GREAT MORNING BELOVED!!

Great to be back with you again. I do hope you are enjoying our Lenten Series based upon Rev. Mark Anthony Lord’s book, “The Seven Living Words…Transform your life with this illuminating perspective on the Seven Last Words of Jesus”.

Last week our words were ‘forgiveness & NOW. If you missed it, go to FB – Unity Spiritual Center of Coastal Delaware or the webpage – www.unityspiritualcenterofcoastalde.org to review the message.

Here is a wonderful ‘review from Alan Watts I just found on FB: “We are living in a culture entirely hypnotized by the illusion of time, in which the so-called present moment is felt as nothing but an infinitesimal hairline between a causative past and an absorbingly important future. We have no present. Our consciousness is almost completely preoccupied with memory and expectation. We do not realize that there never was, is, or will be any other experience than present experience. We are therefore, out of touch with reality.”

NICE. Right? Or maybe not, if that is where you presently are…

This week we will look at two new words, ‘Oneness’ and ‘truth’.

Let’s start with Oneness.

I know many of you may think of the Oneness movement popular throughout the country and the world. This is a bit different. We are looking at Oneness with God, with everyone and everything; but also, oneness with each other. We are emphasizing that we are all ONE with the Spirit and energy that is God, Divine Mind, our Creator.

Let’s look at this week’s verse: “Woman, behold your son!  Behold your mother!”  from John 19:26-27

What comes to your mind when you see or hear or read this verse?  It would be wonderful to hear your responses. Send me a text or email…I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Rev. Lord ‘s ‘take’ on this verse is pointing us in a different direction. I would suspect a very different direction than what you or I may have originally gone.

He sees this as a ‘spiritual direction’ for us to look at. He wants us to look at the possibility that Oneness is the direction that verse is leading us to.

Oneness and right relationship.

Lord tells us we can only awaken to our spiritual power and evolution when we go deeper in the roles of those around us. We take all those in—–family, friends, neighbors, Black, white, rich, poor, all faiths, all cultures, all colors…they are all our family, all our friends, and we hold them all in right relationship.

We see everyone as One, as part of the whole. No separation. Only togetherness.

A Course in Miracles tells us, “Heaven is not a place or condition. It is merely an awareness of perfect oneness.”

What a wonderful realization…heaven is an awareness, an awareness of perfect oneness. Perfect togetherness. Perfect connection.

To get to that perfect awareness, we must crucify the illusion of separation, fear, and suffering when we focus our attention and prayers on the Wholeness of God, here and now, and always present.

The illusion needs our belief in it to survive! Kind of like the ego.

When we take that belief away, we open our closed eyes and experience perfect relationships…with Divine Mind, God, with all.

Lord tells us we do not need the ego – another word for false reality. It is not of God…it is of the dualistic world. None of us need the ego because God always provides. Divine Spirit is our safety, our sustenance, our all.”

The Lilies of the field do not need an ego to know the love and care of God.

“The only reason we do not know God as our complete, perfect, and constant support is because we don’t believe it.”

And that, my friends, is what holds us back from experiencing Gods total love. Our needs are met exactly to the extent that we allow them to be met. And we are responsible for what we allow…simple.

You don’t like that? Only you can change it. I love that Unity reminds us of OUR responsibility in this life.

“When you no longer fear, resent, or perceive your brother or sister as separate, you no longer live and move in fear. There is no way to transform into the full power and presence of the Light of God within and be afraid of your brother or sister at the same time.

A choice must be made.”

Try this, as you move throughout your day, whenever you pass or interact with other folks, say in your heart, “You are my sister/brother. We are One and you are loved.”

Centered in our Love of God, we find that we love others even more.  We realize our true relationship to every other human being in the human family.  In Spirit, we are each others’ mother, brother, sister.  We feel our closeness to others as we reach inwardly to Spirit.  Being one with God, we are close to all that is.

