Acts 1:9 (CEB) After Jesus said these things, as they were watching, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight.
The Feast of the Ascension
Summary: Ascension is an invitation to be both earthly and divine.
This Sunday is The Feast of the Ascension…the day that we celebrate that Jesus began working from home (dum dum). That joke is courtesy of Episcopal Church Memes. The Ascension of Christ is a principal feast of the church year. On this day, we mark the day that Christ rose to heaven after appearing to his followers for forty days. The Ascension marks the last of Jesus’s post-resurrection appearances.
What does Ascension mean in our lives? Ascension is an invitation to spiritual growth. The incarnation of Christ means that Jesus united himself for all eternity with humanity. Even in the ascension, Christ is still united with humanity. Since, we are “in-Christ,” we like Christ, are both human and divine. Thus, we, like Jesus, live an ascended life. As the ascended Christ, Jesus is now both human and divine. Ascension means that we are both human and divine. Ascension is an invitation for our earthly selves to rise above our earth nature and live as heavenly souls. We are invited to rise above our human nature and live like Christ.
As ascended beings, we can handle challenges and upsets with grace and growth because we are not earth bound. How do we do this? Whenever you are “triggered” or experience negative situations, there is a soul lesson to be discovered. We can give into our earthly-self and give into bitterness or despair. Or we can discover our divine self and live in compassion and love. A trigger is an invitation to discover our divine self. It is an invitation to bring Christ’s healing into our hurts, give ourselves compassion, and then grow beyond those hurts. The healed side of the hurt gives us a new higher perspective where we can live in compassion and love. There are steps to overcoming triggers, when you become triggered, stay in the moment, calm yourself, and then become curious. Search your heart for what triggered you. It is most likely a childhood hurt. Allow yourself to bring that hurt to God and let God heal the hurt. The best way I have practiced this is to picture myself as a child sitting in a comfy chair and let Jesus come and sit next to me. I let Jesus speak to my child-like self. Jesus often says something comforting or just heals the wound with his presence.
When we are our divine self, we are closely aligned with God and truth, are more compassionate and loving, and we are not reactive but can respond with grace. The invitation is to become a healing divine presence.
May you be a divine presence in the world,
Pastor Anny+
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