Midweek Faith Lift
August 21, 2024
Claiming Your Divine Identity-I
Rev. Deb Hill-Davis
Spiritual Passages
August 9, 2024
Thoughts from the Olympians
Finding Balance v Winning:
Swimmer Nic Fink talked about the bigger picture of his life: “I’m embracing the changes in my life. I told myself that swimming isn’t going to get in the way of life any more. I’m finding a better balance.”
Rower Michelle Sechser: “I try to wake up every morning and be a little better, and ‘being better’ means a lot of things, like being a better teammate. I love how that feels.”
Identity:
Rugby player Llona Maher: “A lot of times our bodies have been just an object to be looked at, but sports can give your body a purpose and show what it is capable of, and not just something for others to judge.”
Mental Health:
Hurdler Anna Cockrell talks about training while experiencing depression: “What do I tell myself: ‘Girl, get in that therapist’s office.’ It isn’t about being working on myself for just a short time. The progress comes from the healing that comes when you’re not in crisis.”
Gratitude:
Swimmer Katie Ledecky: “After the race, I told one of my rivals, ‘Thank you for making me better.'”
In a show of sportsmanship — and friendship — that captured the world's attention, American gymnasts Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles bowed to their fellow competitor, Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade, as she stood atop the podium to receive the gold medal.
Wow! I share all of this today because the 2024 Olympics were such a powerful illustration of finding and claiming your Divine Identity. The Olympic athletes modeled for us so many moments of the human/divine experience with such grace and power. It was not just an athletic competition this time, but a truly inspiring spiritual experience for them and for us. I have never seen so much hugging between competitors from the same country and different countries. They each clearly wanted to win, but when they didn’t they supported each other and the sense of love and connection was heartfelt and palpable….we could all feel it. It was such an inspiring and uplifting two weeks! I miss it!
As we continue our journey to understand the flow of affirmative prayer, we have moved from the “I recognize God is” to the “I integrate I AM.” Last week, we explored the nature of God as “It is, You Are, I Am.” We understand this as the God beyond, the God between and the God within. When we integrate the I AM, we are speaking of the God within, or our Christ consciousness, our spiritual self.
Waking up to our true “God-self” is what Jesus has called us to do. In The Universe is Calling, Eric Butterworth puts it this way:
When people heard Jesus saying, “I am the light of the world” they thought he was referring to himself, that he was announcing that he was God or God’s special agent. But he was simply affirming the truth, or “throwing the switch.” And he made it clear that each of us must also affirm the truth.
We must also affirm the Truth: I AM the light of the world, we too, are called to flip the switch, flip on the Light of our God-ness. We are fully human and we are also fully divine. We do not leave our human identity behind, but we fully integrate our divine identity. Revs. Linda and De Ann describe it this way, on p. 68 of Discover Your Divinity:
In the affirmative prayer flow, integration is the prayerful acknowledgement of I AM, a moment of enlightened awareness that the spiritual principle recognized is one and the same as I AM.
When we claim that I AM consciousness, it fully impacts how we show up in our world, and it changes and enlarges us beyond our “only human” dimensions. I honestly believe that is how the Olympic athletes showed up, not just breaking records of human performance but shattering them. They may have not called it their I AM self, but it doesn’t matter because that is what showed up, and with a great deal of gratitude and humility for sure, which is a sure sign of the I AM consciousness.
So how do we show up with our divine/human selves? Well as the Olympians will attest, it takes lots and lots of practice and mindfulness and good mental health! To be true spiritual Olympians, it takes lots and lots of practice, mindfulness and good mental health. We don’t start out on the High Bars or the Olympic pool, we take it is small bites. We come into the realization of the Christ in us in small steps, one step at a time and one day at a time. I loved all the videos of the Olympians as little kids doing back flips or pole vaults or somersaults. They have a true advantage in that they knew early on what their call was, what the highest and best expression of their human self was to be.
Many of us did not gain that insight until much later in life. And many of us did not gain true mental and emotional freedom to explore all the facets of our God-ness until much later in life, so at times it may feel that we are in a come from behind kind of place. But take a breath, as that is ok! Small steps! We can begin by activating our I AM in one or more of the 12 powers. These statements of affirmation first recognize God as principle, accepting our rightful I AM claim and then realizing a way to actualize the principle in relative circumstance….our current human situation.
One of the most frequently used affirmations we have heard in Unity circles is to say “I am wealthy, I am prosperous” when our bank account says otherwise. This is not true in our human experience and neither accurate nor helpful. It is also tied to a specific desired result, which is usually rarely effective. It is kind of like an Olympian saying “I am a gold medal winner” as an affirmation: not really useful or helpful. The “I AM” is meant for right now and not connected to the condition of our bank balance. Instead Revs. Linda and DeAnn recommend:
I AM prosperity, by which I thrive, live well, and recognize an abundance of possibilities. (p.70) This opens the door of our mind and heart to first appreciate what we do have and then begin to see what is possible for us.
Often Unity folks face health challenges and say the affirmation “I am healthy” which again is inaccurate, ineffective and unhelpful. They recommend embracing the spiritual power of Life by praying: I AM life, celebrating the flow, vitality, and intelligence in every dimension of my being. (p.70) This opens the mind and heart to truly experience those parts of the body that are functioning well and celebrate the flow of that healing energy of life in all parts of the body. Again, we let go of attachment to outcome and allow healing to show up as it will. I have personally faced a healing challenge with walking pneumonia since April 26, which has truly tested my Spiritual strength and presence.
Staying focused in the NOW moment is a challenge because my mind goes to the affirmation: “I want this crap to leave my body RIGHT NOW and I don’t care how!!!” And then I lament to God, “I want to get on with my life, take this from me, God, please!!” That has not been particularly helpful or effective so I breathe, reset, and I have been praying “Mighty currents of God’s healing love are flowing through me now” which takes me to a better place in consciousness. Now that I am aware, I can begin to work with the spiritual power of Life just as Rev. Linda stated. I trust that it will positively impact my health, and for sure my mental state and mindset will be in a better place!
In Talks on Truth, Charles Fillmore states:
It is your mission to express all that you can imagine God to be. Let this be your standard of achievement: never lower it, nor allow yourself to be belittled by the cry of sacrilege…..If you can imagine that it is possible to God, it is possible to you.
It is often the mystics who have a direct experience of the Oneness, the Power that is the Truth of God, the Truth of Love. In his blog from August 11, 2024, “A Showing of Love” Richard Rohr writes about Julian of Norwich, one of his favorite mystics. In May 1373, she was very near death when she had a direct experience of the presence of Jesus speaking to her for several hours. She realized that what Jesus was saying to her applied to all beings, an understanding of what is called unitive consciousness. She spent the next 20 years in contemplation and prayer seeking to understand what she had experienced. Even when we have a deeply profound experience of the Divine, it takes time to integrate it and truly live into it. Her writings reflect, according to Richard Rohr, “delight, freedom, intimacy and cosmic hope.”
We may have an experience of the pure, love energy of the Divine, a mystical experience, but for sure it takes us a long time to integrate that deep spiritual knowing into our very human selves. I did have an experience like that in 1990 during my first visit to Unity Village on retreat and it deeply impacted me. It has taken the rest of my life to integrate the experience as my present day lived reality. It is not unlike the Olympians who were there in 2012, 2016, 2020 and now 2024. If we are to be spiritual Olympians and integrate our I AM, we are patient, persistent, loving to ourself and others and we show up, again and again and again!
Blessings on the Path,
Rev. Deb