Transcription
[Music] Hallelujah.
[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Let me be intimate with the infinite. Let me [Music] be one with a knowing ever present, ever. Let me remember what's real. [Music] Let me be intimate with the infinite, [Music] vulnerable and free. I want to be one with the sweetness, completely with completeness. Let me be gentle with me. Falling in love with everything. Falling in love with divinity. Falling in love with everyone, because God is in you. And God is in [Music] me. Let me be intimate with the infinite. Let me be open to you. I want to sink in the spirit. I feel it. I hear it. I see in your eyes the truth. Falling in love with everything. Falling in love with divinity. Falling in love with everyone. Because God is in you and God is in [Music] me. Let me be intimate with the infinite. Let me be deeply revealed. I want to be one with the knowing, ever present, ever growing. Let me remember what's real. Let me be intimate with the infinite. Let me be truly revealed.
[Music] Let me be intimate with the infinite that lives, moves, and has its being in, through, and as us. So that on this journey of discovering our divinity, we can open ourselves to falling in love with everything, to falling in love with divinity, to falling in love with everyone. And tonight or this afternoon's service is actually a testament to the steps that Jesus taught that we can take toward that unfoldment. So, uh, before we begin, I just want to remind everyone of the sacredness of this service, and you, you know, that you can come and go as you please and to do it quietly and reverently. I'm speaking to the choir here. And at the end of the service, I invite you to stay and help us with the lifeboard if you can. Uh, as we prepare that for our Easter service. So, as we go through our service today, um you'll find some affirmations in the bulletin that you can follow along with. And um also, uh just a reminder that uh the offeratory box is in the back of the church. You can place your offering there. If you're with us virtually, of course. Um there will be a link in the chat. You can also go to our website and click on giving and give there. And so, as we do always, we begin with prayer. And this afternoon, we're going to be begin in the manner which Jesus taught to pray with the Lord's Prayer. And so, I invite you to say this with me together. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And lead us not in temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
In Isaiah 42:6, it's written, "I, Jehovah, have called you in righteousness and will hold your hand and will keep you." This promise is to all of us, no matter what we may be going through in our lives. It's a reminder that there is something greater within us that can lead us through overcoming whatever may come our way in the world. We've come together today in prayer and meditation to remember the message of Jesus of Nazareth who came to this earth over 2,000 years ago to meet and overcome every obstacle that life can present to us. And the supreme, the supreme triumph of his life on earth was when he proved that with faith we can rise above all earthly limitations, all including death, to attain the height of spiritual consciousness. So in unity, we don't view Good Friday as a day of sorrow. We don't s, we don't concentrate, we don't focus on the suffering of Jesus, though we do however see it as a solemn and deeply sacred occasion. The crucifixion for us represents an experience through which the soul passes from sense to spiritual consciousness. It symbolizes the crossing out of false beliefs and destructive emotions that would keep us from expressing our true divine nature. Jesus came to reveal, as John said, the light which lights every man coming into the world. But people didn't understand this. On the cross, he showed those who follow him how to erase the negative states of mind that hold us back in our progress and how to speak the word that releases us from bondage. This is what the crucifixion means to us. It's a symbol of the experiences in our life which present an opportunity for us to cross out any error thoughts, limitations or beliefs in separation. for us to cross out any of those beliefs or thoughts that would prevent us from our own overcoming and keep us from expressing our innate divinity and our oneness. Our oneness. Sometimes those experiences that we go through can truly feel excruciating. But today we don't meditate on the suffering. Instead, we take the words Jesus said and use them to release and let go of the error beliefs that cause that suffering and that fasten us to it and keep us in a belief of limitation. Jesus' words from the cross represent steps we can take to uplift our human consciousness. Throughout his life, he taught these steps and his words from the cross reveal the states of consciousness necessary in the freeing of our own soul. Seven times Jesus spoke freeing words of truth. Four times the resurrecting power of love spoke through him. First as forgiveness of enemies, then as impersonal love, extending mercy and compassion to a stranger. Then love in its personal aspect, protective and tender in his thought and care for his mother. And finally, the divine love of absolute trust and complete surrender to omnipresence. Today is our opportunity to enter this freeing process. Actually, every day is today. We take this sacred time to really embody that. And it begins with forgiveness and it ends with the surrender of the soul to the truth of its being. Let's become still now and hold the first affirmation in your bulletin in the silence. Through the Christ in me, I freely forgive others. Through the Christ of my being, I can and do cross out all that does not serve my highest good. Through the Christ of my being, I can and do cross out all that does not serve my highest good.
