Awaken to Oneness Now, by Reverend Celeste A. Frazier

It is absurd that we have words like diversity and inclusion. It is certainly interesting that someone can consider himself so central that anything uniquely different from him has the “distinction” of being called diverse. The disease is otherness. Inclusion is also a curious word. Doesn’t one have to be excluded to be included? There is no whole without the sum of its parts.

When God created humans, the Bible does not say God created an Aryan heterosexual, cis-gendered able bodied man. History tells us the first human was found in Africa. I see no instructions to separate in any of the established world religions.

I call sin “separation in nothing”. God is All. To separate is to sin. It is an act of blasphemy.

Expressing Truth, Ernest Holmes declared, “all people are individualizations of the One Spirit.” None of us were manufactured in a factory, so that was not a leap. In Genesis, when it says, male and female created we them, I believe this was the manual for reproducing. With this coupling, you can re-create more of you.

Even if you were to take the theological piece away, you would still have science.

Emily Levine had stage four lung cancer and was okay with it. She spoke of how she loves the idea of being in sync with the cyclical rhythms of the universe. She said, “I am a collection of particles arranged into this pattern. Then, I’ll decompose, and all the constituent parts will be available to reorganize into another pattern.” And she was grateful to be part of that process.

We are a collection of particles. From a wave to a particle, we are either in the chicken stage or the egg stage. We have been created or are in the process of creating. To become a chicken, I must have been an egg. More important than being an egg is to know that the very Creative Process Itself is perfect. Let us keep becoming.

Quantum physics tells us that in my observations, I influence life. This is a God-given power that was not meant to be abused.

We say that we envision humanity awakening to its spiritual magnificence. It is time to wake up now. After millennia of sleeping, it is time to awaken to a world that works for everyone. The Creator did it already. We have the divine blueprint just as we have the biological blueprint.

We do not have to envision living and growing as One Global Family. This was already done. We must get out of the way and stop messing with perfection. Respect and honor the interconnectedness of all life. We were born into this kinship with all life. The Divine intention must be to prosper. Life must perpetuate Itself. Let us be still and know.

- Reverend Celeste A. Frazier

Celeste A. Frazier was licensed as a Religious Science minister in 2006 and ordained in 2009. She has led three Centers for Spiritual Living. She speaks at New Thought centers, regional and international conferences. Celeste is a stimulating podcaster of Mystic Magic, which is on most podcast venues. She is a warm counselor who sees your beauty. She is a visioning facilitator and a passionate teacher and healer who seeks to reveal your Divine Light. Celeste directs outreach ministries, is a performer, and produced a screenwriter. Her books are on Amazon and Kindle. Her new app, Conscious Grace, is in the Apple Store and Google Play. Her new book: Common Miracles, Frequent Illusions, launches in early August. Her website is celestefrazier.com

Juneteenth, Father's Day, and Pride - Celebrate!

There is a lot to celebrate in June. In the United States of America, Father's Day and the federal holiday, Juneteenth, are both on June 19, and June is also the LGBTIQ+ Pride in many countries worldwide[1]. (For a list of Father's Day celebrations around the world, visit When Is Father's Day This Year in Different Countries? (thespruce.com))

The fathers of the United States have Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington, to thank for our Father's Day observance. In 1910, Sonora worked very diligently to establish a celebration equal to Mother's Day for dads.   She visited spiritual communities, the YMCA, shopkeepers, and government officials to drum up support for her idea. And she succeeded. Washing State celebrated the nation's first statewide Father's Day on June 19, 1910. Father's Day became a national holiday in 1972.

Thank you, Sonora Dodd, for having a vision and sticking with it until it became a reality.

June 19 is also the United States federal holiday commemorating the freedom of the last enslaved people in Texas. Although it has roots in the 1860s, it only recently became a federal holiday when in 2021, President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law. 

