Tag Archives: Jesus

The Wonder of You!

As the celebration of Christmas grows near, so too do the signs of the Wonder of Christmas; lights, nativity scenes, shopping and wrapping of special gifts, trimming of trees, and the look of wonder in the eyes of children. It is, as the song suggests, “the most wonderful time of the year.” Until it isn’t.

A day meant to fill our hearts with joy, and hope often gets lost in the stress of meeting expectations, our own and those of the world around us. For some, the day itself may be associated with painful memories or the loss of loved ones. “Where is the wonder?” Your heart may ask.

The Wonder can still be found. It lies in a deeper and richer understanding of the nativity story itself, one that goes beyond the words transcribed on the page. Historians and Bible scholars debate the facts and authenticity of the story. Dates and times do not align with the scarce bits of recorded history from the time. The story seems to be purposeful in connecting Jesus to the lineage of the House of David, which causes some to speculate its intention. But the Wonder is not to be found in aligning historical facts or scriptural prophecies. It is found in the deeper meaning of a story rich with symbolism.

Jesus taught through parables, stories that symbolized elements of the human experience, its challenges, endeavors, and divine potential. His followers would have done the same. They would have incorporated this compelling, symbolic story-telling into their work and embedded it in the most magnificent parable of all, the birth, life, and death of their Master and Way-shower, Jesus.

What then, are the characters and elements of the nativity story trying to tell us? Could each of them be an aspect of our own consciousness giving birth to an expression of God? Could they represent a recognition of ourselves as both fully human and fully divine? Could they describe the seeking of something greater, of hope and faith and joy, found not in a stable but in a humble place within the human heart?

Most of this spectacular story is found in the Gospel of Luke. But an additional, wonder-filled story is relayed in the second chapter of Matthew, where we find wise ones from the east following a star to an unknown place in the west. A songwriter calls it the Star of Wonder. And no doubt it was a wonder.

Imagine what kind of star or sign would cause you to embark on a lengthy and dangerous journey wrought with spitting camels, narrow mountain passages, desert storms, thieves, and a dubious, deceitful king. It would have to be a great sign, a wonder on par with perhaps the Seven Wonders of the World. Bigger than life. Awe-inspiring. Overwhelming. Beautiful. Perhaps an inkling of something wonderful being born, leading you to a place of perfect peace, hope, and wholeness.

This awe-inspiring light, one that would encourage you to traverse all obstacles to discover its source lies within you. The star represents a glimmer of light, an inspiring thought that stimulates the wise ones, the Power of Wisdom within you that sometimes lies dormant. The Star of Wonder is the great light of Spiritual Understanding, offering clarity and guidance.

Where there is light, we can see what we could not see in the darkness. Our way is made clear. This Light of Understanding within you continually guides the wisdom in you through the challenges and difficulties of human life to a place where you can lay down the worldly gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh in exchange for the spiritualized gifts of Infinite Abundance, Divine Love, and a recognition of the eternal nature of the Essence of Life in you and all around you.

The gifts of the wise ones represent capacities that are always within you but are spiritualized or spiritually empowered when brought under the direction of the Christ or Higher-self. These wonders within you are most accessible when you make the journey from your head to your heart, where the Christ of you is continuously born anew and awaits your return in consciousness.

The Wonder of Christmas is not lost. The Wonder is you. You, as an expression of the eternal, all-pervading Essence of Life. Now that is a Wonder that can never be lost, only hidden. Breathe in the glow of the inner star and be guided in all that you do to the peaceful place of absolute wholeness with you.

Have a Wonder-filled Christmas, and enjoy a spectacular new You.

Eileen Patra is an ordained Unity Minister and the author of The Mystical Ark: A Vessel of Blessings. She is currently serving as co-minister at the Spiritual Life Center in Troy, Michigan and guest speaking at a variety of Unity churches. She is currently working on her second book, Living as the Ark. Learn more about The Mystical Ark at themysticalark.com

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BE-holding Light

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One cannot hold Light while one is holding darkness. It would be like filling your arms with laundry and then trying to pick up a bushel of apples with the same arms. The laundry would have to be set down first. For this reason, Jesus told his followers, when you pray “… first be reconciled with your brother.” Matt 5:24

When you wish to hold the Light, to affirm wholeness and the Light of God in action, you must first release all notions of darkness. Reconcile these things by acknowledging they are not the Truth and requesting of Spirit; that whatever is not Truth or Light be released, dissolved, set down and overshadowed by Light. In this way, you are released and healed and those for whom you pray are also released and made new.

Beyond The Tomb

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The angels in Jesus’ tomb asked Mary Magdalene, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” Why indeed do we seek new life, a new way of being, while continuing to do what we have always done? Why do we seek freedom among the thoughts, words and actions that have held us captive?

