Midweek Faith Lift
“The Sacred Human”
Su Podraza-Nagle LUT
2/11/2026
Good morning one and all! Blessings on the path!
Happy Superbowl Sunday! This event has something for everyone this year. Two great teams battling for the coveted Vince Lombardi Trophy. Tearjerker commercials: it is my understanding that an alcohol beverage company who is well known for their Clydesdales has an epic ad this year. There will also be a fantastic half-time show… maybe even a little Salsa dancing!
In honor of this event tonight, I found this piece of humor in Spiritual Passages:
There was once a football game between the big animals and the little animals. The big animals were crushing little animals and, at half-time, the coach of the little ones made a passionate speech to rally his team. At the start of the second half the big animals had the ball. The first play, the elephant got stopped for no gain. The second play, the rhino was stopped for no gain. On third down, the hippo was thrown for a five-yard loss. The defense huddled around the coach and he asked excitedly, "Who stopped the elephant?" "I did," said the centipede. "Who stopped the rhino?" "That was me too," said the centipede. "And how about the hippo? Who tackled him for a loss?" "Uh, that was me as well," said the centipede. "So where were you during the first half?" demanded the coach. "Well," said the centipede, "I was having my ankles taped."
And with that, let’s dive in to explore our “Sacred Human”
These past couple weeks, we have come to know much about who we are and our being-ness on this physical plane. Today, we acknowledge our sacred human, within ourselves, and our spiritual consciousness.
Jim Rosemergy names the sacred human as the living intersection where Spirit becomes conscious of itself.
Emilie Cady reminds us in Lessons in Truth that Spirit is not “somewhere else,” but is the very substance of our being.
Today, we will enter this understanding metaphysically, through one of the Gospel stories from John, chapter 11:1-44 the raising of Lazurus and Luke 10:38-42, the story of Mary, Martha, and Jesus. As the story unfolds metaphysically, this will not merely be a story about siblings and a friend long ago. It is a map of our consciousness unfolding. It is the story of us.
Let’s begin with Martha, the one Scripture often portrays as “busy,” “anxious,” or “distracted.” Traditionally, Martha is contrasted with Mary as the lesser spiritual archetype. Metaphysically, we see through a different lens. Martha represents the Faculty of Order and Outer Activity. She is the one who keeps the household functioning. She attends to form, structure, responsibility, and practical expression.
Jim Rosemergy helps us see that the sacred human is not revealed by abandoning form, but by inhabiting form consciously. Martha’s challenge is not that she acts, it is that she acts while forgetting to hold space for receptivity of Truth.
Charles Fillmore taught that Spirit expresses through mind, body, and affairs. There is no separation. Martha’s work becomes burdensome only when it is disconnected from inner alignment. When we operate without awareness of divine order, what we do becomes strained. When action forgets presence, it becomes exhausting.
How many of us live as Martha, not because we are “less spiritual,” but because we are deeply committed, responsible, and engaged in life? We have families, jobs, churches, communities, and causes. The sacred human teaching does not scold this, it blesses it. Martha is not wrong; she is unfinished. She has not yet remembered that action flows best from communion.
Mary on the other hand, represents the faculty of Love, with receptivity, and intuitive awareness. She sits at the feet of Jesus, not in passivity, but in profound alignment. She embodies what Unity calls the still, small voice within.
Rosemergy emphasizes that sacred humanity requires the courage to stay present with what is real. Mary is present. She is listening. She is not escaping the world; she is listening deeply enough to hear God in it.
Emilie Cady reminds us that Truth is not something we strive to achieve, it is something we consent to receive. Mary consents. She allows. She yields. In metaphysical language, she is practicing spiritual receptivity.
Jesus affirms Mary not because Martha is wrong, but because being must precede doing. Awareness must guide action. When we neglect Mary within us, we become driven by urgency rather than wisdom.
Mary teaches us that the sacred human must pause, not as avoidance, but as alignment. Stillness is not inactivity; it is inner readiness.
Jesus, metaphysically understood, represents the fully realized Christ consciousness. The I AM in man raised to the divine idea of humanity in expression. He is not separate from Mary, Martha, or Lazarus. He is the highest potential within them, just as the Christ is the highest potential within us.
Jim Rosemergy speaks of Jesus not as an exception to humanity, but as an example of humanity fully integrated with Spirit. This is essential. The sacred human teaching collapses the false divide between divine and human. Jesus is what humanity looks like when it remembers itself.
Charles Fillmore said that Jesus “became Christ” by fully realizing his divine sonship. That same realization awaits us, not in identical form, but in identical essence. The Christ is not something Jesus had that we lack; it is something Jesus demonstrated that we are learning to embody.
Now, in the story of Lazarus, just before the stone is rolled away, the story tells us something interesting: “Jesus wept.”
This moment matters deeply, because it reveals something essential about the sacred human. Jesus, standing in full awareness of resurrection, still weeps.
Christ consciousness fully awake, and the Christ weeps.
This tells us another Truth: feeling is not a failure of faith; it is part of divine embodiment.
Jim Rosemergy reminds us that sacred humanity is not about rising above emotion, but about allowing life to be fully experienced without becoming lost in it. Jesus does not weep because he doubts the outcome. He weeps because he is present. He is fully engaged with the human condition.
