Seattle Unity

"Any time you step out and break through that limitation, you break it for others as well."In honor of today's annual congregational meeting, Senior Minister Rev. Karen Lindvig takes  a quick look back at Unity basics and Unity founding history. What makes Unity unique and different from other traditions?  She describes Unity as a tradition of breaking through the shell of previous...

"Imagine a wheel with all the different aspects of love. While Eros may get the fire going, it's Pragma, enduring love, *standing* in love, that actually keeps it going."Celebrating a very snowy Valentine's Day, Rev. Karen leads an all-remote service. She examines many different kinds of love, from love-for-all to romantic love to sustaining love. She pulls examples from myth,...

"Ruth explained again and again that the Unity system for licensing teachers and ordaining ministers was stacked against Black people with tests that were biased in favor of whites, and that its discriminatory practices were counter to Unity teachings. In other words, Unity was not practicing what it preached."In honor of Black History month, Senior Minister Rev. Karen Lindvig looks at U...

"The truth is that we are all sons and daughters of the most high... and we're only using a small percentage of our capacity. So, my question to you is: what do you want in your life?"Senior Minister Rev. Karen Lindvig looks at manifestation, and our human power to create from our imagination. How do we best use our co-creative capacities with God, so that our individual and collect...

"I invite you to embrace your inner misfit, your inner rebel, the one that knows there is a better way, the one that knows there is a way we can create a world that works for all."Senior Minister Rev. Karen Lindvig explores what it means to be a change agent in the world. Using diverse examples from myth and history, she looks at the concept of "stealing fire"  - that is, coura...

"We can use our words to create havoc, or we can use our words to increase love and understanding."Senior Minister Rev. Karen Lindvig returns to discuss the power of the Creative Word.  This concept appears in the works of Unity co-founder Charles Fillmore, and resonates especially deeply this week, in the aftermath of an insurrection attempt on the Capitol. In a preview of this year&apo...

"If it's true, then we come to this earth school - I call it soul-making - to have myriad experiences in order to perfect or to complete this thing called the field of soul."Guest speaker Michael Bogar returns to discuss the concept of reincarnation, especially the recent work of Ian  Stevenson, Andrea Leininger and others. As he points out, New Thought students may well ask "s...

"It is when we change ourselves that we then can influence and change the world around us."This year's Burning Bowl ritual of releasing is different from other years, in that we're not doing this together, but independently at our homes, but Rev. Karen speaks the word about this rich practice.  2020 perhaps more than other years, offers us plenty to throw into our spiritual fir...

"That word white ... comes originally from the word leukos, and leukos can also mean bright or brilliant. To me this is the essence of the White Stone ritual. It's calling out that brilliance in you, that divine quality, that is most needed in this moment, in your life and in the world."Associate Minister Diane Robertson leads our annual White Stone ceremony,  using personal stories...

"The truth is, that since we're not so busy, running to parties and doing all the things that we normally do socially, this actually gives us an opportunity to focus on the true meaning of this holiday."Senior Minister Rev. Karen Lindvig leads a very different version of our Christmas Eve Candlelighting service, but this time we're integrating the Zoom and livestream technologi...

"The word solstice, in latin, means 'sun set still.'  I believe that 'sun set still' is also a reminder for us to be Soul still."On this Fourth Sunday in Advent, Rev. Karen draws on one of her superpowers:  astrology.  As we prepare for the The Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn on this year's solstice, we can use the moment to examine what other major chang...

"Hope to me is that idea of transcending and reaching beyond our human experiences... to me hope is Spiritual Vision."In this First Sunday of Advent, Associate Minister Diane Robertson helps us to identify hope, to cultivate our ability to see it even when we don't feel it. How do we heal, as a nation, through a time some are calling The Great Divide? Worship Arts comes from Erin Mc...

"It may feel we end back at a place where we began. We learn something, and then we're called, with the same pattern, to learn it again at a deeper level."Rev. Karen uses this second Sunday in Advent to explore the idea of repeated lessons.  This is how we can come back over and over to Advent and Christmas, and still find more spiritual treasure. This service also features a blessi...