To live beyond what might seem like a tomb, we must be willing to bless what has passed and then look beyond it. A tomb experience in life can be anything that draws us apart for a while and provides an opportunity for growth and realignment with Spirit. A process of deep and lasting change is revealed when we explore four stages of transformation that take place in the tomb; renunciation, retreat, resurrection and realization.

On the cross, Jesus renounced the world as his source and commended his Spirit to God. He took the final step toward overcoming the greatest block to transformation; the belief that life is created and sustained by the world. What is demonstrated for us through the crucifixion and resurrection is that Life is independent of the world. Life, the flow of Spirit within us, creates the world according to our ability and willingness to allow Truth to be expressed through us.

Jesus was laid in a tomb, retreating from the world for three days. Three is symbolic of completion in Spirit, soul and body. Resurrection is instant, simultaneous in Spirit, but soul and body require a time of unfolding. When we pray, our prayers are answered the instant we release them to Spirit. Yet, most often, a time of quiet reflection and letting go is required for our prayers to fully manifest in our minds, hearts and body.

Mary returns to the tomb with the intention of blessing what she believes is lost. The willingness to bless what has passed away rolls away the stone and opens the way for divine inspiration. When we bless what has passed for the opportunities of growth and realignment provided, blockages are removed and our way is made clear.

Mary did not realize that the gardener was Jesus until he spoke to her. When he did, she ran to inform the others. When we realize something we incorporate the new information at all levels of being. Only then is deep and lasting change made possible. The risen Christ sent his followers to convert the nations. To convert is to change. To convert the nations is to change everything. Realization happens in us when we recognize the Christ as the Life within each of us and then inform every level of our being to live this Truth. When we live this Truth everything is made new and we live beyond the tomb.

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Funny Thing About Miracles

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MIRACLES.dreamstime_xs_54350453

There’s a funny thing about miracles. They always require us to do something different than we’ve been doing.

In my prayer time this morning, the health of our planet came to mind, and I found myself wanting God to do something about it. I wanted God to miraculously alter the way we have abused our earthly home and bring it back to its pristine and healthy state. I wanted a miracle. And then I remembered, God can only do for us what God can do through us. We, every one of us, must change something in our thoughts, words, and actions to bring our planet once more into its glory. It’s the way miracles work.

Think about the things we call miracles. In every miracle of Jesus, someone has to DO something. At the Wedding Feast at Cana, water is only turned into wine after the stewards fill the jars with water. No water, no wine.

A blind man who wishes to see must put mud over his eyes and then wash it away. The man whose son is gravely ill must return to him and believe the healing will occur. The woman who had hemorrhaged for twelve years? She reached out and touched the hem of Jesus’ garment.

Miracles require us to do something. And that something involves a change of thought, a change of belief, a change of words, and a change of action. They require action grounded in absolute faith.

What miracle are you looking for today? And what will you change? What voice will you listen to? What will you believe – the impossible? Or the possible? And what will you do differently?

The Pursuit of Happiness?

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pursuite of happiness The pursuit of happiness is not fulfilled by the freedom to express hate. Hate is a derivative of fear. One hates what one deems an enemy, that which one fears will somehow hurt them or diminish them. Hate is an aspect of the “fight” response to fear. Only when fear is acknowledged, soothed and brought into alignment with the assurance of Divine Love can there be an experience of true happiness. All else is but a shield to assuage a perceived fear.

Fear, disguised as hate and anger is often triggered by a perceived loss. ‘Someone is taking something away from me.’ In Truth, there is no loss. All that we see, all that we experience are manifestations of Light and energy which is never lost. It simply moves and transforms. When we finally recognize that we are inextricably connected to one another and therefor own everything, yet own nothing, will we know there is nothing to fear, nothing to lose.

When you say you are losing some piece of your culture or your history, what is it that you are losing? Are you losing the grace and beauty of the fertile grounds that fed your ancestors? Are you losing your history of charm and hospitality? Or are you losing the false illusion that those you saw as heroes are not really heroes at all. Were they heroes because they stood for something they believed in and laid their lives on the line for it. In a sense, a very human sense, I suppose this is so. But when you expand your perspective to recognize that what they stood for was something deeply hurtful and harmful to the fabric of humanity can you see their actions as something other than heroic? Can you begin to see them as the leadership of a fear that saw masses of God’s children as less than human? Can you see that as you hold them dearly in your clinging to a false image of grace and charm that you hold yourself in a false reality in which some of humanity is worthy of God’s love and some are not? That some therefore are worthy of your love and some are not. Only when you let go of these false images of heroism can you begin to heal yourself. You didn’t know you needed healing, did you? But yes, you do. You see you too are a part of this fabric of Life. And while you reject portions of it from your fear of what is not manifesting exactly the same way as you are, you pull at yourself, you separate the essence of your being from the whole. You cause yourself to be isolated from the outworking of God. You cause yourself to be outside of the wholeness of Divine Love. The happiness that you pursue will never bring you what you truly seek, which is to be one with that from which you come. While you reject any part of this you remain outside of it, alone, afraid, fighting and hurting.

