Member Articles

Charles and Myrtle Fillmore came from completely different backgrounds, each developing their own assortment of traits and gifts which later combined to create a pathway to enlightenment, enriching the lives of countless others.

As a child, Charles Fillmore lived in the wilderness of pre-statehood Minnesota, where his father was a trader to the Chippewa Indians. A hip injury he sustained in an ice-skating accident was treated with primitive remedies to heal the resulting bone infection, leaving him with pain and difficulty walking for the rest of his life. He received little schooling and was, essentially, self-educated and, indeed, a self-made man.

Myrtle, on the other hand, was raised in relative affluence, attended Oberlin College, received a higher level of education than what was common for women of that time, and became a teacher.

During the 1880s, Charles Fillmore achieved abundant success during a real estate boom in Kansas City. He even contributed greatly to the laying out of the city. The Fillmores had become truly affluent and had the world by the handle. However, the financial boom collapsed, devastating the finances of the Fillmores. In addition, Myrtle had tuberculosis and was not expected to live more than six months. At that time, it was believed that tuberculosis was hereditary, and there was a history of the disease among Myrtle’s ancestors.

This was a tremendously unsettling time for the Fillmores, but for Myrtle, it was enormously more compelling as she faced what appeared to be a tuberculosis death sentence.

These horrendous developments launched the Fillmores on a quest – searching, listening, reading – seeking solutions. Eventually, their quest brought them to an auditorium where Dr. E. B. Weeks, a student and lecturer from the Emma Curtis Hopkins School was delivering a lecture.

There are those who contend that living within each of us is that quiet but powerful essence where the answers lie, where true guidance and inspiration await our discovery. It could be said that the heart-rending situation Myrtle was facing heightened the awareness, the receptivity of her inner essence. It is unknown what E. B. Weeks said during that lecture. Was it his words or the fertile ground within the heart of Myrtle Fillmore? What we do know is that the words Myrtle Fillmore heard in that auditorium sparked her inner essence and bolted her out of who she had been. She said she left that lecture a changed woman. The affirmation she carried with her from there and throughout her life is, “I am a child of God and, therefore, I do not inherit sickness.” An affirmative prayer empowered by absolute and total belief. In two years of prayer and meditation, Myrtle healed her body of tuberculosis and lived another forty years. No doubt the Nazarene would have told her, “Your faith has saved you.”

When others in need asked her about her healing and she explained, they asked if she would pray with them. Word spread, and friends gathered to form small prayer groups. Many experienced healing.  The prayer groups became known as The Society of Silent Help which eventually became Silent Unity, today a 24/7 prayer ministry using affirmative prayer to provide others with faith, courage, and strength.

What we have learned of Myrtle Fillmore indicates that she was a loving, feeling individual, a holistic thinker guided by imagination, feelings, visualization, and intuition. Charles, on the other hand, was an analytical, intellectual kind of person, a linear thinker, dealing with facts and logic. He was skeptical of these New Thought ideas at first but saw the great benefits Myrtle was experiencing. Although it took longer, Charles also experienced a measure of healing of his withered leg, eventually discarding his cane and braces. The Fillmores’ quest grew into a movement and spread worldwide.

It is as if Myrtle Fillmore gave birth to this movement by virtue of her receptiveness to the message, uttered by E. B. Weeks and her subsequent healing. Charles, with his enquiring mind and writing skill, carried the movement forward to worldwide recognition and following.

Today we all face the unrelenting challenge of the coronavirus pandemic. For over a year we have experienced every kind of devastation including the loss of millions of lives. It is far too easy to take our cue from all of those out-there developments and be overtaken and filled with fear and despair. It seems more important than ever to look at the story of the Fillmores and recognize what exactly turned things around for them. Yes, they engaged in a quest for a solution. But it seems clear that the powerful, receptive essence within intuitive Myrtle Fillmore was the fertile ground where the words of Dr. E. B. Weeks could take hold. We all do have that same powerful inner essence. Whether we are analytical like Charles or intuitive like Myrtle, we have the ability to be still and know. Myrtle Fillmore proved conclusively the power of faith-filled prayer and meditation. This is available to all of us now. We cannot change the devastating conditions of the out-there, but we can change our own situation by shifting our focus from all of that out-there to our inner essence. And Unity is here to help. Silent Unity is there, and although Unity gatherings are now virtual, they are just as potentially powerful. It is all about what we hold within as we seek.

Sunday morning service with Unity of the Seacoast may be found on Facebook at ten o’clock bringing messages of hope and inspiration. Join us in meditation as we sit in the silence and simply let go of the out-there and experience the blessings available.

Myrtle found it, and so can you,

That something within

To guide you through,

Be still and let,

Be still and know.

            Love and Light!

            Frank Barron

I heard you say your Holy name: I Am

I heard you say: I Am Poor
I did not understand, but I gave you what you asked for.