Juneteenth celebrations sometimes include reading the Emancipation Proclamation made by President Abraham Lincoln, a moderately conservative Republican with a moderately social-liberal political philosophy in terms of social justice, federal power, and equal rights. He proclaimed,

I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested – do order and declare…[skipping to the third paragraph]…That on January 1, in the year of our Lord, 1863, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, [referring to states in rebellion against the United States of America] shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.

It was not until two years later, when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, that the state's residents learned that slavery had been abolished.

It's noteworthy that a proclamation had to be made to state what is a self-evident spiritual truth. And more remarkable that it would take 157 years before Juneteenth would become a federal holiday acknowledging freedom.

I'm reminded that in spiritual practice, we are to declare the self-evident spiritual truth and keep our eyes on that truth. However, the world may take a moment to catch up. All the while, never waiver from the truth; even when Black, Indigenous, and People of Color continue to suffer discrimination, harmful cultural stereotyping, and systemic racism, we are to keep our eye on the self-evident truth of equality and keep moving toward it. Like Bayard Rustin did.

Bayard was an openly gay African American leader for civil rights who, in 1941, marched on Washington to press for an end to racial discrimination in employment. He organized Freedom Rides to raise awareness that racial discrimination had not yet ended, even though it was proclaimed to be over and done in 1863. So many years later, discrimination had not ended. So Bayard Rustin couldn't rest. He helped organize the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to support Dr. Martin Luther King and introduced Dr. King to Mahatma Gandhi's non-violent resistance and civil disobedience philosophy.

He didn't give up when the world didn't seem to be catching up to the self-evident truth. He carried on, and later in life, he stood up for equality for LGBTIQ+ people. He was criticized and targeted because of his sexuality. Politicians threatened to tell the press that he and Dr. King were gay lovers, so Bayard usually acted behind the scenes. But he couldn't give up.

Thank you, Bayard Rustin, for having a vision and sticking with it until more of it became a reality, and may we stand for that vision until all of it is real.

I'm celebrating this Father's Day, Juneteenth, and Pride month by remembering to stay the course even though the world may not have caught up yet. I'm remembering to declare the self-evident spiritual truth and to keep moving toward it. I'm remembering to affirm, recognize, and align with the self-evident spiritual truth and to not waiver from it though the world may take a moment, a decade, or a century to catch up with the reality that all people are equal and that love is love, and that equality is not a special right

"The proof that one truly believes is in action."
 – Bayard Rustin

"The real radical is that person who has a vision of equality and is willing to do those things that will bring reality closer to that vision."
– Bayard Rustin

"When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it makes no difference whether or not I am afraid."
 – Audre Lorde

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[1] Pride around the world: Celebrate LGBTQ+ Month with IHG Hotels & Resorts - 2022 - News & Media - Newsroom - InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (ihgplc.com)

Diversity and Inclusivity, by Dr. Edward Viljoen

One of the values of Centers for Spiritual Living is Diversity and Inclusivity. Our national organization’s bylaws state that We value, embrace and celebrate the individual uniqueness and contribution of all people as they express through differences of gender, ethnicity, culture, history, experience, talents and sexual orientation. We include representatives from all our organizational constituencies in leadership, sacred service and decision-making.

How else can we embrace Oneness if not with acceptance, respect, and the understanding that each individual is a unique expression of one creative power? Individual differences include race, sexual orientation, gender, beliefs, politics, and much more. And celebrating diversity means allowing and welcoming it with an affirmative attitude.

Inclusivity is an invitation to consider the Oneness at the root of everything.

Since everything is an individualization of the Universal, every spark is alike in that it is divine. It is made of the same Cosmic stuff, but no two sparks are identical. The process in Nature is the multiplication of an infinite variety of unified identities, no one of which is identical with the other, even though each and all are in the same field.

What role does inclusivity play in your life?

