Sunday Musings - February 18, 2024
This past week some of us celebrated the beginning of the new lunar year -the year of the dragon. The person born under the sign of the Dragon -a Yang Earth sign - is thought to possess resilience and confidence and to be naturally lucky and successful because of their intelligence and strong intuition.
Some celebrated Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day in the United States is a commercial holiday but can be the occasion to express love and appreciation for those who makes one’s life fuller and richer.
Many Christians celebrated Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten season. Lent for Christians is a solemn period of 40 days and 40 nights encompassing Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and ending in Easter. It is a time for Christians to remember the sacrifice of the god of their understanding in the form of Jesus and his message of sacrifice and unconditional love. During Lent many Christians give up something they like or treasure as a personal sacrifice and as a symbol of repentance. They may also use this as an opportunity to be generous with others.
Easter signifies the resurrection of the crucified Jesus. It is also commercially symbolized with eggs, bunnies, and baby chicks as signs of new life. In the United States children and some adults receive baskets of goodies and enjoy Easer Egg hunts. In some places of the world Easter welcomes the advent of spring while in other places it signals the arrival of the winter season. The changing of seasons can remind one of death and new life; that the old must rest or die for the new to emerge.
For all of us this change in seasons can be a time to meditate on the fact that the line between life and death is in many respects an artificial one. Science reminds us that energy is not created or destroyed. It exists even though its forms changes. Thus, water becomes ice or steam. The energy of our voice becomes sound waves which travels through space with the assistance of transmitters. The typed word transmits energy through the magic of the computer via the internet to be reassembled thousands of miles away. This happens seemingly instantly. Anyone who had lived through a hurricane, cyclone, or other significant weather event does not doubt the fact that water and wind are energy forces. We also know of the energy power of certain chemicals some of which trigger the firing of neurons in our brain.
Many, if not most, religious traditions, teach both life and death are temporary states of being that as we humans return to dust or ashes, we continue to exist ready to be reborn in some form. For some religions the rebirth is believed to be as physical as the depiction of the risen Christ who was said to have ascended into heaven and to sit on the right hand of God. For others the rebirth or resurrection is experienced in the creation of new life in many forms including poetry, music, sculptures, paintings, or other art forms.
Most of we humans, no matter our religious beliefs, are bereft when loved ones end their physical earthly journey. We may or may not experience their continued presence in the form of energy left behind. Yet, even experiencing that presence and the knowledge their essence in the form of energy still exists, it is not the same as the living comfort they formerly provided. We become very attached to that presence. We also become attached to the illusion of permanence even though we know, of course, no matter our age or health conditions our energy- our essence - will soon change form.
In this season of death and rebirth we may take comfort in being as fully presence as humanly possible Many Christians celebrated Ash Wednesday; the beginning of the Lenten season.to the sacredness of all of life – all of energy - in its many forms.
Written February 18, 2024
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
This past week some of us celebrated the beginning of the new lunar year -the year of the dragon. The person born under the sign of the Dragon -a Yang Earth sign - is thought to possess resilience and confidence and to be naturally lucky and successful because of their intelligence and strong intuition.
Some celebrated Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day in the United States is a commercial holiday but can be the occasion to express love and appreciation for those who makes one’s life fuller and richer.
Many Christians celebrated Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten season. Lent for Christians is a solemn period of 40 days and 40 nights encompassing Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and ending in Easter. It is a time for Christians to remember the sacrifice of the god of their understanding in the form of Jesus and his message of sacrifice and unconditional love. During Lent many Christians give up something they like or treasure as a personal sacrifice and as a symbol of repentance. They may also use this as an opportunity to be generous with others.
Easter signifies the resurrection of the crucified Jesus. It is also commercially symbolized with eggs, bunnies, and baby chicks as signs of new life. In the United States children and some adults receive baskets of goodies and enjoy Easer Egg hunts. In some places of the world Easter welcomes the advent of spring while in other places it signals the arrival of the winter season. The changing of seasons can remind one of death and new life; that the old must rest or die for the new to emerge.
For all of us this change in seasons can be a time to meditate on the fact that the line between life and death is in many respects an artificial one. Science reminds us that energy is not created or destroyed. It exists even though its forms changes. Thus, water becomes ice or steam. The energy of our voice becomes sound waves which travels through space with the assistance of transmitters. The typed word transmits energy through the magic of the computer via the internet to be reassembled thousands of miles away. This happens seemingly instantly. Anyone who had lived through a hurricane, cyclone, or other significant weather event does not doubt the fact that water and wind are energy forces. We also know of the energy power of certain chemicals some of which trigger the firing of neurons in our brain.
Many, if not most, religious traditions, teach both life and death are temporary states of being that as we humans return to dust or ashes, we continue to exist ready to be reborn in some form. For some religions the rebirth is believed to be as physical as the depiction of the risen Christ who was said to have ascended into heaven and to sit on the right hand of God. For others the rebirth or resurrection is experienced in the creation of new life in many forms including poetry, music, sculptures, paintings, or other art forms.
Most of we humans, no matter our religious beliefs, are bereft when loved ones end their physical earthly journey. We may or may not experience their continued presence in the form of energy left behind. Yet, even experiencing that presence and the knowledge their essence in the form of energy still exists, it is not the same as the living comfort they formerly provided. We become very attached to that presence. We also become attached to the illusion of permanence even though we know, of course, no matter our age or health conditions our energy- our essence - will soon change form.
In this season of death and rebirth we may take comfort in being as fully presence as humanly possible Many Christians celebrated Ash Wednesday; the beginning of the Lenten season.to the sacredness of all of life – all of energy - in its many forms.
Written February 18, 2024
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
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