Preparing for the Easter Service has been a prayerful process, each one of you held in heart and mind. And so I sit this morning, contemplating Holy Saturday…its symbolic meaning and how its message may be welcome and somehow comforting.

Holy Saturday is the day before Easter Sunday. As part of the Easter Story, it is the day that Jesus’s body lay in the tomb and his disciples and family members were in mourning. What I find inspiring about this part of the story is that everyone is in a state of stillness and waiting…a little bit like we are now. There is sadness and grief over what has been lost. There is no clear idea about what will happen next, about how the followers of this Enlightened Teacher will continue with their journey. Again, a little bit like we are now. What will it look like? How will we maneuver through the healing and recovery from this current condition? How will our society be different? How will we be different? Or will everything fall back to the status quo?

It seems to me that this time of rest has been given as a period of gestation, a time where new seeds can be sown and take root, where we have the opportunity for renewal in our own lives and as a global community. But in order for this time to be productive…to bring forth a true re-sur-rect-ion (a realignment with something greater), we must turn our faith from the appearance of chaos and disintegration to the reorganization of something new that is waiting to unfold; from entropy to evolution.

If we study science, we find that both entropy and evolution are happening simultaneously, all the time. Entropy (the gradual decline into disorder) and evolution (the gradual development of something, especially from a simple to a more complex form) seem to be opposing forces, laws working toward opposite ends. And yet they are not. Life requires both to be complete. There must always be a breaking down of the old before reorganization of the new can begin. Evolution is Life’s response to entropy.

But what is it that causes the shift from breakdown to rebuilding? If everything is in a state of falling apart, what is it that causes new growth to begin? We would call It the Spark of Divine Intelligence, that which cannot be named or measured. We would call it Life, Love, God. This is where Newtonian Science hits a dead end – it deems anything non-physical and immeasurable to be unreal. And yet, it has no viable explanation for the evolutionary leap that occurred when the single-celled organism chose to multiply; when cells chose to become plants; when plant life somehow chose animal life as its next expression. Something non-physical and immeasurable seems to be involved. Quantum Science is stepping in to fill the gap, bringing to light that material and measurable are not the only forms of Reality. There does appear to be a Ground of All Being, an Infinite Intelligence at work, something that goes far beyond the see-able and know-able.

So, how does this apply to the message of Holy Saturday for 2020? Infinite Intelligence has placed us in a state of waiting. We have the opportunity to consider how we will move forward. We have the time to contemplate where we will place our faith and to work on consciously directing it to that which will best support our lives. Faith has the ability to serve as both a strong foundation and a powerful tool. But like any tool, it can be used for creating or destroying. Will we place our faith in chaos or reorganization, entropy or evolution? Both are happening…there is no doubt about that. But where our attention goes, energy flows. Do we want to increase the chaos, or do we want to encourage growth and renewal?

Unity’s Fasting and Feasting 2020 encourages us to feast on renewal. I would like to share the entire piece by Rev. Elizabeth Longo, as I find it to be particularly powerful:

I am in God’s waiting room where transformation begins. Every part of my being has surrendered to the Christ within. I have crossed out all error thoughts. My soul gently waits in the stillness of my being.

The old is gone. The new is yet to be. With steadfast faith, I rest, knowing that my Spirit is being renewed. Through the power of prayer and my spiritual practices, I have let go of all thoughts of separation from the one presence. I affirm my oneness with God. I have done my work. I wait in the Silence.

My consciousness is clear. My heart is open to new life bubbling within and ready to come forth as a new creation. I listen to the still, small voice that gently whispers something miraculous is occurring in my soul – new life is springing forth. I am rising above the tombs of lack, limitations, and suffering. My mind is rising to Christ consciousness.

I feast on the knowing that I am being renewed in body, mind, and soul – resurrected from the tomb of self-pity. I delight in the new creation that is unfolding. I am being renewed in the spirit of Truth.

As I move into my day, I recognize that even as periods of darkness appear in our experience, there are always those who continue to hold the Light so that we may all find our way. Jesus was one such Light Bearer. Each of us has the power to make that choice, to become bearers of Light. Today I affirm for myself, and for each one who reads this message:

As this period of renewal unfolds, as an evolved way of life comes into being, I continue to hold the Light of faith in the world. In holding the Light, I find my way, and Light the way for others to do the same. Christ Consciousness is revealed and the world is made new.

May we all be well…stay in touch…know our Unity…and thrive!

And may we know the Absolute Beauty and Wonder of this Grace-filled, once-in-a lifetime day…