The Promise & Peril of Transformation

Did you ever wonder why Jesus willingly entered Jerusalem knowing what awaited him there?  I mean after the Palms, high fives, and Hosannas celebration, Jerusalem became a nightmare for Jesus.  Just what was he thinking? Now we know according to traditional Christian doctrine, Jesus passed through those gates with informed consent to bodily sacrifice, undertaken willingly to save humanity from the consequences of its sinful ways. According to this interpretation, Jesus death is seen as no less than the supreme purpose of his life. In Unity, we look at the same circumstances through a different lens of understanding and come up with a remarkably different interpretation.  We believe that the supreme purpose of Jesus' life was to realize and demonstrate a transformative relationship with God.   His success in overcoming the limitations of a mind/body identification and full realization of his oneness with God made Jesus the profound example of what's possible for humanity. Jesus had obviously made great progress in overcoming the illusions of mind/body identification when he entered Jerusalem on this fateful week, yet the grandest lesson of all awaited him there. Most of us could not imagine a more gut wrenching faith-destroying scenario, than abandonment and betrayal by friends, and bodily torture and crucifixion.  Was Jesus tempted to back away from this dreadful fate?  Yes, we know he doubted his mission in the Garden by his passionate plea that the cup of his fate be taken from him. However, Jesus ultimately knew that a complete realization of his spiritual essence would need to stand up to all tests.  If love were the greatest power in the universe, it would not fail him even through this horrendous ordeal.  It was only in going through the most convincing illusion of separation from life and love, that Jesus could establish for himself (and all of us) that Life and Love are eternal truths, not vagaries of human life. Stripped of the last vestiges of his ego, Jesus  was able to emerge from the tomb of darkness, and bear witness to the Light of truth that nothing can extinguish nor diminish. He fulfilled his supreme purpose and was transformed by his difficult journey. Perhaps you are facing the prospects of a difficult journey right now in your life.  You may feel trepidation as you contemplate the risks of what lies ahead. You may be tempted to back off and take a safer course.  I invite you to ask yourself this question before deciding how to proceed:  What is my supreme purpose in this life?  What is infinite Love and Life seeking to express through my life right now? From that deeper sense of self, you may find guidance and strength to take a truer course.  I have not always walked courageously into risky situations. Sometimes I saved my skin, and abandoned my spirit. During those times when I did muster the courage to face the dragons of uncertainty and fear I was often rewarded to discover something much greater and truer in me. This is the promise and peril of the spiritual life. When we are committed to a journey of transformation, when our desire to know Spirit intimately, as an indwelling presence that never leaves us, we are drawn through the refining fire of circumstances.  This can be painful as the narrow gate of truth strips away our entrenched but false beliefs of who we think we are that our true self might emerge on the other side of change. The gates of transformation are wide open for you. Go ahead and enter, trembling if you must, knowing God goes with you.

Become A Miracle Worker

" Today the promise of God's Word is kept. Hear and be silent. He would speak to you. He comes with miracles a thousand times as happy and as wonderful as those you ever dreamed or wished for in your dreams. His miracles are true. They will not fade when dreaming ends. They end the dream instead; and last forever..."                                                         - A Course in Miracles, Workbook, Lesson 106 Who of us has not longed or prayed for a miracle in our lives.  I can recall several times of agonizing distress when the consequences of an impending disaster felt unbearable, and I cried out with a plea for a reversal of a frightening situation. One particularly difficult situation involved our youngest son's preliminary medical diagnosis that might have meant his very short life would soon end.  Even though  at the time I was ensconced within the faith lined walls of a seminary, I could not help but ask for the physical miracle. One of my faith-filled classmates took me aside during one insufferable day of awaitinging the prognosis, and gently reminded me that the outcome of our son's health was beyond our control, and did I want to pray for peace of mind. I did, and we did. Our son survived and has thrived.   Who of us can be faulted for becoming attached to our children and wanting them to live long and healthy lives?  Or clinging to preferences for what seems precious and important. Yet we know that the young die, and the good suffer, and the stories of seeming injustices and unfair outcomes can show up on anybody's doorstep. Knowing this common and difficult reality surely has driven me to seek a deeper faith, than one built solely on outer manifestations. Even though it is much easier said than done, it remains my core belief that finding peace in the midst of challenge is the highest outcome of a faithful life, or as answered prayer. Why is peace of mind the summa cum laude of spiritual effort? Because it is unconditional, unequivocal and immune from the caprice of good fortune and misfortune.  This peaceful abiding place allows for the "good cheer" that Jesus described as beyond appearances. It is the Elysian field where our sense of wholeness is restored. Jesus called it the Kingdom of Heaven within.  No matter how much we may want for our life to morph according to our preferences, such outcomes, no matter how spectacular, do not offer lasting peace. You know the treachery behind the promise. The mind that creates a preference, will only concoct a new elusive desire on the heels of the last fulfillment. No sooner are you satisfied, than you are wanting again. It never ends, and never ends in lasting peace.   The nature of our ego-mind (relentless desire), and its spiritual alternative (the choice for true freedom and inner peace) are the core teachings of A Course In Miracles.  The course defines a true miracle "as a shift in perception." This teaching is the true "Secret" if there ever was one.    Even if we can't set it right, with God's help we can see it rightly. By asking for a shift, and being receptive, we can  become the way of greater peace, greater love, greater joy, and greater abundance.  From this unalterable, eternal and unambiguous place, we bring a completely new awareness to our lives and conditions.  This is how we become miracles workers ---by releasing our perceptions and letting the Divine look through our eyes and love through our hearts. Is this easy? No, but neither is a life of suffering from trying to create heaven from the outside in.

Journey Without Distance

"I will arise now and go to my Father..." Luke 15:18 In perhaps Jesus' most famous parable, he shared a story about a directionally challenged young man who followed his sense guidance only to end up far from home and miserable.  The prodigal was certain he would find his joy in the world. He followed his desire for a better life, convinced that it could be found somewhere out in the world.  In the end, when he hit the skids, he realized his navigation error: what he longed for was not in the world but back home. We can all relate to this story because, at least spiritually, we've discovered the errancy of our guidance.  Many of us come to ourselves and realize that we've been looking for our happiness in all the wrong places, in all the wrong faces.  Because this world is such a powerful opiate that dulls our spiritual sense of direction, it is a tough dysfunction to correct. Under the influence of this illusory world, we are convinced that something or someone will give us what we need.  When the quest does not pay off, we usually convince our self that a new something or new someone is what we need.  Yet, no matter how many times we set out to find peace or fulfillment or love in the world, our journey is doomed to failure. It can be no other way.  The reason we can't find fulfillment in life is not because we're not looking but because our perspective is backwards.  Our understanding of cause and effect is upside down.  In our confusion, we think the source of our well-being is outside ourselves.  A valid spiritual solution is one that reverses our mistaken guidance and turns us in the direction of our true home, where our needs can truly be met. When we reverse our thinking and turn our attention from the world that constantly changes, to the eternal self (the indwelling spirit) we find fulfillment that is unwavering and unconditional. This reversal of worldly thinking is the teaching of A Course In Miracles, which I've referenced in many of my Sunday talks. This Sunday we begin a  series of lessons based upon the themes and teachings of A Course In Miracles. A.C.I.M. has been called a self-study program of spiritual psychotherapy and a modern day interpretation of the teachings of Jesus.  A.C.I.M. has many parallels with Unity's philosophy and teachings and we will look at how its teachings can help us turn our lives around, call off the search in the world and return us to our home in God.