Unity Community

Learning Divine Order from Puzzles ~ Sudoku Spirituality

From Malayna Dawn, Unity Community Church's webmaster and member-at-large.

Like with any puzzle, it starts off looking like there’s no way from the start to completion.  But once you start playing with possibilities, it all comes together, little by little. 

If you haven’t already seen where I’m going with this – it’s to draw parallel with life and the concept of Divine Order. 

Order is the spiritual power we’re working on in September, as we follow along with Unity’s 12 Powers, as we affirm:

My life is in balance and in order, and all is well.

Divine order is established in my mind, body and life.

~ Original image from Sudoku Garden. ~

Sudoku is more about order than, say, crossword puzzles or piecing together a picture.  In Sudoku, you’re given a grid with some numbers filled in.  You fill in the open spaces by first penciling in the possibilities that could ensure that each column and each row have only one instance of each of the numerals from 1 – 9. 

It’s not mathematical, it’s about sequencing.  What begins as incomplete, seemingly nonsensical and random turns into repeating patterns and finally ORDER.  Ahhhhhh.  Everything fits. 

It’s a process of elimination, from possibilities to patterns until, as they put it in the movie What The Bleep Do We Know? you “collapse in on the one.” (Watch the clip below, especially from 6 minutes and 30 seconds in to 7:03 -  it’ll blow your mind and change what you think about possibilities!) 

With both Sudoku and life, there are things we know, and things we don’t.  In the unknown are a variety of possibilities with any number of combinations. And at some point, the way becomes clear.  Click-click-click – like the combination to a safe—and you’ve made it!  (Or shall we say, you’ve created it?)

So how do we apply this to life?  As we go about our days, let’s remember to see life as a series of games—puzzles to be solved, challenges to be mastered before moving beyond them to the next game.  All the while, we can hold on to the thought that somehow, it’s all going to come together and make a complete picture. 

What will the outcome be? God only knows!  (No, really.  God as in The Divine.  The “Divine” in “Divine Order.”) We just may not be able to see the picture yet, and perhaps we never really will, but we have to trust that the Divine puzzle-maker can see the whole picture, and that it’s right and good and meant to be. 

And when we do get the satisfaction of seeing the completed picture, we should enjoy it.  Because soon, we’ll probably be bored and need a new challenge anyway!

So go out and play with life, and know that’s all as it should be…in Divine Order.

Written by Malayna Dawn, Unity Community's webmaster and member-at-large. Entertain the possibilities and make life an enjoyable adventure by reading her blog, Symbolic Themes  or her novel, Echoes Across Time! 

Imagination Can Save The World

As we continue exploring the Twelve Spiritual Powers with Unity, we come to June--the month designated for the spiritual power of Imagination. Its corresponding affirmation is : 

I envision good unfolding in every area of my life!

As part of the celebration, our choir sang “Pure Imagination” from Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory (starring Gene Wilder from 1971).  

“If you want to view paradise
Simply look around and view it.
Anything you want to, do it!
Wanta change the world?
There's nothing To it”

Artwork from creativechick.com called "Kiss My Face"

Both the affirmation and the song lyrics point to the power of imagination in how we experience the world. But imagination is more than just a pair of rose colored glasses or pleasant daydreams of the future. It’s the basis of goal setting and using the Law of Attraction. (Click here for an explanation of The Law of Attraction that I wrote for The DailyOM.com) It’s the beginning of the creation of your life – which is why imagination is part of what we call create-ivity. It may be your most powerful tool.

Most people think of imagination in terms of art. In art, we can create worlds that may not exist in what we know as “reality”, but they do exist...once we create them! In books and movies, on stage and in paintings, etc. they become real, or at the very least, a shared vision. If you’ve ever seen Cirque du Soleil, you know that fantastical worlds can be created for us to enter, if only for a few hours at a time. Walt Disney created an entire kingdom, no, empire, from his imagination, and it has become part of the mythology of our day.

Myths and stories guide us under normal circumstances, but imagination can actually save your life.  In the book La Prisonniere, also called Stolen Lives, a family that was imprisoned in the Moroccan desert for 20 years managed to stay alive and fairly sane because one of them was a storyteller. Then their imaginations helped them to devise an escape plan, and to eventually reclaim their freedom.

In the movie “What Dreams May Come” (1998) that I just caught again on cable, your imagination and what you believe is possible is how you create your own heaven, or your hell. So in this case, your imagination might even save your soul.

Sculpture called “Industry” from Queen's University, Belfast.--->

With your every thought you are using your imagination, whether the vision you hold is positive or negative, creative or destructive, or in the past or future. So imagination has a myriad of real-world applications as well – from designing a building to inventing machinery, from making a meal to theorizing the existence of the atom or black holes.

We are also using our imaginations negatively when we imagine the worst, have low expectations, or cling too much to our worst case scenarios instead of entertaining the possibilities and coming up with creative solutions.

The best illustrations I’ve seen on how imagination can shape our world are from the films The Secret and What the Bleep Do We Know? Check them out, and then come join us at Unity Community Church in Reseda, California as we discuss further applications of our wild and wonderful imaginations!

Malayna Dawn is UCC's webmaster as well as a freelance writer and author. Acting as a modern-day shaman she aims to help people navigate their way through their inner and outer worlds using symbolism, stories and metaphor. Entertain the possibilities and make life an enjoyable adventure by reading her blog, Symbolic Themes  or her novel, Echoes Across Time! 

A Complaint Free World - A Review

The following is a reprint of an two-part article originally written by Malayna Dawn for the Daily Mantra. It is now available on Self Growth.com. 

