“The greatest romance is with the Infinite.
You have no idea how beautiful life can be.
When you suddenly find God everywhere,
when He comes and talks to you and guides you,
the romance of divine love has begun.”
~Paramahansa Yogananda
Many people go through life searching for their calling. We might see this as our perfect job or career. We might see it as a cause or whatever makes us feel alive. Some think of this is religious terms, as in being called to “the ministry.” Some people seem to find their calling in this life, while others continue to search.
Let’s look at the idea of being called from a different perspective. We are all called. Called to what? Called to be. Called to be what? Light, love, peace, goodness, grace, joy, forgiveness, wisdom, beauty and other attributes of God in whose image and likeness we are created.
We come into this world knowing this but as time goes by we begin to forget and eventually our true nature goes to sleep. But there is good news. We can wake up. When we awaken to our true nature and our call to express it in this world our lives begin to fall into place as we begin to live our true purpose.
It is not always easy to live as awakening beings in a world where there is much darkness and many are sleepwalking through life. We may be ridiculed, harassed, even verbally or physically attacked. We may not even be able to see that we have made a difference. But we may catch occasional glimpses of change that will encourage us to continue on our journey. We may trip and fall and find ourselves not being true to our calling but once we know our calling to be the presence of God in the world, there is no turning back.
We no longer want to be a part of the darkness. We can do nothing but continue to shine our light, as tiny as that light might seem at times. We walk through life shining our light and living in the warmth of the light of God.
You may be hearing the word awakening being thrown around a lot right now. Many people in our world today believe we are being called to wake up. I am one of them. If the current social, political, religious and economic turmoil around the world isn’t a wake up call, I don’t know what is.
This is a time of awakening. So… awakening to what?
Our true nature. Being created in the image and likeness of the creator of the universe, we are born to be creative. We create our own world with our thoughts and actions. When we begin to wake up and join together we create a world that works for all.
Our oneness. Any separation we experience is an illusion we create ourselves. We name, label and exclude others and declare it to be so, but it is all still an illusion. When will the current climate of hatred, fear and hostility begin to turn around? When when remember our oneness.
Our responsibility to care for the earth. As a Christian, I believe were placed on this planet to care for it — to tend the garden, not destroy it. Will we wake up to this reality before it is too late? I certainly hope so.
Our dependence on each other. We live in a time when we brag about not needing anyone. We think we can take care of ourselves. We ostracize those who openly can’t do things for themselves. But sooner or later we will realize this is not true. We all need each other and there is no shame in needing or asking for help and nothing to boast or complain about in helping others.
So this month we are talking about awakening. We live in a time of what appears to be great darkness. This can be a frightening time. But it is also an exciting time. The world is changing. Something new is begin born and we are experiencing labor pains.
The time has come for those who have been awakening to start to come together. Not to form new institutions or churches which have not worked in the past, but to bring a new way of living and being into the world.
Wake up! You are light. Shine!
We live in a time of great darkness. We may feel driven to fight against the darkness. If this is your path I would like to give a word of caution that is can be difficult to fight without becoming what we are fighting.
This is the time I believe we are being called to remember. To remember who we are and where we came from. To remember our light and our spiritual power.
We are light and what this world so desperately needs right now is for all of us to shine. We change the world by the way that we live. We don’t have to try to judge, teach or change anyone. When others see the light shining through us they will come to us. They will see that we are different and will want to know more.
The month of December is a difficult time for many people. The time when we speak of peace on earth goodwill to all can also be a time of anger, feeling that we are the only ones with the truth, greed, materialism and other displays of human frailty. This is the time to stay true to your calling and not get caught up in petty squabbles over celebrations, what is being celebrated or appropriate holiday greetings.
This is the time we must focus on the light that we are and walk in it. So this holiday season go out there and SHINE!
What does shining your light look like in your life? Please take time to ponder this question. Think about it, journal, create art, answer the question in the comments below, whatever you feel led to do.
“In the hero stories, the call to go on a journey takes the form of a loss, an error, a wound, an unexplainable longing, or a sense of a mission. When any of these happens to us, we are being summoned to make a transition. It will always mean leaving something behind,…The paradox here is that loss is a path to gain.”
― David Richo, How to Be an Adult: A Handbook on Psychological and Spiritual Integration
“Everything has seasons, and we have to be able to recognize when something’s time has passed and be able to move into the next season. Everything that is alive requires pruning as well, which is a great metaphor for endings.” —Henry Cloud
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/seasons
You may be familiar with these words from the beautiful poetry of the third chapter of the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible. Or perhaps you are more familiar with the musical setting by Pete Seegar known as Turn, Turn, Turn or popular renditions by Judy Collins or The Byrds.
The Espirational.com theme for October is “Transitions.”
The world around us is in a constant state of change, often forcing us to change too. Scattered among the changes are the major life transitions we all face throughout life, from birth to death with some good ones like moving from childhood to adolescence and adolescence to adulthood, marriage (and sometimes divorce), aging, career changes and spiritual awakening scattered in between.
So how do we navigate this maze of transitions throughout our life? This is what we will explore during October here at Espirational.com
Have you noticed that the world seems to have gone a little overboard in terms of independence? I was shocked one day to sit in a restaurant and overhear a rather loud discussion among a group of older adults. I couldn’t believe these people were saying that everything they had accomplished in life they did on their own, no one ever helped them. Really? Where were their parents, teachers, employers, friends?
No one can survive totally on their own, without others. Life in this world is not always easy. We need each other.
Now I’m not talking about giving control of our minds or lives over to another person. I’m talking about interdependence. I like the definition from Wikipedia which defines interdependence as “mutual reliance between two or more groups.” The key word here is “mutual.” We’re not talking about one person or group controlling others. What we are talking about is people looking out for each other, caring and working together for the common good.
I believe an extreme belief in independence has been a contributing factor to the division and turmoil in much of the world today. We don’t have to agree with those around us to see that the world might be a better place if we could learn to work together. Will it be easy? No. Will it be worth it? Absolutely!