Advent Series # 13
As I sit this morning, my prayers go out to each of you…that you may find Peace and Comfort in the quiet of this Advent Season…that each may know the Joy that accompanies us as we look toward the Light. On this, the 13th day of Advent, as I reflect on the presence of the One, expressing as all of creation, I am reminded of one of the gifts offered by this season of waiting. That gift is humility.
Patient waiting brings the gift of humility. I think this word can carry some negative connotations, and at best can be misunderstood. So let’s start by defining it. The root of humility is the same as humus and human…and means of the earth. The mystics of the ages have taken this definition a bit further. If I, as a human, am of the earth, then I have a purpose here…nothing in the cosmos is here without a purpose. And I will return to the earth when my purpose here is fulfilled. According to these wise souls, there is one Spiritual Law, one Power, and one Intelligence at work here. We are each an intentional expression of It. Without it, we are nothing. It is not I, but God within that lives, moves, and has Its being in, through and as me.
So how does waiting bring us the Spiritual gift of humility? Author Holly Whitcomb says this: “Sometimes we wait because we can’t do anything else. We recognize that we are powerless. That powerlessness can be a spiritual opening. In our vulnerability, we realize that forces and powers greater than ourselves have taken over. It is during those times of waiting that we learn humility.”
Humility leads me to the Grace of God. In the book of Philippians, it says that “I can do all things through the one that strengthens me.” In the Science of Mind and Spirit, Dr. Ernest Holmes says it this way:
To have the same mind that Jesus used, the mind of God, implies a power which is available to all and may be used by all…We have the mind of Christ in such degree as we trust implicitly in the universe and no longer do those things which contradict the fundamental goodness. From this mind proceeds the perfect law, which is a law of liberty. This mind is God working in and through us. God can work for us only by working through us.
In other words, when I use our conscious awareness and intention to plant seeds of Love, I reap God’s Grace in my life.
Humility leads me to love rather than achievement. Waiting gives me a chance to slow down my doing for long enough to recognize who I am. It may allow time to re-evaluate, to re-prioritize my life in ways that honor my soul. It offers the precious gift of time…the gift of humble awareness that love is more lasting than achievement, and that my time may be better spent in activities driven by the sharing of my love.
Humility leads me to honor others. It changes my perspective in ways that take me outside of myself. Suddenly, it’s not all about me. I recognize the suffering of others; and the Love within, the God within, looks for ways to acknowledge, or truly see, the other. This builds my capacity for compassion.
Humility leads me to live without judgment. Let me ask you a question…have you ever gotten impatient while waiting to be helped…like in a department store or medical office… and criticized (even mentally) the person who is trying to help you for being incompetent? I know I have. Here’s an invitation for the next time that happens…remember humility. Take a breath. With new eyes, take a fresh look around. Who is trying to help you? How can you respect their uniqueness, their gifts, their life circumstances? What is their perspective? Rather than looking at what you wish to receive from them, what can you give? Wouldn’t that be a different experience?
Humility leads to honest assessment. Would you agree that as individuals, we each have unique perspectives? And would you agree that our perspectives are colored by our personal filters, experiences, and beliefs? An interesting thing about honest assessment…most of us have no problem whatsoever naming our flaws, shortcomings, and failures. But many of us have more difficulty with living into our giftedness. Whitcomb says that, “We often refuse to accept our belovedness, and occasionally, we throw back in God’s face the uniqueness and amazing talents we have been given.” True humility grounds us in understanding who we really are, the whole truth of it, both positive and negative. Humility means authentically assessing our gifts and our potential, as well as our failings and limitations.
I am reminded of the words of Marianne Williamson in her book Return to Love…I know you have heard them before. They never fail to move me, to open me more deeply to the Truth of who I Am.
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Who are we not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
And so I invite you to a Practice in the remaining weeks of Advent…as together we await the return of the longer days, and participate in the revealing of the Light that shines within each one of us. Every night, as you prepare for sleep, ask yourself two questions: First, are there any actions I have committed today for which I need to make amends? And second, how have I used my God-given gifts today?
In closing, I offer this prayer.
There is only the One eternal Light, One Consciousness, One Intelligence, One Power… by whatever name we call It, there is nothing else. It is the All-In-All…It is the Divine Spark that brings Life into being. I Am that Light, you are that Light. Every aspect of creation, at its very core, is Light. And so I know that the Light is bound by Its Nature to return…according to the earth’s physical cycles, the sun reappears in God’s perfect time. According to the nature of evolving mind, the light of greater awareness dawns on each one of us according to our readiness and willingness to receive it. And by the eternal emanation of Spirit, each one of us is evolving…awakening…in our own right and perfect order and timing.
For this I give thanks. Honoring and celebrating the Light, accepting, embodying, and radiating the Light of the One…I let it be here…I let it be now…I let it be. And so it is. Amen!
Know that today and always, I am here to support you.
Know that today and always, you are stronger and wiser than you know.
May we each live from our Radiant Light…be well…stay in touch…know our unity…and thrive!
And…may we know the Absolute Beauty and Wonder of this Grace-filled, once-in-a lifetime day, as Infinite Intelligence continues to pour Its blessings upon our world.
