Tag Archives: HolySpirit

GOD ALONE

Rev Loving listening to SpiritJoel Goldsmith wrote that the “answer, the solution to all problems, is the realized Christ . . . . Christ risen in our consciousness, Christ raised up from the tomb through meditation.”  He says that we should devote one meditation period alone each day to God: “God alone.”

In this period of God alone, we center ourselves in God and ask for We lovednothing.  This is the ultimate communion – to just be in God’s presence, to just sit in the kingdom, to just be a witness to the activity of Christ in our minds, light in our bodies, and grace in our souls.

Circle of PrayerIn the kingdom, we can trace our steps backward from the far country with the assurance that our deliverance is eternal and find ourselves, once again covered in the best robes of salvation.

In the kingdom, we return the garden that gives without ceasing.  We see the fruit that has always been hanging. We realize that it was never eaten, that even when it is plucked, its branches remain low for our reach.  Our fruit remains fresh in the awareness that there is neither good nor evil, only God alone.

Spiritmuv Prayer Circle 3God is a Brown Girl Too 2010 Retreat 073Here, in the heart of God, I see Moses.  He never died.  He simply became that which truth is and always will be.  He had no need to enter that which he already was.  This is the space of sacred breath and gentle silence.

I sit on the edge of nothingness into not one – but thousands, millions, infinite meditations that do nothing but listen.

Just one breath breathing into another is holier than a song.  This is where we find ourselves in the loving embrace of Jesus’ eyes as he carried our cross.  I will never leave you nor forsake you, he said.  I will send the Holy Spirit to be your teacher, counselor and guide.

The Holy Spirit is neither Christian, nor Muslim, nor Hindu, nor Jew but is that vast intersection of all faiths, struggling for expression when all they have to do is listen.

WHAT IS “GOD IS A BROWN GIRL TOO”?

For our 100th blog, I decided to re-visit the genesis of God is a Brown Girl Too.  God is a Brown Girl Too is a spiritual movement that was born when I was in seminary and the Holy Spirit revealed to me that one aspect of my Rev Loving leading the sessioncalling was to uplift the divine nature of women and girls of color everywhere.  This movement is called God is a Brown Girl Too because it is not limited to Africa but to brown women and girls worldwide.  Why?  Because we have been marginalized, demonized and denigrated throughout history and need to reconstruct our understanding of Spirit as us – not as some old white man who could care less about us.  We need to recapture the beauty, grace and power of our divine birthright.

God as Mother, Father, Creator of us all is always present as us all, always loving, always continuing to express as us. 

Sabrina and KiaThe Brown Girl represents the daughter of all beginnings.  Genetic studies and fossil evidence show that humans in Africa, between 200,000 and 150,000 years ago.  Based on our knowledge to date, our foremothers left Africa between 125,000 and 60,000 years ago, and that over time these humans replaced earlier human populations such as Neanderthals.   And yet, because those who re-wrote history and science and religion left us obscured, worthless, shameful, or – at best – comely, we fail to realize who we really are: made in the image and likeness of the creator of all. 

God is a Brown Girl Too exercises the power that we all have to re-claim our legacy as God’s image and likeness for ourselves.

 Womanist Alice Walker understood the significance of Brown Girl-ology when she wrote The Color PurpleCelie is the downtrodden Spirit within,God is a Brown Girl Too 2010 Retreat 037 who does not find her fullest expression in life until she finds out that God is not a man – but is everything, even the color purple!  Shug Avery sings, when you feel the truth and love what you feel, you have found God.  Understanding our Oneness with the heart and purpose of the Brown Girl, who merely sits in the shadows of scripture, dances on the edge of time, nonexistent or irrelevant to most – is a challenge worth pursuing because it is by seeing beyond her face-lessness, name-lessness and voice-lessness that we find ourselves.   Creating Outside the Box Three

People from all races, religions, nationalities, and cultures flock to hear the Brown Girl’s voice in The Color Purple on Broadway and to witness her story of realizing that God is within her and everyone else – not merely to be entertained but because there is a ministry in her God is a Brown Girl Too Prayermessage. 

