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God is NOT in the Bible! A Practical Guide for God's "Choosing" People [ Sample
Chapter "Give Yourself a FAITH Lift!"
The Answer
LOWELL FILLMORE
When for
a purpose
I had prayed and prayed and prayed
Until my words seemed worn and bare
With arduous use,
And I had knocked and asked and
knocked and asked again,
And all my fervor and persistence
brought no hope,
I paused to give my weary brain a rest
And ceased my anxious human cry.
In that still moment,
After self had tried and failed,
There came a glorious vision of God’s
power,
And, lo, my prayer was answered in
that hour.
CHAPTER FOUR
Give Yourself
A FAITH Lift! “The apostles said
to Jesus, ‘Increase our faith!’ … He replied, ‘I tell you the truth, if
you have faith even as small as the mustard seed, you can say to this mountain,
“Move from here to here.” And it will move.
Nothing will be impossible to you.’”
There is a story told
in the tradition of the Chandogya Upanishad that tells of a father giving his
son a ripe fruit from a banyan tree. He
asked his son to split the fruit in two.
The son did so and his father asked: “What do you find there?”
The son moved his eyes over the fruit and responded: “I see innumerable
tiny seeds.” His father then
asked him to split open just one of the seeds and let him know what he finds
there. “Why, nothing, nothing at
all.” answered the son. “But,
my son, how could such a great tree possibly come from nothing.
Even if you cannot see with your eyes that subtle something in the seed
which produced this mighty form, it is present nontheless.
That is the power, that is the Spirit unseen which pervades everywhere
and is in all things. That is the
Spirit which lies at the root of all existence.
And that also art thou.” “If you have faith, even as small as a mustard
seed … nothing will be impossible to you.” says
Jesus, our Master Teacher. 21________ ______
____God is NOT in the Bible!
Yet, what is this
Faith of which Jesus speaks? There are many varied
definitions of faith, however, the faith to which I am referring is defined by
Webster as FAITH = belief and trust
in, and loyalty to, God and a firm
belief in something for which there is no proof.
According to the Christian Bible, the writer of the letter to the
Hebrews, Chapter 11 vs 1-2, FAITH =
is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Our Unity Co-Founder, Charles Fillmore, defines FAITH = as the perceiving
power of the mind linked with the power to shape substance … The power to do
the seemingly impossible. [The
Revealing Word p 67]
Our world today
demands FACTS and seeks to provide as many facts as you are willing to seek.
Missouri may be known as the ”Show me!” State, however, our world has
become a “Show me!” state of consciousness demanding the “facts,” so
that there is little room for living Faith. Faith is Folly! Our world tells us, and those of us who
are Faith keepers shout back: “Don’t
confuse me with the facts, my Faith
is made up!” Oh, yes, we all have faith in something.
Where is YOUR faith? Where,
or in what, do you place your faith? Many place their faith in the news media, when the
facts reported now may change in the next moment.
Look at how many believed Dewey won over Truman in their presidential
race only to find out by the next morning that Truman had won.
At least for a while following such errors in reporting we may be
somewhat skeptical about seeing reported facts as
unshakable truth,
whether written in newspapers Give Yourself A FAITH Lift!
22 and magazines, heard
on radio or seen on TV or now even on the Internet. Many used to place their faith in their long term place
of employment, until their company plays games of downsizing, laying off,
cutting back, all nice words for getting fired,
many even losing their retirement monies in which they had placed their
faith for a secure future. Some place their faith in corporate institutions,
expecting modern technology to function efficiently.
The story is told of a Unity employee receiving a threatening letter from
a collection agency for a bill that read BALANCE DUE:
00.00. The employee called
and wrote to no avail, until finally she wrote a check for $00.00 and the
threats finally stopped. Need I mention that our past faith in society’s
“Sacred Cows” is crumbling all around us?
We no longer are as quick to place our faith in our place of employment,
our politicians, or government, our physicians, or even our religious. So then, where DO we place our faith? When we in Unity refer to the Power of Faith, we are
not speaking of faith in things seen, touched, or figured out rationally.
