Sundays through April 12, 2020 Reconnection.com Zoom Meetings 2pm EST, Free
Many programs are offering free access to talks which are helpful to consider 'All Things Corona" and also to take one's mind and thoughts to 'another place, where Corona is a 'thing of the past', not the main deal in town and basically factored into a Much Bigger Picture of Our Human Story..." I got to the first talk with Eric Pearl and Jillian Fleer of the Reconnection.com group. There was some music by another part of the RC team,Ron Koenig and that may be part of the format as well, with uplifting popular songs with ukelele.
On another note, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) is inviting their members and others to fast and pray today for healing from You-Know-What and more from the head to the toe (or our crown to our feet..) This being Easter season for those Christians respecting this time in that way, that may take on added meanings with the remembrance of Jesus at the stations of the cross.
A summary could be in the mainstream media to summarize 'what Easter is all about' and the various other traditional times related to spring, by chance or in connection with a faith or belief system.
Basically with the life of Jesus which lasted about 33 years, he was baptized by John (the Baptizer or Baptist) as an adult. Jesus is considered by Christians the Messiah the Jewish people were waiting for, the messenger from G-d. Jesus taught in parables, many stories about an inner world of one's heart and mind being full of good intentions but not perfect and needing grace from accepting Jesus' sacrifice of his human life and connection with his spirit after he died as a way to be in contact with the greater love and blessings of G-d the Father. The Trinity (which I mentioned to a woman with that name) is The Father, Son (Jesus) and Holy Spirit (who carries the divine healing and power as well, yet another mediator of love and grace for people...and particularly as they feel acceptance of Jesus as G-d's 'only begotten Son'.
The history of the world in large part is an outplaying of the Jewish people, also known as G-d's Chosen people having a covenant promise with 'Father Abraham' and his wife Sarah to be blessed by G-d. There are five books in the Torah which are also in the Bible (I think this is how this goes, so do your own research), that is called The Old Testament. Then in the New Testament, there is the story of Jesus told in four different accounts or gospels.
In the Old Testament there is the story of Moses leading his people to the Promised Land after being freed from Pharoah of Egypt. That came , many centuries after the story recounted Disney's The Prince of Egypt of Joseph, one of Jacob's (or Israel's) 12 sons and which are the 12 tribes of Israel. There are clips on youtube of the music which conveys the story, much like in Joseph and the Amazing TechniColor Dreamcoat which is a musical. Doing a little 'homework' about these plays and stories could shed light on the Jewish time of Passover, which remembers the freedom gained after the ten plagues of Egypt during the time of Moses.
Those were delivered by G-d against the Egyptians because Pharoah would not free Moses and the Hebrews, who he was the leader of and related to by blood even though he had been reared as a member of Pharoah's household since his brothers had abandoned him. They did so because they were jealous of their father Jacob's (or Israel's) love for him, including gifts he gave him such as the colorful coat.
The time of Passover recounts when the Hebrews were spared their lives, particularly that of their first born males, by painting lamb's blood on their door frames so the angel of death knew to pass over their homes. This theme of 'saving blood' is echoed in the plan of salvation of people who believe in the divinity and healing power of Jesus as G-d's son and sacrifice as one who had not sinned against G-d. Some feel that if the Jewish people accept Jesus as Messiah that would usher in an era of fulfillment of the plan of salvation for humanity, coming through the Jewish people initially and finding fulfillment in humanity accepting Jesus Christ as messiah and healer.
That seemed to me to be the teaching of Derek Prince Ministries (which has extensive teachings online) that I listened to as someone raised in the Catholic faith then going to Protestant churches for 30 years where I learned some basics about the Bible and the many denominations of Christianity and quite a few other faiths along the way.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (formerly called the Mormons but not for a while now...and many feel it is not used in an accurate or respectful way) offers an additional set of teachings in The Book of Mormon, based on teachings from Joseph Smith that began 200 years ago in upstate New York.
The Book of Mormon offers the idea that Jesus came to America and taught the Natives during his twenties. Their church is modelled after 'the first church' with 12 apostles, bishops, and all qualified men as part of brotherly priesthood who pray, teach, go on missions and look out for their 'wards' (of about 120 families) and their stakes (comprised of 2-4 wards.)
They also have a Relief Society for Women which helps women stay connected and organized in helping with many daily concerns, family life and teaching children and other women. While there was polygamy permitted in the early years of the Mormon Church with Joseph Smith having dozens of wives for instance, that was not officially allowed since Utah joined the United States.
The LDS Church have many guidelines to eat well, not have alcohol (or coffee or tea) and not to smoke or do drugs. That alone is a revolutionary concept and one that many faiths encourage, good health. As for divorce and birth control, those are allowed in most Christian faiths now, while most still encourage 'waiting until one is mature to be married and have sexual relations.'
Some faiths allow for adopting a baby out or even for abortion which usually is condoned for the health of the mother or if a pregnancy was the result of non-consensual sex (which is also called rape even if between a couple.) Likely that concept needs a lot of serious consideration by people in every walk of life and for communities to make safe housing available to all people who feel at risk for being pressured or forced to be involved with someone physically that they do not want to be with. The realm of coercive control is one that is explored in depth by Evan Stark and by more countries to make laws to protect victims, generally women and children, but men can also be victimized in many ways.
With a better understanding of the many challenges any individual may have with mental, physical or social health and interactions, there could be 'safe houses' in each community in every state and country to help people adjust their lives over a few weeks or months or even years with daily counseling sessions online (24/7 wouldn't even be too much in terms of availability since many problems occur in the middle of the night..but online people in another part of the world could be awake and not losing sleep when counseling, or some centers in every town and state especially in the warmer months could allow people to camp or stay in cabins, etc with security and basic food.)
