The very air seems to vibrate with a different resonance as we start Contemplating the Mystical Heart of Easter. It’s more than just a season; it’s a mystical whisper of profound transformation, an awakening of the eternal within the temporal. This beautiful paradox stirs the age-old question, one that echoes in the title of my book – “For Heaven’s sake, why the Hell are we here?” It’s a question that will inevitably brush against the corners of every soul. For those who listen with an inner, contemplative ear, the resurrection resonates with a deeply mystical chord, a truth that transcends historical accounts and timelessly touches the very core of our being.

The Whispers of Dawn: Finding the Mystical Heart of Easter

Throughout the ages, Christian mystics, monks, sages, and thinkers have glimpsed this inner radiance of Easter, offering us fragments of its luminous reality that illuminate our own journey towards resurrection and new life. This unfolding is the natural rhythm of all things, the evolution of consciousness within the created self. Resurrection, like impermanence, is a universal law. Deep within, we feel, sense, and connect to a realm beyond our five senses. Yet, burdened by our perceived insignificance and the illusion of mortality, we often dull the mystical and the unknown, settling for a tangible, material existence.

The resurrection resonates with a deeply mystical chord, a truth that transcends the historical account and timelessly touches the very core of our being.

We then begin to believe in and defend this limited, carnal life. In this simplistic way, so many of us inadvertently discard profound wisdom. In our inherent ignorance and limited perspectives, we tend to reject any mystery, uncertainty, and the unknown for narratives that feel easier to control. We construct stories, comforting yet confining, that veil us from the Truth. Truth, in its essence, is another name for Christ, another name for the All. It is, after all, the Truth that shall set us free.

The Unfurling of New Being

The very essence of God’s profound design, revealed in Christ’s message of Contemplating the Mystical Heart of Easter, lies in a radical paradigm shift, a liberation from the constraints of the old. It is the transition from the first half of life to the second, as my cherished psychologist Carl Jung so eloquently put it. It is the courageous act of letting go of the fearful and fragile personality we inevitably construct in our early years. Only then can we begin the gentle return towards our Sacred Selves, to a higher, more authentic identity, forged in the transformative fires of resurrection. It is no coincidence that so many revered figures had their names changed – Saul to Paul, Jacob to Israel, Sarai to Sarah. It signifies a spiritual rebirth, an enlightenment, a profound awakening that sheds the skin of the old self, much like we release the masks of our personalities to become beings who think, love, and breathe the expansive reality that only the soul can truly perceive.

Mystical Metamorphosis

This newness is not a mere return to a former state; it is a profound metamorphosis, a sacred journey home that few can fully grasp. As a modern theological reflection beautifully suggests, “The resurrection is not merely the reanimation of a corpse; it is the irruption of God’s transforming power, creating a new mode of existence.” It is a divine alchemy, transmuting the lead of death into the radiant gold of eternal life. Here, at our Center for Healing and Life Transformation, I witness this miraculous process in people every day. As guides in shedding masks, egos, and false identities, we have seen countless individuals metamorphose from sickness to wellness, from being trapped to liberation, from blindness to profound sight. When we construct a false identity for ourselves, suffering inevitably arises. Not as a punishment, but as a gentle yet persistent call to awaken us, to liberate us from the shackles that bind. Suffering culminates in seeing.

Seeing, in this context, is believing, and believing what we cannot yet see or understand is a journey we will all undertake at some point in our lives. At a divine tipping point, we will need to open the eyes behind our eyes, perceiving with the contemplative mind what remains unseen to our five senses. We become extrasensory. We gain the profound ability to perceive reality – Truth – exactly as it is, without the need for defenses or the shadows of illusion. The fundamental paradigm shift we embrace is the transition from fear to boundless love.

The call then becomes one of spiral dynamics, of consciously aligning ourselves with this upward movement, the inherent flow of an ever-expanding universe. What you and I hold in our thoughts expands into our reality. The same holds true for the Divine. “Every ending holds a new beginning,” a contemporary mystical voice reminds us. “See the empty tomb not as a void, but as a sacred doorway.”

