Welcome to the EarthCare Module on "Release."
Unit Focus: Release/Elimination/Renunciation is a profoundly powerful spiritual practice. Just like a snake must slough off old binding skin in order to grow, we have to shed beliefs, habits, perceptions that no longer serve in order to expand, flex and flow. Collectively, humanity must release some of the practices, behaviors, and mindsets that harm one another and our planet. We can intentionally activate the power of release to step more fully into freedom and peace. Nature provides many beautiful examples of the expansive, regenerative power of release.- Demonstrate understanding of RELEASE as a spiritual principle.
- Identify links between RELEASE as spiritual principle and the human interaction with nature and the whole of creation.
- Integrate the spiritual principle of RELEASE as related to Earth/Creation care into Unity services and teachings.
- Use the wisdom expressed by nature to reveal lessons that will enrich our lives.
I am a powerful spiritual being whose divine inheritance is freedom and so I lovingly release all baggage, limiting beliefs and old wounds and open fully to life, love, and joy.
We come into the Holy Instant of now, this powerful present moment. We remember the truth of ourselves as spiritual beings, free beyond the bounds of bodies. We remember Oneness with God/Source/Creator and all of Creation. We affirm our power to release all things that limit or bind us. We gently and willingly release misperceptions, grudges, attachment to past events, and fully open to the allness of life. We claim the release in collective consciousness of behaviors, ideas and systems that damage the Earth. Knowing that release is a cleansing part of Divine flow and Order we say thank you, amen, and so it is!
Many Layers of Release
By Rev. Cylvia Hayes
“The soul does not grow by addition but by subtraction.” ~ Meister Eckhart
Sometimes in order to move forward, or help another move forward, we have to let go. Sometimes we gain most when we cut our losses. Release/Elimination/Renunciation is a profoundly powerful spiritual practice. Just like a snake must slough off old binding skin in order to grow, we have to shed beliefs, habits, perceptions that no longer serve in order to expand, flex and flow.
When we clear space on the altar of our minds, we make room for new insights and truths to enter. Releasing the perception that we’re “only human”, or bound by bodies, opens us to meeting our true identities as spiritual beings. Ella Pomeroy in her book, Powers of the Soul, writes, "In the mind of God, Elimination is an idea of emergence from bonds." In our Unity way, a basic emphasis is that release/elimination is directly connected to what is next ready to emerge spiritually.
Sometimes it can feel like releasing a grudge or hurt feelings is a sacrifice of righteous self-defense or an unmerited act of letting the offender “off the hook”. However, holding onto grievances, choosing not to forgive just drains away our own power and peace. I love the example of ducks and dogs. During mating season, male ducks will often compete for the chance to woo females. They swoop down and skid across the water coming breast-to-breast with rival males and then a great cacophony of squawking and splashing occurs until, somehow, the ducks sort out who gets the girl. At that point, all parties involved paddle away from one another, sort of stand up in the water and flap their wings shedding excess water, and any hard feelings, from their bodies. Just a few moments later they might all be peacefully floating and eating together, having a perfectly ducky day.
My two dogs are good friends and wrestle hard. Every so often one of them gets carried away and too aggressive and the other snarls or snaps in reprimand. The offending dog cowers a bit in response, letting the other know they got the message. It’s a tense moment, but within seconds the whole thing is over and play goes on. The next time they enter into play there is no attachment to the past altercation and they certainly don’t waste any time stewing about it.
Release is also essential to the flow of abundance or prosperity. We let go, feeding another, and make space for more to enter in. Glaciers melt, releasing pieces of themselves to flow into rivers and eventually the ocean. On the other side of the world a tempest beats the ocean into mighty mountainous frothing waves. The water droplets that get flipped off the peaks rise into the atmosphere and are picked up in clouds, later to be dropped as snow onto glaciers. It’s all a form of currency.
Our planet is greatly hurting due to excessive consumerism and materialism. Nearly all of us in industrialized countries have more stuff than we need. All of that stuff comes out of the Earth and eventually gets returned to the Earth, often in the form of toxins or plastic pollution. Releasing attachment to the idea that material stuff is a sign of success or wellbeing is one of the most greatly needed collective forms of release at this time. Honestly, as a species, we figuratively and literally just need to cut the crap and I think it’s no coincidence that several Unity teachers and authors have tied the spiritual power of release to bodily functions. In the Twelve Powers of Man, Charles Fillmore wrote, “There must be a renunciation or letting go of old thoughts before the new can find place in the consciousness. This is a psychological law, which has its outer expression in the intricate eliminative functions of the body.” – Charles Fillmore, The Twelve Powers of Man.
Finally, of all the facets of release, certainly one of the most powerful is being willing to release outdated pieces of our own identities. Just before writing this article, I made an epic 4,381-mile road trip to deal with cleaning up my mom’s home and property to prep it for sale. That trip included many layers and nuances of release. I had been in a position of responsibility for various members of my family since being a child and often not been treated very well for the efforts. There’s no question part of my willingness to take on such responsibility stemmed from love and compassion. However, at a deeper level, it was also connected to a desire to be valued by my family members; it was tied to seeking a sense of worthiness. The need for external validation is the sort of self-identity that can easily lead to co-dependence and enabling. We can shed it like a tree dropping leaves in the fall to nourish the soil beneath, when we finally allow ourselves to feel worthy as we are for who we are, not just for what we do. Whether family members, or anyone else, value us or not is their business, not ours.
If interested, you can read my piece about the experience, titled, Layers of Release, here.
The more we are able to embrace release, in its many forms, the freer we are to live our fullest lives right now.
Lesson Engagement
This pre-recorded talk is available for your personal use or for viewing in your congregation (in-person or online). The speaker is Rev. Dr. Richard Loren Held. Send and Email to Rev. Dr. Richard.
Content by Rev. Dr. Richard Held
Content by Rev. Liesa Chase
After almost two decades of negotiations, the 193 United Nations Member States have released mistrust and competition to adopt a landmark legally binding Marine Biodiversity Treaty for the high seas, which is the vast two-thirds of Earth’s oceans beyond national boundaries. The treaty requires signatory nations to implement agreed-upon strategies for addressing over-fishing, acidification, plastics pollution, and other pressures.
Books
The Fall of Freddy the Leaf, by Leo Buscaglia. A book about grief, nature’s message to us about letting go. Written for young ones but great for all.
No Impact Man, by Colin Beavan. This book explores how we can realistically live a more "eco-effective" and by turn more content life in an age of inconvenient truths.
The Simple Living Guide: A Sourcebook for Less Stressful, More Joyful Living by Janet Luhrs. This is a comprehensive “voluntary simplicity” sourcebook of practical wisdom and inspiration for paring down life in order to live it to the fullest.
Videos
I will be a hummingbird
Quotes
“The soul does not grow by addition but by subtraction.” ~ Meister Eckhart
Music
WATER BY DANIEL NAHMOD