Among the emails I receive on a regular basis, one of my personal favorites comes from Licensed Unity Teacher, Mark Hicks, who is the designer, maintainer and birth parent of www.truthunity.net. If you are not aware of the amazing website as a resource for all information pertaining to Unity, please check it out immediately.
As a movement, Unity has a rich history of writings, teachings and audio recordings, which are stored in a mountain of boxes in the archives at Unity Village, Missouri. Mark painstakingly pours through these archives on a regular basis and adds many of the resources to the truthunity.net website, and also frequently shares many of the talks and teachings with those who subscribe to his regular emails.
Not only does Mark make these documents available for the public to read, he has also created a resource website of immeasurable history that tells the story of the Unity Movement, and unravels the metaphysical mysteries of the teachings.
Eric Butterworth & The Power Of Transcendence
In a recent email, Mark gave us the text of a talk dated August 24, 1975 given by Eric Butterworth (1916-2003), prominent leader in Unity and New Thought. The information was as relevant then as it is now and it coincided with some of my recent musings on “possibility thinking.” Butterworth delivered the message of divine potential in a clear and modern (even for that past decade) manner.
He stated that, “It is not a miracle of becoming something you are not, but the awakening to the vision of what you have always been.” Butterworth also references teachings by Jesus as well as Hebrew Scriptures, which point to the fact that we are all blessed with divine potential, something we often forget. He went on to state in very plain and easily understood language that “The great Truth is…the power of transcendence is within every person.”
All Things Are Possible
The text of this talk was a great reminder that within us all things are possible. It is often that our own attitude, our own false belief system, our own story that we are telling ourselves holds us back. It’s not our job, our friends, our family, or our situation in life that prevents us from achieving our divine truth or dreams.
We are the ones holding us back. We are the ones placing limitations on ourselves. The stories we tell ourselves are often of the “I can’t” variety. While in reality, our Master Teacher, Jesus said, “All these things and more are possible.”
The Secret Is In The Letting Go
I find that most of the time my wants, needs and requests of life have come from a place of ego and/or feeling of lack. And, because these wants and “needs” may not really serve my highest good, the Universe doesn’t serve them up just as I desire. Things, especially things, are typically never essential for living.
This “stuff” hasn’t been necessary to serve me or anyone else. A hope or a dream in past years also may have come from a place of lack. In realizing that these desires did not serve me, I have chosen to release them. With letting go, something even better than I imagined appeared.
Dare To Dream The Impossible Dream
All this doesn’t mean that Butterworth (and other wisdom teachers) think we should give up on hopes and dreams of any sort. He suggests digging deeply to discover our hearts’ desires. And then, just go for it. But in the reflection process, I might also suggest that there is something really profound underlying what we think should be ours, or in our life. There may be something even grander in store.
Dreaming for a million dollars may be what we think we want/need to be happy; however, underlying this might be an even more profound goal which is simply to be happy and secure. Stuff is temporary, real Truth is permanent, forever and is at the core of our authentic selves. So go ahead and open up to the practice of “possibility thinking” in your life. Dare to dream the impossible dream for yourself. The only thing you stand to lose is your own self-imposed limitations.
