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July 2005 Beloved friends, Do you enjoy a good story? I do! I have enjoyed reading all of my life, especially stories about other people and their life experiences. They inspire me and often times reveal to me different things about myself. Our Way-shower and elder Brother, Jesus Christ, enjoyed a good story. In fact, it was one of the wonderful ways in which He taught Truth. Of course, we know these wonderful stories as the parables. Jesus knew that people could gain deeper spiritual understanding and see and find themselves in stories that reminded them of things they knew and experienced. Again and again he taught of the ever-present power of God that indwells each of us. He taught of the kingdom of heaven. He taught simple, yet profound ways to live an abundant life. I will be using different parables during the month of July as the basis for a series of Sunday talks. We will bring these important stories alive and see how they apply to us today. I will be using two books to help prepare the Sunday messages. Learn to Live: The Meaning of the Parables, is book written by Ervin Seale, a New Thought minister. He explores the metaphysical meaning of the parables to give us deeper insight. Son of Man: The Mystical Path to Christ, is a book written by Andrew Harvey, a modern day mystic and poet. He invites us to look at the mystical level of understanding of the parables. Both books are available in our church bookstore. Sounds exciting, doesn’t it? You may just find yourself in one or all of these stories! I once had a friend say that his life was an open book. Our lives tell the story of our unlimited creative potential. Let’s add a chapter this month that reveals the Truth of just how uniquely and wonderfully made we are! In Christ Love, MARK'S MUSINGS One of the changes I have decided to adopt is to choose to let go of my negative emotions more quickly. The apostle Paul spoke of this, “Be renewed by the transforming of your mind.” I had been noticing that even as things were ‘improving’ in my life (more income, finished projects, feeling competence in my work), I had days when I just wasn’t as happy as I could have been. The other day I received 50% of the expected payment from Medicare for months of services for one of my clients. I got upset and began to project my anger and frustration at myself (you should have known better-- you’re so foolish) or Medicare (they really messed me over-- just like they do everyone…). I began to lose consciousness. My eyes became heavy, and I felt very sleepy. I considered lying down on my couch for a nap, or even going home and taking a nap. At that moment I decided “I don’t like feeling this way, and I don’t have to feel this way. I am responsible for how I feel and I am reasserting my control over my feelings.” I choose to feel better; to look at this differently. I then proceeded to talk to one of my colleagues, who offered to help. I noticed I immediately felt more alert and awake, and was now willing to suspend my judgments until I received more information. She suggested that I might be grateful for the business and the money received. However, I just wasn’t ready to “concede” the extra billing amount. So I blessed the check I had received and waited for another colleague to end his session to get another perspective. When we looked at his billings, it revealed that he had consistently been paid the same basic amount as I had been. The shortage I had was due to the fact that I had not yet billed the co-insurance. This discovery released my judgments of Medicare and myself. The point is that I chose to feel better for those 45 minutes instead of feeling angry or upset. I used denials and affirmations and chose my emotions instead of rehearsing old negative tapes. My willingness to be responsible for how I felt was the key. Remember, responsibility is not blame. Blame looks to the past while responsibility looks forward. May you, too, be renewed by the transforming of your mind and claim happiness! Mark Groblewski BOARD TALK Unity Church of the Bay Area, as a minister-centered church, has grown sufficiently to move on to the next phase, a minister-board-team led church. With the support and encouragement of Rev. Steve, your Board of Trustees has begun planning strategic steps to shift more responsibility to Board members and to Team members in order to provide Rev. Steve with more time to devote to “minister” activities, as opposed to clerical and routine chores. For example, volunteers, working with Dilsia, will assist with preparation of the monthly newsletter, a time-consuming activity that has eaten up much of Rev. Steve’s time. You will be hearing about additional changes soon. We ask that congregants prayerfully consider roles of service available to each of us. Abundant blessings await us when we open ourselves to serve. The six multi-media paintings by Ann Trask now hanging on the Book Store wall are on loan until next Spring. Take time to enjoy them and thank Dianna Marion for arranging this art work display for us. As noted in last month’s Newsletter, our church will begin supporting two Unity ministerial students. Janie Kelley and Ginny Roll (whose name was randomly drawn from the list of Unity students) will each receive $100 from the June tithe. The remaining tithe will be evenly divided between Unity of Costa Rica, our sister church, and Unity of Brazoria. After monitoring the noise level—or absence thereof—next door for the past month, the Board has concluded that unless we have further reports of disturbance, the problem has been resolved. We bless the silence. If you missed the Annual Picnic at Clear Lake Park, you missed a fun experience. The food was terrific—the abundant left-overs were donated to the nearby women’s shelter; we were cooled by breezes blowing through the old oak trees; and the Kuhlmans’ kayak tours were a hit. Best of all, we had the opportunity to visit with each other at