Mark Wenz
As we enter the holiday season, let’s take a deep collective breath and count our blessings. We have so much for which to be grateful!
This life presents challenges for all of us, yet we would be best served recognizing our interconnectivity as inhabitants of this planet and appreciating our blessings rather than focusing on everything wrong in our households, city, country, and world. We in the Unity Church believe that our minds influence our reality, and if we are constantly expecting the worst, then those thoughts will manifest as negative situations in our lives. If, instead, we manifest joy, love, and gratitude and ask God to give us the intuition to listen to His guidance, then we will make choices that will help us connect with our higher selves. Being angry, resentful, cynical, and pessimistic will result in negative circumstances and situations recurring in our lives. Conversely, if we are hopeful, joyful, loving, open, and compassionate, then positive, joyful, and loving people will enter our lives and facilitate our spiritual evolution. This is a basic truth of the Law of Attraction.
Let’s scratch the surface on how much there is for which to be thankful. The life expectancy for American men and women is more than 25 years longer today than it was 100 years ago. The quality of healthcare is exponentially better, as doctors can now routinely perform surgeries that improve our quality of lives and can prescribe medicines that prolong our longevity. Less than a century ago, even the wealthiest among us had little access to certain vitamin-rich foods that are now mainstays of our diets. We have modes of communication and transportation that allow us to connect with others on opposite ends of the planet. We can travel to places in less than a day that used to take months to get to through stormy and unpredictable weather. Infant mortality rates are down, and we have basically eradicated certain diseases that used to be debilitating or even deadly, such as tuberculosis, polio, and measles. Our knowledge of the universe in which we live–both at the macro and micro levels–continues to expand. Our collective consciousness has evolved so that we now have the capacity to be less tribal and to recognize the divinity in all beings. In many ways we are much better at co-existing than ever before, and opportunities to self-actualize are infinite.
A song we sing frequently at Unity Church Sun Lakes is “I Am So Blessed” by Karen Drucker: “I am so blessed/I am so grateful/for all that I have and all that I Am.” Isn’t it the truth? We also frequently sing “The Peace Song”: “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.” We can create better lives for ourselves and others if we adopt an attitude of gratitude. I encourage you to choose joy and celebrate your blessings and to visit us at Unity Church of Sun Lakes.