 When I arrived at New York Theological Seminary, I met Drs. Delores Williams and Anne Elliott, in a course that I took on the Spiritual Traditions of Nineteenth Century African American Women.  These two womanist theologians taught me that theology is not just how the white man sees God – but how we each walk and talk with God; that African American women have a special relationship with Jesus;  that we are moved by the Holy Spirit in a particular way; that we fail to question the messages that we embrace as gospel – like the rape of the slave girl Hagar at the bidding of Sarah; that black women through time have defied death and slavery to bring the word of God; that we have a heritage which not only anoints us with salvation but also with hope. Spirit of the Living God is My Breath and My Heartbeat

Drs. Williams and Elliott laid part of the foundation for the beginning of this discourse with acknowledgement of how God expresses as me, along with my background in Unity. 

Pam and Lia Beautiful movementUnity is a nondenominational faith, which teaches that there is no separation between the human spirit and God: that in this eternal Oneness, the “I AM”, we are a living expression of God.Gathering for Morning Prayer Aboard the Ship  Some may find this heretical or blasphemous, but in 2 Corinthians 6:16, the Bible teaches us that “God hath said I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and will be their God.” In 1 Corinthians 3:16, Paul said “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you.” He said that “we live and move, and have our being” in God  (Acts 17:28). We loved

DSC08154[1]In Romans 8:9, the biblical witness said “Ye are not the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.” In John 10:34-35, Jesus said, “it is not written in your law, I said, ye are Gods.” In John 14:12, Jesus said “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do.”  These scriptures and similar passages form the foundation for the church that Spirit formed through me: SPIRITMUV.  SPIRITMUV is the spiritual birthplace for God is a Brown Girl Too.

Yvonne and Paul

Like Unity, SPIRITMUV teaches that we have the same consciousness that Jesus Christ had, “Christ Consciousness.”  Therefore, it is imperative for us to seek and embrace the kingdom in our lives through our conscious connection with the Spirit of God: in every word that we speak, every vision that we have, every breath that we breathe, every inch of space that we take up.  God dwells within us and does not depart from us.  We are the DSC_0438temple of God and we live and move and have our being in God.  We are not only flesh but also Spirit; there is no separation between us and God.      GBGII 2012 BBB               

 In 1997, when I was recuperating from surgery, I began to write a collection of poetry called “Plain Brown Girl,” thinking not only about myself but about all black women, asking who is thereGBGII 2012 F to tend our wounds and comfort us when we are healing.  The Brown Girl spoke through me through centuries, reminding me of that she is the face of God.  She expressed herself as a Brown Girl partly because of the limitations of the use of the word “black” to embrace people who are not only the most beautiful deepest, darkest brown but are other endless shades of beautiful brown. God is love

Brown also embraces cultures that do not fall under the “black” rubric – many Asians, Hispanics and Latinos and Native Americans whose darker color is indigenous to their land but no different than all of the darker sisters who populate this world and have been marginalized and condemned as always less than

GBGII 2012 JDSC_0408Brown Girl-ology is the daughter of womanist theology, born to fashion a God from a past that was before history; courageous enough to create her own myths; inventive enough to question the founding fathers of a faith that is largely prejudiced and racist and sexist; daring enough to remember God as Mother, as well as Father; prophetic enough to celebrate Spirit as herself rather than as a God that does not embrace her image and likeness.  We embrace the Spirit in us through the power ofDSC_0447 community. 

To date, there are been five retreats: the Opening to Consciousness Retreat in 2009; the Awakening to Love Retreat in 2010; the Creating Outside the Box Retreat in 2011; the Tell a New Story Retreat in 2012; and the Hope of Glory Retreat in 2013 aboard the Carnival Glory Cruise Ship to Nova Scotia. In 2014, we will have the Reclaiming the Vortex Retreat in Sedona, Arizona.

God is a Brown Girl Too 2010 Bonding in Faith

God is a Brown Girl Too 2010 Retreat 074We are grateful for those of you who have joined us on these retreats as they cannot exist without you. 

We look forward to you joining us on future retreats.  We also invite you to celebrate yourself and become more aware of Spirit expressing as you by attending our Sunday God is a Brown Girl Too 2010 Retreat 061Worth-Ship Services at the Unity Center of New York City, at 2:30 PM, at 213 West 58th Street, near Broadway. 

We meet in the Upper Room to meditate, pray, teach, sing, grow, listen, embrace, and uplift the divine within. 

Hope you can help keep our community strong by supporting the you in us.

Much love and many blessings on the path,

Reverend Cecilia Loving

 

WALK IN YOUR LIGHT By Cecilia B. Loving

ownership 8Your light is your legacy. It is so inseparable from you that you are obligated to let it shine. In Matthew 5:14-15, Jesus said: “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a candle and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds.” You cannot pick and choose who will benefit from your light.

