#english – An Uncommon Pastor

Lent, 40 Days of Love – Introduction

The Lenten Journey, 40 Days of Letting Go

Release and Reimagine

An Introduction

What is it about?

A few years ago, as I was looking for some material for contemplation during the Christian Season of Lent, I ran into a book called 40 Rules of Love by Elif Shafak CLICK HERE (Read more about the book below). As it happens, I fell in love with the so-called ‘rules of Love’.

Background

At first, I thought that Shams Tabrizi wrote a book – which is very unlikely – and started to look for his ‘rulebook on Love’. Since he was a rather particular 13th century Sufi Mystic known for being the teacher of Rumi, I thought, that he might have left some notes behind which served as a base for the book. Well, nothing like that. The book – 40 Rules of Love – is a fictional story. It is a story on Spiritual Love and the relationship between Shams and Rumi, but most importantly, the book offers 40 so called ‘rules’ on how to live a Spirit-filled Life from a Sufi perspective.

I have also collected some information on Shams’ Life and his impact on Rumi’s Spiritual unfoldment that you can read HERE

As I was reading the book, I fell in love with both the story and the ‘rules. I found them thoughtful and deep. Each one made me think. They reminded me how much we are attached to the phantasy of rom-coms that tell nothing about the Truth of Love. They do not make it real or even believable. But there is a kind of Love that is beyond the warm and fuzzy emotions and fantasies, a Love that Rumi wrote so beautifully about.

Let Love,
the water of life,
flow through our veins.

Let a Love-drunk mirror
steeped in the wine of dawn
translate night.

You who pour the wine,

put the cup of oneness in my hand
and let me drink from it
until I can’t imagine separation.

Love, you are the archer.
My mind is your prey.
Carry my heart
and make my existence your bull’s-eye.

Let love by Jalal al-Din Rumi, 1207 – 1273 – Source

We often spend countless hours trying to find love in another person or in the world but what we fail to see is that the Love we are so desperately searching for is right there within ourselves. It has always been there. We only need to discover it or uncover it, more like.

Personally, I think it is important to find the True meaning behind the word ‘LOVE’, understand it and experience it as a Spiritual Quality inherently within us all.

I am going to walk this 40-day Lenten Journey contemplating on the True meaning of Love, Divine Love, Spiritual Love by experimenting with the 40 rules and quotes from the Lent Booklet. Every day, between

Wednesday 18th of February to Thursday 2nd of April , 2026

I will post a ‘rule’ from the book ’40 rules of Love’ and a release idea from the book ’40 days of Release and Reimagine – Lent 2026′ by Unity.org. – in the form of a short meditation, daily. Then, you can contemplate on it and share about your revelations in the UNITY EUROPE Facebook Group (CLICK HERE).

Let’s walk this journey together!

Join me by …

Previous year’s series

Our Lenten Booklet, an Introduction

Reimagine What Life Can Be

Lent is more than a season of preparation for Easter—it is an invitation to transform ourselves. Easter reminds us of our own Christ nature; Lent calls us to purification beforehand. These weeks provide an opportunity to release thoughts that discourage us, habits that hinder us, and beliefs that keep our lives small.

But once we clear away what has been holding us back, how do we move toward our dreams? What uplifting thoughts or habits can we adopt? We can be anything we can imagine!

We are free to reimagine our lives by envisioning what we truly want, knowing the thoughts we hold have creative power. This year’s theme, Release and Reimagine, invites us to do just that. The weekday messages pair a release with a reimagining, guiding us gently from what we no longer need to what we most desire. The Sunday essays explore different aspects of imagination—one of our divine powers—as the spiritual faculty that shapes our lives.

We hope this booklet supports and strengthens your endeavors in this Lenten season to release what has impeded you and reimagine the infinite possibilities that await you.

Source – unity.org

Our Lady of Guadalupe

n Dec. 12 we honor Our Lady of Guadalupe, celebrating her miraculous appearances to San Juan Diego in 1531 near what is now Mexico City. May her light guide and inspire us today and everyday

“Our Lady of Guadalupe,
please grant me the grace
to keep the faith
when life makes no sense anymore.
Where once I dipped my bucket
effortlessly into the well of sweetness,
now I drink from the cup of bitterness.
You are an incarnation of Mother Mary.
You know what it is to experience
unbearable anguish
and you radiate compassion to all who suffer,
pouring your unconditional love
into their shattered hearts.

“O, Divine Mother,
look upon this broken world
with your healing gaze.
Make of your mercy
a salve in the palm of your Holy Hand
and press it into my own eyes,
banishing the darkness that has crept in
and clouded my vision.
Let me see clearly,
with hope and with joy,
once again.

“Mother of All Peoples,
five hundred years ago
You appeared to an indigenous people
that had been decimated
by conquistadores.
They did not know where to turn.
Their Goddess had been overthrown
and their prayers had been viciously torn
from their tongues.
You came wearing the brown skin
of their own tribe.
You spoke to them in their native Nahuatl.
You promised them comfort
in their sorrowing
and protection from evil.
They have never stopped turning to you,
and you have never stopped enfolding them
in your protective blanket.

“Virgin of Guadalupe,
instill in me
the same joyous submission
that arose in the heart
of the gentle Juan Diego
when you came to him and gave him
your impossible command.
He hesitated.
You insisted.
And he surrendered,
dedicating himself wholly
to serving your divine will.
Help me to use him as a role model
and design my life around the glory of God,
rather than my own fleeting desires
And ephemeral fears.

