our services for up-coming events. We also indicated that, should something happen at the last minute where they found they needed a speaker, to feel free to call us. We usually

Incredibly, we found that we were often contacted immediately to discuss next year’s conference! We had learned how to find the YES in NO by looking at a more long-term response.

How often do you run into obstacles which seem to wave a big red ” NO” in front of you? It seems so easy to just cave in, and say, “Forget it!” But in Mark 10:27, Jesus makes a remarkable statement: “With God, all things are possible.” What exactly does that mean? It creates all kinds of debates, like “Yeah, possible, but how probable?” Or “This sounds good, but it won’t work in the real world!”

Suppose someone asked you to cut a hole in a 5×7 card big enough for a person to step through it. Because you’re a good Truth practitioner, you’d want to act like a believer. So you’d say, “All things are possible” and you might even take action - but in the end you might throw up your hands and say, “This stuff doesn’t work!”

As we make that connection with the Christ of us, our God center, we are open to the Divine Flow of everything we ever need. However, until we make that connection, our human self sees the appearance of obstacles, of “NOs.” So, how do we move through that process, so we can always find the YES in No?

THE ‘YES in NO’ PROCESS:

1) Expect the Yes in No

This relates completely to an attitude of expectancy. So often, we get exactly what we expect. Not necessarily what we want, or what we hope for - but what we expect! Shakespeare said it long ago: “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”

Sometimes we create huge NO’s simply due to our expectations, which translate into our behaviors. For example, from a survey of top personnel executives of 100 major American businesses, here are some of the accounts of bizarre behavior by job applicants:

• “… said she was so perfect that if he didn’t get the job, it would prove that the company’s management was incompetent.”
• “… announced he hadn’t eaten lunch and proceeded to eat a hamburger and french fries in the interviewer’s office.”
• “Balding candidate suddenly excused himself. Returned to office a few minutes later, wearing a hairpiece.”
• “…she vomited on my desk, and immediately began asking questions about the job, like nothing had happened.”
• “When asked the reason for leaving last job: They insisted all employees arrive at work by 8:45 am every morning. I couldn’t work under those conditions.”

We do it to ourselves! So what do we expect?

Lowell Fillmore shares how Adam named the animals in the creation story, and says that in like manner, we can name our conditions as either bad or good, yes or no. Since we have this creative power, why not name things good?

Look at how fickle the concept of Good versus Bad is. Just one example: Is coffee good or bad for you? Depends on what research you find. A recent Harvard research article outlined in WebMD that coffee lowers your risk of diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and colon cancer-lifts your mood and treats headaches-improves athleticism, and can even lower your risk of cavities!

So begin now to Expect the Yes in No!

2) Embrace the YES in NO.

This means creating an attitude of joy, knowing that at the level of spirit, it already is. It is important to realize that what you think of or experience is more important than the thing or experience itself. Whenever you become aware of a blockage that seems to be saying “NO!” immediately affirm YES!

We create what we call the “Apostrophe Effect” ~ which we’ve shared before, but believe it is so important we want to share it again. When you face the NO’s of life, remember this. Imagine the word IMPOSSIBLE. Put an apostrophe between the ‘I’ and the ‘M.’ what does it spell now? I’M POSSIBLE! Practice creating the ‘Intention of Embracing the YES in NO.’

3) Expand the Yes in No.

Here we’re indicating the need to it on  projecting the attitude of hope and encouragement to others. You can begin educating others so that instead of asking “Why did this happen to me?” they learn how to ask the question, “How can I use this for good?” Here’s a little tip for you: It’s all in how it’s spelled!

You run smack into a difficult situation, and immediately you see N-O, NO! But suppose you changed the spelling to K-N-O-W, KNOW? This becomes a trigger to remind you that you KNOW there is a YES in that No, and you KNOW that you are one with Divine Substance, where all things work together for good - where all things are possible!

And just in case you run into a really tough situation that challenges your belief to the fullest, contact us to show you how you can step through a 5×7 index card.

We K-N-O-W, KNOW, that all things are possible when we we connect with our Christ Center! And as you practice the art of ‘Expecting the Yes in NO,’ ‘Embracing the Yes in No,’ and ‘Expanding the Yes in No,’ you will reap the benefits in terms of walking the spiritual path on practical feet!

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

WE absolutely love the TV show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition ~ because it personifies the human spirit, and the deep inner desire we have to reach out and help others. A hallmark emotion of this show is “Delight”

• the incredible delight of the family, when they view their new home;
• the obvious delight of Ty and the design team, in sharing the home;
• the heart-warming delight of the builders and volunteers, who always claim they receive so much more than they give!

