by Heather Diddel I have talked with some of you about the stunning realization one of my friends had a while back about the amount of hunger right in our little upstate community. She was going to a meeting at a school in Schenectady ( but it could easily have been Albany or elsewhere), at…
by Roger Mock In another week I’ll be off with our extended family to the Finger Lakes. Well, just barely the Finger Lakes. We’ll be staying on Conesus Lake, the western most “finger”. It’s not one of the ones you remember from fourth grade geography. Last year I joked that it’s really more of a…
by John Daubney Many of those who provide volunteer services to others, do so using their God-given skills and engaged in activities they enjoy, coupled with a passion for serving others where they sense a need. Ted Kriss’s lifelong love for music; his skill in pr esenting important information to groups of people, and his…
by Rev. Jim Fuller Among the “12 Powers” that Unity co-founder Charles Fillmore describes in his book of the same title is the power of will. Fillmore calls it the executive power of the mind. His chapter on will opens with the quote “The will is the man.” While we may think of willfulness as…
There’s a yoga video I make frequent use of that begins with this statement by the teacher, Kia Miller: “There are two primary forces at work in our life: The ascending force of action and effort, and the descending force of grace.” As you engage in the practice, as you expend effort, there is a…
Image used by permission. harmanvisions.com by Rev. Jim Fuller Originally published in the August 2012 Unity Church in Albany Newsletter. In the forward to Phillip Goldberg’s book “American Veda”, author and teacher Houston Smith comments on the connection between Jesus’ reply to the question “Which commandment is first of all?” and the four branches of…
Several years ago I heard the late Richie Havens in concert. Toward the end of the show he recited a familiar children’s rhyme very very slowly with great inflection; so slowly that you were caught off guard when partway through you realized what it was he was reciting: “Row! ….. row! …. row your …
By John Daubney Dottie’s journey is a testament to the inspirational power of our willingness to serve others through doing what we love to do. Just as Dottie was impassioned by those she saw joyfully giving service,others in the congregation will most likely be lit by the“sparks” Dottie throws off as she freely gives of…
A Spiritual Writing Retreat with Sandy Wells Saturday, October 10, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm Unity Church, 21 King Ave., Albany, NY (NOTE: This workshop replaces the fall retreat that was to be held in Niskayuna, NY) This workshop offers an opportunity to develop the active mind of writing using the contemplative atmosphere of silence,…
…yielding to the flow By Roger Mock “That which is of all things most yielding can overcome that which is most hard.” I chanced to read these words from Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching in a book store some decades ago and they have stayed with me all this time. I believe the book was Alan Watts’ The Watercourse…