Welcome to a brand new year filled with promise for abundant good. I have spent the last couple of days pondering what lies ahead and even though there seems to be apparent chaos in parts of my life, I know that chaos is part of the natural order. In order for something great to emerge, things have to change.

I am willing to let go of what no longer serves me as I begin to create something new, better, more fulfilling. I release anything negative and recognize the changes that are happening as growth and unfoldment.

For me, I see a year of promise and possibility. My affirmation is: May two zero one three, be the best year yet for you and me.

Abundant blessings,

Rev. Lori

There are times when life's circumstances seem to test the limits of our faith. Every seeming challenge has the seed of opportunity to practice faith at a deeper level. We will discover that in order to overcome obstacles, the solution is found in the silence.

When we become centered in the presence of the living God, our faith cooperates with the manifestation of prosperity in all areas of our lives. Each day, God reveals new ways to increase and use our unlimited gifts, talents and abilities, creating solutions to every seeming challenge.

As we pray for healing—for ourselves or for a loved one—our faith in God's wisdom, strength and love fortifies our prayers with spiritual illumination and brings us back to wholeness.

Through the spirit of the living Christ within, our minds and bodies express health and wholeness.

Abundant blessings,

Rev. Lori

Is there something in your life that is challenging you? Does it seem that you are stuck in the past as old tapes in your head constantly loop over and over? We can choose to remain in old consciousness or we can do deeper introspection and see what has been hidden that wants to be revealed.

When we let go of resistance, we can find new ways to respond to old problems, attitudes, judgments and opinions. Wanting life to be different than it is now without being willing to do this work is the definition of insanity. You know, doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

Sometimes we feel emotions that make us uncomfortable and our first impulse is to look away, burying them deep within our psyche. This can create drama, feed our addictions or simply distract us from the real issues.

I invite you to do some deep, inner work. Discover what you are saying to yourself in your mind. If it is negative, take the time to reprogram those old tapes and put positive affirmations in place that encourage, nurture, and uplift.

By inviting God into your life for a personal relationship through prayer and meditation, we are opening our consciousness to the healing energy of Spirit. Over time, as our relationship grows, our life will begin to be less challenging and answers to problems will come quickly, easily and lovingly.

Abundant Blessings,

Rev. Lori

We live in an age of discovery and invention. Not a day passes that some new or updated product is offered to make our lives better. This is a tribute to our amazing curiosity and ingenuity in our quest for meaning and understanding. We are not discovering new laws. Instead, we are simply learning how to use existing natural laws in a new way.

The greatest discovery is one of self-discovery as we turn within and gain insight for new ways to tackle old challenges. As we turn within, we open our eyes to see things as they truly are with brilliant clarity.

Is there a challenge in your life today? Are you being called to create something amazing but the way is not really clear? I invite you to go into the silence and open your Spiritual eyes. In the silence is found the answer to every question. In the silence is the solution to every problem. In the silence is the Mind of God, filled with all of the Divine ideas necessary to make our lives peaceful, loving and overflowing with abundance and prosperity.

Abundant Blessings,

Rev. Lori

We are now officially in the fall season. The nights have started to get longer and the days are growing shorter. Soon, my morning walk will begin before the sun comes up. I love this time of day because it is quiet and peaceful.

Because I grew up in the mid-west, fall is a special time for me. I love the color of the leaves, the cooler days and the brilliant blue skies. I remember driving in the countryside as a child looking for bittersweet, a vine with a distinctive orange berry that we dipped in wax to preserve for floral arrangements. Yet, hidden in the joy of the fall season is the promise of the cold, dark days of winter.

All of the plants are getting ready for a time of dormancy. Growth will slow or even stop as a time of rest begins. It may look as if the plant is dead, but it is making preparation for a time of flowering in the spring. For me, this is a metaphor for taking more time to go within, do some spiritual housekeeping through denial and forgiveness and prepare myself for new growth and unfoldment.

I invite you to join me in taking more time for prayer and meditation. We all know that rest is crucial in rebuilding cells and staying healthy. Spiritual rest helps to insure a healthy consciousness. Connecting to the power of the Divine on a regular basis makes our lives work more harmoniously.

May God's blessings fill your life in this fall season.

Rev. Lori

One of Unity’s basic tenants is the idea of denial and affirmation. Most of us can resonate with the idea of affirmations because they are positive and we sincerely want to eliminate negativity from our lives. For many years, I used affirmations without denials because I was a Unity “Pollyana,” only focusing on the good.

During a health challenge when I was in Ministerial School, I was trying very hard to heal myself by using affirmations. I was getting worse, even though I was spending more than an hour a day in prayer and meditation. As part of my class work, I began reading, “Keep A True Lent” by Charles Fillmore, co-founder of Unity. There is a forty-day lesson plan for the 40 days of Lent. The first lesson was “Denials.” As I read it, I realized that I did not understand what denials were and I was not using this Spiritual principle properly.

To properly use a denial, we don’t deny that something negative exists. Rather, we deny that it has any power over us. This is a subtle but interesting difference. As I began to practice using denials and affirmations, my health started to get better.

If you are experiencing something in your life that no longer serves you, I invite you to begin denying that the issue has any power over you and your life. Create a positive affirmation to go with your denial and you will experience real Spiritual power.

Abundant blessings,

Rev. Lori

Prayer is the experience of coming to know our own Christ potential as we get centered within and come to participate in the flow of the infinite creative process. This is the week of our Annual Unity World Day of Prayer. Join us on Sunday and throughout this week as we reawaken and remember our Spiritual connection with the Divine.

