I am still humming from the incredible energy of our very special service this past Sunday, which celebrated this year's convergence of Palm Sunday with the Spring Equinox. We merged our traditional Palm Sunday Service - which we present as "Service of the Roses" - with our Spring Equinox Ritual. During the service, we released our bonds from the previous year and we welcomed our intentions for this beautiful season of growth. And we did it all bathed in the golden hue of gorgeous yellow roses to honor the coming week of Easter, which includes a time of deep and challenging "going within" followed by the emergence of our renewed, rejuvenated and resurrected Spirit. It was a magical day indeed, and I want to acknowledge the dedication of Rev. James De Biasio, Lyriel Claire and Rev. Olivia Hunter for their labor of love to create such a rich, complex and powerful service.
And speaking of powerful services...
This coming Friday evening, March, 25, at 7:30 p.m., we are offering our metaphysical interpretation of the events of Good Friday, called
Service of the Shadows. During this solemn service, we journey with our brother Jesus into the depths of our hearts and souls. We ask ourselves the most profound of all questions -- the question that our brother also asked on this day thousands of years ago: "what is thy will, O, Infinite Spirit, and how can I serve?" As the candles are extinguished one by one during the course of service, we affirm our eternal alignment with this age-old spiritual quest, and consciously choose -- as did our brother -- to go into the silent darkness to remember our true purpose.
And then on Sunday, March 27, we rise, WE RISE! Our beautiful
Easter Sunday Service reminds us that after the dark, there comes the light. After the night comes the glorious dawn. We are reborn! Please join us to celebrate this joyful holiday and occasion.
Next week, we continue with our lessons in
A Course in Miracles led by Rev. Jim Webb from Takoma Metaphysical Chapel. Each class has featured enlightened discussion and reflections on the first 50 lessons of the Course. Feel free to come to last class in this series and become part of the conversation!
On Sunday April 3, we are thrilled to be presenting our very first
Spanish language service, taking place at 2 p.m. The service will be preceded by hospitality at 12:30 that transitions from the 11 a.m. service, followed by meditation and mini-healings. You won't want to miss this special worship and celebration experience.
The rest of April is shaping up to be pretty amazing too! Classes include: Metaphysical Interpretation of the Old Testament, led by the ISD Ministerial Staff on Tuesdays, April 5, 12, 19 and 26;
Tarot for Self Guidance led by Lyriel Claire Thursdays, April 7, 14, 21 and 28; a special "Intro to Veganism" workshop led by Carol McCaffrey on April 10. More information on all of these events to come in the next issues of
ISDetails.
And don't forget to check out the recently-updated ISD meditations page, where we are beginning to post some of our Sunday service wellness meditations and our bi-monthly evening meditations.
Our week ahead is quite the journey, but our rising and resurrection will bring us even further into the light!
In love and Spring awakening,
Rev. Rob Banaszak
Pastor, Institute for Spiritual Development, Washington, D.C.
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