GREAT Morning Beloved!!!

Easter Sunday – The Twelve Who Knew Him

Easter Day, of course, commemorates the Resurrection of Jesus. AS you most likely know, the word Easter comes from the Anglo-Saxon word Eastre, the name of the Goddess of spring, in whose honor a festival was celebrated each April.
Fun Fact: Easter Day always comes on the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs on or after March 21. If the full moon falls on a Sunday, Easter is the next Sunday. Easter can never fall earlier than March 22 nor later than April 25.
All in the interest of the so-called Pagans that the Romans were trying to win over to Christianity in order to control them from a governmental point of view.
For us in Unity, we see Easter as a way to re-affirm our knowing that we are eternal. Death is not the final word.

The Easter story demonstrates that there is something within us that was here before we incarnated and remains after seeming death. Death is not the end of life, rather the continuation of the life process. Jesus proved this in the great demonstrations known as the resurrection and the ascension

Resurrection follows crucifixion. No life escapes this process. The Easter story is about an old way being crucified so something new can be born. This is not a once-in-a-lifetime event. When someone experiences a divorce, the death of a partner, loses a job, or experiences a shift in external circumstances, an old identity dies so a new one can be born.

Keep a True Lent, Charles Fillmore explained, “The resurrection takes place in us every time we rise to Jesus’s realization of the perpetual indwelling life that is connecting us to the Father. A new flood of life comes to all who open their minds and their bodies to the living word of God.”

We look to Jesus as a model for how to resurrect from our own crucifixion experiences. The Easter story is a reminder that no matter what seems to happen to us, it does not have the final word. We can look beyond appearances and recognize that there is a divine plan unfolding. Our task is to hold on to that vision until our life bears witness to truth that liberates us and sets us free.

Living in an awareness of the Christ potential should not be limited to one day. The transformational power that is inside all of us is cause for a lifetime of celebrations. Easter is not simply a play to be acted out; it is, in essence, an experience that must be lived every day.

“Metaphysically, the resurrection is our power to overcome, to restore, to renew with health, peace, love, prosperity, and joy, whatever it is that we are trying to revive,” said Rev. Gaylon McDowell, senior assistant minister at Christ Universal Temple in Chicago and host of Truth Transforms on Unity Online Radio®.

“For those in poor health, regaining health is resurrection. People experience resurrection when their relationship or financial problems are resolved through the realization that God is the source of their supply. Anytime we explore new ideas or new possibilities, we are experiencing a resurrection.”

We become overcomers when we lift our minds out of the tomb of doubt, despair, and resignation and allow our spiritual nature room to express and transform our experiences. “You are an overcomer when you move beyond that which only your five senses can detect and are aware of your oneness with God. You are not separate from God. The Kingdom of God is inside you. You are the self-expression of God, and as the individualized expression of God, you are already whole and complete,” said McDowell.

Today, we are going to experience Jesus through the eyes of several folks who knew him in some way, according to Biblical stories. Listen to the words and emotion that each person presents to us as they speak. Let yourself go, imagining that you are there, over 2000 years ago, walking the dusty roads of the Near East.
Maybe YOU walked the same paths, shared the same air….maybe you were there….

1. Mary Mother of Jesus – Andrea
2. Anna, the Prophetess – Carole
3. The Woman at the Well – Karen
4. Joseph, the Brother of Jesus – Dan
5. The Woman taken in adultery – Kathleen
6. The Publican – Laurie
7. The boy who gave his lunch – Diane
8. Simon Peter – Leroy
9. Mary of Bethany – Jeanne
10. Nicodemus – Greg
11. Woman in the Crowd – Bronwen
12. Mary Magdalene – Nancy