Ho'omana Health Ministries

Christmas lights, advent candles, yule logs, candlelight Christmas eve services - light in different forms is traditionally associated with Christmas and for good reason. Light is the symbol of hope, spiritual illumination, warmth, and guidance. Light is the fundamental message of Christmas - light that triumphs over darkness.

Preparing for the Light

The Christmas celebration reminds us that in the coldest, darkest time of the year, God's light still shines. In fact it shines brightest in the darkness.

Before we begin the our Sabbath message, this song will prepare our hearts for the Christmas story of Light

Bending Toward the Light

Call to Worship

Doxology

Opening Prayer

Father and Mother, through out eternity You have been our light

In Your Divine Mercy, You have gifted each of us with a spark of Your light within our spirits

And have given us a Way to nurture the light

So that each of us has the capacity to become a bright torch guiding the Way for others

Holy Spirit Mother,

Rekindle Your light today.

Amen

Scripture Reading

 ¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was with God in the beginning.

 ³Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴In him was life, and that life was the light of men. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

 ⁶There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. ⁷He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. ⁸He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. ⁹The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.

John 1:1-8

² The people walking in darkness
       have seen a great light;
       on those living in the land of the shadow of death 
       a light has dawned

Isaiah 9:2

 ⁵This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. ⁷But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another...

1 John 1:5-7

¹⁴"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:14-16

 Opening Hymn

People Let Your Light Shine

Message

Yesterday, the Christian world celebrated Christmas, the birthday of the Christ Child. Interestingly enough, most scholars do not believe that Yeshua Ha'Mashiach (Jesus the Messiah) was born on December 25th. The actual birth date of Yeshua was lost to antiquity. The early followers of the Way did not celebrate Yeshua's birth. Early Christians believed the celebration of anyone's birth was a pagan custom. Since the date of Yeshua's birth was not significant to them, it was forgotten for all time.

The first Christmas celebrations began several centuries after Yeshua's death. Many beleive the December 25th date was chosen as a deliberate substitution for an existing celebration of the birth of the sun god, Saturn. Others believe it was a substitution for pagan winter solstice celebrations. Because of these pagan connotations, the Puritans refused to celebrate Christmas. Many strict fundamentalist Christian groups still refuse to celebrate Christmas.  This attitude is unfortunate because it detracts from the greater message.

The dead of winter is an excellent time to celebrate a great Light revitalizing the world. As one reads the scriptures above, one can not help but realize that the message of Yeshua was fundamentally a message of light and hope. If the actual date of his birth is unknown, why not choose the darkest coldest time of the year? Winter is a time that celebrations of light flourish in other cultures why not use it to celebrate the coming of great light for Mankind? Light shines brightest in the darkness.

Man has a primal attraction to light. It is set deeply within our circadian rhythm to awaken with the sun and retreat from the darkness. One of our greatest discoveries was how to make fire. When mankind mastered fire, he had the ability to warm the cold and light the physical darkness of this world. Mankind has also searched for the same type of "fire" in the spiritual plane. Since the beginning of creation and our life on this earth, we have awaited the light of the seasons by searching for the spiritual light. In the dark of winter, we have chosen hope over despair...hope that a better season is coming...through celebrations of light. Throughout history we have celebrated new light in the winter solstice. The many winter festivals of light range from the Druids, to the Roman Saturnalia, to the miracle of light at Hannukah. So why not also celebrate the Holy Child of Light's birth in the midst of winter darkness?

By celebrating Yeshua's  birth, we are recognizing that light is more than the Sun. True light cannot be measured in kilowatts and amps. Light is a metaphor and it is a metaphor that our soul truly seeks.  Light is knowledge. Light is life. Light is light....light is God within us. Light is the real gift of Christmas. Light is our true identity. That is what Father and Mother God gave mankind with Yeshua's birth. We were given the chance to know our true selves.

A different and illuminating gift for each of us this Christmas would be the ability to understand this true identity...the light of God within. We are spirits encased in physical bodies. As spirits in matter, we were placed in this physical creation to learn and grow. As citizens of creation,  we have experienced and uncovered the secrets of form and matter, learning to create at a very fundamental level. Like children in a sandbox who form replicas of castles, we have been learning through the tools our Parents have provided in this playground. But we have been removed for so long from our spiritual origins that many of us have forgotten our true identity. Luckily, our Mother and Father graciously provide us with reminders. These reminders may only be a moment, a teacher, a word, a phrase, a picture or a sudden spiritual insight that allows us a fleeting glimpse into our true identity. In those moments, we remember we have the light within.

