Summer is in full swing and this week the weather folks are calling for it to be the hottest week so far. So please take extra care of yourself and stay hydrated.
This coming Sunday we will be having a community meeting. This is a time for the board to share what we are focused on and to hear from you what is working and what we might improve on. When we say what we might improve on, this is a collective “we” not just the board. As a community we are all in this together. Together we thrive.
The meeting will begin at 11:30 a.m. and we expect it to be one hour. It will not be hybrid, as it is too distracting. We will have minutes that will be sent out in a later Heart Thoughts edition.
First our apologies for the sound issue on Sunday. We have a new microphone, and it was not working to its optimum. We will work to get that resolved by next week.
Myrtle Fillmore
I stepped out of the box on Sunday and had so much fun doing “story hour.” I shared the beginnings of Unity through Myrtle Fillmore. So much is known about Charles; however, Myrtle was very instrumental in establishing the consciousness of Unity and its teachings.
As she recounts in this talk in her early correspondence with Charles, I found this part of a letter so telling as to how Unity teachings came about. She wrote: “You question my orthodoxy? Well, if I were called upon to write out my creed it would be rather a strange mixture. I am decidedly eclectic in my theology. Is it not my right to be? Overall is a grand ideal God but full of love and mercy. And dear to my heart is Christ, the perfect man, who shared our earthly sorrows, yet ever lived blameless, and taught such sweet lessons of patience, forgiveness, and tolerance.”
She also shares the experience of traveling with Charles to Gunnison, Colorado over the Continental Divide in a stagecoach. The only woman with eleven men. She says of this…”Three weeks ago, we left you. I seem to have an unsorted jumble of mountains, snow and strange experiences in my mind to fill up this space between now and then.
“Our journey was delightful — I might fib a little to include our trip over the range. We remained at Poncha Springs, the end of the rails, two days resting for our stagecoach trip. We left Poncha in a stagecoach at 7 in the morning (Monday). At 11 we had a layover at a ranch till 8 o’clock at night, waiting for the snow to freeze on the mountains. We had Mark Twain’s typical driver, by name ‘Jack.’ When we were finally transferred to sleigh runners, such an experience as we had. There were eleven men, I the only lady.
“The roads or passes were in such fearful condition that the men were obliged to walk the greater part of the way up. It was grand. The moon hung above the stars seemed to crown the higher peaks. Constant changes seemed to be taking place, mountain on mountain piled on one side, water pouring down in cataracts among the pines far, far below. Again, fields of snow would rise till the stars seemed to have them for background. On the other hand, one misstep would have landed us hundreds of feet below where the snow was pierced by the dark needles of the pines.
“It was a very dangerous ride. We were two days and one night getting through and had to contrive all manner of ways to get through at all. We had several breakdowns. Sometimes the men had to use all their strength to steer the sled clear of some steep precipice.
“I enjoyed it the first day and night, it was all so new and sublime. We reached the summit at midnight. Old Mount Ouray lay at our right covered with snow and crowned with stars. The moon, that had seemed to us to set two or three times, rose again and gave us light. We commenced our descent. The roar of the waters that seemed to make the road their bed gave a new touch to the sublime.
“I wasn’t aware at the time that I was doing anything remarkable by keeping cool during all this journey of hairbreadth escapes, but ‘Jack’ seemed to have conceived a great respect for me and laid aside all his adjectives and even compromised himself enough to enquire after the comfort of ‘the lady.’ I learned that I gained quite a reputation for bravery among the masculine part of our adventurers, who seemed to have discussed the subject and agreed ‘that not one lady in a thousand would have shown such coolness and bravery.’
“We got into Gunnison about 6 o’clock Tuesday afternoon. The Halls had been worrying about us, having heard fearful reports of the treacherous mountain roads. And it was fortunate we got through when we did, for almost a week passed before the next coach got through.”
Next week, join me as we continue the story of Myrtle Fillmore and her role as a “feminist.”
You may have noticed the “Poetry Corner” in the latest Heart Thoughts. We are looking for original poems, so if you have written one or two poems, please send to unitygpoffice@gmail.com with a snapshot of yourself.
Have a blessed week and see you Sunday!
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. 
