by Rev. Jenna Wexler
From Vision to Calling
Ministers are trained to be non-political – for many good reasons! BUT then again, what’s political about epic storms, homelessness, social injustices, violence, and such?
No problem can be solved by the same kind of thinking that created it – Albert Einstein
The metaphysical concept of “Change your thinking change your experience” works powerfully on the individual level. Marketing has also proven that it works powerfully for massive target audiences.
So, I privately continued my experiments in changing my thoughts and holding a higher consciousness for problematic conditions in the world. For me, this seemed like a natural application of Religious Science principles even though this ‘peace practitioner’ work contradicted our historic ethos of practice.
By 2006, I had accepted this as my direction; and then immediately hit a hard STOP!
During my ministerial licensing process, through the Centers for Spiritual Living (CSL), and for nearly a decade after I was continually advised: “Don’t go there! It’s not the right time.” So, I quietly and privately stayed my course with this mantra: “The time will come. The answers will come … and it will be right.”
By late 2014, I really wanted to sprout. My senior minister suggested I write a position paper of my ideas for this new work. At the very moment I emailed it, CSL’s new “Global Vision” landed in my Inbox. I was electrified as I read it as this new Global Vision was a near perfect reflection of my position paper!!! What a momentous confirmation (‘from on high’) after nurturing this idea for so long.
For various reasons, my first public launch didn’t make it into orbit; and, Edison didn’t invent the light bulb on his first attempt, either. It’s also taken CSL about four years to start an awareness campaign supporting a new direction of spiritual action (such as the recent AGNT-CSL-Unity Sacred Activism Rally I attended at the Bodhi Center in Chicago).
With all that we have witnessed and experienced – in every domain of our world since 2016 – it IS time for us to engage our values and principles to show-up in new ways! As co-creators, we’re called to a higher consciousness, coupled with applying our principles through new spiritual practices and actions … all in service to “A world that works for everyone”.
Here now, in 2018, I am grateful for my congregation’s support of my being one of several other CSL and Unity ministers who are exploring and inventing this new frontier. We are each a unique start-up in a virtual incubator; this is the nature of Divine evolution at work.
