Minister’s Message

Seasonal Perspectives

Fall! I’ve always loved this season of the year. It gives a great deal of pleasure to me and to most people. We all enjoy the crisp weather, fond memories of walking through the fallen leaves, the return to school, pumpkins, along with the simmering, wonderful fragrance of apple on the stove that had come straight from the orchards. To me, even these memories bring great pleasure.

Sometimes I hear people bemoan the fact that winter is just around the corner. At Unity, we teach the concept of being in the present moment. And though it may be difficult, it is very rewarding to overcome our normal anticipation of difficult weather in a negative frame of reference.

Wikipedia defines pleasure in the following way: “Pleasure is a broad class of mental states that humans and other conscious animals experience as positive, enjoyable, or worth seeking. It includes more specific mental states such as a rating to the attuned happiness, entertainment, enjoyment, ecstasy and euphoria. The early psychological concept of pleasure, the pleasure principle, describes it as a positive feedback mechanism that motivates the organism to recreate the situation it has just found pleasurable, and to avoid past situations that caused pain.”

What we are actually doing when we bemoan the reality of winter coming so soon, is creating from an old reference point that I will call the pain principle. In psychology, there is a reference to the benign circle of success or vicious circle of failure. When I first studied these in college, I was young enough to think that I would only do the benign circle of success. Of course, that’s not always possible – life happens to us. The main thing to remember is that what psychology is describing is a reference to a complex chain of events that reinforce themselves through a feedback loop.

A virtuous circle has favorable results, while a vicious circle has detrimental results. We may also refer to them as cycles.

As I thought about these things, I realized that in every season of the year we are harvesting the thoughts and actions that have created our life as we are experiencing it in the now of today. Let’s remember that during this time of colorful leaves in the beauty of Fall, we can begin to prepare for the Season of Thanksgiving and the Season of Lights with positive anticipation instead of dreading winter. Winter is nature’s time of resting and offering us the same invitation to begin a time of reflection and rejoicing. Spring will come and all the seasons thereafter. So, we decide not to waste time on bemoaning the cold and the snow and the ice. We can change our perspective! It’s really a winter wonderland – if we choose to see it that way.

However, whether we are experiencing a rich harvest or one that isn’t quite what we expected, there is great hope to rejoice. Our Creator has given us the ability to change everything in our lives for the better through the power of our Imagination and Faith faculties. The Truth is that we have unlimited potential to realize a plethora of wealth, wholeness, companionship, serenity and faith in the gifts of Spirit. And just as the fruit is harvested in the Fall giving us beautiful fruit, grains and vegetables to enjoy, we can also manifest the fruits of Spirit.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Galatians 5:22

May you find positive anticipation in each season of your life knowing that our Creator is always with you through eternity.

Love and Blessings,

Rev. Rose