Regaining Your Inner Peace | Rev. John Riley

Are you ready for a break? Are you ready to take a breath? Yeah, me too. It feels like that we’re in a marathon these days and it just — those last few weeks we have been talking about stepping out and going after our goals and dodging and weaving all of the obstacles in our road and sometimes it’s just time to take a break, to take a breath, to rest in Spirit. 

So, there’s a story. Jesus and his disciples were walking into a grain field. Did I make that sound like I was leading into a joke? Jesus and his disciples were walking into a bar. Well, it may well have been a bar. It was a grain field, and the day was the Sabbath. The disciples started to pick grain and that was against the law. So, the Pharisees came up to Jesus and said, “Look, what are they doing? Why did they break the law this way? Why are they picking the grain?” And Jesus said — you know what Jesus said to them? Anybody know what Jesus said? Its extra points. “I’m hungry”. That’s exactly right! Who said that? Linda, you got the extra point. Bonus. 

He said, have you ever read — he is talking to the Pharisees — by the way, have you ever read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abathar, the high priest, he entered into the house of God and he ate the consecrated bread which was lawful only for the priest to eat. He also gave some to his companions and then he said to the Pharisees that the Sabbath was made for men not the man made for the Sabbath. 

Releasing and Renewing

Now, the great spiritual principle here is that so often we get caught up in our rights and rituals, and they just become our rights and rituals. We’re in, I think, the 32nd day of Lent. In Unity, what we have been doing is practicing daily this idea of releasing and renewing. If you haven’t participated yet you can go to our website, scroll down a little bit and you’ll see “Release and Renew”. There’s a two- to four-minute video. One day we are releasing something and the next day we are renewing something. And that’s really the principle, the spiritual principle that’s tied up in Lent, is the idea of releasing and letting go of that which no longer serves us, and then renewing our minds, resting in Spirit and renewing ourselves in that energy. 

It’s been a wonderful practice for me to make those videos, and thank you to all of you who have sent me emails. We have a lot of people actually practicing daily and your emails of encouragement are wonderful, just to hear how they uplift you in the day. We’re getting away from the ritual of Lent where it just becomes rote or it just becomes a practice. In fact, Ramadan just started last night. Again, Ramadan is a thirty-day practice of fasting during the day and having a feast at night after sundown, and morning prayers and prayers throughout the day. And the whole purpose of it is to get one closer to God, to get one closer to Allah, to get one closer to the isness or source of Spirit, whatever word you want to use. If you actually practice that, the hope is that you begin to continue to practice that and that becomes your pattern, resting in Spirit. 

What is the Sabbath?

So, what does Sabbath mean? What is this idea of Sabbath, because in Unity we look at things a little bit differently. We are not looking at it from a literal translation but more of a metaphysical translation. What does it mean to us in consciousness and how can we look at that? Well, Charles Fillmore in the Revealing Word — I guess it’s a hundred years ago just about — he wrote these words about Sabbath. “The true Sabbath is that state of spiritual attainment where you cease from all personal effort and all belief in your own works and rest in the consciousness that the Father that abideth in you doeth the work”, from John 14, verse 10. 

Let’s pause there for a second because there’s that word “father” which conjures up this idea of the bearded guy in the sky who is blessing and condoning people. That is not what Unity means. And, of course, that was written a hundred years ago and that was the terminology but what he is talking about is principle, his God, his Spirit. For God is everywhere present and in everything, just like Rusty said earlier. 

So, you may call it God or isness or divine mind or the universe or simply Spirit, but just allowing that idea that spirit is moving you. Now, ego wants to take control. Ego wants to think they’re involved. Ego wants to think “I am the one that’s doing all of this great work”. And that’s fine when ego is succeeding but then when ego is not succeeding, that’s when we get into trouble. When ego takes the wheel, so often we are heading in a direction that isn’t helping, isn’t helping you, that’s being attached to whatever it is we are working on, getting upset at all the relationships that are in us. 

Eckhart Tolle called that our pain body. That is our pain body within us, that’s seizing and trying to maintain control, that’s trying to fend off all of the negativity in the world, that’s trying to steer the ship. Instead, we allow ego to take a step back and let Spirit drive the bus. 

Anybody here been on a long road trip that was really fun — I have to preface that because I think we have all been on a road trip that wasn’t fun — but a road trip that was really fun? Do you remember just sitting there and looking around and just seeing the glory of the world around you as you’re cruising along listening to your favourite songs, having great conversations, taking breaks and stopping along the way to see the sights either by yourself maybe or with someone else? That’s ego’s purpose. Be the passenger. Enjoy the ride. Get excited about what is going on here. 

Where did I leave off? Father, that’s right. So how about one of my favourite words for Spirit is allness. So how about, the allness abiding in me doeth the work? That point within me where there is pure, the purity of Spirit, untouched, unfettered, just leading from that state of consciousness. When you understand that true spirit of Sabbath, “we cease to follow the prescribed rules laid down by the church and open our mind to allness and rest in that peace. We rest from outer work, ceasing daily occupation and give ourselves up to meditation and the study of spiritual things.” 

