Spiritual Transformation

 

While he was on the cross suffering Jesus turned to the thief next to him and said, “Today you shall be with me in paradise.” What meaning do these words have for us during this holiday season? I think it means the universe never holds anything against us. The compassion of God is always available to us. No matter what happened in the past we can change it. But, we can’t carry around our old way of being and expect the change to occur. So the question for us is are we willing to let go of what no longer serves?

In Matthew, Jesus talks about not putting old wine in new skins or a patch on an old garment. He is making the same point in a different way. The new and the old don’t fit together nicely. We must discard the old. We evolve by expansion. It doesn’t mean we throw away any good in the old. We build on it. We create a greater good. As Ernest Holmes would say, “We let go of the lesser to experience the greater.”

Ernest Holmes taught that we all have burdens. But there is something that has no burdens, that knows no confusion, that has no fear, and it is right where we are. We don’t have to wait for something better to come from outside, or for a terrific experience that will make everything right. The place to begin is right where you are, and the best time to begin is right now.

Jesus told us we would do greater things than he did. It is like he was telling us, “The same presence that is in me is in you. The same power that is in me is in you. The same spiritual Law that I use you can use. He is the example we can seek to emulate.

Ernest Holmes taught Jesus healed the sick because they needed it. He fed the hungry. At the wedding in Cana he turned water to wine. He never separated life from living. He made heaven and earth come together and meet in our present experience, because God is the great giver. It is almost as if God said to each of us, “I have given you the gifts. What are you going to do with them? Do you want to be sad with all this good? It’s your choice.”

 Dr. Holmes wrote, “So let us try to find God in ourselves and in each other. And not be afraid to look for Him in human events, and just as surely as we do this we shall find him. “Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you.”  Happy Holidays!