Though We May Be Free in Spirit, Not All People Are Free

Whether it is Easter, Passover, Spring, or just another Sunday celebration for you, people of faith are called this season to open their‌ ‌hearts‌ ‌to‌ ‌those‌ ‌who‌ ‌suffer.  We are encouraged not to forget those who are imprisoned, who are shelterless, those who are marginalized, or who are suffering in ways that we know not of so that we do not forget the many times that somebody else reached out to us in a time of difficulty, made a sacrifice on our behalf, in a way that gave us hope and courage to rise again. 

Maybe it is you who are suffering. 

In Jewish homes, on the first night of the holiday, the Passover Seder dinner is, among other things,  also a recognition, an affirmation that although we are free, not all people are free. The Jewish world, during this holy season, looks forward to a time when all humanity will be saved from suffering of every kind: poverty, violence, climate instability, social inequities, discrimination, corruption, injustice, and other troubles that imprison us. 

In our tradition, it would be similar to affirming and accepting in consciousness that we are free, while at the same time we have work to do. We are free in Spirit, and the journey of embracing freedom for all continues. Let us use our spiritual freedom to pass over and pass through, limiting social constructs that keep people from thriving, and let us not rest until every person is free.

In ancient times, Jews celebrated the holy day by sacrificing a lamb near the Temple in Jerusalem and then eating it during Passover's first night. For Christians, Jesus became a symbol of that sacrificed lamb-- the lamb of God, who takes away the errors of the world.... on condition, the story goes, that we accept in our hearts and believe the spiritual truth of oneness that Jesus represented.

This is why he was known as The Christ, the anointed one, the one who saw no difference between himself and the Power that created him and that created you and me. And from that knowing, he taught us to trust that our lives were part of an eternal and ever-renewing holy journey called life.

However, you believe, may your day be filled with holiness, wholeness, and revelations.