Yeshua was sent as the greatest reminder of all. He was the Light from above sent to reveal light is available to each man and woman. He reminded us are made in the image of the Mother and Father. We are light...like the great encompassing Light. Our mission is to be beams of light carrying information into the world, influencing and affecting all that we contact. This year, as Christmas comes and goes again, let us not forget the real message behind all the Christmas lights. Let us think differently. Let us recognize and identify that we are in fact a rainbow of light, and that within our light are specific tasks, purposes, behaviors, abilities and gifts we unconsciously radiate upon each other and all we contact.

During this season of giving let us realize we are the gifts of Holy Light. Let us shine for each other during our temporary lifetime on this earth. Let us understand our light and what our lights radiate that makes us so holy to one another. Let us shine without fear in this world. Yeshua said that we are not to hide our lights. Don't be afraid to shine.

Many say that they are afraid of failure. I think most people are actually afraid of success. Success means you have to continue to shine..that the world will count on you to shine and that requires a lot of work. It is a lot easier just to go on pretending to be meaningless. Here is a quote that I love from Marianne Williamson that says it all..."We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." 

So go ahead!! Celebrate the real Christmas spirit and SHINE!

 Closing Hymn

Go Light Your World

Final Thoughts

From within or from behind, a light shines through us upon things, and makes us aware that we are nothing, but the light is all.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
 

Light gives of itself freely, filling all available space.  It does not seek anything in return; it asks not whether you are friend or foe.  It gives of itself and is not thereby diminished.  ~Michael Strassfeld

"At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us."
-- Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) German theologian, musician, philosopher, and physician

Light a Candle in the Darkness

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Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness concerning all acts of initiative (and creation). There is one elemental truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans...that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves all. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issue from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of incidents and meetings and material assistance which no one could have dreamed would come his or her way. Whatever you can do or dream, you can begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.
~Goethe  

What lies behind us and what lies before us are of little importance compared to what lies within us.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Last week in our Sabbath message, we discussed the illusion of power versus real the real Power. We concluded that there is a true Source of Power. The true Power is the One who created us, and is within us. But that is not the end of the line. Like the power lines pictured above, We were not created and planted in this world just to receive power but to also transmit. Today's message discusses how we can recognize, harness and utilize the Power within.

Opening Hymn

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In our natural state, we are glorious beings. In the world of illusion, we are lost and imprisoned, slaves to our appetites and our will to false power.

Marianne Williamson

On this Sabbath, as the world is celebrating the first day of Hanukkah, a festival of light and hope, We will open the message with a Hanukkah  blessing

Opening Blessing

Closing Hymn

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Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.
-- Melody Beattie

A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all other virtues.
-- Cicero

Thankful Thoughts

The fourth Thursday of November,  like most of the U.S., we celebrated Thanksgiving in our home. If you have been following the weekly Sabbath messages,  you know that I tried this year to make  Thanksgiving a more significant event than usual. Towards this goal, we had fasted for the week  prior to Thanksgiving and saved the food we would have eated to contribute to a food pantry. So we actually started our Thanksgiving on the day before by contributing food (and a little money) to the local Salvation Army kitchen.

As we left the Salvation Army office, I thought about years in the past when I had struggled to feed my own family.  I remembered one year that the hospital where I was employed surprised the staff with food baskets on Thanksgiving. I had tears in my eyes when I received my basket because until that moment, I wasn't sure how I was going to make a special meal for my kids. Another year, I had just moved to Germany. I moved for a government job and was told the government was going to pay all the expenses. I did not know that I had to front the costs and would be paid back later. It took every penny I had to pay the hotel bill. It was Thanksgiving day the next day.  The finance office would not be open until the following Monday. Luckily, I was able to take my travel orders and get my family into  the soldier's mess hall for Thanksgiving dinner.  I remember how relieved I was to not only have a way to celebrate Thanksgiving but just to have some food to feed my children. As I thought about those past years, I felt very grateful that this year I had  the resources to have a nice Thanksgiving meal and also had extra to share with others. 

