THEOLOGICAL SNAPSHOT: MYRTLE AS YOU SEE HER NOW.
Myrtle Fillmore grew up in the Methodist Church
and she was one of the co founders of the Unity Movement. Around 1880, Myrtle
was told by doctors that she did not have long to live. Myrtle had traveled to
hear a speaker talk on healing and she decided to claim a message for herself. Myrtle declared that she was a child of God
and therefore she did not inherit sickness. Myrtle began a daily prayer
devotion for herself. Myrtle blessed every cell in her body and as such
she was healed of all her ailments. Myrtle's husband Charles Fillmore was
apprehensive about the work his wife was doing but he realized that in fact she
was healing herself and he began to pay attention to the work his wife was
doing.
Others noticed that Myrtle's healing was
apparent, as such others approached her and she was asked to teach them how she
did it. Other’s came in groves and
wanted to know how she was able to heal herself. Myrtle took the time to
pray with others and she help them develop their healing faculties through
affirmative prayer.
Myrtle was a simple woman, by that I mean she
didn't need to live extravagantly. Instead she chose to live her life
simply taking care of her basic needs. Myrtle did not take more than she needed
and when she needed things she affirmed truth and in fact they would happen.
Some may even say miraculously. If Myrtle knew there was a challenge with
finances she would affirm that the right and perfect thing would be coming and
there was no reason to fear because God knew what her needs were. Myrtle
held this truth in mind when she prayed for herself and with others.
Myrtle took her passion for prayer a step further
and she developed a prayer ministry that was run strictly on donations and
tithes. This prayer ministry, now called
Silent Unity is still in existence today. This prayer ministry continues to be
a great and sustaining force for the work that continues to be done at Unity
Village.
Myrtle Fillmore was passionate about her prayer
ministry and she was equally as passionate about accessing the silence. Myrtle insisted that all classes begin and
end in the silence. Myrtle found that
many people claimed to be too busy with daily tasks therefore they did not slow
down enough to enter the silence. Myrtle
lovingly and graciously showed people how to access and be in the silence. Myrtle would describe how lovely it was to be
in the silence with God. Myrtle
described how God’s love continued to bless her and she was certain that God
would bestow that blessing on them as well if they took the time to enter into
the silence, then they would know how great God’s love for them was.
Myrtle had the courage and faith to show how her
beliefs in truth worked for her. She
became a living example of how to live as though nothing was against her.
Hi Christine. I think you wrote a very nice summary of Myrtle's life and the roots of her theology. Your use of the word "passionate" seems to describe her fully. It's probably the reason she was able to accomplish so much during her life. I also think that word could be used to one extent or another with all of us taking this class!
ReplyDeleteHi Christine, Thanks for your emphasis on Myrtle and prayer. A few months ago I was talking to a Unity author and I said it was too bad what was going on at Unity Press. "I mean we started out as a publishing ministry," I said.
ReplyDeleteHe corrected me: "Well, we started out as a prayer ministry. The publishing came after," he noted.
Thank you for pointing out, Christine, that Myrtle was a simple woman. Her needs were not extravagant and her faith was strong that all that was needed would be taken care of. I remember reading somewhere that a co-worker mentioned, when the funds were low, that they hoped the funds (or money, I don't recall the quote) would hold out and Myrtle replied that she hoped the faith would hold out. Simple is not bad, in my opinion. The return to "simple" would benefit many of us - me included. :)
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