Dr. Edward Viljoen

International Transgender Day of Visibility



The world celebrates Transgender Day of Visibility on March 31. The Centers for Spiritual Living Spiritually Motivated Social Engagement (SMSE) committee invites each member of our centers, study groups and communities to join the celebration to raise awareness of the lives and contributions of transgender people, of the discrimination and violence they continue to face across the world, and to actively participate in transforming our collective consciousness by making the lives of transgender people more visible. Transgender advocate Rachel Crandall Crocker, LMSW, executive director and co-founder of Transgender Michigan, created Transgender Day of Visibility in response to media coverage of transgender people as victims of violence on Transgender Day of Remembrance. The shift in focus from "remembrance" to "visibility" is in part to celebrate the lives and achievements of transgender people while acknowledging that because of discrimination, not every transgender person is safe or visible. In addition, anti-LGBTQ activists are increasingly targeting transgender people1. More than 80 anti-transgender bills are pending in over 25 states2, making transgender people visible only as they are demonized and blamed by politicians. Amnesty International reports that transgender people in Europe also continue to face discrimination and inhumane treatment.3 The media is the primary source of misrepresentation and stigmatization of transgender people and has shaped cultural misunderstandings of who transgender people are. The world's spiritual communities have a moral imperative to be an effective and powerful source of raising awareness and correcting the harmful stereotypes assigned to transgender people. CSL’s teaching of Oneness and the revealing of Wholeness create the moral compass that inspires us to create a welcoming environment that affirms transgender people as exquisitely individualized expressions of Divinity and celebrates their contributions to society. We celebrate and honor these powerful examples in CSL's family: Andi Hamm, Spiritual Living Center of Atlanta: "I love my androgynous look, even though I definitely, naturally, lean much more into my masculine energy." Andie Hock, RScP, Spiritual Living Center of Greater Dayton: "I am a transgender woman who supports her local Center as a licensed practitioner and as chair of her Center’s Leadership Council. I am retired but active in my local community in ways such as being a member of the local Public Health Community Alliance for LGBTQ+ Health Initiatives and as a support facilitator for the local PFLAG chapter. I see my transgender journey as enabling me to be her most authentic expression of the Divine." Christine Rene Monks, RScP, Mile Hi Church: "I transitioned from male to female 5 years ago to live the remainder of my life as my authentic self, a woman. I freely share my courageous journey authentically and vulnerably to promote compassion and understanding between the transgender and cisgender communities. I am enrolled in the Holmes Institute and School of Spiritual Leadership to become a minister." Erica Mitchell, Sacramento: "I began to cross-dress at an early age, envying all the things girls could do that boys weren't supposed to (I was born in 1953). By age 16, I was 6'4" and became convinced that I could never live publicly as the gender I wanted to be because of my size. It wasn't until I retired at age 62 that I finally summoned up the courage to be who I really wanted to be, other's opinions be damned. It was the best decision I ever made, and I am now happier with myself than I've ever been and looking forward to completing my surgical transition in the fall." Emma Moreno, RScP, CSL Comunidad Hispana Internacional (originally from Mexico City): Emma has lived most of her life in the United States. Emma earned her master's degree in Public Health from the University of Washington and has worked in education and community health programs focusing on the Latino community. At the same time, Emma also maintained a real estate business for the last 20 years. She is currently a practitioner at the Center for Spiritual Life in Seattle, Washington, is an avid student of the work of Emma Curtis Hopkins and Rev Kathianne Lewis, and focuses on empowering people to live a prosperous life. Gabrielle Clairborne, Spiritual Living Center of Atlanta: Gabrielle serves as co-chair of the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce’s TGX Initiative, as co-chair of the Trans Affairs Committee on the City of Atlanta’s LGBTQ Mayoral Advisory Council, as secretary of the Out Georgia Business Alliance and as chair of their TGX360 Workplace and Entrepreneurship Initiative. In 2020, she published her memoir-meets-self-help book "Embrace Your Truth: A Journey of Authenticity." In 2019, the Atlanta Business Chronicle acknowledged her as their Diversity & Inclusion Outstanding Voice Award recipient, and she delivered a TEDx Talk for Centennial Park Women TEDx. In 2018, Gabrielle received the Georgia Small Business Administration’s LGBT Small Business Champion Award in recognition of her efforts in advancing LGBT business ownership. In 2015, Gabrielle was chosen as Atlanta’s Best Trans Activist, and her work has been featured in Forbes and The Atlanta Business Chronicle. Dr. Juls Gilliam, Center for Spiritual Living Columbia: Dr. Gilliam has 25 years of overall IT experience and 20 years in academic computing, instructional and system environments. Focusing on creating, developing and orchestrating solutions, support and training for the end-user in various capacities has been Dr. Gilliam’s life work. Ze is a non-binary person and catalyst for positive change. To know more, please view the TedxTalk "Finding the Middle in Gender." Maurita Farmer, Spiritual Living Center of Atlanta: "I go by they/them pronouns. I am a proud veteran and parent. When I am not working and parenting, you can find me DIY’ing and serving my community and Center. I love to laugh and be surrounded by friends and family." Stephen Huiting, Sierra Center for Spiritual Living: At almost exactly 19-1/2 years of age, Stephen realized that he no longer needed to [desperately] wish he was a boy — he already was one. Enduring through a chronic disability, he managed to communicate this revelation to his family and now thrives openly as the