You must be generous enough to share it with everyone. How? By simply doing35 what I have called you to do – walk in your light, walk in your purpose, and walk in your calling. Do what you love to do, what you do best, what harms no one else – and the joy that you give will be beyond your comprehension. Sharing your gifts and talents has a viral effect that will flow through the universe and bless millions for ages to come.

What you don’t realize is that even after you make your transition from this life, your light will still shine so brightly that it will lead people everywhere. Paul told the Ephesians (5:8), to walk as children of Light. Walk in obedience to Spirit. Walk in the beauty of discipline. Walk in the power of faith.

Walk beyond the confines of your self-imposed limitations, so that I can shine through you. Walk as an unlimited expression of all that I AM. You cannot judge your gifts and talents. You 2cannot see the fullness and wholeness that you contribute to the Universe simply by being the best that you are. Don’t lose your way because of what other people say or do or think. You are uniquely you for a reason. The lack of support, criticism or condemnation by some of my other children is like the wind. It is as fleeting as a single breath.

Don’t be fooled by cowards and haters to be a second-rate you. You are more than a diva, you are the divine. Walk in the beauty of your light. Otherwise, you will never give me the life that you have promised me in the Spirit, and the Promised Land will always be a distant reality.

Your greatest achievements began as divine ideas that no one else believed in. Jesus said (Matthew 25:34), “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the11 - Copy (2) kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” Come you who no longer care what others think. Come you who are no longer afraid to move forward into the greatness that you are. Come you who believe in the magnificence of Spirit. Come you who have brought oil for your lamp and are willing to let your light shine through.

Come all ye faithful. Come ye, O’ come ye to Bethlehem – that house of bread, that place of substance, that center of Truth. O’ come Beloved, from the far country, and behold the 25Christ within. O’ come Spiritual Rebirth, come with the Light of a new day. O’ come embrace the power that you were given, the true gift of transformation, the joyous deliverance that you can attain through a consciousness of Spirit.

You were called before your birth. The Buddhists ask “do you remember what your face looked like before your parents were born?” Jeremiah said before we were formed in the womb, God knew us. Before we were born, God set us apart (Jeremiah 1:4-6).

You may not remember exactly where you are going or know how you will get there, but I will lead the way. I will give you the voice and the vision and the victory that you need. I will part the Red Sea so that no one will deter you from your path.

As I told the Psalmist, “Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm” (Psalm 105:15). Just stay on the path, as Denzel Washington said in The Book of Eli. Stay on the path70 of righteousness, regardless of evildoers. Return from the far country. Go on about my business. Don’t just get a glimpse of the Promised Land, but be in the right consciousness to enter it. Be a believer – not just in somebody else’s testimony, but know me for you. Shut up and listen to Spirit for yourself. Be liberated in the unlimited power of all that you are.

Walk the walk and talk the talk – with the sword of my power. Watch a thousand fall at your side and ten thousand fall at your right hand and nothing come near you (Psalm 91:7).

7 - Copy (2)This reminds me of the Israelites who were at the edge of the wilderness, when Moses blessed them as they journeyed into the Promised Land. They were not just standing on the bank of a river to cross. They were on the threshold of a new consciousness. They were not just leaving the wilderness because they had traveled a certain distance, or mapped out a particular strategy, or had served a certain amount of time. They were crossing over because they were ready.

The Promised Land is not a physical place. It is a place in consciousness that gives you spiritual food that feeds your mind, soul and heart, the unlimited feast of my Kingdom. It is a place where you will no longer be captive to the wilderness of your own negativity, grumbling, and strife.

It is a place where materialism and greed will no longer enslave you. But you cannot get there until you are ready.

The number forty in the Bible symbolizes preparation rather than a specific number. Forty years in the wilderness means as long as it takes to get ready.

You are ready when you realize that I AM always working with you for your greatest good. I will always feed you enough manna – enough spiritual food to sustain you.

great 7 You are ready when you stop worrying about what other100 people say or think. As Terrie Cole Whitaker says, What You Think About Me is None of My Business. You are ready when you are willing to make the sacrifices that need to be made to accomplish what you want. You are ready when you learn that I AM within.

You are ready when you can bless even the appearances of life – whether they are bad or good – because you realize that they are the motivation that you need.

You are ready when you understand that love is the spiritual law that supersedes all others.

Love does not judge but is unconditional.

Love has an all-encompassing heart that fulfills Karma with Grace.

