Unity Church
of Victoria
SUNDAY SERVICE
at 10:30 AM
Alix Goolden Hall
in the
Conservatory of Music
907 Pandora Ave.
Victoria, BC
Children's Program
Fellowship time after service each
week
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Rev. Donald
O'Connor
Minister Emeritus
If
we grasp it and live it, the
glorious concept of UNITY
will answer all the world's
problems!
Title: "NO
NEED TO BARGAIN WITH
GOD!"
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There is plenty of evidence
that a gravely-mistaken idea
about God is close to ubiquitous
among our human family!
For example, one famous Unity
minister has often told the story
of her bargain with God as she
was entering into the Unity
thought. Having received multiple
injuries in an automobile
accident, she told God that if
she survived, she would give the
rest of her life to serving Him.
She did survive, became a hugely
popular, successful, and able
Unity minister, but not because
God came through on His supposed
part of the bargain. Her
commitment to God tuned her into
the God-power ready and waiting
to spring forth into her life.
She hadn't talked God into
something. God is ready when we
are! No, that isn't right. God is
ready when we aren't. Our part is
to be willing to receive. The
water is waiting for the turn of
the tap!
The DAILY WORD lesson for July
19, 2005 (today!) set me to
thinking about this.
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What throws people off, I believe, is the word "if" in the quote from Matthew. It is easy to see that people could get the idea
that if they do something right, God will reward them by doing something good!
How do you like this explanation? It does it for me:
When you forgive someone, you have risen into the heavenly realm of the consciousness of forgiveness which continues to express
in forgiving you too. I can almost hear someone say, "That's not the way it happened in my case. I'm still waiting to be forgiven."
Exactly. Still waiting. The higher realms of consciousness cannot always move mountains in our lives if we are not ready. When we
forgive, if we understand and believe that God's forgiveness (that is, our experiencing of forgiveness) is simultaneous with our
expressing forgiveness, we will feel forgiveness and know we are forgiven.
The consciousness involved here is the understanding that God does not operate by the familiar human level. God IS forgiveness all
the time; God IS love all the time; God IS perfect life and wholeness in us all the time, etc.
To be in God-consciousness is to experience the manifestation of God in our lives.
All of us are in the process of building this consciousness. If we think we have accepted it but aren't experiencing satisfying results,
we don't want to conclude that this is all nonsense. Rather, we want to remain stalwart in our affirmations, meditations, and
contemplations.
There is also plenty of evidence that this is indeed the way life works. The results come when we have ACTUALLY risen into the
heavenly realm!
The parable of what has become known as the prodigal son (though you will not find these words in the 15th chapter of Luke,
verses 11-32) dramatically illustrates this Truth. Rising into the heavenly realm doesn't take place in saints and gurus. The prodigal
was at the bottom of the totem pole when he turned to his father (God). He didn't expect his father to forgive him, but he was asking
for it! However, the father didn't need to be coerced; he was forgiving and completely welcoming the return of his son.
(Does this sound like what you would do too? Sure. This is the nature of God we all share!)
What remains is for us to practice this, to believe it with all our hearts, to refuse to place our guilt ahead of God's love!
Don
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