[Music] [Music] Every step is [Music] holy. Every breath is life. Every moment precious. [Music] When held up to the light, every heart connected, each the face of God. Grace has shown me that every step is holy. [Music] Every step is [Music] holy. Every breath is life. [Music] Every moment [Music] precious when held up to the light. Every heart connected, each the face of God. Grace has shown me that every step is holy, holy, holy. [Music] Everyone, every breath, every step is holy. [Music] Every step is [Music] holy. Every breath is life. Every moment precious when held up to the [Music] light. Every heart [Music] connected, each the face of God. Grace has shown me that every step is [Music] holy, holy, holy. Holy, holy, holy, holy, holy. Everyone, every breath, every step is [Music] holy. Every step is [Music] holy. Every step is holy. Every step is holy. [Music] Every step is holy. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]
The first words of Jesus on the cross were, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." These first words were words of love. He doesn't say, "I, Jesus of Nazareth, forgive you." He says, "Father, forgive them." The Father doesn't dwell outside of us. It's not something outside of us. The Father is our own spiritual nature that lives within us. Spirit expressing in, through, and as us empowers us to do things that we might think impossible. Forgiveness, sometimes being one of those things. Inner forgiveness is the first, most important, and strongest spiritual step to be taking in the upliftment of our consciousness. It takes effort and it takes willingness to forgive. Without forgiveness, nothing of real spiritual progress can can be achieved. Perhaps Jesus made the first of his seven statements about forgiveness because of its primary importance. This kind of forgiveness is based on understanding because it's lack of understanding that's the only real cause for any human mistake. "Forgive them for they know not, they know not what they do." Our reluctance to forgive can be one of the most destructive things that we can do to ourselves and to others. Everyone in life meets with a seeming injustice at one time or another. It's inevitable because we're in constant association with one another in human consciousness, including ourselves, and a sense of injustice is a part of that consciousness. Each of us has also most likely been unjust. I'm sure we can all think of a time when we mistook another's motive and condemned where there was no condemnation deserved. Or maybe when seeking our own ends, we trampled on another. Sometimes the situation is reversed and we're the ones who feel trampled upon. In the last chapter of Charles Filillmore's Christian Healing, which is on love, he reiterates over and over that we cannot progress into Christ consciousness if we're holding any grudge whatsoever. If any kind of condemnation is held in the mind or heart, our spiritual unfoldment is stunted until that grudge is addressed. This is in line with Jesus' teachings in his Sermon on the Mount that if you bring your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift before the altar and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother and then come offer your gift. We may find it difficult to forgive in our human consciousness, and we have within us the ability to rise to a higher state of mind and let the forgiving love of our Christ nature move through us. Jesus rose above condemnation with understanding. The Jews who cried "Crucify him" misunderstood him. They thought he came to destroy their religion and cause upheaval in their political and economic lives. They acted in fear and ignorance. Jesus understood this and prayed for forgiveness. Forgiveness is essential to a loving consciousness and necessary for our spiritual unfoldment. It's the greatest of all powers which a human being is capable. There's no higher expression of love than to forgive. And because forgiveness is an expression of love, it will always turn error into truth and misunderstanding and discord into understanding and harmony. There is no greater power, and it begins within with us. So at this moment, I invite you to bring to mind anyone whom you may feel resentful toward and need to express forgiveness. For we cannot progress spiritually with antagonism in our heart toward anyone. "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." And as we move into the silence, you can silently pray the affirmation in your bulletin. Through the Christ in me, I freely forgive others, even as I ask and forgive myself of my own mistakes and shortcomings. Through the Christ in me, I freely forgive others, even as I ask and forgive myself for my own mistakes and shortcomings.
