Power of Understanding -- Both Intuitive and Intellectual

On Unity.org's main website, a short article on Spiritual Understanding was recently published by Gail Dobert who is director of Silent Unity's Telephone Ministries. This article is very appropriate and timely since Unity Worldwide Ministries (formerly the Association of Unity Churches Int'l) has declared the month of July as having the theme of understanding -- one of Charles Fillmore's twelve spiritual powers found in each human individual.

In this brief overview of spiritual understanding, Dobert makes the claim that there are essentially two different kinds of understanding -- spiritual/intuitive understanding and intellectual understanding -- and the spiritual/intuitive kind is actually that which reveals true insight into the Divine and is the true source of inspiration and spiritual growth. She sees intellectual understanding as limited and quite inferior to the intuitive type of understanding. She states, "Spiritual Understanding wells up from within through intuition and inspiration. Spiritual Understanding is different from intellectual understanding. While intellectual understanding is important in life, there are things we simply cannot intellectually understand. We must seek to find greater understanding and meaning by seeking Spiritual Understanding."

Though I agree with her when she says that there "is a bittersweet mystery about life" and that we as humans aren't meant to understand everything, this principle must apply to both our intuitive and intellectual natures. Indeed, even our intuition or "gut-feeling" faculty of our being is limited in ways and has certain boundaries. Neither our intuitive nor our intellectual sides are limitless, unbounded, and completely free from mistake or misunderstanding.

With this in mind, through my own personal experience, I believe our intellectual nature is just as insightful and conducive toward spiritual growth and experience of truth as our intuition. In fact, dichotomizing intuition and intellect is failing to take into account the interrelatedness, interdependency of all faculties of human existence. I view our human nature as holistic -- faith and reason, heart and mind, intuition and intellect are cooperatively and harmoniously integrated such that they play off of one another in mutual support. Neither is superior or inferior to the other. They are reciprocally up-building in efficacy and activity.

I've found that some of the most insightful and inspired moments in my spiritual experience about God, Truth, Christ, my Self, etc. have been through intellectual reflection and study. Now, this has most definitely been corroborated and resonated by times of contemplation in the Silence. My point is simply that neither intution nor intellect is necessarily greater than the other and both fall short of fully and totally grasping the eternal, infinite, and ultimate Reality we name God or Truth. We may experience flashes or moments of spiritual insight into the Absolute Nature of Reality or God, but in the end we are individual creations within the Mind of God, part and parcel of God's Mind. In the end, words, concepts, language, categories and understand of any kind falls short of fully experiencing the eternal and infinite Mystery of the Divine in which we live, move, and have our being.

IL State Police Revoke 1st Muslim Chaplain

This story actually hits very close to home for me, since I live in central Illinois and know quite a few state troopers.

Here's a snippet from Faith in Public Life:

"The Illinois State Police has revoked the appointment of the agency's first Muslim chaplain, citing only information revealed during a background check. A national Muslim advocacy group Wednesday blamed the move on Islamophobia.

Kifah Mustapha, a Chicago-area imam, was appointed the agency's first Muslim chaplain in December. Community groups had praised Mustapha's appointment as a nod to the growing diversity among the agency's nearly 2,000 officers." (FPL, 6/24/10)

I'm certainly glad to see that the IL State Police are interested and seeking a greater diversity in their chaplaincy positions, since, no doubt, the religious diversity of state troopers and IL citizens is ever-increasing. However, I'm a bit disturbed that there are groups like the Washington-based think-tank, the Investigative Project on Terrorism, that seem to be dead-set on suppressing this burgeoning plurality and diversity, couching it in the guise of "terrorist threat."

Now, the details of Mustapha's background haven't been discussed because they're considered confidential by the IL State Police Department. Nonetheless, a thorough background check should be administered, but this shouldn't deter the Department from seeking other imams to serve if Mustapha's turns out to be detrimental. We need to encourage our police departments, fire squads, educational facilities, community centers, and other public services to celebrate and affirm religious diversity and see the positivity in it.

Read more of the story by the Associated Press's Sophia Tareen.

Beyond the God Gap

A new study by Public Religion Research and Third Way have produced a paper this week entitled "Beyond the God Gap: A New Roadmap for Reaching Religious Americans on Public Policy Issues." It deals with four major Christan religious groupings that dominate U.S. life and how a new but increasing array of diverse progressive religious voices is burgeoning, and how there is a broadening of political agendas among many people of faith.

