Thursday, April 06, 2023

From Spiritual Death to Rebirth

– “Love and Sacrifice” (detail)
by Salem Beiruti


This year for Holy Week I’ll be sharing a series of excerpts from Marianne Williamson’s 2004 book The Gift of Change: Spiritual Guidance for a Radically New Life. These excerpts are from chapter 9, “From Spiritual Death to Rebirth.”

The you that has been invalidated, put down, suppressed, violated, hurt, endangered, smeared, humiliated, mocked, brutalized, abandoned, lied about, stolen from – on and on goes the list of ego delight – such is your crucified self.

The crucifixion is not specifically a Christian concept; metaphysically, it is a pattern of energy, demonstrated physically in the life of Jesus but experienced psychically in the life of everyone. Energetically, it symbolizes a pattern of thought. Death is its mission and life its enemy, for it is the mind at work against God.

Thus the drama of every human life, as love is born into the world and then crucified by fear. But the story does not stop there. Resurrection, like crucifixion, is a metaphysical truth: it is God’s response to the ego, or the ultimate triumph of love. All that is ever going on, in any situation, is that love appears, it is crucified, and ultimately love holds sway.

. . . There is a dark force, not outside us but within us, always at work to destroy the love that God creates. That force, or ego, is held in place by our belief that we are separate from God and from each other; it expresses itself constantly through judgment and blame. It is every unkind word, attack thought, or violent action. Sometimes it whispers, as in a mere glance; sometimes it shouts, as in the genocide of a people. But it is always active, as long as it has fear to fuel it. And today it has its eye on the biggest prize of all – the prospect of global annihilation.

Sometimes it’s other people who string us up on the cross, and at other times we do it all by ourselves. Frequently, it seems to be a combination of both. The ego does not discriminate so much as it seeks to harm whoever it can reach. But the part of us that can be crucified is not the part of us that is who we actually are. The ego can destroy the body, but it cannot destroy the spirit.

– Marianne Williamson
Excerpted from The Gift of Change:
Spiritual Guidance for a Radically New Life

HarperCollins, 2004
pp. 185-187


NEXT: A Vortex of the Miraculous



The Wild Reed’s 2022 Holy Week posts:
“The Most Authentic Statement of Created Life”
Good Friday Reflections
“This Spring, May We Renew the World”
Easter for Mystics



The Wild Reed’s 2021 Holy Week post:
The Final Say



The Wild Reed’s 2020 Holy Week posts:
Holy Week, 2020
God’s Good Gift



The Wild Reed’s 2019 Holy Week post:
In This In-Between Time . . . of Both Loss and Promise



For The Wild Reed’s 2018 Holy Week series (featuring excerpts from Druid author and speaker John Michael Greer’s essay “The God from the House of Bread” in the 2012 anthology, Jesus Through Pagan Eyes: Bridging Neopagan Perspectives with a Progressive Vision of Christ), see:
The God from the House of Bread: A Bridge Between Christianity and Paganism (Part 1)
The God from the House of Bread (Part 2)
The God from the House of Bread (Part 3)
The God from the House of Bread (Part 4)




For The Wild Reed’s 2017 Holy Week series (featuring excerpts from a 1999 interview with scholar and teacher Andrew Harvey, accompanied by images that depict Jesus as the embodiment of the Cosmic Christ), see:
Jesus Our Guide to Mystical Love (Part 1)
Jesus Our Guide to Mystical Love (Part 2)
Jesus Our Guide to Mystical Love (Part 3)





For The Wild Reed’s 2016 Holy Week series (featuring excerpts from Richard Horsley’s 1993 book Jesus and the Spiral of Violence, accompanied by images of Juan Pablo Di Pace as Jesus in the 2015 NBC mini-series A.D.: The Bible Continues), see:
Jesus and Social Revolution (Part 1)
Jesus and Social Revolution (Part 2)
Jesus and Social Revolution (Part 3)







For The Wild Reed’s 2015 Holy Week series (featuring excerpts from Cletus Wessels’ book Jesus in the New Universe Story), see:
The Two Entwined Events of the Easter Experience
Resurrection in an Emerging Universe
Resurrection: A New Depth of Consciousness



For The Wild Reed’s 2014 Holy Week series (featuring excerpts from John Neafsey’s book A Sacred Voice is Calling: Personal Vocation and Social Conscience), see:
“To Die and So to Grow”
The Way of the Wounded Warrior
Suffering and Redemption
A God With Whom It is Possible to Connect
A Discerning Balance Between Holiness and Wholeness: A Hallmark of the Resurrected Life




For The Wild Reed’s 2013 Holy Week series (featuring excerpts from Albert Nolan’s book Jesus Before Christianity, accompanied by images of Jesus that some might call "unconventional"), see:
Jesus: The Upside-down Messiah
Jesus: Mystic and Prophet
Jesus and the Art of Letting Go
Within the Mystery, a Strange and Empty State of Suspension
Jesus: The Revelation of Oneness




For The Wild Reed’s 2012 Holy Week series (featuring excerpts from Cynthia Bourgeault’s book The Wisdom Jesus: Transforming Heart and Mind – A New Perspective on Christ and His Message), see:
The Passion: “A Sacred Path of Liberation”
Beyond Anger and Guilt
Judas and Peter
No Deeper Darkness
When Love Entered Hell
The Resurrected Jesus . . .



For The Wild Reed’s 2011 Holy Week series (featuring excerpts from Albert Nolan’s book Jesus Before Christianity, accompanied by images of various cinematic depictions of Jesus), see:
“Who Is This Man?”
A Uniquely Liberated Man
An Expression of Human Solidarity
No Other Way
Two Betrayals
And What of Resurrection?
Jesus: The Breakthrough in the History of Humanity
To Believe in Jesus



For The Wild Reed’s 2010 Holy Week series (featuring excerpts from Andrew Harvey’s book Son of Man: The Mystical Path to Christ), see:
Jesus: Path-Blazer of Radical Transformation
The Essential Christ
One Symbolic Iconoclastic Act
One Overwhelming Fire of Love
The Most Dangerous Kind of Rebel
Resurrection: Beyond Words, Dogmas and All Possible Theological Formulations
The Cosmic Christ: Brother, Lover, Friend, Divine and Tender Guide




For The Wild Reed’s 2009 Holy Week series (featuring the artwork of Doug Blanchard and the writings of Marcus Borg, James and Evelyn Whitehead, John Dominic Crossan, Andrew Harvey, Francis Webb, Dianna Ortiz, Uta Ranke-Heinemann and Paula Fredriksen), see:
The Passion of Christ (Part 1) – Jesus Enters the City
The Passion of Christ (Part 2) – Jesus Drives Out the Money Changers
The Passion of Christ (Part 3) – Last Supper
The Passion of Christ (Part 4) – Jesus Prays Alone
The Passion of Christ (Part 5) – Jesus Before the People
The Passion of Christ (Part 6) – Jesus Before the Soldiers
The Passion of Christ (Part 7) – Jesus Goes to His Execution
The Passion of Christ (Part 8) – Jesus is Nailed the Cross
The Passion of Christ (Part 9) – Jesus Dies
The Passion of Christ (Part 10) – Jesus Among the Dead
The Passion of Christ (Part 11) – Jesus Appears to Mary
The Passion of Christ (Part 12) – Jesus Appears to His Friends


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