Part I – The Concept

In the new book, A Complaint Free World, Unity minister Will Bowen challenges us to go 21 days without complaining, criticizing or gossiping. It began as an idea for his Sunday sermon at the Unity Church in Kansas City, Missouri and caught on quickly. From the local newspaper to Oprah, this simple idea is catching people's attention.

While "What the Bleep..." and "The Secret" have shown us that our thoughts have the power to create our lives, this book gives us the tools to begin monitoring and changing our thoughts with a simple concept. "Our thoughts create our world and our words indicate our thoughts" Bowen explains. "When we control our words by eradicating complaining, we create our lives with intention and attract what we desire."

The process begins by taking notice of what we say. Then, by combining self-monitoring with a physical action, we can really begin to see just how often we engage in negative speech that doesn't serve us. The book's website offers purple rubber bracelets that can be moved from one wrist to another, though Bowen says that we can use any such device that works for us. Whether it's moving a stone from one pocket to another or a paper weight across the desk, the important thing is to connect to some action that allows us to track our progress.

The goal is to go 21 days in a row without moving your designated object, 21 days being the amount of time it takes to form a new habit. Bowen himself says that he found that his personal best after one week was to move his bracelet five times in a day, though his bracelet's movements shot back up to a total of twelve the very next day. He noticed that he could do better around some people than others, and began looking more deeply into his relationships.

Knowing that complaining attracts more of the same into my life makes me willing to see how this simple idea can bring my true desires into being. I don't want to wait for my purple bracelet to arrive from Kansas City, so I'm going to pick a bracelet or rubber band and begin immediately. I'll let you know how I've fared after 7 days while I continue to read the book. Wish me luck!


Part II: The Experience

After deciding to try being complaint-free for just seven days, I must say that I am happier. Anecdotes from the book helped me to maintain my cool in traffic, like the idea that cars going slowly in front of me are merely the universe’s "pace cars" though I am not in a race, and are meant to slow me down for my own safety. Or the story about people honking their horns if they’re happy, which gave me a reason to laugh when people honked at me, rather than taking it personally, which I'd usually have done. Instead, I'd just think to myself, “They must be really happy,” and move on.

To be honest, I delayed writing this article because I hadn’t found a device that worked to remind me consistently. I wanted to take off the bracelet (the memory aid recommended by the book's author) when I got home along with the rest of my jewelry, so I’d use a hair band, but I'd end up putting it in my hair.

Despite these minor problems, I was able to see the impact of the familiar principles of positive thinking had taken hold, and that the ideas depicted in films like "What The Bleep Do We Know?" and "The Secret" had seeped into my subconscious, preparing me for this challenge. I was already monitoring my thoughts and speech, and, with the help of the book, found myself considering before speaking if what I was about to say counted as a complaint. If I thought it might, I'd try to word it differently, whether I had something on my wrist or not.

The book gives a lot of in-depth analysis to help each of us decide for ourselves what counts as a complaint, but the bottom line is intention. Will Bowen, the instigator and author of "A Complaint Free World" offers this quote from motivational writer Eckhart Tolle which may just sum it up:

“Complaining is not to be confused with informing someone of a mistake or deficiency so that it can be put right. And to refrain from complaining doesn’t necessarily mean putting up with bad quality or behavior. There is no ego in telling the waiter your soup is cold and needs to be heated up – if you stick to the facts, which are always neutral. ‘How dare you serve me cold soup…?’ That’s complaining.”

In the movie "The Secret", Jack Canfield explains, “The Law of Attraction says ‘We’ll give you whatever you say and focus on’ so if you’re complaining about how bad it is, what you’re creating is more of how bad it is.”

That is the basic concept behind becoming complaint-free: to create more good in our lives and the world by focusing our attention and energy on the positive, on constructive ideas, and on gratitude. "The Complaint Free World" book really can help us to reach that goal by giving us a place to start, supportive explanations, and a way to measure the change in our lives. I recommend that you pick up your copy and begin your journey as soon as possible. I’m still on my quest for 21 days free of complaint, criticism or gossip. But I know that even greater happiness lies ahead!

Our Unity Community is now taking the challenge of A Complaint Free World. Join us in our new location in Reseda!

Talk Topic- “Pilate’s Wife and I Don’t Know”

Steve Keener, Sunday's speaker, was inpsired to do some research on Pilate's wife. He found a book called ‘Women in the Bible’ that said there are 38 words referring to her in the Bible; yet there are volumes of information about her on the internet.  

In trying to make sense of it all, he took a break to listen to a tape his wife, Jackie, wanted him to hear. The tape was by Unity minister, Rev. Richard Rogers, on a series about the movie, “What the Bleep Do We Know”, (which addresses how we live with Science and Spirituality in our lives). He was reminded about the need to stretch our minds beyond what we have ever believed before. He then realized that it was OK not to know everything about Pilate’s Wife and why she was so important.

We are engaged in a constant process of letting go of old beliefs and entertaining new ones.  We are never finished.  

The first step in any intuitive process is for the student is to be willing to admit ‘they don’t know’ and become willing to unlearn everything they had been told is true. The point is not to be afraid of the unknown (it is safe not to know), but be in a state of awe.

If you are finding it hard to accept that most of what we have been told and have believed our whole life isn’t true, just think about what people have believed in past centuries, like the world is flat.  It’s OK not to know, and if we can’t say it out loud, we can at least admit it to ourselves and feel safe in the not knowing, and instead be open to infinite possibilities.