The MYSTERIES OF EASTER

Spiritual codes that deliver us from the suffering of the world

Passover and Easter mark the path from slavery to freedom and from death to rebirth. Just as the Israelites journeyed from slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land - and Jesus journeyed from crucifixion to a resurrected state - all of us, in our own way, do both.

The great religious stories are not simply doctrine; they are code. They delineate the journey of human consciousness - played out in the life of every human being - and provide spiritual navigational tools during the times of deepest darkness. The story of Israelites enslaved in Egypt is about more than Jews in Egypt thousands of years ago; it’s about the gamut of enslavement - from the inner chains of addiction to the cruel realities of political repression - that plague the people of the world today as much as at any other time. The story of Jesus on the cross is not just about the physical crucifixion of one man two thousand years ago; it’s about all the ways that lovelessness invalidates and seeks to destroy us, and how Love and Forgiveness miraculously transform all forms of death into more abundant life.

You never hear a Jew say, “I’m not going to Passover Seder this year because I already know the story.” And you never hear a Christian say “I’m not going to an Easter service this year because I already know the story.” Of course we know the stories! The point is not that the stories change, but that we do.

I’d like to invite you to join me this coming Wednesday, April 16, for a free online event. We’ll delve deep into the mysteries of Easter, not from a religious perspective per se, but through the lens of psychological, archetypal inquiry. How have our own hearts been crucified, both by ourselves and by others? What is the force in the world that fosters such infliction of pain? And what is the resurrected state? What is the eternal truth that lifts us above the suffering of the world?

To my Jewish friends and loved ones, I hope this Passover brings illumination to us all - not only about our past, but about the realities of the present and our responsibilities to the future. The war in Gaza cries out for such illumination, and I’m reminded of this from A Course in Miracles: “God does not give you victory in battle. He lifts you above the battlefield.” May every Jew and every Palestinian be so lifted. The journey to the Promised Land must be a journey to liberation for all the peoples of the world.

Wednesday’s online event will concentrate on the metaphysics of Easter. There’s a lot of pain and fear among us these days. May this be a year - despite all else, and through the power and the glory of God - when it’s clear the Spirit within us does not die, but shines forth in even greater Light.

May it be so. L’Chaim and God Bless us All.