Metaphysical Meanderings

We cannot be separate from God.
Our life is not a separate thing.
Every thought we think,
every word we speak,
every action we take,
affects the whole.
Rosemary Fillmore Rhea

These words of one of the granddaughters of Myrtle and Charles Fillmore, the co-founders of Unity, are a basic premise of the Unity teachings. This basic teaching has been spoken for many, many years. For example, 19th century poet and ascetic Frances Thompson wrote, “Thou canst not pluck a flower without troubling a star.”

We can go back further than this. How about an example from the middle ages – over 500 years ago? The genius and enlightened medical doctor, alchemist, astronomer, ascetic, Paracelsus wrote,

Truth is within ourselves:
it takes no rise from outward things,
whate’er you may believe.
There is an inmost center in us all,
where truth abides in fullness…
And to know…consists of opening out a way
Whence the imprisoned splendor may escape…

And how about these words attributed to our blessed way-shower Jesus from over 2,000 years ago,

The kingdom of heaven is within you.
Seek first the kingdom, and all things
will be given to you.

Many, many sages, philosopher, ascetics, poets, and enlightened ones have voiced these truths both before and after Jesus. But probably no one more that Jesus the Christ has had such a profound impact on the western world.

Jesus taught us, through his example, our unlimited capacity for compassion and love, for strength and wholeness, for going within to that “kingdom of heaven” where “all things are possible.” He stressed how essential it was for us to “ become as little children” in order to trust in the ultimate mystery behind this existence we call reality.

James Dillet Freeman (long-time poet laureate of Unity) wrote:

Do not ask a child to tell
You what is a miracle;
He may turn and ask you what
In all the world you think is not.

Enlightened souls and children lead the way. They seem to possess the qualities of openness, expectation, eagerness, and the kind of trust that surpasses believing – that amazing capacity to just “know”.

Is the spiritual journey easier than we may have thought? And what is the kingdom of heaven. Unity minister and teacher extraordinaire, Eric Butterworth teaches us that the word for “heaven” comes from the Greek root “ouranos” which means “expanding”! And so, Jesus’ words, “Seek first the kingdom of heaven …” might be understood as, “Seek first the ‘expanding’ …” When we sit in the Silence, we seek to “expand” our conscious awareness of Spirit. I like this concept.

Butterworth also teaches us that the word for “hell” is from the root word “hades” which means “not to see”. So heaven and hell are right here, right now. Which do you choose for your life’s journey? Do you want to “expand” your “knowing” and thus the quality of your life? Or will you choose ”not to see”; to live in ignorance and stagnation? It’s your choice.

It would seem that an attitude of trust precedes the “knowing” that the sages and the innocents have. And so, if we choose to just take an attitude of trust into the Silence (meditation), perhaps we too can experience the “knowing” of the seeming “mysteries” behind this existence. Just to enter the Silence with no expectation for outcome other than to trust that “all is well” and “you are loved” can lead to enlightenment.

Wisdom is never learned just from books. I’ve heard it said that your own life is your curriculum. Your own unique experience with Spirit in the Silence makes all the wonderful teachings in your favorite “spiritual books” come alive.

We can choose to be explorers venturing into a new world with amazing glimpses of truth that can transform our lives by sitting in the Silence. Or we can be like the cartographers of old who drew dragons and sea serphants on areas of uncharted, unexplored lands and seas, afraid to venture outside their known world; afraid to relinquish control to an unknown source.

We are mystics simply by the virtue of our births if we can acknowledge this and nurture it. We have the innate potential for unlimited peace, wisdom, creativity; indeed the whole banquet of the divinity is bequeathed to us as children of Spirit having this amazing human adventure.

Rosemary Fillmore Rhea tells us:
“We were born to create…. One day when enough of us awaken to the infinite power within us --- we will see a world we have never seen before.”

Metaphysical Meanderings
by Angela Eckrem,
Licensed Unity Teacher