When we clarify the basic needs of humanity, helping women not get pregnant who are vulnerable and not clear about what motherhood or being in a relationship entails for instance, then more help could be given in terms of safe housing, nutritious meals, help to get sober and not smoke if those are factors, find meaningful ways to improve one's life and options with team support, have care for all infants and mothers and even fathers to help people adjust to the roles and schedules..and much more. The 'religion of caring and sharing' resources for basic living (food, shelter or support for housing, transportation and more) could be part of every community. Ideally there would be way for everyone to feel valued and included in a meaningful network of helpful people. Ideas and programs could be drawn from many faiths and schools of thought to offer everyone a 'fresh start' at designing their lives with accountability' and layers of back up for themselves, their children and others in their care. This time of 'CV19- See Everything in a New Way' is waking US All up and none too soon... Part of the Easter story is about Jesus being crucified on 'Good Friday' (which is close to the time of the Jewish Passover as it turns out), and telling his mother before he dies to care for another as her son, and for that man to care for her as his mother.' When we are separated from family and friends, whether through situations or death, caring for other people can heal the heart.
Those who have had such losses should be able to have support in finding new people to help fill those roles and adjust to 'new normals' over time. In addition when Jesus died, his body was placed in a tomb for three days with a large rock in front of it. Our late son Kaelan Palmer Paton when he was young helped me explain to kids that Easter was about 'When the Rocked Moved and Jesus was no longer in the tomb!" Yes, he loved rocks and had a vivid imagination to recall the teachings..
. He also had a Christlike heart throughout his life and I had shared a lot of the basic teachings and application of extending forgiveness and kindness to people as my Mother and many others had taught me over the years through their life's journeys. Kaelan passed trying to save a friend who was in inescapable waters, yet who was rescued by a rope rescuer a few moments after Kaelan was pulled under by the current when he gave his friend a push (according to a medium who offered that information to me through the grapevine.) His memorial service is on youtube.com in short segments with pictures included in the first parts. Also I wrote more about his life and the meaning of his passing on Remembering Kaelan Alexander Palmer Paton and in other posts as well.
I know there is a lot of warning in the Christian and other realms to not use intuition or psychic messages yet others may call that part of divine communication. Seeking only healing, loving connection may be enough, and not doing any such seeking may be best. Then there are dreams and many stories and movies that all explore such topics so overall the ideas and energies are factoring into our collective experience. It is practical and reasonable to Think About Everything One is Doing, Saying, Eating and otherwise Taking In to one's field and self (any drugs, prescribed or not), Relationships and overall inputs...and even to consider what one is 'expressing' verbally, mentally, emotionally and socially.
The energetics of our lives are central to the flow of our health and life pathways many are saying. As we increase our love and release our fear and worry we can find a balanced way of being at peace with ourselves and others in our lives, whether we see or interact with them or not. In a way 'we are alone' in that our brain and heart are feeding us signals and we interpret them accordingly. No one can know another's heart and mind fully and sadly many people can't even be honest with themselves whether to get help or save their lives. Being over-controlling is likely part of many aggressive people who are not acknowledging that we are primarly 'water balloons' physically and filled with a kind of magical, amazing light and energy that cannot be manipulated or extinguished...even if our physical form falls away. How do we like those possibilities?
Amazing yes, but also scary since we are cozy in our physical world and it's not easy to believe in 'things and beings we cannot see with the naked eye.." Maybe someone has to come into our physical world socially or otherwise to 'get a reading on them' to sustain us for future interactions. Rudolf Steiner suggests we do need to know people in our mortal life to connect with them in the spiritual world (and maybe even when they pass we need to have known them to connect with them while we are still in the mortal realm.)
His book Staying Connected goes into much of that. Then there is the idea of 'reading to the dead' which can be done silently since they can pick up our train of thought as we read slowly and think of them as listening in..." Again these are ideas I heard about a decade ago along with many other lovely ideas of trusting that our loved ones 'on the other side' are fine and more able to see us from on high and even be of help to us to keep an eye out for us and help us connect with help along the way...and much more. It's all super-mind-boggling and inspiring.
So I offer that as we head into this reverent and celebratory time of year from thousands of years of traditions and hope this has been helpful to many who may have been like me, a sincere seeker and believer with encouragement and guidance from many others over my lifetime...and trusting in my own pathway moreso over the last decade or so to find some answers in my own heart and mind..and not just from others as the experts...
Best to all and times for rest, walking, talking, dreaming, praying and healing on all levels with consideration of asking for and giving forgiveness (even to those one doesn't know one has offended or had done so unintentionally or as part of a time of one's life or society that was not as enlightened or encouraging as the modern world with talk shows and online therapies with deeper considertion of past lives, generational and DNA influences, and much more...)
Seeking healing and trusting that there can be pure forgiveness (yes some feeling with a specific divine help such as Jesus or Father God or the Holy Spirit if not all three, which are considered separate yet integrally connected) or other healing practices to reclaim parts of one's soul energy that got cut off energetically to cope during times of trauma or challenge, and other forms of balancing one's chemistry along with therapeutic talk or other practices that one has a team of supportive people helping one figure out.
Lots of 'work to do' sometimes just to get back to 'Square One" yet we are all having similar kinds of challenges and seeking help and balance, so hopefully more of the good healing ideas and help will come on all fronts. Welcome springtime internally and in our world at large with healing and new growth on all fronts!