Prayer that craves a particular commodity, -- anything less than all good, -- is vicious. Prayer is the contemplation of the facts of life from the highest point of view. It is the soliloquy of a beholding and jubilant soul. It is the spirit of God pronouncing his works good. But prayer as a means to effect a private end is meanness and theft. It supposes dualism and not unity in nature and consciousness. As soon as the man is at one with God, he will not beg. He will then see prayer in all action. -Ralph Waldo Emerson in “Self Reliance”
Spiritual understanding begins with awareness, for that is the portal through which we recognize what is alive in our mind and active in our feeling nature. From a conscious perspective, we can assess our inner experience. If I am not experiencing peace or freedom, or openness or equanimity I can seek a higher consciousness, that is, I can ask to see (be shown) differently. This is true prayer. Prayer is not entreating a reluctant Creator to afford us some special outcome that meets our imperfect understanding of what's good for us. That kind of prayer lives out of our sense of incompleteness, disclaims our inherent wholeness, and discounts the treasure of embedded goodness that is the bedrock of our life in God.
Prayer is merely our willingness to be shown what is really going on...laying bare our forgetfulness of Truth, while exposing the infinite possibilities of healing in every situation or encounter. It is not conquering Spirit’s reluctance to bless us, but opening our eyes to Sprit’s infinite, eternal willingness to be there for us, in us, and as us. This is prayer, the intention to see the Truth, the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth.
Join us Sunday at 10:30 PDT at Unity in the Olympics and make a commitment to elevating your understanding to align with your true nature, the quintessence of spiritual living. We have updated our av equipment and will be offering a livestream via Zoom this week. Hopefully, the technology will work as intended. Let us know, please.
Peace and blessings,
Rev. Larry
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