We first base our spiritual Faith on what is NOT seen, as the writer of 2nd
Corinthians so well put it: “We
look not at what can be seen, but at what cannot be seen; for what is seen is
temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.” [2nd
CORINTHIANS 4:18] And so, when I
say to you when speaking of Faith, with a capital F: “Don’t confuse me with
facts, my Faith is made up!,” this is not just some cutsie, clever play on
words for me, this is profound Truth for me. 23____ ________ __ ____God
is NOT in the Bible! Now, does this mean I live my life with my head in the
sand, waiting for God, the Almighty vending machine, to deliver the goods while
I do nothing? Of course not!
The Universal Law of Compensation is always in operation.
What you
sow is what you reap.
What I know is that if I pour my love into doing what is set before me
each day, if I seek out the minds, hearts and hands of God around me to assist
in resolving whatever challenge may present itself, and if I am willing to risk
letting the Universe know my needs, not begging, just sharing whatever facts are
there, then it is time to place my
Faith in God; then it is time to let go and let God bring forth the right and
perfect resolution. My friend, let me assure you there is nothing wrong
with gathering facts, but the time comes when enough is enough or we become
confused with facts and forget to give God room to work in wonderous and
unexpected ways! It is time for us
to stand strong in Faith when we feel as though we are at the end of our rope
and do not know what else to do. It
is truly time to “Let go and Let God!” One of my favorite writers on this topic of Faith is
Rabbi Dr. Louis Binstock. In his
book “The Power of Faith,” Rabbi Binstock suggests:
“There are five fundamental forces that stand menacingly outside the
door of faith in the house of modern man. They
are fear, failure, fate, fiction, and fashion.” [p 20]
Let us explore these five together. First is FEAR
= and it is certainly at the top of the list as a destroyer of Faith.
We just explored how fear of outer events can challenge our Faith.
Many religions offer a fear-based faith
and try to sell us Faith as Fire Give Yourself A FAITH Lift!
24 Insurance.
Believe or go straight to the fiery flames of Hell!
Do not pass go and do not collect ANY rewards!
In Unity we believe Faith to be Life Insurance.
To trust in a Higher Power is to enjoy this journey called Life no matter
what the outer circumstances may appear to be.
Though it is
important to
gather some facts,
in choosing to place your Faith in facts alone may cause you to suffer
what feels like the flames of Hell, because of Hell-like experiences that then
manifest as fear.
And we all know that FEAR
is but False
Evidence
Appearing
Real.
Fear or Faith, which do you choose? We are told that the Chinese word for
challenge also means opportunity, this is faith-based living.
To live life in the face of adversity with seizing the opportunity is to
let go of fear and affirm “I have no fear, for God is here!”
This is what our world calls the Folly of Faith, it is not “common”
sense, for God, my friend, is NOT common. Our Unity Co-Founders, Myrtle and Charles Fillmore,
formulated the teachings of Prosperity Principles based on the teachings of
Jesus Christ, right in the midst of a nation caught up in fear, right in the
midst of the Great Depression, when our nation was caught up in a consciousness
of economic lack. Our nation woke
up daily in FEAR: Fear of financial
challenges, fear of dis-ease, fear of loneliness, fear of rejection, fear of
losing your job, yet in the midst of all of this Fear, the Fillmores saw an
opportunity to exercise Faith. “Don’t
confuse me with facts, my FAITH is made up!”
It was in the midst of economic depression
and warring
oppression that
President 25_______________ ____God
is NOT in the Bible! Franklin D. Roosevelt
spoke these profound words of truth: “There
is nothing to fear, but fear itself!” In fact, the other four menaces of Faith
are also fear-based. Our U.S. monies have inscribed on it “In God We
Trust,” but do we truly trust in God? That
piece of paper or coin is NOT our Source of income, it is but a means of
exchanging talents. God alone is
our true Source of Income and our true Source of all good. Second is FAILURE = Many a new adventure is never
entered into because of fear of failure, yet, there is never anything that is a
failure. What appears as failure is
only another opportunity to begin again, try something new or wait for Divine
Timing to try again. A classic true story is that of Thomas Edison, who in
1914 saw his laboratories burned to the ground, causing a loss of over two
million dollars worth of equipment and the records of many years of experiments.
