Midweek Faith Lift
July 16, 2025
Unity of Ames—How Do I Love Thee?
Rev. Deb Hill-Davis
Spiritual Passages
July 8, 2025
A shark swims into a reef-side therapist’s office and flops dramatically on the couch. “Doc, I think I’m losing my edge. I used to be feared! The apex predator! But now, I feel misunderstood.” The therapist, a wise old sea turtle, nods. “Let’s explore that. What do you think changed?” The shark says, “Well, last week a scuba diver called me majestic. The week before that, a kid in a glass-bottom boat pointed and yelled, ‘Look, Mommy! He’s smiling!’” The turtle leans in. “Maybe you’re not misunderstood. Maybe you’re evolving.” The shark gasps. “You mean... I’m becoming emotionally available?” The turtle responds, “Precisely. Now tell me about your mother.”
The shark is often seen as the lone predator - stealthy, solitary, feared. Much like the myth of rugged individualism, it’s cast as a creature that thrives on its own, needing nothing, answering to no one. But that’s not the whole story. In truth, the shark is not separate from the sea. It belongs to an intricate, interdependent ecosystem. It keeps the balance, culling the sick and the weak, allowing coral reefs to flourish, helping schools of fish thrive. It moves alone, yes, but its aloneness is not isolation. It is participation. It is purpose.
Rugged individualism tells us we must go it alone to succeed. But wholeness comes when we realize we are not the shark - we are the sea. We are not here to dominate, but to harmonize. Like the shark, we may be misunderstood. Others may fear our power, mislabel our presence, or mistake our strength for aggression. But our true nature, like the shark’s, is not about separation - it is about relationship with the ocean. With the web of life. With the unseen current that carries us all.
Affirmative Prayer for today: Infinite Love, Energy of the Universe, we are so blessed and grateful to be a part of this web of life, of love that carries us all. We so appreciate the beauty, goodness and truth that we here at Unity of Ames embrace, express and live. Thank you for all the good in our lives as together we seek to express even more of that goodness and love that we are. Amen.
“Unity of Ames- How Do I Love Thee?” Let me count the ways is the usual tag line to that question. Our birthday celebration comes at the start of an auspicious week of celebrations. Did you know that the second Monday of July is Town Criers Day? Me neither! The Town Crier dates back to ancient Greece and Rome and especially the Middle Ages. He was the news, the social media and community bulletin board of that time and it was a criminal offense to harm him. Don’t shoot the messenger goes back a long ways. July 18 is Nelson Mandela Day and the whole week is Shark Week, beginning today! Sharks, Town Criers and Nelson Mandela! Who knew?? Well, one reason I love Unity of Ames is because of all the strange and interesting things I learn when I tune in on Sunday morning!
So how do we love Unity of Ames as the Town Crier? Right now, it is more a journey of lamentations, of actually weeping. Individually, we do lament the awful things happening in our world, in our country right now. And we also lift up our neighbors, friends, and enemies in prayer on a weekly basis. That MWF Prayer call began in April 2020 and continues to this day. We do cry for the oppression and terror that we see happening to people in our cities and towns, and we remember the scriptures that tell us that Jesus wept. This one is particularly relevant as Jesus foresees the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.
Luke 19:42-44
Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem
41 As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 Indeed, the days will come upon you when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”
In our voice as a Spiritual Town Crier, we lift up the vision of Infinite Possibilities that Spirit or the Power of Love offers to us all. We do recognize “the things that make for peace!” and we embrace them, individually and collectively as Unity of Ames. And in the knowing of our true spiritual identity, we hold space for the realization that there is another way, a way of love, compassion, kindness and peace. AND we support one another in that knowing, even as we don’t know how exactly things will unfold. We choose to trust that Infinite Love is doing its perfect work in and through each one of us.
Nelson Mandela’s life and message reminds us of the power of forgiveness and the release that comes from not holding grudges, something we speak of, teach and practice here at Unity of Ames. Our focus is to constantly look for the “blessin’ in the lesson” as we navigate our life together in our human/divine form! What I have observed over the years is that the folks who want to collect injustices, find fault and hold grudges usually move on, especially when we focus on the Power of Release! Or they come around to a higher perspective, a higher consciousness that realizes that Love actually drew them into the unpleasant lesson in order to learn and grow.
When I started here as minister, I was pretty green at all this ministry business. I had any number of folks sharing advice about how I should do things and what was most important for me to do and so on. What I love about Unity of Ames, all of you, is that when I focused my energy on deepening and growing the consciousness of this spiritual community, you loved and accepted me in that process. And you were willing to speak up to one another to refocus our shared energy on love and supporting each other. What I love about Unity of Ames is that you did embrace spiritual growth and prayer, the essence of what Unity teaches. You didn’t want just “Unity platitudes” you were willing to embrace the hard stuff that true spiritual growth requires.
In Spiritual Passages, Scott Awbrey shares these reflections on Nelson Mandela:
Nelson Mandela’s life reminds us that forgiveness is not weakness, and compassion is not passivity - they are the highest expressions of spiritual strength. To forgive after decades of injustice, to love after generations of hate, to lead with humility when power is finally within reach - that is the Divine in human form. Mandela didn’t just liberate a nation; he liberated a consciousness. He showed us that transformation begins not with anger, but with awareness, action, and an open heart. His journey was one of deep spiritual resilience: a soul that withstood darkness without becoming bitter, a spirit that bent but never broke. In a metaphysical sense, Mandela Day is an invitation to rise above fear and separation, to see the Divine in each person - including those we’ve been taught to see as "other." It asks: What if your light could be someone else’s freedom? What if your time, your words, your kindness could ripple into a better world?
What I love about Unity of Ames is that we gather together as a community to pray, to sing, to plan, to play, to celebrate, to serve and to grow one another into the best version of ourselves that we can be. We are deeply grounded in our spiritual powers, resilient with a collective soul that bends but does not break. When I learn that our very own Lizmari, our beloved administrative assistant and her partner, Guillermo, who are Puerto Rican, carry their passports with them at all times to prove they are citizens, my heart weeps but my spirit is strong and resilient with them. And we would speak up for them if needed. There are so many instances where we have been there for each other, prayed for each other and supported each other. That is what I love about Unity of Ames.
And finally, what I love about Unity of Ames is that we embrace joy! Every week, we say together “Through the Christ Spirit in us, we create a better church and a better world, so be it!” That is an invitation to joy, dear ones! On the prayer calls each week, we share news of answered prayer with gratitude, joy and deep appreciation for the power of prayer. We celebrate our Prayer Chaplains who hold that consciousness of prayer with all of us. We celebrate and appreciate that we have the Daily Word on our phone line every day for all who call for prayer, and they do. We get prayer requests on our website and on the phone and on that Prayer Board outside the chaplain’s prayer room. And we pray with them all because here at Unity of Ames, our joy is complete when we pray.
We remember the words of Jesus, who did not say worship me, he said, “Follow me”…and when we do, and he offers us this promise:
John 15:10-11
10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
On this our 32nd birthday may our joy be complete!
Blessings on the Path,
Rev. Deb