What Does Your Discontent Mean? | Rev. John Riley

Good morning. Good morning. Well, let’s take a nice, deep cleansing breath. Let’s take a moment to center ourselves in this present moment. 

Two weeks ago, we started with the idea of this journey, of building our future and we were stepping in. Do you remember? Lisa said there was going to be a test. I don’t know, should we have her back as a platform leader? You get to choose because — then you better study. 

Stepping In and Stepping Out

Stepping in, stepping in, stepping in. We must always step in. Begin by stepping in, begin by stepping in to build that, seek first that consciousness of Spirit, to seek first that awareness of divine love in your life. That is the first step in every occasion: to open your heart to that harmonizing power of love, to open your mind to that infinite intelligence so that we are in alignment with the universe, so that we’re in alignment with what is, so that we can live into our purpose, our why, so that we can be that beautiful expression of Spirit in whatever you do, in your own unique and special way. That is how you get in tune with it is by stepping within and aligning yourself with it first and align with it. 

Then we step out. We step out to achieve our goals. We step out to do the things that ought to be done by us with a mighty unwavering faith. We step out. As you are moving towards your goals, as you are living your why, as you are experiencing and moving towards what your intentions are, there may be obstacles in the way. 

The Obstacles

Now, I am saying maybe because I don’t want to affirm that absolutely there are going to be obstacles in your way. I don’t want to affirm that, but in this human experience has anyone experienced obstacles? I say maybe because there’s no way that I have not experienced obstacles. I experience them everyday sometimes. Most of them, 98% of them — okay, all of them, if I’m going to quote my kids. If I am being honest — when are you not being honest with me? Anyway, that is another talk — 100% of the time it’s because of me. 

What are those obstacles? Well, along the path you may find competing and conflicting agendas, competing and conflicting interests, people heading in a different direction. You may be heading towards a project and the current is sweeping you somewhere else. Have you ever experienced that in your life? Have you ever experienced the idea of there might be some human limitations? There might be some physical, some intellectual, some emotional limitations that when we approach something it’s just like, “You know, I’m not quite there yet. There is something in my way”. 

The biggest obstacle is fear because all of those other things create a sense of fear within us, fear of “will I ever achieve my goal?”, fear of “am I ever going to live my purpose? Do I really know what my purpose is?”, fear of “what happens when I come face to face with that obstacle, when I bump into it, when that obstacle is right in my face”, and the disappointments in life, the disappointments that is the — what did I write down? yes – the unexpected, unmet expectations. 

Anybody have an expectation? You wake up in the morning and you decide, “Okay, we are going to go to church. I expect a certain experience.” I wake up in the morning and I expect things to be in a certain way throughout all my life and then all of a sudden, they’re not that way. Our emotional reactions to those unmet expectations are what create that disharmony within us. 

That is why 100% of the time I try to take ownership of my stuff because if I run up against it, I realize that’s me. That’s my little self, my ego, my little child who is afraid, who’s afraid of getting beat up, who’s afraid of being shamed and saying you are not good enough, and you’re not doing it right, who’s afraid of succeeding even, because once you get there — have you ever had that feeling? You get there and it’s like, “Oh this is awesome. Look at this wonderful view. Now what?” It’s like when you are along the path and you are walking along this beautiful path because you’re all centered and all of a sudden there is this cliff right in front of you and you are looking, “Well, there’s my destination somewhere beyond there, up and beyond. I didn’t know I had to free climb a 50-foot cliff.” 

So, what do you do when you run into these obstacles? Well, our human nature lashes out. That’s not what we are hoping for. The human nature in us is going to feel hurt, be that little kid, be that animal backed into a corner. That fight-flight-flee mechanism is going to kick in. But when we feel that coming on, when we see that obstacle, if the first thing that we did was step back in, we would avoid a lot of that challenge, a lot of that inner turmoil, a lot of that inner suffering, if we stepped back in to reground ourselves in Spirit, if we stepped back in to remind ourselves of our why. And sometimes it just takes a moment. If you catch it early enough, it just takes a moment. If you don’t and you are triggered, oh, there is all kinds of stuff that happens. Then you’ve got to work through all of the adrenaline going through you. It may take a little bit longer. You may need to go for a walk or run, or have some time pass before you come back to realize “Oh boy, is that my shadow twin, Skippy, coming out again?” 

Then you look back. And then what comes of that? — Oh, I’ve got something else I wanted to say here. Hang on a second. It’s really important. — The unexpected expectations of other people. That’s the blame that we do. The unexpected expectations of you all out there. Then there is the unmet expectations of myself. That is my feeling guilt. Then there’s what happens after that is the self-punishment for all of those unmet expectations either out there or in here. That’s my shame. 

The only way through that is to come back to Spirit. Now there’s a hundred spiritual practices to help us do that. Forgiveness is one of the most important practices. Prayer and meditation bring us to that space and forgiveness is the process of that inner letting go of that shame, of that guilt, and that blame so that it no longer drives you. 

Look to Your Core Values

Step back in to look to that, your core values. Why are you here and who have you come here to be? If you have come here to be a loving expression, then just get back into that groove without the shame because the shame will not let you up from it. So often in life in our society, of course, and maybe the religion or the upbringing that you had, you were grown up or were brought up in, this idea that you are shameful. You were brought up in this idea that you have something wrong with you from birth, that there is something not quite right with your soul. In Unity we teach that you are not, that you don’t have an original sin, rather you are an original blessing. 

So, it’s simply coming back to that original blessing within you, that original-ness, that point within you that is pure. The quicker you can step back in, the quicker you can come back out and be that loving presence. Discontent is calling from within. Discontent is the calling from within to return you to your purpose. 

