Easter Thoughts 2012

Easter is the time that Christ died on the cross and was resurrected into heaven after appearing to his friends and disciples on earth. He is said to have rejoined God.  He said he was the son of God.

According to reincarnation thoughts an individual can aspire in time to return to God but Jesus apparently didn't do this journey of his own desire but rather was sent by God.  Some say as a sacrifice. That's certainly the way St. Paul saw it.  It was a basic tenet of the Christian faith too. That Jesus died for our sins. That the death of Jesus corrected the sin of Adam.

I say God came to check out his creation and the authorities whacked him .  His death though didn't stop him.  The idea of him was like good radiation. It spread through creation at all levels.  The authorities brand was 'fear' and the Jesus brand was 'love' and 'hope'.

E=MC2 tells me that matter is slow energy.  I am made in the image or imagination of God.  I'm a spiritual being in a spiritual existence.  I am more than Darwinian Evolution. I am more miraculous than anything I can imagine. I am a sacred being in a wondrous sacred dream.

And I have a friend. I have talked to Jesus as a friend since I was a child. My mother introduced me to Jesus kneeling beside my bed as a child.  My mother said that there was an unseen friend in the darkness.

Sailing solo through storms in the north Pacific I loved listening in the long lonely nights to the Christian rock band Third Day's song ,'there's a light at the end of the tunnel.'  Dr. Moody, the psychiatrist who studied people who had near death experiences, said they described meeting a being of shining light at the end of a long tunnel.

Prior to Jesus Gods had been like the warriors who mastered the world and ruled the world.  In contrast Jesus was a 'servant king'. He washed the feet of his disciples.  He preceded the Magna Carta by about 1200 years.  To hear the politicians talk they're always original.  Jesus made democracy possible though.  Some might say the world is unfolding as it should and Jesus' death on the cross was what set in motion the emacipation of the individual.

When I have been locked up I have prayed to Jesus.  I have been comforted by the thought that there is good and that God is good and that God with his infinite power can have a direct connection to every aspect of creation even me when I have been most down.  Indeed at such times Christ has come to me and I have been lifted 'as on Eagle's wings'.

The authorities from my perspective often get things wrong. Like killing God.  This was done by the leader of  Roman Empire, the priests and scribes.  When the people were given a choice they chose Barnabbus over Jesus. I've often made mistakes like that in my life. This is the inexact sinful muddling nature of existence.

So Easter I cry.  There's a song that says 'were you there when they crucifided my lord.'  When I was younger I thought of myself in Christs shoes, getting beat up by the Judges, Lawyers, Authorities, Administrators, Principals, Police, Priests, parents and anyone who was a bully or had the power to be.  Then decades back I realized that I was the one killing Jesus with my worry. Everytime I was afraid and worried I was disobeying Jesus' command "Do Not Be Afraid".  In not trusting in Jesus or the Lord I thought I knew better. I second guessed Jesus and daily was in a way rejecting him and his teachings, turning my back on him as Petter did till the cock crowed.

Christianity is a trinitarian religion with three gods in one and the mystery of how this is.  God the creator, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirt are one, each an aspect of the whole. Jesus is my advocate, my personal savior, the great physician.

I have been a healer like Jesus. I have followed in his life and wondered all along at my failing to raise the dead yet refused to believe the dead were raised as miracles when they were.

I am at my best when I remember I have only this day and that I must live in the present. Practicing the presence of the lord.  I am at my best too when I think this is just a chapter in a book of life in which I don't know the ending but it goes on long after death.
I am at my best when I'm reading the Bible and studying scripture.  I am at my best when I'm studying the teachings of holy men and women and great physicians and healers.  I am at my best when I am listening for the wee small voice for guidance. I don't do enough of this.  It takes Easter to wake me up to the basics of existence. Too often I'm caught up in the business of life and not focussing my attention on what is utterly important, my relationship with God, my relationships with his son Jesus.

I think about Jesus more in the days of Easter week reading the Bible more, meditating more and praying that this time this year I'll get it right and be right with the Lord.  I want to be serving my Lord Jesus.  I want to be walking in a righteous path rather than scurrying to catch up or lagging behind. There's a special place where I'm right with the Lord and I've been there often and want to be there always.

I've actually tried to give up God but it was like giving up breathing.  I lived without reading my Bible much and life wasn't as good. I spent time with people who were utterly materialistic and life became minimalist like talking kitchen English or speaking to demented people.  There was just so much more one couldn't talk to because it's too disturbing to them.  I don't talk about Jesus as much as  I want to becuase some people don't like to hear about my thoughts on that.  Also I don't have to talk about Jesus when I'm asking someone to pass the butter. There's a time and place for everything.

Most people just want to get something from me. I like my generosity. But they don't know that that's St. Francis. He asked that he be made a channel and I feel all power comes from God so knowledge, money, energy, strength and healing all come from God and I am just a conduit for that so God wants me to give as the sun gives daily and freely.  I take naturally. I find that I am replenished however by God and when I remember that I'm like C.S. Lewis says, talking to the architect rather than talking to the wall.

Jesus gave his life for mankind. It's no big deal for me to give some money at church. Just for the pageant that's a weekly event with the theatre and the song and the Ted's Talks and the participation ritual for an hour or an hour and a half I"d pay $50 to a few hundred dollars if it was just 'theatre'.  If we use the 'entertainment' analogy, Christianity is great entertainment and so I don't mind paying.  What I like is that I've been welcomed into the church when I had no money too.  So the money isn't about what makes the whole thing go round. Yet it's important for people to understand that money is spiritual energy and charity is something the church does. My church does a lot of charity. I give money to my church knowing that my church gives to the poor what the poor need most in turns of material and spiritual gifts. I'm surprised to learn that some people who have been to some obscure likely to be forgot play or concert have never been in a church at easter. These same people will fly to other countries to watch bull runs or religious parades or ethnic celebrations but have never taken the time to participate in the Christian Easter Pageant.  Then on the other hand I regret this if I don't get to church early because there are so many tourists or Christmas and Easter Christians out at Easter and it's sometimes hard to get a seat.  My evangelica nature is often at loggerheads with my self centredness. I Martha and Mary daily.

The secular are forever taking credit for everything. To hear aetheists speak they are God but mostly our civilization as I know it was developed by theists and God loving people.  I believe that God loving people are more human than those who don't know God.  I call my "higher power" Jesus but accept that others use different names. Ultimately  Jesus Christ means 'god within, god will come again.'  It's an exclusive brand though everyone is welcome.

Easter is the time God died on the cross in utter despair. This is the way I feel when I am sick or am being cursed by the authorities and judged by the scribes. I am rarely 'blameless' like Jesus but I share the feelings. When I'm persecuted I relate to Jesus.  I cry out "MY God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me.'  That's what Jesus said too.

It's like night coming down. The world went black from noon till three in the afternoon during the crucifixion when Jesus then cried out and died on the cross. It was a cosmic event.

The resurrection is like morning after the darkness. Jesus is resurrectied, and ascends into heaven.  A marvellous metaphor.  In the 24 our cycle of life where I realize that yesterday is but a memory and tomorrow still a dream I am faced with life as Jesus did. And Jesus prayed and talked with his father and obeyed his father.

I am thinking about Easter. I am looking forward to being part of the celebration of life that occurs in church. I am thankful to have been a participant in Palm Sunday.  I look forward to Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

Thank you Jesus for another Easter week.  Watch over my loved ones,  my minister, his family, the clergy,  and the church this time this year.