Easter

Each year, as Easter approaches once again, there is something in the air, rising again. And it’s not just the sweet scent of peeps.

The Christ-infused energy that came sweeping across this sphere as we turned into the current century is somehow higher and brighter, as many turn inward and acknowledge this presence.

But there’s an important distinction to be made between doing so before having a personal experience with this light, and doing so on the far side of such an awakening.

It’s akin to what Supreme Court Justice, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., said roughly 100 years ago: I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity.

On the near side of our awakening, it’s a bit like checking the “I believe” box. Here we have the dualistic teaching that either we believe in Jesus Christ as our savior, or we’re going to straight to Hell. Such is the fear-filled dictate from the pulpit that has historically worked to gain compliance out of a flock, but over time is costing Christian churches their congregations.

For when we hear this kind of ultimatum, we smell a rat.

On the far side of the light, there is no box. In its place, there is a gentle knowing that sprouts from our inner work of ousting untruth. The more we do this, the more we come into reality and escape the tight, illusory stranglehold of duality. We discover the truth about the journey we’re all on, and know that Hell is not something to fear. Hell is fear.

In truth, the road to Earth has been paved by all of the souls who are working their way out of the darkness—away from their fears—and making their way back to the light. We’re all on such a path, and it’s a serious slog.

It’s also a long and winding road that leads us back home, and none of us will make it all the way there in one trip. We’ve got to put one foot in front of the other every day, and keep making the choices that will eventually bring us all they way out of the shadows. All the way free from our fears.

This journey is about finding the truth that lies hidden inside of ourselves, covered over by eons of judgmental thoughts and unkind actions. It’s in there, underneath our defenses and our denial of our involvement in destructive behaviors: our cutting off, our withholding, our overpowering, our avoidance.

The truth may be buried, but it’s not dead. Like Christ, it’s poised for rising again in each and every one of us.

That, in fact, is what the next coming of Christ will look like. As the Guides tells us, there’s no reason for Christ to come again as a man, for Jesus was successful in his mission. But make no mistake, Christ will come again. For Christ Consciousness is what wakes up as we do our work of healing and unraveling the untruths inside us.

Oliver’s father, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., had this to say about truth: Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening.

The beauty of the Guide’s teachings is that they are robust. They invite us to challenge what we believe, to look deeply at what we were taught as well as at what we have wrongly concluded, and to let go of what doesn’t serve us. They encourage us to shake the tree and release all our pent-up inner storms, to get them out of our system, so we can find the gems of truth that remain. They teach us how to do this.

By letting go of our demons—working mindfully in a safe space, and not by venting our angst upon others—we can discover a new way to connect with our inner light that doesn’t ask us to believe a single thing. It simply invites us to meet the truth. From there, the way becomes clear.

This is the way we rise up.

—Jill Loree

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