Midweek Faith Lift
April 1, 2026
The Spiritual Journey to Jerusalem
Rev. Deb Hill-Davis
Spiritual Passages
March 15, 2026
A tourist went to the beach and was watching an older man fish. And he saw the older man had a bucket and a measuring instrument. He noticed that the measuring instrument had been a ruler but that it was broken off at the ten-inch mark. The older man would cast his line, and pretty soon there would be a tug on the line. He'd pull it in, measure it, seven inches, toss it in the bucket. Again, eight inches this time. Then a big fish: 13 inches. He threw it back in the water. The tourist was mystified by this: "I've been watching you fish, I don't understand." And the fisherman says, "Well, that measuring stick is ten inches. That's the size of my frying pan."
We laugh at that story, but the truth is that you and I are that old man. And we're fishing in life. And God gives us an idea that is bigger than our frying pan. Our frying pan is the size of the life we know. It's not our potential, our capacity, but it's the size we know. So, when an idea comes to us and it's bigger than the size of the life we know, we throw it back. We say, "It doesn't fit in my frying pan. No thanks."
Humor
The other day, I was arguing with someone about Oneness. But halfway through, I realized I was just arguing with myself.
Scripture
"When you make the two One, and when you make the inner as the outer and the outer as the inner, and the above as the below, then you will enter the kingdom." - The Gospel of Thomas 22:4
Affirmative Prayer for today: Infinite Spirit that is waking up within each of us as we continue on our human/divine journey, we open to grace, to love, each and every time it calls us to a higher consciousness. Amen.
We have been on a spiritual journey of exploring the dimensions of our divine/human nature and what that really means for how we live on a daily basis. What difference does it make to us when we wake up to the truth that we are more than what we appear to be? Well, I think it means we get a bigger frying pan, that’s for sure! We are on a quest to truly embrace our human nature, our frying pan, all 10 inches of it, and to also say yes to the bigger fish!
We are more than human, just as Jesus was more than human. And his message to us in really concrete terms was, “Get a bigger frying pan!!” Or more specifically, get a bigger understanding of who you really are. This is an invitation to expand your awareness of Reality, of a Reality that is greater than you are. This whole Easter, Holy Week story is one of Transformation and Resurrection. Transformation and resurrection will happen for us when we understand what we need to do and how we need to say yes to that expansion of consciousness.
In the meantime, we continue on our human journey, allowing it to teach us what the bigger frying pan might bring us….perhaps a party, perhaps friendship and fun! Perhaps a fish fry that creates a sense of sharing and community and along with it, the deep realization that there is enough. I don’t have to hoard to make sure I have enough if we all share and enjoy the fish together. I don’t have to worry that I will go without. Perhaps it will bring us tears and allow us to finish grieving what we have lost because of our past choices to say no to possibilities. The energy of Grace, of unearned love, brings us hope and the possibility of healing and repair of broken relationships. Perhaps healing in body, mind and spirit both personally and of the whole community. Our world is truly crying out for that now, even as it says no to sharing and a bigger frying pan.
What Jesus offers us, if we follow Him, is freedom. His disciples don’t quite understand this because this is a different kind of freedom. When we think of freedom from our human perspective, we typically consider it as an external condition, not as an internal one. But Jesus tells us that it is both, and that it is the truth that sets us free. Here is how it goes down:
True Disciples
John 8:31-36
31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?”
34 Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. 36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
So, let’s unpack this a bit to try to understand what the deeper meaning of freedom is and what Jesus is trying to tell us. The first link that Jesus makes is between freedom and truth, and it is the truth that will make you free. The disciples completely miss the point, just like we do in our human listening. They talk about who they are in their human expression, descendants of Abraham, and that that has kept them from being slaves to anyone. They have a human lineage that has kept them from external bondage, so they totally miss the part about truth! Can you hear the voice of privilege in their frying pan consciousness? They are not externally enslaved, so they are free and don’t need Jesus. But they are curious….as are we!
How does Jesus address this question further? Well, he continues to talk about truth and then sin, which his listeners would understand. Like us, they might begin to consider, that well, maybe this has something to do with me after all, because in my human journey, I do actually sin or miss the mark and I do lie, if not to others, then for sure to myself. I mean for real, Deb, how much is an actual ½ cup of ice cream, anyway??
Now, how does truth link to this and to freedom? If we consider that the counterpart of truth is lies, then we are onto something about this “permanent place in the household.” Jesus tells his listeners that if they become a slave to sin, or lies, then there is no permanent place in the household or consciousness of God. If you embrace the truth, then the Son, or your Christ consciousness, sets you free forever.
This describes a profound relationship in your human/divine self that suggests they are not separate at all, but one in the same energy of Love that is the grace that holds all that we are. We can engage in self-deception and lies, but it is not Reality, and Reality is the One Power, the all-encompassing frying pan that is incomprehensible to our human perception, yet reassuringly real.
What about the lies v truth and freedom? I share with you from a March 23, 2026 posting by Rev. Jim Rosemergy:
When The Blind No Longer Lead the Blind
In this time of lies, I echo Jesus’ words: “Know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.” In America we affirm, we are…the land of the free. This would imply, we are the land of the Truth. Doesn’t seem that way.
I wonder what the counterpart of Jesus’ statement about Truth might be?? Lies and bondage are linked as surely as the links of a chain that binds?
Probably the first evidence of a lie is that you feel a need to defend it. Truth doesn’t need to be defended. Truth doesn’t need people to believe it. Truth is so strong, it can stand alone, but it invites you to take a hand and make circle. A lie never puts an end to Truth, and Truth never ends a lie. The lie is darkness, and Truth is light. That is enough.
A lie has no foundation. It is a bottomless pit. You can’t build a life on it. It may appear to have a firm foundation, (The voice of someone in authority), but it has no substance. You are falling, and you don’t even know it.
It is said that Truth is like a rock, but it is more likely that Truth is like everlasting arms that stop you from falling.
Truth stands alone and doesn’t care if you believe it or not.
A lie needs others lies to prop it up, and no matter how many lies stand together, they never stand tall. They are easy to see for what they are — if you have eyes to see and ears to hear.
A lie blinds us to the Truth that all of us are neighbors.
A lie blinds the liar, so he cannot see the Truth about another, but the greatest Truth it hides is the Truth about himself.
Truth never reveals the lie. Truth knows nothing of lies, but it does whisper, “You can do better, you can be better.”
A lie can hold a few of us…for a time. Truth can hold all of us for all time.
Let the days of the blind leading the blind end, and when they do, let us take the hand of Truth, for it knows the way to the land of the Free.
Blessings on the Path,
Rev. Deb