leisure. Thanks to Linda and Ron Blakemore and their team for making it all work. YOUTH ED It is amazing what our children can teach us about ourselves, life, and what we really believe! After we prayed the Lord’s Prayer in one of our classes, one of the children asked “What does that mean?” I took a deep breath and thought that really short prayer to God – you know the one I’m talking about – “HELP!” ******Our teens have a special event planned for Saturday, July 30. They are going to Astroworld for the day. It is now called Six Flags Astroworld Waterworld, yet it will always be “Astroworld” to me. This will be a wonderful time for them to have fun together. The spiritual purpose of this event is…………….oh, of course – to experience joy! Youthful Blessings! LET DOWN YOUR NETS FOR A CATCH! These powerful words were Jesus’ instructions to Peter in the Gospel of Luke. Our ministry is based on the principle of joyous, conscious giving and the power of tithing. We tithe as a church on all financial gifts received. Our tithe from this Building Fund project will be used to support needy children in our Clear creek Independent School District with backpacks for school in the fall. Help us to further the vision of the church. Help us to help children in our area to have all that they need to return to school. Yes, put down your nets for an abundant catch! UNITY TREASURES Immersed Immersed in infinite energy and love, TREASURER’S REPORT General Fund Income $ 18,360.99 Building Fund (CDs & investments) $ 91,000.00 Unity Church of the Bay Area's tithe for May was $1,827.00. It was blessed and $913.50 was sent to Unity on the Eastern Shore, Daphne, Alabama, and $913.50 was sent to South Central Unity Churches Association, our AUC region. Your continued financial support allows our church to grow and flourish and carry the message of positive, practical Christianity in the Bay area. DID YOU KNOW? That UCBA receives a rebate from grocery purchases you make at Krogers and Randalls? Details on how to participate are available in the Gathering Room, or call the church office! LUCIA’S CORNBREAD RECIPE 1 cup Stoneground corn meal 1/2 teaspoon sugar Sift all dry ingredients. Add milk, egg and shortening. Pour into well- NO ONE AND NOTHING IS AGAINST YOU! How does this statement feel to you? Is this the way you see your life experience? If not, this class may be calling you! Do you wish to learn how to embrace conflict as a pathway to creating and living in peace? This class is for you! Each of us was created to live in peace and harmony with each other. Yet, we learn other ways of being which keep us from living as we were created to be. Join Reverend Steve in this exciting class based on the book The I of the Storm by Gary Simmons. The class will run for six Wednesdays from July 6th - August 10th at 7 p.m. The fee for the class will be $30. Scholarships for class fees are available upon request. Elective CEP credit is available. Please read Chapters 1 and 2 prior to the first class. Childcare will be provided upon request. GOT RECIPES? We are collecting favorite recipes to publish as space is available in our newsletter. If you have a favorite recipe from one of our potluck lunches, please send it to the church office! We will add them to our newsletter as often as we can. SUNDAYS IN JULY July 3, 2005 July 10, 2005 July 17, 2005 July 24, 2005 July 31, 2005 Answered Prayers! “Ask and you shall receive, Seek and you shall find, Knock and the door will be open to you”…Luke 11: 9 I arrived in Galveston in late March, two months after Bret. As I began setting up our home I unpacked a box containing several Edgar Cayce “Venture Inward” magazines that I had received during the years I was an A.R.E. member. In revisiting the magazines, Bret mentioned that we should renew our A.R.E. membership. So, a few days later we visited the A.R.E. center in Houston and once again became members. During our visit we had the opportunity to speak with the center Director, Carl Bohannon. Through our conversation with him we learned that there were several A.R.E. members living on or near the island and a need for a Cayce study group on the island existed. Bret and I looked at one another and smiled. Our prayer answered. We told Carl that we had been praying for the opportunity to host a group even before we had left Tulsa and felt certain this was the answer to our prayer. Our study group, A Search For God, began just 4 weeks after arriving on the island and has been growing ever since. In Love and Light~ MOVIE TIME! The Thursday afternoon COURSE IN MIRACLES CLASS will sponsor the showing of two short films, Thursday July 28th at 1:00pm. MANDALAS; LUMINOUS SYMBOLS FOR HEALING discusses the history and techniques of this ancient Spiritual art form. MARK YOUR CALENDAR NOW FOR… Unity Church of the Bay Area Saturday September 17, 2005 Dinner and Dancing! More details to follow! HERE'S HOW YOU CAN HELP! We are planning silent and live auctions! We are seeking donations for the auctions and are asking each person to help by obtaining at least one donated item or service with a minimum value of $50. Do you know anyone who might be willing to donate a large item such as airline tickets, cruise tickets, TV, etc.? All donations are tax-deductible, and the church will provide thank you letters for tax purposes. Listed below are our committees and chairpersons. Together we can create a magnificent celebration that honors the Tenth Anniversary of our church and helps to forward our Building Fund. Contact them if you wish to help! Auction Acquisitions Scott Sartorius 281-250-3696 Your newsletter contributions are welcome! Please submit them to the church office or e-mail them to info@unityofbayarea.org by the 15th of each month. We ask that articles not exceed 300 words, and ask that Answered Prayers articles be between 150-200 words if possible. Our goal is to share your articles in newsletters as soon as possible.
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