This Saturday, we will be in a new month, and we are going to be filled with gratitude in November. On Sunday, we will be thinking grateful thoughts for the gift of sacred service. What an amazing thing it is that we can embody divine love and move in our world with hands, feet, and open hearts. Our fifth principle reminds us that we may know truth, yet it is only as we put it into practice does it make a difference.

I am sharing the Lord’s Prayer translated from Aramaic by Neil Douglas-Klotz. I believe that the Lord’s Prayer was given as a model for how to pray rather than as a prayer to memorize and say by rote. If the English version moves you, pray it or sing it. If you like other translations, pray them. No matter what words you use, connect to your heart space and let love be what connects you to the One Presence and Power within. We are one with the One.

Louise Hay, a great New Thought thinker, taught this basic truth: “Think thoughts that make you feel good, make choices that make you feel good, and take actions that make you feel good. Then surrender the outcome, trusting that Life will bring you what you need to grow and be happy.”

A story that touched me this week told of an Oklahoma mother whose son came out as gay and her church was not an affirming place. She initially would not accept her son but has come full circle. She had to question authority, her heart and her faith. She discovered a church that affirms and celebrates her love for her son and the community. She started Free Mom Hugs to accept and welcome any individual into an embrace.

Every day is, of course, an opportunity to make a difference. Each moment we choose whether to come from Christ consciousness or from an egoic mindset. Each time we share love, we are impacting our world. In Unity, we know that our thoughts shape our vibrations and our actions.

Play is the mode through which children learn. When we play, we enter a state of being light, creative, and in touch with our heart. The joy we experience there starts flowing and raises our vibration. We are made in the image and likeness of the One that is full of creativity and fun. God's creation itself reveals a sense of playful extravagance. We see the wide variety and artistic nature of the natural world. Just looking at penguins, dolphins or puppies playing fills me with glee!

I’m up for an awakening in every heart and mind to move all of humanity to an awareness that we are one. Spirit has some work to do! I long to see the news showing us living as brothers and sisters. We are ever evolving, and we can take a lesson from nature that I joyfully discovered last week.

Claudia’s lovely talk on Sunday had me thinking about our impact on others and their impact on us. When we start our day off in prayer, what we are doing is remembering the truth of who we are and choosing to be a force of love as we move through our day. It is a consent to love and a consent to receive love since love is all inextricably tied together.

Welcome to September! There is freshness in the air with the new school year, Spirit Group offerings and apple harvest time! We are celebrating Growing Together Through Every Season at UCBA this month. I am claiming that we will each receive spiritual food for our journey together with this series.