Rev. Phil Pierson & The Best Is Yet to Be

I know the celebration of life service for Rev. Phillip Pierson was several weeks ago, but I can’t get the service out of my mind. In so many ways it was that incredible.

Of course, it was that great because of the man we were celebrating. I learned several things about Phil during the service that I did not know before.

For example, one of my greatest teachers at Unity Institute and Seminary was Rev. Thomas Thorpe. I made several important quantum spiritual leaps because of Rev Tom. I never knew that Rev. Tom had been an associate minister under Rev. Phil. It was wonderful to learn how Phil indirectly had influenced my spiritual walk.

I loved that during the celebration we sang several songs that I really cherish. These songs included a few Unity classics that were often designed to teach children basic New Thought principles, such as: “I am the radiant life of God; I am, I am, I am.” We also sang such towering classics as “How Great Thou Art.”

Please don’t get me wrong. I love so-called modern “Posi” music (such as songs by Karen Drucker and Daniel Nahmod, etc.) But it is also nice to go back to some of the golden oldie New Thought classics; like “Our Thoughts Are Prayers/ And we are always praying/ Our thoughts are prayers/ Take charge of what you’re saying.”

I also loved hearing some stories about Phil‘s wife, Dorothy, that I didn’t know before. For example, when the Christ Unity building was being constructed/ renovated, Dorthy wanted a skylight running down the center of the sanctuary. She was told that it would cost too much, and it was not in the architectural plans.

But as they were reconstructing the building, the central part of the sanctuary ceiling fell in. Guess what? Dorothy got her skylight, and I was told by several Spiritual Life Center members that this skylight was really beautiful.

It would be easier to tell you what Phil did NOT do for the Unity, New Thought, and interfaith movements, than it would be to tell you about all of the incredible things that he did to advance these spiritual pathways. He, of course, was a power house behind the growth of progressive spirituality in the western part of the US.

However, Phil also founded churches in other parts of the world, including Hawaii. His influential ministry reached beyond the pulpit. Phil’s pioneering television show, The Best Is Yet to Be, was on the air from New York to California for roughly 25 years. He interviewed nearly 200 leaders in spiritual healing and personal growth, including Buckminster Fuller, Dr. Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, and Dr. Larry Dossey.

He served as the president of the Association of Unity Churches. He was also the vice president of education at Unity Institute and Seminary. Phil was the author of numerous books and articles on a wide range of spiritual subjects. I particularly like his book entitled Putting It All Together, which is about Unity and numerous world religions.

But I was particularly struck by the remembrances of his daughter, Elizabeth. Due to health challenges, Elizabeth was not physically there at the celebration of her father‘s life. But her loving comments were read.

What particularly hit home for me were her words about her father’s last days on earth. Elizabeth shared that she was very concerned about the living conditions and medical support that her father would receive as he faced his transition.

She pointed out that while Phil had so many accomplishments, one does not tend to earn a king’s ransom by being a minister. Prior to my call to ministry, we lived very comfortably in Washington DC on two different forms of income that I earned as an economist. When the call to ministry came, one of my initial thoughts was: “Becoming a minister makes no rational economic sense whatsoever!”

Elizabeth was deeply concerned that the financial resources would not be there for her father to get the living conditions and health services that he needed to make his transition with dignity.

However, what happened just absolutely amazed Phil’s daughter. Her father wound up in a facility that provided him rooms which had incredibly beautiful views overlooking Reno, Nevada. If one looked down from Phil‘s suite, one saw a fascinating rose garden. Also, the medical and other attention that her father received was first rate.

Elizabeth said that she should have known all along that her father’s faith and spiritual practices would once again result in 'the best that is yet to be.'

In his book Putting It All Together, Phil wrote: “I Am all that God Is, and I Am one with God’s Will of good for me. Let me ‘count the ways’ that I may use the Name of God in my life and do it with the joy of knowing that it will lead me to the fabled Kingdom of Heaven — the Kingdom of All Good here and now!”

I can hear some of us saying, “Well, that was true for Phil Pierson because he was such a towering spiritual giant. But in my heart of hearts, I’m not really sure if that’s true for me.”

However, I think to say or believe the above is to miss a central portion of what Phil‘s essential message and belief was all about. It was that the divine table was set for all of us to sit around and to enjoy the bounty placed on that table as full family members.

And because of this we can truly say, “Bon appétit” — because “the best is yet to be.”

Many blessings,

Rev. Rick