It Matters How You See It
There’s always more than meets the eye so the saying goes. The spiritual completion of that idea is, “and my good will come if I’m willing to see it!” Years ago, somebody else was hired for “my” position as a college faculty member. What a disappointment! It was necessary that I face my emotions, and I did. Doing so opened the way for me to see more deeply, to open to the possibility that God was at work in my life. It was a stretch. I was so used to looking on the surface and measuring myself by what was happening in my outer circumstances. But I was committed to spiritual growth and so, “onward.” With what felt like flimsy courage and a fragile trust in a loving Higher Power, I prayed and affirmed. My sense of self and self-value grew. I took a position that was much more rewarding and that afforded me the opportunity to complete my Ph.D. For that to happen, I had to give up some of who I thought I was and accept new, greater definitions of myself and my purpose in life. Growth in consciousness always brings change – ugh. Even though it was change for the better, it was still change. It meant I had to expend energy, face up to how I saw myself, make choices–and worst of all, do new things I’d never done before. Yikes! God loves us as we are, and yet too much to leave us there. Our spiritual nature is always calling us to greater life–a higher vision of ourselves and our meaningfulness. When we only see ourselves from the material level, we do not have the perspective or power to overcome what seem to be our limitations. However, when we take a chance on be-loving our spiritual essence and stepping out from that awareness, life opens up. This week of our Lenten journey invites us to look more deeply into our Christ nature so we might become Overcomers. When the Apostle Thomas encountered the resurrected Jesus, he was stunned. He could not comprehend that life could come out of such suffering as Jesus had endured. Then Jesus invited Thomas to touch Him, to believe, to be-love. And Thomas did – he reached out to the Christ and he got it that expansion of life always has the last word. It matters how we see it.
In the Love and Light of the Christ,
Rev. Anna
