Palm Sunday Taizé: On the Road to Jerusalem
Call to Awareness – 3 Bells
Opening Prayer – Chris
Chant – Greater Good of All, by David Roth
SILENCE – 1 Minute – Bell
Reading – Rev. Diana
Today is Palm Sunday, the first day of Holy Week for many Christians and the Sunday before Easter. It commemorates the Master Teacher Yeshua’s humble entry (on a donkey) into Jerusalem to observe Passover. According to the Gospel account, he was greeted by crowds of people who spread their cloaks and laid palm leaves in his path and proclaimed him the Son of David (Matthew 21:5). Palm leaves were a symbol of victory…the people thought they had found their King. Some believe that his entering on a donkey was not so much an act of humility, but a statement of denial that he would be their king, and a mocking of the Roman government. You see, a real King would enter on a white steed. The book of Mark actually says Jesus entered on a colt. We will likely never know what animal it was, or his precise motivation for this act; what matters is that he entered at all, standing in his Spiritual Authority, knowing what he was walking into.
Jesus was not prepared to bend to expectations. He was likely a source of confusion and disappointment to the people of Jerusalem, which is most likely why he was ultimately put to death. He wanted desperately to teach the people about Truth, about Love, and Spiritual Law. After more than 2000 years, Jesus still serves as an amazing example of strength, courage, devotion and forgiveness.
Charles Fillmore, founder of Unity, describes Jerusalem metaphysically as “the habitation of peace, possession of peace, vision of peace [and] abode of prosperity” (Keep a True Lent, p. 188). In a sense, Jerusalem symbolizes Wholeness. Just as Jesus entered Jerusalem fully aware of the pain and joy he was to face, so do we enter this day of Palm Sunday with our transcendence in view.
Jesus entered Jerusalem, visited the temple, and then, according to the writer of Mark, “As it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.” So Palm Sunday includes not only Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, but also his walk to Bethany. The meaning of Bethany, derived from the Hebrew, is house of afflictions. Bethany was the home of Lazarus and his sisters, and where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and “overcame the sorrow, lamentation, and affliction.”
We can celebrate Palm Sunday by spending some quality time in the Jerusalem of our consciousness, that place of Peace and Wholeness that lies within. But like Jesus and his disciples, we can also take this opportunity to go to Bethany where we turn our sorrow into joy. Our spiritual journey is not yet complete; but today we acknowledge and appreciate how far we have come and the challenges we have overcome.
Today we hold the “vision of peace” for our lives. We are in the process of being resurrected, of transcending all that is unlike peace and fulfillment, of entering our own Jerusalem.
SILENCE – 3 Minutes – Bell
Reading – Chris
Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love. (St. Francis)
When we ask to be made instruments of peace, what we are really asking for is the boundless determination to empty ourselves of every state of mind that disrupts relationships – anger, resentment, jealousy, greed, self-will in any form. Our first priority is to reform ourselves; without that, how can we expect to help other people reform themselves? It is the living example of a man or a woman giving all they have to making love a reality, that moves our hearts to follow. We do not need a bumper sticker that says, “You are following an instrument of the Lord.” Our everyday actions speak for themselves.
(Eknath Easwaren)
SILENCE – 3 Minutes – Bell
Musical Meditation: Prayer of Saint Francis, by James Twyman
SILENCE – 1 Minute
Reading – Diana
Born of Eternal Day by Ernest Holmes
Child of All Good, you are born of Eternal Day.
There is no evening of the Soul, for it shall live forever.
It is Deathless and Perfect, Complete and One with the Everlasting.
No thought of tomorrow can disturb the calm of him who knows that Life is one Eternal Day.
No fear can enter when Love reigns, and Reason keeps faith with Hope.
The thought of the tomorrows and the yesterdays are swallowed up in the great realization of the Perfect Here and the Complete Now.
Today I completely accept my Wholeness.
SILENCE – 1 Minute – Bell
Reading – Diana
The Dawn Has Come by Ernest Holmes
Out of the darkness of the long night the Dawn has come.
I rise to meet the new day, filled with confidence and strength.
I arise and go forth in the dawn, inspired and refreshed by the Living Spirit within me.
O Day, you shall never die; the sun shall never set upon your perfect glory.
For the Lamp of the Soul has been re-kindled with the oil of Faith,
And Love has cleansed the windows of Life with the spirit of gladness.
They shall nevermore grow dim with fear, for Perfect Love casteth out all fear.
I am renewed in strength through knowing Good.
My Light has come.
SILENCE – 3 Minutes
Reading – Chris
Thy Grace by Joel S. Goldsmith
Thy grace is sufficient for me. I have thought that I had to labor, to struggle, and to plan for my future; but now I need no longer worry, plan or take anxious thought. There is a divine grace at hand that provides a sufficiency of all things. Thy grace is sufficient for me. God’s wisdom is sufficient for me, and in that all-sufficiency, I can never lack wisdom and guidance. God’s wisdom fills me, God’s love fills me; God’s presence is sufficient for me.
