The Resurrection Principle

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“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” - John 12:24

The Easter story, one that is told with great passion year after year, is celebrated as a time when, over two thousand years ago, Jesus died for the sins of humankind. As with all stories found in the Bible, this one has a literal meaning and it has a spiritual meaning. The majority of Christians, having come to believe that God can punish the sinner with eternal damnation, celebrates the literal story as a sign that God’s love is so great that He has given us the opportunity to escape the fires of hell by sacrificing His only son.

To those who base their understanding on God as unconditional love, we see a deeper meaning to this story, one that is in keeping with the principle of growth and new life that we see expressed in Jesus’ above statement on the grain of wheat.

The Easter story contains five important elements: 1: the arrest, 2: the trial, 3: the execution, 4: the resurrection, and 5: the ascension. When you set a goal for some greater good in your life, it is usually a matter of time before you are, like Jesus, arrested by negative thoughts and appearances. You are put on trial, and are challenged to hold fast, as Jesus held fast, to your vision of greater good unfolding. You must totally let go, die to the old fears and attitudes that have kept you from moving into your freer life. From this death, this letting go, the new is born and a resurrection occurs. As your new life unfolds, you ascend into a higher state that is reflected in your body, mind and circumstances.

This resurrection principle applies to the simple, daily needs of your life and it applies to your life as a whole, this spiritual journey of your ever unfolding consciousness. To bury a seed in the ground gives the appearance that nothing new will come of it. But we know that it is only a matter of time before the seed dies to its former self and emerges as something greater and much more productive.

The Resurrection Principle

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“He is not here; for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay” (Matthew 28:6).

According to Matthew’s version of the resurrection, when “Mary Mag’dalene and the other Mary went to see the sepulcher,” they found it empty. An angel was there to tell them Jesus had risen from the dead.

The Easter story presents the defining principle for both traditional and metaphysical Christianity. In both cases, Easter illustrates that life, not death, is the truth behind all appearances to the contrary.

We celebrate Easter in the Spring because all around us we see the resurrection of new life from the dry stalks and branches of apparent death, and we marvel at the tenacity and the proliferation of this mysterious force that we call life.

Traditional Christianity draws its meaning of Easter from the past, projecting its fulfillment as a glorious and everlasting future. In metaphysical Christianity, we invoke the principle of resurrection in our current affairs by dying to, or letting go of the old and affirming the new. “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

Life is always creating new channels through which to express itself. Our work is to make ourselves as open as possible to the renewing energy of this resurrecting force so that every point of our experience may expand and flourish. Are you sealed in a tomb of fear and negation, worried about your future, uncertain about the outcome of some current situation? Then begin to release this fear, and affirm that the resurrecting power of life is now lifting you beyond all restrictions, all uncertainty, all inhibitions, and that your life is full of new possibilities, and those possibilities are unfolding now, like the spring buds bursting all around you.

Open your mind to God’s resurrecting life right now, right where you are, and enjoy the blessings of a transformed experience.

Commitment to the Ideal

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“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say; ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, for this purpose I have come to this hour” (John 12:27).

In this scene, as depicted in the Gospel of John, Jesus is about to enter Jerusalem and become the world’s most famous martyr. According to the Gospel accounts, he knew what lay ahead. Despite the warnings of his closest advisors, and despite his own uneasiness about this monumental decision, he decided to press forward.

It is at this moment that John places in his text an agricultural metaphor bearing a significant message to anyone desiring major change. “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” In other words, if you want to experience greater good in your life, you must be willing to let go of that aspect of yourself that contributed to the creation of your current experience.

There is a basic metaphysical concept that says, if you are at point A in your life and you want to be at point B, then you must begin to examine what anchors you to point A. If you want change then you yourself must be willing to undergo a change, to “die” to the person that built your current surroundings and give birth to a person that can sustain the conditions of life you desire.

Some will argue that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Never mind that the Discovery Channel’s Myth Busters proved this cliché wrong. Old dogs can learn new tricks. The real question here is why anyone would choose to define themselves as an old dog, unless, of course, they don’t want to go to the trouble of learning any new tricks. “Don’t you understand? I’m an old dog, and it’s a well-established, cosmic law that old dogs can’t learn new tricks, so don’t talk to me about changing myself. It’s too late.”

What is your ideal? What must you let go of to get there? Commit to answering these two questions for this is the first step in moving deeper into the spiritual awareness you desire.

The Resurrection Principle

The Resurrection Principle

 “He is not here; for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay” (Matthew 28:6).

According to Matthew’s version of the resurrection, when “Mary Mag’dalene and the other Mary went to see the sepulcher,” they found it empty. An angel was there to tell them Jesus had risen from the dead.

The Easter story presents the defining principle for both traditional and metaphysical Christianity. In both cases, Easter illustrates that life, not death, is the truth behind all appearances to the contrary.

We celebrate Easter in the Spring because all around us we see the resurrection of new life from the dry stalks and branches of apparent death, and we marvel at the tenacity and the proliferation of this mysterious force that we call life.

Traditional Christianity draws its meaning of Easter from the past, projecting its fulfillment as a glorious and everlasting future. In metaphysical Christianity, we invoke the principle of resurrection in our current affairs by dying to, or letting go of the old and affirming the new. “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

Life is always creating new channels through which to express itself. Our work is to make ourselves as open as possible to the renewing energy of this resurrecting force so that every point of our experience may expand and flourish. Are you sealed in a tomb of fear and negation, worried about your future, uncertain about the outcome of some current situation? Then begin to release this fear, and affirm that the resurrecting power of life is now lifting you beyond all restrictions, all uncertainty, all inhibitions, and that your life is full of new possibilities, and those possibilities are unfolding now, like the spring buds bursting all around you.

Open your mind to God’s resurrecting life right now, right where you are, and enjoy the blessings of a transformed experience.