Gifts of Surrender

At the end of every year, Unity Center of Peace hosts a burning bowl ceremony. It’s a time to reflect on our life and to see what thoughts and beliefs are getting in the way of living a life of our choosing. For me, it’s usually some limiting belief I have about myself that I want to release. This past year as Rev. Victoria was guiding us through a meditation, I realized how I was seeing myself as this small self, lacking the ability to live and contribute in ways so important and meaningful to me. What? Me, small? I knew self-doubt could wash over me, but I never thought of myself as small. And yet, this is what was revealed through deeper reflection. I also realized in these moments that this view of myself was robbing me of the joy and freedom that I so desperately wanted as guideposts for my life.

As I walked up to the bowl that would ignite into flames this belief that I was so ready to surrender, I felt lighter and yet expansive. I remembered that I was part of something bigger than me, an infinite presence that connected me to everyone and everything. I was not a small self, but part of a wise and creative Universe that wanted nothing more than to express and manifest through me. Watching the paper holding what you want to release disappear into the flame is so freeing. It’s a reminder that we hold the power over our thoughts and what we believe about ourselves, about others and about the world. For me, this moment was also a reminder of the power of
SURRENDER, which was my word for 2022.

Though I realized I would need to continue to release beliefs about myself that make me feel incapable of creating and manifesting what I want, living under the energy of SURRENDER for a year had brought many meaningful changes into my life. The biggest shift for me is best captured in these words from Marianne Williamson:
To surrender to God is not to surrender to something outside ourselves. It’s to surrender to a more expanded version of ourselves, the larger ocean from whence we came, within Whom we have our being and from which we can never be separate. Thinking of ourselves as separate from God, we cannot truly know ourselves. We are locked into the limitations and imprisonment of false belief.

Surrender is part of the fabric that makes our spiritual community at Unity Center of Peace so special, and so life changing. I will continue with the theme of “surrender” in future blogs. Stay tuned for more about our White Stone ceremony, and why Rev. Victoria is finding “surrender” a key ingredient allowing the power of love to emanate through and from her.

Cheryl Stevens is a certified Enneagram coach and facilitator and helps leaders and achievers develop their inner game. She is also an active member of Unity Center of Peace and serves on the Board.