The Sacred Power of Connection
How Presence, Relationships, and Spirit Bring Us Back to Life
This coming Sunday's Daily Word is Connection, and as I sit writing this week's Bobby Pen from the peace and quiet of the lake, I find myself reflecting on just how important connection truly is.
I often joke that someday I'd like to buy ten acres, build a little log cabin, get ten
chickens, and disappear from the world. Sometimes I even joke that I don't particularly like people. Of course, neither of those statements is entirely true.
Beneath the humor is something much deeper: a profound desire to connect. To know and be known. To share life with others. To laugh together, learn together, grow together, and sometimes even heal together.
The coming Sunday's Daily Word reminds us that we are connected not only to one another but to all living things through the indwelling Presence of God. In Unity, we teach that there is one Presence and one Power active in the universe and in our lives. If that is true, then every relationship becomes an opportunity to encounter the Divine.
This week I have been blessed to spend time at my lake house with Reverend Michael Perrie and Joy Perrie, former Director of Silent Unity. Together we have shared long conversations about spirituality, healing, God, and the many ways the Divine shows up in our lives—even during difficult seasons.
One thing I continue to discover is that connection requires presence.
It is easy to be physically present while mentally preparing our next response. It is easy to hear someone's words without truly listening to their heart. It is easy to become so focused on our goals, opinions, or concerns that we miss the sacred person sitting right in front of us.
Yet when we become fully present, something changes.
We begin to notice more.
We notice emotions behind words.
We notice the courage it took someone to speak.
We notice pain that may not be visible on the surface.
We notice the Christ within another person, even when we disagree with them.
Several months ago, during a leadership assessment, I learned that I score very high in visionary abilities. That didn't surprise me. What did surprise me was learning that I scored much lower in the people category.
At first, I wasn't quite sure what to do with that information. But over time, I began to realize that perhaps it wasn't a criticism. Perhaps it was an invitation.
An invitation to become more present.
An invitation to listen more deeply.
An invitation to see people not as problems to solve, obstacles to overcome, or even projects to improve, but as sacred expressions of God deserving of love, compassion, and understanding.
I am discovering that true connection is less about agreement and more about
presence. It is less about convincing and more about understanding.
It is less about being right and more about being real.
Charles Fillmore once wrote that humanity is united through the one Spirit of God. When we remember this truth, we begin to see beyond appearances and reconnect with the divine essence that lives within every person.
As I continue this season of rest, reflection, and healing, I find myself increasingly
grateful for the people in my life. Family. Friends. Church members. Teachers. Mentors. Even those who have challenged me. Each relationship has shaped me in some way.
Connection is not merely something we do. It is who we are. And perhaps that is why loneliness feels so painful and authentic connection feels so healing. At the deepest level of our being, we were created to remember our oneness.
This Sunday, Reverend Dr. Gerry Boylan will share a message titled The Shadow
Knows. I hope you'll join us as we continue exploring the spiritual journey together.
Until then, may you reach out to someone you love, listen a little more deeply, and remember that the Presence of God connects us all.
With love and gratitude, Rev. Bobby
"Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing." — 1 Thessalonians 5:11 
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