How to Lift Yourself Up Out of the Doldrums | Rev. John Riley

Well, good morning. Have you ever felt a little slow, a little tired, a little worn out? This morning! Alright. Yeah. It’s interesting especially on days like this when it’s blustery out, when the wind is coming and the storms are coming, sometimes it feels like you just want to hunker down and just turn on that fire, or fake fire, or TV fire, whatever it is, the YouTube fire, whatever it is that you have available to you to help you feel a little bit more comfortable, a little bit more at peace.

There are times when we are also feeling just worn out by life, worn out by our experience. I don’t know about you but whenever I ask people, I come up to people and I’m asking questions about what is going on in life, if I ask them about something like their pet or something, they are all enthusiastic about it. But when I just come up and say “Hey, how is it going?” they are kind of like, “Ugh. COVID. It’s only been two years now or however long it’s been”. Have you experienced that? When asking people “how’s it going?”, “well you know, hmmm”.

Bring the Zeal

It’s times like that when we have the choice to either live in that sense of blah or to bring the zeal. It’s time for us to bring the zeal. Are you up for it? Alright. Delicious. Bring the zeal. Now what do we mean by zeal? Because when you hear the word zeal, what do you picture? Somebody who is really enthusiastic, really up there and hey, how’s it going and maybe a motivational speaker that we all know who runs and makes you all stand up and dance? You guys want to stand up and dance? Nobody wants to stand up and dance. Okay. We don’t have quite that amount of zeal here yet. That is the zeal that we kind of think about when we hear that word, that enthusiasm, that energy that “I’m going to do this” and that is at least what the inner webs say.

But there is a spiritual side to zeal as well. Because you see, zeal is not a reaction to something. It’s not a feeling that you have. It’s really an energy that you express. When we are in those motivational speaking environments where people are standing up and singing and chanting, well everyone just got to stand up and sing and chant. That energy starts flowing and you start expressing that and then when you get home, it’s like “Phew, glad that was done but boy that was motivational”.

You see, we are looking for that motivation, we are looking for that enthusiasm. We are looking for that reason to be excited out there. Someone else brings excitement. Now I am not saying that it’s not always a good thing. Sometimes it’s a very good thing. Music does the same thing for me. When I listen to Russell play or to Deborah sing, it’s like, “Ah, it raises me up”. I feel that energy starting to rise. I feel that enthusiasm within me. That zeal within me starts to come out. But it’s only temporary if I am only enthused or inspired by Russell or by Deborah because as soon as they stop, it’s like “Oh man, now I gotta get up there and speak. Come on. Can’t you just keep singing?”

A Spiritual Power

So sometimes, really, to create that energy of zeal, that is actually a spiritual power that is within us, that’s an ability that we have to bring that energy with us. We have to draw it from within. We can get inspired by something out there but what that does is simply touch something that is already in us and then we allow it to flame and to blow on that flame and to stoke that fire until that energy starts to rise up within us if we allow it. And then we can express it out into the world and then we can live by it.

Have you ever felt that sense of excitement and energy and enthusiasm in your life? You can raise your hand. It’s okay if you have. Yeah, I think most of us have. We have had, at some point in our life, some experience of that zeal. So, the idea here is that we need to bring that forward in our everyday life. Zeal is the energy that propels us forward.

You have heard me say many times that there is a divine impulse within us, a divine impulse that is calling us higher, calling us to a higher state of consciousness, that’s raising us up. It is that zeal, that energy of zeal within us, that actually moves us forward in that direction. So, if we have that energy of zeal, we must recognize where we are applying that energy because it’s always available.

Now, there are times when it’s time to relax. There are times when it’s time to hunker down, maybe to meditate, maybe to sleep. You are very enthusiastic in your sleep. I don’t recommend it. Those dreams are really wacky. But that energy of zeal when we are going into a situation or we are going into life can help us move through life by feeling exuberance and excited, at least inside, even if all of those around us are in the “blah”, even if the experience that we are having isn’t quite what we want.