[Music] Into thy hands I commit my spirit. Thy will is my will. Heal me at so that I may glorify God. In thy hands I commit my spirit. Thy will is my will. Heal me at depth so that I may glorify God. Reveal that which needs to be revealed. Heal that which needs to be healed. So that I may glorify [Music] God. In thy hands I commit my spirit. Thy will is my will. Heal me at depth so that I may [Music] glorify God. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]
The second word, "Assuredly I say to you, today you shall be with me in paradise." Jesus was crucified between two criminals and they were thieves that the Roman government had condemned to death. And one of them detested him with sarcasm, saying, "Are you not the Christ? Then save yourself and us." The other declared, "We receive the reward of our deeds, but this man has done nothing amiss." And then he turned to Jesus and he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." To this repentant man, Jesus made a promise. "Today, you shall be with me in paradise." These words of impersonal love, grace, and compassion were extended to a stranger. And there's a great spiritual truth contained in these words. No matter what we've done or how short of spiritual principle we have fallen, reentered in the Christ of our being, we can begin anew. This is the grace of God. In any period of trial, we take the attitude of one or the other of these thieves. We either condemn and resist, or we admit the error of our thinking and we begin again. We can always make the choice to begin again anew, right here, right now, in this moment, today. Paradise, metaphysically defined, is our here and now consciousness of oneness in God. These thieves represent negative concerns of the past and the future that rob us of our here and now consciousness of oneness. They rob us of the knowing that our good is here now. Regrets of the past keep us in the past and out of the here and now. Worry for the future keeps us out of the here and now. And so the answer to these negative concerns, these worries, these doubts, is to bring them into the present, into the paradise of this present moment of consciousness and oneness with all that is. We redeem those thieves, concerned for the future and worry about the past, by telling them that today is our point of contact with all good. We can't do anything about what happened yesterday or what's going to happen in the future, except in the current moment. We redeem those thieves by telling them that today is our point of contact with all good. Not yesterday, not tomorrow, but now. "Today, you shall be with me in paradise." And so now, let's silently affirm: In faith, I turn to the Christ within and realize that this day I am one with my good. In faith, I turn to the Christ within and realize that this day, today, I am one with my good.
[Music] You have felt the warmth of the fire. You have seen a glimmer of light. [Music] Something you have missing [Music] inside. Hold on to the yearning. And wherever you are on your [Music] journey, [Music] live sure way. Your faith will [Music] grow. Search in your soul and you find the strength that you [Music] need. The light, the gift of peace. When you live like you [Music] believe there are things you'll have to let go. And you might feel you're just hanging on when you find yourself alone and afraid. All of the choices you've made. Hold on to the burning. God is leading you on through your journey. Live like you. Live like you know. It's one sure way. Your faith will grow. Listen to your heart. Search in your soul and you'll find the strength that you need. The light and gift of peace. When you live like you believe. [Music] Hold on to the and wherever you are on your journey. Live like you believe. Live like you know it's one sure way your faith will grow. Listen to your heart. Search in your soul and you will find the strength that you need. The light, the gift of peace. When you live like [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]
The third word. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing by, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold your son." Then he said to the disciple, "Behold your mother." Mary stood at the foot of the cross during Jesus' crucifixion. And John, his beloved disciple, stood with her. Jesus, in his journey, never allowed human relationships to turn him aside from his work. Even at the young age of 12 in the temple, he informed his elders or when he was lost that "I must be in my Father's house." This is what I must do. I must be in Christ consciousness and I need to do the work to get there. However, he also recognized that we have personal obligations and he fulfilled hers with personal words of love, placing his mother in the care of John. And tradition says that Mary lived with John the remainder of her life. There are those in our lives for whom it is our responsibility to love, care for, and protect. And some people make a bondage of those relationships. Others shirk them. Jesus didn't either. He found that perfect balance of love and right judgment which is essential in dealing with human relationships. He's also telling us that in truth, every person, regardless of family relationship, is our mother and our sister and our brother. He was speaking from the highest level of understanding and love concerning the truth of human relationships. One of the greatest realizations that we can have is our true relationship in love and oneness with every other human being in the human family. Sooner or later, we have to acknowledge this and make no separation, or we can't move forward. In spirit, we are all one another's mother, brother, and sister. To realize this and more importantly to accept it assures great strides in the growth of our spiritual unfoldment as we behold our sons and our mothers. And so I invite you to take these words of affirmation into the silence. Centered in God, I fulfill every righteous obligation wisely and lovingly. Centered in God, I fulfill every righteous obligation wisely and lovingly.
