Dear Spiritual Family,
Breaking from the norm, we are providing the written version of the opening of this Sunday’s video message:
Over the almost forty years of our ministry, there have been times when we needed to speak to conditions in our world and we have done so as we have been guided by Holy Spirit. This is one of those times.
At scores of college campuses across our Nation, there are tens of thousands of students protesting right now. Many, if not most, are calling for the elimination of the State of Israel. They are consistently intimidating fellow Jewish students and even, in some cases, attacking them.
Antisemitism, in all of its open displays and in its more subtle disguises, is morally wrong. Our Jewish sisters and brothers have every right, as we all do, to live peacefully and safely.
Over ninety years ago, in Nazi Germany, the Jewish people began to more deeply experience this hatred. When those who needed to speak up and stand up, failed to do so, those seeds of hatred took root and grew and some ten years later, over 5 million Jews had perished in the Holocaust.
On October 7 of last year, the people of Israel experienced unspeakable horror at the hands of those who have been taught such hate and were convinced that the right thing to do was to terrorize the Jews in that heinous act of violence and destruction. So what is ours to do?
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.”
We teach, of course, that at the very Essence of everyone, is what God created – the Christ – whole, Holy and complete. We want to remember this as we pray for all. And then, we ask again, so what else is ours to do? How am I to be in this world and yet not of this world – as Scripture teaches.
There is a perennial axiom known as the Serenity Prayer that is widely known in the beloved community of Alcoholics Anonymous:
God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change…. Courage to change the things I can… and Wisdom to know the difference.
As we look on this situation from a spiritual perspective, we call on the Holy Spirit to guide our thoughts, our words, our actions and reactions. This is what we are encouraged to do. With you, we know the power of authentic prayer. As we consciously move in consciousness from anger and fear to courage and reason, we are less encumbered by emotion and more empowered by Truth.
We know that as we center ourselves in God’s Love, that we can see and feel a Divine Solution for this situation. We are then, better able to meet these cries for Love, these cries – “in all their distressing disguises” as Mother Teresa would say. We are better equipped to see past these appearances and lift this darkness into the Light.
It is both a spiritual and a moral imperative that we join our hearts with each other and with the unseen Divine Beings Who are constantly pouring Their Love into this life wave! Jesus served as a Jewish Rabbi in his walk upon the Earth. He taught that we are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. A tall order but one that matters.
Here, in the video message, Mary shares a story from the book, Eat, Pray, Love. And she gives us a visual that can be helpful in the prayer that follows.
In Part II of this II Part Series, we will revisit the Serenity Prayer from the perspective of Mother’s Day.
We hold you all in love,
Rev. Steve and Mary