For some people, I talk to them and it’s like “Gosh, you know I am at home. I am missing all my friends. I have to work at home. All my friends are at work and I can’t see anybody”. And then I have friends like, “Yeah they are forcing me to go work and I have to be with all those people”. Whichever side you are on, you can look at that as “There’s an opportunity here for me; I can be in it and still bring my sense of zeal” when our zeal is focused on our spiritual nature, when our zeal is focused on that divine energy that is within us, when our zeal is focused on expressing that divine essence that is you, that essence of light, love and wisdom that is unique to you, that divine spark that’s within you, that wholeness, that spiritual wholeness that is you.

The Different Types of Zeal

I led a talk series the other week about discovering wholeness, realizing that it is not about discovering it out there, it’s about realizing you are already it, spiritually whole so you can tune into that and bring that forward. When we do that, that is when this energy of zeal propels us forward even in the midst of those experiences that we really don’t want to deal with.

Now, zeal is always operating, but it operates at different levels. There is excited zeal, which we talked about earlier. And then there’s a very quiet zeal. Both of these are very valid. I would like to kind of relate this to pets. Anybody have a pet in their life? Yeah. So, I had dogs growing up and most of my dogs were large dogs. We had Labs and Golden Retrievers. And when you come home, they are exuberantly excited. It’s like “Hey! Hey man, your home! Woohoo! Yeah! You’re home! Hey, feed me, okay? Hi.” That is the exuberant side of zeal. We have that within us. And then there is the quiet side of zeal. Those are my cats. We have two cats right now. When we come home, they are like, “Hey, what’s up? You can feed me now. It’s cool. I am here for you.” It’s mellow.

When I was growing up, I had a cockatiel, a little — I don’t know if you know what a cockatiel is. It’s a bird, about that tall. It’s got a beautiful little crest, multi-coloured — whenever I came home and opened the door, she would get so excited, bouncing up and down on her perch. “Let me out, let me out, let me out. Hey, hey, hey, you are home, let me out, let me out.” I open the door and, phew, she’s out. Then my daughter’s kids’ club here, when she was in third or fourth grade, they had a bearded dragon as a pet, as a classroom pet. That bearded dragon’s version of zeal was like this. That is about it. I don’t know, I only saw it during the day. Maybe it’s a nocturnal creature and they get all excited.

But there are different types of zeals. There is the calm, reassuring zeal or energy that moves us forward confidently, with expectations of good. There is the excited zeal which inspires and gets us really moving fast and gets us to think in different ways. So that energy of zeal is always active. And then there is the egoic zeal. You have seen them, those who might seem a little overzealous, those who might seem like they are a zealot, those who are all about “me”. “Life is so good. Look at me. I’m proof. Don’t you want to follow me?”

So, that energy is always moving us and we have the choice, now that we have the awareness, we have the choice about where to focus it. Are we going to focus it on that egoic energy or are we going to focus it on our spiritual energy? An egoic energy might look like when people get together and start complaining about everyone else. That is zeal. That energy is flowing within us. You are just stoking the fuel, the fuel of your anger and frustration and your resentment and your judgement. “I am so much better than they are”. That is the same energy. It’s just where you are pointing it.

Refocusing Energy

There are those who feel — when you feel really depressed and quiet and still, when you’re like, “I can’t do it. I just don’t have the energy to do it”, it’s not that they don’t have the energy to do it, it’s that their energy is focused on their belief that they can’t do it, their belief that they are not good enough to do it, their belief that they are not worthy enough, that they are not smart enough, that they are not brave enough. They are just focussing that energy on that — what did Ronny call it? — their BS.

The energy is always flowing, and we have the choice then, when we find ourselves there, because sometimes it is like “Okay, I just need a break. I need a rest.” But when we find ourselves there, then there is the choice to either take a conscious rest where we are refocusing that energy, not on that egoic aspect of life but on our spiritual aspect of life and have zeal in our meditation, have zeal in our affirmative prayer, have zeal in a walk, in a nap, whatever it is that we need to do to recover physically but still keep our energy focused on the nature of our being, keep our energy focused on that spiritual wholeness, keep our energy focused in our minds and our thoughts and our words focused on that expression that Unity calls the Christ, that divine spark within you, that higher consciousness.

