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.
© 2016. Reverend Eileen DeRosia Patra
It means taking care with every thought and word I express. Although an adverse thought is not necessarily a “complaint,” it does require carefully acknowledgement and often a shift of consciousness to expressing it in words or actions.
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
A LASER, an extraordinary focused beam of Light has truly miraculous capabilities. Simple waves of Light that usually bounce off of objects of matter, become capable of cutting through the densest structures of steel. The same powerful LASER beam is capable of the most delicate and intricate medical procedures, isolating and dissolving unhealthy cells or tumors without disturbing the surrounding tissues. Even the delicate structure of the human eye can be treated with a LASER to improve or restore eyesight. Like LASER beams, we too are made of Light and we too can achieve miraculous results by focusing and concentrating our thoughts and awareness on that which we wish to experience. Faith is the tool that gathers the Light in us, Prayer and Affirmations concentrate our awareness, dissolving what is not aligned with the Light in us. Through this heightened and focused awareness, we can cut through seemingly immovable obstacles. We can perform the intricate procedure of dissolving thoughts and beliefs that keep us small. Through the focused awareness of ourselves as Light, as offspring of the Light of God, we become like LASERs, cutting through the delicate veil that separates the world of form from the vastness of Beingness; and suddenly, we see with pinpoint accuracy, the Oneness of God that has always there all along. The LASER beam of Light focused on God shining through, reveals the Kingdom of the Heavens that has surrounded us from the beginning but we have failed to see.
HANDS, a miraculous aspect of the physical body, provides us the ability to grasp, to pull, to push and to touch. We use our hands to type, to fasten our clothing, to plant, grow, harvest and eat our food. Our HANDS give us the ability to open doors and to create, build and operate all kinds of mechanical innovations. HANDS give us the ability to touch. They give us the ability to shake HANDS with others, to join HANDS in song, in protest, and in prayer. With the fascinating structure of HANDS we can touch the soft skin of an infant, stroke the face of a loved one, and wipe the tears from another’s eyes. We can lift weights, tools, and a child who has fallen and scraped a knee. Our HANDS are more than the intricate structure of bone, cartilage and ligaments however. They are also the housing of powerful energy centers. Through our HANDS and fingertips, energy can be received, appropriated and projected. Through our HANDS we can heal, direct, give and receive. With HANDS we bless our food, our bodies and all that we choose to consecrate. HANDS are a miracle and no doubt reflect what we might call the invisible but infinitely powerful HANDS of God.
DISCERNMENT, the ability to hold two or more perspectives and choose from an inner knowing of the highest good, is the miracle of Divine Wisdom flowing through. When faced with challenging choices, we can focus our attention on the challenge or we can take some quiet time to connect with a greater Power within us. Releasing images of outcomes formed by fear, we can focus our attention on a higher good. We can use our past experiences, filter them with Love, Wisdom and an expanded understanding of our oneness in Spirit to make healthy and centered choices. Balance scales are a widely used icon for judgment and rightly so. It is from a balanced consciousness, with all spiritual faculties awakened and working together that we most fully utilize our power to Discern.
I Love a parade! From Memorial Day to Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day; and the Rose Bowl Parade they all have these three things in common; the sights, the sounds and the motion.
EMPATHY, the ability to share another’s feelings as if they are our own lifts us into a higher realm of consciousness that more fully manifests our oneness. Aligned with this higher realm of principle, EMPATHY has all the attributes of a miracle. Last night I witnessed an incredible display of this aspect of human consciousness as hundreds, if not thousands of people responded to a prayer request on Facebook. It was clear that everyone responding could feel the feelings of the person requesting prayer. Each person could imagine themselves in the same experience. The outpouring of love and prayer and affirmations for healing was incredible. EMPATHY drew together a massive number of people into a common prayer intention. In the words of Jesus “… where two or more of you are gathered in my name, there I AM…” This drawing together through the power of EMPATHY made visible a conscious communion with the Christ in each responder. The power of this collective prayer consciousness is right now manifesting in right and perfect ways, drawing the wholeness of those involved into visible form. EMPATHY is a miracle that draws together that which is already one, so that our oneness in Spirit is made more visible.
The WELLSPRING within is the miracle of Oneness with Spirit, the source of Life, Harmony and Joy. Deep within each of us is a place where joy never ceases, where peace and harmony are the constant state of being. When we draw on this invisible Source, we access the Water of Life that Jesus spoke of to the Samaritan woman at the well. This powerful conversation is often understood as Jesus’ demonstration of inclusiveness. Although it is certainly that, the conversation reveals much more. Ultimately, this conversation reveals a whole new perspective of God as Spirit, as comforter, as the quencher of all thirst. As we come to understand that the Christ Mind that was in Jesus is also in each of us we find that the WELLSPRING that quenches all thirst is within us and it never runs dry. This is the miracle we will explore at tonight’s Meditation and Metaphysical Musings service at 
Eileen Patra 