“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” — Proverbs 4:23

The Limits of Thinking Our Way Through

Has anyone ever tried to think their way out of something? Swirling in thoughts — if I do A, then B, then C, then D — sitting there thinking, and thinking some more? We are thinkers, yes, but we cannot possibly think our way out of irrational logic. No answer arrives when we try to make sense of irrationality using the mind alone. This is why we turn instead toward focused awareness — becoming consciously aware of what we speak and how we speak to ourselves as a child of God. When we remember that God is in charge, we can hold our words in sacredness, knowing exactly whom we are speaking to when we address ourselves.

Words That Reveal the Heart

 Our words and our actions reveal our heart — all of us, all the time. They reveal our prayers, our dreams, and our hopes. Jesus explained that a person’s speech and behavior are simply reflections of what fills their inner life. We spoke last week about Exodus 3:14, where God revealed Himself as the great I AM in the burning bush. When we speak the words “I am,” and whatever follows them, we are projecting into the universe a reflection of our heart. Luke 6:45 puts it plainly: “For out of the abundance of the heart, a person’s mouth speaks.” As children of God, this carries real responsibility — are the words we send into the universe contributing to chaos, or to the healing of the earth we long to see?

What We Focus On, We Value

 The heart is what tracks our value. Wherever we place our desires and our spiritual focus, that is where our values align. So what are we focused on, and is it truly in our heart space? Saint Teresa of Ávila offered a beautiful reminder centuries ago: Christ has no body now on earth but ours — no hands, no feet, only ours; we are the eyes through which compassion looks out upon the world. Our power exists not somewhere external to us, but within us and through the words we speak and project into the world. As children of God, carrying the Christ light within rather than outside of us, we get to ask ourselves each day: what am I giving my focus to? What is tugging at my heart right now?

Returning to the Heart Space

 The heart system, not the brain, is the strongest system in the body. The brain is simply the thinker — the logic of logic. When mind, body, and spirit come together in wholeness, it is the heart that leads. And yet many of us are unaware of what we truly hold dear, especially now, amid an overload of information many of us feel every day. We are said to think somewhere between fifty and one hundred thousand thoughts daily — as many, some say, as a person two hundred years ago might have thought across an entire lifetime. Thirty browser tabs left open because we’re not quite done with them. An inbox we’ll clean out “one of these days.” We cannot logically think our way out of that noise, and the answer isn’t found there — it’s found in the heart. Matthew 6:21 tells us, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” When we are scattered, our words and thoughts scatter too, and we may find ourselves thinking thoughts that were never truly ours — borrowed from someone else’s belief system rather than rooted in our own truth.

Guarding the Heart in an Age of Information Overload

 This is why coming back to center matters so much right now. God hears our prayers and knows our words. God hears our cries and comforts our hearts in times of trouble. If we resist going into our heart space, it may be a form of avoidance — a sense that it’s simply too much for our heart to hold. But it is exactly there that we come home to what truly matters. Quieting the mind, deepening our relationship with God through prayer and meditation, is not about asking for external things — it isn’t “please God, give me that Mercedes-Benz.” In Unity, we practice affirmative prayer: declaring, in the presence of the great I AM, who we are and what we envision our life to be. I never called myself a minister until I became one — I call myself a spiritual teacher, and it took real work to claim that as my truth. But it always begins the same way: with vision, with imagination, and with what is true in the heart.

Speaking From the I Am

 This is why we light the Christ candle — as a reminder of our divine nature, a remembrance of the connection to the divine that is always present within us, whether we remember it or not. We are simply igniting what was already there. As we focus on the peace of God — and remember that peace is always a choice available to us — we can transfer our anxiety to the presence and authority of the divine. Proverbs 4:23 says it best: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” We can turn our troubles, our anxiety, our confusion over to God’s steadfast love, trusting in God’s power and presence upon us right now, with unconditional love and peace.

Affirmation

 ✨ Through my words, I strengthen my relationship with God. 

✨ My truth is revealed as I open my heart.

 ✨ I guard my heart, for everything I do flows from it.

Closing Prayer

 Thank You, God, for being here — Spirit, divine Creator of all that is. We are grateful to know You more today, to celebrate Your presence in our lives, and to know that You know our hearts. We are grateful to come together in celebration, and to know You more, here in unity, today and always. Amen.

Sunday Message — June 14, 2026

 Rev. Lori Souza