“This is the trick to staying well, isn’t it: to feel the sun even in the dark. To not lose the truth of things when they go out of view. To grow just the same. To know there is still water, even when we are thirsty. To know there is still love, even when we are lonely. To know there is still peace, even when we are suffering.
None of this invalidates our pain, but only strengthens our way back into the light.”
Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening
I began this morning as I do most mornings, reading the daily message in Nepo’s The Book of Awakening. The short but spiritually sweet message was a confirmation of a consistent message I’d been receiving this week. One that I’d offered others in need of compassionate encouragement:
Never lose sight of the Light.
This is not a new or novel concept to me and perhaps not to you either. But this morning, this week and this season of transition in my life – and in the world as its energy revs and shifts toward transformation – these words are somehow taking on a new meaning. It’s not a suggestion. It’s a reality, a personal and Universal call; a mandate.
The message is to see the truth of what I have even when that very thing appears to be lacking in my personal experience. To not play the illusory game of “when I get there …” “when I have that …” “as soon as I live/work/arrive there …” or “if only I was with him/her …”.
I say illusory because although it’s mindful to have a plan, a goal without divine perspective is ill-conceived and the cause of much of our “mis-creation” in life. Investing too much in the outcome limits our vision, distorts our reality, causes us to focus on the apparent absence of what currently exists (lack) rather than the divine potential to create what supports our best selves when we shift our awareness.
Having an “I’m not worthy, ready or able today” mindset can lead us to forget that the sun still rises and sets even when its light is obscured by clouds. Or that the light, the answer, the way out of a box requires that we stop focusing on the four sides before us and look up toward the opening to literally and spiritually change our point of view.
The fact is that even when conditions are not what we, in our humanness, deem ideal we are still blessed with the divine ability to grow, to open, to reach up, to get up, to feel love, to experience joy and show gratitude. Indeed clearing our “space” of low energy emotions like fear, anger and hatred is the only way to remember the truth; light that is always present.
For me this means that even when a relationship has died, I am still filled with life. And even when a terminal disease threatens to decimate someone I love, holding her in clear, strong thoughts of love and light connects me to her and others who are doing the same instantly. In those times when I come face to face with the end of life transition of my Nana, the simple act of holding a straw while she fights hard to take a sip gives me profound joy.
Even when rampant injustice in the world appears to be getting worse instead of better as in the case of Trayvon Martin’s death, the most unlikely people can gather together in solidarity to show that love has no race, nationality, religion, gender or orientation; only the highest vibration of One.
The trick, though, is to never lose sight of the light. And then to take root wherever you are and remember the radiant warmth and know that you will see it again. Companionship exists even when we feel alone. Health and wholeness exist even when someone is ill. Life exists even when those we love transition from the physical. Justice exists even when people act in unjust and profoundly unloving ways.
The truth is we cannot afford to lose our perspective when our circumstances appear to be dark. Our ability to not only survive but thrive requires us to pause, get still, get clear and wait with expectancy knowing that in time our eyes will adjust. In time we will be able to see even in the midst of darkness.
Even in the darkness, the ever-present miracle can reveal itself. That moment when we spot the glimmer of light that was always there, the one waiting for us to see so it can lead us toward the Way.
Wisdom in the Whisper™ lessons and WisdomintheWhisper.com by Tonya Marie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at www.wisdominthewhisper.com.
Wisdom in the Whisper™ 