|
|
|
|
|
For More Past Services Go Here
Welcome to AllFaith.com and Beit Emunah's AllFaith Community Worship! This is a community service for all people of the Light. We invite your participation and contributions. Let us know if you would like to share a spiritual song or poem.
We begin on page 3 with Yedid Nefesh: Beloved of Our Souls.
Today, April 20, 2025, is Easter Sunday for the Christian world, and marks the end of Passover or Pesach for Jewish communities. Thank God reports that the Orthodox Jews were planning to begin building a faux temple during this year's Pesach have not proven accurate! Biblically, only the Messiah is to do that, but the prophets warn of a counterfeit temple being built first. That dark day is yet future.
Good Friday, just past, commemorates the execution of Yeshua ben Miriam, AKA Jesus, son of Mary, for treason against Rome, circa 33 CE, while Passover marks the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, circa 1446 BCE. The annual observance dates vary because we use solar-based calendars today, and the Hebrew calendar is lunar-based.
Have you ever wondered why Christians call the day their leader was publicly executed "good?" Seems odd. The day my son was murdered was the worst day of my life. There was nothing "good" about it. Good Friday is called "Good" because of its significance in Christian theology, not because of the actual events of the day, which are mourned. The day commemorates the execution of Yeshua or Jesus for treason against the Roman Empire. The Jews did not kill him despite the claims of the anti-Semites.
Rome considered the claims that Yeshua was the long-awaited Messiah treasonous, which means the anointed King of Israel. The Romans shouted: "We have no king but Caesar" (John 19:15).
In the hit retelling of these events, Godspell, we have a graphic depiction of what happened and what Easter commemorates. Is this how it happened? Why were the Jews so intent on his death? This scene, as described in the Gospels, has been used to foment anti-Semitism since they were first written. But do we not have parallels today of leaders seeking to do good and being attacked for it? Leaders whose lives are taken because of the fear instilled into the minds of people by those in power? The Jews of Jerusalem under Roman occupation were understandably terrified. They were afraid they would not be liberated and, afraid of any attempts to free them from Roman bondage. They were in a no-win situation. Their reaction, according to the New Testament, was later explained in John 11:50: Do you not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people, than that the whole nation perish? Their demands were fear-based. Fear is mighty and leads to many evils. As Rebbe Nachman of Breslov warned:
Kol ha'olam kulo, gesher tzar me'od, Veha’ikar, lo le’fached klal."
Which is to say: All the world is a narrow bridge, and the most important thing is not to be afraid.Fear leads to great evils. The consequences of such evils can have far-reaching effects:
Christians believe Yeshua's death was the ultimate sacrifice for humanity's sins, offering hope and salvation to all who accept it. So, the word "good" in this context historically meant "holy" or "sacred, not good as in common speech"
As with Pesach and other remembrances, Good Friday and Easter can be considered in their historic contexts, but it is more powerful when contemplating such events to apply them to our lives today. To this end, Fulton J. Sheen, an American Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Rochester from 1956 to 1969, noted, "Unless there is a Good Friday in your life, there can be no Easter Sunday."
"Unless there is a Good Friday in your life, there can be no Easter Sunday."
No one wants to suffer, especially for doing good, but without experiencing suffering, we cannot know true joy. This truth is typified for Christians in Yeshua's resurrection on Easter Sunday, celebrated today by Christians around the world. Without experiencing the sorrows of death, literal or figurative, we could never know the joy of resurrection and our various achievements. So, do not allow the hard times in your life to steal the joyous ones, nor surrender your control to others. No one has true authority over you but God! Your choice is how you will deal with their attempts to control you. Just say No! ‘Get behind me, Satan!’ as Yeshua did. As Yeshua explained in John 10:18:
No one takes my life from me; I give it up willingly. I have the right to give it up, and I have the right to take it up again. I received this commandment from my Father.We cannot control the world around us, but we can control our response to it. Beyond the dark and stormy clouds, the clear heavens always await our return. What we do not know is only the foretaste of what is knowable when we seek the Will of One God! When we determine to ‘Be Here Now’ rather than dwell on the past. Let us always Go Forward into the Fog and see what lies beyond! What God has prepared for us next.
When I think of the term ‘Good’ Friday, the words of Saint John of the Cross, described the ‘Dark Night of the Soul,’ come to mind:
"Although this happy night brings darkness to the spirit, it does so only to give it light in everything. The dark night of the soul humbles us and makes us miserable, but it does so only to exalt us and to raise us up. It impoverishes and empties us of all natural affection and attachment. Still, it does so only so to enable and stretch us forward, divinely, and thus to have fruition and experience of all things, both above and below."Darkness eventually passes, and the light always returns. So hold on! Do not fear the Reaper, for he is also an agent of our ascension used by One God for our benefit. This is the true meaning of Pesach and Easter: Don't fear the Reaper:
Kansas, Dust in the Wind
This year's date for Easter Sunday aligns with the final day of Pesach. This is noteworthy but not significant. We wish Christians a joyous Easter and hope our fellow Jews have had a blessed and meaningful Pesach.
