Minister's Highlights
Unity of Monroe
One Humanity, Many Stories: Honoring Memories
May 5, 2019
We’ve all heard the term Deja Vu before, right? Deja Vu is a French term describing the feeling that one has lived through the present situation before. I feel like I’ve said that before. So here are several other types of Deva Vu experiences you may have never heard of before. If you have the feeling that you’ve learned this stuff before - it’s Deja Knew. If you’ve eaten the same dinner before - it’s Deja Stew. If you’ve forgotten a person’s name - it’s Deja Who. Ever been on a plane before - it’s Deja Flew. Felt this ill before - also Deja Flu. Fed pigeons before - Deja Coo. And sat through this lesson before - it’s Deja Pew. While there are many theories as to why Deja Vu happens, broadly speaking we might see this as a part of our system of memory that we are each beholden too for better or worse.
It’s the first Sunday of the month as we continue along with our yearly theme of One Humanity, Many Stories. May is recognizing the power of our memory and Honoring Memories and each week in May we will do so including Mother’s Day next Sunday and Memorial Day at the end of the month. Today, with our monthly theme I’ve invited you to share your stories because while we are One Humanity we have Many Stories to share. Later on we’ll hear from Helen Leukhardt sharing her story, so we’re excited about that. The stories that we’re hearing this year often involve what we’ve come to know about and how we’ve processed life on a particular subject. We often learn some valuable insights when we understand what it means to Honor our Memories. The question is always how do I see those events and situations and how do I feel about those memories - as moments of great pain,difficulty or in seeing the blessings and insights that came about.
Now without causing ourselves any great distress because that’s not the purpose of my lesson, I want you to think about a very challenging and difficult time you went through. It may have been the passing of a loved one, a divorce, a health challenge or financial setback. As we hold that memory what feelings are stirred up about that experience or about the people involved? What do you feel within your body, your thoughts, your emotional state? Now I ask you to come back to this present moment as you bless that memory, letting it gently go past and bless the insight you’ve gained or will continue to grow from. In thinking about that memory we’ve held onto or perhaps that has held onto us, a realization comes to mind that if I’m still feeling pain, anger, fear or feeling lost over the memory, Spirit is reminding me that there is still healing work that needs to be done. I look at it this way, when we hold a past memory of an event or person in mind and heart and can honestly allow that person or circumstance to have, what I call, FREE PASSAGE through our memories, our consciousness, then we know the healing has taken place. Free Passage is an unencumbered journey through our consciousness where we gain an insight, find the wholeness and blessing in the moment and especially in the case of people, see only the highest and best for them. You get what I’m saying... that if I am upset or pained in anyway over any memory, there is more work to be done. Unity minister Toni Stephens Coleman writes in the featured article on Unity’s website that, "Memories can be adjusted to serve us—to help us understand or forgive. Once an experience has become a memory, it’s only a story we tell ourselves and may tell others."
So there’s healing work to do and often that comes in the form of challenging ourselves to find the blessing, the gifts we learned while growing through such things. It took me a few years to grow through a painful divorce many years ago but each time there would be a reminder or remembrance on my part, I would simply pause to give thanks for what what she brought into my life, the time shared and look for the good even when it still felt raw. Finally after some time and having gone through ups and downs over some financial difficulties that had incurred, I got a letter from the government saying that because I was a cosigner on her student loan, I was now being held responsible for that debt. The more I thought about it the more that couldn’t have come at a better time to see where I was on that journey and so I simply sent her a note, having not communicated in a few years, thanking her for our time together and wishing her a wonderful life - with a little P.S. attached saying please pay this debt - OK. Not something written maliciously or out of spite but a true deep feeling for what she and our relationship brought into my life. I believe that the great baseball pitcher Satchel Paige had this quote attributed to him, “Don’t look back, something might be gaining on you” and it speaks of being vigilant to our current awareness in each Holy Now moment but if we do look back and see it gaining on us take the time to welcome how it can and does bless us with a fresh insight and understanding of what we went through. Not to hold onto memories in anger or with odious tendencies but to allow ourselves even to see it all in a different context.
