Today,
Let's let go of the heavy.
There are so many things,
Throughout our lives,
Throughout our day to day,
That instill stress and worry and that repeat the old patterns of trauma.
Just for this moment,
Let's begin to release that tension,
That stress.
Begin by getting comfortable wherever you are.
And just take a deep,
Slow inhale through your nose,
Filling the belly and the chest.
Let it go.
With a sigh,
Let's use our breath as a tool and make noise as you exhale.
If you are safe to make a big sound,
Just go ahead and sigh that out.
Making noise through your throat helps you to release stuck energy in the body from sleep,
From stress,
Releasing that stagnancy with each breath.
Very good.
Continue to breathe as you scan your body.
Just noticing if there is any tension.
Maybe in your jaw or your shoulders or neck.
Maybe in your lower back or your feet.
And one by one,
Send breath to those places.
Breathe into them.
With each breath,
Maybe only a fraction of tension releases,
But it's something.
It's enough for this moment.
And I want to reflect on this holiday that we just observed.
And I say observed because some celebrate and some don't.
But we observe it passing by just like our thoughts in this moment,
Our feelings.
Whether you find yourself drawn towards religion or maybe you are repulsed by it.
Try to find a place of non-judgment,
Simply observing what comes up in you,
In the body,
In the thoughts.
On Easter,
Many are celebrating Jesus Christ after he has risen from the dead.
He has defeated death.
And they celebrate this because what it means for them is that they no longer have to strive in order to be good enough to be worthy.
They don't have to work their way to a relationship with God.
See all of us,
A lot of us are striving and fighting constantly.
We're fighting these battles.
And the message that Jesus sent that day is that the war has been won.
Not that we don't fight battles,
But that it's not up to us to save the world because it's been done.
That the good wins.
That death,
Darkness,
Heaviness that you battle against every day that maybe you feel is out to get you has already lost.
We look out into the world and we say,
How can that be true?
Some people believe that things will change when we receive the Holy Spirit,
The peace of God that now lives within you because of Jesus' sacrifice,
Peace of him,
His voice,
His wisdom,
His love,
His compassion,
It's in you.
So let's just take a few moments to recognize that there are two spirits within us.
You're not crazy for speaking to yourself.
There's a part of you that struggles and that's angry and frustrated.
There's a part of you that doesn't feel worthy,
That rages with a fire that does want to fight.
That part should be allowed to live,
But allow the spirit within you to live too.
Make it a conversation that you have where you're able to say,
It doesn't feel fair.
I feel alone.
I hate this.
Where you're allowed to just condemn and allow it to be a conversation with this higher version of you.
This Holy Spirit can step in and hold you in that place.
It's not an energy of guilt or shame for who you are.
It's compassion.
What if this was self-love?
Self-love is allowing the love of Jesus,
The love of God that is in you to respond.
Take a deep,
Long breath in and let it all go.
Simply bringing yourself back to the present moment.
Noticing if there is any thoughts or feelings coming up.
Without judgment,
Just noticing.
A lot of times,
Society teaches us that the love of God is something we need to work for.
That we need to go to church for,
That we need to prove ourselves for,
That we need to change for.
That it's about rules and dogma.
I believe the message that Jesus came here to give us is that it's not about rules,
It's about relationship.
That the war has been won but it's up to us to receive the voice of God.
The love of God.
The forgiveness.
Sometimes we do have free will.
And sometimes the darkness is caused by us not having that conversation and passing on the pain and the suffering in an endless cycle.
Maybe you've been questioning if God loves you because as a child you were put through really terrible circumstances.
Maybe as an adult you've just endured and endured and it feels never ending.
And I'll never sit here and try to tell you that you're not a victim.
I can't take that and no one can take that away from you.
But you don't have to stay a victim.
See you can be transformed and changed without the striving.
Simply by receiving.
In this moment.
You don't have to be that child that couldn't defend themselves.
You don't have to be that person.
That person that just has bad luck.
It just can't catch a break.
You can be that person that has blessings on blessings and abundance of love and community and understanding and open heart.
Endless opportunities.
Your debt can be paid off in full right now.
No matter what you're carrying it is real.
It is not in your head.
It is very real.
And yet miracles are possible for you.
You're worthy of that.
Allow the spirit within you to respond.
And I'm going to give you a couple of minutes now to just speak.
If it's safe to do so out loud,
I invite you to do that.
If not,
Then just stay in your little bubble inside of your head and allow whatever needs to come up to come up.
And when you're complete,
Allow a response.
Maybe you want to write that response down.
Know that you're safe and that you're cared for no matter what you've done.
No matter what's happened to you.
The choice now is to receive.
Deep breath in and let it go.
Hart ت CB Ooh-ah I love you begin to come back into your body feeling the ground,
The bed,
Or the chair beneath you feeling the breath in your nose and your lungs begin wiggling your toes and your fingertips maybe stretch your arms tall for a good morning stretch before opening your eyes maybe a smile just stretches across your face not because it isn't heavy but because God lives inside of you that the good winds,
The war,
Has been won that you have angels and angels and angels on your side that's a thing to celebrate happy Easter and peace be with you my friend
