pwr of imagination

8/12/2019 Pwr of Imagination

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Without our imagination, we would not have the

physical wonders that humankind has created, - the

buildings, and bridges, and space ships, and

computer technology. What could be worse, wed

have none of the intellectual ones as well. Math,science, language, philosophy, and even religion

would not exist without the power of our

imagination. If you stop and think about it, all of our

concepts of the

Divine are the result

of images we have

created in our minds

as a way of trying to

understand what life

and its challenges, as

well as its joys, are all

about. We use our

imagination to create

solutions to problems,

to probe the unknown

and to understand the

what and why of life.

But the images of our mind, the use of our

imagination, would be an empty vessel if we failed toput them to use, if we failed to act upon our

inspirations, if we simply dismissed them as hopeless

pipe dreams.

Have you ever experienced the inspiration of an

idea that burst forth from your imagination? What

happened to it? Did it bloom into a reality, even on a

small scale? Did you see it part way to fruition and

then watch it fade? Did you talk yourself out of it

and let it go completely? Or did you share it with

someone who said, That cant be done? Or areyou still hanging on to the idea, hoping that someday

it will work out, or just waiting for the right

opportunity to come your way?

Ive had several ideas like that. Some that worked

in theory, but not in practicality. One that was good,

but I didnt really trust that it was good enough. One

that I made into a prototype, I called the Ala Cart,

a temporary platform hung on a cars rear bumper,

that I actually used on my own car. The only

problem was that the idea came just as car

manufacturers did away with rear bumpers, so there

was nothing left to fasten the Ala Cart onto.

Creative ideas abound in our imaginations. Whynot check your own out, dust it off, and show it the

light of day. Who knows where it might lead you?

There is no limit to the power of our imagination

and the results achieved by believing in the creative

power of God that flows to and through us. We see

that continually as computer technology literally

explodes with advances and innovations. Weve seen

it in the exploration of space and the technology it

has birthed, and were seeing it in the development of

high mileage, energy efficient, hybrid cars. One of

the most exciting developments for me has been the

emergence of digital photography, rekindling a

passion that had been dormant for 20 or 30 years.

A hundred years ago someone in the U.S. Patent

Office was ready to lock the door, sensing that

everything that could be invented, had already been

invented. What a mistake! The very person who

needed to be filled with imagination apparently had

none.That nearly happened with Starbucks Coffee.

Being an old Seattle native, I remember when

Starbucks was a single stall in the farmers market. It

was a popular stall and I used to stand in line like a

lot of other people waiting for a cup of their special

brew. But the owner was content with his little

business and not thinking about anything more than

another outlet or two, somewhere else in town. But,

thats not what one of his customers imagined. With

a vision of making Starbucks a place where peoplewould gather, he made an offer to buy the company

and take it global. Today the word, Starbucks, is

virtually generic for coffee drinking, nearly anywhere

you can go in the world, the result of a highly

optimistic imagination of a single customer.

So, how can we activate and utilize the power of

ourimagination to improve our lives or to help

contribute to making the world just a little bit better

U P W A R D B O U N D J * O * U * R * N * A * L

2

Math, science,

language,

philosophy, and even

religion would notexist without the

power of our

imagination.


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people, but it could become the dominant image in

the minds of everyone. And when enough people can

see that image, hold it in their mind as real, and begin

to believe in its possibility, then I think we will see a

beautiful transformation take place.

John F. Kennedy combined these idea eloquently

when he said: We must seek, above all, a world of

peace; a world in which peoples dwell together in

mutual respect and work together in mutual

regard.

It doesnt have to

take very long; you

and I can begin to

hold that image and

own it forourselves, and we

can do that today,

right now as we

read this message.

Beyond our self

awareness, we can also talk to our friends and ask

them to imagine a world of perfection, a world of

love, as Jesus said, to love one another as I have

loved you;to imagine a world of health and vitality,

plentiful food, clean and clear oceans of both air and

sea, and the joyful friendships between all peoples,

all nations, all religious convictions and all

ideologies. We can ask our friends to set aside their

doubts, their disbeliefs, even their angers and their

differences for just long enough to let that image of

oneness come into their imaginations as welland

hold it there until it can be shared in someone elses

imagination at the same time.

