Good Friday Musings

 

      For many years, Good Friday has been for me a day of fasting, meditation and reflection.  Often that has meant spending a good part of the day with Jesus.

 

         On this Good Friday, I reflect on what is, for me, the central theme of Jesus’ teaching: We are all part of one Consciousness, the essence of which is Love.  This Universal Consciousness – God - is our origin and our destination.

 

         Our destination is not out there somewhere. It is not separate from us. Jesus says the Kingdom of God is within.  Within each of us there is a quiet spaciousness at the center of being, where individual consciousness meets Cosmic Consciousness, where love meets Love, where human meets Divine. 

 

         So, how do we access this spacious center of being?

 

         Meditation practice helps us travel toward inner spaciousness.  We set our intention to enter the deep quiet. We soften and relax.  We let go of effort.  As a mercy to ourselves, we gently disengage from busy mind, with its worries, rehearsals and judgments.  We follow the outbreath toward stillness – gently inviting ourselves back to breath, again and again, gently and persistently re-orienting toward stillness.

 

         There is no need to struggle or search.  This practice is a matter of allowing and trusting. We simply let go and let ourselves be guided down a natural pathway to the deep quiet at the center of being.  It’s our home. It’s our nature to spend time there. We know the way.

 

         It’s so peaceful there - so nourishing and restorative.  When we plant ourselves in fertile emptiness, even for a moment, we grow.

 

         With practice, this natural pathway becomes a highway.  The quiet inner spaciousness becomes ever more familiar, ever more expansive – connecting us ever more deeply to True Self and All That Is.

 

         On this Good Friday, as I soften and surrender in ever-deepening trust, I sense God guiding me to God.  I feel Love leading me to Love - Love, the extravagant Wellspring of Mercy and Compassion that, with permission, flows freely within and among all beings.

 

         Thank you, Jesus.  It is a good Friday.