Unity Spiritual Life Center Blog

It's a whole new phenomenon in our culture ~ the cell phone dance! You're talking to someone, and suddenly realize they aren't hearing you. So you move around to another place and say, "Can you hear me now?" If that doesn't work, you move again, higher, lower, near a window, walk outside, repeating, "Can you hear me now?"

We've found ourselves in some really weird positions, trying to complete an important call. We've all felt the frustration of dropped calls, as well as unanswered prayers. We've noticed that the secret to answered prayers is similar to the marketing messages used to sell cell phones!

1. Free Ring tones

Who doesn't want perfect music for their ring tone? And no matter where you are, you will hear someone's phone go off - and sometimes people say, "Oh, I like that ring!"

Do you realize that everyone has a very special spiritual ring tone? It is a vibration that comes when we pray from our Christ Center. From a Unity perspective, we invite you to NEVER pray TO God! We believe that's "praying amiss." When we pray TO God, it signifies a belief in a separation ~ someone "out there" who decides what and how much good we deserve, and who, on a whim, determines whether or not to respond. We believe God is within, and when we pray, we pray FROM a consciousness of our oneness with God. So be sure you are vibrating at a high, spiritual ring tone send plenty of knee-mail (prayer) to your Indwelling Christ everyday.

2. Extended Calling Area

We recently switched cell phone service, and one of the things we paid attention to was the calling area available with our new server. We have certain places we travel, and we wanted to be sure our phone would work there. No matter how wide the coverage, it seems there are always 'abyss' areas that no cell phone company can cover. There just aren't cell towers near enough to pick calls up.

With God, we have unlimited calling areas! There is no geography in Spirit. No matter how deeply embedded we may feel in lack consciousness, God is there. No matter how much we are perceiving separation, God is there. No matter how depressed or sick or angry we feel, God is there. Wherever we are, God is ~ and all is well. We are only a "Can you hear me now?" away. The moment we acknowledge our oneness there are no dropped calls!

3. Circle of Friends

Anyone who Takes a quick peek at television has seen the ad about the telecom guy who puts the geeky guys from the other companies on his circle of friends.

In a recent article in Mobile Insider, author Steve Smith describes the value of the Circle of Friends concept as a strategy that filters the world down to the people and things we value most highly and with whom we have the deepest connections. He postulates that one of the important psychological functions of the phone for many people is that it brings a feeling of intimacy and connectedness into an otherwise anonymous mass market of the street.

From a Unity perspective, we have a pretty amazing Circle of Friends: We have five basic spiritual Principles that are always there to guide us in our journey. We have our church family comprised of those with like Consciousness, who we know we can count on to be there when we need them! And we have our oneness with each other, knowing we are all one in Spirit. There is no limit to our Circle of Friends! The only thing that stands between us and answered prayer is when we are holding someone outside that circle … when we need to practice forgiveness … making sure we have nothing standing between us and Spirit. Once we have released the bonds of anger, hatred, fear, envy ~ whatever it is we need to forgive (and it may be ourselves!) ~ we suddenly realize we are standing in the open, and our reception is crystal clear!

As you move through the weeks ahead, when you find yourself looking up to the heavens and shouting, "Can you hear me now?" realize that those words are coming from the wrong direction! Remind yourself to:

• ensure you are vibrating at the ring tone of Spirit;
• affirm you are connected to an endless calling area; and
• expand your Circle of Friends through practicing forgiveness ~

When you do you will hear Spirit softly whispering, "Dear one, I have the answer! Can you hear me now?"

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You are probably familiar with the phone commercial on TV which shows a techie testing the phone reception as he stops and says, "Can you hear me now?" Then he takes a few more steps, stops again, and repeats his question, "Can you hear me now?"

Commercially it's about clarity of reception and dropped calls. Spiritually it's the age old question about unanswered prayer. The Bible is full of unanswered prayers. The Koran is full of unanswered prayers. The Torah is full of unanswered prayers. The Bagavad Gita is full of … you get the picture.

You may even have your share of unanswered prayers. If so, you're not alone. As a matter of fact you're in good company:

Moses prays to enter the Promised Land, but his request is refused, and he dies on Mt. Nebo. Jeremiah laments national calamity when he cries, "You have covered yourself with a cloud, so that no prayer can pass through." (Lamentations 3:44). The prophet Habakkuk exclaims in despondency, "Oh God, how long shall I cry, and You will not hear me?" (Habakkuk1:2). Job says, "I cry to Thee, and You do not answer me!" (Job 30:20). King David laments, "…God does not hear me!" (Psalm 66:18)

You may even have asked out of frustration, hurt, or anger, "God, can you hear me now? Are you listening?" Many a grieving parent has asked, "God where are you?" Millions of widows and widowers have asked, "Why did God take him away from me?" - "Why did God take her. Doesn't He know I need her?"

On Sept. 11th 2001 three hundred million Americans asked, "How could you let this happen God? Where were you? Where are you now?"