[Music] Love is in the space between us. Feel that love right now. God speaks out in the [Music] words. Hear those words right now. I am [Music] holy. You are [Music] holy. There is beauty. between [Music] us. Spirit shines in the light. [Music] See that right [Music] now is born in the [Music] good. Be that peace right now. I am holy. You are [Music] holy. There is beauty between us. [Music] between us. [Music] Oh, between us. [Music] Faith is the bond that we share between us. Hold that faith right [Music] now. Truth is the life in the breath between us. Live that faith right now. I am home. [Music] Holy, you are holy. There is [Music] beauty between us. Love is alive in the space. between us. Feel that love right now. God speaks out in the words between us. Hear those words right now. I am holy. You are holy. There is [Music] beauty between us. I am holy. [Music] You are holy. There is beauty between us. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]
The fourth word, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" By this time, there was darkness over all the land. For almost three hours, no word came from the cross until Jesus spoke these words. Recall that the crucifixion represents the crossing out of error thinking and beliefs. We cannot go forward to express our own divine nature without redeeming those error beliefs. And then the fourth word, Jesus expresses the false belief of human consciousness that God has forsaken it. These words express the distress of all of us when we're in an hour that our soul feels it has been forsaken, even when in truth it hasn't and never can be. In his humanness, Jesus gives voice to this false belief and then releases it with this cry. And there are several avenues of thought regarding these words. The first one is that Jesus came as a legitimate member of the human family and regardless of how far his soul may have evolved, he incarnated himself into the human race for a reason. Because he chose to do this, he took on all the issues of the human nature. And one of the most common issues, even in the most evolved members of the human family, is the embedded belief in a sense of separation rather than oneness. And this belief is probably so deep-seated in human consciousness that in our journey to higher consciousness, it's the last one to be eliminated. And it's possible that at that moment in Jesus' life, he let that lingering factor of his humanity have its final say before it was overcome by his divinity. Then there's another thought that it could be that Jesus had absolutely no sense of separation. That he was fully aware, fully conscious, and in no way had any doubt or belief, even in his humanness. And that he spoke these words for our sake to show us something about ourselves, to show us what is often in our own hearts as we seek to attain Christ consciousness. So the question becomes, what is it that makes us feel we are separate from God, separate from our own divine nature, separate from one another? Even when we know better, this feeling can creep over us before we're even aware of it. And then once again, we ask ourselves, why have I been forsaken? And then there's a third idea that Jesus was thinking of scripture and was repeating the first verse of the 22nd Psalm, which is "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" As the psalm continues after these words, it describes an experience on the cross in these words: "A company of evildoers have enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my feet. They look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and upon my vesture do they cast lots. But you, O Lord, do not be far off. Oh, you, my help, come quickly to my aid." In repeating the opening words of the 22nd Psalm, it was as if Jesus took his human consciousness and lifted it up to a realization of the omnipresence of love. Now, each of these three ideas or points of view is logical, and we can benefit from all of them. We can benefit by understanding that God cannot forsake us because God is not a person. God is the essence of our very being that can never be forsaking us and it can also never be forsaken. And so let us now silently affirm the truth that God, spirit, our own divine nature, is always with us as a part of us, moving in, through, and as us. And our affirmation is: The mighty power of divine love comforts and strengthens me in this hour. The mighty power of divine love comforts and strengthens me in this hour.
[Music] I'm here to you of your magnificent [Music] to help you [Music] awake to all the wonder that you [Music] are. I long to show you all the joy you're worthy of. [Music] I'm here [Music] to truly love. I'm here to divinity. [Music] to help you awake to all the wonder that you are. I long to show you all the joy you're worthy of. [Music] I'm here [Music] to truly love. [Music] I'm here to remind you of your magnificence, to help you awake to all the joy that you. I long to show you all the joy you're worthy of. I'm here to remind you how much you're truly loved. [Music] I'm here to remind you of your divinity. To help you awake to all the wonder that you are. I long to show you all the joy you're worthy of. I'm here to remind you how much you truly love. I'm here to truly love. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]
The fifth word, "I thirst." This statement is an affirmation of a need, and that affirmation was followed by help for the need. Immediately, one of Jesus' own executioners lifted a sponge to his lips that had been soaked with vinegar and hyssop, which is a soothing thirst quencher and painkiller. The body must be released from its attachment to the physical so that it can be known for what it truly is, for what it was created to be: the temple of the living God, sustained by the living water of spirit. If Jesus' mind was dwelling on the scriptures, as some believe, then the cry "I thirst" might have been a reference to the 143rd Psalm. Just as the fourth word before this, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" might have been words from the 22nd Psalm. And the 143rd Psalm reads, "My soul thirsts after thee as a weary land. Make haste to answer me, O Jehovah." Maybe all that Jesus could repeat at that time from that phrase was, "I thirst," and the rest of the psalm is a testimonial to faith. So his fourth statement, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" is followed by "I thirst. I need help." And as we affirm our requests for needs, desires, an instrument will be provided to fulfill it. Whatever we thirst for and ask believing, we will receive, just as Jesus did. There are times in life when we might find ourselves in a situation that seems to look hopeless, and we feel an overpowering thirst after righteousness. And Jesus taught us, "Ask and you will receive." He said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." So now, no matter how unpromising outer appearances may be, if we really and truly feel a need for good in our life, we must acknowledge that need and voice it. And we will get a response if we voice it with faith. For that within us is mightier than circumstances or anything without. Even as we cry our need, there is within us a realization of the living water of spirit which satisfies and revives our request that "I thirst." And so now let us take this affirmation for healing into the silence with us. I drink the living water of spirit and every need of my body is fulfilled. I drink the living water of spirit and every need of my body is fulfilled.
