Happy Easter —
Last year I published a list of the most popular Easter messages on TruthUnity. The metaphysical movement of the Fillmores is wide in reach and liberal in application. You are likely to find something that resonates with you this morning. Click here to see that list or go to the website and put "easter" in the search box. This year I want to introduce something much more focused...
Where I am coming from. Today, millions of people will say to say to friends and family "Happy Easter." That is a wonderful blessing. But the traditional phrase spoken in church settings in the past, and in some places today, is "Christ is risen!" The phrase has a response: "He is risen, indeed!" This verbal exchange between two people, "Christ is risen, He is risen indeed" is far more than the formality of "Happy Easter." Here's why.
"Happy Easter" is a blessing. "Christ is risen" is an affirmation. "He is risen, indeed" is a response. Much like the call and response found in much of African and African American culture, it is a phrase and response, it is a dialog between two people, and it is a process creating a sacred space. The space is sacred because it invites something into the conversation that is not present in ordinary conversation. That something is Jesus Christ, who declared "Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there."
What I am offering. Nearly three years ago, Susan St. John and I launched a weekly, live, and online gathering of people to share their thoughts and feelings about the common Bible passages read in many churches each Sunday. It is not a Bible class; it is rather a sacred conversation in response to sacred scripture. You may or may not consider this two or three gathered together in the name of Jesus, but I promise that is our best intention. We continue to meet on Tuesdays at 10am Eastern time. Go here to learn more and the Events page for details.
Last fall, Cora Alexander and I launched a weekly, live, and online gathering of people to share their thoughts and feelings about the Correspondence School Lessons, which were the primary way Metaphysics was taught from 1910 until the mid 1970s when learning by correspondence fell out of fashion. We call that class Fillmore Wings. The group also continues to meet, on Tuesdays at 11:30am Eastern time. Marty Keller and Capital City Unity has a Sunday morning class at 11:30 Eastern/ 8:30/Pacific. Cora is launching a new class Tuesdays from 2–3:30pm Eastern beginning on May 6. Go here to learn more about these classes and, again, see the Events page for meeting details.
Besides offering the classes, I am offering is to send you a printed Fillmore Study Bible New Testament and a printed, spiral bound Fillmore Wings Study Guide for the first three lessons. Go to the TruthUnity Giftshop to order a Fillmore Study Bible and to order a Fillmore Wings Study Guide.
What I am proposing. Participants in these classes work somewhat like the Chicago Bulls—we pass around an idea back and forth until finally, somehow, it goes through the hoop. Why is that so? My sense is the sacred space created by sacred conversation brings a sacred presence into the conversation. In many, if not most of these meetings, we have a collective sense of sacred guidance to truth, sacred love for others, and sacred joy in getting the ball through the hoop. It is what Martin Buber called Inclusion, an experience of speaking with others as people, not as objects, free from internal and cultural scripting.
These meetings are what I call Fillmore Fellowships: two or three gathered together to study and share Fillmore teachings. The teachings are, as I said, wide in reach and liberal in interpretation. But the seminal documents which represent the core teachings are found in the Fillmore Bible Lessons and Correspondence School Lessons. These provide a focused and almost endless source of material for inviting Christ into your meeting.
I am proposing that you join one of these groups for a while or as long as you wish. Come see how sacred discussion draws a sacred presence. Then, offer to meet with a friend or two for coffee to share thoughts and feelings about these writing we have from the Fillmores. Leave the scripts behind, open your heart, and listen to one another. See if Jesus does not do what he promised, to make his presence known.
I wish you a Happy Easter. May you find this day that Christ is risen. And in my blessing and your affirmation, may you raise up someone nearby who finds that Christ is risen, indeed. If so, the ball has gone through the hoop and we may proclaim that Christ is here in our midst.
Mark Hicks
Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025
