The close of a calendar year is a traditional time for reflection; a review of the year’s finest moments and its challenges. In preparation for a new year there are often a number of things we choose to leave behind. Perhaps you’ve experienced a loss, a physical challenge, a relationship issue, a career bump, or a financial upset. Then there are the things we experience together; divisiveness in government, hurricanes, out of control fires, tsunamis, terrorism, and mass shootings. Who wouldn’t want to leave these things behind?
It is unlikely anyone would want to take the challenges of 2018 into the new year, but perhaps the truth is 2019 will present its own challenges. The question is what will you leave behind that will better equip you for the year to come. What gift will you discover in your experiences that will allow you to walk through the obstacles that appear with ease and grace?
Although we may want to leave behind the events themselves, we would be better served if we could determine the underlying emotions that caused the events to disturb our peace. The most common are fear and anger.
Fear has its purpose. It is a physiological response to danger – but it does not know how to differentiate between real danger and imagined danger. Leaving behind unwarranted fear would allow us to face what comes before us with a greater sense of balance and clarity. To leave fear behind it must be replaced by something greater. Perhaps that is a knowledge that nothing can harm the Truth of you – that you are an eternal spiritual being having a physical experience.
Anger also has a purpose. It is an energy that causes us to initiate change when something appears to be out of order. Yet anger can be detrimental when it is not directed toward positive change. It can consume our energies and greatly disturb our peace. Leaving behind unproductive anger would make room for focusing our spiritual nature toward positive change. This would allow us to tune in to the more harmonious energy of Love and project a higher vibration into the world. Love is far more powerful and initiates long lasting transformation.
What will you leave behind as the new year approaches? I choose to leave behind unwarranted fear and replace it with knowing God within me is more powerful than anything that comes before me. I choose to leave behind anger and replace it with Love.
Perhaps you would like to join me this Sunday, December 30th at 10:00 am for Unity of Livonia’s Burning Bowl service. We will explore the things we choose to leave behind, write them on a special ashless piece of paper and place them in the burning bowl flame. In the twinkling of any eye they will disappear and give us an opportunity to create an affirmation to carry into the new year. Hope to see you there!
The pursuit of happiness is not fulfilled by the freedom to express hate. Hate is a derivative of fear. One hates what one deems an enemy, that which one fears will somehow hurt them or diminish them. Hate is an aspect of the “fight” response to fear. Only when fear is acknowledged, soothed and brought into alignment with the assurance of Divine Love can there be an experience of true happiness. All else is but a shield to assuage a perceived fear.
The crocodile trainer uses a distraction to maintain a safe distance from its powerful jaws. He enters the pen and throws the croc a piece of rope to chew on while he maneuvers to a safe place from which to feed and appease this fearsome beast. 
PAINT is a magical, miraculous substance capable of changing the color of an object. A vast variety of pigments and tints can be added to this liquid substance to create a coating of the desired color and hue. Easily changed or even removed in its liquid state, PAINT becomes fixed when it dries. Metaphysically, PAINT represents the thoughts and energy we project into our world and our experiences. We can PAINT our thoughts or experiences in the color or hue of our choosing. We can choose a color that vibrates with joy and harmony. Or, we can choose a color that constricts or vibrates with fear or anger. Thoughts and energies held for long periods of time become fixed and require one or more coats of a new color, or new thoughts. If I have been holding thoughts of fear or anger for a long period of time, it may require numerous affirmative thoughts to change the picture I have allowed to become fixed in my mind. Today, I paint a miracle. I paint the world with shades of Love, Healing, Acceptance, Forgiveness, Faith and Joy and they become fixed in my mind and in my life.
FEAR is not usually considered a miracle. Yet, FEAR has two very different sides or characteristics. There is the FEAR generated by the ego and fueled by outer conditions, past experiences and the collective stream of FEAR consciousness. This FEAR is destructive, immobilizing and is a very long way from what one might consider a miracle. But there is another side to FEAR. FEAR in its intended expression is the voice of inner guidance, intuition. It is a higher awareness calling out and keeping us from walking into the path of an approaching train or speeding vehicle. This FEAR moves us gently out of harm’s way and reminds us to seek inner guidance. It reminds us that we are never alone and that peace and harmony are just one thought, one dimension away. This FEAR reminds us to close our eyes to appearances, close our ears to resounding gongs and clanging symbols, and seek the shelter of Divine Love where wisdom speaks with clarity, harmony and oneness.
THOUGHT is the miraculous evidence of consciousness. I think, therefore I am. Or, perhaps the opposite is true. I am, therefore I think. THOUGHT is more than electrical impulses receiving and interpreting information. THOUGHT is a part of the creative process evident in all that takes shape and form. Thoughts create our experiences. Thoughts generate energy that can influence our feelings and behavior, and can even influence those around us. Have you ever walked into a room and simply known there was an energy to the thoughts of the people in the room? Thought generates an energy that can be felt, an energy that influences behavior, outcomes and experiences. Sometimes the energy can almost be felt. Imagine, if our thoughts were like the jet streams across the sky, creating a trail relative to the energy they carried. Happy positive thoughts would leave a trail of light and puffy billows that skipped across the sky. Angry, fearful and hurtful thoughts might leave a trail that was dense, heavy, and not so pretty. Our thoughts may not be visible, but they do indeed create a stream of energy that enfolds our world. Happy, loving, caring, nurturing thoughts – happy, loving, caring, nurturing earth. Angry, judgmental hurtful thoughts … Well you get the picture. Let our thoughts be the miracle they are intended to be and create a network of loving energy encircling our earth.
COURAGE is the miracle of a heart that is strong in Spirit. The word courage comes from the Latin word “cor” which means heart. COURAGE is the ability to say or do or stand for something in spite of any fear that may present itself. Usually associated with acts of physical bravery, the COURAGE to speak one’s mind, to stand in one’s Truth, to live the Truth in a world that contradicts Truth is an even greater expression of this very spiritual attribute of humankind. COURAGE draws together the powers of Love and Strength and expresses them as a steadfast Faith in wholeness that lies beneath appearances. Fear is ultimately a result of a belief in separation from one’s Source. COURAGE denies the validity of that fear and rests in the wholeness and oneness of Spirit.
Eileen Patra 