This is a riff and rant and a rave!
 Having been brought up in a very conservative Fundamentalist Christian church (Lutheran btw and my dad was a Lutheran pastor), Easter has always been a very important and pretty somber (on Good Friday at least) religious celebration in my life.Â
In adulthood, I moved away from fundamental Christianity, preferring to pull together my own beliefs from many spiritual traditions in an inclusive way. It is interesting to note the similarities between religions: non-attachment, goodness, sharing, loving-kindness are some of the ones that are very important to me.
“New Thought Christianity”, and churches like Unity talk about not just the life of Jesus but mainly about the teachings of Jesus and it is from this perspective that Good Friday has a practical and powerful significance. Yes, Good Friday is the day that Jesus was crucified. In New Thought Christianity, it is also the day that we can use to “crucify” our wrong thinking and error thoughts and let go of resentments, anger and frustration through forgiveness. It is like doing a cleansing of our internal rooms to shake loose and shake out any dusty and damaging thinking. On Easter Sunday, we emerge, following the wonderful spring cleaning of “forgiveness”, in our perfectly imperfect humaness, living as best as we can our own “Christ consciousness.Â
Try the following forgiveness affirmation: I totally and freely forgive anyone in my live who has harmed me through thoughts, words, or deads either consciously or unconsciously. I forgive them, I bless them and I release them to their highest good. Add specific people’s names in to make this even more powerful and don’t forget to include yourself too. Often the person we hold the most resentment towards is ourself!
Now, for the rant! I am thankful for my childhood religious background as it provided me with a foundation from which to springboard into more esoteric spiritual reading and thinking. Over the past 15 years, I have read almost everything written about the Universal law and the Law of Attraction. Even before the “Secret”, ahem, this stuff was pretty well known in many circles.
So, when Rev Run Simmons’ family was profiled on Oprah the other day, and they (all 7 of them, 2 parents, 5 kids) were visibly so upset while watching a taping which included losing their daughter (and sister) one hour after her birth, while all the while going “thank you, thank you, thank you”, I felt physically nauseated!
In my opinion, the interpretation of the Secret and the Law of Attraction and the spiritual basis that was spoken about by Oprah and Rev Run, missed a huge piece, and that is the concept of paradox. What the family was doing if you ask me, was denying their true, authentic and valid feelings and emotions. So here is the paradox, yes, these are important feelings to acknowledge and honour and yes, from a “higher perspective” all is perfect.
In my experience, if these feeling are not given full time and voice, but are repressed or denied, this will only lead to further and deeper anguish later on, maybe showing up in a different way or for a different reason but show up they will.
The Universal laws are complex, paradoxical, not easily explained through words and can not be “understood” intellectually only but need to be lived and felt experiencially and in a body-centered way, which is why I believe the practice of yoga and meditation are so important to add into a more Western approach to spiritual practice! Do I fully understand these laws, are you kidding, I am an infant in my understanding but sure do try!
OK, whew, so much for the rant!
namaste,
Zoey
life & business coach for women