[Music] Come drink living water. [Music] Come eat this [Music] bread. Come every son and daughter. For you it has been [Music] given. For you it has been given. [Music] We have alone and hungered in the [Music] night. The longing that we've known continues with daylight there. There is a bread that gives life to the [Music] land. Eat it and be healed. Eat and [Music] understand. Come drink living water. Come eat this bread. Come every son and daughter. For you it has been given. For you it has been given. We are called to serve like the woman at the well and find that we deserve the grace in which we're held. There is a well that lies deep within each soul. Drink and never thirst. Drink for you [Music] are. Come drink living water. [Music] Come eat this bread from heaven. Come every son and daughter. For you it has been given. For you it has been [Music] given. When we draw from source, we are in the flow. Substance of spirit lives deep in every soul. [Music] The grace of God is all we all we need to [Music] know. Come drink living water. [Music] Come eat this bread from [Music] heaven. Come every son and daughter. For you it has been given. For you it has been given. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]
The sixth word, "It is finished." Almost immediately after the preceding two statements, Jesus lifted his consciousness to spiritual heights as he declared, "It is finished." Everything that happens in our life is a part of a cycle of learning, growing, and unfolding. Each event, experience, relationship, every victory, defeat, all factors in a great overall pattern of evolution. All things must take their place as a part of a cycle in which they have validity so that it can become part of our greater good, including the unpleasant things. It all contributes to the completion of our growth and unfoldment for it to be finished. Once we truly finish a particular cycle of growth, we'll never have to repeat certain experiences again. It's all part of the unfoldment and evolution of our greater good. So when Jesus said, "It is finished," it's entirely possible that he was acknowledging that a certain cycle of his unfoldment had been completed. Perhaps as we go through the things that make up our cycle of living, learning, and growing, we might realize that all the things we go through are means but not ends. They're means to something greater, something that is the continuing unfoldment of our spiritual consciousness. When we go through a difficult or painful experience and we learn whatever lesson there may be in it for us, we can say, "It is finished." It has fulfilled its purpose of bringing me further along in my present cycle of growth, whether it was pleasant or unpleasant. And now it's done. In the beginning, God created, and that was it. It was done. The rest is up to us. The creative process, including the unfolding of our consciousness, also includes a Sabbath. A time when we've done all the work and need to say, "It is finished." A time to rest in the knowing that this phase is complete, and whatever is next will be revealed in good time. We don't need to struggle or strain or painstakingly attempt to establish perfection. It will come outwardly as the natural result of our realization that the work of divine mind was complete when we were made in its image. And it remains for us to unfold and behold the finished creation. So let's be still and hold this knowing in the silence with this affirmation. Spirit created life perfect, whole, complete, and its work is finished. I praise and give thanks for the activity of life in my mind, body, and affairs. Spirit created life perfect, whole, complete, and its work is finished. I praise and give thanks for the activity of life in my mind, body, and affairs.
