Christ in You, Your Hope of Glory
I can remember when I first came into Unity I was impressed by the ideas I heard there. I loved the books. I was excited about the possibility of a different, more positive life for myself. I loved hearing stories about other people’s successes. I was like a small, shy child peering around the corner of a door into a bright new world. I was also skeptical—and rightly so. I’d been burned before. I knew enough to realize that if something sounded too good to be true, it probably was. I wasn’t sure what the Unity philosophy was offering—was it a quick fix, a soothing delusion that would ultimately leave me in worse shape than it found me? Or was it truly a vision of life that was more real than the negative one I so frequently entertained? Was this viewpoint what I had always felt but never found? Was it a way of seeing and a way of being that was very natural to me, but had been buried under layers of hurt and confusion? I was curious, I was drawn, I had to find out.
What I found was not a quick fix, but a gateway to my own spiritual nature. I was being gently nudged, now I believe by my own soul, to listen to the wisdom of those who had walked this path before me. I awkwardly started to pick up some tools—like prayer and affirmations—positive statements of Truth, like realizing that I was God’s beloved child—really, like noticing that my thoughts affected my day—big time. Changing my mind, using these tools, I found I started liking myself more. But I still worried about whether I was just fooling myself. What if I stopped fretting and trusted God, would God drop me? What if I started trusting that God could protect me and guide my finances? What if I relied on following spiritual principles with integrity instead of relying on my anger and fear? Would I go bankrupt? I didn’t know. But a combination of desperation and sense of adventure kept me moving forward one idea, one new behavior at a time.
At different points I have always had (and still do) have a definite sense of shedding a skin—letting go of some old way that I see life and myself. I feel myself standing as a new creature. I know that I have passed a point of no return. I am always sad for the loss of the old me, but also in awe at where I am now and where I am going. As I grow I find that my deepest heart’s dreams are being fulfilled, though I often don’t see it at the time it’s happening. I am truly amazed—every time! It is the same feeling I get when coming to the end of a really good mystery novel—the aha when all the prior events suddenly make sense.
We are each and every one of us vitally alive. That is the great mystery hidden throughout the ages, as the apostle Paul tells us in his letter to the Colossians, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” There aren’t any quick fixes, there aren’t any rescuers coming from the outside. There is however something much, much better–the reality of the full aliveness, full power, full love, full abundance within each of us—and the ability to make it operational in our daily comings and goings. If God is within us, God is also obviously within each other person. What a gift. We are here to help and encourage one another with love, integrity, and caring. What an incredible plan—thanks God! Let’s commit to live it.
In the Love and Light of the Christ,
Rev. Anna
