Speaking of Spirit

Easter Sunday around the world is a day of remembrance, rebirth, and rejoicing.  In celebrating the risen Jesus, Christians are also remembering his call to the New/Old Commandment - Love One Another - a tenant held by all world religions.   Love One Another!  If we meditate on these three words, live by these three words, we can change the world.   Love One Another - today, tomorrow and all the days to come.  A simple three word command.  A simple act of faith.  A simple way to give true glory and praise. Love One Another!

Christians around the world will begin observance of the holiest of weeks in the Christian calendar - Holy Week .  Like many of our feasts, some of the history of Holy Week has been forgotten, as have the rites and rituals observed.  Why do people get palms on Palm Sunday?  What is Maundy Thursday all about?  Why do the symbols of lambs, eggs and flowers surround Easter? Historically, Holy Week or Easter Week as some call it, is the remembrance of the time that Jesus of Nazareth joined with his disciples to celebrate the Jewish feast of Passover, was arrested, tried and executed.  This week culminates in the holiest of holy days, Easter - the day of the resurrection of Jesus. Symbolically, Holy Week is filled with imagery, the meaning of which has been forgotten by many.  Palms have long been a symbol of life, rebirth or resurrection. They are used on Palm Sunday as foreshadowing for Easter Sunday. Maundy Thursday gets its name from the new comma...

The days are getting longer.  The sun is warming the Earth, melting the snow to provide nourishment to the new growth that lies beneath the ice quilt of winter.  Spring is Nature's long awaited wake-up call.  Spring is also the time we, humans of the Northern climates, practice various traditions of self-renewal, growth and awakening. Like Nature with its occasional Spring snows, we sometimes resist the call to become introspective. We, too, want to cover our heads with the blankets and tell the Light to go away for a bit longer.  But, in truth, the Light is always there, calling to us, shining for us.  We are the ones that chose to turn a blind eye. Staring up at the blue skies, I call out to the Creator... Bless us with Your Love and Light!  Warm our frozen hearts so that we may become instruments of Peace and vessels of Love.  Nurture us with Your Grace so that we may bloom to be the best we can.   As Spring awakens the Earth, awaken...

Choices!  Everyday, we face millions of them.  Some are split-second, done without even thinking; others we deliberate on for hours; still others can be so agonizing, we feel we have no choice at all. "Everything in your life is a reflection a choice you have made.  If you want a different result, make a different choice." (Author unknown) The thing is, though, when we are in the middle of untenable situations, the entire world grows dark, or rather, appears to grow dark. We can make the choice to fall deeper into the darkness or turn around.  We can walk back down the tunnel we entered, as difficult as it may be, walk towards the light until we emerge from the pain and suffering that seems to overwhelm us, or not. The choice is ours. Author, Mandy Hale said, " Growth is painful, change is painful, but nothing is as painful as staying stuck somewhere you don’t belong." Unfortunately, many of us think that we somehow belong in a place of pain and suffering....