Martin Luther King, Jr., in being asked to publish some of his sermons, wrote in the preface to his book, “. . . a sermon is directed toward the listening ear rather than the reading eye. . . I offer these discourses in the hope that a message may come to life for readers of the printed words.”  This is my hope for you, dear reader. - Rev Linda

April 16, 2006

THE BLOOMIN’ YOU:
YOUR EASTER BONNET

Happy Easter, happy Passover, happy spring. I assume you’ve all checked the Joyous Reunion scramble for this week on our website. (BYOJ - Bring your own joy.)

This morning we’re continuing with our series The Bloomin’ You with Your Easter Bonnet. Remember that old Irving Berlin song?

In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it, You'll be the grandest lady in the Easter Parade. Well, I’ve personally never seen an Easter parade, but I’ve seen plenty of Easter bonnets.

This Easter holiday with all its celebrations can be difficult for those of us who don’t think of ourselves as Christian, per sea, yet we’re part of a culture in which the traditions are firmly embedded. For most of us they were part of our growing up years, and we continued them with our children, Easter egg hunts, the Easter bunny, new clothes and going to church on Easter Sunday morning to hear the story of how the Jewish prophet Jesus of Nazareth arose from the dead. These past traditions and stories have been passed on down through the generations and have become part of our psyche, whether we believe them in or not.

Easter certainly fills all the stores. We sometimes complain about the commercialization of holidays like Easter, and yet, when we really look at it, there’s a reason that evolution has happened. I think there’s a lot of truth in the statement we hear so often about having taken the “real” meaning out of Easter. How “real” was it?

So I’m not so sure it’s all bad. Because I think there’s been an awful lot of religious dogma written into that original event of 2000 years ago. And much of it is no longer relevant to the beings living in the 21st Century. The whole Easter celebration evolved into what it is today, and I think it’ll be really interesting to see how it continues to evolve into something more meaningful for people living in the future.

So what is Easter anyway?

That’s the question St. Peter was asking 3 blonde ladies who had died at Easter time and found themselves standing before the Pearly Gates. St. Peter told them that before they could enter the Kingdom, they had to tell him what Easter was.
The first blonde answers, "Easter is a holiday where we have a big feast, and we give thanks and eat turkey."
St. Peter says, "Noooooo," and he banished her to hell.
The second blonde says, "Easter is when we celebrate Jesus' birth and exchange gifts."
St. Peter said, "Sorry," and he banished her to hell.
The third blonde says, “I know what Easter is.”
And St. Peter says, "Okay, let’s hear it."
She says," Easter is a Christian holiday that coincides with the Jewish festival of Passover. Jesus was having Passover feast with his disciples when he was betrayed by Judas, and the Romans arrested him. They hung him on the cross, and eventually he died. Then they buried him in a tomb behind a very large boulder.”
" Verrrrrry good." St. Peter was impressed.
Then the blonde gal, feeling pretty proud of herself says, "Now every year the Jews roll away the boulder and Jesus comes out. If he sees his shadow, we have six more weeks of basketball."
Now I can tell blonde jokes because I happen to be blonde. I’m not saying it’s okay for you to do it. But as you can see, there is some confusion about what Easter is all about.

Certainly, over the years it has been transmuted and given new metaphysical meaning. It’s evolved just as the consciousness of humanity has evolved. Regardless of the story or the traditions, what we’re doing is we’re taking in the hope of renewal and the hope of change, and we have an opportunity to participate in this every year, every spring, as the peoples of the earth have done as far back as we can trace the history of humankind, way back before Jesus ever walked the earth.

So as you think about Easter, if you have challenges with the traditional Christian definition, that’s okay. Because in reality, it’s not necessarily a Christian holiday. It is a human celebration of life and renewal and hope.
What we have as an imperative as humans is to create a story of renewal, death and rebirth, that is so ingrained, so deep in us that the story, its elements, and its ultimate conclusion and meaning, cross all cultures and cross the bridge of time.
It’s really about our time of hibernation, our time of crucifying the old—our old ways of thinking, old ways of doing, dying to our old ways of being.

