On Sunday, Rev. Lola Wright continued our Illuminate series on Christmas Eve with her message, “Be A Witness To ALL That Is Holy.”
Notes
Opening:
SLIDE: And in everything that I saw, I could perceive nothing except the presence of the power of God, and in a manner totally indescribable. And my soul in an excess of wonder cried out: This world is pregnant with God! —Angela of Foligno (1248-1309)
Happy Holy Days – dedicated to God; sacred
Objectives:
Remember the Christ life
To see beyond appearances
To surrender to God/Love/Life
Keywords/Stories/Points:
To see through appearances – 79th & Cottage/Above & Beyond
The birth of Jesus is the birth of a new possibility – the coming of a new paradigm – the ability to see with new eyes.
SLIDE: If a man is not born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. – John 3:3
In Northern Aramaic “born again” means to change one’s thoughts and habits
METAPHORICALLY IMPAIRED – how can an old man be born again? Nicodemus (leader of the Jews) asks – can he enter his mother’s womb again?
SLIDE: Do not be surprised because I have told you that you all must be born again. – John 3:7
Jesus was a GANGSTER!
It works if you work it/Surrender/Paradox
SLIDE:
I am powerless – my life has become unmanageable
A power greater than myself can restore me to sanity
I choose to turn my will and my life over to the care of God, as I understand God
I make a searching and fearless moral inventory of myself
People were/are seeking a new vision for how to navigate the turmoil of the world – from addiction to sobriety
HOW ARE YOU LIVING?! How easy is it for God to work through you?!
What is the thing that you are addicted to that keeps you trapped?
SLIDE: We are to know that passing events cannot hinder the onward march of the soul. The temporal imperfection of the human cannot dim the eternal integrity of the Divine. – Ernest Holmes
Jesus is a projection of your self image – close your eyes and tap into your soul – who is Jesus for you?
SLIDE: There is too little enthusiasm about life. We fail to extract the essence of Reality from the invisible, because we refuse to rejoice in our human relationships. Love will not remain abstract. Its power of transmutation (changing into another form) in human events comes only as we catch its vision and mold it into human experience. – Daily 365 Science of Mind
Summary:
SLIDE: Today I bestow the essence of love upon everything. Everyone shall be lovely to me. My soul meets the soul of the universe in everyone. Nothing is dead; everything is alive. Nothing is ugly; everything is beautiful; everything is meaningful. This love is a healing power touching everything into wholeness, healing the wounds of experience with its divine balm. – Daily 365 Science of Mind
