Cross Out The Fiction And Rise Up and Roar!
One of the most dominant requisites for doing business in the modern world is to have a logo – a graphic image that people instantly associate with a particular business. The power of the well-known logo was made very clear to me last fall as I sat in my grandchild’s Kindergarten class. I watched the teacher flash cards of McDonald’s golden arches, General Electric’s stylized initials, the Coca-Cola name written in cursive letters and the Taco Bell talking dog (to name a few) to a group of five year-old children on the first day of school. They responded quickly and correctly to the picture on each card and she congratulated them for being able to read!
There is another symbol that is known throughout the world that also would have been easily recognized by the children had it been shown. It has been a very powerful logo for a long time – it is the cross that appears in endless varieties – especially during the Easter season. It is carved in wood, cast in iron, burnished in copper, hewn out of marble, molded out of plastic, or lit up in neon; it stands on steeples, is worn on necklaces and hangs above pulpits and altars.
Popular as it is throughout the world, one usually doesn’t find a cross at a Religious Science Church. When a newcomer inquires as to the absence of a cross in the Church Sanctuary, I tell them that if we were to have one, we would also need to display a Star of David, a statue of Buddha or any other religious logo one could name. Why? Because Ernest Holmes, the founder of the Church of Religious Science, studied all religions and took what he felt to be the thread of Truth central to them, put it all together and called it the Science of Mind.
The absence of the cross that traditionally represents Christianity and the teachings of Jesus do not mean that we don’t believe in those teachings. There is an entire chapter in the Science of Mind textbook devoted to the teachings of Jesus which allows the student to look beyond the surface meaning of symbols and stories in order to understand the metaphysical meaning and how it applies to one’s life today.
So – what does the story of crucifixion and resurrection mean to the Religious Scientist? It is written in the Metaphysical Bible Dictionary from Unity that the vertical bar of the cross symbolizes the inner current of Divine Life. The horizontal bar represents the crosscurrent of human limitation; thus, it is when the human spirit has hang-ups or is hung up in negativity that true crucifixion needs to take place. The willingness to crucify criticism, condemnation, blame of self or others sets up the condition for healing. As one is able to let go of feelings of unworthiness, inadequacy or rejection, a resurrecting of the inner current of Divine Life flows easily and one is set free. The stone from the tomb of doubt and fear within the mind of one who is able to identify the thoughts and beliefs that limit and bind is removed, and a conscious resurrection is made with the indwelling Spirit.
It is the crossing out of the fiction, which means that which is feigned or invented, in our thoughts and feelings that make this season meaningful. Ask yourself, “what are the limited beliefs I have about myself, others, life and God that have become hang-ups or that limits me?” “What inventions of my mind have I allowed to restrict me from experiencing the life more abundant that is the promise of all the religious traditions?”
The month of April is a postlude to spring this year, and all of nature rises up and virtually roars with the beauty of God. Easter is a time for the metaphysician to advance beyond the status quo, to let go of past conditioning and realize that we are on journeys that unfold according to the inner map and timetable. Always questioning whether the decisions we make about the trips we take are detours from where we really want to go is a good thing to do. Whether we are facing major changes, i.e., getting married or divorced, becoming parents for the first time, dealing with illness or grief of loss, changing jobs or being promoted, we need to know that God’s wisdom within us reveals the next step of the way. It is God’s intelligence that enables us to crucify that which is not the Truth about us and to experience the resurrection of new beliefs that allow productive, creative changes to take place.
Thus, the Easter season with its logo of the cross is a universal call to change – a once-a-year reminder that there is a Power in the Universe that supports our spiritual journey in the world. This time of year is a personal call for crucifixion and resurrection – cross outthe fiction and rise up and roar with a greater awareness of the unity of the individual life, the beauty of God and all that it has to offer each one of us.
Feel free to read more from Dr. Carolyn McKeown:
The Cosmic Process Demands Flexibility!
The Easter Urge
God With Us
Flexibility -- The Cosmic Process
From Duality to Unity
