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The glorious concept of Unity
is the message of Christmas that
each and every one of us, God's
creations, is an expression of
the Christ, that is, the nature
of God. Fundamentally this is the
chief teaching of Unity, that
Jesus came to reveal and to
demonstrate that there is no
limit to what God can do through
each of us when we live from the
acceptance that God is in
us, just as in
Jesus Himself, to
bring God into visibility!
When I registered as a pre-law
major at the University of
WashingLon in Seattle in 1934, my
lifeplan was to become a
statesman in order to do
something for humankind. Within a
month I received my call into the
ministry at a memorial service
for a young man who had gone to
Transylvania, Kentucky to enter
seminary. He had been killed in
an automobile accident. The
minister, Dr. Warren Hastings of
the University Christian Church,
waved his hand past the two rows
of young university students
sitting at the front and said,
"One of these young men will take
Dick Nietsky's place," and I
knew I was the one! The
thing that was amazing to me
about my response was that I had
never, for one second, even
thought about being a
minister!
However, the facts are that I
was being groomed for this all
along. Very quietly my mother had
been bringing me up in the Unity
consciousness, although I didn't
realize this at the time. She had
actually taken my sister and me
to Kansas City to take a tour of
Unity School when I was just
turning six. She didn't get to
take the tour or even get beyond
the lobby because I was so hot
and tired and fretful that she
gave it up. Fifteen years later I
walked into the same building at
917 Tracy to beome a Unity
minister. And, of course, Mom and
Dad both made that tour and later
enjoyed the marvelous ambience of
Unity Farm, as we called it then.
Now of course it is Unity
Village.
The thing that "grabbed" me
about Unity was this idea of the
Christ within. The excitement of
this idea, which was new to me,
was related to my desire to do
something for humankind, and this
has been the central motivation
of my life and ministry.
The glorious concept of Unity
is that each of us as an
individual can make a real impact
upon society and that, when all
of us see our lives in this way,
all of us together will create a
civilization of love, harmony,
peace, health, and prosperity.
But it all begins with the
individual just as Christianity
began with Jesus. I am certain
that the biggest reason
Christianity caught on and grew
so quickly was that individuals
saw this possibility for
themselves and all people.
The other great idea of Unity
that "grabbed" me, an idealist of
the first water, was that here
was an application of
Christianity that included people
of all races and faiths. Unity
has always seen the
likenesses in the world
religions rather than being
bogged down by the
differences!
Where I want to go with this
piece is to encourage all of us,
including myself, to get excited
about our individual
possibilities to do something
for humankind. You are as
aware as I am of the remarkable
stories that fill magazines and
books of individuals who have
answered the call to do
something. An 80 year-old black
woman in Los Angeles heard the
call in those very words and
began to feed and clothe the
homeless. She started alone but
soon inspired all kinds of people
to help and now they have
warehouses of supplies gathered
together by other individuals who
wanted to do something too.
Even in nature the power of
the individual was dramatically
told in the November 20, 2001 PBS
program LIVING EDENS, GLACIER
BAY. Spawning salmon made
their way to a shallow part of
the water and were afraid to
cross so they waited for the life
force to take over. (These were
the actual words used by the
narrator - the life force-) Then
a single fish took off and the
march was on!
So let us respond to the
challenge. Perhaps my new
affirmation may provide a seed
thought for you to begin
with:
IN EVERY MOVE I MAKE,
I RELAX,
AND TUNE INTO AND FOLLOW THE
GUIDANCE OF GOD,
TRUSTING THE RESULTS AND THE
GOD-PROCESS THAT PRODUCES
THEM.
Don
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