So, just taking a break, taking a breath and doing some meditation, taking a breath and letting that meditation lead you into affirmative prayer, maybe reading something that uplifts you, listening to an uplifting song or just taking a break, watching baseball. No baseball fans. Okay. Two baseball fans. Great. 

So, the wonderful thing, my son is on the baseball team, JV team at Palley, the local high school. And they had two games, one on Friday and one on Saturday. So, Saturday I am just sitting there, standing there watching the baseball game and every once in a while just looking up and looking at the beauty. It was a beautiful day. The trees are shimmering. Just taking a breath. That was all I needed. Just that one point of connection. We were losing 13-4 by that time but that’s not important. My ego said it was important, but I let ego take the side, the passenger seat. Just take a moment to say, “This is. I am going to enjoy this day. I am going.” There was a decision, “I am going to enjoy this moment”. 

I can get all spiritual on you and say there are so many great lessons in that shanked ball that got caught. There were so many great lessons in the strikeout, whatever. There are, and we don’t have to worry about them. Those lessons are for that pain body that seems to hold onto the idea that my son always has to hit that grand slam homerun. He hasn’t hit one yet. Those fields are pretty big for a thirteen- or sixteen-year-old. But just to know, to be in the moment of Spirit, that’s all the rest that we really need. And when we are in the moment of Spirit in all of our daily work, then ego doesn’t get too involved. Ego comes from that space of Spirit. Ego comes from that space of our purpose, our why for life. 

Spiritual Consciousness and Rest

Something doesn’t work out, ego says, “what’s the next?” If you are open to that, then Spirit will lead you to the next highest good. Okay, I’m two thirds of the way through. Lucky me. “The Sabbath is kept anytime we enter into spiritual consciousness and rest from thoughts of temporal things. We let go of external observations of days because the day of the Sabbath on which we retire into Spirit because everyday is a day of Sabbath when we retire into Spirit” and allow that presence to be us, to lead us. 

It has been very, very busy in my household. I don’t know what it’s like in your household but as things start to ramp back up after, during this phase of this experience that we’re calling covid, activities are ramping back up and there’s a lot of fear. “Am I going to be healthy?” There is a lot of stress around that. There is a lot of digging in. I’m going to wear my mask or not. I was wearing my mask once one day — this was early on when they said you don’t have to wear a mask — and I had my mask on and one person got mad because I had my mask on. I took it off and another person got mad because I didn’t have a mask on. Everyone is digging in their heels about their own personal belief systems. Instead, let’s just relax. Let’s just open to Spirit and allow Spirit to guide us. Give ego, let ego take a break. 

Releasing

Now, there are three areas that I want to focus on and it’s coming along this idea, the practice of releasing and renewing. Releasing is letting go. It’s what Charles Fillmore would call denial. The denial and affirmation. Now denial has taken on a different meaning now and people get a little itchy when I say denial. It’s not that you are in denial, it’s just that you’re denying the power, you’re releasing the power that something has over you. You are letting it go. 

So, you’re letting go of that idea of digging in your heels. You’re letting go of that idea of disappointment. You’re letting go of that idea of fear. You’re just letting it go. It’s like Indiana Jones in The Last Crusade. I know that’s an old movie now for some people. The kids may not remember them. My kids haven’t seen it. We tried to watch the first movie, The Raiders of the Lost Ark. You know, movies moved at a much different pace when I was a kid. It’s like you can actually sit and watch and get into the story. Nowadays, I watched the latest Fast and Furious and they wasted three minutes of the movie at the very beginning with some story plot line and then they started speeding and racing around. See, that’s what we are used to now, just the instant gratification of activity. 

So, they haven’t seen this glorious trilogy of the Raiders of the Lost Ark, self-proclaimed glorious. In one of the last scenes, Indiana Jones is holding onto the cup and his father, who is played by Sean Connery, is holding on to him and he is dangling over this crevice and the whole point is he just has to let it go. But that’s us and ego. Ego doesn’t want to let it go. Sean Connery says, “Son, just let it go”. That is my best Sean Connery that I can do. Thank you, thank you very much. Thank you. Finally, he lets it go. That’s all that denial is. That’s all that it is. It’s just, be willing to unclench your fist for one moment, to let it go. 

In relationships, we have this idea of attachment. We have to attach ourselves to people and we have to hold on tight because if we don’t, they might slip away. What happens when you hold onto somebody this tightly? Conflict starts to erupt. There’s some natural freedoms that need to happen but what if you held them like this? How about problems that we have or things that we want to accomplish? So often, we’re attached to the results. We have a sense of “I need to accomplish this” and we’re holding on so tight. What happens if we hold onto it like this, in the palm of our hand? That’s the practice of non-resistance. 