In Unity teachings, emotions are understood as movements of energy in consciousness. They are neither enemies nor authorities. Charles Fillmore taught that emotions become destructive only when they are misunderstood or suppressed. When allowed, acknowledged, and illuminated by Truth, they become pathways of healing.
Jesus weeping is the divine idea of humanity in expression, acknowledging the collective grief of human belief. He doesn’t weep for Lazarus, who he knows will rise, but for the consciousness that has forgotten the Truth.
Emilie Cady reminds us that Spirit works through us, not around us. Emotion, then, becomes one of Spirit’s instruments. Jesus’ tears sanctify human feeling. They declare that love does not require emotional distance to be powerful. Another example would be spirit leaking through us when we hear something so profound we tear up. We remember what we thought we forgot.
Feeling does not delay resurrection; it prepares the way for it.
In the sacred human, tears are not weakness. They are honesty. They are the heart opening to life as it is, so that life can become what it is meant to be.
When we allow ourselves to feel, without judgment, without story, without collapse—we are not stepping away from Truth. We are stepping into incarnation. We are allowing the Christ to be fully human in us.
Then there is Lazarus, the one who dies.
Metaphysically, Lazarus represents the dormant life consciousness within us. The part of our being that has lost vitality, hope, or expression. Lazarus is that place where we say, “It’s too late.” It is the dream abandoned, the body judged, the relationship buried, the faith that feels irretrievable. We’ve all been there. A dark night of the soul.
Myrtle Fillmore taught that life is eternal and ever-renewing, even when appearances deny it. She did not deny conditions; she denied their authority. Lazarus reminds us that no aspect of our being is beyond resurrection.
Resurrection is not an event, it is a consciousness.
The tomb represents entrenched belief. The mental conclusions that seal life away. We can say the stone is not punishment; it is habit. Our thought habits. It is the accumulated weight of what we have accepted as final. Our errant self-talk.
Jesus does not move the stone alone. He instructs the community: “Take away the stone.” In Unity teachings, transformation requires cooperation with Truth. The Christ reveals; we respond.
Rosemergy emphasizes as sacred human we must participate in our own awakening. Truth requires engagement.
When the stone is rolled away, Jesus calls Lazarus forth—not gently, but decisively. Truth speaks with authority when we are ready to hear it.
Perhaps the most overlooked line in this story is Jesus’ final instruction: “Unbind him and let him go.”
Lazarus is alive but still wrapped in grave clothes.
What does this tell us? Awakening does not instantly remove all old patterns. Life returns first; freedom follows. Charles Fillmore taught that healing unfolds as consciousness adjusts to Truth. (like layers of an onion)
Our sacred human must be unbound from old identities, mistakes, shame, and limitation. Resurrection is not just coming back to life, it is learning to live unencumbered. Releasing error thought and affirming Truth
Community matters here. Others help remove the bindings we cannot see ourselves. This is the collective consciousness and sacred human at its best, not judgment, but liberation.
Now with Mary, Martha, Lazarus, and Jesus being understood metaphysically, we see a complete picture of our sacred human:
- Mary: Inner awareness, love, receptivity
- Martha: Action, order, responsibility
- Lazarus: Dormant life, unrealized potential
- Jesus: Christ consciousness awakening all of it
- Jesus wept: The intersection of the divine I AM and the human self, awakening.
- The Stone: Transformation. Awakening to the sacred human
- Burial clothes: Removal of old patterns.
Jim Rosemergy reminds us that wholeness is not achieved by rejecting any part of ourselves. It is achieved by including every part in the light of awareness.
Living as a sacred human is a daily practice. Every day we choose whether to live as Martha without Mary, Mary without Martha, or Lazarus, dormant, asleep.
The lesson of this story is to let the sacred human rise in us. To roll away stones. To call forth life. To unbind one another. To honor our humanity as holy ground. To remove in us, that which no longer serves.
Namaste~
Meditation
Take a slow, deep breath in…And gently release it…Release any tension
Sense the presence of Martha, the part of you that acts, serves, organizes, and carries responsibility.
Silently thank this part of yourself.
And now, gently invite Martha to rest.
To set aside effort…To breathe…
Now feel the presence of Mary the part that listens, loves, and remains open to Spirit.
Your capacity for stillness, intuition, and inner knowing.
Become aware of the Christ presence at the center of your being.
This presence is calm, assured, compassionate, and awake.
Allow your awareness to move gently to any place within you that feels tired, discouraged, or dormant. This is Lazarus—the life within you that may have felt buried or forgotten.
See the stone that has been placed there…old beliefs, or limitations.
Without force or struggle, see that stone being gently rolled away.
Hear the voice of the Christ within you speaking clearly and lovingly:
Come forth.
Notice any remaining bindings, old labels, fears, or identities that no longer serve.
Hear the words spoken in love:
Unbind, and let go.
With each breath, feel these bindings loosen.
You are not defined by the past.
You are not limited by appearances.
As we sit in silence for a moment, feel the sacred human in you respond. In the silence…
As we come back to this moment, we know…
Life and awareness,
Human and divine—
All integrated as one sacred expression.
Take a deep breath and feel gratitude.
Nothing to escape.
Nothing to overcome.
Only life unfolding in divine order.
So it is and so we agree to be.
Amen