Delight is an intense emotion, and one that truly opens the Consciousness to allow a free-flow of abundance and prosperity to come to you, in ways you would never begin to imagine!

As part of our Sunday service, we share a Prosperity Blessing during our offering time, in which we repeat together, “Divine Love, through me, blesses and multiplies all the I have, all that I give, and all that I receive.”

These words are actually a perfect outline for understanding an Extreme Level of Delight. Most people tend to think about money when they hear this blessing, but let’s “amp it up” into a description of our consciousness, and see a deeper message!

Delight in all you have:

Of course, this tells us to be grateful for the things we have  without begrudging what others have, or always longing for what you wish you had.

But there’s a deeper level to consider: don’t we all have things we don’t particularly feel grateful for? For example, things like illness, money problems, work issues, etc.? The real secret here is to live from a state of delight, even in the midst of these kinds of issues. Regardless of what we “have,” we are grateful! Not for  but from! Living from that sense of delight in knowing we are one with God and all is well, we can recognize that every experience is simply “curriculum,” from which we can learn and grow.

Delight in all that you give:

This section of the blessing reminds us to delight in the things we give to others, but it goes so much farther than that. Become aware of other ways you give  and pay attention to whether you are giving gratefully. We give by way of words; expressions; help; comfort; time. For example, we recently hosted some out of state friends. Ten of us met to share time together for a dinner, ranging from age 17 months to 89 years old! It was an incredible evening, because everyone gave their time, joyfully, to come together as family and friends. What a joyful gathering we all had!

Give joyfully! We write “Gladly” on all our checks (right above the words “Pay to the order of”), and it helps us experience a sense of joy as we send our money out into the world. By allowing a sense of delight to flow through us, we can send that joy out to others through our words and actions. Giving with delight enriches your prosperity, and the prosperity of all those whose lives you touch!

Delight in all that you receive:

Think about a gift you gave to someone recently. Recall your excitement in choosing it (or making it), and how you felt as you wrapped it up and delivered it. Now, imagine that you get no acknowledgment at all. Nothing is more disappointing than giving something, and not feeling a sense of appreciation on the part of the one you gave it to. It breaks the flow of the giving and receiving cycle.

Consider a compliment you received, that you negated and threw back at the giver! Think about offers for help, that you have glibly refused. When you do not receive with delight, you cut off the cycle of giving and receiving, and you put a kink in the prosperity flow into your life.

Experience shows that receiving with delight is the toughest challenge of all - particularly when we find ourselves in a place of need, where we must take help from others. But if we can just remember that in receiving with delight, we are actually helping those who are giving - and we are maintaining that Giving/Receiving Cycle, keeping it flowing in our lives!

Charles Fillmore is quoted as saying, “It has been found by experience that a person increases his blessings by being grateful for what he has. Gratitude even on the mental plane is a great magnet. When gratitude is expressed from the spiritual standpoint, it is powerfully augmented.”

When we live life from a Spiritual Consciousness of Delight - delighting in all that we have, all that we give, and all that we receive - we will discover that everything we ever need flows to us as we align ourselves  with Divine Abundance.

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.

With Halloween so close, we seem to have our minds on goblins! And that led us to think about the goblins in our Consciousness - those negative error thoughts that separate us from the Truth of who we are. We want to send those goblins on the run! But, we want to do it the right way, or we will just wind up creating more problems for ourselves.

Hence, the second part of our title, Google comes into play. Whenever we really need to know something, we turn to Google!

As an aside, did you know that Google is a play on the word “GOOGOL” which refers to the number represented by the numeral 1 followed by 100 zeros. Google coined the word to reflect their mission to organize the immense, seemingly infinite amount of information available via the web.

Google is our favorite search engine ~ but even with Google, you can only find so much. Just imagine the infinite amount of Divine Ideas and Guidance we have at our disposal when we Google God!

Just for fun, we did Google God, and came up with 510,000,000 hits in just .09 seconds! And you can bet, those hits were all over the place, from God’s homepage, to the official God FAQ (which we do  not recommend), to God’s Yellow Pages! But that is a drop in the bucket compared to what we get when we really Google God - through Meditation and Prayer. Rather than sit at the computer, try sitting in the Silence, quieting your mind, and becoming open to receive the Divine outpouring of ideas and guidance that are at your constant disposal.

