The Gift of Life with Josh Reeves

[00:00:01] This is Josh Reeves and you're listening to the Mile Hi Church Podcast. Thanks for listening.

[00:00:05] Hey, December 23rd and 24th are our candlelight services. They are inspiring, revelatory,

[00:00:12] and give you a sense of hope for yourself and humanity. And I don't know about you,

[00:00:16] but I sure do need it. The 23rd and 24th, 1, 4, and 7, and the 7 p.m.s are streaming online.

[00:00:22] Hope you can join us.

[00:00:23] The message today is The Gift of Life. And I want to begin this morning by sharing some words from

[00:00:35] our founder, Ernest Holmes, that he wrote in his masterwork, This Thing Called You.

[00:00:42] The greatest gift life could have made to you is yourself. You are a spontaneous self-choosing

[00:00:52] center in life, in the great dream of being, the great joy of becoming, the certainty of eternal

[00:00:59] expansion. You could not ask for more and more could not have been given. I share this quote

[00:01:07] with no superficiality whatsoever, but with the deep, deep wish that you can receive these words.

[00:01:14] Again, the greatest gift life could have made to you is yourself. You are a spontaneous self-choosing

[00:01:23] center in life, in the great dream of being, the great joy of becoming, the certainty of eternal

[00:01:30] expansion. You could not ask for more and more could not have been given. If you could believe that just

[00:01:37] for a moment, it could transform your life forever. In 1946, Frank Capra made a great movie called

[00:01:49] It's a Wonderful Life, a story built around the question, how would life be different if you never

[00:01:58] existed? How would life be different if you never existed? And in the film, it becomes kind of like a

[00:02:07] horror movie at points. The terror of seeing a mother look into her own son's eyes and have no idea of who

[00:02:18] he is. The terror of seeing the gravestone of a sibling who didn't survive because you weren't there to

[00:02:27] save them. It's quite dark and yet empowering when we think about not just the difference that we

[00:02:37] make in other people's lives, but how we help animate their lives. Our most precious relationships

[00:02:45] don't just influence us, they animate us. They're a part of who we are. I am my father, my love of music,

[00:02:59] my work ethic, my general disposition of kindness that I hope I have, I get from him. I am my mother, my love of

[00:03:10] reading and politics and history, I get from her. I am my grandmother, my love and commitment to family, I get

[00:03:21] from her. And I'd like to say that there's this aspect of each of them and each of the people you love that

[00:03:31] lives on in who you are, perhaps even with a level of self-awareness on their behalf. Fred Rogers, the great

[00:03:41] Mr. Rogers, would give commencement addresses now and then. And in every one I've ever read or heard,

[00:03:49] he shares something like the following with a little process we'll lead you through today.

[00:03:57] I'd like to give you all an invisible gift, a gift of a silent minute to think about those who have

[00:04:03] helped you become who you are today. Some of them may be here right now, some may be far away, some like

[00:04:10] my astronomy professor may be in heaven, but wherever they are, if they've loved you and encouraged you

[00:04:17] and wanted what was best in life for you, they're right inside yourself. And I feel that you deserve

[00:04:23] quiet time on this special occasion to devote some thought to them. So let's just take a minute in

[00:04:29] honor of those that have cared about us all along the way. One silent minute. I'll keep the time.

[00:05:30] A minute can be a long time. Rogers continues,

[00:05:36] Whomever you've been thinking about, imagine how grateful they must be that during your silent times

[00:05:43] you remember how important they are to you. It's not the honors and the prizes and the fancy outsides

[00:05:49] of life which ultimately nourish our souls. It's the knowing that we can be trusted, that we never

[00:05:55] have to fear the truth, that the bedrock of our lives from which we make our choices is very good stuff.

[00:06:04] For Christmas this year, I challenge you to not just give gifts, but to articulate to the people that

[00:06:17] you love the gift they are to you. Articulate to the people you love the gift they are to you.

[00:06:28] It doesn't have to be weird. It doesn't have to feel overly uncomfortable.