[Music] I will surrender to my greatest highest [Music] good. I will release any fear that blocks my way. [Music] For every step I take is taken in pure [Music] faith, and I am stronger every moment, every day. My mind is willing and my heart is open wide. I trust my instincts and let spirit be my guide. [Music] I vow to live a life that's real and pure and [Music] free. As I continue walking in this [Music] mystery, I will surrender to my greatest highest [Music] good. I will release any fear that blocks my [Music] way. For every step I take is taken in pure faith. [Music] And I am grateful every moment, every day. [Music] There may be walls. There may be roadblocks in my way, but I can choose to take a higher path each day. And now I know that what I thought was safe and sound was only habit and regret that held me down. [Music] I will surrender to my greatest highest [Music] good. I will release any fear that blocks my way. For every step I take is taken in pure faith. And I am kinder every moment, every day. And I'm more moment every [Music] day. I will surrender every moment. Every day. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]
The seventh word. "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." The seventh and last word is the love of Jesus for his Father God, whom he called his Aba. And because he loved his Aba, that also showed his love for himself, because God lives within us. And these words are expressed as an absolute trust and complete surrender. "Into your hands, I commend my spirit." The whole point of our spiritual unfoldment is to enable us to come to the place of complete surrender. The giving of ourselves to the spirit of God that is within us, that we are in the beginning, God. Now, at the end, God. And what was in between all the while, even when we did not see it, God. When we allow spirit to move through us, it never fails to do its part. Less of me and more of thee is how we use principle with a capital P to solve our problems. We often wonder in life, what's going to happen next? What's it going to be like in the next cycle of eternal life? And there's only one answer. It's going to be Godlike. That's the only answer to any question regarding our unfoldment because we're made in the image of God. What I can expect and look forward to as I move through my unfoldment is omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence. And when I expect to find those things, then I will find those things within myself. So these words, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit," mean for us that regardless of how I feel, what I think, what it looks like, or what I'm going through right now, I am always eternally one with omnipresence and all good. And I affirm that knowing this, I will accomplish what Jesus accomplished. A resurrection. There will be evidence in my life of a resurrection, a raise in consciousness, and what that brings to my life, the good that it brings to my life. So as we take this final step of surrendering to this truth, our entire being is lifted by the power of the Christ within. We've finished this process of crossing out, and we're ready for the resurrecting power within us to bring about a triumphant transformation. We began this Lenten journey with a crossing out, an anointing, affirmation of crossing out. Jesus' journey on the cross is about this crossing out and the steps that we take in our lives to cross out the things that don't serve us and that hold us back from being able to resurrect into that higher place of consciousness. So we take this final step of surrendering, and we pray this affirmation quietly. Into the care and keeping of spirit, I give myself and all that concerns me. I rest from my labors and let the creative process of good be done through me. Into the care and keeping of spirit, I give myself and all that concerns me. I rest from my labors and let the creative process of good be done through me.
[Music] Into your hands. I commit my [Music] spirit. Into your hands. [Music] I commit my [Music] soul. Into your hands. I [Music] surrender. Into your hands. Oh [Music] Lord, I don't know what the divine plan [Music] is. I can't make sense of what I can't see. But I know. I know that there is order beyond what I can see. Into your [Music] hands. I commit my [Music] spirit. Into your hands. [Music] I commit my soul. Into your hands. I surrender to your [Music] hands, oh Lord. Serenity is not the [Music] absence of life going on around me. It's a stillness I find at that moment and the truth that sets me free. Into your hands. I commit my spirit. Into your hands. I commit my soul. Into your hands. I surrender. Into your hands, oh Lord. [Music] You are you. [Music] [Music] Into your hands. I commit my spirit. Into your hands. I commit my soul. Into your hands. I surrender. Into your hands, oh Lord. Into your hands, oh Lord. Into your [Music] hands, oh Lord. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]
So as we end this time together, then I would ask you to declare with me the opening statement we affirm on Sunday mornings together. There is only one presence, one power, and one activity. God the good, omnipotent. And so we give thanks for this realization of truth in the depths of our being and for the resurrecting life that lives forever within us as the Christ of our being. Amen.
[Music] It's like [Music] the sunlight on my face. I feel the love of [Music] God and I am touched by amazing grace. And all I ever wanted and all I ever needed was already there. Closer than the sunlight. [Music] And I breathe in and I am filled with the [Music] spirit. It is health to my body. It is peace to my mind. It is joy. It is joy to my soul. And I breathe out a simple prayer of thank you. And my breath becomes a song that was singing all along that was singing everywhere. It is nearer than the air. And I breathe in and I am filled with the spirit. It is health to my body. It is peace to my mind. It is joy. It is joy. It is joy. It is joy to my soul. And I breathe out a simple prayer of thank you. And my breath becomes a song that was singing all along. That was singing everywhere. It is nearer than the air. [Music] It's like the air around me. It's like the sunlight on my face. I feel the love of God surround me and I am touched by amazing [Music] grace. And all I ever wanted and all I ever needed was already there. Closer than the [Music] sunlight. Nearer than the air. [Music]