THE WINDS OF CHANGE
by the Rev. Nancy Ennis

The winds of change are always blowing. They can come as a mild breeze that we hardly notice or with the force of a major hurricane that knocks us off our feet. With change there is always an ending and a beginning. Every ending contains a beginning and every beginning contains an ending. As the winds of change blow, we often feel sad as the old way ends as well as excitement about what lies ahead.

The title of my first article for the Horizons was The Winds of Change. I wrote the article in the early nineties when our minister, Jervais Phillips, had just left, and I was acting spiritual leader. It was one of those times when the winds of change were howling! At that time, we had just started to use desktop publishing for the Horizons, and this was state of the art. Since that time, the way we communicate has changed dramatically. This will be the last Horizons in the form we have always known, and so the title of my last article will be the same as my first. Change is one thing we can count on. When the winds of change blow, I always remember that the trees that survive the winds are the ones that are flexible and bend with the winds.

So on we go with the winds blowing. As we stay centered in our faith, we can stay flexible and go with the flow into our new Horizons.

Love and blessings, Nancy

THE SEAT CUSHIONS
by the Rev. Nancy Ennis

The Journey of Self Discovery

by the Rev. Nancy Ennis

The Journey of Self-Discovery

By Rev. Nancy Ennis

One of my favorite Biblical quotations is: “Put in a new heart and new Spirit. Turn then and live.” (Ezekiel 18:31-32) Perhaps this has called to me because I wanted to turn and live. I wanted to make the changes in my life that would have me feel more alive, more like I was living the life that was right for me. It has been said that most people, in one way or another, are living someone else’s life rather than their own. Certainly I have been one of those people for most of my life.

In one of his workshops, Alan Cohen told about a man who stood up and said, “I tried being myself once, but it didn’t work. I realized I didn’t have enough experience.” I felt like this man myself. Even Alan Cohen, with all his seminars and books on transformation, had a similar experience. He said the title of his autobiography would be “The Story of My Experiments with Being Myself”

I was confused by the part about the “new heart” and the “new spirit,” and I just didn’t know what I needed to do to put these aspects in me. Then, I read, “The secret of transformation is that the person we are becoming is none other than who we really are.”

It was then I realized I didn’t need to put in a new heart and spirit; I only needed to uncover the one I had all along. I found my heart and spirit buried under “who I should be”, an identity I had lived as most of my life. I started on a journey recommended in ancient wisdom — a journey to

KNOW MYSELF.

Previously, I had been trying to turn and live my authentic life without an authentic self It is an established fact that the biggest cause of stress in our life is not being true to ourselves. To be true to ourselves, we have to know who we are, and to be the unique expression of God we came here to be. We have to know our sacred individuality. We each came to earth with a unique purpose, a purpose only we can fulfill; it is the destiny of our soul, and we have to know our soul to fulfill it.

On Monday September 11, I will have an introduction session for a new class beginning the following week. This class will be a self discovery experience where I will share many of the ways that helped me begin to peel away the layers of “who I should be,” allowing me to turn and begin to live my authentic life at last.

Love and blessings, Nancy

A TIME TO BEGIN

by the Rev. Nancy Ennis

Ecclesiastes 3:1 says: —For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven.“ In so many ways this is the time to begin. This is the season of new life and rebirth; a season that inspires new beginnings; a season that calls us to clean out the old and bring in the new. This is a time of possibility, potential and hope.

We see this all around us as nature awakens and bursts forth into new life. It is spring and the leaves are opening, the flowers are blooming, and the butterflies are back. In nature, every day is new and exciting.

This is our experience at Unity of Charlotte as we settle into our new church home and begin a new chapter in God‘s plan for our spiritual community. Easter and the events of Holy week have reminded us that in all of our life experiences we have the God-given ability to overcome.

What a time this to celebrate, rejoice and be glad in! What a time to claim the new beginnings in our life. Louise Hay says anything that exists in our life we are giving permission to exist in some way. This is the season to take inventory and let go of what no longer serves us. This is the season that inspires a new commitment to our transformation and awakens the Spirit within us anew. Let‘s claim the joy of the season and let every day be a new beginning.

With love,

The Rev. Nancy Ennis

The Celestine Prophecy Returns

by the Rev. Nancy Ennis

How did it happen?  How did a self published, self delivered book with only word of mouth advertising go to the top of the best seller list.  How did it go from paper back to hard cover by a national publisher?  What called us?  Perhaps it was the deep metaphysical message hidden in a fictional story that spoke to our yearning for a deep personal experience of God in our daily life. Perhaps the synchronicity that James Redfield calls coincidences brought the realization of God active and present in our daily life and life truly became an exciting adventure.  Perhaps the nine insights began to do what they were intended to do and that moves us toward a spiritual culture on earth.  Perhaps it was the guidance, meaning and purpose in life found in the insights that called us.  Perhaps we found ways to stay connected to ourselves, each other and God that were new to us. The call was loud and there are so many possibilities of what the attraction could have been.

  So what happened to the intense interest in the book?  Did the Celestine Prophecy serve its purpose by awakening us to the possibility of the way life can be lived?  Was it a fad?  Robert Marshall in his book The Inner Core says, “Real life experienced at a heightened level of awareness is the most exciting thing we can do”. Did the adventure get too intense and we got scared?   Or was the Celestine Prophecy a glimpse into what was to come  - an idea ahead of its time.  Perhaps it awakened a knowing in us that we are now ready to experience.  Did it come back as a movie all these years later to help us take part in the spiritual awakening?  Certainly as we look at the events in the outer world we can see that it is becoming more and more urgent that we do this.