human he has always been. Part of said thriving includes volunteering at animal shelters, domestic assault crisis centers and LGBTQ+ organizations; training his handicapped dog, cuddling his ball python and writing books, articles and poetry about queer experiences. Kevin Sawyer, CPSW, Everyday Center for Spiritual Living, Santa Fe, NM: "I am 57 years old and began my journey of transitioning about 12 years ago. I am a certified peer support worker and volunteer at The Mountain Center in Santa Fe, NM. I love the support of my community and am happy to have found a home at Everyday CSL." Bette Jean Bishop, Bakersfield CSL: "My spirit is in a female body. I am not my body. Living with six cats and my housemate in California, I could write a book. I give compassion, exhibit gratitude, embrace love and see God in all of Life." Rev. Z. Egloff, OhMyGod Life: Rev. Z Egloff is a gender-rich minister, musician, writer, cartoonist and spoken-word artist. Z and their wife Melissa are the founders of OhMyGod Life, an online and traveling ministry. Z and Melissa's mission is to bring radical joy to the world. Del Phoenix-Wilcox, Sierra Center for Spiritual Living: Del (they/he) is a non-binary/Trans masc person living in Grass Valley, California. They are a social worker in private practice working exclusively with the LGBTQIA+ community providing therapy and gender diversity education. Rev. Rafe Ellis, Sierra Center for Spiritual Living, Grass Valley, CA: "I identify as a female-to-male transgender man using pronounces he, him and his who lived the first 43 years of my life misidentified as a cisgender female. I am eternally grateful for my experiences as a female and as a lesbian because they inform my awareness of intersectionality. I am committed to living a visible expression of Creation AS Me and to being an engaged participant in educating anyone who chooses to learn by sharing my journey authentically, honestly and compassionately." DJ Star, CSL Kauai: DJ is a 40-year activist for sexual rights for all, especially to destigmatize and decriminalize sex workers. Decriminalization has proven to reduce abuse and human trafficking. Jay Botinelly, Mile Hi Church: "I came out in 2015 because I couldn't be something I wasn't anymore. I had lost myself, and it was quite the journey to find myself. Thanks to the incredible love of Mile High Church, I am thriving in life." Rev. Kent Barnard: "I was trained at CSL Ft. Lauderdale with Dr. Jim Lockard and Dr. Arleen Bump, and I became a licensed as a minister in 2004. I was ordained at CSL in 2011. I am currently the spiritual director at Center for Universal Spiritual Principles (CUSP), which is part of ANTN." Mitch Austin, Center for Spiritual Awareness: "I’m a transman and grateful licensed Religious Science practitioner of more than 10 years. I have served as a youth advisor for teen camp. I currently speak and teach spiritual principles at various centers." Rev. Ryan Pulley, Soul Evolution Collaborative: Rev. Ryan Pulley is a graduate of Holmes Institute and the School of Spiritual Leadership and co-founder/co-director of Soul Evolution Collaborative. Holding an undergraduate degree in Religion and Philosophy with a minor in Ethics, as well as a master’s degree and clinical license in Social Work, Ryan brings both a spiritual and psychological understanding to ministry and program development. Their passion for the Science of Mind teaching informs both their clinical practice and ministry with the intention of individual transformation and communal evolution. We also celebrate the amazing contributions of the transgender community worldwide: numerous elections to positions of power and influence4, education about the contributions of famous transgender people in history5 and support for the work of transgender artists, past and present.6 For example: Aya Kamikawa, Tokyo Municipal Official, Japan Anna Grodzka, MP, Poland Geraldine Roman, House of Representatives, Philippines Georgina Beyer, MP, New Zealand Admiral Rachel L. Levine, United States Assistant Secretary for Health Senator Sarah McBride, United States State Representative Stephanie Byers, United States Shabnam Mausi, Madhya Pradesh State Legislative Assembly, India Luisa Revilla Urcia, Council Member, Province of Trujillo, Peru Michelle Suarez, Uruguayan Legislator Nikki Sinclaire, United Kingdom Parliamentarian Andreja Pejic, model Elliot Page, "The Umbrella Academy" Caroline Cossey, "For Your Eyes Only" Jake Zyrus, singer Janet Mock, writer and activist Kye Allums, NCAA athlete Laverne Cox, "Orange Is the New Black" Marsha P. Johnson, community advocate Yance Ford, filmmaker Therefore, in alignment with realizing CSL's vision of a world that works for all, we celebrate transgender people and recognize their value in society7. To transgender people everywhere, may you experience this proclamation of our hearts in Centers for Spiritual Living: We see you, we welcome you, we love you and we celebrate you. Edward Viljoen, Spiritual Leader Centers for Spiritual Living CSL Spiritually Motivated Social Engagement Committee RESOURCES: To learn more about International Transgender Day of Visibility: Transgender Day of Visibility | GLAAD International Transgender Day of Visibility - Wikipedia Transgender Day of Visibility | GLSEN To learn more about speaking and writing about transgender people, gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation: HRC’s Brief Guide to Getting Transgender Coverage Right - Human Rights Campaign To learn more from Amnesty International about discrimination faced by transgender people in Europe: Europe: Transgender people face discrimination and inhuman treatment - Amnesty International Footnotes: 1  Netflix documentary: "Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen" 2  Legislative Tracker: Anti-Transgender Legislation - Freedom for All Americans 3  https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2014/02/europe-transgender-people-face-discrimination-and-inhuman-and-degrading-treatment/ 4  12 History-Making Transgender Politicians From Around The World | HuffPost 5  List of Transgender Celebrities (ranker.com) 6  P&G_AdvertisingResearch.pdf (glaad.org) 7  https://csl.org/spiritual-community/our-global-vision/   Centers for Spiritual Living  573 Park Point Drive   |  Golden, Colorado, 80401 Phone: 720-496-1370  |  Fax: 303-526-0913 © 2013 Centers for Spiritual Living Privacy Policy

