Tag: spirituality

Your Christmas Story

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Unity teaches that the Christ is the essence of God individualized in each of us. Yet most of us have accepted ideas of lack, limitation, and separation as the basis of our identity. Over time, these ideas take form—not only in our thinking, but in our bodies, our relationships, and our circumstances. The spiritual journey, then, is not about becoming something new, but about remembering what we already are.

The Christmas story describes this recovery of awareness through symbol and soul-language.

Mary represents spiritual receptivity—the intuitive dimension of consciousness that is open to the movement of Spirit. She is the part of us that knows life is more than survival and circumstance. Mary is the higher Self that listens inwardly and trusts what it hears. Without this receptive awareness, no spiritual birth is possible.

Joseph represents the intellect, but not as ruler. In the awakening soul, the intellect undergoes a quiet conversion. Once dominant, it becomes attentive. Once authoritative, it becomes discerning. Joseph learns to observe rather than control, to protect what is emerging without attempting to define it prematurely. He stands watch over truths that arise not from reasoning, but from the deeper regions of the soul.

The shepherds symbolize our capacity to watch over our thoughts and feelings. As they keep vigil by night, we are invited into conscious awareness—learning to notice what occupies our inner field. In moments of quiet prayer or reflection, we release what is unproductive and refocus our spiritual energy on what nurtures life, wholeness, and peace.

The wise ones from the East represent the soul’s innate wisdom. Just as the oak unfolds from the acorn, so the soul unfolds according to an intelligence greater than fear. When we commit to growth, the wisdom we need is revealed step by step. The gift is not given all at once—but always on time. This is your Christmas story. The Christ is not born once in Bethlehem, but continually within the receptive, attentive, and trusting human heart.

The Mystery of Mary

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Among the many symbols woven through the Gospel narratives, few are as profound—and as misunderstood—as Mary. In the mystical tradition, Mary represents far more than a historical figure. She is the soul itself: receptive, expectant, open to the divine without the intervention of the intellect. Her story is the story of every awakening consciousness.

Joseph, in this symbolism, is the intellect—capable, orderly, and essential in its place, yet ultimately limited in its ability to perceive the movements of Spirit. Mary conceives without Joseph because the deepest spiritual realizations do not arise from analysis or reason. They emerge from silence, from the inner chamber where the soul listens without effort and receives without strain.

This is the mystery of the virgin birth: a consciousness that becomes still enough, uncluttered enough, to let the divine seed take root. It is not about intense study. This birth is the transformation that begins when the mind stops trying to think its way into God and instead becomes receptive to an inner knowing already present.

Every spiritual journey begins with a moment like Mary’s: an inward stirring, an unexpected clarity, a quiet “yes” that arises before we can explain or justify it. The intellect may protest—Joseph “was troubled” for good reason—but the soul knows. It senses the movement of something holy within, something that cannot be managed or controlled.

Mary’s response is the model of all mystics: “Let it be unto me according to thy word.” She does not demand understanding; she offers availability. She becomes the willing vessel in which Spirit can express itself freely.

When we enter silence—true silence—we step into this same receptive posture. Thoughts settle, expectations soften, and something deeper begins to speak. Not in sentences, but in assurance. Not in arguments, but in the sense of something greater at work.

Awareness of the soul, the biblical Christ, is born in us the same way: not by intellectual effort, but by intuitive-readiness. Not by striving, but by surrender. The mystery of Mary is the reminder that the divine does not depend on our reasoning to take form. It depends on our willingness to be still, to open, to receive.

And in that receptive moment, something luminous awakens—quietly, naturally, inevitably—within the depths of the soul.

The Inner Alignment of Power and Intelligence

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Jesus’ teaching on faith that “moves mountains” is not a call to defy nature but an invitation to return to our inner center—the quiet place where divine power becomes strength and divine intelligence becomes light. True strength is not personal will but alignment with the Source from which all possibility arises. This week, the teaching on Power and Intelligence takes us deeper into that alignment, showing how the light of divine guidance directs the very power that sustains us.

When Jesus urges us to “believe and not doubt in the heart,” he is describing a shift in focus. The mountain symbolizes the problem that appears immovable. Faith is not pretending the mountain isn’t there; it is remembering that we are not defined by it.

