Palms — Power — Praise
Think about the reception a sports team gets in its hometown after participating in a major championship. Or an American Idol finalist returning home for a celebration. The parades! The fanfare! The excitement! The media coverage!
That’s the kind of scene you can envision happening on Palm Sunday a little over 2000 years ago to celebrate the arrival of Jesus as the Christ into Jerusalem. It came without TV coverage or a key to the city, but the fanfare and parade were real enough. Thousands of people spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut palm branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds gave Jesus and his entourage high fives, waved their Palm branches, and shouted Hosanna!
Palm Sunday: A MetaSpiritual Interpretation
Palm Sunday is a great example of outer appearance versus Truth! Think about it: the outward appearance is that Jesus has lots of supporters, lots of praise. But we know what happened less than a week after that triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Where were the palm branches then? Long since discarded and forgotten. Where were the people who were praising Him? They were crying “Crucify Him!” Outer appearance can be so deceiving…shifting…undependable!! And yet, there is much to learn.
We’d like to share a MetaSpiritual perspective of Palm Sunday. MetaSpiritual is the marriage between evidence-based science, faith-based spirituality, metaphor-based metaphysics, and experience-based psychic phenomena. Here’s a MetaSpiritual interpretation of Palm Sunday. And it’s all happening within us!
Jerusalem represents our abiding consciousness of inner peace. The peace that protects you from irrational thinking, ridiculous choices, and preposterous actions when you over-react to outer circumstances. The peace that allows you to always “Bring the poise of your Divine Nature to the noise of outer circumstances.”
When you think about it, the ride into Jerusalem represents our spiritual journey to that inner peace. It doesn’t matter if our steps are on bare feet or sandled feet, big feet or small feet, tired feet or energetic feet. Each step is a tithe toward our becoming consciously one with our Divine Nature.
Jesus symbolizes the conscious awareness of and alignment with our Divine Nature. As we follow his example, we can become fully Self-Realized like he was.
Donkey represents a humble willingness to surrender to our Higher Spiritual Nature, to support others, to lighten the burden of living in skin school.
Crowds usually refer to multitudes of thought; so, we need to recognize that thoughts and emotions held in mind produce similar thoughts and emotions after their kind. Unity calls that the Law of Mind Action. These thoughts and feelings intensify, leading to our choices and actions (which we call the YOUniversal Prosperity Principle of Manifestation).
Palms signify spiritual strength, and the ability to eliminate anything which limits or blocks the enlightenment we seek.
Hosannas represent moments of joyfulness and excitement when we experience alignment of our human nature with our Divine Nature.
So from a MetaSpiritual perspective, Palm Sunday represents our spiritual walk toward the Inner Peace that comes from our conscious alignment with the Truth of who we really are, so we can master the art of living in skin school!
Coming to that realization is truly a transforming experience — one that readies us to receive the keys to our Higher Consciousness Birthright and entry into the Field of Infinite Potential.
And the key to accessing that incredible entry is right in front of us. Remember – it’s all about the Palms! When we think of this Sunday before Easter, we focus on the Palms! And palms stand for strength and praise ~ power and praise! So let’s focus on PALMS! Literally! YOUR palms!Palms • Power • Praise: Unpacking the Formula
Take a good look at your palms right now. (Try to fight the urge to look at your lifeline!) Our palms represent a powerful opportunity to make a choice! For example: Clench your hand into a fist! Now, where’s your palm? Covered up. Hidden behind the mask of anger — fear — violence — nervousness?
Now, slowly unclench your fist and open your hand — Relax into the real power you have — the power to praise!
And this is one of the secrets of Mastering the Art of Living MetaSpiritually! Using the unique power of praise that we have -- we open our hearts to the Hosannas of joy that flood our being as we release and overcome the error thinking of the world of appearance!
The more in touch we get with our Divine nature, the more powerful our praise becomes. Here are three ways to use our palms in the power of praise — and we get the lesson directly from the words of Master Teacher, Jesus, in Matthew 22:37-40 (KJV) “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”
So let’s unpack this formula to allow our Palms to express our Power and Praise:
We start with that verse that says: Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. MetaSpiritually, this means we align our human self with our Divine Nature by making time for daily Spiritual Practices. We can do this with our palms!
Praise with Palms Together
Whenever your palms come together, let it be a touchstone – a reminder – to make time every day for prayer and mediation: Palms together in prayer and meditation. Go into the silence, that Domain of the Divine (Unity calls Headquarters!). Remember, Jesus said, In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33). That means that when we become one with the Truth of who we are—when we stand in our Truth Principles and use our Practices, we transcend any world of appearance. Praise with palms Together, in the Silence.
Praise with Palms Surrounding
Next in our formula we have Love thy neighbor as thyself – Let’s focus on “thyself!” It means we must love ourselves first. So, we: Praise with Palms Surrounding (our human self): It means being able to forgive yourself … Hug yourself — in love and appreciation. Release any thoughts and actions that no longer serve you, and value the Truth of who you are ~ God expressing! Karen Drucker has a great song called “I Look Good!” It’s about a game she plays, where she looks in a mirror and says, “I look good!” One verse says:
“The rules of the game are specific and precise; I can’t judge or criticize, I have to be nice. This is the body I have, it’s divine and a gift; I don’t need to lose weight, color my gray, or have a face lift! …
The game isn’t limited to what’s on the outside, there’s my inner work too that cannot be denied; ‘cause who I really am radiates from within, so I open my heart, quiet my critic and dig in! I AM good!”
Praise with palms surrounding. Do it now!! Give yourself a great big hug! And say, “I AM GOOD!”
Praise with Palms Outstretching
Now let’s flip back to “Love thy neighbor” to wrap up the formula! This means we: Praise with Palms Outstretching: Be on the lookout for opportunities to appreciate and value others, not only through words, but through actions: applause, hugs, prayers, blessings, touch… Behold the Divine and Worthiness in others, and show it! Outstretching: Giving AND Receiving Cycle!
The real excitement comes when we know that we know that we know the joy of living in that amazing Field of Infinite Potential. It reminds us of the old TV show, Welcome Back Kotter – about a professor (Kotter) who was in charge of a remedial class of misfits called the Sweathogs! (As an aside, this is the show that kicked of the career of the young actor who played Vinnie Barbarino: John Travolta!) But the character we are focusing on here is Horseshack. He was always so excited about being picked by the teacher – every question, he’d be ready, palm up and waving, shouting, “Ooo! Oooo! Me! Me!”
What if we could enter every day with that kind of attitude? Palm Sunday is a day of joyful palms and Hosannas! Don’t let it just be a day of appearance. Choose to make it the Truth of who you are: The Truth of You Expressing! Go out into the world of your daily life, palms open, ready to use your unique power to praise! This week, every time you think about your palms, let it be a reminder to raise your palm and mentally shout, “Ooo! Ooo! Hosanna! Hosanna! Me, me! Choose me! I’m ready! Ready to Give and to Receive! To joyfully cross out error thinking! Ooo! Ooo! I’m ready to master the art of living as I walk the spiritual path on positive, practical, prosperous feet!
Here's a summary poster to help you remember the power of your palms!
© Revs. Drs. Bil & Cher Holton, GCSAcommunity.org
Photo Credits: Dreamstime.com, with permission
