A verse from the Old Testament says, “Choose this day who you will serve.” Choose this day. Will we serve God or will we serve the world. Will we get caught up in the world’s beliefs? It is conscious choice that you and I make. And it means that literally in every now moment, no matter how it looks, will we make a stand right there? Will I be an opening for God, for love, for peace to come through? Or will I go with my first reaction?
And we make that choice every time by where we place our attention. There is a spiritual law, it operates every time, what we focus on increases.
God doesn’t change. God is always present. But if we choose to focus on a problem or a challenge, as long as we focus on that problem the problem increases. As long as we focus on what is wrong, we aren’t open and receptive to the solution. When we focus on God, more love and more peace must come through. Whatever we focus on we get to experience more of. We get to prove our belief systems. All there is God. God is the big Truth. Everything less than God is our opinion. You and I get to experience our opinion over and over and over again.
If our opinion is that God is less than or that God is lacking in any way that is what we get to experience. But that doesn’t limit God. Michael Beckwith a new thought minister says, “Take your limits off of God and God will take his limits off of you.” Because God already is the perfection, the wholeness, everywhere present. But your opinion is your beliefs. And so, every moment in our lives gives us a chance to choose again.
Before I came into Unity, I didn’t know I had a choice. Many of us really didn’t know that God was a Spirit that lives within me. An omnipresent Spirit that was all powerful. I didn’t know that. Maybe there were times in your life when you didn’t know this. But we know this now. And so now we have the opportunity to practice what we know. Now we not only know it, but we also make it the experience of our lives by doing it. What we are talking about is a Spiritual Practice.
Psychologists tell us that it takes 21 days to lay down a habit. Our brain works on habit. Some people are habitually up – that’s because it is a habit. If we want to transform our lives, we have to find a way to break our cycle of thinking. We aren’t patterned that way. We have to practice. We have to lay down a new pattern. Eventually with a new pattern it will become automatic to turn to God. To look for God in every situation. And we will find God in every experience. But we have to practice it. We have to realize we have a choice. C – H – O – I – C -E. Right in the middle – “Oh! I see.” When the ship hits the sand, we have to have a queue to help us remember this Golden Key. I want to suggest “Oh! I See” – this is another opportunity for me to make a choice. If someone cuts in front of us on the highway we can say “OH! I see” this is another opportunity to learn patience. This is another opportunity to think about God.
There is a little booklet, by Emmet Fox published by Unity, called the Golden Key. It is one of the most concise, easy to understand descriptions of how to overcome any problem. It begins with “Scientific prayer will enable you to get yourself, or anyone else, out of any difficulty.” This process is aptly described as scientific because it is verifiable and repeatable just like any other scientific procedure… like any other scientific law. God has no favorites; it works for you and me alike.
And it is so easy. There are only two steps.
I’d like for you to think about your problem, or that person who really pushes your button. Do you know who or what I’m talking about?
OK, step one is STOP! Just like Diana Ross’s song – Stop in the name of Love. You have to find a way to stop thinking about that problem, that difficulty, that person or whatever or whoever it is.
And step two, Start thinking about God Instead. Just start thinking about what you know about God. It doesn’t have to be a big chant or a dissertation. whatever you know about God. All you know might be a verse from a song like Jesus loves me – don’t worry that’s enough.
That’s it! nothing could be simpler. It doesn’t matter what the problem is. I don’t have a job. My roof is damaged. My house is flooded. She drives me crazy. It might be a little thing, or it might be a big thing. It might concern health, finance, a lawsuit, a quarrel, an accident, or anything else. It doesn’t matter what it is, whenever we begin to worry, all we have to do is stop thinking about the problem and think about God instead.
What do we know about God? We know that God is present everywhere. We don’t have a problem bigger than God. I’ve known people that could talk about an ingrown toenail over and over until it was so big you would think that it was like children starving in India. We know that God has infinite power. We know that God isn’t less than this problem. We know that God knows everything. That God is all good, that God is wisdom, truth, inconceivable love. What matters is that we are thinking about God.
The object is for us to push any worry thoughts out of our consciousness, substituting those worry thoughts with thoughts about God. It sounds so simple, and it is. This method is simple, but it isn’t easy. It takes practice. And it is hard to stop thinking about what worries us. But with practice we can learn to respond with God thoughts automatically whenever we are faced with a worry thought or any thought of lack or limitation.
When I came into Unity and began to know the Unity Principles, I thought that if I could just get them down right, I’d never have another problem. If I just walked down the spiritual path life would be a bed of roses like in a fairy tale. You know I had looked for prince charming so I could live happily ever after and that didn’t work. When I embrace Unity and our income quadrupled, I thought wow this is wonderful We’ll never have another problem. Have any of you ever thought that? Was I ever wrong. What Unity does is teach me how to get beyond the problem. It teaches me how to be calm in spite of the storm.
Even as we begin our spiritual journey, we have many unconscious beliefs that we are unworthy, all of the race conscious beliefs, thoughts that we are unloved, not good enough, ideas of lack and limitation. And they are in our consciousness. And when they come up is the very moment we must choose for God. We must say: “Oh, I see. Wow, there is an old belief. I must choose for God. Now is when I must turn my attention to God.
If I’m applying for a job and get another rejection letter I can say “Oh I see, this is another opportunity for me to learn to love myself. This is one step closer to my perfect placement. It is a call for me to turn my attention to God with thoughts like I am a beloved child of God called to do God’s work. God is guiding me now. God is with me now.”
In the tough times, when the storms like Ian blow into our lives, when our relationships seem to be falling apart, when we lose our jobs, when someone we love dies – that is when we must turn to God. And when we do that is when the miracles happen. That is when the old belief systems begin to crumble, and our lives are transformed. We don’t have any problem bigger than God. We don’t have a problem that God’s grace can’t solve. We have to learn that in every now moment we have a choice, especially when those moments seem tough. In each moment we can say “Oh, I see,” there is a mystery going on here, I don’t understand this, but I know that God is present. Oh, I see now is the time for me to pray. Oh, I see, now is the time for me to read my daily word. Oh, I see, now is the time for an affirmation.
In the days to come I invite you to use the Golden Key method. I invite you to practice this phrase Oh, I see whenever anything happens this is an opportunity to turn my thoughts away from my problem, or my loved one’s problem and turn my thoughts to God.