The Genesis writer captured this inner movement with the first creative command: “Let there be light.” This was not physical light but the illumination of divine intelligence—the radiant clarity that brings order to chaos. Power provides the energy, and intelligence gives it direction. Together, they form the spiritual architecture of every breakthrough, every healing, every step toward wholeness.

Like King Jehoshaphat, we all know what it is to feel overwhelmed. His prayer—“We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon Thee”—is the perfect union of these two qualities. He releases reliance on personal strength and opens to the larger field of divine guidance (intelligence). The battle shifts from the outer to the inner field. The moment fear dissolves, clarity arises.

When we affirm “Let there be light,” we are not asking for something new to descend from the heavens; we are awakening what is already present in the soul. Divine intelligence is omnipresent, waiting for recognition. Power is ever-flowing, waiting for direction. When the two meet, mountains move—not by force, but by realization.

In quiet prayer, let your focus return to your center. Breathe in power; breathe out strength. Then affirm the light of intelligence is making your next step clear. This is the mystic’s path: strength without struggle, clarity without strain, and guidance arising from the indwelling Presence that never fails.

Life that Flows, Love that Balances

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Jesus said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Abundance, in the mystical sense, is not measured in years or possessions but in awakened awareness—an inner recognition that the same vitality moving galaxies into being also breathes through us. Life is not something we possess; it is the universal energy expressing itself in every form. Stars, stones, and souls are all waves rising from one eternal ocean.

This field of life never begins and never ends. Forms appear and dissolve, but the underlying current remains untouched. What we call “death” is simply a change in expression, not a loss of life itself. To live abundantly is to recognize that the Eternal is present here and now, breathing through everything that exists.

Yet life alone does not complete the picture. The energy that animates creation also guides it, balancing and renewing all things through the law of divine love. Love is not sentiment or emotion but the active intelligence that draws to us what belongs to our wholeness and dissolves what does not. Jesus named this the greatest commandment—not as a moral burden, but as an invitation to trust the very nature of reality.

To love God is to trust the movement of divine order within our lives. To love our neighbor is to acknowledge this same movement in them. Love is always at work, even when unseen, restoring balance where confusion once held sway. When we stop resisting this flow—through forgiveness, humility, or simple willingness—we discover that love was already healing what we thought we had to fix.

Life gives us existence; love gives that existence meaning. One is the vitality at the heart of creation; the other is the intelligence that shapes it toward harmony. To awaken spiritually is to perceive both at once—to sense the living field beneath all things and to trust the love that continually renews them.

When we recognize that everything is alive and held in love’s eternal balance, we move gently, speak kindly, and live with the quiet confidence that we are part of something endless and whole.

Divine Order: Natural Law Unfolding

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To speak of Divine Order is to speak of the intelligence that governs all life. From the orbit of planets to the growth of a seed, there is a quiet precision at work in the universe—an unseen harmony that sustains and directs the whole. This same intelligence is present within us. When Jesus spoke of the Way, he was pointing to this living current of order, what Taoist philosophy calls the Tao—the natural rhythm of the universe moving through every form and circumstance.

We sometimes think of order as something we must impose upon chaos. Yet spiritual order does not begin with control; it begins with recognition. Divine order is not created by our effort but revealed through our awareness. We do not establish it—we acknowledge it.

When our minds are anxious or divided, life appears fragmented. The conditions of our experience resonate with the condition of our consciousness. If we are fearful, we perceive disorder; if we are centered, we perceive the unfolding of divine intelligence. The same universe meets us in both cases, but the state of our inner lens determines what we see.

To live in harmony with divine order is to trust the larger pattern even when appearances suggest confusion. Jesus demonstrated this trust repeatedly. Whether facing hunger, illness, or the turbulence of human emotion, he responded from an inner alignment with the law of Spirit—the natural law of perfect balance and renewal. His life was an example of cooperation with the Way, not resistance to it.

When an area of life feels out of control, we can pause and remember: divine order is not absent; it is waiting to be acknowledged. In prayer, in stillness, in the simple act of breathing deeply, we align ourselves with the steady rhythm of universal intelligence.

Affirm quietly: Divine order is now established here. The natural law of perfect order is now unfolding.

As we rest in that awareness, outer conditions begin to mirror the peace of inner knowing. What once felt chaotic reveals itself as life reorganizing around truth. The Way has never ceased moving; we are simply learning again to walk with it.

