Dear Friends,

Whatever your preconception is about Lent-- Give it up for Lent. Why? Because God and a life of the spirit are NOT what you expect. So many of us have been wounded and internalize negative emotions. We do not believe we are worthy of God's love. WRONG!

God loves you, you are God's beloved. Instead of depriving yourself, I challenge you to feast on rich food of the spirit this Lent with mercy, forgiveness, love and joy! Give yourself courage to fill up the whole of fear within you. Instead of concentrating on what is wrong with you this Lent, I challenge you to celebrate everything wonderful about yourself!

Today Ash Wednesday, write a list of everything you love about yourself. We are dust and to dust we will return. Time is running out. It is time to learn to love yourself before you return to the earth!
Name what you are afraid of in your life currently and give yourself courage.
Name what makes you angry currently. Recognize that underneath your anger and rage is hurt and fear.
Name what makes you sad currently. Imagine the Mother of the World in this beautiful painting above by Nicholas Roerich. You are with her and she wraps you in love and tenderness and kisses your giant well of tears. You are not alone, she is with you. She is taking you to a beautiful garden where you are playing your favorite games together. You dance, sing, swing on the tree swing, laugh, chase and tickle one another, smell the flowers and talk to the birds and butterflies and roll in the grass and lie in one another's arms and just gaze at the sky smelling the grass. She is with you and you sleep and dream together. You are loved.

You may say, have you gone out of your mind? I want to deprive myself, and I kind of feel holy when I reflect on all my shortcomings. Isn't that right? Well, it depends. If you are a negative narcissist and have habits of thinking you are the worst person in the world, no. Preoccupation with your unworthiness is another form of self centeredness and Jesus calls us this Lent to give it up. Instead, leave the desert and follow him and his beloved Mary Magdalene into the cave of your own soul

Join Church for Our Common Home as we plan for a massive party to celebrate you and all life forms for Earth Day! Do not make a list of all the ways you are less than and haven't measured up. No this Lent, please eat all the rich chocolate cake of the spirit you can find. Fill up your emptiness with everything your soul loves to eat and remember you are God's beloved!

Just to change it up this year, follow me, Jesus, Mary Magdalene and the Mother of the World, not into any kind of desert, but into the cave of your own inner sacred soul and imagine a beautiful garden where you will take a vacation from all negative emotions. Why? Because many of us are addicted to our feelings of unworthiness and the many negative emotions that follow. My main squeeze Jesus and The Good News of the Gospel is a radical message and practice-- more radial today than it was two thousand years ago. In a nutshell it is this simple message. God loves you and wants you to be healed of your preoccupation and illusions that you are a separate small self. God is inviting you to a celebration of you and all your relations, which is of course all creatures, everywhere. It's time to heal from fear, rage and sadness. How? Well, just be reminded, feelings come and go, they, like everything else in life, are always changing. There is something the negative emotions want to shapeshift into-the potential of your own magnificence!

I invite you into the imaginal realm to play and prepare for Earth day this Lent. I will offer imaginal practices for the six weeks of Lent. The holiest day of the year in 2019 is the day we love our common home Gaia, Mother earth, The Mother of the World and that we love ourselves. By the way, NEWS FLASH God has no gender, it is all a METAPHOR. But God is like the Earth who feeds and nourishes us beyond our comprehension.

A prayer for Ash Wednesday.

Dear God of Love you who are the Mother of the World,

Help me for I am often filled with fear and rage and sadness and feel so terribly alone. Are you there? Do you love me? Is it possible for me to change and heal? I am afraid the Earth is being destroyed and me and everything I know right along with it. I am grief stricken beyond measure for I love the Earth and all her creatures. HELP ME.

Amen

Practice for Ash Wednesday.

Name what is making you fearful, rageful and sad in your life. Ask God for help in prayer today and for the next 40 days.

Meditate on the painting above and then close your eyes and imagine going to a garden with the Mother of the World or an imaginary loving Grandmother, animal or loved one. Imagine "You are with her and she wraps you in love and tenderness and kisses your giant well of tears. You are not alone, she is with you. She is taking you to a beautiful garden where you are playing your favorite games together. You dance, sing, swing on the tree swing, laugh, chase and tickle one another, smell the flowers and talk to the birds and butterflies and roll in the grass and lie in one another's arms. Gaze at the clouds that are moving in the blue sky. Smell the grass. Feel the warmth of the sun. She is with you and you sleep and dream together. You are loved."

5.Join Church for Our Common Home and pray daily for the next 40 days before the new Easter, Earth Day for someone to give us land. Please help us find a few acres of land by asking people you know with land. We will build a House of Pray for the Earth and grow organic vegetables. Perhaps we could care for elderly people who may live on the land in exchange for land? We are open to collaboration with individuals or organizations.

Easter Sunday Sunrise Service

We will have a Sunrise Worship service at Torrey Pines Beach near the main entrance on the beach. Look for our Earth flag on Easter Sunday, April 21st (no Sunday evening worship on Easter) 7 am.

Earth Day Dinner Dance Celebration Sunday. April 28th, at 5 pm for worship, dinner and dancing!

Call for more info (858) 248-5123.

Love always,

Bonnie

Join us in person or remotely every Sunday 5 pm (PST) for worship and for a pot luck immediately following. Please share this with a friend.