Ardent in Spirit

As we go through this experience, I am reminded of a verse from Romans, chapter 12, verse 11, when the apostle Paul was really giving one of his big speeches. This is in the middle of how to live life. This portion was in the middle of how to put love into action. In Romans 12, verse 11 he said, do not lack in zeal but be ardent in spirit, be ardent in the heart of spirit, have that love for spirit, have that love for this divine essence. Have that love for that part of you. Be ardent in that. Do not lag in zeal, allow that to shine. As Deborah sung earlier, you are that light of the world, that little light within you shines so brightly. But you have to give it that focus and that purpose.

So, what is the payoff for this? Why is this so important? Well, really, it’s the experience of how you feel when you are grateful for life. It’s the experience of how you feel when you are inspired for life, when you are inspired about what is happening, when you are inspired by your passion, when you are fueled by your purpose. That is the payoff if you, with intention, if you intentionally focus this energy into that which you are here to do, to be, to express.

Gratitude

So, just think for a moment. If we look outside of us, if we look in this room, can you see one thing in this room that you are grateful for? Just look around. I am going to grab my water because I am grateful for water. It’s not a test, I won’t call on you, but do you have something? Thank you, Paul. I knew I could count on you. Now look within. Look within. Can you find something within that you are grateful for? Can you find some attribute within you that you are grateful for, some experience that you are grateful for, some piece of knowledge, some piece of insight, something that is coming up within you that is saying “Ah, I’m so grateful for this”?

Focus on your breath for a moment. Feel that breath flowing in. Feel that breath flowing out. Feel that energy flowing in. Feel that energy flowing out. What an amazing gift that is. It — you don’t even have to focus on it — it just happens. It’s like God breathing you. That breath of God that flows in and that breath of God that flows out, giving you an experience of life. Anybody still breathing? Most of you are still breathing. That is good to know. What a great gift even that breath is. There is always something in our experience that we can be grateful for and put our energy and attention on, even in the challenges that we have in life.

Our goal, what we are going to be working on over these next few weeks, is really living in that idea of grateful abundance. Of bringing zeal into our lives so we can focus it on where we want to go, bringing zeal into our life, that energy that moves us forward, so we can move towards our goals, so that we can move towards our happiness, our joy, so that we can express and experience more of it in our daily lives. Grateful abundance.

I forgot to bring the book in here, but we are going to use a book for the next eight weeks called The Art of Abundance. We used this before. The Art of Abundance is all about how we can tune in to that principle of abundance which is always present and always active in your life. It’s always there. It’s like zeal. The energy is always there. We just need to tune into it so that we can express and experience it more in our lives.

Abundance in Life

Now abundance is really talking about, not the abundance of money — that may be part of it for you — but the abundance in your life. Grateful for every breath, every experience and every relationship and every moment that we have.

I will give you a great example of this. My twelve-year-old daughter, as many of you know, is in the local dance company and yesterday was a gruelling day. She got up at I think 7:00 to get ready to go. She had to be makeup-ready, costume-ready for the ballet company and then for pictures. She took pictures for the ballet company. She took pictures for the dance company. She is in like five dances. Took pictures for the Nutcracker. She was there until 6:30 at night, all day long. She didn’t stop for lunch. Photo after photo after photo, dance class after dance class, costume change after costume change. At the end of the day, I picked her up — she texted me she’s done — and I got there, “Oh, hang on, Drosselmeyer just got here. There is an adult playing Drosselmeyer and just got off work, so she had to go take more photos. So, I waited and then she got undressed and came out with her whole bag full of costumes and “Okay let’s go”. “Can we go to In-N-Out?” You betcha.” So, we went to In-N-Out and the line was out, down in front of Costco all the way down the road there. “Well, if we go home, you can eat faster. If we go inside, we can probably order a little quicker”. She looked at me and said “Yeah, but if we stay in line, here in the car, we get to listen to music more.” “You got it.” So, we pulled in.

Where is her focus? Where is her energy? On her joy, on her experience. So, we listened to some songs that she liked by My Chemical Romance. I knew part of the lyrics. So, we looked up the lyrics as we are inching along, and we are singing and rocking out in the car. It was so much fun. And we’re getting around almost to the point where we turn and she says “Wow, the sky is so beautiful. The clouds are amazing.” I look up, it’s grey. I’m like “Yeah, yeah they are beautiful”. Then we turn the corner, and she says “Right there! That’s the one, right there!” You know how it was just after the sunset so there wasn’t a lot of colour but there was a little sliver of light and there were wisps of clouds and it ranged from dark grey to periwinkle and there was a little bit of orange in there and it was just this beautiful scene, this little tiny scene, and she was like, “That, right there. That is so beautiful.”