Thankgiving morning, when I woke up, I walked the dogs, as usual. I am not a morning person so usually during these early morning walks with the doggies, I am barely functioning. I do it basically because I know walking is good for my health and if I don't walk in the morning, I often don't get a walk in at all. Also, we have very active pups and they are MUCH better doggies if they get their morning romp. This particular morning, however, I tried to make it a different type of experience. I kept my eyes open to my surroundings. I listened to the quietness around me in the desert mesa. I was appreciative of the pure joy of life expressed by the dogs as the ran and jumped and played. I watched the sunrise over the mountains in all its glory.  And, I thought to myself, "Is it always this beautiful?" At that moment, a jack rabbit peaked out from behind a scrubby bush with curious eyes as if to say, "Of course, you silly human, did you just realize that you have been missing out?"

When we returned from the walk, I had my morning coffee and muffin. That muffin was extremely satisfying after a week long fast. I thanked God the first time of many times that day for the joy of good food. After I ate, I sent out Thanksgiving day ecards to all the important people in my life. As I wrote the cards, I tried to be very mindful of the gratitude I felt for that person. I reminded myself of some particular aspect of that person that gave me joy or some moment in my life that the person made an impact.

Next, my husband and I had our dinner. We spent a few moment sharing the items in our lives that we were thankful for. Then we said grace and ate. Somewhere between the stuffing and the pumpkin pie, my mind began to wander. I thought about the contentment of sitting at the table in my warm house with peaceful music playing in the background. I thought about the joy and peace that had been growing in my heart that day. I thought about how good it is to take time to consider the good in our lives. I was reminded of quote I heard long ago. "Thanksgiving is not meant to be a day on the calender. Thanksgiving is meant to be a way of life. "

The happiness alive in my heart at that moment was the culmination of a day spent cultivating gratitude in my heart. Actually, it was the culmination of not just one day but a week of preparation. The week of fasting...doing without...helped me truly enjoy the feast. Deprivation provides the perspective that allows us to enjoy blessings. In the same manner, the difficult times in my past  that I recalled now, help make this present so sweet. But only if we can view those difficult times with an attitude of gratitude. That is the key.

I then recognized the Divine wisdom of the Essene Way. Essenes take great care to cultivate a correct spirit within. They begin their day communing with the Mother and ended the day communing with the Father. They believe in creating within their life a seven-fold peace: peace with body, mind, family, humanity, culture, Mother and Father. Being at peace begins with accepting and enjoying life as it is....being grateful for what is, what was and what will be.

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God."

Let us start now to cultivate that attitude of gratitude....the spirit of thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Invocation

Thank You, Lord

Scripture Reading

 It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord,
and to sing praises unto thy name, O most high:
To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning,
and thy faithfulness every night
— Psalms 92:1-2

Thanksgiving Prayer

Our Father and Mother

who are in heaven, 

and around us,

and within us

 Holy is Your Name.

Your Kingdom is upon us,

as is Your will.

Your are here on earth,

and in the heavens.

We are never in need

because You provide.

By forgiving our mistakes, 

You have taught us

to forgive others.

You lead your children

in the path of light,

and guide us away 

from the darkness

because Your kingdom

and power, and glory

are within us.

Amen

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 In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.

Albert Camus

My Dear Companions in The Way,

Last weekend, I was called away suddenly and unexpectedly and was unable to post the Thanksgiving Sabbath message. I received several concerned emails and I want to thank you all for worrying. All is well. Father and Mother simply had different plans for my Sabbath Worship.

I will post the message that I HAD intended for Thanksgiving Sabbath on the next week. In place of the November 27 message, I would like to share with you what happened last week. It all began in the Emergency Department on Friday afternoon (the day after Thanksgiving). An ambulance arrived with an 88 year old frail little lady in severe pain. She was in shock and needed to be flown out immediately for emergency surgery. Later, her 92 year old Hopi husband arrived. He had driven his old pick-up truck. When he was told that his wife was very ill and had been flown out to Flagstaff, he was distraught. He did not normally drive as far as he did that night. A trip to Flagstaff 140 miles away on a major highway was way beyond his ability.

He wanted to be with her but had no way to accomplish the necessary trip. He had out-lived his immediate family. His wife and he had never had children. They were alone in the world and had no one to call on for  help. So on a cold bleak winter night, with a storm coming in, my husband and I set off on an unexpected journey. A 92 year old Hopi gentleman whom we had never met before was our travel companion. We arrived at Flagstaff Medical Center just before the first real winter storm of this season.

