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This post is written by guest blogger Erica Lee.
Pew Research Center hosted the RLS survey asking more than 35,000 Americans from all 50 states about their religious affiliations, beliefs and practices, and social and political views. 70% of participants reported identification with the Christian faith in one sect or another. In 2019 in the United States it is time to capitalize on the psychic meaning of this faith and truly resurrect the spirit of Christ. Whether you call it Christ, Buddha nature, Higher Self, Universe, nature or Bob, the essence of all humankind is the same.
This essence lives in all of us, including those who have literally crossed the desert and are trying to make it to the American Dream. We owe it to them to walk our talk.
Easter is about reviving the Life of this essence. It is about Spring renewal and breaking through perceived limitations as the dandelion flower does with concrete. The meaning of Jesus dying on the cross and rising again three days later doesn’t mean he died on the cross for us. It means he came back and let everyone know “you cannot crucify the real me!” We all have or have had our cross to bear and have felt the victory of overcoming. Whether it has to do with financial struggles, impaired health, loss of a loved one, persecution, mental illness, and the list goes on, we have all felt a psychic crucifixion and subsequent resurrection. We might not use that language. Instead we might say, “we bounced back or are feeling like ourselves again”. As Michelle Obama eloquently articulated, “when you're fortunate enough, you know to hold the door open for others. And he (Barack Obama) believes that when you've worked hard, and done well, and walked through that doorway of opportunity...you do not slam it shut behind you...you reach back, and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed.”
Easter this year I am faced with the reality that many people of Christian faith will be dining at restaurants across the country while millions of undocumented immigrant workers have grown, harvested, produced and cooked their celebratory meals. These workers operate in the shadows, behind the scenes, much like our Higher Self, however you relate to it, does. Tirelessly, they labor so that we can enjoy these precious moments of mental, physical and Spiritual sustenance. They are doing their work whether they are thanked or not, liked or not, even welcomed or not. America’s immigration system is broken. That’s not news. People of moral understanding and investment do, however, have two options today: to identify with the crucifixion or to identify with the resurrection.
The word ‘religion’ comes from the root word religio meaning bond, obligation, reverence. These are aspects of consciousness, not just religious jargon. We are all bound to the consequences of what we revere. It is not a matter of if, but how. As it is said in Yogic philosophy, “you become what you worship.” And we all worship something, whether it’s kindness or harassment, acceptance or condemnation.
The story goes that as Jesus spent 40 days and nights in the desert, he fasted as a means of getting closer to God. Without the dependence of material sustenance, he was fully dependent on the power of Love to sustain him. Lent is observed as a representation of this sacrament and as a way to draw closer to internal Truth. The Washington Post reports that the top three things people give up are: 1) going to school; 2) chocolate; and 3) Twitter. With all due respect, we can do better than that. How about we give up sacrifice in general? What would it look like if we gave up on giving up on ourselves? How would our world transform if we religiously practiced giving up ignorance, violence, discrimination, racism, and separation?
As far as I can tell, if there really was a man named Jesus who walked this Earth over 2,000 years ago preaching love, acceptance, and working miracles, then let’s take the words he spoke, “all of this and more you can do” really close to heart. He was not asking us to gather around once a year and gorge ourselves with pancakes, bottomless mimosas and sugar-laden candies. There’s nothing innately wrong with any of that, but to what end? I think he was asking us to be sacrificial of a very superficial version of ourselves, that our True self may rise to the occasion.
Jesus is reported to have looked after what would be equivalent to the impoverished “untouchables” in India of his time. He let the ‘powers that were’ know through countless generous acts that “oppression will not be happening on my watch.” Miracles come from unexpected places. A Course in Miracles describes a miracle as a shift in perspective from fear to love. All across America we have the opportunity to work miracles where there are open wounds from our not having tended to the relationships that will forge a stronger America. Every wave of immigrants that come to the United States has strengthened us.
When Jesus came out of his fast in the desert, he was crucified. This was not an isolated insolent. We desecrate the name of God every time we manufacture an enemy to oppress. We resurrect the name of God every time we turn an ancient hate into a present love. Friends from the South have been traveling here because they have heard rumors of the American Dream to the North. They have strapped their children on their backs and literally walked through the desert to arrive here.
There are accounts that the people who discovered Jesus resurrected three days after his death were women. In all actuality, it doesn’t even matter if it was real or not. It’s such a real archetype of the human journey that it’s true even if it never happened. The symbolism of women finding Jesus resurrected is that it is our soft skills, our feminine nature, our receptivity and capacity to be in relationship with that will save us today. We are out of balance. There is nothing wrong with masculinity. In its purity, it is a pinnacle of our psychic power. It has been perverted and corrupted. Masculinity does not mean greed and hatred. That is what fear means. We are not as malicious as we have been presenting with the people integrating into this country. We have, however, forgotten as a people who we are, who they are and why we have truly come to this planet. It is time to resurrect human potential and establish a system that truly empowers and enables everyone to reach their “highest possible creative expression in this lifetime,” as Marianne Williamson, author, activist and 2020 Presidential candidate says.
I do not believe random acts of kindness will move the needle. I think random acts of kindness (RAK) are wonderful and needed in this world but there is no amount of charity that will compensate for a basic lack of human dignity in legislation and law. I invite you to go out of your way to thank and appropriately compensate the people who make your life easier. Thank the cooks and janitors, the caretakers and farmers. Let them know they are seen and appreciated. Also, call your Congressman/woman, let them know your opinion and urge them to put adequate resources into real solutions, get involved with a local non-profit that is doing good work. Hope is born from participating in hopeful action.
My personal faith leads me to believe that God did send help, God sent us. We are to let our hands and feet, eyes and ears serve a greater expression of Love. We will realize peace on Earth and one day we will look back and say, “I don’t miss those days.”
