When the Time is Right

March 30, 2024

In 1889, Charles and Myrtle Filmore began a new spiritual movement in the United States that has since spread worldwide. This movement is called Unity, and its headquarters are in Unity Village, Missouri. Unity is dedicated to healing and growing our souls by promoting unity among us and with God. It is similar to the Holy Idea of 'Union with God,’ yet on the individual and collective levels.

A conscious Christian movement, Unity has a central premise upon which all its teachings are based: "When we are attuned to God, we are in Divine Order; when we are not, we are disconnected from Divine Order." When disconnected, we do not flow with the Divine cycle of order, chaos, and new order. We rigidly adhere to our ego’s wants.

In East Indian spirituality, the Divine flow and its cycle of birth, death, and resurrection are called "samsara." In Divine order, we are one with samsara. But when we are out of that order, our egos demand that God follow our directives and our timeline. When God doesn't obey us, we suffer.

As a young man just beginning my spiritual journey, I was frustrated with God that I could not find my life's companion. Regardless of the wonderful people I met, they were not right for me. I feared she would never come along. Friends and relatives were getting married, but I was still single.

In graduate school, I befriended a lady in her nineties who lived next to my apartment. My friend was affectionately called Heho; she shared with me about life, desires, hopes, and disappointments.

One day, I confided in Heho the fear that I would never find the right person to marry. Instead of discounting my fear, she encouraged me to express myself and space for my feelings and made no judgments. Then, in Heho's simple but golden wisdom, she told me: "Our timing is not always God's timing. We relax knowing that she will come along when the time is right." I thought to myself, "I did not know God had God's own timing about such things; no wonder I am so put out with God." Up until those conversations with Heho, I was not familiar with the concept of Divine Order. Then I learned about the Unity movement and started reading its daily inspirational “The Daily Word.”

Looking back over the years, I realize my concept of time as a young man did not include much life experience. According to my development and spiritual maturity at that time, a month was like a year. So, my search for a special person seemed interminable. But in calculating the actual time sequence, I would meet an extraordinary girl named Lark just two years after my talks with Heho. Those two years were seemingly long then but were essential in preparing me for the one to come into my life. This was the Divine Order spoken about by Charles and Myrtle Filmore.

Inquiry: Do you need an awareness of Divine Order for something you now desire?

Dear God,

As I relax into the deep of my own being, I relinquish my sense of timing to your timing. As I pray for Divine order, I ask that I be at peace with all things as they come and go.

Amen.

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