Miracles News

April-June, 2005

Jesus Is Alive and Well In Us

by Rev. Barbara Kraetsch, O.M.C.

Rev. Barbara Kraetsch Jesus lives in me. How often do you think about this statement? Do you think about it at all? Some may not think these are very important questions. However, these questions hold the key to peace and the feeling of security in our lives. The Son of God lives as us. We are one with this energy, this power of God, in a very real way. It creates our real life. How could we not think it was important to look at how often we consider what our real existence is.

So many people get caught up in the details of physical life. There is the commute to work, job stresses and deadlines, mulish co-workers, angry bosses, the commute home, the needs of family, home maintenance, and the list can go on and on. These details seems to make up our “real” life. We feel intimately connected to them most of the time because it appears as if we can never escape them.

They do not appear in our minds as activity worthy of a Son of God, part of the Christ Self. We relegate that supposed activity to work or lives that we deem other worldly, perhaps ministering to the poor or sick, religious life, or something, anything other than the mundane details of a relentlessly busy life to get by or make ends meet. These details take on a lot of importance in our minds when there are bills to pay each month.

For some, the thought of the living Christ comes to mind at Sunday worship services. For others, there is daily prayer or meditation time in which they allow Christ to live in their minds for a short time. These times bring a deeper awareness of peace, but then soon seem to be forgotten in the performing of worldly functions. After all, there are schedules, deadlines, paperwork, emails, and the family requires dinner. There is the satisfaction of knowing that at least an effort has been made to pay attention to the spiritual component of life. And one can remember these experiences from time to time during the day or week as a help to be kindly and forgiving.

The question is, is this sufficient, and the answer is no. This is not sufficient. It’s not even close, unless we want to walk the world like zombies or robots, devoid of real joy and happiness, but subsisting on substitutes of mechanical body pleasure. Zombies walk half alive. The robot’s battery wears out regularly, and it needs a “fix.” This isn’t life. It’s wandering the world in search of fulfilling some purpose that seems to be just out of reach, just beyond our grasp. If only there were more time or energy, most people whine, so that I could do what needs to be done. Is this kind of life sufficient?

There is only one answer to a life that is sufficient, a life that meets our purpose for being alive. That goes back to the statement of truth that Jesus lives in me, and to the question about how often we think of this. We find this answer inside ourselves and then take it with us wherever we go. To the extent that we can remember that Jesus is alive and well and lives in us and through us, we can be at total peace in all we do and everywhere we go. This, of course, takes more remembering than once a week, or once a day, or even several times a day. It takes remembering all the time. As a practical matter, remembering as often as we can goes a long way to making for a more peaceful and joyful life.

Remembering is not so hard, if we commit to practicing. There is the practice of brief daily meditations or prayers, certainly at the beginning and ending of the day, and often throughout the day. Little post-its or reminder cards can remind us to take just a moment to remember that Jesus is alive and well in us. This need not be fancy or formal, just a simple little reminder at our desk, in our car, on the refrigerator, to give our lives over to God. Perhaps we play some music with a spiritual theme, or listen to a book on tape as we drive or work about the house. Any reminder to take a moment to think of God will do. These are not difficult if we are willing.

A commitment to remembering God more than we do now supposes that we think it is important to do so, that it is just as important as the every day functions and deadlines at work, or getting meals on the table or the laundry done for the family. And if we do think that remembering God is important, just as important as the laundry, then why do we not have a reminder on the washing machine and dryer to take a moment to thank God for the blessing of being alive to do it. It is the infusing of all our little details of life with the love of God that makes our life real and purposeful. In this Jesus lives in us for He remembers His Father always. When we remember with Him, we live in His peace and joy.

The Christ Self that we are lives a life of love and peace. It lives in the purpose given at creation. There is only the one purpose in every moment and that is to remember the Love of God and that everyone is part of that Love. That is what we are called to do, just remember who we are in all that we do. In this way Jesus lives in us. When we are aware of Jesus living in us, there is the feeling of complete fulfillment, complete peace, complete safety. Isn’t this worth remembering and taking the time to remember? Spending a few more moments each day remembering the peace of God is ours already, always has been and always will be, seems worth the trouble to put a little note of reminder where it will be seen. With practice the habit grows to remember more and forget less that God is always with us because we are one with Him.

The Christ lives as me. The Christ lives as you. The Christ lives as all of us. The Son of God is not remote or separate from us. We are Him. Why not remember a little more often this wonderful truth, this great source of joy and peace. The rewards of remembering far outweigh the little effort it takes to do so. A few more minutes of remembering can transform a seeming dismal or mundane life into one of great power because the power of love is allowed to be at work, be at the commute, be with the family, be wherever we go. When we remember to allow the power of love to be in our lives in a real way, Jesus lives through us in a real way. We bless the world every moment we remember that Jesus lives as us. The details of our outward lives need not change in big ways, or any way at all, but perhaps they may. What is important is the remembering we bring to the details. This is what makes all the difference.

Rev. Barbara Kraetsch is a Pathways of Light minister living in Hartford, Wisconsin.

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