Unity Spiritual Center of Anchorage

Join us for the Journey!

Unity Spiritual Center of Anchorage
PO Box 240173
Anchorage, AK 99524

Greeting Discomfort

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I was coaching someone recently and they said they didn’t do such and such because it was uncomfortable. I countered with is that really a good reason.

Yes sure, if something is really far out or crosses your moral, emotional, physical boundaries, you have every right and should say no. But that’s not the kind of uncomfortable we’re talking about.

The hard truth is that everything worth doing/being takes some level of discomfort to get there. An athlete training for an event, whether it’s their first 5K or an ultra-marathon must push themselves beyond what is easy each time they train, and the result is that what they can do each time increases.

And so too it is with our spiritual journey. It is not always comfortable to look at our embedded beliefs. It is not always comfortable to be in the place between, of uncertainty, of doubt. It is not always comfortable to sit in meditation when you’d rather be doing something else. It is, however, worth it.

The spiritual journey is not a destination, and it doesn’t give instant gratification. You will not suddenly be able to transcend the day to day annoyances or see the Christ in everybody.

I think one of the most uncomfortable things about the spiritual journey is when you realize how much farther you can go.
But that is not a reason to be discouraged. Every step, no matter how big or small, a shuffle, leap, or side-step is part of what makes you YOU. Our spiritual journey cha-cha (one step forward, one back) is how we figure out what we believe, who our people are, and how to best engage in spiritual practice.

In the discomfort, or as some call it ‘divine discontent,’ is the refinement process what boils away the unnecessary and superfluous. Like the athlete who works through sore muscles and over months and years becomes stronger, our potential is realized when we stay the course.

Let the process work through you, make friends with the discomfort, stay curious and open, be patient. As my friend and mentor Rev. Jennifer Holder said once, “I could have come no other way.”

So no, the discomfort of doing what we know is ours to do isn’t a good reason to chicken out, delay the start, or make excuses.

Make today the day you do something brave.

The Joy of Now

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This fall when my husband Bill and I were out walking on the Powerline trail, he commented on how beautiful it is even with the powerline in there. Then, as he has been reading Buddhist teachers, he amended his statement to be that it’s beautiful just as it is.

I agree of course, or I wouldn’t be sharing this story. It is the trap we all too easily fall in, that of delaying our joy until some condition is fulfilled. Or of not allowing joy because something out of our control is in the way.

The scenery along the Powerline trail is stunning. That little powerline is nothing compared to the jagged peaks, rushing water, and potential for wild animal sightings.
powerline-trail

It’s a good reminder as Christmas comes up. In this time of special events, decorations, and making of favorite family recipes, there is plenty of potential to get ourselves out of joint over things not being ‘just so.’

I have witnessed someone, when discovering that a family member ate one of the ingredients for the fruit salad, spent 10 minutes berating the offending party, and then grumbling about how it could be better anytime someone mentioned how good any of the food way the rest of the day. This made for an unhappy experience for everyone present. What if, upon noticing the ingredient was missing, they had said “darn, I was really looking forward to ____ being in the salad, I guess I’ll mark it in some way next time. On with the celebration!” #1 I wouldn’t be remembering it years later, #2 they would have had a better time, #3 everyone else would have had a better time.

I know, I know, we like our traditions. We like to have that moment of peace and joy that comes from something being ‘just right.’

But I’m here to tell you, that Norman Rockwell tableau is an illusion, or maybe more accurately, a delusion.

Much more fun (and rewarding, and attainable) is finding the joy in the moment as it is.

The dog shed on the outfit you were going to wear to the party, the toddler has crumbs on their face in the Santa picture, the teenager would rather be with their friends than go look at Christmas lights, the perfect gift is backordered or the shipping is delayed.

Let me ask you, in 10 years, how do you want to remember this moment? That time you scrounged around in your closet and found your new favorite holiday party outfit because of the dog. Having a great picture to embarrass your preteen with, that old Santa picture. How much fun you had bringing your teen, now working overseas, and all their friends along to look at lights. When you got to have Christmas all over again when that backordered gift finally arrived in mid-January. Or, you could remember DRAMA!

When things don’t go the way you hope/expect it’s an opportunity. An opportunity to make a choice to work with what you have. To be happy in the now moment. You can fixate on the one thing, such as a powerline blocking a few inches of your view, or all the other joys to be had.
You choose!

PS, I think this scene from Christmas with the Kranks demonstrates the absurdity of attachment so well. In this scene Mrs. Krank has just found out her daughter is coming home from the Peace Corps for Christmas and now she is last-minute shopping and has decided she MUST have a Hickory Honey Ham because it’s her daughter’s favorite.

Advent

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I love Christmas time. Growing up, my family had a special tradition that we shared in the weeks leading to Christmas, and that was a family advent ritual. My family has been celebrating in this way since 1980.

Last year I gave it an update and now I am sharing it once again. It can be done with your family, your friends, or even as a contemplative practice.

I hear people ask how they can get more deeply into the spiritual meaning of Christmas, well, here’s a way.

advent-activity

Download and share!