I heard you say: I Am Afraid
I did not understand, but I gave you what you asked for.

I heard you say: I Am Unworthy
I did not understand; for how could My Beloved, My Perfect Child, My Creative Expression

Of All That Is Good be unworthy of anything? 

I decided to remind you of a gift that I have given you, the gift of the Holy Spirit

This gift gives you a way to speak to Me directly

Go now, into the Silence, call upon Holy Spirit, ask for Me

Because I heard you through the ears of God today

I met a messenger of God today
Singing a song of perfect joy

Clothed in wondrous feathers of hope
Taking flight to show the way

The way to rise above our earthly worries 
To fly to freedom
A perfect communion with Spirit

I recognized a messenger of God today

I walked in the footprints of God today
Feeling the power of walking in freedom
Freedom from judgment, anger, hate, or sadness

Walking in love, joy, peace, and gladness
Walking in silence, and feeling a Holy Instant

I walked in the footprints of God today
I saw you through the eyes of God today

I dropped to my knees as I beheld your beauty
My heart filled with fire at the expression of God’s magnificence that you are

My arms spread wide to receive the light of God’s love that you are
I saw you through the eyes of God today

I woke up one morning, full of fear once again,
I had a mortgage that was due
I was suffering from a tick-borne illness
and then I came down with the flu.

At my church, so many shared of themselves
How prosperous they had become,
By only giving ten percent
I definitely needed some.

I kept listening every Sunday
There was never a mention of unjust,
I couldn’t figure out how they would have more
It was time for me to just trust.

There was a 4 T’s class coming up
And I knew I was good at contracts,
My promise to GOD was ten percent
And I wanted to trust all the facts.

My furnace broke down and I was sick
I didn’t know what to do,
Because I had no return on my ten percent
Again I came down with the flu.

I used a large part of my money for all-natural
I was feeling ill every day,
I had  no energy left to worry
Trusting GOD would show me the way.

Cards with checks started coming in the mail
From someone very dear,
They said their hearts had told them to tithe
To me and they had no fear.

The next day when I went to work
I shared with someone there,
My furnace had gone out in the middle of the night
I was freezing it was quite a big scare.

Now I had to borrow money
From my mother which was hard,
I told her the amount that I would need
Thanking her in advance with a card.

The very next day I received a call
From someone I hardly knew,
He said he called to help me
With a furnace that was brand-new.

Said he would bring it out today
And it wouldn’t cost me much,
Only what he paid for it
No labor, bolts, or such.

I asked him if he’d hold my check
Until the end of the week,
He said that’d be no problem,
As I began to weep.

I thought I can’t afford to tithe
And then my mind was clear,
The “Law” had started working
And there was nothing else to fear.

I did not get a thousand
As I had asked my mother,
She sent me six times that much
To my sisters and also my brother.

This tithing sure was working
I always had enough,
I made sure that GOD got ten percent
It wasn’t even tough.

Many other types of abundance
Was always coming my way,
It came time for me to sell
My home I could not stay.

The ad was in the paper
On a Friday night,
I just kept on a tithing
To GOD who was my light.

The second man who checked my home
Just loved what he did see,
The offer he came back with
Was perfect just for me.

I could not move for 3 more months
My apt was being built,
He said he’d wait until that time
My heart began to melt.

Then came the day when I would move
And now was  specific with GOD,
I wanted an apartment way on top
That would light up like a rod.

On the day we drew our apt numbers
It was plain for me to see,
I had drawn a number I did not want
Now, what was God’s message for me?

I became full of fear I wouldn’t get the sun
I could not understand,
My friends were all praying and I was too
GOD had dealt me I thought a rough hand.

I was walking out to go to work
And I looked to my left and did see,
A man looking down and clearly upset
Holding a paper it seemed to me.

I asked him what apartment he drew
He said” I drew 301,
“It’s a right front corner way on the top
And I do not like the sun.”

I asked him if he’d like to trade
And told him I drew 104.
I told him how much I loved the sun
He said, “let’s worry no more”.

Right then we exchanged our numbers
In my hand, I held 301
I had seen that corner while being built
I knew it was flooded with sun.

The rest of this story is history
GOD is so good to me,
Once again he didn’t fail me
I look from the top and I see.

Four beautiful windows flooding with sun
that comes from the east and the west
I sit in my chair, watch the buddy of trees
I know in my heart I am blest!

I needed to be quiet so I wouldn’t disturb
The man who lived under me
And many times,  it was very hard
I met him, he was deaf as could be.

There were many more  miracles
Too numerous to name,
 I only know that GOD goes down
In my famous ”hall of fame”.

I feed the hungry, I tithe to GOD
It makes a happy heart,
I never even think of it
For me, that wouldn’t be smart.

The law for me is tithing
It gives me peace within
All I know is when I give
GOD gives me back times ten.