My husband set off to find hotel rooms for the night. I accompanied our new Hopi friend. We walked to the information desk. The desk was set up on a pedestal and was almost as tall as this 5 foot Hopi elder. He looked so small and fragile standing there that it hurt my heart. His wife was in the Intensive Care Unit. We followed the directions to the unit. I had to gauge my steps to my Hopi friend's slow aged steps. We finally arrived to the door of the unit.

I picked up the phone outside the unit and announced our arrival. The automatic doors opened. I looked around and took in all the sights and sounds...the monitors, and ventilators and IV pumps....the brisk efficient staff carefully managing and surpressing any potential chaos. I smiled in recognition of it all.  As a former ICU nurse, this was familiar ground to me. The staff...any critical care staff... are my kindred spirits. The surroundings are home. 

Then I remembered my travel companion. I saw the fear in his eyes. His apprehension increased with every step. At that moment, I realized I was not there in that place at that time by happenstance. There was a beautiful Divine logic to this journey. I was there to guide my Hopi friend through the Critical Care world that was so familiar to me but so foreigh and alien to him. The verses from Isaiah that I had quoted during my ordination came back to my mind: 

^"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
       because the LORD has anointed me
       to preach good news to the poor.
       He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
       to proclaim freedom for the captives
       and release from darkness for the prisoners,

to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
       and the day of vengeance of our God,
       to comfort all who mourn,

 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
       to bestow on them a crown of beauty
       instead of ashes,
       the oil of gladness
       instead of mourning,
       and a garment of praise
       instead of a spirit of despair. "
      

I went to the nurse's desk and asked for his wife's room. She had just returned from surgery. Her small figure in the hospital bed was dwarfed by all the equipment surrounding her. She had a tube coming out of her mouth to help her breathe and tubes from her nose and stomach draining foul black liquid. The multiple IV lines emerged from her bed like plastic spaghetti.

Her little husband barely recognized her with all the equipment attached. He called her name and then asked me, "Is that her?" When I affirmed that it was her name on the door, he still looked lost. This was not new to me either. I have seen this reaction many times in the past. Family members often find themselves unable to relate to the lifeless, motionless body of their loved one. The body is so unlike it's former self that it almost seems like an imposter. I pulled up a chair and had him sit beside her. Then I pulled back the covers to reveal a small hand. It was a little bloated and puffy from all the fluid that had been poured into her to keep her alive but it was warm and when I placed his hand on top of hers I could feel him soften.

The next few hours he talked to me and to her. He recalled the beautiful life they shared. He was alternately angry, and sad and afraid...of being alone, of losing her, of her suffering. He also spoke tenderly of a life of love shared together....the travels while he was in the military, the hard times when they were first married, the accomplishments of their life. She never woke up but I told him I believe her spirit heard and felt him there. He agreed.  When the time came for her to leave this world, emotion overwhelmed him. He said, " I don't want to see this but I don' t want her to be alone. I told him, "It is OK, I will stay with her" "You go" So he said "Good-bye, Edith" with tears in his eyes. I took her hand from him and he shuffled off as fast as his 92 year old frame could carry him.

Then I looked at Edith and said, "It's OK. You can go now. He is ready" and within 5 minutes her heart stopped. Her husband came back about 10 minutes later. I said, " It's over. She is gone." He asked what time it happened. I told him the time of death.  He said" I knew it. Something told me to look at my watch right at that time"  Then He asked me,"So, you used to do this all the time?" I said, "Yes." He said, "How could you stand it?...all the suffering?" I said," When I share the suffering, I also share the beauty." Tonight I shared the beauty of a 62 year marriage.

He smiled and nodded quietly. "Yes, I see there is good...even in pain"

I called my husband and he picked us up. It was snowing steadily when we left the hospital. The flakes were big and soft  floating down from the sky. The ground was covered with white.  I thought about how good our Mother and Father God are to their children. In every storm in our life, God creates a shelter and shows us the beauty...if we look for it.

'You have been a refuge for the poor,
       a refuge for the needy in his distress,
       a shelter from the storm
       and a shade from the heat. "

Isaiah 25:4

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