MYRTLE FILLMORE: MY 'BEFORE' AND 'AFTER' PICTURES

As we move into the final week of this class, Dr. Tom has asked us to go back and read the blog post that we made during the first week of this class. In that assignment we were asked to give our impressions of Myrtle, what we felt were her key views, and our reactions. Dr. Tom asked us to do this before we launched into reading her books and any research studies. Now our assignment is to reassess our initial impressions. Based on our studies where have our impressions of Myrtle changed and where do they remain the same?

The work for this class has led me to reassess some of my key views about Myrtle, including:

"THE KINDER AND GENTLER MYRTLE": In my first week blogI said that one of the things that led me to join Unity church in the 1980s was the love and warmth that I felt in Unity. I then said that I grew to associate this love, compassion and warmth with Myrtle. In my mind I saw Myrtle as a kindly grandmother full of spiritual truth. After reading her books and a biography of Myrtle, I've come to realize that Myrtle was full of love, compassion, and warmth-- but many times she could be as hard as nails. She did not flinch from saying difficult things to some people. She could be an iron fist in a velvet glove. She would respond to a letter writer by saying, in effect: You don't seem to be doing the spiritual work! If you are not willing to do the work then you won't experience the blessings. At other times she practically says to the letter writer––pointblank –– Do you really believe in Unity principles, or are you just saying the words? In many ways, the Myrtle I loved before this class was almost one-dimensional stick figure. I now see that she certainly wasn't that, and she knew when to use tough love.

MYRTLE'S METHODIST ROOTS: In my first week's missive I mentioned how Myrtle was raised in a very strict Methodist home and church. Even as a child she did not believe in the hellfire and damnation preached by her parent's church. All this may be true, but what I have come to believe is that in many ways Myrtle's Methodist roots had a deep (and often unconscious) impact on her well into the 20th century. In a reply to one of my recent blogs, I was asked by one of my fellow classmates how one could determine this Methodist connection (particularly when it was sometimes unconscious)?

I would suggest that Myrtle's relationship to Methodism was very much like James Joyce's relationship with Ireland and the Catholic Church. Yes, Joyce left Ireland as a young artist, and he never returned. Joyce left the church at even an earlier age. But all one has to do is look at Joyce's works (from his early book of short stories-- DUBLINERS-- to his last work (FINNIGAN'S WAKE) to see that in so many ways Joyce never left Ireland or the Catholic Church. He might not have agreed in so many ways with Irish culture and Roman Catholic the theology. Nevertheless, he took so much from both treasure trove's and wove them into his books in new and exciting ways. In the same way, Myrtle might have left the hellfire and damnation behind, but many themes and folkways from John Wesley and company remained in Myrtle, I believe. Wesley emphasized the baptism of fire-- the deep and strong relationship with Christ. Myrtle may have redefined what was meant by the Christ, but I believe there is a Weslyan connection. Even the concept of revival and the camp meeting found their way into Unity in large part because of Myrtle. I found it interesting that our class at one point used the Methodist quadrilateral (Yes, Dr. Tom adjusted it for Unity purposes, but it wasn't the Buddhist quadrilateral:))

THEY WERE LETTERS!: Intellectually I knew that Myrtle's 'books' were composed of individual letters that had been strung together to form books. I am glad that we have Myrtle.s HEALING LETTERS, etc. But I now have a much deeper awareness that these 'books' were really specific letters written to specific letter writers who had specific concerns-- and came from very different spiritual places. Myrtle had a gift to respond to a letter writer based upon that individual's needs. I now believe that this sensitivity to a specific person's needs and spiritual condition must be taken into consideration when we look back at Myrtle's words. It is very easy to draw universal conclusions from a specific letter when Myrtle was actually stating something in a way that a specific reader might gain the most.

REGENERATION, ETC.: I gained an awful lot from our class 'discussion' about Myrtle and regeneration, reincarnation, and transition. I now realize that Myrtle's views could shift overtime-- and the emphasis could change. Nevertheless, I still believe that Myrtle's ultimate goal was spiritual growth and fully realizing the Christ within. I am sorry for this sports analogy, but here it goes: Myrtle wanted to get the ball in the end zone (or to have us realize that the ball way already in the end zone:)) As time passed, I think that Myrtle realized more and more that there were several different ways to 'score.' While her original goal may have been regeneration, she made a fantastic score by the way she made her transition.

I have enjoyed this class including Dr. Tom's assignments and your blogs. I think all of our comments led to a very rich and productive discussion.