The Rewards of Grateful Abundance

Grateful abundance, being able to experience Spirit in that moment, being able to experience the nature of God and the universe, being able to connect with that. That is a pretty incredible pay off. It comes from consciously focusing where we are putting our attention and our energy, to consciously focus on a grateful sense of abundance in our lives.

In the book the author, Peter Diamandis, says, “When I think of creating abundance it’s not about creating a life of luxury for everybody on this planet or even for me personally. It’s about creating a life of possibility. It’s about taking that which is scarce and making it abundant.” 

Now, through this next several weeks we are going to be focused on a chapter or two each week because the book builds on itself and what it does is it grounds us without principle of abundance that is always present and allows us and helps us to move through our life to create something, to create a life of purpose, a life worth living.

An Opportunity

As we come to the end of 2021, anybody going to miss it? I am ready for 2022. So, it’s an opportunity for us to start looking at what do we want to see in the future for ourselves personally. How do I want to grow? How do I want to expand in consciousness? How do I want my life to unfold in this time that I have?

Each month we’ll have a – oh, sorry – each week we’ll have, there will be a premise, a problem, the principle, the practice and the payoff. Along the way there are going to be challenges. One of the challenges that you will come up against is you will start learning about your own roadblocks. You will start learning about that part of your BS, your belief system that is blocking you, that is preventing you from experiencing a life worth living. We are going to have some roadblocks like language. There will be challenging ideas. They’ll be challenging where you are at, what your definitions are, even that definition of zeal, that quiet zeal. It’s still very powerful.

The reason we do this — some people say, “Well, there is a lot of Unity speak here” and that might be true — the reason we do that is to expand your possibilities, to expand your consciousness, to look at things a little bit differently, to see the world anew. This is what is meant by earlier in that chapter 12 of Romans, when Paul says, be refreshed and be renewed by the renewing of your mind. “Do not be conformed by the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

Expand. Allow something to come up and when you see these spiritual practices, practice them. Just try them out. A lot of people say, “This is great but it’s not working”. “Really, are you practicing?” “Yeah. I meditated for five minutes this week.” Well, that’s five minutes better than last week but it’s not going to get you that giant transformation that you think is going to happen by meditating for five minutes and yet it’s still bringing you along the path, one step at a time.

So, don’t get too excited about whether it’s working or not; just keep moving forward. Allow that spiritual zeal to move you in that direction of Spirit. Allow that spiritual zeal to be focused on God expressing in, through and as you. The author says, “The reward behind every thought, deed and action of every human being of rational mind on this planet is the desire for freedom, inner peace and a life worth living, a life that is filled with purpose and meaning, a life of fulfilment and wholeness.” 

You are already those things. These next few weeks we are going to tap into it so you can draw it forward just a little bit more, so you can express and experience that wholeness, that spiritual wholeness, that abundance in your life just a little bit more. All it takes is a willingness, a zeal within you to let that light shine.

Let’s move to our affirmation. I am going to read it to you so you can get a sense of it and then I am going to ask you to affirm it and allow that energy of zeal within you to express while you affirm it.

Awakening to the principle of abundance active within me, I say Yes! to today. This single, simple word opens my mind and heart to new possibilities. I greet this day with zeal!

Would you affirm that with me? Together:

Awakening to the principle of abundance active within me, I say Yes! to today. This single, simple word opens my mind and heart to new possibilities. I greet this day with zeal! 

I am bringing the zeal. Would you affirm that with me? Together:

I am bringing the zeal. 

Oh, that was pretty close. Oh sorry, that was perfect. For some it was exuberant zeal, for some it was quiet zeal. I love it.

I am bringing the zeal today. 

Together:

I am bringing the zeal today. 

Prayer for Protection

And now for our Prayer for Protection. Together:

The Light of God surrounds us;

The Love of God enfolds us;

The Power of God protects us;

The Presence of God watches over us;

Wherever we are, God is!

And, all is well.

Love and blessing everyone. Have a wonderful, wonderful week. Namaste.