You have built a prison by your choice to not forgive – you are the only prisoner and you have the only key. Use it.

How often we think that our unforgiveness is somehow limiting the actions or the joy of the perpetrator of some perceived offense. Perhaps we think it somehow punishes the perpetrator. It doesn't -- it only limits our own joy and locks US in the prison. This is an easy lesson to learn if we only think it through.

Who defines "greatness"?

I was scanning my email a few minutes ago and happened upon an "invite" issued by a Facebook "friend" to attend an event by someone promoted to be a "North American master". I realized in that split second of reaction to the stated "credentials" that I do not place much credence in such monikers. The fellow may be very good at what he does, perhaps a master at his trade, and the moniker may even be something someone else pinned on him, but I wonder how effective such promotion really is...

Perhaps a relevant question is, "How much credence do YOU put on such promotional adjectives and why?"

I'm reading a book titled Branding Faith by Phil Cooke about this very topic. Maybe the reaction that I have to these reputed credentials is testament to my perception that these are not significant contributors to one's "brand" -- and if this is not contributing to the "brand" for this particular person, then why use it in a promotion? Or maybe it is an effective expression of this person's "brand" and I'm just an "odd case".

Whew!

It's been a while since I've posted. During that time I have been ruminating over a short piece that has been on my mind for the past 15 years. The book was started several years ago. Put on the shelf a number of times, taken down, dusted off, rewritten numerous times in the first several chapters but never getting to the end. I was grappling with the content of the book, not seeing what I had to say as deserving of a 250 page trade publication like so many authors were writing. Without that content length, I figured publishers would not want to waste their time.

Then along came Kindle. Obviously, Kindle has been around for several years but it recently came to my attention that it would be a great platform for shorter books. I noticed today that TED now has books published by its presenters on the Kindle platform in the genre called "Kindle Singles."

In any case, the awareness of the Kindle publishing channel gave me the motivation to finish the book. I wouldn't have to run the gauntlet of finding an agent, submitting the publication, waiting for an answer.... I could just finish the book, submit it for publishing and viola' -- a published author.

About 10 years ago I took a little workshop from Joe Sabah, a Denver-based proponent of professional speakers. He has a database of radio talk show hosts and suggests that authors get their works publicized through radio.  Apparently it is a "ready market" if you have something a bit out of the ordinary to talk about -- or at least a provocative way of saying ordinary things :).

Being published on the Kindle platform in a few days will give me the means of distributing the book without the upfront production costs of printing a book, make the distribution easy (via Amazon for the Kindle, iPad, iPhone, Android and Blackberry devices), ease of modifying the book should I decide to add to it or change it after publication. Plus it can be priced in the $3 range to make it a easy to justify purchase.

The electronic publishing industry is going to revolutionize and democratize the authoring process!

So watch for it, "Joy: A Simple Choice" is coming soon!

Are You One?

Paul Ray and Sherry Anderson ten years ago wrote the book, "Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World". In it they describe the characteristics of that group within our midst they call the "cultural creatives" (CCs). Chances are you are one of them.

The values shared by the CCs, according to Ray and Anderson, are:

• Authenticity, actions must be consistent with words & beliefs
• Engaged action & whole process learning; seeing the world as interwoven & connected
• Idealism & personal activism
• Globalism & ecology
• Women's/children's rights
• Altruism
• Self-actualization
• Spirituality

Because of these values, CCs often feel alone in their worldview. Secular society has seemingly veered off course into a realm of "ME First" and profit-based values. Traditional religion serves very few of them because of what they consider to be its outdated mores and medieval/magical tenets. With no sense of belonging to a greater community, the CCs usually just "do their own thing" and live life as best they can. Sound familiar?

The good news is that there is a greater incipient community of CCs that are recognizing the value of coming together, sharing ideas, gathering an intentional circle of like-minded seekers and feeling safe and welcome, regardless of their beliefs -- and you can be part of it!

