Who Moved My Cheese? Part 1 of 2

Are you experiencing any change in your life? Maybe it’s a new job. Maybe it’s a job search forced upon you. In these times, relationships are under tremendous pressures: financial, personal, physical, and spiritual. Change comes in all forms and sizes for all of us, whether we are children, teens or adults. Maybe it’s the change of a child going to a new school. Or maybe the change is for you as a parent sending that child off to school. Maybe you’re a teen who hasn’t made the basketball team this year. Maybe you’re an adult starting over after a divorce. Maybe it’s a time of unemployment and financial turmoil.

Since we are all experiencing some kind of change during these times, I have chosen a book for all of us to read and reflect on for the first two Sundays in January. The book is titled Who Moved My Cheese?

It is a book I read years ago that I find especially relevant for all of us. Whatever change we’re going through I believe this book and the two weeks we all (children, teens and adults) spend reading and talking about this book will result in a greater awareness of how we are presently dealing with change and alternatives to how we deal with change. This book comes in versions for children, teens and adults. They are available in the bookstore.

Rev. Bill Englehart  Audio

This a time when many of us set intentions by making resolutions for the coming year. I find that before I can commit to a new resolution, I need to release baggage that I have been carrying from the prior year (or years). We have a ritual in Unity called the Burning Bowl. In this ceremony, we write down a few words or a sentence that reflects what we want to release because the idea is no longer serving us. Maybe it’s anger or un-forgiveness, impatience, guilt, etc…. Whatever we want to release, we can do so. This ceremony is one way to release these things. This is a service you won’t want to miss. What a great way to end one year and begin another!

Rev. Bill   Audio

Do you recall the first time you read the book or saw a movie of A Christmas Carol? It’s a story that has endured over time. We can all immediately call to mind an image of Ebeneezer Scrooge. What about Jacob Marley or the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future?

There are lessons here for all of us that are worth some exploration. I look forward to sharing this story to see what we can all learn from it together. Merry Christmas!

Blessings, Rev. Bill  Audio

This Sunday is our Christmas pageant, featuring children and adults acting out the real meaning of the nativity story.  We address the dilemma of people who may find themselves, their children and the world excessively materially oriented, as we discover together the metaphysical meanings of the characters and events in this eternal drama.  There is great spiritual power in realizing and re-claiming the love and joy that underlie all true creation and new ideas.

We’ll also have the fun of singing well known carols, and the laughter that always accompanies children’s performances!

Blessings, Rev. Bill    Audio (This weeks audio will be comprised only of Pat Palmer’s comments following the Christmas Pageant - The Christmas Pageant will be available in it’s entirety on DVD)

On Sunday we welcome back Rev. Richard Mantei, Minister Emeritus from Unity In Marin. Richard retired from church ministry in early 2006 after about two decades of serving this community. I know we’re all looking forward to hearing Richard once again.

Here is what he has to say about his upcoming talk:

What has dominated the news for months now, “the economy”, right?  We know all about bailouts, recessionary times, golden parachutes and unemployment statistics. What a perfect time for us to explore and deepen our awareness and practice of Unity’s truth principles relating to prosperity in the midst of the current outer reality.  Rev. Richard Mantei’s talk is titled “Believing is Seeing”.  We will explore one of Unity’s definitions of prosperity:

“Prosperity is a consciousness of God as the abundant everywhere present resource, unfailing and ready for all who open themselves to it through faith”. 

Blessings, Rev. Bill       Click Here for Audio

This past Sunday our Very own Jeff Perry was our guest speaker. The talk title is “Healing Intention.” Jeff’s story of recovery is incredibly inspiring. At one point about 5 years ago he was sent home from the hospital to die. Within months he recovered from that illness and got married. You can read his story in the december edition of Daily Word. His story will be read this coming month by around a million people! We get to hear it in person. FYI, Jeff and his wife Catherine are relocating out of the area so this is probably the last time you’ll get to see and hear Jeff in person as a regular community member. I am sure he has more to share than is in the Daily Word article that will be enlightening for one and all.

