By Joel Baehr, Guest Blogger, and
Sr. Minister at Unity of Mesa, Arizona
LAST WEEK’S LESSON, THE EAGLE. THIS LESSON, ANOTHER BIRD!
This is a bird that refuses to stop living its life! You and I are that bird.
THAT BIRD IS PHOENIX
The Phoenix represents rebirth, immortality, and renewal. When the Hohokam civilization went the way of the “Firebird,” the city of Phoenix rose in its ashes. Like the Phoenix, Jesus died and returned, illustrating his deathlessness. So, let us Live Life Today. Today is food for tomorrow’s phoenix—and tomorrow morning’s ever-resurrecting phoenix is You! You were created to live forever. So Live Your Life and love it, love it, love it! There is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy yourself as long as you live said Solomon in Ecc. 3:12
(Click here to watch a video excerpt of Ray Madaghiele's Sunday lesson on this topic.)
QUESTION #6: Do you suffer in response to death?
ANSWERS: Well, after all, I’m human. That person meant everything to me. Let me tell you this, that dog (or kitty) was the one friend I could count on. What do you expect?
THINK ABOUT THIS: The above answers are psychological, having to do with worldly mental thoughts and emotions. Unity teaches that your mind is a tool for the development of spiritual attributes, like imagination & faith, to respond with understanding to human challenges. Spirit is our actual nature and the apparent deaths of the Phoenixes in our lives serve to educate and excite us about what will happen in the next act. To respond to changes humanly often means suffering. To respond to changes spiritually, means understanding, freedom, peace and joy.
JESUS SAID, Let not your heart be troubled…believe in God, believe in me…
And He was about to be crucified!
BUDDHA said that ignorance (like not understanding the Phoenix principle) leads to craving (an urgent need for gratification). Craving leads to attachment and attachment leads to suffering (when you lose the object of your desire.) (Pg 31 in Ray's book))
If you accept the way of the Phoenix—the eternality of life, love & intelligence—all of which you are an embodiment, how can you grieve? You grieve because you are more attached to the ways of the world than the ways of Spirit. Solution? Commit to the Teacher, study the Truth and develop friends of like mind.
QUESTION #7: Discuss the differences between “human” understanding and “spiritual” understanding. Can you see that it is the nature of human understanding to protect its turf? Can you see that to change positions is to confess that the old way of thinking was error-laden and the cause of suffering?
36% OF YELLOWSTONE BURNED IN 1988. The Rodeo-Chediski fire destroyed hundreds of homes and burned 469,000 acres. Result: Phoenix will rise.
Ray tried to outride a storm—but failed. Face down in the ditch he lay. It came sounding like a freight train. Dust-filled wind relentlessly pelted him with sand. The rain soaked and cooled his body—until it turned into marble-sized hail and beat him severely. Mother Nature was passionate and rough, but Ray got back on his bike and headed into the crosswind and drizzle. After this, Ray writes Unexpected storms broadside us to test our mettle. Our task? To weather the storm, brush ourselves off and get “back in the saddle again.” (Pg 33 in Ray's book)
QUESTION #8: Why in the world did Ray “Live his Life” so radically?
(Have you ever consciously chosen to do something so radical?)
Ray’s comment: When we are ready, the Creator will present greater opportunities for our transformation to more peaceful ways.
The ancients say: Our thinking now, and what we do, will alter our future. The choice is ours— if we will be living in peace. Gandhi said that we must be the change you wish to see.
QUESTION # 9: If you are really about “Living Life,” what might you do to rise out of old ashes and “be the change you’d like to see.” (Go on to #10)
NON-QUESTION #10: Okay, so here you are in this lifetime. In the history of the world and your soul, this is probably the time of greatest freedom and opportunity for you. What can you do to take advantage of this precious time in your evolution? Right here and now, in the space below, begin to create a plan of action for doing something new, and maybe a bit outrageous.
Here are my first ideas for doing something new in my life . . .
HERE’S A LIFE-CHANGING RAY FOR YOU:
My feelings of love for life energize me and are very catching.
(Based on Joel Baehr and Ray’s 2/12/2012 Lesson at Unity of Mesa, Arizona, and Chapters 2 & 3 of Ray of Hope for Peace by Ray Madaghiele)
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