In 1992 James Redfield wrote, "For half a century a new consciousness has entered the human world, a new awareness that can only be called transcendent spirituality.  We know that life is really about a spiritual unfolding that is personal, enchanting, and magical.  Once we understand what is happening and how to turn on this growth and keep it on, the human world will take a quantum leap into a whole new way of life – a way of life that history and tradition have been aiming for all along".  Abundance, healing, guidance and harmony with the earth and each other are within our reach.  The Celestine Prophecy tells us that all any of us has to do is suspend our doubts and distractions just long enough... and miraculously this reality can be ours.  Will Charlotte be the place where it all begins?  I hope so  I'm ready - are you?

Love and blessings,
The Rev Nancy Ennis  

THE WAY TO HAPPINESS

by the Rev. Nancy Ennis

HAPPINESS IN THE NEW YEAR   

The sounds of the New Years Eve noisemakers, bells, and sirens have faded away.  We find ourselves at the beginning of a new year.  2006 stretches out before us with all its possibilities and potential and we are bathed in good wishes for a Happy New year. Happy New Year has been a wish we have given and received for many weeks now.  It is the greeting of the season that awakens in us our deep desire to be happy and brings hope for the year ahead. So I ask the question: Can these good wishes come true?  Can we be happy all day, every day all year long?  I will answer my own question with a resounding YES and qualify it by adding: if the conditions are right.

It has been said  "Nothing matters if you are not happy in your heart". The kind of happiness we can all have all the time is heart happiness  - happiness that comes from the Spirit of God within us and does not depend on circumstances in the outer world.  This inner happiness is called joy and as Teilhard de Chardin said  "Joy is the most infallible sign of the presence of God".  Joy is always available to us and it comes to us in many ways.  It can be anywhere between peace and contentment and exuberance. Joy is the well being we pray for in the Prayer of Protection:  Wherever God is I am and all is well. No matter what is going on in our outer life, we can always have joy. 

The quickest route to joy is to be grateful, to give thanks to God for all things.   A grateful person is a person who is happy in the heart. We can begin with grateful thoughts and bring these thoughts into our heart as a feeling of gratitude until we feel the experience of gratitude throughout our entire being.  When we make gratitude our spiritual practice – all day, every day, all year long, joy will be our experience.

What better time to begin than now. 

I have a way we can get started. It is from Cheri Huber, a zen teacher.

Spend one week saying only kind caring things to yourself.  Say thank you to God 10 times an hour - direct five toward yourself and and five to others and the world at large. Compliment yourself each time you do this.  Be thankful for all the wonderful qualities and characteristics about yourself and others.  One week and you will never go back.  And your life will be a joyful experience.

Wishing you a Joyous New Year  - all day, every day, all year long.

Love and blessings

Nancy 

SUMMER SIZZLES AT UNITY OF CHARLOTTE

Nancy Ennis, Associate Minister

Sizzle - a wonderful word that brings the feeling of energy and excitement.  It is a word that can be used to express the fun and activity of summer as well as the heat. Charles Filmore used this word in relation to one of our God given attributes.  When he was 94 years old he wrote, "I fairly sizzle with zeal".  He was in love with life and living and filled with enthusiasm.  He went on to say that enthusiasm brings a zest for living, joy, exuberance, and the ability to convert good desires into successful outcomes that make a positive contribution to the world.

Summer is a time for family.  A time to play and have fun.  It is a time of year that rekindles our enthusiasm for life and living. This will be a sizzlin' summer at Unity of Charlotte.  A time of fun, adventure, excitement with our spiritual family.   You will find the Horizons filled with these activities. There will be an indoor picnic, a blessing ceremony for our new church home, a volunteer celebration party, the launching of our
new health and wellness ministry, and a day of fun and play sponsored by your chaplains.  From the time I write this until the time you read it there will be even more.

On July, first our exciting summer adventures will begin.  It is the “THE UNEXPECTED INCOME PROGRAM.”  This is a program found in many Unity churches.  I have heard so many exciting outcomes from this program and I wanted us to have the opportunity to have this experience. This is how the program works:
 

From July first through September 30th anyone who wants to be a part of the program, will begin and end the day with a prayer that will set a spiritual law in motion for increased good   in the form of increased money over and above any current normal expected income.  The prayer team will be praying with you also and you will agree to share your unexpected good in the form of a 10 per cent tithe to the place where you receive your spiritual food.  Although this program is about money, the focus is on
spiritual principles.  This program opens us up to blessings and miracles and puts us in the flow of the spiritual law of giving and receiving. By applying the spiritual principles and sharing our stories of unexpected income, we will build our faith and have the awesome experience of God working in our life and the life of Unity of Charlotte.  We will experience the power of group prayer, reap the rewards of tithing, and realize that God truly is our source of all things.  If you did not receive the brochure explaining this program, they are available in the church lobby or through the church office. Through this program, we will stay connected in prayer wherever we may be and experience god's blessings together.
 

What a glorious opportunity god is giving us to join together here in our spiritual community, to get to know each other and to grow together in greater awareness and expression of God.  I hope you all will join in the sizzlin' activities at unity of charlotte this summer.

Love and abundant blessings,  
Nancy