Greetings All You Beautiful Luminous Souls who are blooming in the desert of these times! I am so blessed to be sharing this incredible journey from here to there knowing deeply that wherever we go there we are! In truth the journey is about experiencing the full spectrum of emotions as we each leap over the obstacles that we have chosen in this particular life experience. So exciting and daunting at the same time.
Today is Good Friday in the Christian faith tradition. I sense the sombreness of its energy. It has the same resonance as Remembrance Day for me. It is a day for looking, embracing, healing, and releasing the shadow aspects in ourselves and in the collective consciousness of our mysterious world. It is about seeing from a higher perspective, just like an eagle. It is a time to risk opening to new ways of seeing and being that will enable us to leap higher than ever imagined. I offer you these wise words by Anais Nin:
“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”
Anais Nin
It is time to bloom…to blossom. The story of Jesus on Good Friday has so many soul lessons for us. One of these crucial lessons is around the tightening caused by scapegoating.
Humans have created scapegoats throughout history. In early Biblical times a goat was sent into the wilderness after the priest had symbolically laid the sins of the people on it. It was a ritual of putting our transgressions on another and then casting them out. It was a way of shirking our responsibility to look and deal with our shadows. In psychology we use the term “scapegoating “to describe the act of projecting responsibility and blame on others. It is used as a defence mechanism, and it allows one person to get rid of negative feelings about themselves with a sense of gratification. In reality it keeps that person tight in the bud of their own fear of blooming, while crucifying the goat/victim. Scapegoating is a human response to fear and the choice to ignore the parts we play in the shadows of our own life experiences. It is a dis-ease that affects us all!
Jesus became a scapegoat to help us see the scapegoaters in our world. He was a champion for all the outsiders…the women…the children…the impoverished in mind, body, and spirit. Jesus stood with the last and the least. He stood against fear in a vibration of absolute love. In his nakedness on the cross Jesus became the scapegoat to end all scapegoats. He exposed the truth that could end human blame and violence once and for all. Jesus knew that we would struggle with letting go of the need to scapegoat for a very long time and his last words were, “Father, forgive them! For they don’t know not what they are doing.”
A couple of questions to ponder on this Good Friday:
- “Can we stop creating scapegoats and work for their benefit instead?”
- “Can we be self-responsible with inner-standing as we look within, embrace, heal, and release the fears that keep us from blooming…from becoming the divine presences we are?”
I invite you to go on a Good Friday journey towards Easter Sunday as you watch and listen to this perfect song to travel with. “In Bloom” is written and sung by Jon Foreman with the added voice of Joy Oladokun. The lyrics are below for you to reflect upon.
Dylan on that speaker warning He not busy, being born is dying God, I wanna be reborn I swear my failure ain't for lack of trying My broken history decomposes But it's a part of me that's pushing up roses I'm a desert in bloom I'm a desert in bloom The wind is torn, the world's at war But the butterflies in me keep death defying The dandelion seeds are borne And all my favorite dreams are when I'm flying I see the chrysalis going through changes But every transformation comes in phases I'm a desert in bloom I'm a desert in bloom Let the pain be for a reason There's a time and there's a season and I want to see this through I'm a desert in bloom Yesterday's tomb, tomorrow's womb The dark is long but the dawn is soon The light that you seek is seeking you Let the dead seed go and watch it grow brand-new I'm a desert in bloom… I'm a desert in bloom Let the hard times make me wiser Our failures' fertilizer for the flowers on my tomb I'm a desert in bloom
Songwriters: Tim Foreman/Jonathan Foreman
We will be gathering outside on Easter Sunday morning at Sargeant Bay at 10 a.m. to celebrate the gift of resurrection, rebirth, reappearance, restoration, resurgence, and revival. All these “r” words invite us to come back to life after death…to spring forth with new life as we honour the ether, air, fire, water, and earth…it will be an elemental experience! We will begin at the bench halfway down the waterfront path and gradually make our way to Dee Dee’s house overlooking Sargeant Bay. Once there we will gather around a fire and share hot cross buns and tea. Please dress warmly and bring a blanket to sit on.
With Delight,
Jacqueline