Palm Sunday - Jesus Christ Superstar

Today I recognize my innocence with God... I seek to be within my heart and let go of the challenges of my physical world. My conversations with Spirit are the greatest prayers I pray.

Brave Enough to Surrender

Are you brave enough to surrender?  At first this seems like an oxymoron like adult children or barely dressed. But taking a deeper look, we can see that it takes real courage to let go and let God, to surrender to a greater ideal.

We celebrate Palm Sunday using the genius of Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice's Jesus Christ Superstar" to help take  a closer look at the activities of Holy Week.

Easter is a day when even unbelievers come to church. They come for a variety of reasons but at the center of it, is a message of eternal life, or hope that never dies. Not as many are faithful to attending Palm Sunday. When we can see how that story is being re-enacted in our own lives, may give it more consideration. Sacred scripture is just as relevant today as it was when it was first written. Sometimes we need to look for the relevance.

Our spiritual journey is about discovering the power and presence of God in our lives. So we examine with love the characters in the story, and similar to dream interpretation, we come to understand that each character has something to teach us. Judas, who betrayed his friend; Mary, who loved him; Pilate, who had  a premonition; Herod, who used ridicule to manipulate and Jesus who asked his friends to stay with him while he prayed; each story is our story, universal and powerful. Most importantly Jesus struggle to stay the course knowing how it would end.

Imagine knowing that soon you would be betrayed by your good friend, that leaders of your faith would persecute you, your friends would deny knowing you, and that you would be barbarically executed. Jesus would have know being omniscient.

We read in scripture  Luke 22:44, " And being in agony he prayed more earnestly."

Jesus had a human side, too. He admonished money changers, he was reluctant to perform his first miracle. Rice pens evocative lyrics in his prayer in Gethsemane,

"If there is a way,Take this cup away from me.For I don't want to taste his poison,Feel it burn me,I have changed,I'm not as sure as when I started.Then I was inspired.Now I'm sad and tired.Listen surely I've exceeded expectations,Tried for three years, seems like thirty,Could you ask as much from any other man?"

How often have you been guided by God to do something but it turned out to be harder than you thought it would be? Rice helps us relate to Jesus at the heart level, to feel compassion for him and perhaps for ourselves. have you ever had a good or even brilliant idea that turned out to be an albatross around your neck?

When we are spiritually guided, we know that we are being guided toward our highest good. Often it is impossible to see that good. I think Jesus was in the same spot. He knew what was coming but from the human level couldn't see the big picture to see that it was all going to be worthwhile. It is about doing the right thing, but I think it is more than that. It is about trusting a power greater than your individual awareness. I have often seen it in relationships. A person is guided to offer her guest room to her father so he can get back on his feet after a long illness, but he is rude to her and her family. A mother gives her daughter a chance to break the grip of addiction, and the daughter leaves the program to get high and dies. Or a person is diagnosed with a debilitating illness and still has young children to raise. And in each case, something worthwhile, something precious emerges such as patience, compassion, insight and faith. In each of these scenarios, one's prayers are likely to be, "Please take this cup of poison from me. I want to do God's will but it feels too hard."

It reminds me of a story of the man who fell down a mountain, stopped his fall by grasping a branch of a tree growing out of the side of a cliff. He could not see the landing below him. It might have been a few feet or it might have been thousands. The man cried out to God, "Dear God, if you can shear me, please help." A deep voice answered, "I can see you. Let go of the branch." The man thought about for a moment and then shouted, "Is there anybody else up there?"

Sometimes we know what we must do in order to take the next right step spiritually. Jesus wanted to know that if he cooperated with the plan that it would be worthwhile. Here's what I know, "It is done unto us as we believe."  Therefore, if we have confidence in our relationship with Source and are creating what we really want, it will be worthwhile.

It is up to each individual. I know that we are all parts of the story and every character in it. I trust that not only on Palm Sunday but every day, we are brave enough to surrender. When we come true, so do our dreams.

Teaching our children is a blessing and humbling experience.

Teaching our children is a blessing and humbling experience. 

Planning and presenting the lessons for the youth of our center is a powerful and humbling experience. Each week, children from infancy to 12, come for an hour of their precious weekend to learn about God, affirmations, prayer, universal laws and all the reasons why they can and do use them. They come for connection, inspiration and because they know they are important to our extended spiritual family. Well, I like to think that is why they are coming. And some are! In reality, I know some are dragged by their parent-- "you will learn to be spiritual", some are coming for the promise of the donut after the service, and some are coming to see their friends and maybe get a chance to speak into the microphone on the platform. Whatever their reason, I and our teaching team, are ready to receive them with discussions, activities, spiritual practices, crafts and most importantly our love and to listen. We listen to the stories; the desires of the heart of a four year old who wants to play with the trains and the ten year old who wants to fit in at school. We take that lesson that we have spent hours on and adapt, tweak and shift it up to meet the needs and desires of the kids who have shown up. I often wonder if the kids show up because of the lesson that has been created in Mind, or does the lesson show up for the kids. Of course, it is both. Sometimes, as I am planning a lesson, a particular child will be on my mind and I am never surprised to see them, but I am always left with the humbling thought that they are responding to the same inspiration that I am. That we have connected at deeper place that brought us to share this lesson.

This week we have been planning our Palm Sunday lesson. For more than ten years this has been my favorite lesson. I know it has been at least ten years because my children who are now young adults participated as children in this lesson with me. The lesson, has evolved and grown over the years.  I can't remember how it started that we re-enact the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.  Like so many inspirations it is timeless and continues to give year after year. In this lesson, together we create the road lined with flowers, covered with palms and beautiful fabric that symbolizes the cloaks of the people.  We ask, What must that have been like to have the road lined with people who adore you? Singing your praises and laying down palms and cloaks for you to walk upon. The only similarity in our lives is when the winning team of the World Series returns home and gets a parade of adoring fans. Is that as close as we can get I wonder.  I wonder if those athletes who are being greeted by adoring fans realize the magnitude of their words and their actions. Surely this is a great moment in life.  Knowing who we are matters, what we think, say and do makes a difference. This is our Palm Sunday lesson As we re-enact the event from two thousand years ago we recognize that the great teacher Jesus owned his power. He owned it with all of his being. He didn't say well sometimes I'm pretty good like if I'm with good friends and if the stars and moons are aligned I can do great things. He owned it all the time. So we learn to own our power, to share our gifts, our talents with the awareness that we glorify God by shining our light.  And, here is the great part of our lesson: Jesus knew that the same divine potential that he owned so completely in himself was and is in every person. In this lesson we explore what it is to have the courage of Jesus to let our light shine, be great in all that we do and the awesome humility of knowing that that great light is God and is everyone. Not just some, not just a few special ones, but everyone. We learn to let our light shine with courage and to recognize that light in ourselves and everyone around us as the light of God.

Like I said, creating and presenting the youth lessons at our center is an awesome experience. I know that what I am doing is making a difference. I know that the children I am sharing these lessons with are making a profound difference in my life. Finally, I am blessed in knowing that our spiritual community is a place to learn about Life, about Love, and about the awesome Power that each of us has.