And here’s the best part. When we identify our goblins, then Google God through mediation and prayer, we can live in a state of constant giggles! We can experience the pure delight of knowing that we are never alone, and nothing has any power over us. We can say with confidence: My consciousness is greater than any goblin my mind can imagine!

Research has now proven that complex humor (riddles, puns, funny stories) not only strengthens our immune system, it actually can improve memory and recalibrate our intuition! We can also approach problems with more flexibility, opening the channels to creative Divine ideas. We call it the Giggle State of Consciousness.

When we live in the Giggle State of Consciousness, we operate from a state of pure joy and gratitude. Here’s a great quote we discovered about gratitude, by Melody Beatty:

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, and confusion into clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

Were you aware that there is an actual meditation practice called Centered Silliness? Because the physical act of laughter is one of the few actions that involves the body, emotions, and soul, it makes it possible for us to transcend physical and mental stresses. It has even been proven to improve the immune system.

There are 3 stages to mindful laughter, each taking 5-20 minutes:

• Stretching like a cat and breathing deeply. Exercise the muscles in your face by yawning and making lots of funny faces.

• Pure laughter. Fall on the floor if you want, and continue laughing as long as you can. You may feel like you are forcing it at first, but we invite you to give it a try. Just laugh out loud!

Here are some funny stories to get you laughing:

We loved this announcement from a church bulletin: “Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person(s) you want remembered.”

Or this: Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM. Please use the back door. (That’ll really boost that esteem!)

And how about this slogan: The Associate Minister unveiled the church’s new tithing campaign slogan last Sunday: “I Upped My Pledge - Up Yours.”?

A woman went to the Post Office to purchase stamps for her Christmas cards. “What Denomination?” asked the clerk. “Oh, good grief! Have we come to this?” responded the woman. “Just give me 50 Baptist and 50 Catholic ones.”

• And the final step: Sit in silence with your eyes closed, and become aware of your breath.

We believe Jesus had a wonderful sense of humor, and understood the power of joy. He used hyperbole, paradox, and exaggeration to make a point. In John 15:11, He said, “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and [that] your joy might be full.”

Lowell Fillmore (Charles & Myrtle’s son) said, in his book, The Prayer Way to Health, Wealth, & Happiness: “Unity believes that when joy is put back into religion, there will be more religion in the world.”  A friend of Lowell’s said that back when they lived together at Unity Farm, young Lowell would take off his shoes and socks, and run barefoot in the winter snow-just out of exhilaration, out of the joy of being alive!

We’d like to end this week’s article with a poem we enjoy. But take note: we added an extra verse to share a Unity perspective!

Sit on the Lid and Laugh (by Bertha Adams Backus)

Build for yourself a strong box
Fashion each part with care;
When it’s strong as your hand can make it
Put all your “goblins” there.
Hide there all thought of your failures,
Every real or imagined gaffe;
Lock all your heartaches within it
Then sit on the lid and laugh.

Tell no one else its contents
Never its secrets share,
When you’ve dropped in your care and worry
Keep them forever there;
Hide them from sight so completely
That the world will never dream half
Fasten the strong box securely
Then sit on the lid and laugh!

(Our added verse):

You have within you this strongbox
At Headquarters you’ll find it’s true -
Go there to empty your worries
Your problems, your fears - heartaches, too.
The goblins that seem to consume you
The burdens that tear you in half -
Can be Googled away in this strongbox ~
And you can sit on the lid and laugh!

So when the goblins come out to frighten you away from your Divinity, just Google God by going into the Silence, with the assurance that you can live in a continuous state of Divine Giggles and Joy, knowing that wherever you are, God is - and all is well!

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.

Just for kicks; we did a little Google search as we were preparing this article. We searched the phrase “Flu Bug” - In .18 seconds, there were 1,430,000 hits! There were multiple interpretations-Even “Flu Bugs of the Zodiac” which provided information about how each of the zodiac signs handles the flu! But guess what? When we googled the phrase “Love Bug,” we were inundated with 30,700,000 hits in .15 seconds! The obvious favorite! Unfortunately, a lot of those hits had to do with the bugs, not the emotion! And the phrase “Love Bug of Truth” got zero!! (Until we get this article on our blog!)

The Love Bug of Truth is the one bug we WANT to catch  and spread to others! And just as that pesky flu bug has a list of symptoms, guess what? The Love Bug of Truth has THREE symptoms too! Your adventure this week is to see how many of these symptoms you feel  and how you can keep those symptoms flowing! They will be simple to remember  just remember the word BUG!

