Unity Center

Within every seed there is a detailed blueprint for the entire life cycle of a plant, along with a supply of nourishment to get it started on its growth. What a miraculous package of divine wisdom!

In our family, we have the mixed blessing of a resident guru. If one of us complains about someone, Chad will invariably remind us that every person is "a child of God, going to the School of Life, doing what seems to be true and necessary for him in the moment." We have this phrase memorized verbatim, and although we don’t always like hearing it, we know in our hearts that little phrase contains a lot of Truth. I’d like to expand on this particular seed of wisdom.

Every person is a "child of God" is one of the core beliefs of Unity. The Lord’s Prayer begins with "our Father;" it does not say "your Father" or "Jesus’ Father" or "our Lord." This wording is very important because it establishes the caring relationship of a parent and child, implying that we are all made in the image and likeness of the same divine parent. This claim that each of us has this spark of universal divinity is one of things that fundamentalists dislike most about Unity because their religion is founded on the fear and guilt that flow from the concept of "original sin" – that we’re all born sinners and the best we can do is to "die safely."

"Our Father" says that we are all included in God’s love, embracing diversity. Our God is a loving parent for every one of us, no matter what skin color, or sexual orientation, or nationality, or gender, or social class, or whatever concept we foolish humans have invented to keep us from remembering our oneness.

Each "child of God" is "going to the School of Life" says that we are each a "work in progress." Because we are children of God, we are perfect… and yet, none of us is perfect because we have not yet finished our Mission here on Planet Earth. Like the Chinese yin-yang symbol, life is the union of seeming opposites. Only by embracing the duality, by reconciling the apparent contradictions, do we experience wholeness.

The "School of Life" means that we have a purpose for being here, a series of lessons to be learned, and we are provided with teachers to help us grow. To be sure, we don’t always recognize the teachers or the lessons, and we frequently do our best to resist learning the lessons. Like students who don’t do their homework, some of us lack the discipline to do the practices that speed the learning. Some of us insist on learning "the hard way."

Every human being tends to seek pleasure and avoid pain…. that’s the "doing what seems to be true and necessary" part. We want to feel good, and we usually believe we’re doing what we need to do, for some reason that may be a total mystery to you. The problem comes from our definitions of what feels good and from some of crazy beliefs and mixed-up reasons we have adopted.

Have you ever said "It seemed like a good idea at the time" while shaking your head in regret? We are often like five-year-olds – more energy than thought. We don’t always think before we act, or at least think clearly and rationally. We are spiritual infants, seeking our own pleasure in the immediate moment without regard to the consequences. Without regard for the future, living "in the moment," we don’t see the Big Picture, so we don’t like to delay pleasure.

Even when we "know better," we do dumb things anyway. Here’s a very personal example. In this country, we buy millions of diet books, even though we all know that we get fat by putting more food into our mouths than our bodies can use. Surely we can see that the way to lose weight is less food, better quality foods, and more exercise. Yup, we "know better"… and we keep on eating the same things anyway because it feels good right now.

When I eat yet another chocolate truffle, I am doing what seems like a good idea, satisfying my desire (or self-medicating need) for a taste experience and momentary pleasure in my life.

When a young man robs a liquor store, he is doing what seems like a good idea, satisfying his desire (or need) for cash to use in his life.

On a cosmic level, the difference between us is only a matter of degree. We both "know better" and realize that we are engaging in risky behaviors. He takes a higher risk because he comes from a higher level of desperation and need, or perhaps because his value system doesn’t define his actions as wrong. He is able to rationalize away any guilt or fear, and to avoid thinking about the effects of his actions on others.

I wonder if some people do "wrong" or "evil" things because they have no experience of the good feeling that comes from doing "right" and "loving" things. Lacking any experience of joy and fulfillment, they settle for mere drama and excitement. Without having felt the pride of accomplishing positive things, they settle for an empty illusion of importance. Pity those who sow bitter seeds, for they will surely reap only bitter fruits and never taste the true sweetness of life.

This does not excuse the criminal for his actions. But when we look at the ways that each of us is struggling with our own demons, we can have a glimmer of understanding that can help make sense out of the senseless. When I "walk a mile in my brother’s moccasins," I can start to feel the pebbles in the shoe that rub me raw. And understanding is fertile soil to grow compassion.

Feeling angry is not a fun place to be. Resentment is a joyless companion on the road of life. By finding compassion for those who are stuck in their "stuff," we set ourselves free to experience joy. When we give others the benefit of the doubt, we are better able to love and forgive our own "stuff."

Each moment passes, and what I am in this moment can, and will, change. Instead of freezing people in one image, let us remember and believe in the potential for change in each of the moments of our lives. As we go about "doing what seems to true and necessary for us in this moment"…. and the next…, each of us is in our own unique process of growing thru life on our long and winding journey home to oneness.

"No man chooses evil because it is evil; he only mistakes it for happiness."
~Mary Wollstonecraft