It could take just a moment or two, it could be aday or more, it could be a lifetime. But when we

reach a critical mass of people holding that same

image in our collective imaginations, we will see a

miracle. The collective image will become the

collective reality.

We have the power for good, it is in the power of

our imagination. With Gods help and guidance, we

can make the world a better place. Lets do it

together.

So, please join with me and with each other for

just a moment, right now, and bring that global image

of oneness, that image of peace and love and joy, into

your imagination and your consciousness, for just as

long as it takes to breathe in one healing breath, and

hold it there in your embrace, and then release it to

the universe, knowing that it is so.

Amen

It seems very interesting that within an hour of

completing the lesson for this issue, the following

message arrived via email for Dottie and me.

ONE MINUTE EACH NIGHT

In WWII, there was an advisor to Prime Minister

Churchill who Organized a group of people who

dropped what they were doing every night at a

prescribed hour for one minute to collectively pray

for the safety of England, its people and peace. This

had an amazing effect as bombing stopped.

There is now a group of people organizing the same

thing here in America. If you would like toparticipate: Each evening at 9:00 PM Eastern Time

(8:00 PM Central, 7:00 PM Mountain, 6:00 PM

Pacific), Stop whatever you are doing and spend one

minute praying for the safety of the United States, our

troops, our citizens and for peace in the world. If you

know anyone who would like to participate, please

pass this along. Someone said if people really

understood the full extent of the power we have

available through prayer, we might be speechless.

Our prayers are the most powerful asset we have.

And so, we are doing this together! Our

Meditation this month, on pages 8-9, is dedicated to a

visualization prayer for peace. Please feel free to

share it with any or all of your friends.

Blessings to you all, and to all the world.

Art & Dottie

U P W A R D B O U N D J * O * U * R * N * A * L

We must seek, above

all, a world of peace; a

world in which peoples

dwell together inmutual respect and

work together in

mutual regard.


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"Centered in Your sacred presence, dear God, we join in a prayerful partnership that

blesses the whole world. Relax and prepare for a special time of prayer; a time to become

more aware of the presence of God deep within. Take a deep breath, full and relaxing.

Peace, be still.

We give thanks, dear and loving God, for our growing awareness of your wonderful

presence in our lives. In Your sacred presence, Lord, We lift up our hearts to You. Divine

love flows through us now to bless the world.

Lord, at this moment throughout the world, we join our hearts with untold numbers of

people who are dedicated to giving the gift of their prayers as a blessing for peace.

Use us, Lord, to bless, to heal and to comfort, to forgive and to understand, to prosper

and to lift all people everywhere, in a blissful moment of peace -and love -and hope. In Your

Presence we become a vessel to be filled with Your Divine Love, and to carry it out in

abundance and let it flow, without restriction of any kind, to everyone we meetalong our

path. The love we receive from You springs forth from deep within our hearts, overflowing in

endless abundance. Themore we offer as a gift to others, the more it fills and comforts us,

and the more there is to give away.

This is the love thatis freely given, without condition or restriction of any kind. This is the

love that is freely received, filled with the blessing of forgiveness and understanding and

comfort. This is the love that sees no meaningful difference between this man or that,this

woman or another, this parent or that child, this race or that ethnic group. All outward

appearances blend into one harmonious sea of brotherhood and sisterhood.

With unconditional love we see only the vision of the Christ in everyones face, no matter

whose eyes we meet, no matter what prejudices we may have carried before. This is thelove that only sees possibilities, endless potential for good and wonderful things. This is love

in its purest form, and we joyfully receive it, and send it forth as a Divine Blessing to all

people, everywhere.

You are always with us because You are within us ...always around us ...always loving us ...

always protecting us ... and in all ways. We are safe, secure and peaceful. Thank You, God,

for peace. Your sweet peace, Your complete peace. It fills our mind and hearts now.

