Terry Paul Choyce
Easter, March 23, 2008, Brunswick Street United Church
Christians are celebrating Easter today because Jesus fulfilled his prophesy that he would remain dead for three days, and then rise again. Following his death he was, in a sense, reborn with new powers. He no longer had the limitations of a physical body, yet he could be seen and heard. He had a total transformation, which allowed him to appear, and then disappear at will.
According to Acts 1:3, Jesus continued to do this for 40 days following his crucifixion. During this time he talked about peace and forgiveness, and about the importance of telling people of the love of God. He spoke to them about Heaven and about the Holy Spirit. He asked his followers to spread the message of God's love and power.
There are many Christians who talk about being "born again" by the power of God and Jesus through the Holy Spirit. When this happens we change the way we think and live. Ideally we become more loving, compassionate, generous, and humble. We want other people to live this way too, so we "teach" them by our example and our words. We remain in our physical bodies and carry on with our lives, but something inside of us changes. We feel different when we have opened our heart to God.
Many people believe we are living in a precarious time in the history of the world. We have advanced technologically to the point that we could easily destroy humanity quickly with our weapons, and more slowly but surely with our pollution and selfish consumption. Our spiritual development has not kept up with our scientific advances and abilities. Anger and fear are often our guiding emotions. And all of us know that when we act out of anger and fear, we often harm others, and ourselves. We behave irrationally and sometimes with cruelty. Humans have always been like this. But this is the first time in human history when a few angry people could annihilate everyone.
If there was ever a time when we needed to live with love in our hearts and minds, this is the time. And many people who are not necessarily Christians are saying the same thing. People are calling for a "shift of consciousness", a "great turning" towards caring for and being responsible for each other and the planet. We need an evolutionary, world-wide change in how we treat each other and the Earth. It is essential that we transform our ways of thinking and feeling, and be more in control of our negative, harmful emotions and actions.
Oprah is now doing her part in the promotion of this new vision. Her recent book for her reading club is Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth. And she is offering a 10 week online class with Mr. Tolle and herself, talking about the book and the profound concepts in it. So far there are 2 million people around the globe who have logged on to be a part of this interactive class, and I am one of them. What we are learning has references to the Bible, but is not Christian based. But it is congruent with many of the teachings of Jesus. (www.oprah.com)
There are many topics and concepts in this book, and in this sermon I want to focus on one of them, "awakened doing". Mr. Tolle said most of humanity is driven by "accumulating, succeeding, building, protecting, and sense gratification." (Page 285) He says this is the outward motivation of life. On one level there is nothing wrong with this, as long as it is balanced with inner growth and spiritual connection with God (He calls God "consciousness".) Awakened doing means we live our lives with full awareness of how our actions affect others, and the Earth. He says we each must take the time daily to be still and to inwardly access the quiet voice of God. We must think about what we are doing, and conduct our lives with respect and consideration for all of creation. It is not WHAT you do but HOW you do it, that is really important.
Mr. Tolle says there are three "modalities of awakened doing ,and they are acceptance, enjoyment, and enthusiasm." (Page 295) If you are not operating from one of these states you are "creating suffering for yourself and others."
"Acceptance means: for now, this is what this situation, this moment, requires me to do, and so I do it willingly." This applies to tasks we don't really like doing, like vacuuming or changing diapers. Instead of putting ourselves in a bad mood from these tasks, we smile and re-frame our thoughts so that we can actually find peace or satisfaction from doing them. He talks at length about just being in the moment, and not worrying about the future or the past. Just appreciate what you are doing now.
Enjoyment comes from within. Nothing will give you joy. You create joy with your own thoughts. Therefore having control over your thoughts creates more joy in your life. If you always try to find fault with everything, and get satisfaction from complaining, you will never feel complete joy. You must develop an inner peace around the "isness" of something, and relax into appreciating and enjoying the person or the experience. Critical thinking sabotages our ability to love our lives.
"Enthusiasm means there is a deep enjoyment in what you do, plus the added element of a goal or a vision that you work toward." (Page 301) This heightens your creativity and energy. Ralph Waldo Emerson said "Nothing great has ever been achieved without enthusiasm." When enthusiasm comes from a spiritual passion, amazing things happen. Jesus's life is an example of this. He was at oneness with God, and thus he was able to heal people, deliver powerful and profound speeches, and transform people's lives with his message of love.
Few of us live our lives with "awakened doing." Mr. Tolle says that if our world is to continue, all people must have a personal transformation so we stop living with fear, anger, and greed. Instead we become more loving, grateful, and joyful. We need to have God energy flow through us, into our actions. We need to have more positive and constructive thoughts. We need a harmonious blend of our inner and outer lives.
For many, this transformation of thought and action will be like a rebirth. Our old ways of selfishness and cruelty will disappear. Loving each other and loving this planet, and loving the Creator will make radical changes in our lives. As it says in Rev. 21:1 "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth." When we open our hearts and minds to the power and grace of God, our world will be a place of love and beauty.
This Easter morning let each of us feel a rebirth of spirit. Let the resurrection of Jesus give each of us hope for a happy, healthy, peaceful future, and a beautiful New Earth.
©Terry Paul Choyce. Used with permission from the author.