Visualization

YouTube: Visualization: Two Sides of the Same Faculty

Visualization is one of the most powerful tools of spiritual growth, yet it is often misunderstood. We tend to think of it as an exercise of the imagination—a mental picture we hold in mind until it somehow materializes in the outer world. But visualization is not just about what we see in the mind’s eye. It is equally about what we feel. These are not two separate processes, but two sides of the same inner faculty. Seeing and feeling belong together.

The imagination provides the picture, the emotional nature supplies the vitality. Together, they create a magnetic field that draws corresponding conditions into our experience. When imagination works without feeling, our visualizations are lifeless—colorless outlines that never take form. When emotion works without clear vision, we experience a surge of energy without direction. The union of the two brings both clarity and power.

Every thought we hold has an emotional tone. When we visualize a desired outcome—health, harmony, abundance—it is not enough to see the image as if it were projected on a screen outside ourselves. We must inwardly feel the reality of what we are picturing. The emotion is not mere excitement or wishful enthusiasm. It is the quiet confidence that what we are envisioning already exists in spiritual substance, waiting only for our conscious recognition.

In this sense, visualization is not about trying to make something happen. It is about aligning ourselves with what already is. When imagination and feeling are coordinated, the heart and mind become partners in creation. The picture is the form, and the feeling is the life. Each without the other is incomplete.

To practice visualization effectively, begin by relaxing the body and calming the mind. Picture your ideal clearly, but more importantly, enter into the emotional atmosphere of that vision. Feel gratitude as though the good you seek were already yours. Allow this feeling to saturate the image until it becomes alive and radiant. Then let it go in trust.

Visualization and emotion are two expressions of a single creative power. When they move together in harmony, they awaken the deeper law of manifestation that Jesus called “believing in your heart.”

Event and Experience

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A Simple Approach to Mindfulness

J Douglas Bottorff

Imagine we’re having one of our beautiful fall days. You step out your front door and are greeted by the warmth of sunshine, a cool breeze, and the beauty of fall colors. You take a moment to take in the sensations of the day. Now imagine you’ve just received some unsettling news. You step out the same door into the same fall day, but you don’t notice the sun, the breeze, or the colors. You are absorbed in the news.

In both scenarios there are two things going on: an event and an experience. The event is you stepping out your front door. The experience is what is happening within you. The first time you are carefree; you have a pleasant experience. The second time you are preoccupied with your unsettling news; your experience is completely different.

This simple illustration shows us that while events can influence our experience, our experience can also color the event. We cannot always choose what happens, but we can become aware of the inner lens through which we interpret it. This is the essence of mindfulness.

When we pause long enough to notice what is happening in us rather than to us, we step into a deeper level of awareness. The mind begins to settle. Our attention shifts from reacting to observing, from judgment to acceptance. Even a difficult event can become a teacher, revealing where our peace depends too heavily on circumstances.

We all know that life brings both calm and storm. Yet the power to choose how we meet each moment is never taken from us. By remembering the distinction between event and experience, we create space for a more conscious response. We may still prefer sunshine to rain, but we no longer feel captive to the weather.

Each moment, then, becomes an invitation to live awake. When we meet life from this inner steadiness, the event—whatever it may be—ceases to define us. We begin to taste a quiet freedom, the awareness that peace is not found in the changing scene before us but in the still presence that observes it.

The Ripple Effect

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The spiritual awakening sends ripples through every facet of life. Relationships deepen, ordinary tasks take on new meaning, and a sense of well-being begins to infuse daily experience. This is what Jesus implied when he said, “Seek first the kingdom, and all these things shall be yours as well.” Spiritual realization is not an escape from life but a transformation of perception—life ceases to be a struggle for survival and becomes a creative partnership with the Divine.

Jesus understood how difficult this awakening can be. Knowing that few would find it, he emphasized the power of small shifts—a change of thought, a new perspective, a step toward trust. Even modest insights send ripples that expand into waves of transformation. His constant refrain—ask, seek, knock—reminds us that persistence is the key.

“You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” Freedom, he taught, begins with recognizing the inner source of strength and guidance. Those who depend solely on external rescue remain enslaved to circumstance. The miracle he offered was not spectacle but insight—a change of mind that releases spiritual energy into action.

His parables describe this process as gradual and organic: the seed becoming grain, the widow who refuses to lose heart, the field already white for harvest. The work is inner, yet its results appear outwardly as greater peace, clarity, and harmony.