With this kind of research and the amount of media attention dedicated to this issue, maybe it's time to rethink our assumptions about religious Americans and public policy.

Jim Kessler and Robert P. Jones of the Huffington Post have published a great article that reviews the "Beyond the God Gap" paper and the prominent issues concerning the growing chorus of progressive and liberal religious perspectives in the U.S. and how this affects public policy. Read it here.

Silent Unity Celebrates 120 Years

This year marks the 120th anniversary of Silent Unity. Literally millions of people have contacted Silent Unity for affirmative prayer, and there are countless extraordinary stories of people's faith being uplifted, health renewed, relationships restored and prosperity realized.

Visit Silent Unity's webpage to learn more.

Watch the celebration video:

Unity World Day of Prayer 2010

This year's annual Unity World Day of Prayer will be on Thursday, September 9, 2010. With the theme "Living in the Flow," the event will also mark the completion of the Unity Village central fountain restoration, which has been an ongoing project for a couple years now.

The opening ceremony will be live-streamed on the Web from Unity Village on Wednesday evening, September 8, with keynote speaker Rev. Paul Tenaglia from Unity of New York. Spiritus, a vocal ensemble from New York, along with Broadway singer Rosena M. Hill, will perform at the opening. Events on Thursday will include a fountain dedication ceremony, a seminar based on Rev. Eric Butterworth's book In the Flow of Life, and a closing celebration and ceremony.

Visit the World Day of Prayer website for details and information on other events that will be live-streamed.

Unity Seminary Sunday: Funding Our Future

For those involved in the Unity movement, help pave the way for the next generation of Unity leaders by participating in a new campaign to benefit current and future ministerial students (like myself) -- Unity Seminary Sunday.

Unity churches are invited to choose a Sunday in October 2010 or March 2011 to let congregants know about Unity Institute and up-and-coming Unity ministers, and take a second offering to support them. If you feel so inclined, you may arrange for a ministerial student or faculty member to speak at your church or center on the designated Sunday.

According to Unity and Unity Worldwide Ministries (formerly the Association of Unity Churches, Intl.), this campaign is designed to give congregations an opportunity to join with Unity School and Unity Worldwide Ministries to create a stronger, more vibrant learning community to serve congregants, churches, and the wider Unity movement.

Here's a video about Unity Seminary Sunday:

Evangelical Pastor Tests 1st Amendment

Evangelical pastor, Rev. H. Wayne Williams, is endorsing from the pulpit conservative Republican gubernatorial candidate Gordon Howie (South Dakota), likely hoping to take this issue all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Now, I don't often make posts concerning issues explicitly related to politics and government, but this activity is a blatant disregard of the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which guarantees the freedom of practicing any (or no) religion that we choose and freedom from any religion being established as a state religion or being favored over others, and I'm a huge advocate in support of this very important Amendment (in line with the advocacy of the Interfaith Alliance).

The issue is this: the Johnson Amendment of 1954 enacted by Congress states that no 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization can make political endorsements. This is because tax-exemption status amounts to a public subsidy since the rest of the tax-payers shoulder more tax burden of this exemption. Congress determined (appropriately and fairly) that such organizations that benefit from tax-payer subsidies shouldn't be able to endorse political candidates.

So, along with Episcopal priest and U.S. religious historian Randall Balmer, I say to these folks who want to have tax-exemption AND the benefit of political endorsement -- if you want to endorse political candidates, fine, but to make it balanced and fair, give up your tax-exempt status and thus your subsidies from the people, the tax-payers.

The no establishment clause of the 1st Amendment is the very reason why religion flourishes in great and rich diversity in the U.S. When freedom of religion and freedom from religion being tied to the government functions as a legislative principle, then religious plurality and variety and fervor burgeons, which is a wonderful thing and which is a great asset to our nation.

Those of us who are religious leaders certainly, as American citizens, have the right to walk our religious path any way we choose (granted it doesn't infringe on the rights of others) and endorse privately as a citizen any candidate we want. But the Johnson Amendment rightly disallows us from endorsing these candidates on behalf of a non-profit tax-exempt organization. And this has been upheld by the Supreme Court for years.

This is definitely a 1st Amendment separation of religion and government issue. To learn more about this issue, read Randall Balmers post on Religion Dispatches, or visit the Interfaith Alliance website. It's and excellent and informed read.