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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!
Wow! Last Friday was the nineteenth anniversary of 9/11. It is a somber reminder but, in many ways, put in perspective, now more than ever. We seem to be losing as many folks as we lost on 9/11 every few days to Covid-19. This is a time for Unity!
As some of you know, I have been a member of NOOM, a weight management/behavior modification program for a year now, and within this program is a forum. It is the first post sharing group in which I have ever taken part, since I am not really a social media person. Many folks on that group shared their stories from 9/11 over the last few days. The one thing that really came through was the strong sense of unity folks felt with their fellow Americans after that tragedy and how different the Covid tragedy feels.
What is different now than then? Well, the nature of this pandemic has required us to separate and isolate from one another. It has made us reliant on the internet and electronics for our communication and perhaps made us vulnerable to misinformation. Fear is still at the center of this pandemic, just as it was when we were afraid of terrorists attacking us from afar, so perhaps the remedy can be similar, as well.
So, contemplating the idea of returning to a feeling of unity made me of course turn to Unity Literature. First, I re-read the Daily Word for September 11. There, I read a reminder that on such anniversaries we can be drawn together in celebration or, in this case, in loss, communally. I like the word “communally.” To me that means it is something we have in common. What do we have in common right now? We have our loss in common. Just as on 9/11, we share sorrow for a great loss of life, loss of freedoms, loss of economic security. Perhaps we also share a sense of the loss of our ability to move about safely to visit friends, family and loved ones. But in 2001, folks did not bicker over the facts; we united to help each other by doing acts of kindness and love.
In Eric Butterworth’s book, Celebrate Yourself! he gave us a whole chapter to help us. The chapter is titled “Be a Center of Love.” Rarely, would I quote a whole paragraph in my weekly letter to all of you, but I was so struck by the timeliness of Butterworth’s opening to the chapter that here it is:
“When the world around you is in turmoil you may be confused as to where you should stand. When social issues become polarized and politicized, people may demand to know, ‘Are you for us or against us?’ It is important to know that you need not become trapped in divisiveness. You can take a stand for unity. The one thing to be against is the tendency to react in anger and hostility, to give bent to feelings of bias and prejudice. The important thing to be for is the way of love.”
When I read this paragraph, I could hardly believe he had not written it for today! Butterworth goes on to encourage us to be arbiters of peace: to draw large circles around ourselves to include and bless all concerned. When we become judgmental, we are on the side of the problem, instead, he asks us to “meditate on the idea that we are a channel for the expression of infinite love.” “Feel a flowing forth of love going out in all directions to bless all persons everywhere.” Of course, there is much more in the whole chapter and I encourage you to read it.
I wanted to share these ideas with you because they helped me see things so differently. I already know I cannot change other people’s thinking. The only thinking I can change is my own. But, this gave me a new understanding that I really do not need to be concerned with either. If I focus on love and meditate on ideas of love, unity, and forgiveness, I will be able to find that center of peace within me and become a center of love. If we each become centers of love in our communities, in our states, and in our nation, wise actions will be evoked that bring about unified support by the people!
Thank you so much for the kind feedback that I have received for these essays! I cannot tell you how much it means to me to be able to share these ideas with you on a weekly basis. I miss “teaching” my Wings Book Study every week so this helps me feel my connectedness to all of you!
Peace, Love, Unity and Forgiveness,
Cynthia
Today’s photos come from my visit to Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK. Northern Ireland has a long history of civil conflict and domestic terrorism. However, on Good Friday, April 10, 1998, a multi party Peace Agreement was signed between the British and Irish governments as to how Northern Ireland should be governed. This brought to an end centuries of conflict. I was very moved by visiting the wall which once separated the two warring sides in the city of Belfast. I understood so much more about the period referred to by the Irish as “The Troubles” after visiting. I share this with you today to remind us there is always a solution to differences – even when many folks will shake their heads and say it is hopeless. Nothing is hopeless when we are making ourselves centers of God’s Love! Our walls of disagreement can become tourist photos! |
| | | | | | | | | | | Your Weekly Affirmation:
"The
great idea, our great healing, prospering and protecting thought is:
JESUS CHRIST. The SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST HEALS, PROSPERS AND PROTECTS
EVERYBODY."
THANK YOU, GOD! |
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