In Your presence God, we rest again in the silence, as wejoin our prayer thoughts with all

others who have come together to pray during this time when we open our hearts with hope

and faith...As each sacred murmuring of prayer joins with another and then another, we come

together in a prayer meeting of the world, open to every one of Your precious creations.

Thank You God, for this time in which we are Your instruments of Peace. We go forward

now, knowing that from this moment on, the power and wisdom of Your loving Presence is in

each one of us, blessing everyone we meet and touch along the way. Thy will is done, Your

Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, and peace now reigns eternal. We arefilled with Your love,

and Joy, and we give thanks.

AMEN

M E D I T A T I O N

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Words to live by: We are guided by ourknowledge that our thoughts and words create our reality. Let us

acknowledge another word that will impact our lives in wonderful ways

if we give it its proper due. The word... Vacuum.

You and I are very much like a Peanut Butter jar, notthe Peanuts, the jar itself. It has to do with the vacuumprinciple. You see, the vacuum principle relates as muchwith people as it does with things. Nature abhors avacuum and will always fill the void with whatever isnearby. In the case of a Peanut Butter jar, air rushes inthe instant the vacuum seal is broken. The jar can holdanything from Peanut Butter to gold nuggets, but theresults of breaking the vacuum seal will always be thesame.

Like the jar we hold things inside as well, like fear,frustration, and anger; negative emotions we wouldcertainly like to shed. But we can also hold positivethings like love, joy, prosperity and happiness.

The thing to remember is that when the container isfull, there is very little vacuum and no room for themissing good we want to embrace. We can open the lidand little will happen, which means we have to get rid ofsomething in order to create the vacuum that will draw inwhat we desire. We have to empty our jar. At the sametime we also want to be in the presence of the good weseek.

Meditation is probably the best resource we have to

accomplish both the emptying-out and the filling-in.Heres how it works. Through meditation we canidentify the negative experiences or attitudes that arekeeping our jar full of unwanted negative influences.Once identified, we write them down and release them inwhat we call a burning bowl ceremony. Simply stated,we write down the negatives we want to release on scrapsof paper, crumple them up and toss them into a small firepit (fireplace or BBQ grill for example), accompaniedwith a short prayer of gratitude to God for lifting thenegative burden from us. Many people use this as a year-

end ritual.Filling the vacuum we have created with the positiveattributes we desire - happiness, prosperity, love and joy,can soon become virtually automatic when we also gointo our meditation with thoughts of gratitude for thehappiness, prosperity, love and joy that are already in ourlife, even if they seem insignificant at the time. The morewe appreciate the good we have, the more good will beattracted to us. The vacuum we have created will bringnew good rushing in.

Just an Upward Bound Thought from Art and Dottie Holt

U P W A R D B O U N D J * O * U * R * N * A * U P W A R D B O U N D J * O * U * R * N * A * U P W A R D B O U N D J * O * U * R * N * A * U P W A R D B O U N D J * O * U * R * N * A * L LLL

Upward

Boun

d

Journal

A Unity Publishing Ministry

Rev. Arthur Holt,

Unity Minister

Dottie Holt,

Licensed Unity Teacher

Upward Bound of Unity, Inc.

10870 SW 71st Circle

Ocala, FL 34476

Phone (352) 861 -5518

Email: [email protected]

Upward Bound Journalis a Unity publishing ministrybased on Biblicalteachings and dedicated to writing and presentingspiritual, inspirational, and metaphysical principleswhichempower people to enrich and transformtheir lives.

For more information about Upward Bound check our

website: www.upwardboundjournal.com.

Issue # 29Upward Bound Journalis of Upward Bound of Unity,Inc.

Member: Association of Unity Churches International, SunCoastUnity Ministers Association, and affiliated with: Unity School ofChristianity and Silent Unity, publishers of Daily Word.Upward Bound of Unity, Inc. is a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3), charitablecorporation registered in the State of Florida, therefore your giftsare fully tax deductible.


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