Happy Birthday to everyone celebrating in March! We’ve started a new community initiative to honor those with birthdays each month. Celebrating birthdays is important, especially for our community. On the first Sunday of each month during our potluck, we’ll have a birthday cake, so make sure to join us in April if it’s your birthday, or any month after. Shoutout to Betti Lu Lewis for championing this important program.
Today is Ash Wednesday, marking the beginning of Lent, a 40-day journey plus six Sundays leading up to Easter. It’s a time to prepare our hearts and minds for the celebration of resurrection and new beginnings.
In Unity, Lent is a season of spiritual growth and renewal. It’s a time for personal transformation, reflection, and release. Unity cofounder Charles Fillmore described Lent as a period for “progressive unfoldment” and spiritual growth. During Lent, Unity encourages fasting from unwanted beliefs and feasting on Truth statements. This practice involves using denials to clear out limiting beliefs and affirmations to embrace positive, transformative thoughts.
On Sunday, we kicked off a new Easter series called “The Foundations of Our Spiritual Path: Seven Weeks of Reflection and Spiritual Growth.” The first week focused on “The Journey of Faith,” emphasizing the significance of faith in our lives as we embark on the journey of Lent. It highlighted Lent as a time of introspection, prayer, and renewal.
We explored how faith shapes our actions, thoughts, and interactions with others, drawing from the biblical roots of faith and stories of Abraham, Moses, and Mary, the mother of Jesus. Their stories were presented as living examples that can inspire and instruct us today.
We delved into the transformative power of faith, explaining how it can alter our perception, shift our focus from fear to hope, and guide us through life’s challenges. We discussed the importance of building and strengthening faith through practices such as prayer, meditation, affirmation, and visualization.
Additionally, we encouraged translating faith into actions that reflect our deepest beliefs and bring about positive change in the world. We also emphasized the interconnectedness of faith with other spiritual powers like strength, wisdom, and love, showing how faith can bolster our inner strength, enhance our wisdom, and foster a sense of love and compassion.
By nurturing and strengthening our faith, we can navigate life’s challenges with greater ease, find inner peace, and experience profound personal and spiritual growth.
If you were unable to join us on Sunday, you can watch the service here.
Next week join Rev. Matt Purinton for The Power of Prayer.
I’m deeply grateful for each of you taking the time to read this. You truly are special!
You are a blessing in my life,
Rev. Patricia Bessey
