About the Author: Kelly Isola

Rev. Kelly Isola, MDiv, is a dynamic evolutionary leader, speaker and writer, with a passion and commitment for awakening and inspiring individuals worldwide to a greater realization of their own divinity. She is well-known for her work and teachings of living the two-fold path of an engaged spiritual life – embracing the inner path of wisdom and spiritual healing, as well as demonstrating the outer path of compassionate service. Kelly holds a Masters of Divinity degree from Unity Institute. She is certified in Spiral Dynamics and Integral Theory, and co-hosts with Rima Bonario her own radio show, “The Minister and The Mother” on BlogTalkRadio. As a Certified Peaceworker and Transitional Consultant she partners with spiritual communities and non-profit organizations to help them understand their past, make peace with it, and co-create a shared vision for their future. She works with individuals, churches, boards and youth groups using conflict coaching, mediation, Spiritual Direction as well as leadership and organizational development. My mission: To be a creator of beauty by inspiring and awakening individuals into a greater experience of their divinity through the wholeness of the human experience. Through her continued education and training, as well as her personal practice of meditation, she continues to learn to embody the spiritual practice of conflict transformation. Kelly is is also a BePeace Trainer, Healthy Congregations Facilitator, Spiritual Intelligence Assessment coach, and certified to present the Awakening the Dreamer Symposium. She is an adjunct faculty member for the Spiritual Enrichment & Education Program (S.E.E.) at Unity Institute. and a certified Q Process Facilitator and a member of The Q Effect Associate’s Team. As an ordained Unity minister, she is a master at creating transformative retreats, rituals, ceremonies, alternative services using music, storytelling, laughter, tears and meditation as catalysts for spiritual transformation. She also facilitates board trainings and leadership development workshops and retreats. Kelly is sought after as a captivating, funny, inspiring and charismatic speaker and teacher. She is also the co-author of the bestselling book, “Who Have You Come Here To Be: 101 Possibilities for Contemplation.” Kelly is a citizen of the world, having spent her life visiting and residing in many countries around the globe, in the Middle East, Africa and Europe. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Archaeology and draws from these rich and varied sources in her numerous forms of ministerial work. She lives with her cat Murray in Lee’s Summit, Missouri.
  • By Published On: July 7, 2018

    Do you ever hear words emanating from your lips, and instantly while the words break from your mouth you think, “Did I really just say that??” You are still in the nanosecond of surprise, when you discover you probably have a small list of sentences or phrases you could never have imagined uttering. If you look back on those experiences that were the catalysts for such words, you notice a powerful tapestry – threads that make life sometimes unbearable and yet at other times so amazingly awe-inspiring – and everything in between.

  • By Published On: March 23, 2018

    I am sitting here imagining the last supper. It’s 1st century Palestine, in a room with a simple, wooden, rectangle table where Jesus and 12 disciples are seated. There are no chairs, everyone is sitting on the floor. It’s a dirt floor, the room has a low ceiling and a narrow doorway.

  • By Published On: January 19, 2018

    Every spiritual truth is a paradox. Life is precious, beautiful and filled with joy, and it is painful, dark and lonely. A short time ago a vicious predator came into my life and took my breath, and didn’t ask permission. It forced me to surrender the only thing I had. Life. This demon penetrated its way into me, and now I am a troubled stranger lingering between hope and desperation. Yet simultaneously, I sit here demonstrating life in its most simple, precious, gracious, funny and authentic way by laughing and crying about my moldy refrigerator. I think we need both of these experiences -our joys and our sufferings are indeed our wholeness.

  • By Published On: January 5, 2018

    Myths are traditional stories told in every culture, oftentimes with much of the historical basis lost over time. Myths are our collective story of what our lives mean and how to thrive. Jean Houston, scholar, author and philosopher active in the “human potentials movement” says, “Myths are more than old tales; they are ‘codes and roads and maps.’ Where we wind up on life’s journey depends on the map we carry with us.”

  • By Published On: December 27, 2017

    Perhaps adding bubble blowing to your spiritual practice will help you remember that doubt is a part of faith, and allow yourself to glimmer and gleam, like bubbles, as you move through life.

  • By Published On: December 6, 2017

    On this first Sunday of Advent, consider the new that is coming. Take some time to discover what you are most missing in your life – and then give that thing away. Where you long for a friend to support you, instead be the friend who calls another to find out if they are well. When you long to know peace, instead be the non-anxious presence during times of tension. Where you long for community and connection, be the heartbeat of whatever group you are with. When you long to feel less afraid, be the hand that reaches out with generosity. When you long to know your presence here matters, be the gift of welcoming.

  • By Published On: November 14, 2017

    It seems horrifying to imagine that the places we have used for worship, sanctuary, community, fellowship, love and connection, places that for millennia have helped define our own identity are now having to be prepared for violence and death. I can’t even believe I am having to write these words. It pains me to know that shootings happen everywhere, every day, more frequently than you may realize, yet most go unreported in mainstream media.

  • By Published On: September 6, 2017

    Spiritual health can often be a casualty of war in times of unprecedented upheaval and change. There are a number of shifts that occur in times of disaster in regards to an individual’s faith, beliefs and spiritual practices. I think sometimes this can get neglected or overlooked, especially by mainstream media coverage, and yet it is every bit as important as our emotional and physical well-being. People not only seek the basic survival needs – shelter, safety, water, food, sanitation and sleep – but they also yearn to make meaning of what is happening in relation to God and in relation to each other.