When we collectively say “YES” to Oneness, the Kingdom of Heaven will appear right before our eyes. First the collective ego of humanity must be diffused and released. We can do this, one person at a time, you and me.

We all must recognize that all paths lead to God. No matter where you are on this journey…every journey leads to God, by whatever name.

Now let’s look at this week’s second word, Truth and the verse, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  Matthew 27:46

For many years I believed Jesus was saying that God left him alone to die a terrible death.  As I grew, I began to search my beliefs, trying to find where I fit. Things just didn’t seem right to me. I and my brothers attended a United Methodist church with my Uncle and Aunt & their family for several years.

We learned all about Jesus loving the little children in Sunday School and then as we sat through church, we learned about God’s anger and wrath.

A bit confusing.

It got even more so when I attended Mass with my Mother, she was Catholic and yearned to return to Mass. Looking back, I wonder if she felt she needed one of us kids to want to attend Mass before she thought she could safely attend also, because of my father.

When the Catholic teachings didn’t fit, I was a seeker without a church for many years.

My search for understanding and meaning took me finally, to Unity. It was there that I could see the story of the crucifixion differently…metaphysically, metaphorically. When we are challenged spiritually, we often feel as if God has forsaken us. We get into that dark night of the soul and feel so very alone. But we must recall that Jesus passed through similar challenges. We are to persevere.

When we do so, we then re-connect with our consciousness and KNOW that we are not alone.

If we take a look at this verse and all of the words from Jesus, we see that everything was done for our awakening, and to support us in our own crucifixions and resurrections. Jesus was a Master Teacher. He knew what he was doing!

This Fourth Living Word is a gift that says, “Now is the time for a final, deep cleansing of the consciousness…are you ready?”

If you think you are finished cleansing, forgiving…think again. I saw something the other day, if you are still alive, you still have forgiveness work to do.

We have done some powerful forgiveness work thus far, and so, we may hit a wall of despair. When we embrace this part of the journey, whether we despair or not, we celebrate it … it is a sign that we are moving in the right direction.

If you feel fearful or abandoned, these are not wrong feelings. They are to be moved through with perseverance and faith in all that is Good-God. Embrace the word TRUTH and go deep to uncover any fears or betrayals lingering there. Past betrayals by people we have loved or needed, we may have thought we dealt with them, but often remnants of fear, despair, and anger linger.

Going into the Truth, we can gain new insights.

Master Yoda: “Named must your fear be before banish it you can.”

We need to find our fears and confront them, to remove them from consciousness and subconsciousness.

There is that part of our consciousness that still clings to the belief that there is something outside us that has power over us.  By giving expression to this universal sense of aloneness in times of trial, Jesus released it for himself and for us.  He speaks what is often in our own hearts when we embark on the spiritual path. 

Experiencing crucifixion, spiritually – erasing sense thought, error thinking, letting go – may be difficult.  Sometimes we may feel that God has left us, forsaken us.  When these periods of darkness and doubt come, we too question.  We ask, “Why?”

Our emotions can have a voice; we don’t need to hide them but may speak them aloud and bring them to the light of prayer, to be transformed by the light of love.  Our spirit knows, “My God – for this purpose was I born” and allow ourselves to pass through our self-imposed boundaries.  It is through this experience we find new life.  We have come to this hour for a purpose. We no longer see ourselves as victims but as the vehicles of pure Spirit.

All this is true for grief. Truth is being willing to face the reality of our grief. “When grief is hidden and unexpressed, it blocks our growth. Any grief is to be expressed…

Mark Anthony Lord states that we all have a coating of grief around our false beliefs about ourselves and the world. Our false beliefs separate us from our true source of love and the joyous, peaceful feeling of knowing we are One with the goodness of life.

Acknowledging and moving through this grief is part of the healing process. When appropriately used and moved through, grief will return us to the experience of our inherent wholeness.

Our word Truth…the truth is none of us have ever been forsaken. None have been abandoned.