Come Ye Apart Awhile
May Rowland succeeded Myrtle Fillmore as Director of Silent Unity in 1916 and kept that position for fifty-five years until her retirement in 1971. Fifty-five years. It may be that she is the most revered person in Unity, next to the Fillmores themselves.
What she learned and taught about spiritual healing is given in her talk Come Ye Apart Awhile. It is a two-step prayer process that begins with complete relaxation of the body, followed by affirmations to realize the Christ spirit within. Spiritual leaders can adopt this talk to their Sunday meditation; prayer chaplains can tap into the spirit of May and follow her technique; all of us will learn a practical method for unfolding and developing our spiritual powers.
That is why I have assembled this May Rowland Come Ye Apart Awhile resource page which has links to:
- The Come Ye Apart Awhile booklet, downloadable and printable on eight pages, that gives the full text of her talk.
- A twenty-one minute audio recording of May Rowland's Come Ye Apart Awhile meditation which you can listen to online or download to your own player.
- Two shorter audio recordings from the meditation that you can download to your own player and use in a Sunday service or in your own prayer time. They include the five minute RELAXING exercise and the ten minute RENEWAL exercise.
- A downloadable Sunday bulletin insert you can give to congregants so they can learn the process on their own. This includes all the affirmations she uses in the meditation, so we can repeat the them throughout our day.
- Six hours of audio recordings (see The Healing Workshop) of May Rowland responding to questions about life, prayer, prosperity and healing and four twenty-minute meditations. These help us understand why Come Ye Apart Awhile is so effective in developing our spiritual nature.
First, download the booklet (tract)
Begin by downloading and printing out the booklet. Your printer will need eight pages. This booklet has the same text that May will read in the recording below. By following along with the printed text, you will better focus on May's words and you will be able to do this meditation by yourself without the recording.
Download the Come Ye Apart Awhile booklet
Then, listen to May
Share with your congregation
Click here to download a Come Ye Apart Awhile bulletin insert for your Sunday service. This PDF file is designed to be printed on both sides, which will give you a half-sized bulletin insert for your Sunday service. Spiritual leaders can use this for Sunday meditation or just to guide members for their own downloading. It explains how to download the Come Ye Apart Awhile booklet and how to listen to May's meditation. The back side of the insert has all the affirmations May uses, so that members can refer to them throughout the day.
Downloads
(Right-click your mouse to download)
Download MP3 file of Come Ye Apart Awhile (Entire Recording)
Download MP3 file of the RELAXATION exercise (Focus on the body). This audio file is a little over five minutes in length. May helps you relax your body by declaring "Be still, and know that I am God." To follow the affirmations, download the bulletin insert above. The contents of the recording is some of clip #2 and all of clip #3.
Download MP3 file of the RENEWAL exercise (Realize the Christ Within). This audio file is ten minutes in length. May guides your attention from the top of the head to the lower body, affirming perfect strength and health at each step. To follow the affirmations, download the bulletin insert above. The contents of the recording is from clip #5 to the end of the recording.
These audio recordings are included in the TruthUnity Meditation page.
Summary and Commentary
01 Why we should go apart for awhileWe get a way to increase own spiritual powers through prayer. Doing this at the same time each day promotes order in our life. If we wait until there is already order then we will likely neglect prayer. Our life becomes ordered as our spiritual nature is quickened and increased; order comes afterwards! It is that our spiritual nature puts into practice higher laws (we live, as Thoreau said, “with the license of a higher order of being”). May will remind us of this in clip #9. Note that order is not something imposed from without by God. Rather, order emerges from within us, as Jesus said “the kingdom of God is within you.”
02 What we should do when we go apart for awhileWe approach meditation and prayer by learning to relax in God. We start by acknowledging One Power and One Presence, God the good, omnipotent. Next we state “Be still, and know that I am God”. This places us in an awareness that we are held in the arms of God. When there, say “I relax in mind and body.” Surrender as fully as possible and let go.
03 Focus on every part of the bodyWe focus on feet, calves, back, shoulders, neck, back of head, forehead, throat, check, solar plexus, organs and functions of the body down to the toes. As we do so, we say “I relax and let go” or “I am free from tension and strain” or “I am at peace in mind and body”.
04 The goal is to live in the consciousness of the presence of GodThe goal is to always live in the awareness of our unity with God, to turn inward to the Spirit of God within for direction. When we do this, we are in harmony with all life.
05 Top of the head: I am the light of the worldJesus said, “I am the light of the world” and also “ye are the light of the world.” We see the radiant light of Christ from head to toe and we see light at the center of every atom. We are essentially spiritual substance, light and intelligence.
06 Forehead: Not my will but thine be doneThis frees us from “willfulness.” Note that the forehead area that May speaks of is the location of the Will.
07 Eyes: Blessed are my eyes for they see clearly, distinctly and perfectlyThe intent is to remove strain in the eyes, allowing them to see easily. Consider allowing the gaze to relax. Although May does not say this, my own experience is that when we relax the gaze then our attention seems to receded inside the head to the faith center.
08 Ears: I am God’s loving and obedient child, blessed are my earsThis is the same idea as with the eyes; we can hear easily because we rest in God.
09 Throat: All power is given onto me in mind and in bodyMay reminds us that we have spiritual power and mastery. We must use it. The throat area is the location of our “power faculty.”
10 Back of the neck: I am free with the freedom of SpiritMay reminds us that we and others are not bound by personal consciousness nor by the patterns we impose upon them. Remember that zeal is our faculty that desires to express our full Christ nature, which is located at the back of the neck.
11 Shoulders: My yoke is easy and my burden is lightMay uses a play on words, exchanging the “lightness” of the yoke that Jesus speaks of with the “light of Christ.”
12 Small of the back: I am strong in the Lord and in the power of His mightThe small of the back is the location of our strength faculty.
13 Lungs: There is nothing to fear I breathe the breath of life freely and easilyAlthough May does not say this, she is apparently picking up that fear shortens the breath, and, by breathing deeply, we can dissipate fear.
14 Heart: The forgiving love of Jesus Christ sets me freeOur heart is the place where God’s love expresses through us. It needs to be kept clear and free from “from mistakes of the past and the results of mistakes of the past.” This is done by allowing God to love us.
15 Bloodstream: Gods cleansing, healing, purifying love flows freelyHaving cleared the heart faculty, we can now feel the love of God flowing throughout our body. This renews and restores us.
16 Functions: divine order is established in my mind, body and affairsMay is not explicit about what she means by functions, but it likely referring to our appetites and impulses. This sets up what she will say in clip #17.
17 Lower body: The life of God is from everlasting to everlastingThe life faculty is located in the genital area or “lower body.” Having established divine order in our functions in clip #16, we now may experience the flow of life coming into us.
18 Whole body: I am the ever renewing, ever unfolding expression of infinite lifeHaving affirmed God’s renewal of each part of our body, May has us affirm the renewal of the entire body. This is necessary because renewal requires harmony of all parts of the body. One part cannot compensate for another.
19 Releasing energy by come ye apart and rest awhileMay says that Jesus knew the secret of “releasing energy” and that the secret was to “go apart and rest awhile.”