[00:06:34] It doesn't have to be overly even emotional. But how dare we let another day slip by without

[00:06:43] letting the people we love and care about know the gift they are to us and our lives.

[00:06:51] I have this prepared for my immediate family. Nancy June, the gift you are to me is pure joy.

[00:06:59] From the moment you were born, I felt that just every time I see you is just the happiest moment

[00:07:05] of my life. Thank you for the gift you are to me. Gavin, the gift you are to me is family.

[00:07:12] To have the gift to be a part of supporting you on your life journey was truly a gift to me.

[00:07:18] I am regularly gifted by your kindness, excited by your intelligence, and thrilled by your sense

[00:07:23] of adventure. Thank you for the gift you are to me. April, the gift you are to me is companionship

[00:07:30] on the journey. So often on my path, you were there. Sometimes right next to me, sometimes way over

[00:07:37] there. It's a gift to be a witness to one another's adventure. And this may get lost in the midst of the

[00:07:44] PlayStation games and all of those sorts of things. But it will be remembered as the most valuable gift

[00:07:52] you gave to that loved one. For them to be able to hear from you the gift that they are in your life.

[00:08:03] And when we're able to articulate the gift others are in our lives, we open our heart to receive the

[00:08:12] gifts of our lives and any healing that needs to take place in those relationships.

[00:08:20] In the Gospels, we are told that there will be a child born of a virgin and his name will be Emmanuel,

[00:08:33] God with us. The metaphysical meaning of this is that not just that a Christ child was born,

[00:08:41] but that a new spiritual awareness was born into human consciousness. God with us.

[00:08:52] What a beautiful description of what the Christ consciousness is. It's our ability to be aware

[00:08:59] of the gift of life, that there is a divine presence always with us that connects us all the time.

[00:09:07] And yet, it is up to us to receive the gift. The gift of life is always being given, but it is not

[00:09:19] always being received. Just me for myself, I reject the gift multiple times a day. I reject the gift

[00:09:32] when I isolate myself from my feelings. I reject the gift when I choose resentment over reconciliation. I reject

[00:09:43] the gift when I judge others instead of take responsibility for my own well-being.

[00:09:54] This is the story of George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life. He rejects the gift of life, so much so that he

[00:10:04] finds himself on a bridge about to throw himself off. And what is he experiencing? He's experiencing

[00:10:14] his life not showing up the way that he wanted it to. And we have this, again, terribly challenging scene

[00:10:23] of him in front of the greatest gift of his life, his family, but he also has these models of the

[00:10:31] Golden Great Bridge and other things that speak to his dream of being an architect that he never got to

[00:10:36] receive. And what does he do? He tears down those models, and he doesn't see the truth of his family.

[00:10:45] He feels resentful that he puts his own needs aside to always help other people. He feels unhappy

[00:10:55] with some of the gifts in his life that he's received. Does this sound like you ever? I know it sounds

[00:11:03] like me. The movie, It's a Wonderful Life, is based on a short story written by Philip Van Doren Stern

[00:11:12] called The Greatest Gift. And instead of an angel, it's a stranger, but it's still George Bailey and his

[00:11:18] experiences. He gets to pose as a brush salesman, and he goes door to door, and he sees these people from

[00:11:24] his life. But he has this brief conversation with the stranger. I've got to get back. They need me here.

[00:11:32] I understand right enough, the stranger said slowly. I just wanted to make sure you did. You had the

[00:11:39] greatest gift conferred upon you, the gift of life, of being a part of this world and taking a part in it.

[00:11:46] You denied that gift. Stop denying the gift, the gift of life that is always giving of itself

[00:11:56] if we can open our heart to receive it. Something else Ernest Holmes said, he said,

[00:12:03] if the gift of life is made and it already is, it means that the very essence of life,

[00:12:08] with all its potential and abundance, is already present within every individual.

[00:12:13] And we simply need to access and align ourselves with this inherent power through our thoughts and

[00:12:19] beliefs. Another key to receiving the gift of life is forgiveness. Forgiveness, forgiveness, forgiveness.