Page 31 in our songbook: Seek Ye First.
AllFaith Spirituality is inclusive. It is the recognition that all religions contain some truth and some error. We seek to learn from and respect all beliefs while accepting what resonates within our consciousness and placing the rest on our mental shelves. We affirm that, "If that which you seek, you find not within, you will never find it without." AllFaith Spirituality is like Omnism, Sanatana Dharma, and similar terms. We acknowledge that the religions offer various ways to the same God and Self-Realization. They were not intended to be destinations themselves. AllFaith Spirituality expresses our conviction that God is One, the Source and Destination of all else. As the Rig Veda states, Truth is One, the sages describe it in diverse ways.
Please turn in our songbook to page 13, Od Yavo Shalom Aleinu—"Peace Will Come to us." The wonderful word "Shalom" includes the idea of balance, of living together in harmony without anxiety, biases, and fear. The desire for Shalom leads us to seek and celebrate mutual respect and the recognition that everyone holds some truth and no one possesess it all. Shalom is realized through faith, emunah, shrada, in God alone and unity with our fellow humans and the animals, all creation, because truly God is everywhere! The me versus you mentality destroys peace and leads to violent acts are remembered each Good Friday. Let us join together and resist those seeking to divide us! God is One, let us be one.
Me Versus You! Tom Macdonald
What A Wonderful World (Loius Armstrong cover) Native American Flute by Jonny Lipford in Hawaii
One God, called by innumerable Names, has been here since before the beginning and will be here long after we are gone. Our understanding changes. Sometimes we move forward and sometimes back, but One God never changes.
Never Forget: God is Everywhere!
Let's turn to Page 31 Seek First the Kingdom of God.
Praises and Prayers to God. We now invite those present in the Zoom room or on Rumble to share their brief prayers and praises. Speak directly to God or to our community, whatever is on your heart and mind.
May One God hear our prayers and respond favorably to us.
Announcements:
Note: All Times are Eastern.My new book Below We Stand is NOW available on Kindle and in paperbook at Amazon.com.
I hope you will pick up a copy and join four friends on their quest as they learn the essential principles of embracing their humanity against all odds. Stuck in an unfulfilling, technologically repressive dystopia, they strike out together to find better lives and, in the process, help to save the world.
The Amazon link offers a sneak peek into the first two chapters, giving a taste of the novel's content.
The story explores human relationships and unlocks our shared humanity as the main characters join together to stand against a fictional but recognizable growing global trend toward tyranny. It calls for humans to see beyond our historic sectarianism and unite against the rising homo deus replacement species currently being advocated by people like Yuval Noah Harari and the transhumanists. The book also has a strong spiritual element and calls on God to help us help ourselves because, ultimately, One God is humanity's only hope, and we must awaken to that realization if we hope for peace and well-being.
Besides, it's a good read. Enjoy.Sundays 8 PM: AllHeart continues. Everyone is welcome to join random, mutually respectful conversations each Sunday at 8 PM. Only in our Zoom Room.
Wednesdays at One PM: While Gavi is in physical rehabilitation I will be hosting our class on the Biblical Prophets. Live in the Zoom room and on Rumble, and our Social Media servers.
Wednesdays at 8 PM: Our Srimad Bhagavad Gita class will continue on Zoom, Rumble, and our Social Media servers.
Thursdays 8 PM: Our Omnist Spiritual Ascension group in Zoom, Rumble, and our Social Media servers.
Sundays 2:00 PM Our Omnist Community Worship Service. We welcome all people of peace.
Page 07 in our Songbook: Gesher Tzar Me'od. All the world is a narrow bridge.
Our Current Prayers and Praises are Now Online.
For our live videos, classes, services, questions, answers, and posts join us on my restored Facebook page and our MeWe Omnist Community Group.
And MeWe, Truth Social, Mike Lindel's site, Gettr, Gab, and others.
"Follow" and "Like" us on Rumble where many of our broadcasts are stored. If YouTube doesn't work out we'll return here.
If you are blessed by these humble offerings, we ask you to consider joining our Omnist community, regardless of your religious affiliation. We value ALL supporters, irrespective of their religious specifics or the amount they can donate, and we encourage everyone to become active community members. Click the Donations and Membership tab on the community home page or donate through our Rumble pages.
Be the Blessing you were created to be
And
Don't let the perfect defeat the good
index sitemap advanced search engine by freefind Also Search Our:
index sitemap advanced search engine by freefind
index sitemap advanced search engine by freefind