You can accomplish anything with the power of love.

If you are worried or doubtful or in need, all you have to do is bless the situation with the power of love.

LOVELove is my energy in its most powerful form.

Love allows you to be compassionate toward everyone, even when they second-guess you, because you know that they are part of your blessing.

Even when others mean something for evil, I mean it for good (Genesis 50:20).

They serve as the catalyst that pushes you beyond your comfort zone and make you aim higher than you ever aimed before.

You cross over to the other side when you know that you are blessed with my anointing.

You never know how you are going to make it there.

But you can trust that I will put the right people on your path to push against your resistance and pull you across the threshold to something better and greater.101

You have spent enough time in the wilderness.

You are ready to do what I have called you to do – ready to walk in the newness of life,

and nothing and no one can stop you.

EXCERPT FROM GOD IS A BROWN GIRL TOO

SHAKE THE DUST OFF YOUR FEET

spring 15Last Sunday at SPIRITMUV, we had a great time shaking the dust off our feet.
We shook off fear.
We shook off resentment.
We shook off distractions.
We shook off worries.
We followed the teachings of Jesus Christ and shook off anyone and anything not in alignment with our greatest good.

Bible 6In Mark 6:8-13, the scripture teaches us that Jesus instructed his twelve disciples as they went around teaching from village to village that if “any place will not welcome [them] or listen to [them], leave that place and shake the dust off [their] feet as a testimony against them.”

shaking off the dustShaking off the dust gives us the freedom to rid ourselves  of relationships that are toxic; mistakes that we believe we made; illnesses that seem to persist; habits that are bad for us; lousy memories of the past; jobs that don’t allow us to grow; bitterness, arrogance, resentment, frustration, misery, pain – anything that blocks us from experiencing the best.

Jesus tells us to release these things because if we don’t they will suck the life out of us.  Even our adversaries should be agreed with quickly because otherwise, we give them dominion and power over us.  If we are giving our energy to our so-called issues – as opposed focusing on our divine ideas, we are not open and receptive to the Good that God iswalking three trying to bless us with.

snow11We pile up so much in our lives as we move through the day-to-day moments of expression.  We take so much for granted.  We don’t even see the full expansion of life that we have been blessed with because we are so busy going through the motions of existence — that it is not until we slow down to clean the debris that has collected that we remember we are here.

We are here — we are actually part of an incredible magnificent creative process that is remarkably filled with divine ideas and endless energy and abundant beauty and magical grace.  We are here — notbeauty eleven just to collect issues and problems and challenges but to be part of the powerful unfolding of something greater.

time 3That’s what the New Year acknowledges.  It reminds us to clean up, to take stock, to make lists, to chart goals, to re-commit, to promise ourselves to remember that we are here — not to just go through the motions but to get up off our individual and collective butts and do something with our lives — to be that better person, to raise our grades, to finish what we started, to begin something new, to chart our course, to reach for the stars, to have the courage to do what we have always wanted to do.

We teach Genesis as the beginning of all beginnings — falling to realize that God didn’t just create a world in seven days and stop.  God is constantly creating through us.  The New Year reminds us of this awesome responsibility — that God unfolds as we create through the infinite power of all that God is.  The New Year gives us new canvas, new colors, new brushes, new sounds, new music, new movements, new drums, new keys, new beats.

dream

The truth is  — as Jesus says, it is written in our laws — that we are gods — more Spirit than flesh, endowed with the unlimited capacity to create — blessed with the creative vision to imagine our good and watch it take shape — given the ability to speak into existence whatever we want to see take shape in our lives.

We are the God that we pray to — Think about that.  Think about what you would do for you if you really believed that you were praying to yourself.

move 17What if you really believed that you were here to give unlimited expression to our Oneness with the divine power of creation?  You would shake the dust off your feet and move forward with your life – strong, radiant and rich with the unlimited good that God has blessed you with.

untitledJesus is teaching us to do just that – to realize that the God in us frees us from everything in our humanness that is blocking the flow of Spirit, or our good, of our divine energy; to stop second-guessing our divine potential; to realize that whatever needs to take shape is already manifesting; to trust that the Universe will give us the guidance that we need whenever we ask for it; to know that God is always sending us the ideas and the people and the situations that we need to do what we are called to do — and that we should never limit ourselves to a particular channel.

uggs walkingWe can shake the dust off our feet and know with absolute faith that whatever we need will find itself along the way of our path.

Namaste.

Cecilia