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.