|
When things go wrong,
sometimes it's OK to search out
what happened so it can be
corrected, but the first order of
business is to become established
in what the Unity movement has
always called Divine Order.
Our minister here in Victoria,
the Reverend Doris Trinh Lewis,
gave a clear, powerful exposition
on this subject on Sunday, March
6, 2005.
What made the sermon so
intensely interesting and
powerful was the anecdote she
told out of her life!
You may or may not know that
Doris was born in Vietnam and was
able to come to Texas with her
family at the end of the war when
she was seventeen. She graduated
from university with a degree in
engineering and had a successful
career in Silicon Valley. She
found Unity and was nurtured in
the Palo Alto, California church
by the Reverend Stan
Burnett-Hampson and was inspired
to become a Unity minister. She
then completed her ministerial
education at Unity School. We
were blessed when she began her
ministry here in 2004.
Near the end of her career in
engineering, she received a
challenging "opportunity" that
provided her sermon story.
It seems that her company had
been engaged unsuccessfully for
three years with another company
in another state in a joint
effort to produce a certain
product. Doris was asked to
travel to the city of the other
company's location to work with
them for a period of three months
in an effort to solve the
problem. She accepted, though it
certainly appeared to be a
daunting challenge.
Shortly before she was to
leave, an executive of her
company warned her that she would
be regarded as an enemy by the
personnel of the other company.
This of course was not welcome
news!
Like a lot of us in the study
of Unity, Doris had been
struggling with what exactly
Unity means by Divine Order. She
decided that it means putting God
first, to believe that Divine
Order establishes a certain order
of procedure that will bring
success into whatever we are
working with. So she determined
she would practice putting God
first. After all, Unity is
practical (practicing)
Christianity!
Establishing her consciousness
in Divine Order, she made her
plans. She would go into what the
executive had named "the lions'
den," with three intentions: to
be totally, unconditionally
constructive, supportive, and
willing to learn from the
experience. She would be part of
the team instead of fighting
enemies, and, she said to
herself, "I'm going to
learn."
A miracle took place, and
Doris says it wasn't because of
something she did. It just
happened! In only three weeks,
they shipped the first product to
Silicon Valley!
Is it any wonder that Doris
Trinh Lewis is now a Unity
minister? She witnessed the
miracle-working power of God -
the miracle-working power of
God-consciousness!
The Divine Order of business
in our universe is God or First
Cause, God creating! It never
works for us to try to take
control as one ego. We must
always co-operate with Divine
Order, with God as the One that
unifies and works through all for
the Highest Good of each and
all!
This is what Doris
experienced. It is available to
all of us anytime. Let us join
Doris in her affirmation "I put
God first, and God is directing
my path."
Don
|
