From the heart of Chaplain Anna M. Pohl
Happiest and blessed Easter to all who celebrate. In any case may the light of God lift you to unimaginable heights.
Thanks
First I want to thank Everyone who contributed to the Madison Food Center. That includes all my fellow volunteers. What an outstanding group of people. I am honored to be part of it.
I also want to put a shout out and thanks to The Universal Life Church Seminary. I have been a perpetual student there and Amy the President is one of the most outstanding individuals I know. Accolades to you Amy, and Keep up the Good Work!
Because of the work of all of us I am now “Chaplain” Anna M. Pohl! It’s been a long wonderful fulfilling journey. What now? Everything! I can’t wait for all that comes now.
Only the Young :o)
Hi kids! Today go out and find something you never saw before. At this wonderful and reborn time of year go out there and enjoy how new our world is. Find something you never saw before. It could be something small like a new bug or it could be huge like some new way of riding your bike. No matter what it is, today find something you never knew before. Remember, once you know something you can’t unknow it. It is yours and no one can ever take that away from you. No “knowing” is ever wasted. God Bless your steps and your choices today! :o)
Joke of the week
Jesus goes to a celebration. When asked to dance he says “I would but I’ve risen and I can’t get down!” LOL I know it’s an oldy but a funny.
Scripture - Holy Words- Sacred Texts
Today from : The Christian Bible John Chapter 20: 15-18 NIV
15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). 17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
The Conversation :o)
There’s something so important about this passage. Of course most importantly we see the rising from the dead of Yeshua Messiah, Jesus the Christ. However it is the way he chose to present himself afterword that is so striking. First he has chosen to present himself to a woman and not just any woman but Mary Magdalene. This is significant on every level solidifying the fact that she was his disciple, friend and even partner. He could have chosen any man, woman or child on Earth or beyond yet he chooses her. This is Yeshua Messiah presenting his undying trust in her even in immortality. That is more telling about the importance of man woman relationships in the world then any other Christian passage. Christ as he usually did “shows” us by his actions the equality and magnificence of human “being” and that be they woman or man they are equal in God’s eyes.
In John 20:15 Yeshua himself asks why she is crying. He says this using “Woman”. He surely already knows she is not recognizing him. He is so “out of context” for her that Mary in her grief doesn’t know it’s him. This is not that hard to understand. Can you imagine loosing the closest person in your life to such a horrid fate? Even knowing that you will see them again, what the pain is can only be understood by those who have suffered such a thing. Yet she is not only weeping for her loss. She is weeping for the fact that she has come to do a job. She has come to keep faith with what the burial rites of the time and of her birth (as a Jew) dictate.
Today we spend much more time on death than on our dead. Back then you could be shunned or suffer a worse fate for not taking care of burial rites in the proper fashion. For those of you in any truly orthodox faith you know how important that is. She believes that his body has been taken. That would prevent she and Jesus’ family from burying him properly. This for her is a tragedy on top of tragedy. This has nothing to do with lack of faith in his rising. It has to do with the respect of tradition she and his family held and the fact that this loss was so great. According to this translation, when she is presented with the risen Christ she doesn’t recognize him. Whether she “thinks he is a gardener” is debatable as other translations differ in their interpretation. However, that is not important. What is important is that she doesn’t know it’s him. This today may seem ridiculous to us. How can she have followed and been his student and even his partner for all that time and then not know him? I believe that it was because of his immortal countenance. So he asks her “Woman why are you crying? Who are you looking for?” Her response is very proactive. “Sir if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him and I will get him.” There is not a hesitation in her response. She obviously feels that if this person is asking they know must know something about his being gone. She is more right than she knows. Like many of us today she takes an “I will fix this myself” kind of attitude. She waits for no one and makes no indication that she is not fully capable of finding the Lord’s body on her own. This is another verse that shows that woman of that time were revered for who they were and their accomplishments. She obviously has no mortal to answer too, no master.
It is at this time that I find one of the most touching parts of these verses. Lord Yeshua calls her by name. “Mary.” That is all he has to say for her to recognize him. We can only imagine what the tone of voice was that she heard and how it effected her and touched her heart. By that one word, her name, he revealed all to her. She response without doubt. “Rabboni!” It is not a question it is definitive. She knows that voice and knows exactly who he is. So, Jesus chooses to whom and when he will reveal himself. To me this shows him enjoying his new position in existence and the fact that all are “saved”. I can see him smiling with the knowledge that she and all those he loves are no longer tethered to death. I would think that it would be quite remarkable.
In verse 17 he tells her “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.” Wow, not Do not touch me, he says “Do not hold on to me” This could be an indication of how it may be for us when we “cross over”. We have just gained our freedom and can not allow ourselves to be “re-grounded” as it were. Was this what it was like for Christ? It is something to meditate on.
Lord Yeshua then goes on “…Go instead to my brothers and tell them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” What I find interesting here is that he is stating things in a way that we can see Mary understands them. He directs these comments to her. She in no way questions or needs more to explanation of his instruction or the “why” of his instruction. The other thing we notice is that he says …tell them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” He is speaking to Mary and he says “my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” He doesn’t say “my Father and their Father…” He says “your” She is entirely included in the statement and she is to tell his brothers about “my …and your Father”. This shows that she is sharing what she knows and what she has known.
In the next verses Lord Yeshua meets with the rest of his close disciples and Greets them with “Peace be with you!” This is what they knew and recognized him by. He doesn’t seem to greet them by name. Of course we weren’t there so that is subjective however I feel it is thought provoking. Just as we do today, we talk to people according to their relationships to us. I feel we see some of that here.
All of us are equally important to Lord Yeshua the Christ. The Christ has risen! Halleluiah! :o)
Word of the Week
Kindness: the state, quality, or habit of being kind, kind act or treatment. Sometimes we forget that Kindness is a verb. While a smile and a hi are considered kindnesses it really comes down to being useful for others. Create a “habit” of “acting” out and “treating” others from a full kind heart. Offer your kindness. :o)
Let’s make a Deal! ;o)
You can save on your next event. Whether wedding, a home blessing or even a funeral, If you donate acceptable food items to the Food Center through the Chaplain you will receive a discount for every item she takes with her. Call us and see how much you can help today!
I was thinkin’…
If the ascended masters, any of them, were here and saw our lives today, here now where we are what would they say? :o)
I want to here from you. To comment see the area below! :o)
Till Next time
When your path is rocky… get better shoes! :o) Blessings to you all ;o)
