Dear Friends,
These days it may feel as though we, as individuals, have
lost control of what is happening around us. Here in Vancouver, we will soon
have municipal elections, and a snap provincial election. Elections are
happening with our neighbor to the south as well. I have learned to view them
with a touch of cynicism, as I am sure a lot of people have.
While it is true that some things are beyond our control, it
is important to focus on what you can control. You cannot change someone else –
you can only change your Self. This is, in fact, a basic premise of all major
religions.
Now this is not an easy task. It can take a lifetime, or
even many lifetimes. Like a diamond that is first found in a very rough
condition and is slowly and carefully refined, we can do the same thing with
ourselves. We can strive to become a better person every day, or not – it is
our choice. We have the freedom to choose how we interact with other people,
and to choose our impact on the world in general.
Ripple
effect: One kind word or small deed starts a chain reaction of
goodwill in your community.
If our choices could make a positive difference, just how
far reaching could they be? Imagine if our actions, small as they may be, were
transformed into energy, into something unseen, but felt on a higher level?
What if this energy was infinite, with no limits as to time or space? It sounds
like science fiction, but material science is getting closer and closer to
revealing spiritual realities. It sounds fantastical, but then, we have seen so
many things come to reality in the past few decades, that were considered to be
fiction not so long ago.
Now let us expand on this idea for a moment, and consider
the universe of fixed stars and planets. What if this energy could actually
expand in waves, right to the ends of space as we know it? If you throw a stone
into a lake, the ripples become larger and larger. On the other extreme, an
undersea earthquake can send a tsunami across the ocean, travelling hundreds of
miles. We are familiar with the terms shock waves, sound waves, etc. Have you
ever walked into a room and immediately sensed something was wrong, even if you
could not see anything amiss? Modern technologies such as magnetic resonance imaging,
seismic instruments, radar, etc., are all measuring something we cannot see
with the naked eye.
The question is, what kind of legacy do we want to leave? I
am not referring to material wealth – no – that is a trap, and will take you
into a downward spiral. Mark
8:36: For what
shall it profit a man, if he shall GAIN the whole world, and LOSE his own soul?
If there is anything I have learned, it is that friends and family are worth
more than all the treasure in the world. What ultimately holds friends and
family together? It is understanding, love and forgiveness. It is spending time
together, supporting each other through the hard times. These are all messages
that Jesus pronounced time and again. We are here to help lift each other up.
Christ was lifted up on the cross so that we could see with our own eyes what
we are all tasked to do with our inner Self. The revelation of Christ is this:
HE lives in each of us. HE can work through each of us, in our thinking and our
doing.
The truly great leaders knew to whom they owed their
prosperity, and were generous in giving back to their communities. We
should measure the prosperity of a nation not by the number of millionaires,
but by the absence of poverty, the prevalence of health, the efficiency of the
public schools… -W. E. B. Du Bois, 1953
SO IT CAN BE, IF WE HAVE THE VISION AND THE GOODWILL.
Sparky
