Ho'omana Health Ministries

Opening Prayer

Call to Worship

Scripture Reading

 ³ As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. ⁴ He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. ⁵ He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross. ⁶ He asked me, "Son of man, do you see this?"
      Then he led me back to the bank of the river. ⁷ When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. ⁸ He said to me, "This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Sea. When it empties into the Sea,  the water there becomes fresh. ⁹ Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. ¹⁰ Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds—like the fish of the Great Sea. ¹¹ But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. ¹² Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing."

Ezekial 40:1-4, 47:1-12

 ³¹After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

  Message

Scripture often identifies the Spirit of God as a wind or as water. The reference is appropriate since both of these forces of nature have unlimited energy and are capable of awesome and powerful movements. Our first scripture reading, today describes a vision of Ezekial. In this vision, Ezekial saw the Holy Spirit flowing out of the temple like a stream of water. The water got increasingly deeper until it was so deep that he could not touch the bottom but, instead, he said at this point it was a river that "no man can cross".  The implication was that if you were caught up in the flow at this point, there is no going back. However, he does not describe the flow of this river as an ominous thing. Where the river flows, there is healing and life.

Instead, the danger seems to come when the river flow stops. If there is no flow, the water becomes stagnant. If debris gets in the way of the flow, a swamp is created. The swamps and marshes harbor disease. There is no life when the river is stopped.

The metaphor of Divine Spirit flowing from the throne of God like water can be applied on a personal and a global basis. On the personal level, we are all children of our Father and Mother. In this metaphor, our Father is the Throne. He is the great "I am". He is the source. He is the immovable, impenetrable force of creation. Our Mother is the flowing water. She is the one who brings us healing and spiritual awareness. We were created with a thirst for the water of our Mother and Father. Each person has an innate  desire to seek the Spirit.

Some get side-tracked in their search. An undercurrent pulls them away from the stream of Life. They get caught up in addictions or the lure of power or materialism. They mistake these emotional or physical experience as the end of their search. these misguided souls are looking for spiritual awareness in a swamp.  Unless some kind person takes the time or interest to guide them back into the river of Life, the people in this group will never find what they really need.

There is another group that only get their feet wet in the river. This describes the majority of people. Their spirit calls them to search for the Divine but they don't want to go too far from the shore. These people want only to wash off the dust of the journey of through this life for a moment. They do not want to get too deep. They seek a shallow relationship with the Spirit in which they are refreshed but always have firm footing and can walk out quickly whenever they are ready.

Others seek a more complete communion with the Spirit. These people will walk out further into the stream of their relationship with the Divine. They walk out to knee deep or maybe even thigh deep waters. Their lives are still firmly planted in themselves. However, they allow themselves to be more completely cleansed, refreshed and made whole before they walk out of the stream.

Lastly, there are a lucky few who allow themselves to experience total immersion in a spiritual, life-changing experience. For those who swim out to the deepest waters, there is no turning back. At this point, this is a river that man can not cross. The best thing to do when the midst of this overwhelming current is go with the flow. Allow the river to take you to the Ocean....oneness with God.

Some have reached the point where they realize their feet don't touch bottom and they get scared. They think they wanted to be in control again. They try to swim back to shore. They want back their status quo "regular" life like "everyone else" that they left behind. The shore is too far away, however, and the water has transformed them. Even if they could make it back to shore, they don't fit there anymore.

Some try to go against the flow of God's will in their lives. They know they cannot go back to the shore but they try to swim upstream like a salmon. I tried that for a short time in my life. It does not work This river is too strong for that. Once you have been immersed the waters of Divine awareness, there is no turning back. Your eyes are opened. You can try to shut them but the water will just splash you in the face again. You can not go back to sleep once you have been fully awakened.

It is better and much more efficient to use your energy to swim with the flow. Allow the current to take you where you are meant to be. Find your place in the Divine plan. Along the way you will find healing and life and strength. That is the personal message of the Ezekial metaphor. 

On the global level, all of humanity is part of the cosmic ocean. The water is all around us. The shores are just illusions that we make for ourselves. We think we are on firm ground...our place in this reality. However, even the hardest granite succumbs to the waves with the passing of time. Sometimes the change is almost imperceptible - a slow but constant wearing away of what was. Other times it comes crashing down in a giant tsunami and all that was once solid and unyielding crumbles

How do the waves of change occur? There is Divine will that calls to us all around us to be One and to consciously create good. Currents of goodness are all around us. When enough of humanity is captured by the flow of one of these currents, great things happen. A wave of goodness washes the shoreline of that civilization and permanently alters it.

Unfortunately there are also dangerous undertows and rip currents in the ocean of humanity. What can appear to be a good current can be altered and an entire society can either be brought down permanently or pulled into a swampy morass. The nation of Germany prior to WW II was caught up with the idea of nationalism. It appeared to be a good idea to help their nation heal from the wounds of the first world war. It lead to an ugly current and so many were caught up in this same wave, the strength of it almost destroyed them. 

Our nation, the United States, was created when a critical mass of humanity caught the wave of two great beliefs, freedom and equality. Flowing with this current, created our strength and our diversity. Unfortunately there are some dangerous undertows in these waters as well. We have been led off course to believe freedom means we can do whatever we want to seek our own pleasure. That led us to a swamp of materialism. Now we are stuck in the mud of our own over-consumption. We are becoming increasingly aware of how hard it is to pull ourselves out.

Luckily, there is a new current flowing in some of our society today. It is a current that seeks to bond together for the greater good of mankind.  I see it increasingly in the younger people. Maybe it is because they were raised in the midst of the "Me Generation"  and see the fallacy of a self-centered life.  For those of you who wondered how Barack Obama won the last election. That was his secret. He was able to put into words a set of beliefs that a critical mass of humanity was feeling flow through them. His message was hope, unity and working not for oneself, not for money but for the good of all.

When one lives in a cosmic ocean, reality isn’t fixed; it isn’t a given. Shared beliefs and perceptions form the raw material from which reality is made. When people gather to promote a cause, they make an agreement, silent or spoken, to become co-creators. A feeling of shared responsibility arises and at a subtle level their spirits align. This alignment is what is described in the Book of Acts when it says the believers were of "one heart and mind" This group consciousness was the trigger for a great wave of change that began this age of mankind.

A similar group consciousness occurred in the last election. You may not agree with the outcome of that election. You may not be happy how things have progressed since that election. However, the currents of change, the beautiful ideals that motivated those voters, are still present in this culture. Those ideals can stil be harnessed for good. Those of us who are spiritually aware, have the responsibility to find our place in this current. We must move with the spirit that is calling for good appropriate change in our society and create a new wave...a wave that can crash through the status quo... the powers that be... and re-create God's goodness in this world.

I invite you to join us in the river of Life. Walk in. Keep on walking until you feel the flow carry you away. Then start swimming with it. It is not too late. Don't get disillusioned by what you see around of you. If enough join in, We CAN create a wave strong enough to wash this nation out of the mud.