  • By Published On: August 11, 2017

    Faith is a funny thing. I can recall being seven years old, asking my mother theological questions about our faith, and her telling me with great conviction that some things we weren’t meant to know or understand. Needless to say, that answer was less than satisfying. Eventually she told me there were “man made” rules and “God made” rules, and I needed to pay attention to the “God made” rules. That worked, at least for a little while, until I was old enough to begin a new line of theological inquiry.

  • Part 4 of a 4-Part Series

    By Published On: April 13, 2017

    Part 4 of a 4-part series leading up to Holy Thursday. Each day 3 disciples present at the Last Supper are highlighted. It is partially inspired by the Unity teaching of the Twelve Powers. Part 1 sets the context and Jesus speaks to Peter, Andrew and James. Part 2 is John, Phillip and Bartholomew. Part 3 is Thomas, Matthew and James son of Alphaeus.

  • Part 3 of a 4-Part Series

    By Published On: April 12, 2017

    Part 3 of a 4-part series leading up to Holy Thursday. Each day 3 disciples present at the Last Supper are highlighted. It is partially inspired by the Unity teaching of the Twelve Powers. Part 1 sets the context and Jesus speaks to Peter, Andrew and James. Part 2 is John, Phillip and Bartholomew.

  • Part 2 of a 4-Part Series

    By Published On: April 11, 2017

    Part 2 of a 4-part series leading up to Holy Thursday. Each day 3 disciples present at the Last Supper are highlighted. It is partially inspired by the Unity teaching of the Twelve Powers. Part 1 sets the context and Jesus speaks to Peter, Andrew and James.

  • Part 1 of a 4-Part Series

    By Published On: April 11, 2017

    Part 1 of a 4-part series leading up to Holy Thursday. Each day 3 disciples present at the Last Supper are highlighted. It is partially inspired by the Unity teaching of the Twelve Powers.

  • By Published On: March 17, 2017

    Often, during times like these of great suffering, upheaval and uncertainty, the question arises “Where is God?” But the question I would put before you today is not “Where is God,” rather I would ask “Where is humanity? Where are you?”

  • By Published On: December 9, 2016

    A Not So Obvious Message For instance, most everyone I know contends that the mustard seed parable (Matthew 13:31-32) is about faith. I think that’s an easy route to take. When you read the parable, on the surface it’s about something tiny growing into a large tree or bush, and it seems to make sense why someone may think it’s about faith. For me the power in Jesus’ teachings is that he posited the NOT SO OBVIOUS, in order to short-circuit and dismantle our conventional ways of thinking and being.

  • By Published On: November 25, 2016

    It might sound strange, but Muppets are necessary for me at this time in my life, because they remind me there is hope. You see, there are places in my mind and heart – doorways really – full of such sorrow that I do not want to enter. Yet these doors get blown open over and over again with each trauma, whether it is personal, national or global. Our relentless erosion of life, in all its forms, such as in Aleppo, Standing Rock, our President-elect, my own wounds – all point to this wearing away of life, and right now wearing away my ability to be hopeful.

  • By Published On: September 28, 2016

    Our sense of touch never turns off, it is always at work helping us to explore our world, and make meaning of things. Touch opens us, heals us and ultimately brings profound peace and broadens the depth and texture of life. When was the last time you put your hands on the face of a loved one? Or leaned into someone, having your foreheads touching each other, as though encountering an anointing with love and compassion? Have you spooned with your partner or massaged a loved one’s feet?

  • By Published On: August 25, 2016

    I ask, does my faith IGNITE my imagination? Has my own faith lit my imagination on fire to take actions that are just as radical, just as passionate and just as committed to life as someone may be to death and destruction?

  • By Published On: July 13, 2016

    Most of us have heard stories of near-death experiences, also known as NDE. Maybe you’ve listened to someone on Oprah, read it in a book, or witnessed a close friend or relative walk through it. Hell, maybe you’ve had one of your own. My point is that when you read or listen to these stories, you hear many common threads. Here’s a few… The highest purpose is unconditional love. Sacred service, or social justice activities and being in service to humanity become even more important. You aren’t just reminded or have a realization that we are all one, but you EXPERIENCE the interconnectedness of all life – like nothing you have ever known.

  • By Published On: May 2, 2016

    This is the message sent out to the world by a well-known spiritual leader. “Life without God is like a non-sharpened pencil. It has no point.” If you are triggered, first start by noticing your trigger, and breathe. At least that’s what I had to do. Seriously? Please tell me I did not just read that? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot! My thoughts focused on how divisive the statement is. You just alienated atheists, secular humanists, Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and God knows how many millions of others! (Pun intended!) I don’t know about you, but I am in no position to tell an atheist, or anyone else for that matter, their life is pointless. I feel confident that brilliant and compassionate atheists like Bill Gates, Simone de Beauvoir, Butterfly McQueen, Jawaharlal Nehru and Mark Twain, to name a few, would disagree as well. Not to mention, I see their atheist lives as anything BUT pointless!

  • By Published On: April 22, 2016

    When someone says, “I love you,” respond. Please. They need to hear it, they need to connect to that thread of life. We bear so much in life that is heart-wrenching. Let’s become a world bearing the weight of knowing just how lovable we are. Go find someone and be willing to speak out loud the times you have expressed yourself in challenging ways – it cleans your window. Then let them know you have seen when they have been broken, distant, selfish, unteachable, and they have never been unloved. It takes no special training, degrees, certifications or special knowledge for your heart to find that thread and share it because that thread of belonging is see-able in the light of being. So go be.

  • By Published On: March 21, 2016

    Practice being a person of increase and thanksgiving. Our gratitude will lead us naturally to giving, we’re grateful so we give, and then we receive, and then we are grateful some more! What we will do for a life of meaning, peace, compassion and love will always be far more powerful than what we will do for money.