Is there really a glass?

                A question was asked and somewhat skimmed over in class this week about; does Unity allow people to see the glass half empty?  That question has been in my head for most of the week and I have been really impressed with how much it has made me think (and rethink) my beliefs.  The whole “glass half full" question is one of those all-encompassing conversation pieces that always comes with an easy answer and will allow people to see what school of thought you come from.  For me, however, it is a cliché that we use too often to put people in boxes.  If you think the glass is half empty, you are what some would call a “Debbie-downer,” someone who is pessimistic and has their doubts about people and life in general.  If you think it is half full, then you are an optimistic, always seeing the good in people and in the world type of person.  This definition sounds like most, if not all Unity people.  So I start thinking, does Unity really not allow people to see the glass as half full? 

There is a terrible cliché that used to get thrown around in my home church when I was younger that used to drive me nuts and that is, “Fake it until you make it.”  Even as a teenager this bothered me because in the rawest of definitions I could come up with for it I understood that, while it could be used as an affirmative experience that stresses affirm-until-it-happens type of theology, in my mind, what it really means is that you should fake being happy during a moment of fear, anger or anxiety until you become happy.  That is, if happiness is what you are trying to achieve.  Ultimately, you are limiting your experiences by “faking” anything that is not what you are truly feeling at the moment.  With this thought process we basically ignore an issue until we forget about it and we’re back to the “Happy space.”  But what happens to enjoying the journey?  What happens to learning from our experiences and allowing our humanness to feel an emotion even if only to learn about it and use it to bring us to our higher good? 

                To get back to the cliché at hand here, the fact is that sometimes Unity does not allow people to see the glass half full.  This disappoints me to say, but the truth is I have seen time and time again where people are asked to brush away their fear or anger, to rise above the situation they are in and see the good in it, trusting that God has a plan and that even this situation was meant for your good.  I have even been the person giving that advice from time to time.  I believe this advice can be useful and life transforming, however, I think as humans, we need to spend some time in the muck, to see the glass half empty once in a while in order to better appreciate the times when we can see it as half full.  To let go of the judgment that if you don’t see it as half full you might be perceived as lacking something or unhappy is so important to your true authentic nature.  This experience is not always rainbows and sunshine.  When we are having a “glass-half-empty” day, it is ok to just be in that space and know that it too shall pass.  But next time I get there, I am going to enjoy it, be real with it and allow myself to have the experience. 

                Of course, I would never let a philosophical question like this go by without first letting my facetious mind have a moment of fun.  So my answer to the question would be that the glass is neither half empty nor half full.  In fact, it is completely full.  Just by changing your perspective of it slightly you can see that it is half full of water while the other half is full of air!  Just a shift in perspective!

My Embedded Theology

                I believe there is simplicity to my embedded theology.  In fact, simplicity in and of itself is what ties all of my embedded theology together.  I was brought up in a Unity church and around family members where were regular attendees of the church.  I would say that the moral values of my parents, specifically my mother, and Unity principles were the main reasons my embedded theology is what it is today. 

                Treat others as you would like to be treated.  This is the “Golden Rule” and has been a part of my belief system as long as I can remember.  Some of my earliest childhood memories of lessons learned all come to mind with the same resounding message.  I was taught, in everything I did to treat people how I would have wanted to be treated in the same situation.   What I love most about this belief system is that growing up, it was important for me to know how I wanted to be treated.  I would take that statement and flip it around and focus on how I wanted to show up in an experience and how I would like to be treated.  It helped me in growing up with this understanding that I do let people know how I want to be treated by the way I treat them.  So as a child it was always on the forefront of my mind to treat other people with respect and politeness.  I love being encouraged and supported so in turn, I would make it important to encourage and uplift others when I could.  This piece of my embedded theology is probably the most longstanding and possibly the most critical of teachings my parents ever instilled in me.

                A child growing up in any childrens church becomes like a petri dish for embedded theology and growing up in a Unity church is nothing different.  This is where my embedded theology becomes a bit blurred with my deliberative theology because I have never wavered or lost sight of the principles I grew up learning.  With that said, a couple of my deepest rooted theological memories are that God is everywhere, in everything and the idea that I am a child of God.  These ideas were taught to me at a young age and continuously refined as I grew through the childrens church.  I often hesitate to use clichés like this, but I do firmly believe that there is only one presence and one power in the universe.  That presence, that all-encompassing power that is in everything I see and in every experience I have is the same God that is in every fiber of every cell in my body.  There is no place that God does not exist.  The phrase, I am a child of God is one that I don’t fully agree with anymore because of my understanding of metaphysics and the language we use.  However, what it meant to me as a child and how it has evolved in my theology today still makes it an important part of my embedded theology. 

                There are many other beliefs in my embedded theology but with respect to space and time, and with a conscious effort to not start listing unity principles I will leave off here.   Shining a light on my embedded theology, however, has been a refreshing experience for me in remembering where I came from and how I got to be where I am today.