Merry Christmas!
Rev. Rachel

Spiritual Seekers Election Season Survival Guide

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It’s been a rough election season. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard the term election fatigue before this cycle, but if you google it, there’s plenty of talk about it. (It’s like the media had to find something else to make hype about.) But in my very unscientific google search, I saw articles about it going back to June and July. No doubt, many of us are done. And we have been for a while.

Fortunately, my role as minister and spiritual leader does not require me to figure out how we got here from a political standpoint. (I’ll leave that to the Poli/Sci folks) My focus remains on how we can each raise our consciousness into a more vibrant, authentic, and whole experience.

How do we do that? As most spiritual teachings, the theory is simple while the application is the practice of a lifetime.

Maybe you’ve seen the bumper sticker “Wag more, Bark less.” That’s the essence of it. Focus on what you do want instead of fighting what you don’t want.
wag-more

Is there any joy in being against something? Really, is there?

The ‘war on’ pretty much anything hasn’t been very successful. But what if instead we decided to be for:
• everyone having enough (instead of anti- poverty),
• finding healthy ways to express (instead of anti-drug),
• Health and wholeness (instead of _______ disease).

I want to know what you are for. You can stand up for change, and claim your rights, and still refrain from putting your energy into ‘them’ being ‘wrong’. You can disagree without being disagreeable!

I believe that we all are contributors to the consciousness of our community and of our world, commonly called the collective consciousness.

What ripples do we want to spread? Do you really believe that fear or hate is the way to bring about more light? Really?

Let’s look at any situation where you have a choice, it could be anti-something vs. pro something, or it could be this person or that person.

Let’s pretend you don’t like hare, because you’ve heard ‘things.’ Can you find a value that you share with tortoise that is your motivation for choosing tortoise (instead of demonizing hare)? Maybe you realize what you really value is consistency and persistence. If that’s so, you certainly would want to choose tortoise, because that’s what tortoise represents. Then you can just move past putting any judgement, hostility etc. into hare.

You choose my friends: you choose who and what is taking up space in your heart and mind. You choose if hate or love reign. You choose what consciousness you spread.

I’m not saying it’s easy, I know it can be hard to understand how reasonable people could think such and such. But that is what we must do. Rise above. Find something productive to occupy your time and energy. How can you work for the change you wish to see?

This is one of the reasons I created the Election Day Prayer Vigil. I am choosing to focus on prosperity, peace, and well-being for all. That’s my antidote for election fatigue. I invite you to join me, in seeing our community and our world as a place of understanding. Not ignoring how things are, but seeing the vision of who we want to be.

Eric Butterworth wrote in Spiritual Economics: “the greatest need is not to set it right, but to see it rightly.”

So I ask: What are you for?

Spiritual WiFi

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I enjoy coffeeshop culture. You never know who you might run into, and for me the steady hum of conversations, orders being made, and keyboards typing, is an environment for getting things done. I find at home that there are many distractions of things I could/should be doing and of course a coffeeshop closes so I have to complete whatever I’m working on by then.

But I ran into a hiccup in my process this week while writing my talk. For some reason my computer couldn’t connect to the wifi. My phone could, a person sitting near me could, but my computer was trying with only intermittent success. I’ve experienced slow connections in really busy shops before, but this wasn’t the case, though slow connection is also annoying and progress inhibitive.

How does this relate to the spiritual journey? There are times when we feel like we are not connected with source or that the connection is spotty. It’s hard to know what to do without that inner compass helping to steer the way.
I’ve had days when I sit to meditate and I feel like I get a big fat zero out of it. Where’s the sizzle of clarity and truth? When I was not as experienced with meditation I would sometimes be discouraged or defeatist about a day or two (or week) of perceived spotty connection.

When my computer is acting up, I close everything down and restart. When I was working on my talk, and after a few minutes it was obvious that the internet connection wasn’t going to happen, I just put a note in it to look up the information I needed when I got home and went on writing.

What if I did the same with meditation? What if I released whatever busy-ness I’ve got going on and the story about how the connection isn’t working and just be here? If my spiritual connection feels spotty, I certainly won’t find resolution in fighting it or forcing it. It’s much more effective to put a note in it and come back to it later or even braver, sit anyway.

Because when it comes to spiritual practice, there is no router to go reset, the signal is always on. But our receptors aren’t always calibrated and ready to receive. That calibration happens through consistent meditation and prayer. Part of the reason I commit to a daily meditation practice is because it helps me to heal, grow, and be more peaceful. But I believe that there is another aspect, which is that we all go through times when it’s hard to get still and meditate. In times of illness or grief it can seem like the signal is weak, when our hurts are louder than anything else. It is these times when the build-up of our faith can act as the spiritual parachute to bring us safely to a place where we can function and meditate once again. It is these times when our spiritual community can act as signal boosters and hold the truth of our divineness.

So when it seems like your connection to Spirit is as flaky as a busy coffeeshop’s wifi, start by restarting and relaxing. Have patience, and remember the signal is always on.

Rev. Rachel