ICYMI: In case you missed it: We were honored to have Dr. Doug Kneuven, DVM, currently serving as the Chairman of the Board of Edgar Cayce's Association for Research and Enlightenment (A.R.E.) speak to us yesterday about Edgar Cayce's views on Patience. Check out the recording on our YouTube channel.! Patience as awareness of how we respond to things that occur in time and space is a wonderful practice this advent. You'll want to watch for many reasons and to enjoy an appearance by a special musical guest, Chloe Wiecz who flew in from LA for a Holiday Homecoming performance at Pittsburgh Winery over the weekend.
Now, what about Advent?! Source: https://www.unity.org/article/our-deepest-gifts-four-themes-advent
What Do the Weekly Advent Themes Represent for Us (as a Unity spiritual community)? For the next four (4) weeks, we'll dive into these themes. Point to ponder THIS week: Where are you right now on the hope-faith continuum mentioned in the excerpt copied below?
Unity co-founder Charles Fillmore spoke of Unity and Advent in a January 24, 1923, radio broadcast called “Christ Mind, the Second Coming of Christ.” He shared his thoughts on his understanding that “Christ is an idea in divine mind” and highlighted the universality of the Christ, the divine essence that dwells in every human being.***
The four Sundays of Advent proclaim aspects of our divine nature—hope and faith, peace, love, and joy. The traditional themes of Advent allow us—through meditation, prayer, and affirmation—to contemplate ways to share our deepest gifts: hope and faith, peace, love, and joy.
Advent Week 1: Hope and Faith
Most Christians focus on hope during the first week of Advent. In Unity, perhaps inspired by the view that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for,” we contemplate both hope and faith as we spiritually prepare our hearts and minds for Christmas …
Think of it as a hope-faith continuum. Hope arises when we glimpse a new possibility. These glimpses can inspire us to make positive changes. They can motivate us to adopt new ways of thinking and behaving … Increase your hope on this continuum, and enter the realm of belief. We believe because we have an intellectual understanding of how a thing works. We may also believe because it’s what we’ve been taught. The challenge is that it’s possible to have two contradictory beliefs concurrently.
For instance, (we may) believe in an abundant universe. Yet, sometimes, if funds are low, the anxiety (we) feel betrays a residual belief in lack. Resolving these contradictions is the domain of faith. It’s in the spiritual dimension that we experience faith as a deep inner knowing arising from divine intelligence …
Blessed are we, for each of us has access to hope, belief, and faith in the Christmas story’s promise of infinite good and love everlasting. What are YOU thinking about Hope/Faith today? We invite you to join the conversation on our blog, or on Facebook!
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Upcoming Events:
In all honesty, feels like I'm riding the struggle bus when it comes to "Hope & Faith" today, However, the concept of approaching Advent as a time of sacred preparation for something holy is striking a deep chord within me as 2023 comes to a close. It's so easy for me to have faith that the sun IS out there even behind December clouds in Pittsburgh, and even that I'll wake up tomorrow morning (though I understand from personal experience, NO guarantee comes with that, not even a 1 year warranty 😅). So, what am I willing to be willing to put my faith in this week? 1. The uplifting power of a smile and/or a kind word. 2. Th…