I'm feeling very healthy (and very grateful to be here!), and have recently returned to my work as an organizational transformation consultant. I am one of ten consultants selected for a pilot project for the Association of Unity Churches International. Our first gathering was a 5-day training at Unity Village in Missouri held Aug. 24-28.
The weekend immediately preceding the training was the third anniversary of my surgery, August 22, and I was doing a lot of reflecting about this journey. The first insight came when I realized that I no longer want to commemorate the date of my surgery, but rather the morning after when I had the powerful blessing of my Oneness experience (detailed below in my Jan. 31 '08 post). So, from now on, I celebrate the anniversary on Aug. 23, which was Sunday, the day before the training.
Although excited about getting back to work, I was having some doubts about whether I was ready for this significant project. On Monday morning when I met the other nine consultants, all extremely accomplished, my anxiety increased. At the end of the first day, I was having serious doubts and began to consider whether I should pull out. I prayed and meditated, which led to a commitment to myself that I would give my best, and not make any decision until the training was completed.
It was Wednesday at lunchtime when I heard that Ted Kennedy had left us the night before. Because he and I had been given the same diagnosis (Stage IV GBM in the left parietal lobe), the news hit me especially hard. Now, as I was deliberating about my possible role in this project I was also thinking about Ted and his life. A new thought emerged and joined the others, "I wonder what Ted might say to me, if he were here."
Thursday morning I stopped by the Unity Village bookstore to get coffee before heading to the training room. As I entered the bookstore my attention was attracted to a rotating rack of notecards with different quotations. One in particular pulled me in; it seemed somehow "brighter" or more illumined than the rest. When I was a dozen feet away I could make it out. It said, "Have faith in yourself and in the future." I thought, "This is the perfect message for me to hear right now. This is the re-minder and en-couragement I need. I wonder who said it." I moved to the rack and picked up the card. At the bottom in small letters was the attribution: Ted Kennedy.
From that encounter, I found my courage and faith. I willingly and completely embraced the project. I am now very happily and very effectively working with my assigned church, Unity Church of North Idaho. Together, we are living ever more fully the Unity movement vision: "Centered in God, we co-create a world that works for all."I feel that I have closed out an era, one marked primarily by my medical adventure, and have begun a new era, one dedicated to joyfully fulfilling my purpose here on Earth.
Love, Blessings, and Blue Skies,
Rich
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