This is the first Sunday of Advent, Christmas only weeks away! What better time, with our hearts filled with gratitude, for us to renew our faith and embrace hope. The “Season of Lights” warms us especially this year, when last year was so quiet an isolated. We begin the season by looking to those qualities which bring us life and prepare us for the Christmas celebration.

“The word grace means “favor.” Why are you favored as a child of God? Simply because you are the activity of God expressing himself as you.”  ~ Eric Butterworth
Truly accepting and embodying this truth is the underlying impetus of our spiritual journey. The grand adventure of life is to be willing to trust that grace will accompany us every step of the way

It’s easy to affirm Divine Order when things work out the way WE planned! It’s a little more challenging when our plans go awry or if we can’t see a clear path forward. This does not mean Divine Order has abandoned us---quite the opposite. Faith is the engine that keeps our momentum focused, knowing that everything has its season. Divine Order is as constant as the phases of the moon, always at work even when it is not visible.

Could it be that we are preparing for the emergence of something new and different in life on this precious planet?  Remembering back to March of the year 2020 when the 34th annual edition of South by Southwest was canceled,  we were officially ushered into a long spell of stressful change in our world.  Coping with Covid 19 and staying alive became the new dedication of body, mind, and spirit for us humans. This talk will offer seven principles that might be helpful in managing the stress of living in the time of a world wide pandemic.

It is best asked by Teilhard de Chardin: “A fresh kind of life is starting. In the face of such an upheaval, actually shaken by it, no one can remain indifferent. Swept along by the tide of affairs, what can we do to see clearly and act decisively?” His observation and question are as relevant now as when he wrote them in the mid-20th century. Let’s explore our answer!

An African proverb reminds that “alone we can go faster, together we can go further.” While the work to grow spiritually is uniquely and solely ours to do, we don’t ever really do it alone. This week, as we prepare for a H.U.G. (Help Unity Grow) meeting, let’s investigate how we – individually and collectively – engage with our spiritual community.

By Rev. Jill Carey.

What is your definition of success? How comfortable are you with life if that definition doesn’t match what you’re currently experiencing? As we continue our gratitude practice and see how we measure our attitude about prosperity, we begin to discover what REALLY makes us secure. It’s not just about money!