Back to the Garden

How many times have you heard someone bring up the question: what is my purpose? Have you ever thought about that question? Do we have a purpose? I have heard many people say that God has a purpose for us. A plan for each and every one of us. Is that true? If it is, what are the theological ramifications? If it is not, does that mean life has no purpose? Most people don't think about these things. I do. Most people are content to simply say “God” has a plan for me, and leave it at that. Join us this week as we examine the questions: What is mine to do? What is my purpose?

In today's episode, we finish our review of Unity's Five Principles with a look at Principle #5 and a general overview of the Principles. When the Unity Movement began in the late 1800s, Unity co-founder Charles Fillmore never wrote anything down for the first twenty years. His reasoning was: the person I am today, is not the person I will be tomorrow. He knew that to hold a steadfast set of beliefs was, and is, a limitation contrary to life’s unlimited nature. Eventually, he was persuaded to compile some kind of “theology” for the sake of passing on this new understanding of the relationship between God and Mankind. Many years later Charles' great-granddaughter, Connie Fillmore Bazzy, was asked if she could summarize Unity teachings for a Daily Word article back when she was the president of Unity school in Kansas City. She came up with five principles that have since become the cornerstone of our teachings. These Five Principles are: 1. God is absolute good, everywhere present. 2. Human beings are created in that image of God and our very essence is divine; therefore, we are inherently good. 3. We create our life experiences through our thoughts and beliefs. 4. Through affirmative prayer and meditation, we connect with God and bring out the good in our lives. 5. I do and give my best by living the Truth I know. I make a difference.

In this episode, I will focus on Principle #5 which essentially is “walking the walk”. That is to say, putting the knowledge we have of the principles to work in our lives. Join us this week as we conclude our review of Unity’s Five Principles.

In the episode, we continue our review of Unity's Five Basic Principles with a look at principle #4 which states: prayer is creative thinking that heightens the connection with God-Mind and therefore brings forth wisdom, healing, prosperity and everything good. In her book titled The Five Principles, author Rev. Ellen Devenport, begins her chapter on the fourth principle: "Prayer would seem to be the simplest and most familiar of spiritual concepts. Even little children understand it. Prayer has been practiced by human beings throughout the ages, in many different forms, addressed to gods of many different names. And yet this is where confusion usually sets in regarding the Five Principles." But what could be confusing about prayer? You talk to God, you ask for this or that, sometimes the petition is granted, sometimes it is not. What's confusing about that? Isn't that the way it works? No, that isn't the way it works! That is a view of God that is external, and anthropomorphic. A God that is fickle and capricious. The confusion for beginning Unity students is in regards to the radical departure from this whimsical God which one has to petition to. In Principle 1 we see God as Principle. In Principle 2 we see God as personal, expressed through each of us. In Principle 3 we learn that it is we who create our own destiny, through the activity of our thinking, believing, and feeling (free will). Given these three principles, then it seems we truly are in control of our own destinies. Then who or what am I praying "to", or why is prayer necessary at all? In its simplest form, the answer is that we are an expression of this ONE greater Mind (consciousness), and through affirmative prayer (not supplication) we align ourselves with this greater good to "...bring forth wisdom, healing, prosperity and everything good". To use a metaphor, there really is a “river of life” that flows in the expansive and positive direction. Prayer then becomes aligning ourselves with this flow, to manifest that which is consistent with its general nature. Join us this week, as we delve further into the topic of affirmative prayer.

Unity has Five Basic Principles that summarize our entire philosophy, our theology.

In her book about the Five Principles, Rev. Ellen Debenport writes: "As well as offering tools for daily living, The Five Principles suggest answers to the great questions of existence that humans have been asking since the dawn of conscious awareness."

The Five Principles are:

#1: God is absolute good, everywhere present.

#2: Human beings are created in the image of God and our very essence is divine; therefore, we are inherently good.

#3: Human beings create our life experiences through our thoughts and our beliefs.

#4: Through affirmative prayer and meditation, we align with God (Source) and bring out the good in our lives.

#5: I do and give my best by living the truth I know. I make a difference.

If we were to express these in a concise manner, they might be something like this: GOD IS, I AM, I think (create), I pray (align), I act!

Based on these principles, Unity's view of God, man and our "relationship" is quite different from that of traditional Christianity.

In particular, the concept behind second principle. Of this idea Ralph Waldon Emerson wrote: the greatest revelation is that God is in every man.

In this episode, we examine principle #2: Human beings are created in the image of God and our very essence is divine; therefore, we are inherently good.