By Therese Solimeno, Licensed Unity Teacher
In the summer of 2006 my two sisters, their families, and my two remaining Solimeno uncles got together in NYC for a Solimeno family tour of the places where my father lived in uptown Manhattan, in what is now called Spanish Harlem. All 12 of us piled into a black van with tinted windows and my uncles pointed out important family locations in that neighborhood: the church where my grandparents were married in 1915 and where the brothers were baptized and confirmed; the building that my grandfather owned and where their apartment was; the school they attended. And of course we ate our share of real New York pizza, bagels and knishes from the neighborhood.
On the way back to our mid-town hotel, I wanted to drive through Central Park, but when we came to the entrance, it was barricaded as if there had been an event earlier in the day. There was a lot of discussion in the van – half of us wanted to go through anyway, and other half were afraid of being stopped or ticketed by police. The driver – who had barely said three words during the tour – just said “Hang on, hang on,” and proceeded to drive around the barricade and drove through the park very slowly…maybe 10-15 miles per hour. We passed several security personnel and a couple of police cars, but no one stopped us – we had a lovely, private tour of Central Park without crowds of people. As we were exiting the park, the driver said “See? It’s not what you do but how you do it!”
Thinking about that now, I recognize how applicable that comment is to how we live our daily lives – we can take the same action or have the same conversation and HOW we do that makes a big difference: do we “walk lightly on the earth” with a loving, approachable demeanor or do we leave chaos in our wake?
I’m an advocate of exuding a positive attitude, and I do that by trying to practice love, forgiveness, kindness and compassion in all my affairs (not to mention joy, happiness, empathy and understanding). That’s not always easy to do because let’s face it – sometimes life really sucks! But what is the alternative? The facts of what happens in our lives don’t change, but it is so much easier to face life’s challenges and responsibilities when we look for something positive to focus on. Like the songs say:
- Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative.
- Don’t worry, be happy.
- Don’t worry ‘bout a thing. ‘Cause every little thing’s gonna be alright.
- Nothing's impossible I have found
For when my chin is on the ground
I pick myself up, dust myself off
Start all over again - That’s life, that’s what all the people say. You’re riding high in April, shot down in May. But I know I’m going to change my tune when I’m back on top in June.
- My favorite part of "That's Life" is the bridge - I've been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet, a pawn and king. I've been up and down an over and out, and I know one thing: each time I find myself flat on my face, I pick myself up and get back in the race!" (Songwriters: Kelly L. Gordon, Dean Kay)
So today is the beginning of what is traditionally called “Holy Week,” starting with Palm Sunday, which commemorates Jesus’ ride on a donkey through the streets of Jerusalem to the adoration of the masses. Unity's metaphysical interpretation of Palm Sunday emphasizes the spiritual significance of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, symbolizing the triumph of the spiritual I AM within us. The joyous multitude and the spreading of garments and branches of trees before Jesus symbolize joyful obedience and homage, reflecting the transformation of consciousness and the empowerment of the individual to be instruments of change.
What does that mean? Symbolically he was on top of his game, he was in full control of his emotions and thoughts and was acting from a place of higher consciousness. “Riding high in April,” so to speak. And then Thursday rolled along….
Betrayed, arrested, humiliated, tortured, crucified. “Shot down in May.”
Now, most people think the miracle of Holy Week is the story of the Resurrection on Easter Sunday morning. But even as a kid that part of the story never made sense to me – everything I was taught about Jesus’ ministry emphasized his humility, his examples and teachings of how whatever he did, the rest of us could do as well. Well, I knew I wasn’t going to be resurrected after death and no one else was either. In a way, it felt like the Resurrection was a blockbuster ending made up by Hollywood producers who weren’t happy that Jesus’ story ended in a tragic death, so they had him come back to life and spend 40 days appearing to a select few until the Ascension into Heaven. Now THAT would be a memorable last act!
To me, the Resurrection is not the biggest miracle in the crucifixion story…. The biggest miracle comes almost with a whisper, right before Jesus died, when after betrayal, torture, humiliation and crucifixion, he musters all of his love, forgiveness, compassion and kindness and says, “Forgive them for they know not what they do.”
None us will ever experience the kind of pain and disappointment that this story describes, yet how often do we extend the love, forgiveness, kindness and compassion that will transform any negative experience into something positive. This is the essence of our spiritual work – to set an intension to interject these positive attributes into our lives on a daily basis, in all cases when we can remember. Then we’ll be “back on top in June.”
In closing, I'd like to share a brief writing by Ralph Waldo Emerson (Charles and Myrtle Fillmore loved Emerson's writings so much that they named their son after him):
"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."