Holy week 2018
Dear Friends,                                                     Did any of you see Emma Gonzalez the young girl with a shaved head who spoke very emotionally right after 17 people were murdered at her high school in Parkland, Florida on TV? Those of us who did were spell bound by her authenticity and power. She cried and screamed and was highly emotional. She was acting normally to an abnormal situation. It is not normal that children are gunned down at school, that we are on a suicidal course of potential nuclear and ecological disaster and rarely, cry, scream or express feelings of fear, rage and despair. At the March for Our Lives in Washington last Saturday, Emma led over 6 minutes of silence to signify the time it took for the murders she witnessed at her high school. Expressing the depth of her feeling and holding silence in remembrance of suffering and death places her this Easter in the tradition of Mary Magdalene. Emma, like Mary Magdalene embodies the divine feminine that has too often been left out, the aspect in men and woman who feel and love deeply, contemplatives who are wise and who intuitively create sacred rituals during spiritual events like physical and spiritual birth and death.
 
Mary Magdalene was the women who wept as she anointed Jesus before and after his death. As we gather to celebrate the resurrection this Easter Sunday we will follow Emma's leadership and offer 6 minutes of silence for all the young, human and non-human who are being tortured to death by weapons, ecologic devastation and the loneliness in our pain. We will offer an anointing ritual in the tradition of Mary Magdalene, marking the death to the old self and a celebration of the new self being born. What is God calling you to become this Easter? It is the holiest day of the Christian year where we follow Mary Magdalene into the spiritual realm of love where we are anointed with the truth that love is more powerful than torture and death.
 
Christ means anointed one and anointing is a complex symbol for it expresses a hologram of experiences. Kings were anointed in the ancient world in order to become kings, Jesus anointed the sick for healing, and anointing was done before and after death. Emma has anointed us with the invitation to feel our feelings of rage, grief, despair. It is not surprising that a young brave woman who risks being a feeling human in a world that has too often lost its humanity, would also have the intuition and courage to hold holy silence for the millions of people who participated with her on T.V. around the world at the March for Our Lives. 
 
God/dess's creation including all the young, both human and non-human young are threatened and God is calling us this Easter to die to our old ways of being in order to give birth to a new worldview, new ways of life, giving up our rugged cowboy individualism for a new focus on the whole Earth system or Earthism. No better place in San Diego to come to experience awe of nature’s beauty than at Torrey Pines State Park Beach, a rare place of sanctuary where no hotels, houses, businesses or freeways have covered the beauty and magnificence of the earth. We will pray, sing and reflect on a new religious story for our time as we commune with God and give thanks for the miracle of new life, spring, ocean, land, sun, breeze, birds, sky and a community of friends. 
 
Come join our dream circle as we share the vision of the resurrection of Jesus as seen by Mary Magdalene as if it was a dream. We will invite several of the people, feelings and symbols of the Easter story and interact and ask them questions. As in all dream sharing circles we will drink hot tea and share our feelings with one another. Please wear warm clothes and watch for the Earth flag. Park anywhere on the 101 Highway near Torrey Pines State Park Ranger Station and call or text if you need help finding us. (858) 248-5123.
 
Love always,
 
Bonnie
P.S. If you can't be with us in person please join us on live stream on Church for Our common Home facebook page. 

Church for Our Common Home | Rev. Bonnie Tarwater | (858) 248-5123
13014 Calle De Las Rosas, San Diego CA 92129 revtarwater@yahoo.com www.churchforourcommonhome.com