Then spring comes and wakes us up to something new. It’s a time for rising up out of the darkness and letting in the light. A time of being resurrected from the tomb of our confusion, our disturbances, our attachments, of our death of the old that no longer works for us, to our ascension into the new, into the light. It’s the Life Force rising within us with all Its strength and power, surging through us with its encouragement and inspiration to be all we can be, to fulfill our purpose.
Like the little weeds that break through solid rock or cement, like the trees that bud out in the spring, regardless of how harsh the winter has been, there is a Divine Energy of Will and Purpose in us that urges us onward, that uplifts us with a ray of hope that cannot be extinguished. There is That Within Us that’s alive, awake and aware, that loves us unconditionally, that supports us and fills us with optimism, with promise, with confidence and anticipation of better things to come. It’s about putting on our Easter bonnet, a new hat.

So what are your dreams? What “hat” are you wanting to don? What is it in your life that wants to burst forth into being, that’s bigger than you think you are? I’ve been talking this month about Caroline Reynolds book Spiritual Fitness, and in her book she writes about finding our purpose. And I believe this theme of our purpose is going to be coming more and more to the forefront as we enter into the Intuition Age of the 21st Century.
The Information Age of the 20th Century has given us so much in our outer world, but it’s left us empty inside. As we become more attuned to who and what we truly are, we’re going to be experiencing more of our calling, our purpose.
Caroline says, “Each of us has come to this planet with a unique make-up and attendant set of gifts. To be gifted . . . means connecting with your core essence and discovering how you can make your own special contribution to the lives of others. . . Your gift is simply the way in which you have come to bless the world with your presence.” (p. 133)

She says, “Delivering this gift to the world is your purpose in life.” But she warns us that it’s not necessarily the way we earn our living. She says, “Just because you can make people laugh doesn’t mean you have to become a stand-up comic.” In fact, she says “One of my greatest teachers, and someone I regard as a particularly enlightened being, works as a motorcycle courier by day. During this time, he comes into contact with many different people and is able to spread his light to them with his smile, his cheery disposition, and his compassionate nature. At night, he runs free healing groups, and so he truly understands that the power of selfless service is the best way for him to bless the world with his presence.” (p. 134)
So how do we find our purpose? Think back for a moment to your childhood. What were you good at? What did people always comment about you? What did they call you? What were the imaginary games you played and the roles you took in them? What did you dream of becoming when you grew up? What “hat” did you want to wear?

Sometimes the clues are in what you’ve most resisted. Or what you most enjoy, and the passion you feel in your heart. Or in those positive qualities you have that you feel weren’t given to you by your parents. Caroline says, “. . . these are your gifts. The reason they were missing from your upbringing is because they were the gifts that you brought to your family.” (p. 140)
“ Your purpose is no secret. It is the way that your soul wants to manifest joy in the world, and as you connect more and more deeply with your soul, your purpose will emerge naturally and gracefully into your everyday life.” (p. 137)

In Spiritual Awareness our founder Dr. Ernest Holmes wrote, “Every [person] represents an individualization of the universal Wholeness; the love, peace, joy, and freedom of the Spirit. Therefore, we have a Divine right to be the masters of our own fate. We have a Divine right to rise above fear, impoverishment, and disease. We should have confidence that the Power of the Spirit expresses through every atom of our being now, this moment.” (, p. 74.1)

This is the season of hope. Let’s open ourselves to move in the direction of our dreams.

We are continually experiencing death and resurrection. With every loss, every divorce, every death of a partner, when we lose a job. Every time we have a shift in consciousness it brings on an identity crisis. To be triumphant in these times, we must rise up, lift ourselves to heaven, ascend our thinking to that place of absolute knowing within us that we are pure spirit, and move in the direction of our dreams, discover our purpose and live it.

So what’s your Easter bonnet?