B=BELIEF:
When you are bitten by the Love Bug of Truth, you experience a strengthening of Belief. Belief is the difference between living life in HOPE of something, and KNOWING that you know that you know. Belief actually affects your sense of inner peace. When you know Truth, from the depths of your being, you can move through any situation with calmness and assurance.

Example: There is an interesting observation we’ve made in the field of professional speaking, which we’ve done since 1984. It is a cyclical business  It doesn’t really matter how fabulous you might be, the speaking business has definite ups and downs, and fairly predictable cycles. When you’re just starting out, and hit a down time, you panic, worry, and run around trying to force results. No matter what anyone tells you, you think the world is coming to an end, you’re finished, and you’ll have to actually return to that “real world” of work!” Once you’ve been around that block a few times, you recognize the cycle, and you live from that knowing that you don’t need to panic. Instead, you take advantage of that down time to rest, take care of yourself, and work on new material or marketing tactics. Then, when the up cycle comes around again, you can enter it refreshed and ready to dazzle with your new stuff. Meanwhile, the newbie enters the up market exhausted from all the needless worry! Those who don’t learn and know won’t succeed in the business!

The same principle is true in our Spiritual life. When you hit a drought in your prosperity flow, or run into challenges with health, career, relationships, whatever  Stand on the foundation of BELIEF, and don’t allow yourself to fall into  doubting the Principles. Instead of doubting principles, this is when you get busy USING them!

When you feel yourself facing a challenge from that place of BELIEF, you can be sure you’ve been bitten by the Love Bug of Truth!

U=UNDERSTANDING:
When you are bitten by the Love Bug of Truth, you sense an “inner click” of Understanding. Understanding is the difference between acting a certain way because someone said you should be doing it, and doing it because you “get it!”  It is that A-ha that hits you when you smash through a Truth barrier.

Here’s an example to help explain what we mean. We saw it as we watched our grandson playing with one of his toys. It is this big block that has shapes cut into it. There are a lot of plastic blocks cut into the same shapes, and our grandson is supposed to figure out how to drop the right shape into the hole of the same shape. And every now and then, by accident, he hit it right - and it’s exciting! But the awesome time came when he realized how he did it and was able to replicate it over and over! It’s that a-ha!

Consider the practices we have as we live our Truth principles. How many times do we do stuff because someone said we should  for example affirmations? We worry: “Am I saying it correctly? Did I use the perfect words? Is there enough energy behind it?” But when our affirmations are grounded in Truth, we understand that they always work! We UNDERSTAND that things don’t become true because we affirm them  We affirm them because they are Truth!

When you feel that inner click that says “I get it!” that click of Understanding, you can be sure you’ve been bitten by the Love Bug of Truth!

G=GRATITUDE:

When you are bitten by the Love Bug of Truth, you live life from an attitude of Gratitude. Living in Gratitude is the difference between allowing outer circumstances to determine our emotional state and choosing to live from a place of gratitude no matter what is going on.

For example: How many people do you know who gripe about how their vacations were ruined because of the weather? Personally, we have this one pretty well down! Since way back years ago, we started making a conscious decision to claim and set the intention that weather would never affect our enjoyment with our vacations! Now this doesn’t mean the weather will always be perfect on a vacation time. What it means is that we will not allow our emotional well-being be dependent on weather. And we have enjoyed every single vacation we’ve ever had, regardless of the weather we’ve experienced!

So remember, Gratitude is an attitude, not an event! We develop it by choice. This week, when you open your eyes in the morning, just take a moment to affirm “I greet this day with gratitude and joy!” Throughout the day, if you happen to feel yourself dreading something you need to do, pause a moment and repeat, “I am God in action! I do what I need to do with gratitude and joy! In all things, I give thanks!”

When you feel yourself facing a challenge from a deep place of Belief, when you experience that inner click of Understanding, and when you realize you are living every moment of every day from an attitude of Gratitude, you are experiencing the BUG symptoms - and you can be sure  you’ve been bitten by the Love Bug of Truth! Pass it on!

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.

Did you know that WORRY was an acronym? It honestly is. It stands for When Our Rationalizations Really Yodel!!! Just consider — when we think of a yodel, we think of an echoing, meaningless refrain, repeating in varying vocal levels. That’s very similar to what worry does in our Consciousness! We value what Leo Buscaglia says about worry: “Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow. It only saps today of its joy!”

Consider these interesting statistics on worry:

• 40% are about future things that never occur;
• 30% concern past decisions which cannot be altered;
• 12% center in what others are thinking about us;
• 10% (which seems low to us) focus on our health, which only get worse when we worry;
• 8% are legitimate, demonstrating that life does have real problems which may be met head on when we’ve eliminated senseless worries!

