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| Movie Discussion Group (Zoom): Mon, 2:00 PM
WINGS Book Study Group (Zoom): Tue, 12:00 PM
Practical Metaphysics Class (Zoom): Tue, 7:00 PM
Wednesday "Faith Lift" Meditation: 7:00 PM Table Talk Thursday (Zoom): 12:00 PM
Exodus Class (Zoom): Thur, 3:00 PM
Sunday Service: 10:45 AM
Sunday Social (Zoom): 12:00 PM |
| | WINGed Words The Reverend Cynthia Mackey, UCC Minister of Education |
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Hi, Everyone!
Well, it has been quite a week! Sometimes life comes at you fast and everything changes in the blink of an eye, flip of the coin or turning of the page, as folks say! We started the week last week plugging along in our familiar pandemic ways: staying home, wearing our masks, socially distancing, zooming our group activities and watching church online, all as we have done for over a year. Then, all of a sudden, the CDC announced some significant changes and, if you will pardon my 70’s reference, “we all freak out!” Change! We humans (and, actually, also my cat) tend to hate changes. It does not seem to matter if we see them as “good things” or “bad things,” we still can feel the resistance begin to build. What, take off my mask? Am I to start standing right behind others in line? Can I really come to church in person? Wait a minute! If you are like me, you may have moved heaven and earth to get vaccinated and get others in your family vaccinated with the ultimate goal of returning to “normal” interactive life. And then when it happens, we are shocked and knocked off our game. It’s ok! It happens to all of us and it seems to be a common thread among many folks in our world. It took a while to get all of us on board with following the science of wearing a mask and it could take us vaccinated folks a while to follow the science and let go of the security of our “despised” masks!
I find resistance to be an ongoing challenge for humanity and I believe Jesus (Who knew us so well) spent a lot of energy encouraging our non-resistance. Yesterday’s Daily Word reading was on a favorite topic of mine: “Let go and let God.” I hear you, my dear readers! I hear you saying this is a “favorite” saying because it can feel so hard to let go. I know. Perhaps that is why I like the topic, because I need constant reminders. The affirmation is “I do what is mine to do, and then I let go.” There are things for me to do in this life and there are things for Spirit to do. So, I ask for discernment to be able to know when to act and when to let go. Pain is usually my barometer. When the pain of my attempts to force something to happen or prevent something from happening, begins to build, then it is time to let go! Miraculously, Divine Order takes over and all is well. “Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).
Eric Butterworth and Emmet Fox both cover topics on being non-resistant based on the teachings of Jesus. In Butterworth’s book, Discover the Power within You, he has a chapter titled, ”The Law of Nonresistance.” The chapter is filled with wonderful wisdom on non-resistance, but I want to touch on one small area–the notion of a closed mind. Butterworth goes so far as to say that the “unforgiveable “sin” (missing of the mark) is the closed mind, the mind that is made up, that will not let Spirit reveal new Truths.” Well, we know that forgiveness is always possible, but here we are being reminded that in order for that to happen, we must open our minds to new Truths. Jesus reminds us in Matthew to “keep your mind open; be receptive to the continuous unfoldment of the Truth in and through you. Give thanks that life is lived one day at a time, every day is a glorious opportunity to be strong, to overcome, to achieve, and to be happy.” This tells me I need to go with the flow instead of swimming upstream. New information is coming to us daily–moment by moment--and we need to evaluate that information with an open mind: listen to science, listen to the experiences of others, and pray for discernment as to the right decision to make. However, we are cautioned not to “keep doing what we have always done unless we want to get what we have always gotten.” To paraphrase a saying I have heard, “Just because something was one way before does not mean it is ideal to do it the same way again.”
So, by now you have probably heard that the CDC has announced that us vaccinated folks can ditch the masks indoors and out and meet together in person in our beautiful church with our wonderful fellow Unity friends on Sunday, May 30! However, a fair number of our folks are unvaccinated for various reasons (many are children), or have been advised of immune system issues, so many of our folks will keep their masks on, even indoors, and we will honor their choices. This is wonderful news and it also means that our Wings Book Study will be meeting in the Café in person beginning on Tuesday, June 1st at 12:00 when we begin our new book, Spiritual Economics, by Eric Butterworth. I know that some folks will be feeling some anxiety about changes and we understand. Let’s give thanks that we are living in the eternal now, so we can process new information by keeping our minds open to the Spirit of Truth.
I can hardly wait to see everyone! I hope everyone is getting vaccinated, for this is the key to our freedom and is happening now!
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| | If you'd like to join us on Zoom, the login info is:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81007092426?pwd=SlUrRzU3MWhpZEx2bW96NTNlbW1tZz09
Meeting ID: 810 0709 2426
Passcode: 865284
Peace, Love and Non-resistance!
Cynthia
Today’s
photos are from Alesund, Norway. Flowing water always makes me think
of non-resistance. The first two show the Alesund Waterfall flowing
freely down the mountain into the fjord. The second two are of a stream
near the waterfall. On that particular day, I was feeling considerable
angst toward some of my fellow travelers and feeling resistant of their
negative behavior. Then, while waiting for a replacement bus for our
broken one, both Mike and I stood next to that stream and remembered
being in the flow and being non-resistant and we could feel our attitude
changing. The entire rest of our trip was different! We were in the
flow of non-resistance! |
| | | | | | | | | | | Your Weekly Affirmation:
I AM A UNIQUE AND WONDERFUL THINKING CENTER WITHIN DIVINE MIND AND I HAVE THE POWER TO THINK WHAT I WANT TO THINK AND MANIFEST THE KIND OF THOUGHT I WANT TO SEE MANIFEST!
THANK YOU, GOD! |
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