"Somedays we forget
to look around us.
Somedays we can't see
the joy that surrounds us.
So caught up inside ourselves.
we take when we should give..."
Once again, Josh Groban's "Thankful" has been a meaningful reminder for me, today. I have had to ask myself, "how often have I been guilty of the kind of myopia that would trick me in to getting swept up in the whirling lies of lack and fear that are suggesting themselves each day?" But I find it helpful, that this song identifies the door through which those sneaky thoughts enter...ourselves. Our egos. We become so focused on what we want, need, wish for, that we forget that the key is to give....and give generously.
When we are giving...from whatever well of resources we have at hand...joy, intelligence, kindness, compassion, inspiration...we are, in that very moment, proving that we -- in actuality -- are not lacking, at all. If we have any good to give, we have the only measure of good there is...infinite, all.
"...So for tonight we pray for
what we know can be.
And on this day we hope for
what we still can't see.
It's up to us to be the change.
And even though we all can still do more,
there's so much to be thankful for...."
I long to be the change I wish to see in the world. To claim, within my own consciousness of Being, that if God, good, is at all present, He/She is all that is present. If I can find even one tiny glimpse, one single glimmer of goodness...love, light, grace...it implies the All-in-allness of its divine Source. Just as "the first faint morning beams" portend "the full radiance" of a complete noonday sun, any indication of God's goodness, points to the absolute completeness, the only-ness and allness of good in our own lives, and in the lives of our brothers and sisters.
"...Look beyond ourselves,
there's so much sorrow.
It's way too late to say,
"I'll cry tomorrow..."
Each of us must find our truth.
It's so long overdue..."
The other day I was facing down an inner demon, when the waves of self-sympathy that swept over me, cooed, "tomorrow...you can do this tomorrow...it's okay..." And I almost got up from where I was silently standing toe-to-toe with that ego-based lie and walked into another, more pleasant inner room. But the the clear-sighted angel that was wrestling with me (not against me) said, "don't you deserve to be free today...right now? Come on, sweet child of mine, I will walk you forward out of this darkness of self, into the light of your true identity. I will help you find your truth."
And so I stayed there. And you know what? She did help me. I just let Her remind me of those refreshingly bracing, and awakening, truths that I knew were accurate about my life. They washed over...and through...me like a river. And in the same way that water turns smooth, opaque stones on the beach, into translucent sea alabaster, my heart's real desires...my divine purpose...became more transparent to me.
"...So for tonight we pray for
what we know can be.
And every day we hope for
what we still can't see.
It's up to us to be the change.
And even though we all can still do more.
There's so much to be thankful for..."
I know what can be. But more importantly, I know what is. I know that in every single moment of every single day, I can love what I know is always, already, there...God's omni-presence. I can see it as goodness, love, order, charity, beauty, harmony, grace, patience, persistence, kindness, compassion, non-judgment, hope...especially hope. With the spiritual discernment and perspicacity that comes from standing with Him...rather than looking at Him, or for Him. Standing here, in the radiant light of His presence...looking out from His point of view...I can always see what He sees. I can see that there is never anything, at any moment, devoid of His light, His All goodness, in all.
"...Even with our differences,
there is a place we're all connected.
Each of us can find each other's light..."
I think this is the real gift...the one that keeps on giving...from out of that Peniel moment in my life. To see, without doubt or question, that we are not separate minds, or beings, defined as selves, or egos, by a think layer of skin...but we are one beautiful spiritual organism...an aspen grove of individual branchings, from one invisible root system. And the inner "sap" of consciousness that runs through our entire system is light...it is radiant love, illumining purpose, transformative grace.
"...So for tonight we pray for
what we know can be.
And on this day we hope for
what we still can't see.
It's up to us to be the change,
and even though this world needs so much more...
...there's so much to be thankful for..."
And so tonight...I am praying for what I know we can be...kind, compassionate, honest, forgiving, hopeful, trusting, patient, meek, peaceful members of that one body of divine goodness. No warring, no want, no fear, no competition...but all the members working together for good. There's so much to be thankful for.
This is my purpose:
"To love what is."
Because what is, is always His...and it is divinely wonderful.
As Mary Baker Eddy says:
"All that is is the work of God,
and all is good..."
That's enough for me....every moment, of every day.
with love...and hope,
Kate
Kate Robertson, CS
[photo credit: Christian Hagenlocher 2010]
