Midweek Faith Lift
March 15, 2023
Detach-Illuminate-Repeat
Su Podraza-Nagle, LUT
Good Snowy Morning! And good morning to all of our friends watching at home in their comfies with a nice hot cup of tea or coffee. A special shout out to Rev. Deb who is resting at home and healing nicely from her surgery.
We are almost halfway through the Lenten season. What a freeing season of detaching, releasing, letting go, affirming and staking claim to our divinity. Illuminating outward our rebirth in spiritual transformation.
Here’s a story from the Book of Books before we get started. It’s one of my favorites and it’s a great lesson of Detaching and Illuminating. See if you notice when the detachment occurs and the light bulb comes on.
John 5:2-9
Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
Sometimes we may get stuck doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. Once we detach and isten to that still small voice great things happen. The man chose to listen and was healed.
How do we Detach and Illuminate?
In the booklet for this Lenten Season, “40 Days of letting Go,” Today is the Process of Detachment. Let’s look at detaching.
Today’s reading states:
“Desire is manifested from our power of love. When we are strongly attached to something, we strongly desire it- we love it in one way or another. Excessive desire gives rise to unhealthy attachment. Unhealthy attachment creates false idols in consciousness. We can lose our grounding and awareness of our innate divinity, which may inhibit manifestation.
Attachment is not the problem; unhealthy attachment is. Detachment occurs when we use out powers of discernment, understanding and will to moderate our power of love while desiring something more valuable, like deeply knowing out inherent divinity.
The solution is easy; the application takes patience. Detachment involves no longer giving power or importance to any unhealthy attachment while refocusing our desire-our love- on our inherent divinity, which is divine substance composed of divine ideas and laws of mind. Divine ideas and laws of mind are the fundamental ingredients for manifestation and demonstration.”
What may be unhealthy attachments? Our false Idols in consciousness? Could some of them be, negative thought? Internally criticizing? Outwardly complaining?
There may have been some complaining about the beautiful whiteness, which drifted down yesterday.
Some others which are found in the Lenten booklet, are outdated beliefs, perfectionism and stress. What about the outward False Idols? Food, “Retail Therapy,” greed, money?
Some of these that I mentioned, aren’t bad in and of themselves. Snow is certainly beautiful, but driving in it may be hazardous. A little internal reminder to oneself about that extra cookie eaten may be just the discernment needed to eat healthier. It’s when the internal dialog becomes constantly critical, and we do it without realizing it, that we lose sight of our true divine self.
According to the booklet, in order to successfully detach from these False Idols or unhealthy attachments, we have the ability to use our power of Wisdom or Discernment, Understanding, and Will. I am adding Strength, and Power.
We use our Powers of Wisdom and Understanding to come into the awareness of what we want to detach and release. Many times it may take Strength and Will to stand fast and refuse constant negative internal dialog.
The invalid in the story took 38 years to detach!
It has been stated that nature abhors a vacuum.
When we have detached, we release and let go that which no longer serves us, excessive desire, and unhealthy attachment, we pour ourselves into the divine truth of who we are.
We are points of light in the Christ Consciousness illuminating our Powers of Love, Zeal, Faith, and Life. Sharing those gifts with those around us. We move forward loving others as ourselves with excitement and a zest for life.
We walk in Faith and light, accepting our inherent divinity.
And just like the invalid, we pick up what is ours and walk on.
If life hits a bump in the path of our spiritual journey or life experiences and our light dims a bit, all we need do is, Detach-Illuminate-Repeat.
We repeat the process because as Charles Fillmore Co-founder of Unity stated, “ Life is an ever-unfolding progressive, upward spiral of conscious evolution.”
We Detach- Illuminate- Repeat.
Let’s take our illuminated selves into meditation.
Meditation
I’d like to condense and paraphrase a meditation from the booklet, “Truth be Told From the Legendary Writers of Unity”
In this moment, we become comfortable where we are. Relaxing our bodies to our seats and releasing any busy thoughts we may have, we move them away from our consciousness for this moment. After every statement, say to yourself, “I am”
This is by H.B. Jeffery
You are a beloved of God
In my integrity within me, where I know and see as God, I know and see you, O Beloved, to be free and illumined.
I see you Glorious! Splendid!
I see you unweighted by human thought of limitation.
I see you strong, powerful, Divine
I behold you bright! Joyous!
I see you victorious.
I see you flawless, fearless!
In the silence, Let’s take a moment to soak up these truths of our being
The Illumined truth of our consciousness….. in the silence……………..
AMEN!
Blessings on the Path,
With deep gratitude….for Su Podraza-Nagle
Rev. Deb