Principle, Not Personality
In 1886 Myrtle Fillmore had a revelation while listening to a New Thought lecture. She realized that her inheritance not from human parents but from her Father God. She realized that God is our Parent and that we inherit only nature of God. She worked with this truth until she experienced a healing of what had been diagnosed as terminal tuberculosis.
In 1889 the Fillmores started publishing a magazine called Modern Thought to promote the new thought they had found.
In 1890 Modern Thought announced the formation of the Society of Silent Help for those who wanted to join together in cooperative prayer.
1891 Charles Fillmore had a “revelation” during prayer that they should call their work “Unity.” At that time they changed the name of their prayer group affiliations to the “Society of Silent Unity.” Around the same time the Fillmores also began teaching classes. So now Unity consisted of three ministries: publishing, prayer, education.
By 1896, the prayer affiliation of Silent Unity had over 6,000 members. By 1903 there were over 10,000 members and by 1906 over 15,000. Today, Silent Unity receives over a million prayer requests per year and has hundreds of employees.
Unity has received hundreds of thousands of letters of gratitude for answered prayer. You can read a few of those letters in The Story of Unity, Not long ago, a book was published filled with letters written to Silent Unity in gratitude for answered prayers. That book was Prayer Works! (Unity House) by Rosemary Ellen Guiley.
Silent Unity does not ask regarding religious affiliation, but has received from testimonial letters members of many Christian denominations, Jews, Muslims, and others.
Unity’s ministry of spiritual healing was unique. It was a democratized of spiritual healing ministry, dependent not upon individual “charisma” but on being in harmony with Principle. Silent Unity consists of Anonymous healers, because the point is not the exaltation of personality, but rather exaltation of Divine Truth and Spiritual Principle.
It is commonly believed that special individuals are given a gift of healing; that a few are chosen by God to work miracles. There is a danger in this common belief. The belief that a few are chosen and given a special gift implies that a few personalities are intermediaries between God and the rest of humanity. It implies that God is not omnipresent, but rather, travels around with a few chosen individuals. It implies that God is present in some places with some people, but absent in others. The danger is that people will not look within their own hearts and minds and souls for the divine and for truth, but instead will become dependent upon the personal authority of some fallible human being. That is how personality cults form. Personality cults might turn out to be relatively benign, but they can also turn into disasters, as happened in Jonestown and Waco.
In Unity, Spiritual Healing is not considered to be a special gift to chosen few, but is based upon Universal Principle accessible to all. True Spiritual Healing manifests as an effect of realization of Truth. Realization of Truth is accessible through prayer that affirms and is receptive to the omnipresence of God the Good.
Realization of Truth consists of a mystical perception of oneness with God, attained by withdrawing your attention from the realm of the senses and focusing your attention on the Reality that is the Kingdom of God within you. Receptively holding affirmations of Truth in mind connects you with Omnipresence of Spirit. Spirit transcends space and time.
Every idea is everywhere present. By directing your mental attention to an idea, you tune into it, in much the same way as you use a radio or television receiver to tune into a particular station. For example, think of someone you know; think their name. You can feel a sense of that person, of his or her personality and character. That person is as much an eternal idea in Divine Mind as is the idea of love or the idea “2+2=4.” Focus your attention for a moment on the idea of Divine Love: “God is love. Divine Love is everywhere present.” You can feel the meaning of the idea to some degree as soon as you think the thought.
Prayer for health tunes in to the omnipresent idea or vibratory frequency of Divine Life, the wholeness of God, and the experience of good health.
Prayer for supply tunes in to omnipresent substance and the realm of creative ideas. Whatever idea you “tune in to,” comes into your experience to the degree of your receptivity to and acceptance of that idea.
Metaphysical prayer or meditation is not about stirring up emotions, but letting go, accepting, and being firmly tuned in to divine ideas.
The Fillmores gave these instructions for Silent Unity meetings: “Hold in the silence some thought of Truth. . . . It is sometimes advisable to repeat it audibly, then silently, until mental vibrations become harmonious. . . . Feel that you are talking to every soul in the universe and that all are listening to your call. . . . Take up those you desire to help and hold them in thought by name separately.”
They went on to say: “The only object and aim of this Society is to get people to listen to the ‘still small voice’ and know that God will lead them into all wisdom, health, and happiness if they will spend but a few moments each day in His company – the silent realm of Divine Mind.”
Prayer always does something good. You may feel more at peace, more in harmony with the universe, more connected to God. You may experience strengthening of your faith in God or your confidence in yourself as a child of God. Unexpected opportunities or supply may come into your life. Healings of body, emotions, or relationships may occur.
Some of the most common challenges in life have to do with our relationships to others. Most people are healthy most of the time. Most people have adequate supply most of the time. However, every day we interact with others and make new connections. We do not get to choose how others act, nor their motives and moods. So in relationships we find the single most important element of spiritual growth. In terms of metaphysical and spiritual truth, we are one in the all-harmonious reality of God. In fact, our connections with others can be constantly aggravating. Do you not find this to be true of some of your relationships and interactions?
One thing you can learn from applying prayer to your relationships is that you have the power to choose to be serene, confident, and loving, regardless of how others act. If you find that you react to the behavior of others, you are giving them power. Why give them power? Why not choose to be master of your own consciousness? Of course it isn’t easy! If it were easy, it would not be a great accomplishment. Mastery of your own consciousness is the greatest possible achievement. Self-mastery is a common characteristic of every human who has ever received significant homage as being “divine.” One significant reason people have worshipped Buddha, Confucius, Lao-Tzu, Jesus, and others as gods is that those great spiritual teachers had self-mastery. Some degree of self-mastery is attained every time you choose to spend time in contemplation of Truth, by the very act of choosing as well as by whatever effects such meditation may have.
What is power of collective prayer? Jesus said, “If two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them.” (Matt 18: 19) When you pray alone, you are not alone, for you are connecting with the “I AM,” the divine Identity. In collective prayer, we join together at the level of our divinity and amplify that vibration in the manifest world.
Imagine an entire neighborhood in which everyone is tuned in to same music station on their sound systems. The whole neighborhood would amplify and reverberate to the same rhythms and notes. The radio station broadcast is invisible and inaudible until it is received and amplified. Collective prayer works something like that.
It is very spiritually beneficial to meet at regularly scheduled times with a few like-minded friends to pray with each other and discuss spiritual matters. I invite you to consider the idea of forming a small group of like-minded friends to discuss Truth and pray in support of one another. I know from experience that such a group is genuinely helpful in times of challenge. Forming such a group can also be an occasion for sharing a meal and socializing.
Here are some examples of “Truth statements” you can use in prayer. Be still and hold these truths in mind silently. You may find it helpful to also say them aloud. Take time to accept and feel the Truth of this. Know and feel that your consciousness of Truth is connected to every soul in the universe. For the following affirmations for others, think of individuals you wish to support in prayer:
God is Spirit: omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent Good.
I am an expression of omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent Spirit.
You are an expression of omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent Spirit
Omniscient Spirit expresses intelligence, understanding, and good judgment through me.
Omniscient Spirit expresses intelligence, understanding, and good judgment through you.
Omnipotent Spirit expresses life, strength, and good health through me. Omnipotent Spirit expresses life, strength, and good health through you.
Omnipresent Spirit expresses abundant joy and all good through me.
Omnipresent Spirit expresses abundant joy and all good through you.
Right now, in this very moment, you are letting God be God in you. Right now, you are attaining a greater degree of self-mastery. Right now, this very moment, you are contributing to the healing of this planet. Right now, this very moment, you are being transformed by the renewing of your mind. And so it is.