Could you, for just one moment, let go? Let go of your judgments. Let go of your need to cling to what is not even real. Let go of what you fear? Could you for just one moment allow Love to fill the fearful parts of yourself. Could you consider that it is fear that causes you to cling to what is not whole, what is not loving. Could you for just one moment look deeply into the eyes of those you see as different or less than, and see and feel the face of God? Could you for one moment look deeply into those eyes and see the pain, the fear that is so much like your own? Could you look for one moment into that opening that draws you one to the other and see that you are one? Could you reach across the fence of fear and embrace the other as yourself? For is this not what our brother and Wayshower, Jesus taught us? To love one another as ourselves? Is this not the teaching of other faith traditions and spiritual philosophies as well? You do not have to be Christian to understand that it is Love that brings us together and Hatred and Fear that pull us apart. For just one moment, open your eyes wider than they have ever been open before. Reach out and embrace the other whoever that might be for you. You will open in you a flood of Divine Love that brings you a greater experience of happiness than you have ever imagined. And this, no one can ever take from you. Namaste’

If I Were A Road

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tunnel-1056859-640x480 If I were a road I would plunge through the surface, into the depths of this life. I’d journey upward and outward, to the vast space beyond. I would travel the stars and the universe, and spiral with planets as far as can be. Along the way I would travel through time and wind myself back like a grandfather clock. I would cherish the memories unfolding before me. The earliest memories of humankind would flash by like the blur of a landscape moving swiftly past the side window of a traveling car.

Flying through time I would catch glimpses of people, vibrant and real making up pages of earth’s history. I would slow down and pause as I rambled where Jesus had walked. I’d hang up a stoplight where Gandhi had been. I’d rest for a while and encounter Mohamed. We would gaze at the stars and see God and Allah and Brahman in them.

If I were a road I would traverse the layers of existence and discover where time began. I would pause in my travels to catch the first Light as it expanded and vibrated and became the waters and dry land. I would curve and I’d spiral following along, with the unfolding nature of humankind Then I would find myself in my own childhood yard. I’d watch myself on my swing set, the dog nipping my butt as I flew through the air. I would travel around to the place called Virginia where my brother boarded a navy ship. I’d visit him in his youth, so vibrant, so excited as he sailed off to see the world. I’d stop in Onaway at my father’s childhood home. I’d catch glimpses of what it was like to grow up in that home, bursting with children the adults speaking French. I’d hear the laughter of little ones running about. I’d see the sweat on the older one’s brows as they worked outside in the fields.

If I were a road, I’d wander about, finding pieces and glimpses of how I began. I’d discover my birth was not here on this earth. I’d find that I’d started before I began. I’d pause at the moment the first thought was expressed. I’d let go of all else as I mapped out my path. I’d see what has been went just like I planned, the valleys and vistas all there in my hand. I’d discover my journey continues, yet never began. It spirals and curves and floats up and down. It moves without moving then settles again. I’d gaze with great wonder at its natural bends. I’d pause for a while then roam quietly forward again. If I were a road, I’d begin and then end at the place where all thought first began.

More Precious Than Jewels In You

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more precious than jewels.1200 “More precious than jewels,” is the noble woman according to the Book of Proverbs. But, in a previous chapter, the same writer tells us that “Wisdom” is more precious than jewels. Wisdom, also named Sophia in ancient texts, is the feminine aspect of the Divine, so desiring to know God that she gave birth to humankind. She is the Divine Mother, whispering pearls of wisdom and often personified by the mother figures and nurturers in our lives.

Mothers, indeed are often the voice of Pearls of Wisdom. I know my mother had her favorites. “”When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Mom’s teaching of resilience and persistence. “You can’t judge a book by its cover.” Mom’s teaching of looking past appearances for a deeper meaning. And, “Two wrongs don’t make a right,” Mom’s way of calling me to a higher action.

The mother figures in our lives as well as the mother essence in us, calls us to a higher action. Jesus’ mother was known to call him to action too. You may recall the Wedding Feast at Cana when Mary informs Jesus that the couple has run out of wine. Jesus replies, “What is that to me?” sounding a bit like a rebellious teenager wondering why this should be his problem. But there is another way to hear these words, “What is that to ME? What is a little thing like running out of wine to me? What is that to the Christ, the anointed one?”