So, whatever roadblock you may see out there as you are going towards that cliff you may see “Okay, I can’t make it up there and this is a bummer”. 

Maybe there is a path over here and you are walking through the blackberries. Anybody walk through blackberries? Those are my favorite things. Growing up, we had wonderful blackberry bushes growing along the side of paths. You cannot walk through them. They are filled with thorns, delicious fruit but filled with thorns. There is poison oak where we grew up so you couldn’t get off the main path because poison oak is so beautiful. All around you, all you have to do is go to Foothill Park in the spring and you will see it. It’s gorgeous. Just don’t touch it. But that’s what we do. We start trudging through it. 

So instead, what if you just stopped and sat down at the base of that hill and turned back in, stepped within? Maybe the answer is you need some more tools and skills. Maybe you need to learn how to climb that hill. Maybe you need to practice some spiritual practice to get you back to where you want to be. Maybe the solution is you need to go back to base camp and find a guide who knows the path up the hill, who can teach you how to climb, who can say, “Yeah man, yeah dude, up in the sky, yeah dude, it’s right over there. The path is right over there”, and it leads you to a different view but it’s a beautiful view and you will achieve your why, your purpose. Maybe you need to step back and realize that there is just something else. Maybe this isn’t the path to take. Maybe there is another path that can still fulfill that purpose within you. 

Best Foot Forward

But however you move, always attempt to put your best foot forward. Whatever step you are going to take, always attempt to put your best foot forward. Always have the intention to come at it with that centered Spirit feeling, empowered by Spirit, empowered by that harmonizing energy and keeping that forefront so when the obstacles come you are able to maneuver very quickly. 

The most successful people that I know, it’s not that they don’t run into obstacles, they’re just really good at dodging and weaving, at discerning “Well, what’s the next step? Where’s a different path. How can I move beyond this particular obstacle?” 

Discontent

The discontent yearning that’s within you is the call of Spirit to express a greater degree of your purpose, a greater degree of your spiritual magnificence, a greater degree of your higher consciousness, a greater degree of your better self. That discontent that we feel in us even when we get to the top of that mountain, it’s like, “Oh I did it. Now what?” There’s another mountain, another view. That discontent is for us to be in life in a more deep and fulfilling way, in a way that is of service, that is a way that is serving not just your own ego and your own wants and desires but that is serving others, that is serving our planet, that is serving the whole of humanity. That’s the call of that discontent. 

So, the discontent isn’t bad. It can just teach us, “Hey, I’ve reached a roadblock in here and I need to find a new way around that in here so that I can express that more fully”. When we are of service to people in whatever way it is, we are lifting the whole of consciousness up. 

So how will you be of service? The idea here is, if we are all one, if we are all one in the universe, if Spirit is in and through and as each one of us then what we do to each other, we do to ourselves. When we react to others, we’re creating our own inner turmoil. When someone reacts to us, how we react and respond changes the situation. 

So, when you can come from that place of knowing that you are serving humanity by approaching life from a more positive perspective, from a service-oriented perspective, then you are changing your life and you’re changing the lives around you. It’s what the apostle Paul said. He said, always serve, always act as if you are serving God, always act as if you are serving Spirit. Always act as if you are serving Spirit because you are all Spirit in expression. You’re all the oneness of life. If we’re serving — you got some of these this morning. What was mine this morning? — the allness of life, the allness of life. I mean, just think about that. The allness of life. That is the definition of oneness. What we do to the allness of life, in the form of Frank D. Martini, we do to the allness of life to everyone. 

So, always put your best, always intend to put your best foot forward because we don’t always put our best foot forward. There are times when we trip. There are times that we fall. And instead of going into the guilt- blame-shame spiral, try to recover immediately. Try to recover as quickly as possible. 

Vessel Consciousness

The tools that are taught around this is, do not judge by — what was it? – do not judge by outer appearances. Do not judge a book by its cover. Thank you. Yeah. Do not judge by outer appearances. Do not judge by what you see someone doing, but judge by righteousness, by righteous thinking. So, what does that mean? Do not judge the world by what’s happening, by the obstacle, but rather seek first the consciousness of God. Seek first that consciousness and say, “Okay, allness, what’s in it for me? What’s the lesson I am learning here?” Seek first the awareness that we are really all interconnected. That helps us move from the consciousness of “life happening to me”, the dualistic victim/victor consciousness. “Life is happening to me. That person did something to me. I did something to them”, that dualistic consciousness but rather, “I’m here to serve God. I’m here to serve the allness of life”. 

When we come from that perspective that shifts us into the vessel consciousness, perhaps, where it’s still dualistic but at least you’re serving and you’re allowing Spirit to flow and serve us and it shifts you into the verity consciousness, the more you practice it the idea that you are knowing your allness, the knowingness. That’s the spiritual experience that we get to have here in life. 

We’re here to be role models for others. We’re here to coach. Every one of you is here to be that spiritual guide for someone in your life and it could just be saying, “don’t judge a book by its cover”. That’s the calling.

Service comes from the heart and has its inception in the creative energy and inspiration of source, Spirit, and the allness of life which always seeks to express through you.

We are here to serve the world, to serve the planet. Now, I say this because I have — my ego thinks that Unity knows where it’s at. I think there are so many ways in which we connect with Spirit. And whatever your way is, that’s your wonderful path. And I invite you to lift it up and to share it with the world, to share with the world your love so that you can lift up the world. It’s in need of a facelift, don’t you think? It’s in need of an uplift, don’t you think? And that’s what is happening in the world. It’s a call to us to grow and to lift our consciousness.