This past Friday I asked Jim what he spoke about last week
and he told me the impetus for his talk was this song lyric, “Love, lift us up
where we belong.” “Oh, that’s
beautiful,” I told him.
Every
talk has an impetus, and for me, today, it’s a kidney stone.
Sunday night after the picnic, Jane had to take me to the
emergency room because of a kidney stone.
If you’ve ever experienced a kidney stone you know how debilitatingly
painful it can be. Now my stone turned
out to be about 1.5mm. Do you have any
idea how small that is? 1.5mm is about
the thickness of a penny.
How can such a small thing… have such a large impact?
A small thing such as a misplaced, thoughtless, or unkind
word directed at another can be the catalyst for suffering and pain. A small thing such as a misplaced,
thoughtless, or unkind thought directed at ourselves can be the cause of our
suffering and pain.
A small thing such as faith the size of a mustard seed, we
are told, can move mountains.
Let’s talk about spiritual practice.
I suggest to you that even a small dedication to spiritual
principles will have a large impact on your life. Now I don’t want you to misunderstand that
thought… that even a small dedication to spiritual principles will have an
impact on your life.
I do not mean an on again-off again dedication. I am not talking about running to God for
relief when the pain comes on and then forgetting about God, about spiritual
principles, when the pressure is off.
I’m not suggesting that we only have to do a little when we’re
uncomfortable.
What I am suggesting is all we need to carry is a little
willingness, a little faith, trust, care, belief… whatever… all the time… and
into every little thing as well as every big thing.
Little things do have an impact.
We are told by the living
Christ Presence that faith the size of a mustard seed (or a kidney stone) moves
mountains.
Sometimes “mountains” just seem to come to us and sometimes
we build them ourselves. We build them
but not addressing the “little things” (aka annoyances) in our life.
I believe it’s important to address the little things with
faith, trust, care, belief, etc. When we
avoid the little annoyances we’re just tossing them into our own bag of garbage
that we continuously haul around. In fact, we haul them around until we have a
self-made mountain of them… a mountain to which we are bonded. Ick!
How much more enjoyable would life be if we chose not to
haul around garbage?
How do we avoid all this?... by listening to our inner
guidance (Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Voice for Love, God, our Buddha Nature)
however we define that.
Have you ever felt the urge (inner direction) not to say
something… or do something… which you ignored, then went ahead and did or said
only to know immediately that was the wrong decision?
Here’s a short video.
The character of Jesus is a symbol of your inner guidance, however you
describe it.
(PLAY VIDEO: OneTimeBlind, The Stool
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3qh2dJxUy8)
I know that it’s difficult to rely on someone, or something
else. We’ve been trained from the time
we were young to be independent, to be a bastion of strength, to calculate and
analyze, to be in control… to make things happen. It’s no wonder that the idea of stepping back
and letting God lead the way is foreign.
Little thing do have a big impact.
There is a light in you, in everyone; the Light of God… and
the universe and all that it contains is longing to behold your release of this
Light. All the universe and all it
contains is waiting to join with you in the Light of God. As you step back, the Light in you steps
forward and encompasses the world in happy union.
Step back and let God lead the way. “Who walks with me?” is a question you can
ask yourself a thousand times a day. God
is always present. Ask, “Who walks with
me?” in your responses to the little things.
“Who walks with me today (who
sits on the sat of decision, as we saw in the video). God is always present. Ask, “Who walks with
me?” until certainty has ended doubting and established peace.
Asking, “Who walks with me?” throughout the day is a little
thing that has a big impact.
Today let doubting cease.
You walk with God in perfect
holiness.
You are the Light of the
world… and that is no little
thing!
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