"Behold, I Make All Things New"
By Rev. LeRoy E. Zemke
Pastor, Temple of the Living God
The work of man’s hand passes away; but nature goes on its unvarying course throughout all ages, renewing its life with every spring and scattering lavishly its riches without ever becoming poorer.
Rudolf Bultmann
This World and The Beyond
It is useless to think that God can be persuaded by our prayers to suspend one single law in our behalf ... but it is only somehow truth to say that, by our prayers, we bring ourselves into the knowledge and the love of God and therewith gain more and better help than if suddenly every law in the Universe were altered to our benefit.
John Haynes Holmes
The Messiah Pulpit
Within the very heart of life, there are certain times we each seek to understand how we can be open to the idea of something being made “new.” The idea of change here is often intriguing, stimulating and I dare say appealing. Yet while the promise of something becoming transformed into newness is desired, the anticipated change is often larger than life, bigger than we can grasp; or it is so frightening, more overwhelming than we can imagine, that we flee away and hide ourselves, quite literally from the possible outcomes, or more significantly, even attempt to enter into the change we seek.
Throughout our life we are reminded of the promise that comes with a new job, a new relationship, beginning an educational thrust, buying a new home, a new car, getting a new, fresh start in business, career, life goal such as working in a specific direction or gathering energy (so to speak) to start a brand new project. The promise, sometimes spoken, sometimes not, is that our life will be better, the environment will be different, the results of such change will make a huge difference for the better in our life.
Change is often seen as positive, desirable and we spend amazing amounts of time, effort and resources to bring the desired changes into our life. Of course, the purpose for change, the desired outcomes all have very much to do with the intended direction it takes and the inner/outer work we must individually take on to accomplish the necessary end results.
I would like to offer some broad guidelines to allow a fresh view of “newness” as suggested by our theme of the month: “Behold, I make all things new.”
1. Spirit, God, the Unlimited Source of All Life undergirds our lives our entire journey from birth to death and beyond. Within our lifetime, we each gain glimpses of this connection in a variety of sacred moments, such as birth, special anniversaries or spiritual events, marriage, and, in its ultimate timeliness, death too.
When we honor the spirit in sacred ceremony or recognize the presence of this deep, holy, life giving and sustaining power in the universe we consciously connect with the Source of all that can be called “new” in our life! We honor it when we acknowledge that God/Spirit is present - always - everywhere even when we cannot see it, feel it, or be aware of it. It requires us to “look” at it when we pray, meditate or feel a resonance to beauty, or nature in its coat of many colors. It’s present when we can relate to the races and cultures of the world as people of all nations seek to live out their life/lives in simple or complex ways. When we can appreciate all beings without judging them we approach the attitude within ourselves that allows or grants us a view of life that’s open to the presence we so earnestly seek within ourselves!
2. Old/new ... embracing the change. All of us have areas in our life that need to shift, be refocused or change. We may need to release an old outworn attitude toward a person or job we no longer have a relationship with, we need to surrender control over a child who has grown up and left home. We may need to examine old health habits to make more healthful choices. In short, any area of life where we are trapped by a fear, feeling or focus that limits our capacity to move forward may need to shift, be realigned or surrendered.
And how do we accomplish this? Simply put, we give it to God/Spirit and ask the Source of Life to genuinely aid us in letting go of that which needs to be given up.
Some suggestions for doing this follow:
(a) Prayer, meditation.....here we ask Spirit to lift the specific burden of our heart. We do not beg, plead, demand or cajole God/Spirit...we ask to come into a clear resonance with God’s plan for us to help us discover what we need, what is best for us, what will make our life better, easier, lighter, more fulfilling, joyful, peaceful, loving and thus blessed. When we ask God to help us, we gain an understanding that is not measured by a time or an emotionally backed demand for God to alter the laws of the universe to meet some need of one human being. Prayer is about asking and meditation is about listening.
(b) Ceremonial release. Write out on a clean sheet of paper (preferably longhand because it contains your own pen to paper energy) the one specific area of your life in which you seek help or assistance to change. Supposing it’s in the area of health ... and you want to eat more appropriately, begin to exercise more, and nurture your body in specific ways.
List in order: (You choose the order important to you)
(1) I seek to eat more natural, healthy foods.
(2) I seek to find practical, simple and viable ways to exercise where or near where I live.
(3) I seek to practice yoga, or tai chi or have a bimonthly massage, go to dance class at my school, church or community center, etc. (list choices you wish to make).
Finally in the last line of your handwritten request ask your inner CEO (God Presence, Power) for assistance to help you achieve the practical help with your wishes or goals you seek. Always ask for that which is for your highest good and that it may be useful and helpful to all others who are in your life.
As you pray over this request(s) place it under a lighted candle from one to three hours when you will be at home. (Never leave a lighted candle burning!) At the conclusion of the time, burn the request to ashes in a container. Empty the container to the wind, out of doors and give deep, loving thanks to the Source of All Life for its activity in manifesting the results you seek in your life!
Pay attention to your outer, daily life as these requests have been sent forth into the universe for “feed back.”
An answer will appear in context of your life, from a friend, a loved one, a book, CD, invitation, or an opportunity to learn something new or related to your request. Thus will one or more of the results you are seeking will begin to appear in your outer life.
The Biblical statement that all things can be made new is filled with rich and multi layered promise. It is the gift that emerges as we are ready to receive it, wherever we are in our life, whatever else may be occurring in our life.
The task, I suspect, is that we must be willing, ready and able to follow through with our part of the relationship to the Infinite, to God, to the Almighty in ever so gentle and subtle ways.
When we are ready to ask for help to make a change in our lives, we need to look, listen and allow ourselves to be deeply available to Spirit’s call, however and wherever it may appear.
I would invite you to reflect in the following words of Yogananda as you think about this theme:
If you keep your brain, your mind, your body filled with happy memories, the greatest good of all, God, will come and remain with you. Remembering only the good experiences of the past, you shall eventually remember your oneness with Spirit. You will remember that you have come down from Spirit into this flesh, into this little cage of bones which is a prison of disease and trouble. Get away from mortal consciousness. Remember in meditation that you are one with the vast Spirit. Go on remembering, and expanding that remembrance. There is no end to your consciousness; all things are glittering like stars in the firmament of your being. Suddenly you will find that your memory has subtly become intuition, the infallible insight of the soul. You no longer have to make the effort to remember anything, because memory has metamorphosed into all-divine recollection, you shall not only remember - you shall realize that you are the Infinite Spirit.
The Divine Romance, by Paramahansa Yogananda
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