When something appears to be lacking, or slips in the back door of our consciousness, disturbing our peace what could we learn by responding with those words? What is that to me? What is that to the highest and best in me. What is that to what is most precious in me? What is that to the Christ in me?

Something came up for me recently, something slid in the back door of my consciousness. It was one of those comments that causes you to feel judged, tempts you to become defensive, to attack, to blame, to shame. And so I asked “What is that to me?” What is that bringing up for me? Is it bringing up that I’m somehow less than perfect? Is it bringing up a need to change another’s perception of me? And, what is that to the Christ in me? What is that to what Truly is perfect in me? And how can responding to this differently, from the place in me more precious than jewels make a difference? How can I be transformed by this and what would that look like? What would Love do here? What would Light do? What would a new thought, a new response and a new action do? Well that would change everything because it would change me and my own perception and I would see something much greater at work.

Would this change another person’s perception. Maybe. Maybe not. But when we let Light shine through us, and stand fully in our Christ self, we are so changed that the world around us begins to shift. This is what is called to action by what is more precious than jewels in you. The apostle Paul summed it up best with these words “Christ in you, your hope of Glory.”

Rev. Eileen is an ordained Unity minister currently serving as the senior minister at Unity of Livonia, in Livonia, Michigan.

BE-Holding the Light

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hologram.cc.1569468739_b7ca26acca_q One cannot hold Light while one is holding darkness. It would be like filling your arms with laundry and then trying to pick up a bushel of apples with the same arms. The laundry would have to be set down first. For this reason, Jesus told his followers, when you pray “… first be reconciled with your brother.” Matt 5:24

When you wish to hold the Light, to affirm wholeness and the Light of God in action, you must first release all notions of darkness. Reconcile these things by acknowledging they are not the Truth and requesting of Spirit that whatever is not Truth or Light be released, dissolved, set down and overshadowed by Light. In this way, you are released and healed and those for whom you pray are also released and made new.

Miraculous Armor

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The miracle I witness today is the ability to lay down the sword and put on the armor of God. This is what David did when facing Goliath. The world is at battle with itself, but I do not have to participate. A world at battle with itself is the reflection of the mind at battle with itself. The battle is the struggle to hold on to what is impermanent. The armor of God is not a suit of steel. It is not of the world. It is a consciousness, a stream of thought that is centered in the Tree of Life and not fooled by the knowledge of good and evil. In the consciousness of God, what seemed huge and powerful and terrifying has no power at all. When I put on this armor of God, I see beyond the illusion of separation. I see the essence of life that precedes all things. In this awareness, there is no battle to fight, there is no-thing that has power over me. I am guided by what is true and what is REAL. What seemed to be terrifying has no power at all, for God is the only power. Jesus said that heaven and earth would pass away but His words would not. What is permanent and does not pass away is the Truth that He taught and lived. In the human mind that believes in the permanence of the world there is constant battle and struggle to hold things as permanent. In the mind of God, there is only wholeness and Life. There is no battle. There is nothing to battle for. Today I put on the armor of God. I let go of what I know will pass away and I gather only what is True. I face the giant energies of a world at battle with the stones of faith, hope, love, wisdom and Truth. There is nothing that stands before me that is more powerful than the power of God within me.

Rev. Eileen is an ordained Unity minister currently serving at Unity of Livonia in Livonia, Michigan.

The Miracle of Hope

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hope-dreamstimefree_30348689 HOPE is a doorway to the miraculous. HOPE is our ability to expect a positive outcome when there seems to be little evidence of it. HOPE is the first glimmer of Faith that causes us to take action. The woman who touched the hem of Jesus’ garment HOPED that she would be healed. After 12 years of hemorrhaging, she saw a glimmer of HOPE in Him and His growing reputation as a miraculous healer. Jesus told her that her Faith had made her well. Faith is HOPE in action. It is HOPE that causes the quickening of Faith, Strength and Will. When we look out into the world and wonder how we can stop the hemorrhaging, it is this miraculous ability to have HOPE that stirs the greater power of the Christ in us to take positive action in order to manifest the peace, harmony and wholeness we wish to see and experience. Through HOPE we know that our prayer intentions are more than just a plea to a chaotic universe. Through HOPE we establish ourselves in the power and presence of the invisible Source of all peace and harmony. We align our minds and hearts with the All-ness of God and our Faith returns us to the wholeness from which we come. Today is the day to have HOPE and move in the direction of this miraculous stimulus for healing.

Rev. Eileen is an ordained Unity minister currently serving at Unity of Livonia in Livonia, Michigan.

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