Gazing in the Mirror

November 28 - The Full Letter Of A Law

And out of His fullness
we all have received,
and grace for grace.
~ John 1:16

Our thought has the
power to reach, in the
outer form of conditions,
an exact correspondence
to our inner conditions.
~ Ernest Holmes

The Daily Guide for this day in the 2012 issue of Science of Mind magazine sent my mind reflecting on the "fullness" of laws such as the 8th Commandment ("Thou Shalt Not Steal") from the Christian Bible that the author highlights. The Daily Guide author, Rev Sally Robbins, comments on how one can take that admonition further by considering a meaning beyond the usual interpretation and reaching into a less solid realm. We can look instead at the nature of our behavior towards one another. Concepts like stealing another person's sense of self-worth through our use of unkind words. Or even in "beating" another person to the punch line when they are telling a joke. Even when we discourage another person we are stealing from them their sense of self-confidence and possibility.

I like the quote from Antoine de Saint-Exupery that the author shares – "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye". My Granny once suggested I take the advice found in Philippians 4:8 to help me discern reality from unreality – "Whatsoever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things". I find that good advice enduring.

In raising children I am highly aware of (though I still fail to remember at times) how fragile their unfolding sense of self-worth can be. It troubled me when my oldest son was a toddler that he "punished" himself for all manner of minor infractions and it was quite painful for me as his mother to witness that behavior. Of course I do attempt to turn his perspective towards a more beneficial and productive one but I did not find at that time that he "turned" easily. Such is the parent/child relationship that we are not the final authority in our child's life – they are their own final authority. I have found that my sons never question my love for them and I find that a happy outcome of my parenting. However it does mean that it is pretty much impossible to enforce my own desires upon either of them through anything other than their love for me. And to be honest, in general, their love is not the deciding factor in their own personal decisions.

My oldest son stresses endlessly about his father's opinion of him. My husband had a complex relationship with his own father – there was certainly respect and love on my husband's part for his father and also coming from his father towards him. Yet it never seemed that my husband could feel that he had the respect from his own father for his life's successes that he genuinely craved. That was not the reality that I could see from the outside, so I was left assuming that this "feeling" in my husband must have arisen in his childhood. I find myself awed that he seems to pass those feelings down somehow to his own sons, though it is more likely that each of them is responsible for such feelings in their own self and the other is an influence but not the complete cause.

The Daily Guide author suggests a practice in her own essay. "For the next week, don't say anything unkind, untrue, or unnecessary." She notes that she did not make it past one day. In the year 2012 when I first wrote this essay there were a great many people who considered this to be an extraordinary year. During the period of Dec 20th through Dec 22nd (bridging the winter solstice that year), spiritually inclined people were asked to participate in 3 days of Love. We were being asked to "make your every word and action one that expresses love, from emails to Facebook posts, to your spoken words, and actions". This suggestion was intended to be a metaphysical approach to "set the energetic trend" going into the next "long" cycle as recognized by the ancient Mayans and other indigenous peoples.

Personally, I don't think we need a week's practice or a special event to realize how important our interactions with one another are. Each time we extend compassion, understanding, patience, tolerance, love, sympathy, empathy, non-violent responses, encouraging words and each time we recognize and draw attention to someone's best qualities (like the way any new beloved is so special and unique and just the best person ever to draw a breath), we are recreating the world from the very center of our own subjective perceptions of reality. Our quality of thought then ripples outward into the collective reality of the entire human civilization as it exists in each moment of time. Yes, it is true that what we think, say and do is actually that important.

~ perspective

I know that the words that
I speak have effects and
outcomes in the physical world.
I refrain from spreading gossip,
oh yes it is hard not to jump
upon the judgmental bandwagon
but I make an effort to always
remember that what I hear
from another may have been
misinterpreted.
I allow the love that is my heart
divine to reflect outward in my
perceptions of other people.
I appreciate the best in a person
out loud and I chose to pay little
mind to those times when a loved
one's behavior might not reach
the high standards that I fail to
achieve for myself.
My truth is the noblest I can
conceive and the purest match
to love that I am able to understand
as I generously share whatever is
admirable so that the excellence
is amplified going forward.

#acceptance #appreciation #behavior #confidence #discouragement #interpretation #parenting #perception #reality #respect