As many of you know, I spent several years in leadership roles in a Pentecostal church in Australia. I was the worship leader and director, led women's groups, and even preached on Sunday mornings. (yup!! It's true!)
I once gave a sermon about not putting God in a box. We tend to limit God and our understanding of spirit due to our desire to feel safe, certain, and comfortable. It's way easier to believe the guy standing at the pulpit than it is to acknowledge spirit as the Great Mystery. As scary as it is, when we embrace the unknown and allow ourselves to float in the sea of mystery, so much more can unfold for us.
Good Friday is a day of the Greatest Love. In the Biblical story, it's when the ultimate sacrifice was made, and with it Jesus opened the way for each person to have direct connection with the Divine.
By Grace, not by works.
That means it doesn't matter what you do or if you're "good enough". The Greatest Love, the unconditional love of God, invites you into connection and communion with spirit.
I still believe this to be true. I always have, even before I found the church.
The transactional back and forth that we see in churches of sin and repentance (hello Catholicism) and "getting right with God" (evangelism isn't far off from the Catholics), is actually contradictory to the teachings and story of Jesus.
But I'm not giving a sermon now (although I COULD, complete with scripture references), so I'll simply say this.
YOU ARE DIVINELY LOVED and ACCEPTED.
That's the story of Good Friday. "God so loved the world...." (John 3:16)
That's YOU.
And me!
And even that person you really don't like.
God/Spirit wants to commune with you, deeper. There's nothing you have to do to be good enough to receive that love. You don't have to climb a ladder of spiritual progress, meditate longer, pray harder, or go live in a cave somewhere.
You are loved just as you are.
Today I invite you to take a moment to acknowledge Divine Love. No matter what you may have previously understood "god" to be, allow yourself to shed the layers of pre-conditioning and other people's belief systems and be open to receive.
Simply take a moment to sit and say "hello" to spirit.
"I am open to receive love."
See what happens. Say it again, with an open heart.
If you feel stuck, ask for help. "Please help me receive the Greatest Love"
The Truth of Spirit and Love is but a breath away. Once you truly experience it, it can transform your life, forever.
I have known the love of spirit since I was a little girl. My work has shifted and changed over time (from Pentecostal preacher to full-time witch) but my mission has remained the same - I am here to help people reconnect with spirit. That involves reconnecting with all parts of ourselves. We ARE spirit, having a human experience.
We punish and banish parts of ourselves because we see them as not good enough, shameful, broken. Receiving Divine Unconditional Love also involves loving those parts of ourselves, without condition.
Jesus embraced all with unconditional love, and was especially close with the people the religious zealots condemned. Imagine if we did the same to our parts of ourselves that we, or the world, condemned!
We sure can learn a lot from this Jesus guy.
Let's experience Good Friday beyond the religious authoritative dogma and allow ourselves to connect with the true essence of Spirit and Love.
May you deeply feel and receive love xx
❤️
My Sacred Pause begins today
Back in January, I received direction from spirit to take this time completely off to go within and be still. Starting today, I will be completely unavailable and offline for the next couple of weeks.
There are shifts happening within me, my business, my work. I can feel it all. I don't fully know what is to come, but I am so very grateful that I am able to take this time to truly listen. To receive.
I didn't even realize that my Sacred Pause was beginning on Good Friday. How perfect!
To Jesus' followers, this day felt like the End.
But it was only the beginning.
I will go into the depth of my cocoon, allow all things to die, so that I may rise again.
By honouring the endings to we make room for the beginnings.
Thank you to all who have supported me on this journey. The Accelerator, mentorships, one-on-one work, group workshops and events. Thank you for receiving me, supporting my work, and for answering the call to allow us to walk together when you felt it was right.
My deepest gratitude to you all.
This Easter, may we all be reborn.
I love you,
Audra