Edison was sixty-seven years old, and as he stood in the midst of those
ruins, he said to his son: “Charles,
there is great value in this disaster. All
our mistakes are burned up! Thank
God we can start anew.” How often
has someone experiencing misfortune thrown in the towel and also experienced a
“missed-fortune.” In the very
midst of seeming “failure” is our opportunity to grow in Faith.
FATE
is third = as Aeschylus said long ago: “Things are what things are,
and as fate has willed, so shall they be fulfilled.” …
or … as the song goes “Che sara, sara!”
“What will be, will be!” I
say if we are not able to change the course of our lives, why live it??? We
might as well be robotons. Do we
believe we have “free will”
ar don’t
we? I say
we are
God’s Give Yourself A FAITH Lift!
26 “choosing” people
and moment by moment, choice by choice, we create our world. We choose the stage, we choose the part we wish to play, we
choose the characters we act out with and we write the script, that is, our own
dialogue and interaction.
FICTION
is the fourth enemy of Faith, says Rabbi Binstock.
Somehow we still, the majority of us, believe that Faith “comes to us
from above.” Somehow we must
“earn Faith.” However,
think about it,
how can Faith
even “come to us” unless we have Faith enough to open ourselves to
the possibility of having it? The
Truth is that no one and no thing can GIVE us Faith, we are indeed swimming in
Faith always. The fifth enemy of Faith is FASHION = isn’t it so that
Faith is not very “fashionable” in today’s world.
“Give me the facts, only the facts.”
Even our s/heroes have been knocked from their pedestals and nothing or
no one is allowed to be sacred. The
person of Faith is made to appear foolish and is often referred to as a “Polly
Anna.” Faith is “folly” we
are told. Ever since our 9-1-1 wake up call, when on September
11, 2001 our country was blatantly attacked in New York City, we have been told
there are “weapons of mass destruction.”
It has become “fashionable” to fear the hidden enemy. My friend, I say that the real weapon of mass destruction is
the thought seed of FEAR that continues to be planted in our consciousness by
our political leaders and the media. And,
we continue to grow these fear seeds as long as we go along with the
“fashion” and believe it all to be the only truth there is. 27______________
_
____God is NOT in the Bible! Rabbi Binstock cautions us:
“In the kingdom of Faith, most of us ask for so little because we
have forgotten that we have so much. … We have become lost in the forest of
Fear, Failure, Fate, Fiction and Fashion. But
we can find our way back. We must
do more than petition. We must act
– and with haste. Sclerosis can
harden the arteries of Faith as well as those of the body and of the mind.
We cannot start too soon. We
must reclaim our heritage.” [p
33] It is a time when we
must unclog our “ought-to”ries with Faith-filled action. How then do we consciously irrigate our Faith?
What are some practical ways to stir up the fire of a living Faith?
How can you give yourself a FAITH LIFT? In Unity we begin irrigating the Power of Faith with
the Power of Imagination. “Faith,
without action, is dead.” Says
the writer of the letter to James. [2:17]
and so we step out
and DREAM,
what
most may call the “impossible dream.” However,
you Faith-filled being, dare to dream the impossible dream knowing that “With
God ALL things are possible!” [MATTHEW
19:26]
One of our
contemporary songs is entitled: “I
Believe I Can Fly!” We are told
that the best use of our imagination comes when we gently invite it in, rather
than forcing it to happen. The song
continues, “If I believe it, I can conceive it.”
If I have Faith in the manifestation of what I am imagining it will be
birthed. Believe it and you will
conceive it. See your dream as a possible one and begin with
preparing the unplowed field of your mind to receive the idea-seed and irrigate
those ideas with your imagination and they will blossom forth into reality. Give Yourself A FAITH Lift!
28
Joseph, one of the 12 sons of Jacob in the Old Testament, GENESIS 37-50,
exemplifies the Power of Imagination. And
what an example he is! There are
several lessons to be learned in reflecting on the life of Joseph and the first
is: Be careful in choosing with whom you share your dreams.
