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Enjoy another wonderful text by Rev. Phil Smedsted, minister Emeritus of Oasis Rising Center

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Phil Smedstad's texts are one of the ways Oasis Rising Center supports members.

A Positive Path for Spiritual Living

Oasis Rising Center Spiritual Center
Oasis Rising Center 8125 West Sahara Avenue
Las Vegas, NV 89125
(702) 804-8189
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“The Amazing, Never-Ending Love of God”

By Rev. Phillip Smedstad

This past Sunday was a day to celebrate mothers.  It was also a day to honor the “Mother” aspect of God in us all.  Sometimes, we in Unity pray, “Dear Mother-Father God,” because God or Spirit has a feminine side as well as a masculine side.  The biggest aspect of God’s feminine side is unconditional love.

Many people don’t know that Jesus taught this same thing – that God as a feminine side, and he taught this in an age and location where women didn’t count.  For example, Jesus almost certainly had women disciples.  Also, he shared several parables which depicted God as a woman.  The Parable of the Three Measures of Leaven and the Parable of the Lost Coin are two examples.

Then there is what is probably my favorite one – the Parable of the Importunate Widow.  This parable (You can look it up in Luke 18.) isn’t about “praying without ceasing” as the disciples thought.  We’ve had this parable exactly backward.  It isn’t the judge who represents God.  It’s the widow.  She knocks and knocks and knocks on the door of our hearts until we open to Her.

God’s amazing unconditional love is everywhere.  It’s omnipresent.  It’s also the essence of Jesus’ entire message.  So, how do we receive it?  Here are three ways:

• We practice opening to God’s love through meditation.
• We practice loving and caring for ourselves.
• We practice extending love to everyone in our lives.

Yes, it’s very important to extend love to others, AND, it’s also important to love and care for ourselves.  If we don’t love ourselves first, we often find ourselves sacrificing and not truly giving.  How do we tell if we have been sacrificing?  One way is to notice if we ever find ourselves saying, “After all I’ve done for you!”  Then we can be sure we’ve been sacrificing.

One aspect of my personal ministry is to teach the difference between sacrifice and extending love.  Why is this important?  Because if we believe that God asks us to sacrifice, we will then be afraid of God.

I then shared the story of Jesus’ visit with Mary and Martha, as a way to talk about the difference between the two.  You can find it in Luke 10:38-42.  The essence of the story is when Martha asks Jesus to tell Mary to help her with the work which needs to be done.

Jesus then says, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is truly needed.  Mary has chosen the better way (which was sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening), and it shall not be taken away from her.”

Metaphysically, both Mary and Martha represent emotional aspects of each of us.  Mary, because her name in Hebrew means “bitter complaint, rebellious outcry,” represents what one Unity Minister called “divine discontent.”  This is the thought that “there has to be a better way to live than this.”

Martha represents the resentment we feel when we have been sacrificing.  To sacrifice means to not include ourselves as receivers as we are giving to others.  It is trying to give from an empty well.

Jesus, in this parable, represents the Voice of the Holy Spirit in us saying, “Stop!  Take time to receive God’s love.  Fill your well.  Take time to meditate.”  This is the better way which Mary had chosen.  First, love ourselves by receiving God’s love.  Then extend love to others.

So, the first “how to” in this lesson is to become open to receive God’s love.  One great way to do just that is to meditate.  Do you think you are too busy to meditate?  If so, you can be sure that you are sacrificing.

The second “how to” in the lesson is to practice loving yourself, taking care of your own needs first.  Some ways to practice self-love include buying flowers for yourself, treating yourself to a professional massage, stopping to enjoy a sunset or to play with a child.

Another way to practice self-love is to ask yourself:  “What do I love to do to re-create myself?  What is my favorite form of recreation?”  Then, schedule it.  Make it a priority.

The third “how to” is to practice extending love to everyone in your life.  The idea is to do this not because the people deserve it (which of course, as expressions of God they do), but to do this because YOU deserve to be in love all the time.
On Sunday, I encouraged everyone to have a wonderful Mother’s Day, celebrating the love of their earthly mothers, and to celebrating the amazing, never-ending love of Spirit.