Do you have a friend or family member facing an illness right now? If so you can share this truly inspirational story of healing.

Audio 

This Sunday I will be speaking on the topic of Unconditional Giving. For years I thought that I was giving unconditionally, yet I realized that this was not always the case. When I looked closely I realized that I had invisible strings attached to many gifts I was giving. I would ask myself before buying the gift, “Will I be there when it is opened?” I was really thinking how would this reflect upon me.

I would give a gift of money if I thought I knew it would be used a certain way. I would be upset if I found out that it wasn’t used in the manner I had expected. It wasn’t until I heard a story from my uncle about giving that I really understood what it meant to give unconditionally. It has stayed with me for years. I look forward to sharing this story with you on Sunday.

Please join us,

- Rev. Bill   Audio

This Sunday is our church anniversary! This church community began in 1964. We are a community that has been 44 years in the making.

Desiree Goyette and I will be conducting the service together. Come and learn where we came from, how we got to where we are present and also participate in crafting our future. I will be sharing some more prosperity ideas from Charles & Myrtle Fillmore and showing how the application of these principles has helped Unity In Marin prosper. At the same time, you will be learning how to apply these principles in your own life to increase your own prosperity!

After the second service you are invited to a special brainstorming session in the Sanctuary led by Desiree and myself. You’ll learn more about it during the service on Sunday.

It will be a memorable service!

- Rev. Bill  audio

The Topic this Sunday is Prosperity!
This Sunday I will be talking about a person who was a successful real estate speculator. But with a downturn in the real estate market, his own, his wife’s and his children’s savings were wiped out. The following are his own words:

“I was left with debts that could not be paid from the realty assets. Interest, taxes, unpaid bills for labor, judgments unsatisfied, the family to support with no income - these and other obligations too numerous to mention were a burden that seemed overwhelming. And the burden was not lifted all at once. Uncle Sam did not come to our aid with a government loan; neither did any uncle show up with a gold mine.”

This man and his family were about to embark on a new enterprise in spite of these challenges. Believe it or not, we have all been touched by the success of their new venture. I look forward to sharing more with you about this story on Sunday.

-Rev. Bill     Audio

This is the final week of our annual seven-week in home book study. This week the topic in the book we are studying is called “Stories from our Congregation.”

When I first picked up the book A Blessing in Disguise I really liked the topics and how it was structured. The glaring downside to me was that the book had only 6 sections. It’s hard to make a 7-week book study when there are only 6 weeks worth of material. Yet, I did not want to dismiss this book as there seemed to be so much here for everyone. Then a divine idea came through to me that the seventh week could be about stories from within our own congregation. I Know our people have faced challenges, yet have risen to meet the challenge and find the blessings.

The group that makes the decisions about the selection of the book for the book series embraced the idea. (You might be interested to know our books study decisions are made almost a year in advance.) We had time to source stories from within the congregation, request the stories in writing, and have editors available to help each author.  Our committee then selected the final stories.  I am so looking forward to sharing some of the stories from our congregants on Sunday. If you didn’t pick up a copy of our study guide with the stories, there is an online link where you can read them online or print them. They truly are inspirational.

I look forward to exploring this topic on Sunday.

- Rev. Bill                        Audio

This is week six of our annual seven-week in home book study. This week the topic in the book we are studying is called “Love, Family and Relationships.”
We will explore the spiritual principles of Divine Love. This power of the Divine called love has the ability to work through us in our relationships to bring out the best in ourselves and in others.  Divine love can heal the “worst” of ourselves, our wounded hearts.
Too often our relationships can be tarnished by our need to be right or by a feeling of having been made wrong.  Divine Love and Wisdom can cause us to change our perspective, broaden our understanding, and expand our awareness, which makes our lives, loves and relationships more blessed and grace filled.

The book we are reading this year is A Blessing In Disguise by Andrea Joy Cohen M.D.. This book is available in our bookstore. It is filled with short stories that run the gamut from overcoming challenges to spirituality to everyday life lessons. You may recognize some of the authors of the stories, such as Thich Nhat Hanh, Stephen Levine, Dean Ornish to Paramahamsa Prajnanananda. There is something here for everyone. Since each section is filled with short stories, it’s an easy read but with much depth.

