The Information Channel Felist.Com -*-------------------------------------------------------------------------- UNITY WAY March 27, 2005 ------------------------------------------------------ The forward Look of Easter by Eric Butterworth It is the month of Easter! The Christian world assembles in a manner unsurpassed the rest of the year to hear the message of the Resurrection. It is a simple, though puzzling, story. Jesus has been crucified at the Cross and buried in a tomb. Later, His followers came to the tomb and found it empty. Easter at its best is not a backward glance to the Cross, the tomb, and the Resurrection. It is a forward look to the quality of life it forecasts for all persons. It is not the story of God playing man, but of man, at his best, demonstrating the God-potential in all men. George Bernard Shaw deals with the whole Easter experience in one sentence: "They crucified Him on a stick, but somehow He managed to get hold of the right end of it". Easter says to everyone: "No matter what challenges you may be facing in your life, with the right attitude you can go through them, even grow through them, and no tomb of human despair can hold you back". Man is a forward-looking creature. His life is interspersed with eager aspirations, beckoning dreams, and shining ideas. He is forever looking forward to better things. His most despairing cry is, "I have nothing to look forward to". The Easter story suggests that it is more important to have something to look forward from. When we look forward from a consciousness of unity with life, oneness with God, all work, play, relationships, and religion become inner-centered. We become more concerned with what we can give to life than what life is giving to us. And the Resurrection becomes not just another miracle, but a timeless quality of life. Christianity has lost its vitality because it has been hung up on the Cross, making it a religion in retrospect. There is a need to forgive and forget, to let go the crucifixion and the blame-fixing and self-limiting concepts about it. A far more relevant symbol might be the empty tomb, the perfect circle. The darkness and suffering must give way to the Presence and Power. The looking outward to form and tradition must be replaced by looking inward to oneness and looking forward in the confidence of growth and overcoming. Happy Easter! ------------------------------------------------------ To be unsubscribed, click the link at the bottom of this message, do not write to the author. ------------------------------------------------------ http://pcjournal.ru/talks Talks on Truth Andrei Yashurin: yashurin@gmail.com If you like our list, please recommend it to others. All messages (c) 2005 by Andrei Yashurin -*-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: http://felist.com/member/unsub?grp=lit.unityway&email= http://felist.com/ mailto:ask@felist.com