I believe Joseph was fearless in sharing his dreams of his family bowing
down to him and he did not expect his brothers to be jealous, since he himself
had no malice. I too can realize
that there are many who may become jealous,
resentful or
fearful on
hearing of another’s good. So
I am cautious in selecting with whom I share my dreams. As Joseph’s story unfolds, it would appear that the world was against him. His brothers sold him off to a caravan of Egyptians, thinking he would never survive. Joseph gives us a second lesson in that wherever he was he gave the best of his talents and failed to think revengeful thoughts as he only remembered the goodness of God at work in his life. Joseph used the gift of his imagination to create beauty around him and so his captor prospered as a result of Joseph’s industrious spirit. He chose to look beyond outer appearances, kept his eye/I single, had a firm Faith in God, and so knew that good would come forth.
“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is mystery, now is a gift, that’s why
it’s called the present!” Joseph gave us a third example to live by.
He served well, never looked back, nor did he drive through his life
looking in the rear view mirror or having his memory on rewind. 29______
______ ____God
is NOT in the Bible! Nor did Joseph allow his mind to move on fast forward, but he totally focused on the present moment. As a result, he was able to find the gift in whatever situation he found himself. He took every single experience of what could have been a “lemon” and made “lemon meringue ice box pie.” Yum, yum!
Joseph was an example of one who “walked his talk.”
Even when tempted by his boss’s wife to participate in hanky-panky, he
chose to walk with integrity and keep to a code of honor.
His was a living Faith.
It can be so easy to mouth
platitudes, even to believe intellectually the Principles of Truth, however, the
challenge is to live them in the face of adversity.
If asked, we would all say we have a personal honor code, yet it is essential to our spiritual unfoldment that we practice living in congruency with that code or we will soon discover we have dis-ease of body, mind and/or spirit. There are times in my life when I have felt justified in holding onto resentments. If anyone might have been “justified” in holding onto resentment, Joseph certainly was one of those folks. Think he might have had issues of abandonment? He was abandoned by his brothers, falsely accused of rape, misjudged by his boss. I wonder what I would have done in the face of such experiences?
We are all at some time abandoned by our familiar thought of Truth and
suddenly are attacked by false beliefs of the raping of that which we know, deep
down in
ourselves, to be true.
In our standing firmly Give Yourself A FAITH Lift!
30 for this Truth, we might experience false accusations of disloyalty to that Truth. Unbelievable? A Jewish boy, Joseph, became second only to Pharaoh himself in the land of Egypt. How? By choosing to image acceptance, release and creativity. You and I, too, can rise above any kind of imprisoned thought through acceptance, release and creativity. ACCEPTANCE of ANY circumstances in which I find myself knowing that with God in charge, all is well; RELEASE of any question as to WHY I am in what might be considered a hot spot; and RELEASE of any thought of revenge as I turn my thought to CREATIVE resolution. We read in the book of Genesis 39:23: “The Lord was with Joseph; and whatever he did, the Lord made him prosper.” Joseph did not give of himself and his talents because he expected to receive in abundance, but rather because he had a giving spirit and he gave to everyone, even his so-called enemies. As we give with love of our own special talents, whatever they may be, we too are prospered in the very giving.
Joseph’s act of forgiveness
toward his brothers reminds me of the story that is told of two friends walking
in a desert and they got into an argument.
Finally, one of them became so angry that he slapped the other in the
face. The one who was slapped
stopped, bent down, and wrote in the sand:
“Today my best friend slapped me in the face.”
31______
______ ____God
is NOT in the Bible!
Later they came upon an oasis and stopped to bathe, when suddenly the one
who was slapped began to sink in the mire.
His friend pulled him to safety. Immediately
recuperating, the slapped/ saved one found a large stone on which he inscribed:
“Today my best friend saved my life!”
On inquiring why he wrote one in
sand and the other in stone, he answered: “When
someone hurts you you should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness
can erase it away. But, when
someone does something good for you, you must engrave it in stone where no wind
can ever erase it.”
