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| Wednesday Meditation: 7:00 PM Table Talk Thursday: 12:00 PM Sunday Service: 10:45 AM Sunday Social: 12:00 PM
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| | | | Our
WINGS group met in the UCC Cafe on Tuesdays for many years. Now that
we're sheltering in place, the group really misses sharing their
inspiring weekly studies.
Since our WINGS group leader, UCC Certified
Truth Teacher, Cynthia Mackey, began to send out weekly emails to the
group, we asked if we might share her messages with our entire email list so that more people could enjoy
them.
You're very welcome to send questions or positive comments to
Cynthia at: info@unityofclearwater.org. |
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Hi Everyone,
This has been somewhat of an emotional week for me, not because of the pandemic (that is an ongoing emotional upheaval), but for another reason. This reason is related to the death of Congressman John Lewis, one of the original “Freedom Riders.” In order to explain I will need to go back in time a bit . . . . Cue the harp music and wavy picture . . . .
In the summer of 2012, I was teaching US History at Countryside High School and participating, along with about 20 other teachers in the third year of a three year grant program called “The Teaching American History Grant.” It was an incredible program authorized by Congress and was the brainchild of Senator Robert Byrd. Sadly, the funding ended with his death in 2010, so I was among the last to participate. The subject we were studying was Civil Rights and the whole three years culminated in a replication of the Freedom Rides throughout the South. We boarded a big yellow wrapped Greyhound bus (see attached picture) in Atlanta and in a week’s time covered stops in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi. We were at all times led by our professor Dr. Robert Arsenault from the University of South Florida, author of a book on the Freedom Riders and also an article about John Lewis in last Sunday’s Tampa Bay Times. We were also accompanied during most of the journey by Dr. Bernard Layfayette, an original Freedom Rider. Often at certain points on the trip, Dr. Layfayette would break out into singing the freedom songs which were so much a part of the Movement. During this trip, I grew so much in understanding of the Civil Rights Movement on the ground and had the opportunity to meet many other Freedom Riders and visit sites of historic significance in the Civil Rights movement. I have even walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge!
It has been my experience that I only truly begin to understand an historical event or an aspect of culture when I have stood on the ground where it happened and talked with real people who may have experienced the event or read their actual words, if they are no longer with us. So, I had the opportunity to hear the exact words of folks who had ridden the busses and sat at the lunch counter sit-ins in Nashville. I actually was able to sit in the seat from the bus where Rosa Parks sat which, is in a museum dedicated to her and the bus boycotts in Montgomery, Alabama.
Ok, fellow “WING-ed Flyers,” I hear you musing, “Here she goes again and how does this relate to Unity and all of us now?” Unity, by its name, connotes our unity with God and with each other. John Lewis spoke of the “beloved community,” to which I believe we in Unity aspire. He also belived in the “spark of divinity” in every human being – his exact words. That is congruent with Unity’s belief in the divinity of humanity. So, as so often happens, I felt divinely directed to Dr. H. Emilie Cady’s book, Lessons in Truth, particularly to the twelfth lesson, “Unity of the Spirit.” At the beginning of the chapter, she describes different people looking through knot holes in a fence and seeing different worlds, depending on the size of their respective apertures. Each one proclaims that they alone see the “whole world” and, therefore, they alone are correct in their belief about the content and form of the world. However, Dr. Cady challenges us to open our aperture and let in more of the light of Truth. She says that “from time immemorial there have been schisms and divisions in religious sects and denominations.” I would add that folks in all segments of society “cling to outer differences.” She goes on to say that one of her purposes in writing her lessons is to “help break down" this dividing wall between us. She further reminds us that “the living Christ, does in reality break down or destroy all misunderstanding.” Dr. Cady continues by reminding us to not be distracted by “our differences, side issues and lesser things” and to keep our focus on the indewlling Christ within ourselves and all others. As another wonderful Unity author, Imelda Shanklin, said, “Listen for agreement!” When I do that, I hear things so differently and feel so much more peaceful. I have only brushed on the very beginning of this chapter in Lessons in Truth, so I recommend that you read more on your own.
Thank you for reading my weekly messages. I miss everyone and hope that all of you are safe and well!
Peace and Love,
Cynthia
This week’s picture is of me in front of the “Freedom Rider” big yellow bus that I traveled throughout four states on my own “freedom ride.” |
| | | | | Your Weekly Affirmation:
I TURN WITHIN AND FIND CALM IN THE MIDST OF CHAOS. I AM CENTERED AND POISED IN THE MIND OF SPIRIT AND NOTHING CAN DISTURB THE CALM PEACE OF MY SOUL.
THANK YOU, GOD! |
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