Through grace, my heavenly Father feeds me – feeds me spiritually, clothes me spiritually, maintains and sustains me spiritually. Forever more, this grace of God will interpret itself to me in the forms, and as the forms, necessary to maintain me in abundance, in joy, and in gladness. My expectancy is of God. Thy grace, Thy gifts, Thy good, Thy love, Thy mercy, and Thy justice are my sufficiency; and, therefore, I do not look to man for any good thing.
God’s grace is filling this space; God’s grace is filling these hands; God’s grace is filling this body with health and joy and peace and power and dominion and all good. God’s grace is filling every moment with the divine Presence, which is love and life eternal. Whatever demand is made upon me is fulfilled through the grace of God and not because of my physical strength, not because of any storehouse or barn I may possess, nor even by virtue of my own wisdom or understanding. Through grace, I am given everything necessary to fulfill every demand made upon me.
SILENCE – 1 Minute – Bell
Musical Meditation – Circle of Fire Prayer, by Cari Cole
Contemplative Prayer – Rev. Diana
We take this time now to join in Consciousness…to commune with the Divine…to share in prayer as a state of being, feeling, knowing, and deep listening. I gently guide my mind into my deepest, most silent place…into my heart, and there stand in deep surrender to the Presence of God. (Pause)
It is here that we come to the very center of our being and we enter into a pure state of gratitude and thanksgiving. We allow ourselves to roam wild in being so grateful for our life that the very cells of our body tingle with delight…We become so aware of the Spirit that we recognize Its Presence everywhere, and feel so unified with It that we can say I Am what Thou art, and Thou art what I Am. It is in this place that I feel the Presence of the One Loving and Compassionate Source, and I willingly give myself to It, knowing in Truth that I Am It, and It is me…
No distance, no separation, no otherness, no other power, no other place, no other space, no other time…all of the Presence is right here and right now. And I Am at One with this Presence. My life is an emanation of the Presence and the word that I speak is a word of realization of our inherent Freedom and Well-Being, Joy and Harmony, Wholeness, Prosperity and Wellness.
Joining me now in bringing to the mind’s eye that sweet living entity called planet earth, and begin to see right now, Health and Wholeness spreading throughout Creation… Generosity and Cooperation growing, increasing, expanding…Peace and Love breaking out all over…
We have to be able to see it, before we can begin to be it. And now, as you sit here with me right now, seeing the Health and Wholeness, Generosity and Cooperation, Peace and Love spreading from person to person, from neighborhood to neighborhood, from nation to nation, begin to feel what it feels like to live in such a place…what it feels like to experience this sense of well-being in your own life…
In this Holy Moment we know that our Prayer is powerful…individuals are being affected by our Prayer… communities are being affected by our Prayer. We are flooding the atmosphere with Radiant Health, with Abundance, with Peace and Love. In this world we are creating, all beings are healthy and happy…all needs are met. There is a renewed sense of compassion and caring as we realize our shared humanity. There is a renewed sense of generosity as we recognize and embody God’s Infinite Abundance.
Know with me now that this prayer is having its healing effect on the planet…this prayer is shifting the very consciousness that surrounds and infuses us…this prayer is here and now revealing the Wholeness and Perfection that is the Truth…the Divine Idea in the mind of God. We know that from this moment forward, that all things work together for our individual (undivided) and collective Good…it’s happening right now.
For this and so much more, we are grateful and we give thanks for the many gifts of this day. I give thanks for the Power of Prayer and for our willingness to use it. In deepest gratitude and Absolute Faith, I speak my Word, releasing it to the Mighty Power of the Universe, calling forth all that is Holy, all that is Whole, here and now. I let it be and it is done…And so it is…Amen!
SILENCE – 3 Minutes
Chant – All Good, All Good, by Rickie Byars & the Agape Choir
SILENCE – 1 Minutes
Blessing for the Offering – Rev Diana
As I awaken to the God within me and all around me, I see Abundance everywhere I look. I consciously step into that flow of Abundance by this act of giving. I bless this gift, sending it forth to heal and prosper. It is evidence of my deep faith. It does good work in the world and blesses all of Creation. I give from a consciousness of Abundance! And so it is! Amen!
Offertory Music – Hallelu, by Andy Anderson
Closing Gratitude, Invitations, and Benediction
Invitations:
Mondays: Metaphysical Bible Study
Fridays: Way of the Peaceful Warrior Book Club
New classes are beginning the first week of April
- Six Pillars of Spiritual Practice with Prayer Practitioner Chris Johnson – begins April 7, 1-4 pm and 6-9 pm
- Shadow and Story with Rev. Diana Johnson – begins April 9, 6-9 pm
- Spiritual Intelligence with Rev. Diana Johnson – begins April 8, 2-5 pm
- Easter Release and Renewal Ceremony and Celebration – April 12, 10 am
- Starting on Saturday, April 25th from 9 am to noon, the Monthly Mystic Morning Brew with Prayer Practitioner Lucinda Alton. Email her at kgfcinda@gmail.com
All on Zoom unless and until the Shelter at Home Mandate is lifted.