So, when we let go of that idea of attachments, of holding onto, of resisting what is happening, all of the stress and strain out there, when we let go of it or just hold it like this because the bottom line is, even though you’re going through this wonderful practice of Lent, it doesn’t mean you’re not going to have stress and strain in your life. Anybody realize that? Not experience any stress and strain in your life? Every once in a while, there is going to be something. “Besides you, John. You are an expert metaphysician. If you want good grades, go see John. He will tutor you”. But letting go, just allowing it. When it shows up, hold it with non-resistance. 

Non-Resistance

Non-resistance is the spiritual practice of just being with what is, without pushing away our fears, without pushing away the stress and strain, just saying “oh, there it is” and releasing it. Release is not “I’ve got to push it down” because so often something, anger, comes up and “I can’t be angry”. No. It’s okay. Anger’s okay. Anger’s just a warning sign that there is something going on within you. So, just release the anger by saying “there it is”. It will naturally go away as you begin to let go of the resistance that you are having. 

The practice of non-resistance is so key to being present to this moment, to being present to Spirit, the allness of life, to being present to the gifts that are here. In the baseball game when you’re losing 13-4, just be present. Out of that presence, that idea, comes the inner peace, letting go of the anger and the frustration that we have so that we can establish, re-establish inner peace, breathing into this present moment, breathing into the knowing that the allness of life is within you and available to you. You may not see it yet. But with faith, the power of faith is that we move in a direction and allow Spirit to guide us, that we move in a direction and we look for the signs and where to turn, knowing that the signs will come. Because when we let go of that need to control how our life is showing up and allow that energy to flow, then we’re moving with the flow of the universe. We are moving with the flow of Spirit. 

In my recording, I talked about this as thinking you are in a stream, this river that is going down. And all of a sudden, there’s a bunch of rocks and the river starts to pick up speed and is making its way through the rocks. Have you ever seen a river like that? I think we’ve all seen a river like that. But now you’re in the river and it’s like you’re bashing up against the rocks when we’re trying to resist the current. It’s like we’re bashing into the rocks when we’re afraid of what’s happening or afraid of what’s out there. Being in the, being nonresistant and at peace and flowing with Spirit is like being on the raft, on the river, with a guide, with an oar so when you start to head into the danger zone you can steer your way in the other direction. When the raft starts to tip, you can lean in the right direction. The guide brings you through and the guide is that inner resource of Spirit because you have within you all of the tools you need to move through those rapids in your life. 

So, practice non-resistance. Practice inner peace. Maintain your inner peace. And what that does is that opens us up. That creates a space within you that allows that healing, harmonizing energy of Spirit to move in, though, and as you, to accept that harmonizing, healing energy of Spirit through your consciousness, through your body, through your mind, through your actions so that you are the healing force in your life. 

The problem is when you look at all of the struggles, when you look at all your strains and you have all of your “yeah buts”, that’s what you’re seeing life through. When you’re focussing on the struggles and the stress and the strain, that’s the lens through which you’re seeing the world and it just magnifies all of the struggles, stresses, and strains. We all have the ability to release that and turn our attention to Spirit, turn our attention to the good in our lives. 

What Brings a Sense of Joy?

Just take a moment now to think about something that you really appreciate in life. Everyone has one thing at least that they really appreciate in life, something that brings them a felt sense of joy, of love, of gratitude. Allow that feeling right now to well up within you. Feel that feeling in your heart. Place your hand on your heart if you’d like. If you’re having trouble getting there, wiggle your toes because I’ll tell you, when you are stressed — and this is training that they give to soldiers — when you are in stress, when you’re triggered in life, you’re tight up here and you can’t move. But when you put your attention on your feet and on your hands and your extremities, you let go of the stress that’s up here. This is Trauma First Aid 101. Same thing applies when our spiritual practice – if you’re trying to meditate and you just can’t, start wiggling your toes, feeling the earth beneath you. Feel the gravity that’s below you. Allow that gravity to just drain all that stress and strain out of you and bring to mind again that thing you greatly appreciate in life, that thing that brings you a sense of joy. 

Allow that feeling, that self, that felt sense of love and appreciation to well up within you. You just rested in Spirit. You have just allowed that beautiful energy to move in, through and as you, to move through every cell in your body, that harmonizing energy. And then you can allow that energy, that light, to shine so brightly and expand from you and to meet every person that you come in contact with. Feel that energy as it permeates the room. Feel that love and that harmony as it radiates into our country and into our continent and wraps around the planet and holds all beings in this same energy, divine energy, holy energy, spiritual energy, whatever you want to call it. We hold the entire planet in that, just for one moment. 

That’s all it takes to rest in Spirit and to regain that energy because that energy is flowing through you. Take a nice deep cleansing breath and allow that to be your guide through the rest of the day.