Blessings,

Heidi                     Audio

This is week three of our annual seven-week in home book study. This week the topic in the book we are studying is called “Spirituality.” If life was compared to a river, where would each of us be and what would we be doing in this river? Think on this and we will explore it more on Sunday. Ever been whitewater rafting, or wanted to go whitewater rafting? If so, I am sure you will want to be in attendance. 

I look forward to exploring this topic on Sunday.

The book were reading this year is A Blessing In Disguise by Andrea Joy Cohen M.D..This book is available in our bookstore. It is filled with short stories that run the gamut from overcoming challenges to spirituality to everyday life lessons. You may recognize some of the authors of the stories, such as Thich Nhat Hanh, Stephen Levine, Dean Ornish to Paramahamsa Prajnanananda. There is something here for everyone. Since each section is filled with short stories, it’s an easy read but with much depth.  -Rev. Bill       Audio

This is Week four of our annual seven-week in home book study. This week the topic in the book we are studying is called Life’s Everyday Lessons. When was the last time we apologized to someone? How powerful is this practice? To answer this, I suggest we recall the last time that someone apologized to us. I look forward to exploring this topic on Sunday.  –Rev. Bill

The book we’re reading this year is A Blessing In Disguise by Andrea Joy Cohen M.D..This book is available in our bookstore. It is filled with short stories that run the gamut from overcoming challenges to spirituality to everyday life lessons. You may recognize some of the authors of the stories, such as Thich Nhat Hanh, Stephen Levine, Dean Ornish to Paramahamsa Prajnanananda. There is something here for everyone. Since each section is filled with short stories, it’s an easy read but with much depth.   Click here for Audio.

This is Week Three of our annual seven-week in home book study. This week the topic in the book we are studying is called Death and Dying. In my opinion this is one of the least talked about issues in Western culture. What to do? How to be with someone, as they get ready for this transition? Have we given much thought to our own death and what our true desires are? In this section of the book we hear from Thich Nhat Hanh among other authors with great insight.

The book we’re reading this year is A Blessing In Disguise by Andrea Joy Cohen M.D.This book is available in our bookstore. It is filled with short stories that run the gamut from overcoming challenges to spirituality to everyday life lessons. You may recognize some of the authors of the stories, such as Thich Nhat Hanh, Stephen Levine, Dean Ornish to Paramahamsa Prajnanananda. There is something here for everyone. Since each section is filled with short stories, it’s an easy read but with much depth. 

-Rev. Bill  —>audio

This was Week Two of our annual seven-week in home book study. This Sunday our special guest was Tama Kieves. She is an author of one of the stories in this second section of the book entitled Soul Expression. The title of her story is “To Die in One Life is to Blossom in Another.”

The book were reading this year is A Blessing In Disguise by Andrea Joy Cohen M.D..This book is available in our bookstore. It is filled with short stories that run the gamut from overcoming challenges to spirituality to everyday life lessons. You may recognize some of the authors of the stories, such as Thich Nhat Hanh, Stephen Levine, Dean Ornish to Paramahamsa Prajnanananda. There is something here for everyone. Since each section is filled with short stories, it’s an easy read but with much depth.

audio

This week we will be kicking off our annual seven-week in home book study.

The book this year is A Blessing In Disguise by Andrea Joy Cohen M.D..

It is filled with short stories that run the gamut from overcoming challenges to spirituality to everyday life lessons. You may recognize some of the authors of the stories, such as Thich Nhat Hanh, Stephen Levine, and Dean Ornish. There is something here for everyone. Since each section is filled with short stories, it’s an easy read but with much depth.

This Sunday I will be talking about the first section, Overcoming Challenges. audio

.

