Step 4: Using denials and affirmations, I cleanse my consciousness of all error thoughts.
Gratitude means paying attention – noticing God in the small things. And, in these times, you are my reason for gratitude.
I see God in the comment stream on the Facebook page whenever we go live with our Midday Faith Lift, Wednesday Night Meditation, or Sunday Celebration service.
God shows up as each of you on the Coffee Hour Zoom call following the Sunday service. God moves through our community in the care you all offer one another.
I have also seen and felt God working through the generosity of many of you who have supported Unity Center for Spiritual Growth during these weeks of “Staying at Home” as you continue to support us through your tithes and offerings. Thank you to those who have become consistent givers; we are grateful for your commitment and support.
I have some good news to share with you. We have received funds from the Payroll Protection Plan Stimulus, and we are assured of payroll for the next two months. Your Board of Trustees is monitoring the guidelines that are coming from the Maine CDC and Governor Mills and will keep you informed when we feel it is safe to begin to have services once again from our sanctuary.
I also want to give a shout out to you who have signed up for Automatic Giving. I know this can be a stretch for some to use this form to give of your tithes and offerings. In the reading I have been doing regarding church post-coronavirus, passing the offering basket will not be happening, so we are encouraged to invite you to do automatic giving or to go to our donate button as another online option. Of course, checks in the mail are always welcome.
On Sunday I continued with Step 4 of the Six Steps to Spiritual Maturity. It is: Using denials and affirmations, I cleanse my consciousness of all error thoughts.
This is one of my favorite steps because when I learned about denials and affirmations my life changed. I had learned about affirmations but never about denials. These are “handles to power.”
The most necessary part of learning is to unlearn our errors. Our purpose in Unity is to learn to see rightly. A denial is the first practical step toward seeing rightly by wiping out of our minds the mistaken beliefs that raise such havoc in our lives.
The definition of denial is a declaration that something is untrue; its purpose is to cleanse. We do not deny things out of existence; we deny wrong thoughts about them.
Charles Fillmore in the book Prosperity says, “Denial usually comes first. It sweeps out the debris and makes room for the new tenant that is brought into the mind by the affirmation.”
An affirmation is a strong, true statement about yourself or a situation.
Here is an example to be used if you are longing for Peace of Mind:
• The denial is: This anxiety, confusion, or fear is powerless to take or keep my good from me.
• The affirmation is: Divine love now dissolves and dissipates all anxious, confused, or fearful thoughts, and I am peaceful in Mind and heart.
As you change your beliefs you change your life. Denials are the belief changers.
Take away:
• The tools for cleansing our conscious and subconscious mind are denials and affirmations.
• Both our thinking and feeling is engaged in the process of denials and affirmations.
• Denial is our ability to release the energy and power we have invested in negative (error) thinking…feeling…beliefs.
• Affirmations confirm the conscious recognition of Truth.
This coming Sunday we will complete the series with Steps 5 and 6:
Step 5: I commit to developing a conscious contact with God through prayer and meditation.
Step 6: I demonstrate spiritual maturity by practicing these principles in all areas of my life.
I leave you with this thought from Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: “The quality of strength lined with tenderness is an unbeatable combination.”
You are a blessing in my life,
Rev. Patricia Bessey
Labyrinths are ancient geometric figures. One leaves one’s worries and stress at the entrance and walks meditatively to the middle. As one walks to the center she/he becomes centered within her/himself, calmer, and more grounded. 
