When I first viewed the DVD of The Secret, I said to my husband, “These are the same tenets that Unity follows.” His reaction to the DVD was negative because of the emphasis of material wealth as the most important goal of most of the people in the movie. I agreed that having a multi-million dollar house was less desirable than using wealth to help people. I also felt it gave a mixed message on curing disease, which led to reticence on my part to share it with friends with cancer. I didn’t want them to believe they would be “at fault” if they couldn’t think themselves healthy.

However, I was delighted that similar foundations of thought as those incorporated by Unity’s teachings were making inroads within the general populace. It harkens me to the hundredth monkey: there is a tipping point where consciousness will rise when enough of humanity attains the same higher thought plane. We are seeing this happening right now regarding global warming as a result of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth (book and DVD). We are also seeing Unity take a worldwide lead with the Christ Church Unity’s Complaint Free Purple Bracelets.

Rev. Will Bowen challenged his Kansas City Missouri congregation to complete 21 successive days without complaining, criticizing, whining, or gossiping. Why 21 days? Scientifically, that is the time it takes the brain to establish new patterns and synapses.

The physical manifestation to remind them of their quest was to wear a purple plastic bracelet. (I love that the color chosen was purple. My favorite color , it represents our connection to the all that is—our highest body chakra.) If they goofed, they were to switch the bracelet to the other wrist & begin again.

It was harder than they thought! After four months, only 12 of the 250 members had reached their goal. It took Rev. Bowen 75 days to attain 21 days without complaint. The Kansas City Star ran an article about the bracelets that was picked up by newspapers nationwide. Orders began to pour in, and soon the Reverend was appearing on Oprah and in People magazine. The church decided to accept the awesome task of distribution of bracelets (blessed before they are mailed out) as their gift to the world. To date, over 5 million bracelets have been sent worldwide. (see below for a list)

What an amazing adventure: one small church impacting the consciousness of the world! It gives me heart that we can make a difference. After the past 6 years of our country’s emphasis on war and division instead of caring and helping others, I had become an ostrich—just waiting out the next 2 years, hoping there would be a world worth saving when the current reign was over. With the constant bombardment of bad news, I had allowed myself to slide into negative thoughts and words. I was not the sunny, happy woman I had always been.

When our daughter, Lyric, completed the globalization program at Bard College in Manhattan in May and was hired by Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI.com) to work in crisis mitigation and recovery, I was very proud that she had put her beliefs into action. She will be in DC for a year and then part of a worldwide team working to help people in crisis situations. Her actions made my own negative attitude more apparent to me. I realized I needed help focusing on what I want to happen in our world, not all of the terrible occurrences. I am awaiting my purple bracelet!

Christ Church Unity sends out 4,000-5,000 bracelets a week at a cost of about $100,000.00 in postage (so far). The bracelets are free and can be ordered on their website http://ccunitykc.org. The church accepts donations, and offers a bumper sticker “A Complaint-Free World” for a suggested offering of $3.

The church’s work has even been incorporated in Wikipedia coverage of Unity. And so, Charles Fillmore’s teachings are reaching across our world: There is only one power, one source—God. God is good, everywhere, and in everyone—we are all children of God. Thoughts create our reality. Affirmative prayer brings us closer to God, and gratitude is another form of positive prayer. Knowledge is not enough; we need to practice through prayer, meditation, and our actions to experience this connection with God. That’s where the purple bracelet comes in! By saying what we want and being positive, rather than complaining & drawing negativity, we are acting on the guidance of Unity.

According to Wikipedia, the "Complaint-Free" movement was first conceived in Edwene Gaines' book The Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity, and was put into action by Rev. Bowen. He is also encouraging us to request our government’s leaders declare the day before Thanksgiving as a No-Complaint Day, followed by the day of gratitude. Wouldn’t it be fine if the world took up that idea, and No-Complaint Day and Thanksgiving could become a movement to live in thanks without war anywhere for those two days?

The movement in America towards self-help, proselytized by gurus, doctors and yes, businessmen with multi-million-dollar houses, has encouraged the idea of health and prosperity through mindset and positive affirmations.

Charles Fillmore’s philosophy brought science and religion into a working relationship instead of an “either/or” belief system. We are energy and our atoms are interconnected, as are our thoughts. Meditation is a way to still the mind of negative thought. When we pray, we focus on what we want to manifest in our lives and give thanks for all that is good. "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours" (Mark 11:22-24) is the biblical foundation for positive prayer and receiving that in which you focus your belief.

I have been on the Unity prayer team for a long time, receiving prayer requests by email from all over the world. Some prayer requests are worded in negative terms, asking for vengeance of the Lord instead of God’s love, grace, and help. When that happens, I always pray for the requestor to feel God’s love for all those mentioned in the request’s scenario, and for God’s will to be done for the betterment of all concerned. Whenever a friend or anyone at work has a major problem in their lives, I ask if they'd like me to put them on the nationwide Unity prayer list. All those positive prayers are a wonderful service to offer!

I did share The Secret DVD with co-workers. A girlfriend had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. I told her my reservations about the DVD, but thought it had many worthwhile aspects. She agreed, and has begun scaling back on her busy lifestyle and incorporating relaxation techniques into her routine. I brought her fresh flowers, telling her each time she looked at them on her desk to visualize health, wellness and energy. Energy flows where attention goes.

My closest friend at work has begun a diary of gratefulness—an act I used to do and had let slide. I’ve begun again, incorporating each day’s blessings and grace in my journal. Another coworker watched The Secret 12 times. He said he is ready to manifest something—but can’t think of anything to ask for! Granted, he wants a boat and to have time to sail it, but he said on the whole he is happy with his life. I agreed: If you have happiness in life, you have the secret! Unity has been a major part of my path to that knowledge, and now it is

~ Gabrielle M. Thompson, 2007
© 2007 Gabrielle M. Thompson