Today is Good Friday.  It is the most intense, painful, and sad day of the year in the Christian tradition.  Many of us can feel this palpable heaviness each year on this day, and even as this day approaches, through to Easter Sunday.  I’ve been thinking about the “good” in Good Friday.

Some believe in the literal version of the life of Christ, his crucifixation and resurrection.  Some believe the story as metaphor.  For some, Jesus held no special Divine role, and was simply a Jewish man, the son of a carpenter.

For those of us who have some special interest in the story of the crucifixition, I offer some thoughts.  What if Jesus was showing us who we really are (in the style of that particular era)?  Is the story really about the crucifixtion, or is the point of truth really the resurrection and ascension?  (Should churches have a man dying on a cross as the visual center point, or rather a glowing image of a radiant, healthy Christ?)  Is the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection our clarion call to self-realization?  Is it our invitation to know that we are truly Divine as was Jesus, that we too “will do these and greater things?”

Did Jesus suffer and die for our sins (as the Church teaches,) or was he showing us in no uncertain terms that sin (i.e. failure, error, mistake, etc.) is an illusion, a delusion, a nightmare of human misunderstanding born of fear?  Is the crucifixtion the dream (nightmare) and the resurrection + ascension the reality?  Do we wake up from the dream or into it?  What is “real” and what does “real” even mean?  (As we now know from quantum science, that which we can perceive with our five senses does not define what is “real.”  In fact, it is only about 4% of what truly exists.  We simply cannot perceive the other 96% with our five senses.)

So what is “good” about Good Friday?  It is good to recognize who our teachers are, where the wisdom presents itself, and how we are invited into Enlightenment.  Jesus clearly knew who he was.  Do we know who we are?  He could perform “miracles” precisely because he knew who he was (Divine and whole) and he knew who we are (Divine and whole).  He clearly told us, “You too will do these and greater things” (miracles, that is).  So why don’t we?  And when we do, why don’t we notice?  Why don’t we consciously claim ownership of our ability to perform miracles?  Do we have “the eyes to see and the ears to hear” beyond the limited scope of our five senses?  Herein lies the “good” in Good Friday.  It is the portal to the greatest lesson ever taught in the current World Age of human history.  Consider this, and learn your lessons well.

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The last day of every year naturally invites reflection and anticipation.  This time we enter a year there has been much talk about, 2012.  The winter solstice of this coming year, 12/21/12 marks the end of a World Age 5,125 years in length, and is thus the endpoint of the great Mayan calendar. 

We can all feel and see changes of great magnitude — in climate, in cultures, in the global economy, in politics, etc.  We wonder will this be a time of momental challenge?  And will these challenges bring new birth, a transformatioin of our consciousness at a magnitude greater than any since the beginning of human existence?  I believe that we are at a crossroad of choice, that we are being given an invitation to understand ourselves and our human existence in miraculous ways.

Here is a video you may enjoy, and others are displayed at its conclusion.  I like the part that suggests “we are burning our bridges,” and opening to unimaginable new vistas.  I wish all of you peace, joy, and love in this pivotal and powerful New Year.  I invite you each to do your part in shortening the distance between your head and your heart.  As for me, I offer my prayers and service at this time of Enlightenment.  Namaste.

For Enlightened Life Coaching — http://www.EnlightenedLifeCoaching.com                                                                    

To join our Enlightenment Community — http://www.EnlightenedLifeLovers.ning.com

To cultivate calm & consiousness – http://www.blogtalkradio.com/chaichat

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The month of February connotes Valentine’s Day, which turns our thoughts to the topic of “love.”  But what is love?  Is it a feeling?  A force?  Is it God?  Is it all there is?  Trying to define “love” is like trying to define “infinity.”  How do words come remotely close to capturing either?

If we use the concept so freely, I suggerst that we get honest and real with it.  I find that we may know love best by knowing what it is not.  By contrast, that is.  We instinctively know when we are not feeling or behaving in a loving way.  And perhaps, even more so, we know when someone else is not being loving toward us.  At its best, this process of noticing helps us to tune ourselves up. 

In “love relationships” it gets even more murky.  What so often passes for love is actually obsession or addiction.  Do you really love that person, or do you need them?  Love is unconditional.  Anything else is an imposter.  To love is to embrace without clutching, to give versus to barter, and to allow instead of to control. 

This is how we get real with love.  Sound like a tall order?  While it is not easy, it is possible, at least in glimpses anyway.  And the key is self-reverence.  To value oneself is to value others.  To like oneself is to accept others as they are.  To trust oneself is to allow others to be as they are.  A strong and steady loving relationship with oneself opens the gateway for loving relationships with others and with all of life. 

So on Valentine’s Day and all other days, get real with love.  Practice awareness of love, and cultivate the relationship with Self that is the fertile soil within which love can grow.  You do not need to define love when you are able to live it.  You will just know.  From my heart to yours, Happy Valentine’s (every)Day!

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