Midweek Faith Lift
Prospering Spiritually During
These Challenging Times
March 8th, 2026
Good morning, my friends, and welcome to Unity Church of Ames! How it goin, eh?
My name is Todd Davis, and I am Rev. Deb’s husband. Deb is currently with her sister on vacation in sunny Sedona, Arizona! I wish I were there, right? Thank you all very much for joining me and it is an honor to be in front of you this morning. It is fantastic to “see” your beautiful faces & spirits. Both here and online!
As in past talks, I have been stretched to come up with a topic to share with you. I was debating between, “Prospering Spiritually” and, “Living through these Challenging Times.” Our very own Heather Withers and my dear wife, Rev. Deb mentioned combining both topics into one. Swell idea, eh?
I would like to preface by saying that I believe that there is a higher purpose for all of this toxicity, chaos and turmoil. As a collective conscious, I believe that we have been asleep for decades. The current situation in our country and around the world is forcing us to wake the heck up. All that is going on the world today is challenging our beliefs that we may have held our entire lives. Unfortunately, it takes situations that affect ALL of us before we wake up. Buckle up! We are being pushed out of our comfort zones.
The oligarchs have been in charge of our economy and our culture for a very long time and it is getting worse at the current moment. But it needs to, so we can all see it. The grifting is now quite obvious and we can no longer ignore it. It does not take an aerospace engineer, ooop ooops, I mean rocket scientist to see it. Whether it is activities in the Eppy Files, the war with Iran, the passage of the Big Disastrous Bill which benefits the billionaires, certain individuals with vast wealth buying all the media outlets so they can censor the news, and the administration cutting dozens of vital programs for our country as well as lying to We The People on an hourly basis.
And I haven’t even mentioned that the Frozen Water People and DHS have never been about immigration. They have been all about ignoring the Constitution, terrorizing people and cruelty, as well as creating a distraction from the Eppy Files.
***I believe that as souls, we chose to be here during this time to help the world and our collective consciousness to evolve. People are waking up!!
I would like to share some hope, however, that will come at the end of my talk.
I’ll share what I believe what spiritual prosperity is not.
- Using wealth as power and self-protection instead of empowerment, freedom & independence.
- Claiming in any way that if you are wealthy, then God has “rewarded” you for being “good.” (Whatever the heck that means)
- Claiming in any way, shape or form that you have been “chosen” to have wealth. This is putting yourself on a pedestal.
- Repeating endless affirmations, using as a magic “potion.”
- Treasure mapping for self-interest only. **I would like to share that doing a vision board is somewhat different in that it this focuses more on your growth and spiritual goals. The intention is deeper.
- Minimizing or downplaying real challenges and obstacles.
- Toxic Positivity, where you are not acknowledging that a situation causes much harm.
- Spiritual bypassing, which is using simple techniques to “fix” your problems. I tried this and it does not work… There is a book called; Spiritual Bypassing: When Spirituality Disconnects Us from What Really Matters, by Robert Augustus Masters. If you are interested in reading it, it’s a fantastic book!
-Numbing out and pretending that a situation does not matter.
-Denial that painful past incidents, especially from childhood do not matter because it is, “in the past.” “There is only the ‘Now” moment.”
-While Zeal is a Unity power, overusing zeal or an obsession with a certain spirituality can actually hinder growth. (This is different than having a true passion for a certain spiritual practice.)
-Claiming any type of spiritual superiority over others, comparing. We are all on our unique journey. As my step-daughter Bridget would say, “You do you!”
I would like to emphasize that there is nothing wrong with having money and living very comfortably. It has more to do with our energy & intentions behind it.
So, what is spiritual prosperity?
- A robust spiritual practice such as yoga, meditation, walks, doing artwork, journalling or simply having a heart talk with a friend.
- Prayer for seeing a larger picture and a spiritual sense of hope in the long run.
- Mindfulness. Facing your fears to find your own call to strength and power.
- Breaking your heart open to new understandings and awareness.
- Compassion & empathy (I could write a whole talk on each of these.)
- Social justice & social action such as boycotts, protests and calling your representatives, even if you don’t believe it makes a difference.
-True, heartfelt forgiveness & self-forgiveness that heals us.
-Truly reclaiming our autonomy, individuality and agency. You are not owned by a system or another person.
-Choosing relationships where you are treated with kindness, attention and respect. No tolerance of narcissism, gaslighting or minimizing. Again, I could write a whole talk on this topic alone.
