Midweek Faith Lift
Power of Release-Repentance
Su Podraza-Nagle LUT
11/19/2025
Good morning and welcome to all who are with us today here, and at home. We are so glad you are here.
Repentance may be a heavy word on the heart for some. Practically cringe worthy. Here’s a little story to lighten our thoughts:
A local church hired a painter to paint their steeple. The paint had gotten dark and patchy. So, he climbed up on the steeple and went to work. But, he was a little short on paint, a little lazy, and a little dishonest. To complete the job, he kept thinning the paint with paint thinner. Just as he finished, lightning struck him. He was thrown down from the steeple. He was astonished to find that he was not harmed. Unfortunately the steeple was dark and patchy again, exactly like it was before he went to work. Then he heard a voice from heaven say, “Repaint! Repaint, and thin no more!”
OK, now take a deep breath… Relax the shoulders and unclench the jaw.
Remember Unity’s 3rd principle? “Our thoughts create our experiences.” Keep hold of that principle while we move through this moment in time together.
The Power of Release- Repentance. Not the repentance as other belief systems have often defined it; guilt, sorrow, or self-condemnation, but a word translated from the Hebrew and Greek language. Also, as revealed in metaphysical Christianity, as taught by Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, and as illuminated by the bold spiritual ideas in Divine Audacity and the universal healing principles taught by Jesus Christ.
When we translate repentance from the Hebrew language, we find it comes from the word “Shuwb” (shoob or shoov) to return, restore, refresh or to turn back.
In the Greek language, repentance is translated from the word “metanoia.” The prefix “Meta” means change. The suffix relates to the mind knowledge, spirit and breath. So, change of mind, change of spirit or change of breath.
Metanoia does not mean feeling sorry. It means a fundamental change of mind, a shift in perception so radical that it alters the course of one’s life. Metanoia is a shifting of consciousness back toward its Source. Back toward the Divine Light from which we have never actually been separated, …..except in our thinking.
Charles Fillmore wrote, “Repentance is a change of mind. The change of mind that accompanies a realization of one’s unity with God.” This definition places repentance not in the realm of shame, angst, or self-recrimination but in the realm of awakening. Repentance is enlightenment. It is remembering who we truly are; individual, spiritual, eternal expressions of God.
In Divine Audacity, Linda Martella-Whitsett describes the spiritual boldness — the audacity — is required to claim the Truth of our Divine nature in the face of appearances. Repentance is an act of divine audacity because it requires courage to reject the beliefs, patterns, and narratives that no longer serve our soul’s evolution.
Remember when you brought forth your courage to leave a particular belief system and found Unity?
Repentance asks us to say:
“I refuse to be defined by fear, limitation, or past choices. I choose to see myself as God sees me.”
This takes spiritual daring. It takes bold faith. Whitsett reminds us that divine audacity is not arrogance; it is the humble willingness to stand in the truth of our spiritual identity. Metanoia is the turning away from the false self and turning toward the Light — the Christ within.
The moment consciousness shifts, healing begins. Not as a miracle imposed from outside, but as the natural result of aligning with the Truth that has always been present.
Myrtle Fillmore brought a soft and profoundly loving dimension to repentance. In How to Let God Help You, she frequently guides readers to lovingly correct their thoughts, to speak kindly to their bodies, and to release old habits without condemnation.
She writes, in essence, that we must stop scolding ourselves and begin blessing ourselves.
For Myrtle, repentance was not harsh but tender. If you listen closely, you might hear her motherly voice saying:
“Beloved, you did not know the Truth before. Now you do. Be gentle with yourself as you turn your thoughts toward God.”
Metanoia, in Myrtle’s practice, is like turning a child’s face toward the sunlight so the warmth can fall upon them. We repent not because we are bad, but because we are good and deserving of healing.
She wrote that she spoke lovingly to her cells, telling them: “You are pure. You are strong. You are alive with God’s life.”
Remember this one? “I am a child of God therefore I do not inherit sickness.
This, too, is repentance.
It is replacing thoughts of illness with thoughts of wholeness.
Replacing doubt with faith.
Replacing condemnation with compassion.
Your body hears your thoughts.
Your cells respond to your consciousness.
Repentance is the healing proclamation:
“Body, we are returning to the Light.”
Charles Fillmore repeatedly taught that healing is the natural result of right thinking. In Jesus Christ Heals, he writes, “All healing is based upon a change of thought and feeling.” He further says, “Repentance removes the mental cause.”
When Jesus healed, he taught metanoia.
When he said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” this can be metaphysically understood as:
“Change your mind, because the Divine Reality is here within you.”
This is one of the most important metaphysical insights we can embrace:
Repentance is not merely a moral correction, it is therapeutic.
It dissolves the mental patterns that created discord, illness, and suffering. Think about this for a moment. We chose to be here, in this place at this time because we had a change of thought, a change in our old pattern of belief. We became aware of our divine identity!
This means that every time you engage in true repentance, every time you change your mind from doubt to faith, from resentment to forgiveness, from separation to unity, from fear-based thinking to love based thinking, something in the subconscious loosens, dissolves, and is released.
Let’s try this example:
Imagine yourself standing in a dimly lit cave,
You’re facing close a wall. You see shadows.
They seem real. They frighten you. You believe you are trapped.
You think the shadows are the truth of your life.
Becoming aware of a still small voice within you, you hear it whisper:
“Turn around.”
And as you turn, you see the Light — the Christ Light — shining within you and around you the whole time.
Beloved, simply turn toward the Light.
The moment you turn, healing begins.
The moment you turn, clarity dawns.
The moment you turn, your entire being responds to the Truth.
That turning is metanoia.
We then can live the truth we know.
Namaste~
Meditation:
I turn my mind toward the Light………..
I release every all-error thought…….
I turn to the Truth of who I am………
I remember my divine identity…………
I am healed as I change my mind………..
I am free as I release the past………
I am renewed as I turn toward the Christ within…….
And so it is and so it will be