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“Jesus
wanted to share the unity he experienced with God, and therefore he
often used the phrase abide in me. The parable of the
grapevine (one of the rare times that the Book of John quotes a parable)
elaborates on the point. Jesus declares that being cut off from
God is sterile and fruitless. The sap that nourishes the vine and
causes it to bear fruit is God, the source of life. By
implication, the only life that escapes death is one that connects back
to its ultimate source.” -
Deepak Chopra, "THE THIRD JESUS ... THE CHRIST WE CANNOT IGNORE
Traditional
teachings regarding Palm Sunday tell us about Jesus' entry into
Jerusalem. The purpose of the entry was to fulfill a Biblical
prophecy regarding the Messiah taken from the passage in the Book of
Zechariah in the Old Testament. It is thought by many, that the
public enthusiasm for the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem was in seeing
it as a declaration of war against Israel's enemies, rather than a
message of peace. Although in later years Jesus was referred to as
the Prince of Peace, the people in those days did not understand
this. A warrior would have ridden a horse, he did not. Palm
branches lined his entry into the city and so in later years, the day
was named Palm Sunday.
At this point, Jesus was both at
odds with the religious leaders and the Romans. Although the
people were enthusiastic about him, the religious leaders did not regard
him as the expected Messiah. The symbolism of the donkey, seen as
an animal of peace gives us insight into the consciousness of
Jesus. He was aware that the authorities were out to get him, and
yet he was at peace with the situation. And this being at peace in
the face of adversity, is the real message for us today.
To be at peace in the face of adversity
takes great faith. Most of us have faced situations in which our
peace has been disturbed, if not completely lost. This is why
Jesus taught that we must continually recognize God's Presence in our
lives. We lose our peace when we feel separated from God, or our
Good. It is through our constant recognition of God's Presence
that we can face the situations and conditions that challenge us and
transcend them.
I have often found that many people do
not reach out for help, or even pray, until their difficulties reach a
crisis condition. Often, I receive prayer requests from people who
are facing eviction notices, foreclosures on their homes, discharges
from their employment, or health issues that are alarming to them.
Do they lack faith? No, I don't think they do. But, their
faith has been directed to the negative rather than to the
positive. They didn't do this consciously, none of us do. It is because
we have felt the feelings of loss or despair so strongly that our
minds have been filled with worry and concern, not realizing that as we do,
we are creating a pattern of thought that is going to end up
in a result that we do not want.
As with so many things about Jesus, his actions, were
some of his greatest lessons for us. Knowing that beyond the
crowds of people laying the palm fronds on the ground in front of him
and singing a song of triumph, were people who were seeking to entrap
him and capture him. Still, he was at peace with the situation,
for he knew that as he "abided in God," he could be certain
that God was with him. And, no matter what we may face in life,
this "abiding in God" ... will give us the same peace within
and the same assurance that we shall transcend the conditions that we
face. Once a situation, condition, or even someone, takes our
peace away, we have lost our power to transcend them. Solutions do
not come to our awareness when we are not at peace. Our mind
cannot be stilled, if we are not at peace. And it is in this
stillness of mind, that all healing, solutions, answers, come to our
awareness.
There are many ways in
which we can "abide in God." Meditation, prayer,
spiritual mind treatment, or just sitting in the silence of our mind and
thinking about God, can give us the awareness that we abide in God and
God abides in us. The greatest healing element we will ever
experience is knowing that right where we are, there too, is the
Presence of God. This is the highest Truth we can bring into our
mind. And this is the Truth that Jesus knew as he rode the donkey
into Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday.
AND
SO IT IS!
Keep
the faith!
Rev.
Dr. Henry Lee Bates
Visit Rev. Bates BLOG: Living
the Science of Mind
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