The vineyards of life are lush and overflowing. They represent life at its fullest. If we come to the vineyard of life looking only for rewards we will reap fear, anger and selfishness. If we come to the vineyard open and willing to give it our all, we will reap great rewards. This Labor Day weekend, we will revisit one of Jesus’ most loved parables and look at some the great metaphysical and spiritual truths about our life’s work.

"The overcoming of Goliath by David illustrates the mastery of the spiritual over the material...David, representing spiritual strength, had no armor or material protection. David's power was gained by trust in the Divine intelligence, through which he saw the weak place in Goliath's armor. This incident shows how easy it is to overcome the seemingly strong personal and material conditions when the mind of Spirit is brought into action."

We are the brave, courageous souls who said Yes, to being on the Planet at this time of the great shift! With so many dramatic astrological occurrences, the Mayan calendar ending and economic challenges, how do we anchor and increase our faith and joy, when hysteria and fear appear to be on the rise?

I invite you to bring your questions or comments about what we know (in written form please) to our Sunday Celebration Service at 10:00am. If we don't get to them all we'll schedule a time to meet again.

We will close the door and talk about the business of living through these times Powerfully...in Strength and Joy.

When I was awakening to 'new thought', I read a passage from Ernest Holmes -"Prosperity is the out-picturing of
substance in our affairs. Everything in the Universe is for us. Nothing is against us. Life is ever giving of itself. We must receive, utilize and extend the gift. Success and prosperity are spiritual attributes belonging to ALL people but not necessarily used by all people." Join me on Sunday, May 27th to learn how we can "Use our Abundance".

From the Daily Word @ www.dailyword.com

I am jazzed with irrepressible joy!

I proclaim today to be a day of joy, no matter what the current circumstances in my life may be. I do not dwell in pessimism, lack, fear or doubt. Today I am jazzed with irrepressible joy!

My exuberance is fueled by my awareness of true joy—the joy that lives within me. It does not depend on outer situations or other people. This joy is innate. It comes from the unfailing Source of happiness and serenity within me.

When I allow joy to surface, even in difficult times, its powerful energy calls forth my good. As I share joy freely, my own joy is increased.

"For you shall go out in joy … the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song." — Isaiah 55:12

From the Daily Word @ www.dailyword.com

Divine order is at work in my life and I am grateful.

A magnificent order underlies all of creation. It is found in the macrocosm of our galaxy, as we see the placement of sun, earth and moon in perfect alignment to support life on this planet. Order is also manifest in the microcosm, as the smallest atoms of oxygen and hydrogen bond to form water vapor, water and ice. Divine intelligence is revealed in all things. God eternally creates, sustains and re-creates all that is.

Just as divine order works in nature, it also works in my life. I am at peace knowing that my good is now becoming visible. I am grateful for the divine creative process.

"Who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night." —Jeremiah 31:35

Sometimes we may feel like we have fallen into a hole and just cannot get out of the situations we find ourselves in.  When we use Spiritual principles we can return to wholeness and begin to live the transcendent life we were intended to live.  Join us this Sunday at Unity of Divine Love, Chandler's Celebration Service at 10:00am and learn some tools on we can begin to rise above the mundane, everyday world into our God-intended magnificence.

From DailyWord, a Unity publication @ www.dailyword.com

I use the power of my words to co-create the life I want to live.

In the first creation story of the Bible, God creates the universe by speaking into the void. God’s words bring light, sky and all visible and physical aspects of the world into being.

With this as my model, I use my words intentionally to create a life of meaning and purpose. I create harmony in my home, workplace and community by mindfully choosing my words. If I am tempted to complain or blame, I turn within. In the Silence, I affirm the light of God in the situation. A new way of being emerges.

My creative power is reflected in my words, so I choose them carefully. I affirm abundance, wholeness and peace.

"God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day." --- Genesis 1:5

This Sunday we celebrate Mother’s Day by honoring birth mothers and those who have mothered us in physical form. This is a beautiful tribute and important day for Moms. Let us take it deeper by honoring and acknowledging the Divine Feminine Goddess of all.

What is the Divine Feminine and why It is so vitally important to discover, nurture and integrate in our lives today. It is in our separation from God and/or the Goddess that all of our life challenges stem. If we truly knew that the separation never occurred and that we could be re-united with the Goddess – mother of all – would our lives change? If we experienced from the Divine Feminine all the love that we always desired, that we never quite got – yes, our lives would change profoundly.

This month we begin a new theme: Spiritualizing Your Consciousness.

The Apostle Philip represents Power and we look at how we can more fully step into our own God given Power to not only create lives that we love, but also lives that truly benefit the shifting consciousness of the planet.

Today we partake in a deep spiritual spring cleaning of our own consciousness. We shift old, sometimes conscious, sometimes unconsciousness, beliefs and patterns of being fraught from living in the Land of Not.  We make a commitment to allow ourselves, more fully than ever, to align with the Divine. We discover tips to allow ourselves to shine as we heal and reveal our inner winner!

“We begin our religious experience, our unity with Divine Mind, by having faith in that mind as omnipresent, all wise, all loving, all-powerful Spirit…Faith in the spiritual man quickens spiritual understanding.” From The Twelve Powers of Man by Unity co-founder Charles Fillmore.

It is extremely challenging for us to leap over or transform the walls of illusion and separation. We have been made to see the world as human beings; limited, disconnected, abandoned with a deep sense of unworthiness. None of that is true! But to find what is truly ours we have to be willing to consciously move into the Land of I AM, into the land of being, understanding and acceptance.

I love that the Disciple this month is Thomas better known to the masses as “doubting Thomas.” Jesus is said to have appeared to the Disciples at least twice. The first time created quite the stir to begin with but because Thomas was not there, he declares that he doesn’t believe and won’t believe until he can put his fingers in the wounds of Christ. And so Love personified returns to let him do just that, Yeshua (Jesus) appears again.