So how can we move from worrier to warrior?  Here’s a quick 3-step formula that results in the transformation!

Step 1: Realize you are worrying! You can’t transform something until you recognize it for what it is. This means you must become aware of your worry signals. Learn to pay attention to your thoughts. Do regular heart checks to recognize how you are feeling emotionally. Your body will let you know when you are worrying instead of acting.

Once you realize you are in the midst of being a worrywart, do not beat yourself up!! Simply acknowledge the fact, then move on to step 2.

Step 2: Release the Worry! We admit it! This sounds (easier|simpler than it is! But let us give you a couple of great techniques:

• Worry Jar: Worry preys on our mind, and prevents us from doing what needs to be done for our growth and development. So we recommend the Worry Jar. Here’s how it works: Find a jar, pitcher, coffee can or other suitable container that has a lid. Label it as your Worry Jar. We invite you to decorate the jar any way you choose. Select a designated worry time (DWT). This should be the same time every week (for example, Friday night at ten o’clock.) Place your Worry Jar in a conspicuous place and then move on with life as normal.
  Throughout the week, every time you find yourself fretting over something - stop! Take a piece of paper and a writing instrument, jot down your worry, fold the slip of paper and place it in your Worry Jar. Remind yourself not to worry about whatever is worrying you until your DWT. When it’s time to worry, according to your DWT plan, open the jar and read the worrisome entries. Some of the things you may have worried so loyally about are history and no longer relevant. Gloat over them before you throw them in the trash. Other issues will be pending issues, so go ahead-worry about them for a few minutes. You will discover it is difficult to worry on demand! You may even chuckle a little. Once you’ve worried sufficiently over your current issues, refold them and redeposit them in the jar, where they’ll be ready for next week’s DWT.
• Meditation: This is the most critical technique. Once you’ve been through the Worry Jar, allow 20 minutes in the Silence, affirming Divine Substance is bringing you everything you need to resolve them, and you are open and receptive! This is the very best way to gain a sense of inner peace, where worry cannot exist.

Now comes Step 3: Replace It! We all know that Nature abhors a vacuum. When you release worry, you have created a void, and it must be filled. Otherwise, worry will quickly show up again and make a home there (and bring some close friends, like Fear and Panic and Depression, to party with). So make time to consciously replace your worry with something positive. For example, you may want to create a few positive core affirmations that you can repeat over and over, like: Centered in my Oneness with God, I am at peace. Or: I am one with God, and I am Rich, Healthy, Happy and at Peace in all areas of my life NOW!

Look at the issue causing you worry, and ask this question: Is there anything at all I can do about this right now? If the answer is no, then you may as well stop worrying, because it is a useless emotion! If you decide the answer is yes, then you may as well stop worrying, and take the actions to do what you can do about it! Either way — stop yodeling and start being a warrior. Oh –did we mention that warrior is also an acronym? It stands for:

When All Responses Reflect Infinite Omnipotent Reality!

In his book, The Wisdom of the Peaceful Warrior, Dan Millman says of Peaceful Warriors, “We don’t live in an ashram or a commune or seclude ourselves in the mountains. But our values, priorities, and sensibilities are likely different from those of many of our neighbors. It’s nothing special just a certain awareness, a lightness, an orientation toward service, and an  expanded perspective born of inner work and life experience. And perhaps we display a little less fear, less worry, less resistance.”

So how do we sum it all up? There is a wonderful Chinese drawing that really holds the secret to it all. It shows two people sharing a pot of tea, and the ancient Chinese writing, loosely translated, says, “Enjoy today  Worry tomorrow.” By following this advice every day, you will never have a worry!

You have such incredible power within, to transcend all worry and live the life of a Warrior, journeying this Spiritual Path with joy and gusto! You just need to practice the formula of:

• Recognizing Worry;
• Releasing Worry; and
• Replacing Worry!

Another great philosopher said it in his own unique way ~ Bobby McFerrin: Don’t Worry, Be Happy!

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.

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.

For lots of people, the Book of Job is a difficult book. It relates the story of a righteous man who loses every precious thing he possesses, who suffers horribly, who seems victimized by the very God he worships. Let’s start with a snapshot of Job’s story. We only have space for a few glimpses although our journey will take us through the entire book of Job, chapters 1 thru 42.

