Unity Palo Alto

Listen to the PodCast of “Creating a Moment of Joy” with John E. Riley.

On Sunday, John talked about how we can create a moment of joy in our lives. In his talk he asked us to take a moment to think about something in your life that brings you a deep sense of appreciation and gratitude. It could be the memory of holding your grandchild for the first time or hiking in the beauty of Yosemite. It may be an accomplishment like giving the best presentation of your life at work or making that perfect swing on the golf course. Perhaps the feeling came as the result of spending time in the silence in the Prayer Chapel at Unity Village. Hold that image and allow the feeling of joy to fill your heart. Wouldn’t be wonderful to feel that feeling throughout our day?

Joy is the result of realizing our oneness with the Divine within us, when our state of consciousness in harmony with the thoughts of God. And, this realization can only be done when we are fully present. There are many things that can pull us away from being fully present in whatever we are doing and consciously realizing our oneness. One of the biggest challenges comes from the human nature of story telling.

We are wonderful story tellers. When coming from our human nature, we have the ability to create a rich soap-opera story of our life. Stories of why people don’t like us, why we are not worthy, why our lives are heading in the wrong direction. How often do we live our lives through our stories about the past or about the future?

When we become aware that our human nature is telling stories we can use the deep spiritual principle of “Stop It!” then, bring to mind a story from our book of joy. Take a breath and allow that memory of joy to bring you back to the present, to give you strength and to focus on God.
 

Below is the video shown at the Sunday Service. Remember, this is a metaphor for our own consciousness, an example of our ability to deny the human nature stories we play have any power over us. It is not mean to be practiced with other people!