“You are a perfect and beautiful Child of God.”
(Mothers Day 2014) — Happy Mother’s Day.
We tell our children: “You are God’s Perfect Child. And I love you just the way you are.” Sometimes, however, the veil of our human understanding is so thick that it is hard to see the perfect spiritual being that we are. It is difficult to remember that truly we are not separate from God, and that a perfect and beautiful Christ spirit dwells within each and every one and is as close as our breath. My mother, Unity, and my children have been teaching me this Truth my entire life.
One of my earliest memories of Sunday School is not of Sunday School itself, but of splashing in the bathtub and singing the words of a hymn I’d learned that went something like, “The Blood of Lamb washed my Black Soul White as Snow.” Actually. I do not really remember the hymn, but I vividly remember my mother as she did a slow, “slowly I turn” menacing kind of turn from the mirror… “What did you sing?” she asked very quietly.
“Now you listen,” she said as she knelt beside the tub to rinse me off. (And I thought I was in trouble.) “That song is garbage and I don’t ever want to hear you say such a thing ever again! Do you understand?” She began to dry me off with the fluffy, clean-smelling towel, and she said, “You are little child and there is no such thing as you having a Black Soul. You are a perfect and beautiful Child of God. Now you remember that!” And I never went back to that Sunday school again. Yet I grew up going to every kind of traditional church imaginable, and as long as no one spoke of Hell, Damnation, or Sin, I got to stay.
Still, I was always yearning for a church home. In traditional churches I always had to translate what I believed: that God’s love was unconditional, and no matter what, God would always love me. There was no such thing as the Devil and the only Hell I would ever experience would be one of my own making. Finally, when I was about 26, I found Unity By The Sea in Santa Monica. Beside the front door was a plaque that said, “School for Practical Christianity.”
And in the chapel around the walls were the words: “Be Still and Know I am God” and “The Only Sin is Separation from God” and “The Kingdom of God is Within.” I knew I was home.
Everything Good in my life has come from my affiliation with Unity. My life is blessed and as I dreamed it could be because of Unity teaching. In Unity, I discovered that it was possible to live practically and still to be a Christian: that is to love God, to love each other, to refrain from judgment, and for that which I could not help but judge, to forgive, because Unity teaches we are all “Perfect Children of God.”
So today, on Mother’s Day, I want to thank my Mother (and) Unity for helping me to learn, to know, and to remember that I am always a Perfect Child of God and So are we all.
“I feel very blessed to be a part of my spiritual family…”
Many times in Unity testimonials we hear, “I was raised in the Catholic Church… left their belief system and went through different paths until, when I found Unity, I felt I had come home. That is how my story begins also.
In 1991, when I walked into Unity Community church, presently Unity of Orange County, I felt broken, devastated, confused and filled with fear. My husband David had been diagnosed with colon cancer, had had surgery, and had begun a full year of chemotherapy once a week with a 40 percent survival rate.
At Unity I was welcomed enthusiastically in friendship, love, and joy and knew I wanted to return to this community of people. Suffice it to say, 22 years later I definitely found my church home, and David is experiencing his 22nd year as a cancer survivor.
I feel very blessed to be a part of my spiritual family and the wonderful community we have become. I also look very forward to sharing many years and fun adventures with my husband.
Unity is the path I have chosen to follow for many reasons, including: Unity’s wonderful positive messages, prayer and meditation, principles and teachings, volunteering, and participating in our many activities and classes. — Jean Roberts
“…that special touch of God’s sweet message…”
My name is Vaughn Callison, and I am a recovering alcoholic with 37 years of sobriety by God’s grace.
One day in 1976 I went out drinking and drank 23 cocktails and two glasses of beer. Nothing happened. For the first time in my drinking career, it didn’t affect me. I had to face myself just as I was. The next day I volunteered to attend the Great Lakes Naval Hospital for treatment of my alcoholism.
On day 12 of my treatment I was coming from a 12-Step meeting when a “voice” came to me and said, “You are no longer your own,” and I knew God/source had entered my “soul” — a part of my “Christ” experience.
After my treatment plan had expired and I was back at home and work, I wanted to return to a church or similar type of Spiritual activity but found I didn’t agree with any of the mainstream churches. A friend suggested I try a Unity church. My wife and I agreed to go, and “wow,” what an experience. I was home at last. This was Unity of the North Shore in Evanston, IL, and the year was 1983.
We both felt as if there truly was a God within – a loving God. That day found me committed to a new kind of experience — a spiritual yearning. I came to Unity of Orange County in 2002 and immediately decided to step up to a service commitment as a prayer chaplain. I, with my wife, volunteered for various services within the spiritual community: greeters, ushers and special activities, such as yearly galas and fundraisers. I still continue with the service, which I truly love, and am still active as a prayer chaplain.
Our spiritual center provides that special touch of God’s sweet message – Love, Faith and Service. We invite you to partake of the Unity experience with us. — Vaughn Callison