So Joseph could greet his brothers
with one of the most powerful Faith-filled
statements ever spoken:
“You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.” [GENESIS
50:20] How
many times in my own life I have reflected on the Truth of this statement after watching seeming injustices
turn into miraculous gifts. I know
you have too. For Example: I found
a long time wound of my feeling rejected by first my father, and then the
rejection of my mother when she married my stepfather, was actually a gift.
What I later discovered is that the “rejection” I experienced was not
that at all, but rather was “protection” from living in close proximity to
the craziness of these two deeply wounded souls.
What appeared to me to be “evil” was in fact “good.”
“Without a vision the people will
perish.” We read in the Book of
Proverbs 29:18. Give yourself a FAITH
LIFT and DREAM
for yourself, your dear ones, your spiritual community, your civic
community, your world. Give Yourself A FAITH Lift!
32
Continue irrigating your Faith with a deep DESIRE.
Unity writer, H. Emilie Cady poses the
question: “What is desire?
Desire in the heart is always God tapping at the door of your
consciousness with His infinite supply – a supply that is forever useless
unless there be demand for it. ‘Before
they call I will answer.’ [ISAIAH
65:34]
Before you are ever conscious of any lack, of any desire for more
happiness or for fullness of joy, the great Father-Mother heart has Imagined
them for you. … the thing you desire is not only for you but has already been
started toward you out of the heart of God; it is the first approach of the
thing itself striking you that makes you desire it or even think of it at
all.”
[Lessons In Truth p78]
One of my spiritual creative mentors is
Walter Russell, whose story is documented in Glenn Clark’s book entitled
“The Man Who Tapped The Secrets of The Universe.”
In an interview of Walter Russell, Mr. Clark asks: “Can you give me the secret of your life?”
To which Walter replies: “Yes, I believe sincerely that every
man has consummate genius within him. Some
appear to have it more than others only because they are aware of it more than
others are, and the awareness or unawareness of it is what makes each one of
them into masters or holds them down to mediocrity.”
Now hear this! Walter
Russell continues. “I
believe that mediocrity is self-inflicted and that genius is self-bestowed. Every successful man I ever
have known, and I have known a great many, carries with him the key which
unlocks that awareness and lets in the universal power that has made him into a
master.” What is the key?”
Clark asks. Russell answers:
“That key
is DESIRE, when
it is 33_____
_ ______ ____God
is NOT in the Bible! released
into the great eternal Energy of the universe.” [p
6-7]
As I reflect on my life I have always
desired a closer walk with God. What
I loved doing most was orchestrating prayerful rituals, writing inspiring ideas,
encouraging others to use
their own special gifts and
standing with them in the face of life’s challenges.
I found myself doing pieces of these while working at other jobs to
create an income. When I finally
found Unity and saw the possibility of my fulfilling my dream to be the minister
I knew I was called to be, It was
my strong DESIRE to fulfill the lifetime DREAM that activated my FAITH to the
point of setting in motion my move to Unity Village and moving through all
obstacles until my DREAM was and is fulfilled.
Without the strong DESIRE to do whatever it took and then my DARING to
take the risk I would have kept my good from me.
This is the next fertilizer
of Faith, to DARE
to risk, DARE to do what it takes in
spite of fears that may show up, DARE to
risk, yes even risk failure. The
German poetic philosopher, Goethe, said: “What
you dream you can do. Begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”
We have often heard the adage: “S/He
who hesitates is lost.” Why
does it seem so easy to hold to thought that leads us to smallness, and we
hesitate to dare to hold to the bold thought?
Everyone today seems to be
obsessed with what to put into their stomachs, would that we were as obsessed
about what thought we allow to nurture our minds.
I believe we ought to constantly be picturing something that
is better
than the best for Give Yourself A FAITH Lift!
34 ourselves,
our family, our church, our community, and our world. DARE
then to dream bold and impossible dreams.
Now, you hold that DREAM,
DESIRE it in the depths of your heart and DARE to take the risk and you are
ready to DO it.
Gather information around you, gather the information and get on with
getting on. Connect only with those
you know are possibility imagineers. Take
the first step and stay tuned as information and people come from unexpected
places to support your vision.
As you continue Doing
your best, affirm within: “I do my best and God does the rest.” So
you expect to DISCOVER even greater good
than you can ever begin to imagine.