Living Water Unity is one such community. We have lots of opportunity to get to know each other, to be exposed to new ideas and to share our experiences with like-minded individuals. Yes, you might even run into an old friend or make a few new ones.

Our Wednesday evening programs, broadly titled "Sacred Encounter", are a few of the examples of new experiences in which you can explore YOUR worldview and test YOUR ideas in the laboratory of your own life.

Why Living Water Unity?

"Why should I care about whether Living Water Unity thrives or dies (apart from the personal connection offered with the many present and potential friends I have established here)?" Closely related to that question is, "How can I help this ministry thrive?"

A demographic study was made for our present location to understand our “market” more completely. The study was based on the 2000 US Census data (and updated in 2008 with estimates by the Census Bureau of changes to the data). Coupled with two rules of thumb used in the church growth consulting community and several other national surveys, we compiled the estimates of the potential audience of our ministry. The analysis is available for anyone with MS Excel or Open Office and an email address. Contact the church office for a copy (livingwaterunity@comcast.net).

Several national surveys conducted over the last 15 years have estimated the theological and religious opinions held by the US population. In one survey conducted by CNN and USA Today about 10 years ago (and substantiated in other surveys), about 40% of the adult population of the US say they they are a member of a church community (the survey stipulated attendance of at least once a month to be considered “a member” – no other commitment of affiliation was required). Of the population, more than 90% stated that their world-view included a “higher power” (no name of the Divine was specified). Where do the unaffiliated “50%ers” receive their inspiration to explore their relationship with that Divine Presence which is part of their world-view?

As we look at the contrast between new thought theology (as taught by Unity, Religious Science, Divine Science, Johnnie Colemon Ministries, etc) and mainstream/evangelical Christian theology, one salient difference that new thought students likely agree upon is that a theology of empowerment is taught in new thought communities and a theology of dependence is taught in mainstream and evangelical churches.  That is, on the one hand, “I have the power and responsibility to be in the awareness of the presence of Divinity all the time” (empowerment theology). On the other hand, 1) “Jesus must have interceded for me because I couldn’t redeem myself” and 2) “because I am naturally a sinner, the ‘grace of God’ is all that’s keeping me from eternal damnation” (dependence theology). The reality of this difference is not important – it is the perception of the reality of this difference that is critical to those considering affiliation with any given ministry. Why are the “50%ers” unaffiliated with a church? Obviously, there are lots of reasons, but one significant reason could be that they find the dependence theology does not work for them.  THOSE people could find the empowerment theology of new thought to be an effective way to explore their relationship with the divine AND more effectively construct their lives.

How many of the “50%ers” are there in our market area?  The market area is defined by two rules of thumb mentioned above: 1) a person will typically travel no more than 5 miles to try out a new church, 2) a person presently affiliated with a church (or ‘denomination’ such as Unity) will typically not travel more than 20 minutes to attend if the church moves or if they move. The following map shows the 5 mile service area associated with each closest Unity church (Columbine Unity, Unity Temple, Mountain Light Unity and High Country Unity), the approximate 20 minute commute range and the line marking the area within which the residents are closer to Living Water than to other Unity communities. This megaphone shaped area represents our marketplace.  Obviously, the “shadow” of Mile High Church of Religious Science affects this demographic study, and because of its extensive programs will draw congregants from a greater distance. But as we have recently seen, its size can also be a deterrent for some potential congregants.

Nonetheless, for purposes of this study, we can use the census data to estimate the number of people within our five mile service area (red circle above) or closer to our church than other Unity churches (green lines above) AND within the 20 minute commute (blue circle above).

The total number of families in the five mile service area and 20 minute commute (and outside the 5 mile service area) are 63,000+ and 131,000+, respectively. The total population is 195,000+ and 400,000+. How many “50%ers” are in the five mile area? 32,500 families and 97,500 people. Within a 20 minute commute beyond the 5 mile service area? 65,000 families and 200,000 people. This is a huge potential audience for our uniquely located ministry!

