Our Guest Speaker this Sunday is Valerie Cary. Val is a previous Board President, current candidate for Licensed Unity Teacher, and long-term active member of our community. Val will be sharing her thoughts and research on the invariability of change that allows us to let go of the old and welcome the new as it shows up in our lives and affairs. Enjoy her article below.
We know that one of the constants of life is change. With change, we are often offered the opportunity of new beginnings. These are times where we can start fresh, leaving behind old habits or thoughts or things while embracing new opportunities.
New beginnings can be a time for personal reflection and growth. Our mindset is important, as in Unity we know that we create our experiences by the activity of our thinking and that our actions influence our outcomes.
Meister Eckhart, spiritual master, once said that "If you look for nothing but God, nothing or no one can disturb you." He also said "The most important hour is always the present. The most significant person is precisely the one sitting across from you right now. The most necessary work is always love." So, if we are staying in the moment and knowing there is only love, then our movement into new beginnings can be in harmony and in anticipation of the abundance and perfection that God desires for us. We often say, "God is Love" but isn't also true that "Love is God?"
So when we are aware that a new beginning is being presented to us, what is our mindset? Are we full of anticipation and hope, or are we filled with worry and/or fear? The Bible tells us over 100 times to be not afraid or to not worry. It would be Pollyanna of me to try to tell you to never be afraid or to worry because those thoughts are bringing us information, but is the information helpful or harmful? It is what we do with the information that can be transformational.
In thinking about Meister Eckhart's statement above that "The most necessary work is always love," one of the gifts of new beginnings is the opportunity to put our love to work, either for ourselves or for others. Please join us on Sunday as we start to wind down 2024 and think about what new beginnings might be possible for us in 2025.
Holding you in God's love and light,
Valerie