I recall a time in my own life when I had a part time performing arts
business “Pan Artists.” I kept putting out info, made contacts by phone
all over the USA, and it seemed as though nothing was happening.
I represented an operatic soprano, Patricia O'Neill, who also played
Irish harp. Our friend, Marie
Reynolds, went with me to visit Patt on a Sunday afternoon.
Patt was so very discouraged as there appeared to be no venue for her to
use these wonderful gifts of hers. When
we left, Marie and I were
both wondering why nothing seemed to open up for her no matter how much I tried.
Suddenly Marie spoke up: “Why
not send her info to foreign embassies in the USA?
Especially the People’s Republic of China.
I heard they are looking for classical musicians from the West to share
their talents in China.” Marie
DARED to
DREAM outside 35______
___ ___ ____God
is NOT in the Bible the
box, to DREAM the seemingly “IMPOSSIBLE” dream.
I then followed through and sent Patricia O’Neill’s promo materials,
along with a demo tape, to five different embassies, including the People’s
Republic of China. Just about ten
days later I returned home to a message on my answer machine:
“Ello, dis Ms Yang Su Ong of the Chinee Embassy.
Prease letuln my call, we intelested in Patlicia O’Neirr.”
The Chinese language pronounces Rs as Ls and vice versa.
I KNEW this was a hot one to have responded so quickly.
Bottom line, Patricia
O’Neill, was invited to give two art song recitals in five major cities in
China. The sponsoring organization
was The Chinese Association for the Advancement of International Friendship.
I went along as her manager.
This was a month’s experience that could never have been
“imagined.” We were there for
the entire month of November, 1987. We
were picked up at the airport in Beijing and
from then on
were escorted by several people in mini vans to accommodate our
“entourage,” which always included our interpreter, accompanist, and two to
three “dignitaries” from each city, and, of course, the harp.
Patt was honored with a sit down banquet at each city with prominent
classical musicians, and other dignateries in attendance.
She always began with a recital, about 1500-2000 in attendance.
We had read up on Chinese protocol and
the books warned not to expect much demonstration of excitement
for your performance. Peggy Fleming, Give
Yourself A FAITH Lift!
36 the
American ice-skater, had thousands in attendance and very little applause.
As always, Patt went the
extra mile and prepared an encore of a popular Chinese song.
She worked tirelessly with someone who taught her the correct
pronunciation of the Chinese, and she also prepared an opening greeting in
Chinese, which said “I am happy to be with you in China.,” as well as a
toast to be used at the banquets. Tradition
is that the host or hostess stands and salutes the guest/s and then they are
expected to give one in return. No
one expected Patt to give it in Chinese.
The opening concert in
Beijing, when she spoke her greeting, the applause broke out and everyone spoke
to one another. I was the only
Westerner in the audience and a lovely Chinese woman turned around smiling and
said: “Her Chinee good.”
Between every line of the Chinese encore, there was enthusiastic applause
and they gave her a standing ovation. They
knew she loved and honored each one of them and they did her in return.
Patricia O’Neill gave
Master Classes, a workshop for the Western Opera Company, and visited with two
of the most prestigious classical musicians, a couple, the husband a conductor
and the wife a Mezzo-Soprano. They
also saw to it that we were personally escorted to all the tourist spots in the
surrounding areas.
Patt and I DARED to DREAM, DESIRED her the opportunity to perform, DID
our preparation and DISCOVERED a happening that we could never have imagined.
Only God could have provided such an experience, one
that not even
professional 37_____
_ ___
__
____God is NOT in the Bible! performers
and agents could buy. As the
writer of the letter to the Corinthians tells us:
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God
has prepared for those who love Him.”
[I
CORINTHIANS 2:9] In other words expect
the unexpected good waiting for you as you give yourself a Faith lift and
remember the wise words of Lowell Fillmore:
When for a
purpose
I had prayed and prayed and prayed
… I paused to give my
weary brain a rest
And ceased my anxious human cry.
In that still moment, …
There came a glorious vision of God’s
power,
And, lo, my prayer was answered in
that hour.
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