THE NOWNESS OF RESSURECTION

                    Last Sunday, many were wishing Happy Easter to family and friends assuming that Easter pointed to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Surprise! The origin of Easter has nothing to do with Jesus Christ nor His resurrection! The word Easter originated with the Goddess of spring and fertility, Eshtar. The word Easter is only found one time in the Bible, and is a mistranslation of the word Passover. Neither the Apostles or Christ, ever celebrated an event called Easter. Easter originated with the pagan celebration of the rites of spring occurring around the spring equinox. Today that is still how the date of Easter is determined. It is the first Sunday, after the first full moon, occurring after the spring equinox. Ever wonder why the date for Easter changes every year? Now you know!

                    The celebration of Easter was adopted by the fathers of the Catholic church who reasoned if they let the pagans continue to celebrate their rites and put a Christian connotation on them, they would join the faith. And that is exactly what happened.

                    The reason I bring this to your attention is not to make you fearful that you are engaging in a pagan celebration, but to bring you into a higher consciousness of what the resurrection truly points us to! The resurrection cannot be limited to an event, a date, place, or one person. The resurrection is the eternal nowness of who you are! This is the reason no where in scripture are we told to celebrate the resurrection, because it limits our perception!

                    The greatest teaching on the resurrection came from Jesus Christ Himself. In John 11, Lazarus was sick and his sisters send word to Jesus saying, "Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick." Lazarus in original Greek means, God is helper, and the root comes from the name Elazar. The "El" of Elazar denotes where motion originated and is also a word meaning deity. I believe Lazarus points us to picture of all humanity, who originated in God. Here we see our divinity in a state of sickness, meaning feeble, impotent (no ability to produce life), strengthless, and weak.

                    Jesus gives the great hope of true resurrection and the purpose for all life right here in verse 4; listen by the Spirit; "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby." The sickness of humanity will not be held by a death, or sleep mentality, but the result will be they glorify God as they awaken to the reality that they are the Son of God, one with all He is! This is true resurrection....... we awaken to the eternal I AM within us! This whole story is pointing us to the great awakening which takes place within man. Resurrection is not an event which took place 2,000 years ago, nor an event which will take place some time in the future. It is the eternal Nowness within each and every man!

                    Look what Jesus tells Martha when she tries to limit resurrection to a past or future time event. "If you had been here my brother had not died." "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." Jesus does not buy into this limited realm of time and space! He plainly tells her what resurrection is.
"I AM the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believeth thou this?" Resurrection is not in the past or the future, all you must do is to awaken and believe that the I AM dwells within, then you will know that you are eternal, and death holds no power! The question is can you believe?

                    Today can we believe, that resurrection is the eternal life within our very being? It is the Light of Spirit within all man just waiting to awaken!

                    In verse 11 Jesus states; "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep." The whole reason Jesus Christ came into this time and space realm was to awake us out of the Adamic sleep so that we may know we are eternal and infinite life!

                    Celebrating resurrection as one event, one day of each year, limits our concept of true resurrection life! Jesus Christ came to shift our consciousness from limited to the infinite, immeasurable potential of the eternal life within us NOW! Not in our past, nor in our future, but NOW!

                    You are the resurrection, you are the Life!
                    It is not an event, time, or place, but it is YOU!

                    Let us celebrate the Nowness of Resurrection!

                    Abundant Joy,
                    Mary Lou

                    P.S. - If you would like to hear this message in it's entirety you may order the CD - THE NOWNESS OF RESURRECTION #040807

Mary Lou Houllis
Pastor