Dear Spiritual Family,
Happy Easter! May this day and all the days that follow be filled with Divine renewal and Divine inspiration! And how might we “allow” such a profound reawakening?
We can certainly begin with Love – the great Love that motivated the Spirit of Jesus to take birth two thousand years ago. He came to awaken us to the Christ we are. He taught us then, as today, to release the “thorns” of unforgiveness and grievances. And instead to give ourselves and our sisters and brothers the “lilies” of forgiveness and love.
We might also ask ourselves, how attached we might be to the varied forms in which this Easter is being celebrated. Recently we were watching Cardinal Timothy Dolan talk about the Easter experience. Paraphrasing, he said while Christmas is important as it celebrates Jesus coming to us in human form – Easter is the “Big One.” He went on to say that is why we repeat the Eucharist each week throughout the year. It is, in the Catholic faith, a humble recognition and remembrance of the magnitude of Jesus’ gift.
We may see these events in a different light – where Jesus’ crucifixion and Resurrection are not about sacrifice and rising from the dead but about teaching, in an extreme way, the power of love and the illusion of death. It is a supreme reassurance of the Truth that eternal life is the gift our Creator has given all of us.
There are so many different forms of seeing and believing. Yet, as we hold each other in our hearts, regardless of doctrine and beliefs, and boldly proclaim God as our Father, the doorway of Easter is open and our true relationship with each other is underscored and celebrated. What more significant way can we honor our beloved Wayshower?
Interestingly, the ACIM Lesson for Good Friday this year is: “To give and to receive are one in truth.” The practice, in order to bring this to life in our own lives, is to say to others in our hearts: “To everyone I offer quietness. To everyone I offer peace of mind. To everyone I offer gentleness.”
For the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday this year is the ACIM Lesson: “I rest in God.” “This thought will bring to you the rest and quiet, peace and stillness, and the safety and the happiness you seek.”
And finally, for the day of Easter, Lesson 130: “I am as God created me.” And the statement of Truth given us by Jesus – “I am as God created me. His Son can suffer nothing. And I am His Son.”
These truths alone, taken deeply into our hearts and minds, practiced in the stillness and used, especially when we seem separate and “different,” can indeed transform our understanding and thereby our lives. This, we humbly believe, is the True Spirit of Easter.
We love you dearly. Happy Easter!
Rev. Steve and Mary