The healing process always takes place, just like the establishment of all our memories, in the present moment. Healing life takes place as we recognize our memories are always colored by our present consciousness and experience. In the wonderful work No Boundary by Ken Wilber, author in transpersonal psychology, he says, “When I think of the past, all I really know is a certain memory but that memory is itself a present experience.” In other words, in our direct and immediate awareness there is no time, no past or future, only a HOLY NOW moment because as Wilber states, “I never know the actual past at all, I know only memories of the past and those memories exist only as a present experience.” Try to recall the last time you ran into someone you hadn’t seen for a long time like at an event or in the store. Can you go up to them now and give them a hug or ask them something you forgot to ask? Knowing this and honoring this process means my dedication is always to this HOLY NOW moment because even my memories are wrapped up in it. But this is good because we can find the value, the wisdom, the blessing in the PRESENT MOMENT even if we did not do so previously. I can choose to shape those memories from present day consciousness and see it for all that it is. The blessing of it is that if for example you had a falling out with a friend, our present can see that our past as just another step in our spiritual/human evolution and that we did the best we could then according to our then-present consciousness. Now we know more fully. This might bring greater insight to that great passage from Paul in I Corinthians, “When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.” - 1 Cor. 13:11-12 Our spiritual evolution if doing just that evolving and sustaining us in the upward ascent of life.
So we never really know our actual past and our memories exist only as a present experience. Further, when we did experience our past events, that too was a present occurrence. Remember, memories are echoes of what was or what happened. They represent our perspectives filtered through our consciousness, not the ultimate truth or what is right now. The best way to honor a memory is to find value in it, and make it useful for yourself and others.
In our shared humanity, we express God in infinite ways like a prism that divides light into a rainbow of colors. So, while there is One God, there is one humanity, yet many stories that we all have to share on our journey. Throughout this year, you are invited to share your process with us as we can revel in your own individual process. We find value in hearing from our dear friend Helen Leukhardt this Sunday to be able to hear her story as a valuable part of this year long series. So I invite Helen to come forward and honor us with her process. Next month, June 2, I will continue this once-a-month series One Humanity, Many Stories as we find value in the process of Letting Go. If you are interested in sharing your story on this theme, please see me after the service and thank you.
Unity of Monroe • 272 Britton Lane • P.O. Box 138 • Monroe, Ohio • 45050
513-539-5103
E-Mail • unitymonroeohio@earthlink.net
WebSite • unityofmonroe.org
One Humanity, Many Stories: Honoring Memories
May 5, 2019
We’ve all heard the term Deja Vu before, right? Deja Vu is a French term describing the feeling that one has lived through the present situation before. I feel like I’ve said that before. So here are several other types of Deva Vu experiences you may have never heard of before. If you have the feeling that you’ve learned this stuff before - it’s Deja Knew. If you’ve eaten the same dinner before - it’s Deja Stew. If you’ve forgotten a person’s name - it’s Deja Who. Ever been on a plane before - it’s Deja Flew. Felt this ill before - also Deja Flu. Fed pigeons before - Deja Coo. And sat through this lesson before - it’s Deja Pew. While there are many theories as to why Deja Vu happens, broadly speaking we might see this as a part of our system of memory that we are each beholden too for better or worse.
It’s the first Sunday of the month as we continue along with our yearly theme of One Humanity, Many Stories. May is recognizing the power of our memory and Honoring Memories and each week in May we will do so including Mother’s Day next Sunday and Memorial Day at the end of the month. Today, with our monthly theme I’ve invited you to share your stories because while we are One Humanity we have Many Stories to share. Later on we’ll hear from Helen Leukhardt sharing her story, so we’re excited about that. The stories that we’re hearing this year often involve what we’ve come to know about and how we’ve processed life on a particular subject. We often learn some valuable insights when we understand what it means to Honor our Memories. The question is always how do I see those events and situations and how do I feel about those memories - as moments of great pain,difficulty or in seeing the blessings and insights that came about.