[00:12:35] Not easy, but I have learned in my own experience essential to receiving the gift of life.

[00:12:47] I lost my dad in August and I was engaging in my key grief ritual, which is headphones with his music on,

[00:12:57] a couple of beers and a nighttime sky. And I've learned in my grief process, I'm not as likely

[00:13:04] just to break down in tears here or there, but when I create that sanctuary for myself,

[00:13:08] I can just weep. I can weep and weep and weep and weep. And on this particular occasion, I was thinking

[00:13:16] of my father and my mother, and I began to be filled with a sense of gratitude that I had no grievance for

[00:13:25] them in my heart. That in fact, I had no grievance for anyone in my heart. And that allowed the gift of

[00:13:35] life, the blessing to reveal itself in my heart, I could receive the gift. And it taught me two important things

[00:13:46] more emphatically. The first, that I can grieve and not have grievance. That I can hurt and not blame. That I can

[00:13:57] hold my brokenness with a consciousness of wholeness. And in fact, grievance keeps us from grief.

[00:14:07] And blame keeps us from the healing that is the fruit of hurt. The other important thing I learned

[00:14:19] is that I can't hold the gift and grievance in my heart at the same time. I can't do it. I usually go

[00:14:29] along with Walt Whitman who said, so I contradict myself. I contain multitudes. I can feel lots of different

[00:14:35] things at different times. Think two opposing thoughts. But I can't receive the gift of life while holding

[00:14:41] grievance in my heart. See, for a lot of us, it's not the gift you gave me, but the wound you left me. Not the

[00:14:53] gift you gave me. But in our relationships, the wound you left me. My dad could have a short fuse. And when

[00:15:02] he got angry, it scared me. Often in my family, I felt that feelings or emotions were dismissed.

[00:15:11] Sometimes we could have a habit of not wanting to address problems in a assertive way. And so they

[00:15:18] would feel hidden, which created for me anxiety and a need to try and make everything okay.

[00:15:28] My brother and sister convinced me that I was a robot the family had purchased from Kmart.

[00:15:36] And if I misbehaved, they were going to take me back to the store and return me to get a new robot.

[00:15:43] I'm glad they don't have Kmart anymore because I'd still be looking over my shoulder.

[00:15:49] Not the gift you gave me, but the wound you left me. And what I have learned is until I can receive

[00:15:59] the gift and articulate the gift of that loved one to me, the wound stays a wound instead of turning

[00:16:07] into that scar that I can ultimately wear with pride. Not about the negative things that have

[00:16:15] happened to me. I don't have to be grateful for those, but I am who I am based on what I have

[00:16:20] experienced. And I'd much rather experience my loved ones for the gifts they've given me as opposed

[00:16:27] to the wounds they left me. It is so important to acknowledge the wound. One of the beautiful and

[00:16:41] magnificent, although heartbreaking things we've seen rise in our society these last seven or eight

[00:16:47] years is an acknowledgement of the wound. Whether it comes from movements like Me Too or for diversity

[00:16:54] and belonging, acknowledging the hurt that has been caused in our lives is a key to healing and to growth.

[00:17:02] However, when it comes to our own personal lives, we can't set up camp there. We can't stay in the wound.

[00:17:11] We have to do the hard and laborious work of recognizing you may have given me that wound, but it is my wound

[00:17:20] now. And I will care for myself and nurture myself so that the wound can become scar and I can live on

[00:17:29] with my life with healing. This doesn't mean you don't form strong boundaries with people that you love

[00:17:36] and care about or make that decision of, hey, I think it's going to be easier for me to love you from way over

[00:17:41] here. That happens sometimes. But I can't tell you, even this year, the amount of people I've spoken to who

[00:17:49] have felt ghosted by their child or unwilling to share with someone because they're in judgment

[00:17:58] or separated in their most intimate relationships by a sense of infinity because of this need to be in

[00:18:06] the wound. And I'd like to share with you for me the difference between living in wound versus living

[00:18:11] from scar. Living from wound, I live within the hurt you caused me. Living from scar, I live within

[00:18:20] the healing my inner work has provided me. Living from wound, I blame and reside in grievance.