Unanswered knee-mails (prayers) have one thing in common. And we have known what it is for over 2,000 years. James, the brother of Jesus reports Jesus as saying, "You ask, and receive not because … you ask amiss!" (James 4:3)

What does he mean by 'amiss' ? What causes our prayers to go unanswered? Here's the answer! Are you ready? Jesus the Christ said, … are you sure you're ready? … He said, "If we do not forgive others, our prayers will not be answered." (Matt.6:15)

He didn't say - If we fail to forgive others, it will be difficult to get our prayers answered, or that it may take a little longer to get them answered, or that our prayers will be answered anyway because were nice people.

He said if we don't forgive others, our own prayers will not be answered. Seems pretty harsh doesn't it? He's giving us absolutely no wiggle room.

Unity's founder, Charles Fillmore says, "The mind must let go of every unforgiving thought." "The refusal to forgive is the linchpin of unanswered prayer," says Richard Smoley in his bestseller, Inner Christianity. Harry Fosdick, in his classic book, The Meaning of Prayer, says, "We are not ready to receive answered prayer until we forgive."

Seems pretty clear doesn't it? We pray amiss if we don't forgive. And until we forgive, our prayers will not be answered.

So, we invite you to look into your own heart and forgive anyone and everyone who has ever upset you, disappointed you, wronged you, or harmed you in any way. That may be a tall order for some of you. You may have been significantly wronged, or harmed, or upset by someone. You may feel forgiveness is out of the question.

But if you want your prayers answered, you've got to learn to forgive. You must go from bitter to better.

From a metaphysical perspective, forgiveness is a necessary condition for answered prayer. Metaphysically, forgiveness means giving up the false for the true. It means living from our Christ Consciousness instead of our coma consciousness.

We're kidding ourselves if we think we can walk the spiritual path on unforgiving feet. Unanswered prayers are the products of an unforgiving heart. When we tighten our connection to Spirit by unloosening our attachment to an unforgiving spirit, we won't have to ask, "Can you hear me now?"

When we eliminate the static of unforgiveness, the reception will be crystal clear.

We’ve come to the conclusion that we think you should have an absolutely AWEFUL  day today… We’re serious! We hope you have an AWEFUL day!

We want to be clear about what we are proposing. The kind of aweful we’re talking about is spelled AWEFUL… as in AWESOME! We want you to have awe-filled days the rest of your lives. Here’s a neat story to illustrate the awesomeness of going from AWFUL to AWEFUL.

Lightning struck a huge tree up ahead and sent it across the rain-soaked road. The driving rain was falling like liquid bullets. As the driver slowed to a stop, trying to figure out what to do next, another bolt of lightning struck a tree behind the SUV and fell across the road, trapping the driver and his very, very, very pregnant wife on Rt. 54.

Her contractions were minutes apart and he had to get her to the hospital. He got out of the truck to access the situation and instinctively ducked as another lightning strike splintered a towering pine tree nearby.

A few moments later, soaking wet, he jumped back into the truck.

“Honey, we’re trapped. There’s ditches on both sides of the road and the trees are so huge they’re blocking the road in both directions.”

“Thank God they didn’t fall on…” she stopped as one of her contractions hit, “fall on us!” she whispered.

“I’ve got to get you to the hospital,” her franticed husband announced.

Just then a pickup truck pulled up. The driver saw their predicament, told them to stay in the SUV,  and explained what he was going to do. In no time at all he had the tree ahead of them cut into enough pieces to clear the way for them.

He refused any payment. He said he was going to stay long enough to clear the other tree out of the road too. Then he gave the couple a tattered business card sized note.

Worn and creased with age, the inscription on its face, dulled by the touch of many fingers read:

You’ve been helped in some way today by a Good Samaritan.  In lieu of payment, please pass on the favor to someone else

The couple looked at each other and smiled their gratitude – and their surprise. Their old website address was on the back of the card. They had 1,000’s of the cards printed up themselves years ago after they had seen the hit movie Pay It Forward. Their own thoughtfulness and generosity had turned what could have been an awful experience into an awesomely AWEful experience.

2000 years ago, Jesus the Christ walked many a storm-tossed road Himself. He had plenty of opportunities to turn awful experiences into AWEful experiences. He raised the widow of Nain’s son,  (Luke 7:11),  Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:22), and Lazarus (John 11:1) from aweful experiences – they had all died! Their resurrections were AWEful experiences.

He healed lepers (Luke 17:12), a blind man (John 9:1) another blind man at Bethesaida (Mark 8:12), a blind man named Bartimaeus (Matt. 20), a deaf mute (Mark 7:32), a Roman officer’s servant (Matt. 8:5), two people with demons (Mark 5; Luke 8), a paralyzed man (Mark 2, Luke 5), a woman who touched His cloak (Matt. 9, Luke 8); and hundreds of other awful health conditions in His time.

Metaphysically, no matter how dulled, deadened, or comatose we become (that’s what Jairus’ daughter, the widow of Nain’s son, and Lazarus represent) we can be resurrected by the power of Spirit. No matter how sick we are mentally, emotionally, or physically, we can be healed.

No matter how far gone you think you are, the Christ in you can raise the deadened you, the frightened you, the vulnerable you. By the power and might of the Indwelling Christ within you can pray yourself, meditate yourself, visualize yourself, will yourself, affirm yourself, diet yourself, exercise yourself, and divinely order yourself into wholeness and happiness.