As I work into Inner Easter, I realize what a watered-down, idealized and dramatized, Inner Hollywood, Inner Easter Basket, token and cloudy relationship I’ve had to every aspect of the Easter Mystery. Over twenty years ago I found my way to the wisdom shared by Rudolf Steiner on the evolution of consciousness. When Easter is placed into this perspective, the significance of the events for the consciousness of all human beings, becomes obvious and profound, but having the concept doesn’t mean there is an equally profound and intimate living feeling relationship to the mystery.
Evolution means there are no fixed points, no true beliefs, no everlasting meaning. All evolves. A soul on a path of personal development must give up identities, habits, and stories and that is a truly challenging inner reality.
There is a paradox here. The more we enter into evolution, the more we are able to discern and lift evolutionary veils and glimpse the eternal and absolute. Again I am sharing a concept that rings true to my bones, but I only rarely enter into a living relationship with the experience itself.
We live in fast-changing times, so our external realities are in constant flux – god bless technology and corporate greed because their drive for new applications and new products (both profit driven) are bombarding our perceptions and driving human consciousness to adjust to constant newness, albeit drenched in materialism. As we deal with change outwardly, we find a growing capacity to experience change inwardly and evolve consciously.
Working with Inner Easter, intimately, moment by moment, drinking deep of the cosmic and the human agonies and glories of Easter, we are altered to the core of our developing selfhood.
With Maundy Thursday we experience the darkest night of human consciousness. Now with Good Friday we live the darkest day. The old light had faded and the new light was yet to appear.
As the sunrises on Good Friday bringing a light that had no light, even no love, Jesus Christ is on trial. He faces those bearing false witness about his words and his presence.
Good Friday Questions
Have you experienced others describing you in false ways? What did it feel like?
And when and about whom have you provided false witness? Denied the god within another human being?
Have you, can you forgive false witness?
Here is the link to the compilation of all the gospel recollections:
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/category/holy-week/
I woke up in the middle of the night, after sending this out, and found my thoughts swirling around these questions. I have confronted false witness many times and had one of my most traumatic experiences when I was 9 years old. I spent much time in the inner space of false witness until the question turned inside out and I found myself contemplating those who bore witness to me and my life – not just my glories but also my agonies – with constant, abiding attention.
The phrase “a concept that rings true to my bones, but I only rarely enter into a living relationship with the experience itself” so resonates for me. Different concept, same experience. And I get stuck in the space of “how can I proclaim the Truth of this, when I so rarely enter into the experience myself?”. And yet, in not proclaiming the Truth, and pretending otherwise, is that not bearing False Witness against my Self?
Moira, If once in your lifetime, your bones ring with Truth, how blessed you are. Then you can sing forever of that moment. Lynn
As painful as it was to be described in false ways, the grief I feel the most today comes from seeing how much of my life was spent in defending myself and “proving” that I was not the person “they” described. Now I am waking up and seeing that I’m living out many false constructs that I created from false reactions to false descriptions. So have I ever described others falsely? Of course. There’s also some grief that 3 grown women are holding me at a distance because I described them falsely when they were coming of age.
Lynn always encourages us to look at things from the opposite point of view as well. I see that in my journey of defending and proving, I developed many very useful talents and skills that I can now put in service of finding and expressing True Self and beholding the Truth in others.
I can also see and meet for the first time 3 women that I’ve known since they were born.
Linda, false descriptions, false constructs, false reactions, good images to bring to a Holy Saturday mediation of redemption. Lynn
Lynn, I liked what you said about those watching with “constant, abiding attention.” i know the Good Friday experience is mostly a focus on the falsehoods and betrayals of that attention, but your words caused me to think about the glories as well- the Mary Magdalenes, the Mary-mothers, the beloved Johns, who watched and hoped with me and for me, close by, seeing the unique potential of my soul and circumstance to bear with me and midwife me through both the beautiful and the excruciating.
Beautifully expressed, Gina, and awakens a Good Friday imagination that warms the heavens.
It is so difficult to even know yourself and therefore extremely presumptious to feel that you really “know” someone else and are actually able to speak about them. To prayerfully and meditatively listen to another person’s story not only with your ears, but with your heart, is the closest we can come to “not bearing false witness.” This attitude of heart and mind is something that has occupied my attention for many years and as I still find myself falling short, I know I will continue to work in this way for the rest of my life.
I know that feeling well. But I do know that there are spiritual beings that appear to “take up the slack” when our intentions to witness are sincere.