Happy February! Happy month of Love! Let’s start the month considering self-love. When we have a strong sense of self-love, we understand our own value and treat ourselves in a loving way. It is NOT being selfish, rather it is connecting to the love energy that gives us life and expresses in our thoughts and lives, so we live with our own cups overflowing. We can intentionally create habits and practices that contribute to our physical, emotional, and mental health.

Being in the flow – I love that image. WE are far more than we can see. God’s power within us supports our highest desires, undergirds our very being, sustains our life, opens doors, lifts life’s burdens, dissolves blocks, and clears every path or makes a new one. This invisible life force is the truth of our being. The power of love moves through the peaceful, open mind and heart as infinite and total supply to fulfill every call from our depths. I must get still to remember this at times. Other moments, it helps me to read truth material.

As Charles Fillmore explains it: "Love is an inner quality that sees good everywhere and in everybody. It insists that all is good, and by refusing to see anything but good, it causes that quality finally to appear uppermost in itself and in all things."

When I remember Dr. King, I think of courage and deep faith. He led in the Civil Rights Movement from December 1955 until his assassination on April 4, 1968. There must have been times when he wanted to give up but instead, he gave his life to bring change and dignity to African Americans. What a powerful advocate of nonviolence. He acted from Christ consciousness instead of from hate and revenge. At age 35, he was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize.

For the first part of the year, we will be allowing these four gifts to be in our consciousness and to demonstrate in our lives – Prosperity, Presence, Power, and Peace. We start this Sunday thinking about prosperity, and it will encompass more than the financial piece. Prosperity has to do with every part of our lives. Edward Hayes has agreed to teach Edwene Gaines' book on four Thursday nights in February. It will be energizing and fun learning together.

I am so looking forward to sharing our yearly rituals of the candle lighting service (12/24), the burning bowl (12/29), and the white stone service (1/5), as we close 2024 and begin 2025. In each of these we go within and listen to Spirit’s whispers. This is the ultimate spiritual practice - to be still and know the truth within.

A philosopher from 6BC, Lao Tzu, said this:  “If you are depressed you are living in the past.  If you are anxious you are living in the future.  If you are at peace you are living in the present.” 

The official Christmas season is here, yet I believe that Christmas is something that happens every day, not just in December. Christmas occurs when we open to the possibility of hope, when we live as ambassadors of peace, when we become expressions of love and grace, or when joy bubbles forth from our hearts and lives. In these moments the Christ is given expression. This can happen any moment on any day.

In the spirit of this week, I invite you to contemplate the love that flows in and through UCBA. We have so much for which to be thankful.
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