[00:18:28] Living from scar, I live in wholeness, creating boundaries that enlighten me. Living from wound,

[00:18:35] I live captive to my pain. Living from scar, I am accountable to greater ways of being a presence

[00:18:43] for love. This is just in my experience, but which is it for you? It would be naive for me to convey to

[00:18:52] you that this is a one-time decision to make. For many of us, it may be a choice that we have to make

[00:18:58] every day, several times a day, to choose our wholeness over our grievance, to come back to love

[00:19:07] from blame, to have those healthy boundaries, and yet to embrace that consciousness of forgiveness

[00:19:15] that doesn't excuse anyone's behavior. There's plenty of reason to have that grievance,

[00:19:19] but allows us to receive that gift of life so that we can live in the fullness of our being.

[00:19:27] That's what I wish for you this morning, to recognize and embody the gift of life.

[00:19:37] For each of us to remember that the greatest gift life could have given you is yourself.

[00:19:44] And when we truly accept and love who that is, when we take the time to articulate the gifts others

[00:19:51] have given us that have helped make us who we are, when we do the hard work of allowing those wounds to

[00:19:59] become scars, we can live in wholeness and even in joy.

[00:20:06] To close, as we move into prayer this morning, I invite any of our wonderful prayer practitioners to stand.

[00:20:12] I want to share a prayer written by Ernest Holmes entitled, The Gifts of God Are Mine Today.

[00:20:23] It is the Father's good pleasure to give me the kingdom of heaven, or harmony, or abundance.

[00:20:29] Today he opens to me the blessings of his infinite and eternal treasure, inviting me to dip deeply into it.

[00:20:36] As I believe in my heart, so it is done unto me in all things.

[00:20:40] As I ask, so do I receive, a full measure unto my faith pressed down and running over.

[00:20:46] These and other divine promises and assurances sing in me.

[00:20:50] The still small voice reminds me that all the Father hath is mine.

[00:20:54] This day I listen deeply to that still small voice and believe its promises.

[00:20:59] I fear nothing, neither lack, irritation, disappointment, nor distress of any kind.

[00:21:06] For is not the Father always with me?

[00:21:09] What causes the appearance of lack in my life?

[00:21:12] Simply my fear or my belief that the Father could forsake me.

[00:21:16] I do not believe that now and it no longer matters to what is the appearance of today or what has gone before.

[00:21:23] Today is new and I am newly awakened in it.

[00:21:25] And I believe with dauntless faith that my good and full measure comes to me from God today.

[00:21:31] I now believe that it is indeed the Father's good pleasure to give me of his bounty.

[00:21:36] I know that he gives as I ask without question or limit.

[00:21:40] And I am ready to receive.

[00:21:42] The gifts of God are mine today.

[00:21:46] So being aware not only of the gift, but of our openness, our willingness to receive and embody it.

[00:21:54] May we release any false narrative of self-rejection.

[00:22:03] May we forgive every time we remember and move into a place that would reject the gift from being given in our hearts.

[00:22:14] But call ourselves in to that mighty stream of a holy consciousness that knows Emmanuel, Emmanuel.

[00:22:22] God is with me.

[00:22:25] Knowing that that spirit presents itself as us, I bless the glorious opportunities we have in this holiday week.

[00:22:35] To be a present for the divine presence.

[00:22:39] To see with those divine eyes.

[00:22:43] To invite the self-awareness of those deep bonds with our ancestors and loved ones.

[00:22:48] To see and speak and rejoice in us.

[00:22:52] For we have received the great gift of life.

[00:22:55] And now we get to share it with abundant blessings.

[00:22:58] And so it is.

[00:23:00] Amen.

[00:23:00] Thanks for listening to the Mile High Church podcast.

[00:23:07] This podcast is made possible by the generous contributions from listeners like you.

[00:23:12] To make a donation, please visit milehighchurch.org.