Lent 2013 (Easter Sunday)

 

 

 

EASTER SUNDAY

March 31, 2013

 

 

We affirm today that "I AM resurrected into a new dimension of the life, light and power of God."  THANK YOU, GOD!

 

 

Everything that Jesus did in His lifetime was intended as a demonstration for us, to awaken us to the Presence and Power of God within us. "The one who believes in Me will also do the works that I do," He assures us.  (John 14:12). We will love unconditionally, we will heal, we will manifest abundance for ourselves and others. We will achieve this new state of consciousness most easily if we follow His guidance and example, but we will achieve it.

 

What, then, are we to make of the Resurrection that we celebrate on Easter Sunday as the culmination of the Lenten process? It is usually presented as such a dramatic and unique intervention of God into the affairs of man that it can never hope to be duplicated --- certainly not in each and every one of us.

 

But to believe this would violate everything Jesus taught and lived. There are no exceptions to Divine law --- although there are certainly higher levels of understanding of Divine law. Jesus was not uniquely saved from the ravages of death because of His unique relationship with God. He was simply and eloquently demonstrating to us that we are all exempt from death, because as eternal Spiritual beings, death has no reality for us at all. Jesus experienced death as the shadow it is, a doorway of transformatiion into another form of expression. And He calls us to the same realization.

 

We have all experienced resurrection moments, transition points after which our lives were forever altered because our consciousness, our awareness of life and love expressing, had permanently shifted. This Easter, then, let us allow the Resurrection of Jesus to remind us of our own resurrection experiences and let us appreciate the Spiritual awareness we have come to, the crucifixions with which we have released old patterns of thinking and expressing, and the wonderful new possibilities that lie before us.

 

 

 

PRAYER:

 

Thank You, God, for Your love and support through this Lenten process and for the changes in consciousness that are expressing in every area of my life as love, health, joy and abundance. As I move forward into new challenges and new dimensions of Spiritual possibility, I will return to this process when I need to remember and appreciate how far my journey has taken me. I am grateful for all that has been, and for all that is expressing in my life at this moment. And I am open and fully receptive of all that remains to be experienced, discovered and shared.

 

 

 

 

reprinted from Unity's Lent 2013 "A Season for Spiritual Growth"

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My Lenten Devotional (Easter Sunday, March 31, 2013)

Gospel reading:  John 20:1-9

For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.
--- John 20:9


My offering to God:

I will rejoice in Christ's gift of eternal life. I praise Almighty God, for His only begotten Son's death and resurrection which allows us to enjoy eternal life with Him.

EASTER LEGEND (The Tradition of the Pretzel)

 

 

 

 

The Tradition of the Pretzel

 

 

     Pretzels began in the 6th century at an Italian monastery.

     A monk was preparing unleavened bread for Lent and twisted the scraps of bread dough to resemble arms in prayer. He named his creation Pretiola, a word meaning little reward, and gave it as a treat to the children who recited their prayers.

INSPIRATIONAL STORY (The Empty Egg)

     Jeremy Forrester was born physically handicap and mentally challenged. At 12 years old, he was in the second grade and his teacher, Doris Miller, often became frustrated with him because he would squirm in his seat and make grunting noises which distracted the other students. Yet, other times, he spoke and behaved very well.
     One day, at a parent teacher conference, Miss Miller told the Forrester's, "Jeremy really belongs in a special needs program. I believe he would feel more comfortable if he were surrounded with others with similar disablities."
     Mrs. Forrester was very disheartened and began to softly cry, while her husband spoke.
     "Miss Miller," he said, "there is no school with special needs programs nearby. It would really disappoint Jeremy if he had to leave this school because he has told us how much he likes coming here."
     The teacher sat stoic, staring at the snow outside the window. Its coldness seemed to penetrate her heart and soul. She wanted to sympathize with the Forresters, after all, their only child has a terminal illness. But it was very hard for her to teach the other students with Jeremy's daily distractions. She felt he would never learn to read or write and that it was a waste of time to keep trying.
     "Well, I'll give it a few more months and see if he improves. Meanwhile, I highly suggest that you look into other resources to help him become successful." said Miss Miller.
     When the Forresters left, she sat at her desk and thought about the situation as guilt overwhelmed her. "Here I am complaining because I can't seem to reach him and yet, his parents struggle with this more often. My situation is nothing compared to his parents. Lord, please help me to be more patient with Jeremy."