I would like to read a passage from the book of Matthew. This is a part of the Sermon on the Mount by Jesus. Jesus was expanding on one of the commandments to not kill.
Matthew 5:23-24 - 23 So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.
The essence of this passage is that God values genuine relationships and a sincere heart more than outward religious practice. This makes me think of the Unity Power of discernment. Reconcile, make it right, forgive as needed. How we treat people is part of our worship. Practice what you preach. This is true spiritual prosperity!
As long as we are talking about the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus also stated these truths.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” from Matthew 5:9, and “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” From Matthew 5:44, Jesus teaches nonretaliation, “Turn the other cheek” from Matthew 5:39, and refuses the logic of sacred violence, which is an oxymoron, and “All who take the sword will perish by the sword.” From Matthew 26:52. All of these passages seem straightforward to me.
I would like to share with you what has spiritually fed me since all this chaos began.
-Listening to two songs right before going to bed each night. Examples include: Things Can only get Better by Howard Jones, Hold Your Head Up by Argent, Joy to the World by Three Dog Night, Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Tears for Fears, Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac, and one of my all-time favorites is Magic by Olivia Newton John. Listen to it sometime.
-Watching intuitive readers on Youtube with whom I resonate with. I screen what I watch carefully to avoid false hope & nonsense.
-A powerful chakra meditation that I do about once a week, visualizing the 7 colors covering my whole body, one after the other, starting with red & ending with purple. It takes me about ½ an hour.
-Remembering to take deep breaths on a consistent basis.
-Walking twice a day, which I have always done.
-Remembering to eat well and avoid overeating to mask feelings.
-Keeping a sense of humor with Deb and with others.
-Keeping in touch with my family & friends.
Now, I would like to share a quote from Thessalonians 5:23. It reads, “May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound.” I’ll read that again.
As a side note, I personally believe that Unity can do a better job of looking at the whole society instead of only focusing on ourselves, however, don’t forget that you are part of the larger picture. YOU make a difference!
The current structure and the “powers that be” WANT us to be scared, however, the duty and obligation of We the People is to create the change that we want to see in our country. This journey belongs to US, not the oligarchs. Reclaim our power and speak truth to spiritual power. Having a strong visceral response to something horrible or depraved causes us either retreat in fear or propels us into action. Let’s choose the latter, eh.
So, let’s go from scared to sacred. Starve your fear & feed your faith.
As stated earlier, I would like to share some of the good things that are happening in the US. This is not to sugarcoat the toxicity, but to highlight that We The People have and will continue to make a huge difference.
-Look at all the peaceful protests in Minnesota, especially the Twin Cities. They are refusing to give up. Bruce Springsteen has written a song called, “Streets of Minneapolis”
-Protests all over the country and world protesting the Frozen Water People, especially in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City and North Carolina with school walkouts all over the country, the war with Iran, and attending No Kings rallies. By the way, the next No Kings Protest is Saturday, March 28th.
-Millions of people lobbying to release the unredacted files. They will come out eventually. Count on it! Many already have.
-People realizing that the tariffs and program cuts are causing the economy to sour.
-Hundreds of court decisions that rule in favor of We The People. We think that these do not matter, but they do.
-Individuals are questioning their own religion and spirituality. We are reassessing what we believe.
-Look at all the special elections. Need I say more?
-Many are realizing that the ruling class, oligarchs, media barons & “tech bros” have had way too much power for too long.
-More emphasis on kindness and helping our neighbors, literally, especially people of color, indigenous people, immigrants and the LGBTQ community.
There are many other specific examples that involve names that may put this video in Youtube timeout, therefore I will not mention them here.
I would like to share several quotes before we close today. (6)
“Freedom is not a state. It is an act…. Freedom is the continuous action we all must take, and each generation must do its part to create an even more fair, more just society. -John R. Lewis
“Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.”
-John F. Kennedy
“I believe we are here on the Planet Earth to live, grow up and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom.” – Rosa Parks
“Joy is a freedom. It helps a person to find their own liberation. The person who is joyous takes responsibility for the time they take up and the space that she/he/they occupy. You share it! Some of you have it…..you share it! That is what joy is. When you continue to give it away, you will still have so much more of it.” – Maya Angelou
Freedom is never given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. - Martin Luther King Jr.
“It is not enough to say, ‘We must not wage war.’ It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war, but the positive affirmation of peace.”
- Martin Luther King Jr.
Thank you so much for joining me today. It has been a pleasure!