Oneness and Otherness by Dr Petra Weldes

Rather than starting with Spirit, let’s start with science. Quantum field theory implies an underlying oneness that is basically waves of potential which then particularize into the space time continuum as discreet bits of individual subatomic quarks and electrons, etc. The dual nature of the smallest particles no longer talks about a wave or a particle, but now calls it a “waveparticle.” Rather than two things, a wave and a particle, we may more properly talk about two ways the physical universe shows up – as a unified field of waves or as individually separated particles. And some of the underlying notions of order and “spooky” entanglement are described in language recognizable to those of us on a spiritual path. Scientists are unable to describe the moment the “waveparticle” shifts its form and are uncertain of the impetus for it to do so in a non-experimental state.

The conundrum of duality

Humans have been grappling with this situation for millennia. How does something come from nothing or how does many things come from one thing? In the east, Taoism describes “the One beget the two, which begets the three, which begets the 10,000 things” (verse 42). In the west, presocratic philosophers began the argument between atoms and ideas which continues to this day. In psychology the basic duality gets formed through individual identity vs the group, by it family or tribe. The individuation of self from the other, mother, is the first step in maturation. Yet this self is embedded in, and required to conform to, the oneness of the group and culture. Self and other quickly turns into us and them. Our western Judeo-Christian culture takes this duality one step further by canonizing the tribal duality of “us and them” into a religious proscription. If a Hebrew was enticed by any of the fertility rites or the ideas brought by conquering empires, they were told those things were not for ‘us’, the chosen people. The other was not only different but now Divinely ordained as sinister, or at the very least, unclean and unworthy of participation. Oneness became the oneness of us and the otherness of them, as described by God, no less.

The revelation of paradox

With our spirituality we confront the troublesome question of whether we can deeply acknowledge our diversity without affirming separation? From our stand for social justice we wonder how we can affirm our oneness without denying our human identities and the wounds associated with them? Science of Mind inevitably resolves all these signification difficulties into paradox. Seeking the nature of the One, Infinite Reality gives rise to the exploration of Absolute and Relative, the relationship between Being and Doing, the reality of living as both human and Divine. These are all ways of describing the inherent tension between the One Universal, Infinite, Reality which is the ground of all Being and the multiplicity of forms made possible by the inherent duality of the space/time continuum.

This is actually only a problem when this is held as an either/or duality. This pits the two sides against each other, and one side needs to turn out to be better or more right than the other. What makes something a paradox, however, is that it is a “both/and” rather than “either/or”. Making friends with the paradox moves us beyond the right and wrong mindset, into a much richer, more inclusive viewpoint.

