Midweek Faith Lift
March 25, 2026
The Divine Plan
Rev. Deb Hill-Davis
Spiritual Passages
March 9, 2026
An elderly minister was on her deathbed. She sent a message for her banker and her lawyer, both church members, asking them to come to her home. When they arrived, they were ushered up to her bedroom. As they entered the room, the minister held out her hands and motioned for them to sit on each side of the bed. She grasped their hands, sighed contentedly, smiled, and stared at the ceiling. For a time, no one said anything. Both the banker and the lawyer were touched and flattered that the minister had asked them to be with her during her final moments.
They were also puzzled; the minister had never given them any indication that she particularly liked either of them. In fact, they both remembered her many long, uncomfortable sermons about greed, covetousness, and avaricious behavior that had made them squirm in their seats. Finally, the banker said, “Reverend, why did you ask us to come?” The old minister mustered up her strength and said weakly, “Jesus died between two thieves, and that’s how I want to go.
"True forgiveness does not paper over what has happened in a superficial way. It is not a misguided effort to suppress or ignore our pain. It cannot be hurried. It is a deep process repeated over and over in our heart which honors the grief and betrayal, and in its own time ripens into the freedom to truly forgive." - Jack Kornfield, The Art of Forgiveness, Lovingkindness, and Peace
"You only find yourself by betraying yourself. The betrayal generates crisis, then transformation." - Evan Hodkins, The School of Alchemy
Affirmative Prayer for today: Infinite Loving Spirit that is in us and all around us, we open to that energy of love that is acceptance as we embrace and celebrate our sacred human nature. Our humanness is the only portal to our true nature, our divine nature and our gratitude for this truth is infinite. Amen.
We are completing our journey through Rev. Jim Rosemergy’s The Sacred Human today and as we finish the book, we are only starting our adventure of living as sacred humans. A BIG thanks to Todd for his sacred human message on March 8 while I was away. He is a man of passionate convictions who lives and practices what he preaches! Thank you for modeling that for me, honey! I appreciate you more than you know. Not trying to escape or by-pass our humanness is the essence of Rev. Jim’s message, and leaning into your human experiences is truly the portal to realizing your divinity, to making it more real in all the little moments of daily life. That is our true journey in this life.
Throughout the history of the Christian tradition, this understanding of the relationship between human and divine has been very garbled, misinterpreted and misused. One of the first to really ponder this dilemma was a Pharisee, named Nicodemus. Remember, Jesus was continually calling out the Pharisees because what they said and what they actually did never matched. He often called them hypocrites. Nicodemus had questions and came to Jesus in the dark, seeking to understand the message. Here is how the interaction goes down.
John 3:1-6
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with that person.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. (NRSV-UE)
Being born of water is our human birth and Jesus is very clear that both are essential for us to “enter the Kingdom of Heaven” which metaphysically translates to developing and living in our Christ consciousness. Jesus NEVER says we should attempt to abandon or leave our humanness; his message is that we are both human and divine and that never changes. It never changes and it is essential. He never describes baptism as a way to “erase our mortal sin” and he never says that we are born sinful. All of that was added long after the life of Jesus for sure.
Nicodemus is a bit of a literalist, so he doesn’t quite get it. He asked in the dark and he stays in the dark, even though Jesus answers his question very clearly. This is a message for us, that when we ask in the dark and we stay in the dark, the messages don’t get through! Spiritual awakening does not require us to abandon, lament or condemn our humanness. It serves us well as the portal to understand and live out our divine nature, even as we are supremely human, as we too, are Pharisees. Just think of our dear woman minister who literally wanted to die between two thieves, just like Jesus! It boggles my human mind to imagine what kind of peace she thought dying like Jesus would bring her other than one final dig at the banker and the lawyer, one final chance to wake them up. We humans are truly hilarious!
Part of our journey is to embrace our humanness with love, compassion and acceptance not contempt, self-hatred and defeat. In our human expression, we have abilities beyond imagining and they cannot remain just a possibility. As Rosemergy says, “…they are destined to come into being.” The essential question, for us, then, is just how and what are we meant to manifest? The creative process is always unfolding even when we are not aware of it. We are always in that process as long as we are alive in our human expression. So what are we creating?
When we co-create with God, with love, we manifest all the powerfully positive thoughts and feelings we hold in our mind. When we leave God out, we manifest anger, fear, resentment, worry, discontent…well you get the picture! Not so pretty, is it? Sometimes we suffer from the illusion that we are “getting away with” being just human, and then we pray for God to “fix it!”
A great example of that came to me from Jim Trenberth when he shared Daily Doses of Inspiration and Positivity, March 15, 2026. We read:
Heavenly HR
An employee complained to God, “I keep getting passed over for raises!”
God replied, “Child, I gave you talents, opportunities, and a paycheck.
Be grateful. Now work like I’m watching — because I am.”
The employee muttered, “So… I should actually do my job?”
God smiled, “Exactly.”
When we think like this, we clearly do not understand the incredible power of our humanness to serve as a portal to our true divine nature. As Rosemergy says on p.93 of The Sacred Human:
The sacred human is our child and any attempt to orphan it leaves us fragmented and unable to accept our true identity. It must be that our humanity and our divine nature are partners in the unfolding of the Creator’s plan. Denying our humanity and trying to fix it have been our attempt to adopt our spirituality. It is not God’s way.
Friends, we are to realize our spirituality, not adopt it! And one of the primary lessons that we experience to do this is forgiveness. That is why Jesus spoke of forgiveness so often and told us to do it continually….7 x 70, or until it is complete, for 7 is the number of human completion. Forgiveness brings healing, humility and acceptance. Only then is the spiritual being filled with wisdom love and compassion as it “emerges from the water of our human experience.” Our tears are the holy water of transformation, of realizing our divine beingness.
So how does it sound when we let God lead, when we allow the Divine to show us the way? Another good one from Jim and Daily Doses of Inspiration and Positivity illustrates this for us:
Meeting With Angels
A man prayed before a big meeting, “Lord, please guide me and
give me wisdom.”
When he walked in, his coworkers noticed he was unusually calm
One said, “Wow, you’re so composed. Did you pray or meditate?”
He smiled, “I prayed… and then I remembered Who’s on my team.”
Lead the way, God lead the way, I want to live in such a state of grace, and when I don’t, let me wake up quickly, listen deeply and change course easily and effortlessly. When I betray myself, may I see it and allow it to be a holy opening for transformation as my humanity reveals more of my divinity.
And finally, I leave you with the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson to measure our divinity in terms of our humanity:
“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of the intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that one life has breathed easier because you lived here. This is to have succeeded."
Blessings on the Path,
Rev. Deb
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