     A few months later as spring was arriving and while she was trying to teach, Jeremy unexpectedly stood up and limped over to her. He wrapped his skinny arms around her legs, looked up at her face and said loud enough for the whole class to hear, "I love you, Miss Miller."
     The other children began to giggle and mock him. Her face turned a beet red as she replied, "That's very nice, Jeremy. Now please go take your seat."
      Jeremy went back to his seat and the excited children began telling Miss Miller about their anticipation of Easter coming. Then Miss Miller began telling the story of Jesus and emphasized the idea of new life springing forth. She gave each of them a large plastic egg, "Now I want you to take this home and bring it back tomorrow with something inside that represents new life," she told her class.
     The next day at school, all the children placed their eggs in the large wicker basket on Miss Miler's desk. She picked up the first egg, opened it and found a flower. "Oh yes, a flower certainly is a sign of new life," she said. "When plants peek through the ground, we know that spring is here."
     A small girl in the first row waved her arm, "That's my egg, Miss Miller."
     The next egg contained a plastic butterfly. "We all know that a caterpillar changes and grows into a beautiful butterfly. Yes, that is new life too." Miss Miller said.
     A small boy raised his hand, "That's my egg, Miss Miller. My dad helped me."
     Then she opened another egg. She gasped when she saw the egg was empty. Realizing that it was Jeremy's egg, assuming he didn't understand the assignment, she didn't want to embarrass him so she set the egg aside and reached for a different egg.
     Suddenly, Jeremy spoke up, "Miss Miller, aren't you going to talk about my egg?'
     Flustered she replied, "But Jeremy, your egg is empty."
     "Yes, but Jesus' tomb was empty too." He said.

     Then she asked him, "Do you know why the tomb was empty?"
     "Oh yes," Jeremy excitedly replied, "Jesus was killed and put in there. Then His Father raised Him up."

     The recess bell then rang and the children leapt up out of their seats and ran outside. Miss Miler sat in her seat and all the coldness she felt towards Jeremy suddenly melted away.
     Three months later, Jeremy passed away. Those who went to pay their respect at the mortuary were surprised to see 19 eggs on top of his casket... all of them empty.

PRAYER (Powerful Prayer of Gratitude)

Dear God,
     I want to thank You for what You have already done. I am not going to wait until I see results or receive rewards... I am thanking You right now!

I am not going to wait until I feel better or things look better... I am thanking You right now!

I am not going to wait until people say they are sorry or until they stop talking about me... I am thanking You right now!

I am not going to wait until the pain in my body disappears... I am thanking you right now!

I am not going to wait until my financial situation improves... I am thaking You right now!

I am not going to wait until the children are asleep and the house is quiet... I am thanking You right now!

I am not going to wait until I get promoted at work or until I get that raise or until I get the job... I am thanking You right now!

I am not going to wait until I understand every experience in my life that has caused me pain or grief... I am thanking You right now!

I am not going to wait until the journey gets easier or the challenges are removed... I am thanking You right now!

I am thanking You because I am alive!

I am thanking You because I know I can make it through the day's difficulties.

I am thanking You because I have walked around the obstacles.

I am thanking You because I have the ability and the opportunity to do more and to do better.

I am thanking You because GOD... You have NOT given up on me!

THANK YOU GOD!

MOTIVATIONAL STORY (Suspended Coffee)

     One day as my friends and I entered a coffee shop we heard the person before us place their order.
     "Five coffees, please. Two for us and three suspended."
     They pay for their order, take the two coffees and leave. Then a young couple came in, "We'll have four coffees. Two for us and two suspended." They pay for their order, take the two and leave.
     Four people enter, order four coffees, pay and leave.
     The next person came in, "I'll have five coffees, one for myself and four suspended."
     I didn't understand what was going on so I asked my friends, "What is suspended coffee?"
     My friends glanced at each other then replied, "Wait a few minutes and you'll see."
     As we sat around enjoying our coffee, there were more people coming and ordering the suspended coffee. I patiently waited to find out the meaning of this as I watched the snow outside gently landing on the ground.
     Then an old man, dressed in worn out clothing and appearing homeless, entered the coffee shop. He slowly crept up to the counter and asked, "Do you have any suspended coffee today?"
     The girl behind the counter replied, "Yes, we do." She then hands him a nice hot cup of coffee. He takes the cup and goes into a corner to sit and drink it.

The tradition of the 'suspended' coffee started in Naples and has spread across the world. People pay in advance for coffee meant for those who can't afford it. Sometimes, if the place offers it, people will also pay for a hot meal to go with it.

One small act of charity can make a difference in someone's life. No kind deed is too small to start an everlasting ripple in making this world a better place.

SPREAD KINDNESS AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

Bless and be blessed!
    

HUMOR HELPS HAPPINESS (Your Tax Payment is Due!)

    A nervous taxpayer was unhappily conversing with the IRS Tax auditor who had come to review his records. At one point the auditor exclaimed, "Mr. Carr, we feel it is a great priviledge to be allowed to live and work in the USA. As a citizen you have an obligation to pay taxes and we expect you to eagerly pay them with a smile."
     "Thank goodness," said Mr. Carr, with a giant grin from ear to ear on his face. "I thought you were going to want me to pay with cash."