Solstice Blessings to all!
Though the sun is just starting to blaze in the Pacific Northwest, the days are growing shorter. Soon we will be counting the physical and spiritual harvest of our efforts in the light half of the current year, and preparing to assess our progress and lessons in the beautiful, dark, reflective part of the year.
Just like in strength training where muscle growth occurs during recovery, our insight and spiritual growth occurs as we integrate the lessons of our experience in reflection. And that resonated with a passage I read this morning in A Course in Miracles:
“Remember that where your heart is, there is your treasure also…
the real questions are, ‘What do you treasure? And How much do you treasure it?’”
The Course goes on to say that once you have answered those two questions, the means by which you can attain what you treasure become obvious. The next question is “what will you serve?” And, the Course provides the caution that one cannot serve two masters who demand contradictory things.
In walking our sacred paths, the two voices that vie for our attention are Spirit and the Ego - Spirit, the still, small voice that speaks directly to our hearts, and ego, the shrill, loud yammering of fear and guilt that works to drown it out to maintain the status quo.
What do you treasure? The feeling of fulfillment and peace offered by Spirit’s still, small welcome, or the material results of striving, doing, and striving more to meet the demands of the ego which, like the Hungry Ghosts of Buddhism, has an unending appetite that can never be satisfied?
That may be too obvious to be even a rhetorical question, but how much do you treasure it? With all your heart?
Then the means are obvious. Create and continuously affirm your vision for your sacred path; clarify your deepest values and turn them into principles to guide your every step and decision; see every ego attack as an opportunity to release an energetic block and choose love; and set - and act on - your intentions for connection with Spirit and walking your path with heart.
Though the sun is just starting to blaze in the Pacific Northwest, the days are growing shorter. Soon we will be counting the physical and spiritual harvest of our efforts in the light half of the current year, and preparing to assess our progress and lessons in the beautiful, dark, reflective part of the year.
Just like in strength training where muscle growth occurs during recovery, our insight and spiritual growth occurs as we integrate the lessons of our experience in reflection. And that resonated with a passage I read this morning in A Course in Miracles:
“Remember that where your heart is, there is your treasure also…
the real questions are, ‘What do you treasure? And How much do you treasure it?’”
The Course goes on to say that once you have answered those two questions, the means by which you can attain what you treasure become obvious. The next question is “what will you serve?” And, the Course provides the caution that one cannot serve two masters who demand contradictory things.
In walking our sacred paths, the two voices that vie for our attention are Spirit and the Ego - Spirit, the still, small voice that speaks directly to our hearts, and ego, the shrill, loud yammering of fear and guilt that works to drown it out to maintain the status quo.
What do you treasure? The feeling of fulfillment and peace offered by Spirit’s still, small welcome, or the material results of striving, doing, and striving more to meet the demands of the ego which, like the Hungry Ghosts of Buddhism, has an unending appetite that can never be satisfied?
That may be too obvious to be even a rhetorical question, but how much do you treasure it? With all your heart?
Then the means are obvious. Create and continuously affirm your vision for your sacred path; clarify your deepest values and turn them into principles to guide your every step and decision; see every ego attack as an opportunity to release an energetic block and choose love; and set - and act on - your intentions for connection with Spirit and walking your path with heart.
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