Loving Self

Lent officially began on Wednesday. In traditional Christianity Lent is a time of preparation for Easter through penance, repentance of sins, and self-denial¹. Many adherents to Orthodox Christianity, as well as many Protestants, engage in the practice of “giving something up for Lent,” and it is usually a behavior which they consider sinful.

Charles Fillmore, the co-founder of Unity, in Keep a True Lent says, “Lent is a season of spiritual growth, a time for progressive unfoldment.” We, in Unity, also traditionally observe Lent through the practice of “giving up something;” however, rather than giving up something demonstrable, we strive to let go of thinking that is not in alignment with our Divine Nature. In a way, we also practice “repentance of sin.” We teach that repentance is “turning away from sin,” or making another choice, and ‘sin’ is “error thought.”

Lent is a 40-day period (not counting Sundays) which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Easter. Metaphysically, the number ‘40’ represents a time of completion, as is represented by Jesus’ 40 days and nights in the desert prior to beginning his ministry and the Israelites wandering in the desert for 40 years before entering the promised land. Lent is intended to be a time of conscious preparation for Easter.

In The Revealing Word, Easter is defined as “The awakening and raising to spiritual consciousness of the I AM in man, which has been dead in trespasses and sins and buried in the tomb of materiality.” For us in Unity, the resurrection is symbolic of our own awakening to the transforming power of the Christ within – which we may have allowed to remain hidden behind our limiting ideas of ourselves, God, and the world. Roman Catholic Priest, Father Richard Rohr, in his book, Immortal Diamond: The Search for Our True Self, also supports this symbolic and metaphoric understanding of ‘resurrection” as he equates it with the revelation of our True Selves, which he also refers to as the Christ.

This Sunday, February 14, is the first Sunday of Lent. It is also Valentine’s Day. While Saint Valentine’s Day was originally a liturgical celebration, it has since become, for most of us, a day to celebrate romantic love. We traditionally give or send greeting cards, flowers and candy to our special loved one on this day. 

In thinking and praying about my lesson for this Sunday, I have contemplated how I might bring Lent, Valentine’s Day and Love all together into one message. I am still working that out. However, in my contemplations I was inspired to approach Lent from a slightly different perspective this year. Rather than focusing on releasing that which does not serve us, such as our thoughts and behaviors, I suggest that we instead focus on loving our Divine Nature, the True Self – the Christ.

I invite us during this time to explore for ourselves what it means to consciously connect with the awareness of our True Self and love it. Let us discover together the power of Love as we commit this time to adoring the True Self – the Christ of our being – as though it were our one true love. In Truth, it is. I encourage us all to meet the True Self as the Beloved. Fall in love with your Self. Take time to be with your Self. Listen to your Self. Discover ways to grow in understanding your Self. Appreciate and value your Self. I believe we will all be amazed and delighted by the results at the end of Lent as we come together to celebrate our own resurrection on Easter Sunday.

Since it is a deep and rich topic, rather than just one lesson this Sunday, I have been inspired to offer a seven-week Lenten series on “Loving Self.” This Sunday’s lesson will be “Falling in Love,” followed by lessons entitled “Being in Love,” “Growing in Love,” “Living in Love,” and “Resting in Love.” On Palm Sunday, my lesson will be “Surrendering in Love,” and on Easter, “Rising in Love.”

I hope you will join me for this series as we explore and learn together how we can, utilizing the power of Love, more fully and consciously live the Unity Spiritual Center Denver mission, to “inspire spiritual awakening and personal transformation.” Let us claim the power of Love to transform our lives and the world.

¹ Wikipedia