“Liberating Mother,
free me from slavery
to my own negative habits,
that I might be of service
in this suffering world.
Fill me with the courage
to stand up for the oppressed,
and the tenderness to forgive
the oppressors.
Give me the power
of strong convictions
and the flexibility
of an open mind.
Take the sword from my hand
and replace it with a basket of bread
for the hungry.
Show me the path of non-violence.

“O, Mystical Rose,
shower me today with your
miraculous blessings.
let me breathe the perfume of your blossoms
in the deep winter of my soul.”

Facing fears

You may not credit this but our freedom from our challenges lies in our facing our fears. I know it sounds both weird and unbelievable. I did not believe it myself either, until I tried.

Fear is not a ‘thing’ that we can ‘meet’ in the physical really. Fear is sneaky and it lies low. Depending on the nature of our fears, they appear in the areas of our life where we are in a cave, in the darkness.

Facing our fears means ‘letting the light in’. It may appear in way of actually doing something to face our fears or in meditation we consciously release ‘specific’ aspects of our fear.

What to do?

For example – if you have a fear of looking ridiculous because you have low self-esteem and your self-image requires you to look cool so nobody will notice your low-self esteem, what you need to do is to look ridiculous. Just do what feels most uncomfortable. It is very much like stepping outside your comfort zone.

I am not saying it is easy but it is quick. It is liberating to do something we have so far feared to do. Just do it anyway.

The situation is more tricky, if the fear is an ’emotional’ such as anxiety around our abilities regarding future events or insecurity e.g. financial. It is often that we need to face this kind of fears in meditation and affirmative prayer. It means that we focus into the fear centre which is our self-talk. We listen in as our ‘fearful’ mind tells us his/her horror stories. As we notice the ‘figure’ of the fear, we start imaging a bright golden light shining down on us. We gently usher the ‘fear figure’ into the light and simply allow it to be lifted up and turn into star-dust.

Please remember to BE KIND AND GENTLE with yourself when to attempt to face your fears. Though our freedom lies beyond the fear, you should not fight your fears or try to demolish them. They are there to protect you, except you do not need that kind of protection any more. You are an adult now. You can deal with the world on your own terms.

When the ‘fear figure’ is gone with the golden light, we can start with our affirmative payer. We need to replace the ‘negative elf-talk’ with positive ones. For example, when I am anxious about my abilities, after I have done the ‘golden light’ release, I start creating affirmations such as, “I allow Life/God to support me.” “I am supported and cared for.” The affirmative sentences must sit ‘right’ with you. They must give you a sense of ease and reassurance. Sit in meditation, pray the way that works for you and find your affirmative sentences.

A few words about the cave

So, throughout our entire existence, we live in a ‘cave’ because there is not much ‘inner light’ shining here. The cave is also our body and the various energy layers that surround our physical body. They all belong to the ‘mortal world’. It is dark here because we are not connected with the light that is not of this ‘world. This light is called the Light of Spirit or the Light of God.

As we start liberating ourselves from our limitations and fears we start letting ‘light’ into the our cave. The door of the cave starts opening and we start feeling lighter, happier, more alive, and more connected.

Remember, the Light can only start shining in if you open the door. And you open the door by starting to remove the ‘blocks’ of fear and self-imposed limitations.

UNITY IN EUROPE – spotify ALL

40 Days of Love – Introduction

40 Days of Letting Go, Letting God

Rebirth and Renewal

An Introduction

What is it about?

As I was looking for some material for contemplation during the Christian Season of Lent a few years ago, I ran into a book called 40 Rules of Love by Elif Shafak CLICK HERE (Read more about the book below). I fell in love with the so-called ‘rules of Love’.

Background

At first, I thought that Shams Tabrizi wrote a book – which is very unlikely – and started to look for his ‘rulebook on Love’. Since he was a rather particular 13th century Sufi Mystic known for being the teacher of Rumi, I thought, that he might have left some notes behind which served as a base for the book. Well, nothing like that. The book – 40 Rules of Love – is a fictional story. It is a story of Love, on Shams and Rumi, but most importantly the book offers 40 so called ‘rules’ on how to live a Spirit-filled Life.

I have collected some information on Shams’ Life and his impact on Rumi’s Spiritual unfoldment that you can read HERE

As I was reading the book, I have fallen in love with both the story and the ‘rules. I found them thoughtful and deep. Each one made me think. They reminded me how much we are attached to the phantasy of rom-coms that tell nothing about the Truth of Love. They do not make it real or even believable. But there is a kind of Love that is beyond the warm and fuzzy emotions and fantasies, a Love that Rumi and Shams wrote so beautifully about.

Personally, I think it is important to find the True meaning behind the word ‘LOVE’, understand it and experience it as a Spiritual Quality inherently within us.

I am going to walk this 40-day Lenten Journey contemplating on the True meaning of Love, Divine Love, Spiritual Love for me by experimenting with the 40 rules and quotes from the Lent Booklet. Every day, between

the 5th of March and the 17th April, 2025

I will post a ‘rule’ from the book ’40 rules of Love’ and an a release idea from the book ’40 days of Rebirth and Renewal – Lent 2025′ by Unity.org. Then, we will contemplate on it and share about it in the UNITY EUROPE Facebook Group (CLICK HERE).

Let’s walk this journey together!

Join me by …

either reading the daily blogposts I create – SEE THEM HERE (CLICK) – or joining the FACEBOOK GROUP (CLICK) where I am going to share my writings and daily contemplative questions. I will also post a short video/audio material on the daily posts. (click on the buttons below to join)

FACEBOOK GROUP

YOUTUBE

ALL POSTS IN THIS SERIES

Last year’s series