In The Story of Unity, James Dillet Freeman recalls Charles Fillmore (cofounder of Unity) teaching classes. He wrote, “Often he would interrupt his students when they were quoting him, with the question, ‘But what do you think about it?'”

I was struck by the radical nature of that question. Coming from a past that included dogma, rules and rigidity, Unity has given me an opportunity to freely explore new beliefs. For me, the very spirit of Charles Fillmore lives on through his encouragement of each person to determine his or her own spiritual path.

Rev. Jim Gaither, in The Essential Charles Fillmore, writes, “Fillmore did not intend to set up his teachings as dogmas to be ascribed to or tests of orthodoxy…. Like Emerson, Fillmore points us back into ourselves when we look to him for leadership. If we open our minds to both the words and the spirit of Charles Fillmore and let him inspire us, provoke us, challenge us, his works can direct our attention to a higher nature within us. … Fillmore's genius was the ability to synthesize and systematize without dogmatizing. He found ways to take ideas from the seemingly incompatible thought worlds of science, Christian tradition, occult religion and philosophical idealism and tie them together in a coherent and intelligible world view.”

In the April/May 2008 issue of Contact magazine, the Rev. Michael Moran said, “If Unity is to be relevant today, we must grow beyond our founders, as wise and wonderful as they were. Unity was never meant to be a museum where we try to preserve what was. … Unity was meant to be a spiritual laboratory where we boldly discover new and wonderful truths and engaging ways to present them.”

When I first read this quote I found it delightfully provocative. It made me consider the spirit of Charles Fillmore and his legacy—for me. The thought occurred to me, What would Charles Fillmore do if he were with us today?

WWCFD?

What would he do with the Internet? I believe the spirit of Charles Fillmore lives on in Unity.FM—Unity's online radio network. He would be thrilled with our ability to be online 24 hours a day with a broad spectrum of programs and content available around the world.

WWCFD?

What would Charles Fillmore do with the biblical scholarship of the last fifty years? Mr. Fillmore read the scriptures as allegory and today Unity is heavily invested in metaphysical interpretation of the Bible. What would he do with the Nag Hammadi library and the resulting academic historical and cultural examination of the Bible? What might he think of the work of the Jesus Seminar and their assertion that more than 80 percent of the sayings attributed to Jesus he probably never said? How might this change the Metaphysical Bible Dictionary?

WWCFD?
 
What would he do with the integral vision of philosopher Ken Wilber? In his book The Integral Vision, Wilber writes, “During the last 30 years we have witnessed a historical first: all of the worlds' cultures are available to us … Knowledge itself is now global … the sum total of human knowledge is now available to us.” Charles Fillmore studied many religions and philosophies—if his genius was his ability to “synthesize and systematize,” then he would have a field day today!

WWCFD?
 
What might he do with the work of Clare Graves and Don Beck around Spiral Dynamics? Mr. Fillmore wrote in Atom-Smashing Power of Mind, “In his evolution man has apparently always moved in cycles, but each time he comes again to his starting place, he seems to be a little in advance of his former state,” and “Creative intelligence forever up-builds God's universe.”

The Fillmore's Legacy

 Charles Fillmore was a spiritual explorer, a sower of seeds—seeds of consciousness. “The teaching of individual spiritual freedom is perhaps the Fillmore's greatest gift,” wrote Rev. Margaret Stortz in her book Lights Along the Way. And indeed, I agree.

The spirit of Charles Fillmore lives on in each of us as we explore in Spirit. WWCFD? He might say, “What will you do? What do you think?”