The Christ Within: Our Shared Resurrection

Many today do not truly realize, comprehend, or understand that the mystical understanding of Easter extends far beyond a singular historical event. It speaks to an ongoing, ever-present reality, a deep and intimate union with the risen Christ. The very essence of our journey here is an expanding conscious experience. We are not here for fleeting things. Material possessions and wealth are transient. If we could truly grasp the profound meaning within that simple truth, we could begin to understand our purpose and our intended way of being. We are here to know the Truth. If we simply pause, if we cultivate stillness, if we tap into the power of contemplative intelligence that resides within us all, we will become still and know God!

Contemplation teaches us to think about thinking itself and may well be the highest form of intelligence we possess. It is a sacred dance encompassing the physical, psychological, and spiritual realms, and it possesses a profound capacity to heal and then transform. Contemplation is simply being fully present in heart, mind, and body, attuned to what is in a way that empowers us to creatively respond and move towards what could be. It is both a deeply personal and profoundly communal experience, internal and external. It gently guides us to release our usual self-centered patterns of thought and action, allowing our compassionate, interconnected, and creative Self to emerge. Through the practice of Contemplating the Mystical Heart of Easter and all spiritual things, we develop the ability to witness our ego-driven motivations, bringing this awareness into our daily lives and living with increased freedom and authenticity through a deeper understanding of ourselves, others, and the Divine.

The Ineffable Mystery of Love

Ultimately, the mystery of the cross remains a profound enigma, a truth that stretches far beyond our rational comprehension, inviting us into a state of awe and wonder – at least as much of it as we can bear. You see, we often resist too much awe and wonder; we subconsciously believe we don’t deserve it. Yet, if we are able to access the contemplative mind, we can catch a glimpse of this profound reality. People may genuinely believe that money, substances, power, grasping, and incessant chatter will bring them some form of wonder, a wonder on their own terms. Perhaps it does, but like the fleeting story of living and dying as a purely mortal being, it simply doesn’t last! When we contemplate God, we instinctively think of all things eternal, and perhaps this is why.

“All other things are fading away. This means everything is exactly on purpose and as it is supposed to be; both the order and the chaos. In this way all paths lead to God.”

Finally, at the very heart of this mystery lies a presence that transcends absence. “At the empty tomb, we encounter not absence, but a presence so profound it transcends our understanding,” a contemporary mystical insight beautifully reveals. This is what Saint Francis perhaps meant when he articulated that it is in dying to the self, to the persona, to the limited ego, that we are born into eternal life, the eternal Self, and the eternal God.

The very essence of the resurrection captures the sacred moment when the veil between the earthly and the divine thins, when “the eternal bursts forth into the temporal, the divine breaking through the limitations of the created order,” as a modern theological reflection with mystical undertones so eloquently articulates.

What resonates deeply with me, and can resonate with you, is the understanding that God is above all law, omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. He is sovereign and establishes all the rules – but only all of them! The wisdom often attributed to Pablo Picasso, “First, learn the rules very well, then break them,” resonates profoundly with the laws of the Creator and the created. For me, God came to save the world. Who does that leave out? Not you. Do you know that even Catholic means Universal? Easter is for every created creature! Know you are invited, you are one, you are Universal by your very nature. And all you need to do, if any doubt lingers in your mind, is to contemplate the profound reality of who you truly are. The only exclusions are exclusions created by our dualistic minds. Nothing separates us! (check out Romans 8:38….you may have to read it twice, Lectio Divina).

From this sacred starting point of internal discovery, you will realize that this journey has no end. Resurrection is not a singular event; it is a daily, moment-by-moment, countless-times-an-hour occurrence. Simply observe the millions of cells being created within your body today – nothing short of a miracle of resurrection. A contemplative mind will gently guide you to see beyond the veil of the narrative, the story that the mind and the world relentlessly try to perpetuate. But if you look deeper, even at the essence of who you truly are, if you can cultivate stillness, you will know.

So, as we start Contemplating the Mystical Heart of Easter, may we move beyond the surface celebrations and delve into the mystical heart of this sacred time. May we listen intently for the whispers of dawn within our own souls, embracing the transformative power of resurrection and the enduring, unfolding, unlimited mystery of a Love that knows no end at all. May we truly discover our Sacred Selves and, from that profound realization, perceive the Universal Christ and experience the Sacred in absolutely everything else as you’re Contemplating the Mystical Heart of Easter. All other things are indeed fading away, revealing the eternal. This means everything is precisely on purpose and exactly as it is meant to be – both the perceived order and the apparent chaos. In this profound understanding, all paths ultimately lead to God. Enjoy your sacred walk!