Day 69

Today's Lesson:

My grievances hide the light of the world in me.

Today's idea will show us what is concealed when we hold any grievances. Because these grievances are hiding the light of the world, everyone we see - including ourselves - stands in darkness. As we realize that this is true, and can begin to see the light beyond the grudges and grievances we hold, we will be shown the light along with our brothers against whom we hold the grievances.

We are encouraged to participate today in a guided meditation that will show us the light. With eyes closed, try to let go of all the content that generally occupies our consciousness. We are to think of our minds as a vast circle, surrounded by a layer of heavy, dark clouds. We can see only the clouds because we seem to be standing outside the circle and quite apart from it.

From where we stand, we can see no reason to believe there is a brilliant light hidden by the clouds. The clouds seem to be the only reality. Therefore, we do not attempt to go through them and past them, which is the only way in which we would be really convinced of their lack of substance. We will make this attempt today.

After we have thought about the importance of what we are trying to do for ourselves and the world, we are to settle down in perfect stillness, remembering only how much we want to reach the light in us today, - now! We are to reach out and touch the clouds in our minds. Brush them aside with our hands; feel them resting on our cheeks and foreheads and eyelids as we go through them. Clouds cannot stop us.

We cannot fail at this exercise because our will is God's. As we attempt to go through the clouds to the light, we are to hold this confidence in our minds. Remember that we are at last joining our will to God's. Whatever we undertake with God will succeed.

Miracles I'm noticing:

Today is bright and sunny here in Fargo, so I couldn't do my visualization by looking outside. But as I thought about the dark clouds as I was typing this entry today, I really could feel them on my face and eyelids - and the song that came to my mind was "Let the sun shine - let the sun shine in." And then I was reminded of the book I'm reading right now called The Dark Side of the Light Chasers by Debbie Ford. The book is all about embracing the side of ourselves we might call our "dark side" - the parts of us we might not like so much. If we don't embrace those sides of ourselves, we are denying them and they will keep resurfacing at inopportune times. The story I read this morning was about a man who couldn't stand "idiots." He said he could embrace all the dark sides of himself but he could never see how he could possibly be an idiot. He really hated people he thought of as idiots and just couldn't get past believing that he could possibly have an idiot inside of him. As they were getting out of the car, he realized that he had locked his keys in the car. His family asked him what kind of person would lock his keys in the car - and together they said "an idiot." He was able to laugh about it, and when he remembered something from his past, he remembered a time he did something foolish and was laughed at. And what came from his own "idiocy" was determination. It had served him well and helped him become very successful. So owning his own "idiocy," helped him see that he really was holding a grievance - against himself - which kept him in the dark, so to speak.

This story reminds me of many in my own life - and the lives of my former coaching clients. I learned techniques to integrate all parts of ourselves - similar to today's lesson - during my coaching training, so this is not new to me. But I still remember times in my past when I held on to something because I wanted to be right, and all it did was keep me in the clouds. This lesson makes so much sense to me - and I can recognize how far I've come to keep myself in the light. I know that when something frustrates or upsets me, it's merely a lesson for me and I look at it as a gift rather than an upset.

Today's lesson tells us that if we are tempted to hold anything against anyone today, we should remind ourselves:

If I hold this grievance the light of the world will be hidden from me.

What a powerful reminder - and a way for us to come together in the light. That's a miracle!