Now without causing ourselves any great distress because that’s not the purpose of my lesson, I want you to think about a very challenging and difficult time you went through. It may have been the passing of a loved one, a divorce, a health challenge or financial setback. As we hold that memory what feelings are stirred up about that experience or about the people involved? What do you feel within your body, your thoughts, your emotional state? Now I ask you to come back to this present moment as you bless that memory, letting it gently go past and bless the insight you’ve gained or will continue to grow from. In thinking about that memory we’ve held onto or perhaps that has held onto us, a realization comes to mind that if I’m still feeling pain, anger, fear or feeling lost over the memory, Spirit is reminding me that there is still healing work that needs to be done. I look at it this way, when we hold a past memory of an event or person in mind and heart and can honestly allow that person or circumstance to have, what I call, FREE PASSAGE through our memories, our consciousness, then we know the healing has taken place. Free Passage is an unencumbered journey through our consciousness where we gain an insight, find the wholeness and blessing in the moment and especially in the case of people, see only the highest and best for them. You get what I’m saying... that if I am upset or pained in anyway over any memory, there is more work to be done. Unity minister Toni Stephens Coleman writes in the featured article on Unity’s website that, "Memories can be adjusted to serve us—to help us understand or forgive. Once an experience has become a memory, it’s only a story we tell ourselves and may tell others."
So there’s healing work to do and often that comes in the form of challenging ourselves to find the blessing, the gifts we learned while growing through such things. It took me a few years to grow through a painful divorce many years ago but each time there would be a reminder or remembrance on my part, I would simply pause to give thanks for what what she brought into my life, the time shared and look for the good even when it still felt raw. Finally after some time and having gone through ups and downs over some financial difficulties that had incurred, I got a letter from the government saying that because I was a cosigner on her student loan, I was now being held responsible for that debt. The more I thought about it the more that couldn’t have come at a better time to see where I was on that journey and so I simply sent her a note, having not communicated in a few years, thanking her for our time together and wishing her a wonderful life - with a little P.S. attached saying please pay this debt - OK. Not something written maliciously or out of spite but a true deep feeling for what she and our relationship brought into my life. I believe that the great baseball pitcher Satchel Paige had this quote attributed to him, “Don’t look back, something might be gaining on you” and it speaks of being vigilant to our current awareness in each Holy Now moment but if we do look back and see it gaining on us take the time to welcome how it can and does bless us with a fresh insight and understanding of what we went through. Not to hold onto memories in anger or with odious tendencies but to allow ourselves even to see it all in a different context.
The healing process always takes place, just like the establishment of all our memories, in the present moment. Healing life takes place as we recognize our memories are always colored by our present consciousness and experience. In the wonderful work No Boundary by Ken Wilber, author in transpersonal psychology, he says, “When I think of the past, all I really know is a certain memory but that memory is itself a present experience.” In other words, in our direct and immediate awareness there is no time, no past or future, only a HOLY NOW moment because as Wilber states, “I never know the actual past at all, I know only memories of the past and those memories exist only as a present experience.” Try to recall the last time you ran into someone you hadn’t seen for a long time like at an event or in the store. Can you go up to them now and give them a hug or ask them something you forgot to ask? Knowing this and honoring this process means my dedication is always to this HOLY NOW moment because even my memories are wrapped up in it. But this is good because we can find the value, the wisdom, the blessing in the PRESENT MOMENT even if we did not do so previously. I can choose to shape those memories from present day consciousness and see it for all that it is. The blessing of it is that if for example you had a falling out with a friend, our present can see that our past as just another step in our spiritual/human evolution and that we did the best we could then according to our then-present consciousness. Now we know more fully. This might bring greater insight to that great passage from Paul in I Corinthians, “When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.” - 1 Cor. 13:11-12 Our spiritual evolution if doing just that evolving and sustaining us in the upward ascent of life.
So we never really know our actual past and our memories exist only as a present experience. Further, when we did experience our past events, that too was a present occurrence. Remember, memories are echoes of what was or what happened. They represent our perspectives filtered through our consciousness, not the ultimate truth or what is right now. The best way to honor a memory is to find value in it, and make it useful for yourself and others.
In our shared humanity, we express God in infinite ways like a prism that divides light into a rainbow of colors. So, while there is One God, there is one humanity, yet many stories that we all have to share on our journey. Throughout this year, you are invited to share your process with us as we can revel in your own individual process. We find value in hearing from our dear friend Helen Leukhardt this Sunday to be able to hear her story as a valuable part of this year long series. So I invite Helen to come forward and honor us with her process. Next month, June 2, I will continue this once-a-month series One Humanity, Many Stories as we find value in the process of Letting Go. If you are interested in sharing your story on this theme, please see me after the service and thank you.
Unity of Monroe • 272 Britton Lane • P.O. Box 138 • Monroe, Ohio • 45050
513-539-5103
E-Mail • unitymonroeohio@earthlink.net
WebSite • unityofmonroe.org