Jesus’ teaching operates on several levels. On the surface, it speaks to the creative power of thought: thorns do not produce grapes. At a deeper level, it calls for direct awareness of the divine Presence within. Here prayer is not petition but realization—“on earth as it is in heaven.”

The Gospels suggest that many of his greatest works were unrecorded, rippling quietly through ordinary lives. The true miracle is not water turned to wine but fear turned to faith, resentment turned to love, struggle turned to peace. A single day lived free from anxiety may seem small, yet it embodies the essence of his promise: the kingdom of God unfolding in the midst of everyday life.

Perfection: The Target No One Will Hit

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Many of us were taught to see Jesus as “the perfect man demonstrated,” the flawless figure against whom our own lives are inevitably measured. While this image may inspire, it can also create a burden. Perfection becomes the target no one will ever hit, leaving us discouraged when we discover our flaws and limitations.

Paul’s own description of the resurrection offers a different perspective. He wrote, “It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body.” His words point away from physical immortality and toward transformation of consciousness. His encounter with the risen Christ was not about seeing a body restored but about awakening to a reality so profound it altered the course of his life.

Modern near-death experiencers testify to something similar. Their reports rarely focus on physical details. Instead, they describe a profound peace, an overwhelming sense of love, and encounters with familiar and unfamiliar figures who radiate welcome. They return to this life deeply changed, often free from the fear of death. The miracle is not that they avoided dying but that their perspective shifted.

When Jesus is seen as mystic rather than unreachable icon, we are released from the crushing demand to be flawless. Our aging bodies, our frailties, our scars do not disqualify us from discipleship; they remind us that what is most real is not the body at all, but the enduring self beneath it. The mystic teaches that we are more than flesh. We are Spirit expressing through flesh.

If perfection is the measure, we will always miss the mark. But the mystic invites us to another way—not to hit the target, but to awaken to the presence of God within. In this awakening, the search for perfection gives way to peace.

Teach Us to Pray

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Voice of the Mystic: Part 6

J Douglas Bottorff

 Though we often associate prayer with religious dogma, it’s a fundamental human practice, not confined by such boundaries. We engage in it whether we are aware of it or not. When we are aware, we can think of prayer as a dialogue with the universe, a powerful tool for personal transformation. This isn’t about appealing to a distant deity; it’s about cultivating a relationship with the boundless source of energy that animates all things, including ourselves.

The first step to understanding prayer is to acknowledge it as a two-fold process of releasing and affirming. We make a conscious effort to release the negative energies that cloud our spirit: the fear, the doubt, the anger, the resentment that binds us. Visualize these emotions dissolving, flowing away like stagnant water, leaving behind a sense of lightness and clarity. Imagine a dark, murky pool, choked with weeds, slowly clearing, the water becoming crystalline, reflecting the sun. This cleansing allows us to turn our expectations to the positive.

This affirmative turning is an intentional mental and emotional acceptance that greater good is now unfolding for yourself and for all concerned. If you can’t be specific about desired conditions, you can be specific about how you want to feel when your issue is resolved. Envision the emotional outcome you wish to experience. You want peace, harmony with others, and the abundance of those things and conditions that you associate with success. Perhaps you see yourself radiating joy, surrounded by supportive people, your goals effortlessly manifesting. Hold this vision firmly in your mind and heart, allowing the feelings of gratitude and fulfillment to permeate your being. This is proactive engagement with the energy of the universe.

The power of effective prayer lies in faith. As the saying goes, “Whatsoever you ask for, believe that you have received it.” Feel the reality of your desires already fulfilled. This isn’t about wishful thinking; it’s about aligning your energy with the vibrational frequency of your desired outcome. This unwavering conviction is the engine that powers the prayer. See yourself already living the reality you desire, feeling the joy, the satisfaction, the sense of accomplishment. The universe responds to the vibrational frequency you emit, and faith is the key to tuning your frequency.

Prayer changes us. It refines our consciousness, expands our awareness, and aligns us with the universal flow of life, love, power, and intelligence. It reminds us of our inherent power, our connection to something greater, and our ability to shape our own reality. Embrace the practice of prayer, not as a ritual, but as a profound act of self-discovery and empowerment. Allow it to be your constant companion on the path to a more fulfilling and authentic life.