What’s in a Word

The Sacred Shift · First Post · Mystical U Website Relaunch

Welcome to the relaunch of the Mystical U website. I’m excited about what’s ahead.

I’ll be honest: this first post was hard to write. I wanted it perfect. I wanted it to knock your socks off. Once I got that out of my system, I remembered what this post is actually for — to give you a feeling for what Mystical U is about.

In 2018 I started a Spiritual Exploration group. The idea was that each week, after everyone had gathered, I would throw out an idea and we would toss it around for ninety minutes. No judgment, no wrong ideas. A safe place to ask any crazy-ass question about practical metaphysics, and a place where we could learn from each other.

After a while we wanted something more grounded to explore. I suggested the Lord’s Prayer.

Two of the participants were former Roman Catholics — parochial school, the whole bit. They were willing. But neither felt any connection to the prayer. For them it was just the “Our Father” they had said over and over for years.

The first week we looked at the first line: “Our Father who art in heaven.” I wrote it on the whiteboard, and then we discussed each word. What other word would work for you? What word annoys you? What speaks to your heart? Everyone participated, and it was a great conversation. Then I wrote our version of that line on the board.

The next week we took up the second line and went through the same process. We developed a new second line. And so it went.

I expected a three- or four-week conversation. We spent four months in deep discussion about the words and what they meant to each of us in our metaphysical setting. It was never my intention to do another rewrite of the prayer. It happened naturally and easily.

When we had gone through the whole prayer, I put all our lines on the board and we refined the words. We even voted on some of them. It was deep, pure spiritual collaboration. We called it the Prayer of Intention.

For me? I had the honor of being in a room with people sincerely wanting to discover their inner divinity. Everyone grew and opened up during the process. But the two ladies who felt no connection at all? Over those four months I watched their eyes light up with new understanding, connection, appreciation, acceptance. They had both made a sacred shift. It was one of the most touching and rewarding things I have ever done as a spiritual teacher.

So rather than rattle on about what Mystical U is, or has to offer, I simply make my own offering to you.

Prayer of Intention

(after the Lord’s Prayer)

Spiritual Exploration Group of 2018

O, Our Beloved within

Blessed be our Name

Inner Light shine forth

Divine Intention manifest

Within and without

We are blessed always with

awareness and abundance

We forgive ourselves and others

We do not stay in temptation

We release ourselves from fear

We return to love

We live in Light, Love, and Glory

Amen

Blessings, and may the joys of the world go with you.

Rev. Deborah Phillips