Light in the Darkness
A daily prayer:
Through the love and deep intention to work for the good of all beings,
may this light and goodness that are your true nature
increasingly radiate out into the world and touch the places of darkness.
May this work lead to the freedom from suffering of all beings on every plane,
material and immaterial, large or small.
May all beings everywhere come to know their innate safety
and how much they are loved.
May all beings be happy and find peace.
~Deep Spring Center Thought for Today
As the Christmas anticipation and busyness builds and 2016 comes to a close, I find this blessing to be incredibly fitting. The importance of Christmas has been lost in the highly consumer-based society in which we live. I find the need to give a list for what I ‘want’ for Christmas to be nauseating. I find the pressure of what to get for whom ridiculously and unnecessarily stressful. Yet the guilt of not following the ‘norm’ for Christmas wears on me. If I were able to create a Christmas that reflects what’s in my heart, nobody would get a store-bought gift.
Christmas seems to have lost the message of the miracle of life and light that will lead us out of darkness. Whether you have a Christian foundation or not, the message of the Ascended Teacher is to love your neighbor as yourself and to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Is that the new message we are sending when we over-extend ourselves financially to give the best, brightest, newest gadget on the market…hoping that it, too, will be done for us??? It makes my stomach turn to even think that way. And furthermore, why does giving only get highlighted at Christmas time? The majority of charities do their biggest fundraising efforts around the holidays. Corporations get to feel good about themselves by making bigger donations at Christmas and then pat themselves on the back accordingly. Families experience all sorts of pressure to see both sides of the family on the wife’s side and then to do the same for the husband’s side, not to mention fitting in time with grown children and then feeling guilty for not getting to your great aunt, twice-removed, who is having a special Christmas Cornish hen. Why does this all have to happen? To get presents. Ugh. The time spent together seems to be a passing ‘gift’ until the presents are handed out and everyone gets consumed in their newest book or toy and all connecting with family ceases.
It sounds rather cliché to say that I want the spirit of Christmas to last all year long, but I do. We all have a gift; a gift of ourselves. I want to be kind to everyone all year. For the most part, I believe I do that. I want to see the goodness in someone even if they say or do something that stings a little…or a lot. I want to be able to understand choices people make from the perspective that everyone has a story. Just because their choices don’t reflect something I would do or understand doesn’t mean I have the right to be disrespectful. I have the ability to be a light in the darkness. Even if it only reaches one person, it makes a difference.
I want to be the light of courage: a reminder that if we listen to our heart, we can accomplish amazing things.
I want to be the light of faith: the love nudge to surrender and allow great things to happen through us.
I want to be the light of love: encouraging people to see beyond themselves.
I want to be the light of seeking: knowing the truth of the wisdom within as well as the wisdom that surrounds me in the light of others.
I want to be the light of truth: honoring my gifts and the gifts of others.
I want to be the light of connection: joining my light with the light of others and savoring the communion.
I want my light to be the gift to all who are able to receive it, both at Christmas and throughout the year.