Back to the original question: why should we invest our efforts in continuing this community? Because we have an extraordinary opportunity to make our teachings available to a significant number of people that will find our theology useful and fulfilling. This was our founding minister’s motivation to get into ministry in the first place – and it could be your motivation to help this ministry thrive. Our ministry’s challenge, of course, is to “get the word out.”

Charles Arn, of the consulting firm Church Growth, Inc., states that within growing churches, over 70% of the congregants that have been in the church for more than one year were invited by a friend. Further, the typical member of a growing church met at least 7 new friends in the church.

Two keys to a thriving ministry are: 1) congregants make a habit of inviting friends that are unaffiliated with another church or find their other church unfulfilling, and 2) the church have programs in place that allow people to meet new friends.

How can you help Living Water Unity thrive? Perhaps these two words will inspire you: invite your friends and participate in its programs. Simply put: help others make new friends at Living Water Unity.

If Prayer Works....

OK, I'm going to step out on a limb here, with saw in hand...


I've noticed a great deal of prayer work going on (Facebook groups, email chains, news reports) to try to 'fix' the BP oil spill and heal the Gulf of Mexico's waters. So here's the question, "If prayer works, then why are we continuing to see those remote cameras monitoring the well-head showing spewing oil?" Is God asleep or otherwise not paying attention to our prayers? Or are we inept 'prayors'? Or perhaps it's that this spill is even too big for God to fix? Or maybe God is punishing us for our making an idol of 'profit'? Or.... (insert your own radical supposition here)


I'm in the camp that declares "prayer works". But I do not see prayer as a means of fixing circumstances. To assert that it would 'fix it' would be to declare that either a) my perception of events is better than God's, therefore my input is necessary for God to take corrective action on what was negligently overlooked, b) God somehow needs my prayerful energy to right the wrong, i.e. God's power is limited save my participation, or c) God doesn't care enough about us to pay attention to our 'problems', therefore my prayers are probably useless anyway.


In all the invitations to pray for the Gulf, I have heard no one, not even New Thought ministers, state a prayer such as, "Father/Mother God, guide us in our release of our addiction to oil. Help us reform our thinking to see a 'present' where we recognize the effects of our 'need for speed' and our 'need for the unusual' have on our precious home planet and the precious web of life in which we reside -- and thus, help us make our decisions on the use of our precious resources, not just on the cash we give up, but on the price that is paid by each precious resident of this web of life." That's not to say that no such prayers are being offered but I think you'll agree that the prayer hullabaloo is about 'fixing it'.


Prayer works when it addresseses what needs to be fixed -- our own consciousness. 


For an elaboration of this view, see 
http://livingwaterunity.org/picks/Documents/Prayer_as_a_Tool_for_Spiritual_Awakening.htm 

Reconciling the Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine

As I edited last Sunday's talk video for the website I noticed that I repeatedly used the term "reconcile" when I spoke of assimilating the characteristics of the Divine Feminine and the Divine Masculine into our consciousness. After delivering the talk, I was somewhat puzzled as to why I had chosen that particular word -- I felt it might have been better to use the word "integrate".  But as I look forward to this coming Sunday talk, I realized that "reconcile" is exactly correct in the context I was using it.


The characteristics of the Divine Masculine and the Divine Feminine are complementary -- nurturing and transforming, for examples. One is to take what is and help it develop to the fullness of what it can be; the other is to take what is and change it, or to use a currently popular word in the business environment -- to "re-purpose" it (is that hyphenated or not?). Empathy and inspiring, compassionate and passionate, forgiving and asserting, etc. Fulfilling the feminine imperative will often take us along a different path than fulfilling the masculine imperative.


If we are expressing our Divine Wholeness, with the facilities of the feminine and masculine readily accessible to us in each moment, how do we decide which imperative to follow in a given situation?


Hmmmmm. Perhaps we'll find out on Sunday.....