Who hasn’t looked back at past challenges with great hindsight?  We sometimes realize that the very act of meeting a challenge contributed to our overall life purpose, even if we didn’t yet know what that was!  This Sunday, September 14^th, our Unity children and teens will present two stories from scripture in which Jesus demonstrated stepping up into his purpose.  Pat Palmer, who directs our youth programs, will share metaphysical meanings of these passages from the Bible.  Pianist Denise Ruelas will support all of the children in songs.  The entire congregation will have the opportunity to witness children “Steppin’ Up” into their next Youth Education class, after having met both church and personal challenges in preparation. – Rev. Bill Englehart  audio

audio

This Sunday I will be talking about the Parable of the Hidden Treasure. This Parable is in the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 13 verse 44. Its followed by the Parable of the Pearl of Great Value in Verse 45. I invite you to read it for yourselves before this Sunday. Each story talks about finding something of such a great value and brings such joy that the person sells all that they have to lay claim to that piece of land or that great pearl.

 What could these stories possibly represent? What can one find that is worth more selling all that we have to lay claim to? It’s a story that has had a great impact on my life. I invite you to come on Sunday as we explore this idea of the Hidden Treasure together.  – Rev. Bill 

In honor of all the Olympic coverage that we have been watching on TV, reading about in the papers, or seeing on the Internet. I decided to spend this Sunday exploring The Olympic Spirit. Some of the people we didn’t know a few weeks ago we all know now, such as  Michael Phelps, Misty May-Treanor, Dara Torres or Shawn Johnson. But there are also others that we may not have heard of that have inspirational stories. What about the history of the Olympics and the symbolism? I invite you to come join me as we explore this inspirational topic. Bill.

audio

This Sunday I will be exploring The Lost Parables. These three parables all surround the idea of what it is like to lose something, the search for what was lost and the joy in finding it once again. I think this is a universal story that shows up many times in our consciousness and in our life experience. When we feel the loss of something, we need to know that whatever was lost can be found again, as everything is available in consciousness.audio

audio

We have all heard the saying “don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.” And we understand that means we shouldn’t get rid of the greater in order to be rid of the lesser. Yet how many of us who may have felt hurt by a former religious teachings or teachers have tended to throw out the Truth teachings as a result of a poor teacher?

This week I will be taking a well known, classic psalm (the 23^rd Psalm) and I will explain how it is that I use this Psalm as an affirmation of life in my daily prayer practice. I think you may be surprised at how this old standard can have so many life affirming messages.

What is a psalm? What’s the historical interpretation? Metaphysical interpretation? Come join me on Sunday as we explore this together! 

This week we welcome a teacher of mine from Unity Village, Rev. Dr. Paul Hasselbeck. He is a teacher, preacher, author and Dean of Spiritual Education and Enrichment at Unity Institute. He has edited and amplified the textbooks for metaphysics and was also the co founder of the only English speaking Unity Church in Puerto Rico. He will be teaching classes this coming week in our SEE classes. He will also be delivering a workshop after the second service on Sunday. He is a wonderful teacher and I encourage you to come and see for yourself! In preparation for Sunday, Paul asks us to ponder these questions:

Are you a Who or a What? 

Author: Rev. Dr. Paul Hasselbeck

Are you a What believing you are Who?  audio

This musical service was one to remember!
Joseph is one of the patriarchs form the Hebrew Bible. Today we told his story. There was a Broadway musical about this story called Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  Today was our bit of Broadway!  If you liked The Wizard of Oz production we have done the last two years, I think you will like this production as well. The Choir has been practicing for weeks and I look forward to it being a service we will long remember. audio

This Sunday, we are wrapping up Metaphysical Movie month at Unity In Marin. This week we will metaphysically interpret the movie “Groundhog Day.” Have you ever felt like you are having the same experiences in life over and over again? Have you ever felt like you are having the same experiences in life over and over again? Well then, this is a movie for you, and for me!

audio

This week we will metaphysically interpret the Movie “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

A financial crisis and a wingless Angel Second Class named Clarence are necessary for George Bailey to come to realize what a wonderful life he has led and how many Bedford Falls citizens he has helped in this beloved classic movie It’s A Wonderful Life.  Sometimes we forget to take time to smell the roses until someone starts to dig up the bushes. In the midst of challenges we lose our perspective and forget to appreciate the good things in our lives. It’s a Wonderful Life serves as valuable encouragement for us to appreciate our lives more and consider how the way we live affects others.   audio

This week Rev. Bill Englehart explored the metiphisical interpretation of the Movie The Rookie starring Dennis Quaid.  If you like sports films this is the service for you.

audio

This Sunday, we kicked off Metaphysical Movie month at Unity In Marin.

