Tag Archive for: Transformation

Are Your Spiritual Senses Dulled?

Do the trappings, clutter and clammer of Christmas leave your spiritual senses dulled, even jaded?  Or perhaps you’re very much engaged in the fun of the season and welcome the interruption of daily life, not to mention the distraction Christmas offers against the loud, chaotic noise of our present culture. 

My experience is that I see people move between being jaded by and drawn in to this well-needed interruption.  

What do we really celebrate and honor through Christmas?  Rather than just a baby being born to a virgin, conceived by the Holy Spirit, which is beyond remarkable and certainly worth our honor and gratitude, can we see it as the Great, Holy Interruption of humankind and all of history by the Incarnation of the Sacred Presence into human form.

This Great Interruption by the Most High God into humanity not only changed the course of history, but offers a course change for you and every single human being, regardless of where we are or where we’ve been.

I suggest we all take this historical event very personally, because the Incarnation is a personal experience for you and everyone. The key is, do you want it to be.  

No more is the heavenly realm only available through the death of our mortal bodies. Jesus transcended that boundary by His birth, death and resurrection and says to us, the kingdom of heaven is at hand, accessible here and now. It’s but a breath away. A thought in a different direction.

No more are we bound by relying on following the teachings of spiritual leaders, gurus, priests, rabbis and prophets. Though they are absolutely helpful, even necessary: Jesus invites us to commune with God personally and listen to His Voice revealed by the same Holy Spirit, in the depth of our being.

No more are we separated from the Most High by this three dimensional reality or by our religious doctrine.  Jesus came as the living embodiment of this truth that God is with us in the here and now and for all eternity.

So now, how do you respond? Are you willing to receive the Incarnation, this truth that God is with you and transcended time, space and the material world for you?

Are you willing to recognize this cataclysmic event that happened over 2000 years ago that came as an innocent baby through a faithful woman is now coming to you, for you and through you?

The world needs you and I, with open minds and hearts, to respond, receive, believe and live as the messenger of the Christ Presence here and now.

As you celebrate Christmas this year (and every year to come) may the Holy One give you peace and a renewed sense of who He is and who you truly are.

What if today is the day you’ve been hoping for?

 How would you choose to live it out?  You opened your eyes to a new sunrise, a new display of nature’s magnificence. You’re included in God’s master plan for humanity.  How will you choose to spend it?  I first thought seriously about this concept as a 17 year old high school senior.  I was chosen to play the lead character, Emily, in the play “Our Town” by Thornton Wilder.  Little did I know that role would change my life forever.  Even now, I could cry as I recall the moment.  Emily was a young woman who died giving birth to her first child.  There was a scene after her death in which she pleaded with the Narrator, who was the God character, to live once again.  After some deliberation on his part, her desire was granted; to come back to earth for just one more day.  “Make it an insignificant day”, said the Narrator, “for it will be significant enough”.  Emily was thrilled and spontaneously blurted out, “My twelfth birthday!”.  She began to relive this ‘insignificant day’ with her family in the scene, just as it had happened.  Suddenly her eyes were opened as she tried without success to get her mother to stop and truly listen to her.  From her new vantage point, she could now see the beautiful gift of life in the simplest moments.  “Mamma, look at me, really, really look at me.”, she said, as her mother busily scurried about trying to prepare the meal.  As the scene unfolded Emily could not contain her feelings any longer.  Turning to the Narrator, she burst into tears crying out with deep sadness, “Doesn’t anyone realize life while they’re living it, every, every minute?”  He wisely replied, “Some poets do, I suppose”. Thornton Wilder, in his great wisdom, unveiled the meaning of the play and life in that one sentence,  “Doesn’t anyone realize life while they’re living ?”.  

Will you realize life while you’re living it?  I ask myself once again, that same question; will I realize life while I’m living it?  While I still have breath?  As you’re reading this, turn inward and notice that yearning you feel right now as it emanates from the deepest recesses of your being.  It is the desire to live fully, authentically, deeply connected and engaged.  To know God and be known by God.  To love and be loved.  The spiritual journey is the foundation for all of life, for it is life and life is the container for relationship, first with God, then with self, others and the world.  How will you choose to honor this day, to receive the gift of this day?  Don’t let another moment go by, another breath leave your body without your awareness of the magnificence that is your life.  Don’t wait until your moments are numbered before you wake up on the inside and cherish each one, for even the most insignificant of days is significant enough.