"The more clearly we see the reality of the world, the better equipped we are to deal with the world. We have some big issues that we need to face."Rev. Karen uses this third Sunday in Advent to explore both truth and Truth. While (big 't') Truth is eternal, small 't' truth is shifting, and often challenging to see clearly.  Whether it's rose-colored glasses, exa...

"So let me ask you, what is the inner work that you need to do? What is it in your own basement, in your own underground, that needs to be brought up, lifted up, brought into the light to be healed?"In this first service after the 2020 election, Rev. Karen Lindvig speaks to the metaphor of Foundational strength.   Even while the outcome is still disputed, and the way forward isn't y...

"You can find that you're so depleted that making a list of your blessings can feel like another thing on you TO-DO list. One must engage the heart... what do I love?"This morning Rev. Karen Lindvig turns our attention toward Gratitude as a grounding energy.  Without the centering force of gratitude for keeping our souls held together, we can feel like we're flying off into man...

"When I chose this theme [Seeds of Grace], I had no idea what this year was going to be like.... but when I look back over this year I realize that we *have* been planting Seeds of Grace, we just didn't know it, seeds that will sprout and grow in the coming years."This morning Rev. Karen Lindvig prepares us for a different kind of Thanksgiving, as well as a different kind of year-in...

"When an idea comes from that great galaxy of supreme ideas it goes forth in strength and harmony."Rev. Maggie Alderman joins us from New Braunfels, Texas, to talk about our most core Unity beliefs. Our principles are much easier to hold on to when things are going well. But how do we experience the Divine authentically in times of chaos? Worship Arts comes all the way from Hawaii, from...

"Each one of us has to stop and do our inner work...every single one of us has a step that we can take.. and what ever small steps you take can affect the whole."Rev. Karen Lindvig returns with our own Worship Arts team, for our first live-streamed service, auspiciously scheduled on All Saints Day, right before our national election, and exactly on the fall back Daylight Saving day.  In...

"I've come to be aware that grief slowly creeps into every part of us... it finds its way into the cells of our body... every aspect of our lives. So I've decided my only option is to make friends with grief."Guest speaker Rev. Meghan Brooks Smith gives a resonant and well-timed talk. Using stories from the Dalai Lama as well as her own deep personal revelations, she crafts a b...

"Dogs come when you call them. Cats take a message and say they'll get back to you later."Today is our annual Pet Blessing Day, and senior minister Rev. Karen Lindvig takes a lighthearted look at how animals enrich our lives and help us manifest our best, most authentic selves.  She notes the new ways our animals support us (or sometimes don't), during these quarantine times, a...

Rev. Karen re-visits the core spiritual tool of prayer, in its various forms, as a great way to navigate current challenges.  Examining the healing and affirmation works of Myrtle Fillmore, she encourages us to re-invigorate our prayer practice. Worship Arts include group recordings from Seattle Unity band, Erin McGaughan, Olivia Hamilton, Jesse Whitford, David Loy, as well as commmunity members T...

"It is no longer a theory; it is what is. And perhaps we can use this Equinox energy to accept where we are and surrender to a higher power."With the fires, the hurricanes, and virus, Rev. Karen acknowledges our current upheavals.  She looks at some lessons offered by 12 step processes, and incorporates nature imagery, and the wisdom of Viktor Frankel, as well as a variation on a lovingk...

"What is your spiritual practice, that disengages you from the Ego and the Pain Body, where you can have that space? Is it mindful meditation, is it yoga, is it tai chi, is it walking in nature?"Senior Minister Rev. Karen Lindvig returns to explore the image of an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other.  She incorporates the concepts of the Ego and the Pain Body, as discussed b...

"We take our stuff, we throw it on our back, and then we walk into the next situation, we take down our stuff and we plunk it right into our new situation.  We bring our stuff from the past... and put it right down into our future."Associate minister Diane Robertson welcomes her ministerial school classmate, guest speaker Thomas deSchutter.  Thomas comes to us from Nanaimo, British Colum...