During July we take a look at popular culture via the movie genre and metaphysically interpret well-known movies. Why do we do this? Well, it’s fun! And more importantly, it gives us a window into how spiritual ideas and messages are constantly available if we are willing to look for them. After all, God continues to express through us in many ways. Listen as Bill talks about this week’s movie, “Toy Story”.  audio

This week, Reverend Bill teams up with our music director, Desiree Goyette, to discuss spiritual healing. audio

How often do we take time to look deeply at our lives? Specifically, how often do we look at how God is showing up in our lives via the daily interactions that we have with God’s messengers? Who are those messengers? We are the messengers. Everyone that we meet has something special to reveal to us. Maybe it’s a lesson for us to learn. Maybe that person will help us realize that we have something more to heal. Maybe they will help reveal to us something deeper about ourselves. Today, I will relate my experience with this type of reflection that I experienced over a two-day period a few weeks ago. What did it reveal to me?? Listen to find out. audio

Celebrate Father’s Day with Licenced Unity Teacher, John Farman.

audio

Reverend Bill takes us on a madcap adventure, finding the spiritual messsages in the 1960’s TV series. How are Jesus and Batman alike? What do the “Villians” represent? Who… or what…are your “Villians”?

Listen to find out!

audio

What do Elvis and Saul have in common? Listen to find out how Bill brings the King into the spiritual realm. audio

Guest speaker Lynne Kirkham inspires us with her story of stepping out. When she stepped out of her comfort zone and into her hearts path, the Universe met her more than half way! Audio

This week, Medora Gordon takes us on a journey through time and phases of our lives.
audio

New Thought on Prayer is the title for this Lesson as we learn and affirm our Unity teachings about prayer. Prayer is based upon God as Source knowing that God/Spirit is the center, head and heart of our lives. We will explore how making this sacred connection through prayer can change and deepen our spiritual life.

Experience a mini prayer chaplain training. Learn how to be vessels for prayer as we experience Spirit using our hearts to speak to us. We can grow in our faith about the power of prayer by listening from the heart and discovering many ways to align with the Christ Consciousness as live our lives and walk our spiritual path.audio

audio

At Easter service the choir will be performing some of the songs from Desiree’s Goyette’s Easter Oratorio. I am sure they will be fantastic as usual. I look forward to sharing some insights about the resurrection experience that is available to us all and that I believe we all experience many times on our spiritual journey. Easter is the biggest day of the year for newcomers to come and experience Unity In Marin. We have more visitors on this day than any other all year.  Audio

This Sunday, Reverend Bill will talk about Palm Sunday. How do we metaphysicall interpret Jesus’ humble entry into the holy city? How can we apply this story to our lives today? Audio

“Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” - Luke 18:17  “All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten.  Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate-school mountain, but there in the sand pile at Sunday School.”    - Robert Fulghum 

Both of these passages call for adults to open minds and hearts in wonder to the divine love and wisdom of the child within. 

We have a special service planned, with a special message that has been created to include and inspire, not just the adults of our congregation, but our children as well. 

 The topic of our message is Love.   The divine love that flows through each one of us blessing our lives and the lives those around us.  We will explore such questions as:  What is this thing called love? Why does it move us?  What keeps us from being the fullest channels of love that we are capable of being? 
How is Divine love calling us to show up in life?Audio  

We have all heard the expression “like manna from heaven.” I will share what this manna is, where it comes from physically as well as metaphysically. I will explain exactly what everything represents in our communion service and how we can interpret the ritual to help in our own spiritual un-foldment. Audio

Reverend Bill Englehart