The narrative begins with a description of Job as a man ‘perfect and upright, one that feared God, and turned away from evil.’ (1:1) Job’s goodness is so incredible that God says to Satan in (1:8) ‘There is none like him on earth.’

Satan implies that Job is pious because he has been blessed and protected. Satan says, ‘Put forth thy hand and touch all that he has and he will renounce you to your face.’ (1:11)

Jehovah allows Satan to deprive Job of everything he has in order to test him. Job loses all of his material possessions, his children, his livestock, his servants, everything! Job is crushed, but he still continues to worship God.

When Jehovah rejoices that Job continues to praise Him, Satan mentions that only Job’s possessions and family have been affected. He tells God that if Job himself is afflicted, he will turn from God.

So Jehovah says to Satan, "Behold he is in thy hand, only spare his life." (2:6) Job is smitten with painful sores and boils all over his body (2:7). Chapter 3, verse 25 explains Job’s difficult situation. It says: "What Job feared came upon him." Does this have a familiar ring to it? Have you ever found yourself in a similar situation? Listen to what happens next.

Three of his closest friends (Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar) learn of his plight and come to comfort him. Chapters 3-31 contain conversations between Job and his friends.

Eliphaz believes Job is suffering because he has sinned; Bildad ponders that if Job was more upright, he would not be in the trouble he’s in; Zophar rebukes Job for being so self-righteous and fearful, and urges him to repent.

Job reproaches them for their judgmentalness and feels forsaken by his friends and God. "I have been wronged. I cry for help, but there is no justice." (19:7)

Finally Job looks deeply within himself, and then declares in (31:35) "Let the Almighty answer me!" At that moment, his three friends go away and Elihu comes to his rescue. With the arrival of Elihu, Satan backs off. The story ends with Jehovah giving Job twice as much as he had before (42:10) and Job lives happily ever after.

Despite the happy ending, the literal interpretation of this story leaves more questions than answers. Why did Job need to suffer in the first place? Why did God co-conspire with Satan to bring about Job’s suffering? Are we simply pawns in the battle between good and evil? What was God thinking, you might ask?

All of these questions are perfectly natural questions — if we take this extraordinary story literally. The spiritual meaning of Job’s suffering becomes clear when we take a metaphysical look. Metaphysically, the Book of Job is a case study in Mind Action. And as we mentioned earlier, Chapter 3:25 tells us why Job suffered: "What Job feared came upon him."

The people mentioned in the Book of Job are the thoughts, personal qualities, attitudes, and beliefs we hold in our consciousness. Their metaphysical interpretations are as follows:

Zehovah stands for the Christ of us, our God-Self

Satan symbolizes the tendency within each of us to forsake our divinity.

Eliphaz represents our half-hearted desire for spiritual wholeness

Bildad is our on-again/off-again acknowledgment of our Christ potential

Zophar represents our fault-finding nature which blames others for our troubles

Elihu is the Holy Spirit, the still small voice

Job represents that aspect of us that outwardly seems centered and dedicated to truth principles, but inwardly chooses to be deceived by outer appearances and then allows fears, doubts, and a sense of unworthiness to get the best of us.

So, here’s a metaphysical interpretation of the story of Job:

Our God-Self (Zehovah) honors our power of choice, even if it means allowing us to deny our divinity (Satan). When we experience difficult times, the Job in us, (represented by Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zohar) fears the worst in outer appearances and allows those things to get the best of us. However, once we remember that it is our own error thoughts which have caused us to miss the mark; we can go to our Christ Center (Elihu) and listen for that still small voice. In the story, God doubled Job’s prosperity. The number ‘2′ represents the two natures of us, human and divine, becoming one.

So, what can we do when we experience those dark night of the soul experiences?

1. We can change the outer world by changing our inner world . Become aware of what you are really thinking, and claim dominion over your thoughts. Choose to remember your Spiritual nature.
2. We can refuse to give power to outer appearance . When the ‘Job’ in us refuses to give power to outer appearances and accepts our divinity, it will be the second time fire is discovered by the human race - the fire of the discovery of our divinity. At that moment, there will be no more suffering, wars, or dis-ease. What an incredible world that will be!
3. We can claim our oneness with God . We suffer because we believe we are separated from God. And because we believe we are separated from God, we believe we are separate from one another. And because we deny our oneness with one another, we perpetuate a collective error consciousness, which gives power to outer appearances that strengthens our belief in our separation from our God-ness. That belief is the cause of all suffering.

So to avoid suffering, acknowledge and celebrate your oneness with God! Your prosperity, inner peace, and joy will return to you, multiplied!

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.