“Discernment is the process of letting go of what we are not.” – Father Thomas Keating
Some years ago, as I recovered from my spectacular crash and burn, I remember telling a shrink that somehow, my life had become what I am not, and did not want to be.
And my challenge was to discover what I am, and who I want to be.
It was so easy for me to define myself by my feelings or fears, or traumas and struggles, or anger.
This frightening time has brought that feeling back to me, and I realize once again that I have the opportunity to re-discover, even renew, what I am, not what I am not. To shed fear and anger and selfishness.
Trouble is like this, it brings out the worst of us, and the best of us. It gives us another chance to be human, another shot at being who we want to be.
This virus is all about the entire work of consciousness, finding and releasing the power of the heart and the soul that is already waiting, buried inside of me, to come out.
A mystic wrote once that the many ways we fear and suffer are the chisels of God freeing the thing of beauty that we carry deep inside of us from the moment of birth.
I always love that thought.
Come out, come out, I think, I pray. Come out and be free. Good night to you all, I wish you peace and rest tonight, and an easy day tomorrow.
that’s nice. Thank you
Hear, hear, Jon. So beautifully said, and such an important message.
A wonderful novel (wish I could remember the title) I read once based its theme around, “If you can’t do something for yourself, then go do something for someone else.” And the amazing thing (which sometimes feels selfish, but there you have it) about that is, that if one goes and does something, however small, for someone else, it elevates ourselves. You went out and formed the AOG, and look–look–look at the amazing things you have done, the light you have spread. I always think now, “Think of what Jon says: “Let’s just do good, let’s not argue about doing good.”
Yesterday I thought once again of what you always say, and just took a minute and did something for someone who needed it, and that person was transformed (“I can hope again”) and suddenly I had a good healthy power in life again; the balance was tipping where it needed to be. The other person benefited, and I had my self-hood back again–I CAN deal with what is happening, and I will, one little bit of good work and normalcy at a time.
Thanks for sharing.
beautiful message, Anne, thanks..
Thank you so much for sharing your life and thoughts and struggles and successes and joys. And especially for sharing your dogs, and all the occupants of Bedlam Farm. You and Maria are terrific and give me a chance to “shake it out” as we say to our dogs when they do their full body shake – as though they were doing a reset of themselves. Thank you and please keep on keepin on!
They are doing a reset of themselves (the dogs shaking). I do energy healing and am often heard to tell my client to stand up and shake like a dog!!
Thanks Jon, soothing words, well written. Something good about social distancing – my dogs are loving every minute of this. They have my husband and I home all day and get to enjoy long walks in the woods.