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Jesus asks, “Is it easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up and walk’?” (Matthew 9:5)
 Life brings challenges for everyone and some of you reading this have endured challenges that are unimaginable—war, death, poverty, as well as verbal and physical abuse. As you move through your life you meet all kinds of circumstances, some good and some not so good and others simply horrific. The challenges of life can uplift you and enrich your life or they can bring you down and destroy your life. In Truth, the choice is yours. The common experience is to get rid of the bad and try and hang on to the good. Rarely is the negative experience embraced with an open heart and mind as the perfect experience, the perfect opportunity to know yourself on a profoundly deep level. Rarely are those negative experiences recognized as a miracle that contains the intrinsinc power to uplift and strengthen you and everyone you meet. The truth of this was never so clear as it was just recently when I was waiting for a flight in the San Francisco International Airport. My flight was delayed and delayed and delayed and passengers were getting more and more angry with each announcement of yet another delay. Realizing there was really nothing anyone could do all I could really do was wait and see.
Jesus turns to the paralyzed man and says, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!” (Matthew 9:6) After sitting waiting for several hours trying to get comfortable in the very uncomfortable airport chairs, the last thing I was thinking about were the miracles of Jesus. Certainly, there was no expectation of any sort of miracle when a young man walked into the terminal who was quite literally a walking miracle. He was like any other twenty something except where his right arm use to be there was a plastic arm with a metal clamp clutching a water bottle. Where his legs use to be there was two state of the art computerized prosthetic legs that enabled him to walk with a strong confident stride. His appearance made everyone visibly uncomfortable; you could see people quickly averting their attention to the floor, the ceiling, their wristwatch or cell phone, anywhere to avoid looking at him. Much to my surprise I could not stop staring at him, there was just so much light pouring out him I felt instantly like I wanted to meet him. What unfolded next changed my life forever and contains the power to change yours as well. How can this miraculous meeting with this amazing young man help you understand the teaching of Jesus on an even deeper level?
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Jesus says, “Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”(Luke 21:28)
 Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life, is well known. Barrack Obama and John McCain are even more widely recognized around the world. All of three of them have very different personalities and political beliefs, yet in spite of their differences the common thread that binds all three together is their devotion to serving others. In the context of the ongoing Presidential race these men recently came together to discuss the one man who was endowed with the infinite Grace to transform the lives of everyone living and dead. This man has touched more lives throughout the centuries than any other single human being and you know him as Jesus Christ. Of course, Jesus extremely well known; but there is another servant of God who is not as well known whose life is devoted to revealing the deepest Truth. She was born into the world as Antoinette Robinson, but a spiritual master named her Ganga-ji after the most sacred river of India – the Ganges. It is her voice that opened my heart to the deepest Truth that Jesus eternally reveals and it is her voice that offers you an opportunity to recognize something much deeper than the thought provoking conversation that unfolded between Rick Warren, John McCain, and Barrack Obama.
Jesus says, “Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:28) Redemption is atonement. It lives in the moment of remembering the Truth of who you are beyond the limitations of your physical form. Truth is an illusive and often misunderstood word. In a YouTube video entitled What Does Your Life Stand For? Gangaji asks, “Do you know the Truth? That is the question. It is the hardest question of a lifetime.” Fundamentally, Rick Warren was asking both Presidential candidates – What is the Truth? What does your faith in Christ really mean? What does your life stand for? When you stop for a moment and contemplate these questions you have a rare opportunity to discover the deepest Truth for yourself. How can these questions reveal an even deeper understanding of the teaching of Jesus Christ?
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