The first time somebody ran that notion off in my direction it landed on a heart/mind that was nowhere near being ready to hear it... Any "A-mens" to that?

Back in those days it seemed like my everyday experience was an unfolding drama of inevitable feast and famine. . . . . that my life was a crap-shoot run by a capricious, malevolent fate that let me win one day only to rip me off the next day with some dead-end situation loaded with disappointment, high anxiety, and outrage. Ever been there?

We’ve all had long histories of finding ourselves dealing with circumstances unfolding in our families, at work, at school, even in our communities and between nations... situations that we simply couldn’t address with enough spiritual savvy to move through without creating a load of self-imposed fear and separation.

This being the case for the vast majority of us taking up space in time here on planet earth, we may well be gathering here on the common ground of our mutual desire to find a way out of the suffering. Regards to that, rest easy! Even in the most trying circumstances, the breath can come easy, the mind can stay clear and the heart can remain open , the very moment we have mastered the spiritual art of resting easy in our divinity as the Father’s will unfolds around our humanity.

Consider Viktor Frankl’s experience in a concentration camp during WWII. He wrote, "We who lived in the concentration camps can remember those who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread . . . They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from us but the last of human freedoms... the freedom to choose our spirit in any circumstance."

And that freedom evolves out of the enormous power inherent in any being who has committed to a diligent practice of the spiritual arts of forgiveness and compassion.

And, let us be sure we are not still kidding ourselves about those two virtues. Forgiveness and compassion are not sentimental or weak. Indeed, their consistent expression demands the utmost courage and integrity we can bring to our journey of awakening. Recognizing this inspired Meher Baba to write, "True love is not for the faint-hearted." And Fritz Perls once observed, "To suffer the death of the ego and be reborn is painful business."

For sure, it’s tough to remember our own basic goodness and the power of forgiveness and compassion out there on the street when it’s all going (as my Mom used to say) "to hell in a hand-cart.’ But rest easy in that as well. Deep remembering will reveal an innate wisdom that knows we are all sons and daughters of the One Creative Impulse. Did not Jesus invite us to pray to "Our Father?" Did not Buddha address us as "O Nobly Born," in many of his teachings and writings? In spite of all confusion and fear, take heart in the sure and steady knowledge that we all have evolved from an impeccable lineage that blesses each of us with a heart that knows what is just, loving and beautiful.

That being the case, I found the Jungian analyst, Robert Johnson’s, comments fascinating regarding a typical human’s relationship with their deepest natures. He wrote, "Curiously, people resist the noble aspects of their shadow more strenuously than they hide their dark sides. It is more disrupting, apparently, to find that you have a profound nobility of character than to discover that you are a bum!"

Let us affirm, "bums no more!" Just look at yourselves with deep integrity and you can’t fail to notice the infinite potential within you to bring more compassion and forgiveness to the game of your life. "If it were not possible to free the heart from entanglement in greed, hate, and fear," Buddha counseled, "I would not teach you to do so." And, likewise, if it were not possible, Jesus would not have commanded us to "Love one another" with all the same consummate forgiving compassion He blesses us with to this very moment.

But, forget that blessing for a heartbeat, forget the innate nobility of your humanity for a breath, and spiritually uninformed thinking will be right there planting its seeds of fear. And wherever there’s fear you don’t have to look hard to find its handmaidens, anger, blame, conflict, and resentment.

It’s not hard to tell what state of consciousness is in charge in any given moment.. Fear tightens our bodies, constricts our hearts, distracts our minds and steals our capacity to experience the joy and contentment of a mind unclouded by fear and longing.

Just don’t miss the grace that’s going on even in those moments of bondage. To find yourself stuck in an episode of fear and contraction is an invitation to practice the spiritual art Jesus described as "reconciling with the adversary," a time of remembering, remembering not to agree with any kind of thinking that obscures your capacity to see your world with a forgiving eye and a compassionate heart.

In those moments of challenge take a deep breath and embrace the wisdom of finding refuge in the Jesus counsel to "forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do," or the Buddha’s invitation to "Live in joy, in love, even among those who hate. Live in joy, in health, even among the afflicted. Live in joy in peace, even among the troubled. Look within, be still. Free from fear and attachment, know the sweet joy of the way."

It sounds so sweet, so simple. It is absolutely right-on from a spiritual standpoint to affirm that in any moment we can reconcile an "adversarial" thinking process to a spiritually informed point of view that won’t leave us in the bondage of hatred or fear. Instead we can "walk beside the still waters" of peace, love and forgiveness. It is never too late or too early in the game of awakening to master the art of those sacred practices.

But we know better about that mastering game, don’t we? I’m sure that if you’re reading this, you’ve already seen that to sustain love and forgiveness as our consistent life experience, we must develop practices that refine and strengthen the natural instinct for compassion and forgiveness that is our divine inheritance.

As Nelson Mandela observed, "It is not enough to know that love and forgiveness are possible. We have to find ways to bring them to life. The truth is we are not yet free. We have merely achieved the freedom to be free."

On a similar note, in the late sixteenth century while visiting Mecca during a period of intense hostility between Muslims and Hindus, the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak was asked by a devotee, "What religious belief is superior, Hindu or Muslim?" The Guru replied, "If they don’t inspire righteous behavior, neither one is of any consequence. All religions contain great revelation, but without application revelation is meaningless. Truth is high, but higher still is truthful living."

And there you have it. The key to all truly relevant and authentic transformation is the willingness to bring a fierce commitment to the discipline of faithfully applying the spiritual principles that "set us free" from all manner of self-imposed suffering. And, just to be sure that we are clear on what it means to "apply" something, consider this from the Random House Dictionary. There we find that the first, thus the commonest, definition of "apply" is "to make practical or active use of." And therein lies the key of understanding what inspires a popular definition of Unity as a "practical" form of Christianity. Unity is a life philosophy that will dynamically reward anyone who makes "active use of" its clear and practical strategies for enjoying the fruit of living the spiritually informed life.

Jesus was crystal clear on this point. He was totally committed to inspiring all His followers to move beyond simply "considering" His teachings and "do them in remembrance of Him." Key thought . . . "do them." Remember his inspiring revelation that "these things I do and even greater things you shall do!" It’s all about the power of spiritually inspired action, the power of doing, the power of releasing the energy inherent in the principles of Truth when they are "acted on" in ways that liberate their great potential to become the mighty spiritual force that transforms our lives from bondage to freedom, From the mundane to the mystical.

Listen closely to the still small voice of the Christ Spirit speaking to you from the sacred sanctuary of the "secret place," and you’ll hear it saying . . .

"Look to my example, not to worship me, but to understand what is possible for you.

"You have focused so much on praising and worshipping me that you have lost sight of your own powerful divinity.

"You have neglected the fact that love and forgiveness cannot be offered to your world except through you.

"The truth, the path to the divine, the life of the witness runs through your hearts.

"There is no way, no truth, no life, except through you.

"Today, you will drink deeply from the fountain of my love.

"Tomorrow, you will be the fountain!"