There are many things about Unity that I love. Over the course of nearly forty years, Unity, its beliefs, and the way of life it endorses have become more and more my way of being. Perhaps the idea that I love best is that we have no dogmas or creeds. There are core beliefs and foundation principles, but they are not irrevocable, untouchable truths. They are subject to change, for even the most basic Unity idea holds more promise than we can currently see.

Not everyone would agree. There are defenders of the faith, but our way of life tends to encourage explorers of the faith. If you were to ask me how I would describe myself, I would say I am an explorer of the kingdom of heaven, a kingdom that is more vast than the cosmos and centered in the midst of me.

In 1974, after having been to only a half dozen Unity church services, I found myself at Unity Village studying to become a Unity minister. (The process for entering ministerial school is much more stringent and selective these days.) No Unity minister had tutored me because there was no church in Albany, Georgia, where I lived at the time. I had never graduated from a Unity class because I had never attended one until my first ministerial course.

I was one of the emptiest students who had ever entered our ordination process. However, I was a cup to be filled—not by the faculty, although they were an inspiration beyond words, but from within. For some reason I quietly challenged every spiritual principle I encountered. This was not done in class. When you don't know anything, it is difficult to even dialogue with your teacher. I simply listened because I had so much to learn. The challenge and inner conflict took place within me as I tried to put into practice the ideas I was experiencing in class.

Life without dogmas or creeds allows us to experience the true nature of God's presence—mystery. “God is” is the truest statement we can make about God, but the second most accurate declaration is “God is mystery.”

To say we know and understand the nature of Spirit and its creation is to build a barrier to the wonders that are our divine inheritance. Mystery, exploration and wonder are meant to be companions on our spiritual journey. Discoveries are made; we put them to the test, and if they prove true for us, we journey with them for a time. But the day may come when a new discovery reveals a fork in the road where we feel compelled to tread on holy ground we have never walked on before.

Imagine if God told you that everything you thought was true was false. I think God said this to Moses, for Spirit demanded that Moses take off his shoes. (In Bible symbolism, feet tend to represent understanding because it is through our understanding that we move through life.) Let us join the Hebrew lawgiver by taking off our shoes and putting aside what we consider true.

Wonder will fill us, and we will see a bush on fire yet not consumed. Then it strikes. The light emanating from the bush allows us to see that the bush has always been ablaze with God's presence, but we did not see the light or feel the warmth of the flames. Now we catch a glimpse of what has always been. Bathed in this light, we reaffirm that no creed will be our foundation unless it is that God is mystery and that we are explorers of the kingdom of heaven.

This article originally appeared in The Spiritual Journey by Jim Rosemergy, a regular column in Unity Magazine.