January 22, 2026
Beloved Community,
As it turns out, courage is required. And, you already have it within you! I invite you to consider just how courageous you already are.
Merriam-Webster states that courage is the mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.
The Latin root of courage means to have “more heart.”
As spiritual beings who happen to be having a human experience, I suggest you demonstrate courage each time you choose Love. Think of the moments when you stood firmly in love in the face of danger, fear or difficulty; when your very sense of safety would suggest you close your heart rather than open it more fully. I bet you can come up with many examples of how courageous and open-hearted you have been!
The Introduction to The Way of Mastery invites us to study and savor each word given until its meaning “flowers into the grace of Christ living in you …. You will then find your gifts being formulated in new ways.” It goes on to say that spiritual awakening is not a matter of time. It is as close as “the choice to teach only love.”
Courage is cultivated through our commitment to teach only love. We practice the art of perceiving, seeing, speaking and acting with more heart, moment by moment.
Our only responsibility is to keep choosing to place our attention and intention upon the Love of God Consciousness. We get to choose. Why? Because we are created in Infinite Freedom.
I believe the world presents two very clear options from which to choose. You can tell what’s driving the choice by what it makes or creates. Fear and separation, the ego-mind, makes chaos, war, and high dramas. The telltale sign are stories about “the other”. It binds those buying into it by demonizing other groups of people.
Conversely, we have many examples of heroes and s-heroes who have led courageously by letting love lead the way. We have beautiful examples of this in Jesus, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Mahatma Ghandi. Each demonstrated the courage that comes from the heart, led with love, and became mighty causal agents of change in the world.
At Unity Renaissance, our practice is this: Pause, Breathe, and Ask: “How can I choose to teach only love? What is Love teaching me right now?” In this holy instant, sanity is restored.
The Gift of Courage is Infinite Freedom. You are as God created you! Infinitely free in each moment to choose only Love.
This week we observed Dr. King’s birthday. In February we will honor Black History Month with weekly spotlights. Our community will be invited to participate in The Season for Nonviolence, a 64-day program from January 30 to April 4 inspired by Ghandi and King. More info can be found HERE.
I invite you this week to contemplate these quotes in honor of Dr. King. May they inspire you, in your life and as you behold the world. May you devote, dedicate and commit yourself to discerning how you may teach only love in the world at this time.
- I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.
- Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.
- We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now.
The Way of Mastery – The Way of the Heart.
Sunday messages will be inspired by this material – 12 Lessons, one for each month. A committed year-long contemplative practice program will begin in February on Wednesdays. Look for these themes on Sundays:
- January: The Way That Calls You Home
- February: You Create Your Experience
- March: The Power of Forgiveness
- April: Following The Thread of Desire
Whether you choose to follow along or not, each lesson will be both self-contained and yet builds the conversation. As always, you can hear the lessons on YouTube!
I am so excited to see how the way of the heart awakens our spirit and transforms our lives, Unity Renaissance, and the World.
I Love You,
Reverend René