Midweek Faith Lift
June 12, 2019
Now A Decision
Rev. Deb Hill-Davis
“Believe in Jesus and you shall be saved! Repent before it’s too late; the end is near!” That is the cry of the traditional Christian evangelist; the energy of salvation that is offered in the most common understanding of Christian religions. The Catholics teach that you need an intermediary such as a priest, the pope, or the saints to intercede for you. The Protestants find their source in Scripture as the path to salvation. Luther’s great Reformation was to claim “Sola Scriptura;” only through Scripture does the seeker find Salvation. The energy of these paths put all the focus “out there” and the payoff for the believer comes at the point of death when one enters heaven and eternal life, avoiding hell and eternal damnation. If you grew up in some kind of Christian tradition, that is the story that you learned and what you heard in church on Sunday. It is no longer selling very well, and hasn’t been for quite some time because it makes no sense.
We are talking now about making a decision, a very new understanding of this idea of a “decision for Christ.” The decision many people have made is to walk away from Christianity as quickly as possible. And there is a growing population who identify as “none,” having developed an allergic reaction to any idea of God or religion. Given the history of the very human institutions of the church, including Unity, it is a perfectly reasonable decision. It is like a collective time in the wilderness, and I for sure was in that spot for a good long portion of my life. Then I found something very unique, very different, something that spoke to my heart and that began to help my life make sense. As I changed within, it began to be reflected without in my life conditions, as within, so without.
It was not an easy, overnight event. Rather, it has been an ongoing process of spiritual awakening and unfolding that has been filled with not always pleasant or enjoyable “growth opportunities.” But that is life, isn’t it? Full of what I call AFGO—Another “Fun” Growth Opportunity! The question is how does leaning into this one, this Growth Opportunity help to deepen my spiritual understanding and my sense of my own Divinity, my connection to God, to Spirit? How does the experience of my humanity, my shortcomings, fears and all of it open the window to my Divinity? We talked last week about Jesus’ Christ nature providing for us a window into the nature of our divinity. But we can have a really dirty window or one that is nailed shut or bricked over and we don’t even know it!
How do we change that? How do we clean the window or unlock it? That is the Great Decision we are engaging in this chapter with Butterworth—how do we shift in consciousness so that more of our inner Divinity shines through that window? How do we let more of that God-love shine into our hearts? It is a process that takes time. It is a process of awakening to our true Divine nature and then choosing to stay awake, to waken more fully and to integrate our humanity and Divinity. He says something in Discover the Power, on page 20 that can be hard to grasp:
The Christ in you is you at the point of God. The Christ of you is your true root in Divine Mind. However you must become conscious of this root of your being. You must make the decision to act as though you are a spiritual being in potential. In a way, making the “decision for Christ” is as fundamental as making a decision to turn on the light.
Now I love that image of spiritual awakening! Think of yourself in a completely dark room, unable to see anything. Spiritual awakening is the switch in a completely dark room and when you flip it on, it changes everything, as it changes nothing. Wow! When you awaken to your Christ energy that is you at the point of God, you are now in a process of growing awareness of your Higher Self. Once awakened to that higher Reality, you don’t “unwaken.” What is true is that you now see much more clearly because that “light” of Spirit is able to illumine your path.
You see more clearly what is in the “room” of your heart, of your mind of your body. And you have a new way to engage all of what is there; a new consciousness from which to regard all of life; your life and all of life. There is the familiar human perspective and the Higher Perspective of Spirit that pulls your human self to that higher place of spiritual awareness. And when you allow it, the Light of God that you are sheds more light and love on all that is in the rooms of your consciousness, allowing you to “see” with more depth and greater understanding and compassion.
This doesn’t mean that the “stuff” in the dark room goes away, for we are not giving up our humanity. We are learning to live in our human nature and in our divine nature at the same time. Each of these aspects of us informs the other; it is a both/and proposition, not an either/or. It is a continuous learning process whereby we clean the window so we illuminate even more of our Divinity and allow it to shine through. The initial light helps us find the window, and when we turn that switch, it may not yet be a very strong light and that is fine. We continually grow into this Divine Nature thing. Eventually, given enough practice, time and prayer, we begin to put our human nature in service to our Divinity, for that is how Jesus lived; his humanity fully in service to his true Divine nature.
The bottom line for us is that every step of this process of awakening is a choice, a decision. We have the spiritual power of Will which gives us the ability and the energy to say yes to the lesson and lean into it, or walk away. It is the Great Decision that we make over and over again, all day long. Whenever we encounter situations, events, people, circumstances, loved ones, anyone or anything that is beyond our control, we also encounter a decision about how we show up. Embracing our Divine/Human nature, we learn to navigate these situations more skillfully, with more love than fear, more patience and acceptance than irritation, more compassion than judgment.
It is a practice, living from this spiritual space and practice makes progress, not perfection. Let me say that again, practice makes progress, not perfection. What does this require of us? Butterworth says unequivocally that it requires “a complete change in your way of thinking.” And then he cites the story of Nicodemus, a strict Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling body of the Jews at that time. Nicodemus was really struggling to grasp what Jesus is saying about living from this place of the Christ within. Here is how it went down:
John 3:1-10
Nicodemus Visits Jesus
3 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? (NRSV)
Whoa, this is such a powerful illustration of where we are before we truly awaken to the “Power Within” us. When we look metaphysically at stories in Scripture, we are all the characters in that story, so we are Nicodemus who comes to Jesus at night! He is clearly in the dark room, trying to grasp what Jesus is saying, and because of his position in the Jewish community, he has a lot to risk, a lot to lose in calling Jesus “Rabbi” or teacher. He is beginning in the darkness with an act of humility, a good starting point. Then Jesus lays on him this whole business about being “born again” which just confuses him no end. He takes it very literally and despite or perhaps because of his training as Pharisee, he cannot get out of that mindset that is about rules and law.
Then Jesus tries to clarify things by telling Nicodemus that he has to be born again of water and of Spirit, not just of human flesh. His consciousness has to open up and expand. Metaphysically, water represents emotion and Spirit in Hebrew is “ruah” or breath. The message is that you cannot “think” your way to spiritual awakening; it is a matter of the heart, of your feeling nature, your emotions. And it is present in Spirit, or your very breath. Then Jesus tries to clarify it even further with his statement that the wind blows where it chooses, you hear it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. This is beyond your control, Nic, so you just gotta “Let go and let God.”
When you can be with this Truth, that Spirit is as present as your very breath, and that you encounter spiritual Truth whenever you can just be present to that which you cannot control, then you are born again. What that means is that you have what the Buddhists call “the beginner’s mind” and you are open and receptive to see with the heart, and learn from that place of your true Divine nature. It is our constant great decision to let Love be our decision, to see with the Heart and to let the energy of God that is greater than anything we can understand be our guide, our support and our Reality.
Blessings on the Path,
Rev. Deb