Diversity is Infinite Variety

Oneness and diversity is at the heart of Being and Becoming, which the Science of Mind calls the Creative Process. The Science of Mind recognizes that the essential nature of Life is ONE, it is the same Life living throughout all creation and it is the same Consciousness which is the impulse and Intelligence behind creation. Creation, with its infinite variety of form and expression, is filled with so many uniquely diverse types and groups and individuals as to be completely uncountable. Clearly there is a need for this variety. Let’s begin with mind-blowing idea that every snowflake (or blade of grass or leaf) is unique, yet all have the same qualities & properties – every snowflake is frozen H2O. Then look at flowers and trees, birds and animals. Why so many types? The diversity of flowers, for instance, from peony to iris to rose, is a celebration of the infinite number of ways and forms needed to express the One, Infinite Life as “flower”. Just a quick look at nature and the richness of any ecosystem will provide evidence that this diversity is not only appreciated, but it is necessary to the well-being of the whole.

The Inclusion of the Other

It is no secret, however, that diversity is challenging. Going back through the Christians to our Hebrew forebears, otherness may be altogether too be enticing! Yet in relationships, don’t we want our partners, ultimately, to be just like us? This polarity around otherness may keep us clinging to the security and peace of Oneness.

But we are definitely not all the same. Neither as individuals nor as types or groups of people. Nature (individual uniqueness) plus Nuture (family/culture/religion/environmental impact) make each of us totally unique. Emerson reminds us to “insist on yourself” and that “imitation is suicide.”

We are all just a little unique, for each wears a different face but behind each is the One Presence – God. Unity does not mean uniformity. Unity means that everything draws its strength, it power, and its ability to live from One Source. Holmes, 365 Science of Mind

Yet we long for belonging, to fit in and be part of the whole. Additionally our spirituality and intuition pull us toward an embodied experience of Oneness. Once again, the tension is resolved in paradox. As much as we must be ourselves, we must see and support others to be themselves, for they are the One made manifest in infinite variety. To love our neighbor as ourself is to want for the other just exactly what we want – to be authentically and fully ourselves. And since we recognize our need for belonging causes us to be drawn to those who are like us, to identify with others we recognize as kin, that too we would want others to joyfully find in their own lives. Belonging, acceptance, and to be seen and recognized as part of the something larger than just ourselves.

Celebrating Diversity and Including the Other honors all the unique forms of expression and is fundamentally grounded in the realization of Oneness. Celebrating Oneness recognizes our interconnection, beneath any apparent separation. Arguing about which is more important takes us back to either/or. Both are equally important. When we keep both/and as our framework, we can fully engage on both sides of the paradox at the same time.

Centers for Spiritual Living believes that spiritual maturity has no need to create conflict or to say one side is better than another. We recognize that the inclusion of the other is the only way to actually embody and reveal our inherent Oneness. Just as the variety of flowers makes a single garden more beautiful and healthier, so diversity and inclusion makes our Oneness richer and more fulfilling. Oneness and Otherness are simply two sides of the same Reality. Including both is the living out the ultimate paradox.

About the Author, Dr. Petra Weldes

Serving as Spiritual Director of CSLDallas since 1998, Rev Dr Petra Weldes is a powerful, gifted speaker and teacher whose visionary role has created a dynamic spiritual community in Dallas, empowering and transforming lives. In her over 30 years of ministry, her purpose is transformation and her mission is to grow people, communities, and ideas.

A highly regarded, deeply admired teacher, Dr Petra engages students with her interactive style providing a safe, sacred environment for personal growth and exploration. Her deep wisdom, wealth of knowledge, humility as well as humor, guides students into journeys of awakening to their unique expression and creative and joyful potential. An elegant, powerful speaker, her ability to translate seemingly complex and confusing life issues into concise and clear messages invites the audience into deeper levels of understanding of their being and engagement in the world by igniting the change within.