Now that we’ve gotten over our chocolate and sugar buzz from all the Easter candy that we said we weren’t going to touch, but did anyway, I thought I’d add a few words to the celebration.

As a Licensed Unity Teacher and a metaphysician, I look at the Easter season differently than most, whether Christian or not. No just from a metaphysical point of view, but from my own personal point of view. What am I experiencing as I walk through the Holy Week?

Palm Sunday is a time of Celebration. What am I celebrating as my spiritual journey moves forward? I could look back a see where I have traveled from, moving from childhood attending a traditional Sunday School and Church Service through my search for a place to belong to finding Unity. My personal journey was fraught with a variety of stumbling, falling, and getting up again, but still a celebration to the successes on the way.

And what of my thoughts? The throngs of cheering people along the road to Jerusalem are all good thoughts. My thoughts have changed from self-doubt and victimhood to thoughts of power and joy. And I take these joyous thoughts into Holy Thursday.

Maundy Thursday…the Last Supper. An evening of betrayal. How have I been betrayed? How have I betrayed myself? What did I learn about those situations? About myself? Did I allow myself to be betrayed?

Good Friday-the Crucifixion. When was I crucified? By who? When have I crucified myself? What does it mean to be crucified? How can one recover from crucifixion?
Easter Sunday-resurrection! When have I experienced a resurrection? What caused it? What did I do when it happened? Did I do anything after the resurrection?

I love a good question, mostly because it makes me think. And in my classes, I tend to ask questions in hopes that my students think. For in thinking, we learn and grow.

God is good.

There is only good.

How can God (or Goddess, Buddha, Spirit, whatever word you wish to use to refer to the Divine, because there is no word that can truly be used to define that which is), be anything but good. Just look at Nature…and all that it entails. The variety in itself is amazing. The colors, the variety, the pleasure that it entails when we partake in its splendor….how can one discount that there is only good?

Oh, that’s right…if you look at all the ‘bad’ things in the world, then one could say there is ‘bad. But what caused the ‘bad’? Was it God (I’ll use that term since it is the most recognized)? Not likely. Most likely, it was something we humans have done or failed to do. If you take a look at the Bible, in Genesis we are given dominion over the earth and the animals therein. Yet, have we done so? So many species are extinct or on the verge. We have not taken care of the environment at all.

Thankfully, many are making headway in reversing that trend, but we have much more to do.

We are a part of God and God is a part of us. In fact, everything is a part of God and God is a part of everything. So, there is good in everything.

This is where it gets interesting.

How can there be good in the happenings in the world that destroy cities, towns and villages? How can the forest fires be good? Or the hurricanes? Or the winter we have had this year?

Look around folks….there IS good there. You may have to look for it, but as you get better at it, it’s easier to find. Think about the humanity that gets together and helps after events such as these. That’s the good. Maybe it’s the neighbor that helps with the shoveling. Maybe it’s the kid selling lemonade. Maybe it’s the food drive, or the clothing drive or the way money just shows up when someone needs it.

Humanity has SO much potential. I believe we are barely scratching the surface with what we can do for each other. And as we become more open, enlightened, conscious…whatever you wish to call it, more will be done. More will happen. More people will be opening their hearts to others.

Maybe it will be you. We all have a way to make this wonderful world a better place. As I ask my group mates- “What is mine to do?”

Lent begins tomorrow.  Most folks look at this time as a time to give up something….oh, chocolate or coffee or some other item that is so hard to go without.  And a few others look at this time to try to be more Christ-like.  This is something I have tried to look at as we go towards the Easter celebration of resurrection. And resurrection is looked at by us Unitics as a time to rejoice for OUR resurrection from old thinking to new ‘thoughts’.

Well, let’s go a step further as we enter the Lenten time.  Let’s look at it as a time to let go of things that no longer serve us.  That means thoughts that are hanging in the back of our minds, old thinking that we hold on to for whatever payback we are receiving, let them go.  Let go of that self-talk that is keeping you from expressing the beautiful person you are.

Let go of hurts that you are still dragging through your memories and heart.  That pain is no longer serving you.  Your heart yearns for joy, and peace, and love. Forgive yourself and others so you are able to move forward.

Let go of those habits that are holding you back from who you can truly be.  Maybe it’s smoking.  Maybe it’s eating unhealthy foods all the time.  Maybe it’s drinking too much alcohol.  Maybe it’s not exercising. Maybe, like me, it’s picking at your fingers. 

Your ‘resurrection’ is the very next moment after your choose to life a different life from the one you are living now.  You don’t have to wait for Easter.  Be resurrected now.

Ah, New Year, new you.  Isn’t that how the saying goes?  And then there are the resolutions we make and hope to be able to keep, at least, to some degree.

I saw something the other week, not sure where exactly, about the idea of a New Year’s THEME instead of a resolution.  I think it would go something like this: let’s say instead of resolving to be a better person, give up something or another, etc. we choose a theme to be our guide; our conscious, as it were, to be the subject of our ‘resolve’ for 2014.

So, I could choose peace as my theme for 2014.  That would mean I would work on peace through out every part of my day, in every form.  Being at peace with myself.  Showing peaceful actions and intentions toward others and in the situations that are presented during the day.  Keeping a peaceful mind as much as possible.  Allowing peace to fill me as I eat.  Choosing foods that were ‘peacefully’ harvested for consumption. 

Get the point?  Instead of giving up chocolate (which we know is a difficult thing to do for some folks!) or promising to exercise more (which often falls to w the wayside after two weeks), we choose an action that can cover the whole of our lives.

Here’s another example: choose love as your theme.  That means loving your neighbor as yourself.  Which means you have to love yourself.  Which means you have to take care of yourself.  Which means you have to exercise, and eat right and meditate or pray or contemplate or whatever is your spiritual practice.  And if you don’t have a spiritual practice, you get one.  Journal.  Do yoga or Ti chi.

See how taking a theme can be so much more encompassing and yet, so simple.

So, my theme is love.  Not hard to understand for those who know me.  I have always thought love was the answer to everything.  And I am including more spiritual practices in my day.  And I have already started an exercise program.  The hard part is going to be my diet. But I’m not giving that part up.  Just some simple changes on ALL levels of my life to make me more aware of the Christ being that I am.

You can do it too!  I sent out a Prosperity Prayer Program last week, add that as a start to your Spiritual path for the New Year.  Or go to yoga.  Or try journaling.  There are so many ways to do a simple thing or two to make a change.  Remember, it’s all energy.