Today is Sunday, and I am so glad that I woke up early today because I am getting an early start on my day off from teaching English and being tutored in Spanish.
No one is completely extroverted, and no one is completely introverted, but since I am more introverted I find myself peopled-out by the end of a week of trying to infuse my students with the English language. An extroverted person might find that really energizing and want more, more, more — not me! Nonetheless, I don´t want to spend the whole day cooped up in my room, so I wonder if I can venture out into this city of half a million people and appear invisible? (Invisible appearance, my new oxymoron).
In any case, it is so wonderful to wake up early enough to watch the sky be gradually enlightened by the rising sun. From 3:00 AM until 4:00 AM is the best hour of the day because the night owls have finally gone to bed, but the early birds are not quite up, so it feels like you have the whole world to yourself … and then you get to watch the sun rise. They say that the 3:00 hour is the most spiritual hour of the day because the world is still and quiet like God.
How can it be that God´s one and only voice is silence, and how can it be that God dwells in stillness? It seems so contrary to the busy and noisy lives that so many of us live. Yet God´s silent voice speaks volumes, and God´s stillness moves all things … therefore it seems to me that we would all do well to speak less in order to say more, and we would all do well to remain still in order to do more — just like God.
We are one with the One who is the silent voice and effortless power at the core of our being. In the same way that a slice of orange tastes just like the orange from which it was sliced, and in fact is part of that very orange from which it was sliced, we are all like the One from which we came. We are all made in the image of God, therefore it stands to reason that we are also made with the ability to say a lot without saying anything, and to do a lot effortlessly. Jesus said that even the least among us can do all that he did and even greater things. Do we really believe that? No we don´t because we have been trained to believe that those words applied only to the so-called “age of miracles” when God was present in human form, and that those words applied only to a short period in history. Prophecies will end, and miracles will cease, but no one can prove that this has come to pass … so many of us live our lives believing that we don´t have access to the same effortless power and silent voice that … can do even greater things.
I refuse to believe that the full power of God is no longer available in and through us … or to put that in the positive, I believe that the full power of God is within each of us.
There´s no doubt that some people will read what I just wrote and say that I am full of shit, or at least misinformed. They will say that I have to believe this or that first, that I have to do this or that first, that after many years of loving … and believing … and doing … and praying … and fasting … and serving … and penance … and alms … and self-flagellation … and whatever, I MIGHT get access to the full power of God, but only for a brief moment, and only if God just happens to make a momentary exception in my case. Nonsense! What a negative, limited, discouraging way to think and live! Or, to put that in the vernacular … what a shitty way to think and live!
In any given moment, without having to satisfy a laundry list of requirements, each of us can tap into the full power of God. It can happen in an instant. Even the least among us has access to God´s power, even me. And really, the only requirement is that we BELIEVE. Everything that is not inconsistent with God´s nature, that is, everything that is true and beautiful and love and more, is available to us if we only believe and act on that belief.
Someone who believes that they are healthy will act on that belief and be healthy. But if by chance they forget who they are and what they believe with the result that they feel unhealthy for a season, all they need to do is remember that they are healthy and act on that belief in order to manifest the habits and help that will enable them to return to being healthy.
Someone who believes that they are abundant will act on that belief and give freely to others because they know that there is no end to the abundance that flows through them, and that same abundance will never cease to flow into their life because they believe that they are abundant. Give and it shall be given to you, overflowing into your life, for by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.
Someone who believes that they are creative will act on that belief and do creative things, and though there may be people around them who inadvertantly or even deliberately try to hinder their creativity, the creative person holds fast to their belief that they are creative. Thus, they live their life constantly inspired, seeing what others don´t see, creating something out of nothing, and they will always inspire others to be creative as well.
Someone who believes that they are truthful will act on that belief and live an honest and truthful life. They will return money and things that don´t belong to them, and they will not enrich themself at the expense of others. The truth that is within them is evident to all because they know that they are truthful and act on that belief.
Someone who encourages others is an Encourager … they act on the belief that encouragement is what everyone needs, and so they go about encouraging others. They don´t criticize or ridicule or belittle other people because all of us are made in the image of God. It seems unnecessary, even foolish, to criticize or ridicule or belittle the handiwork of God, doesn´t it? So it goes without saying that an Encourager does not discourage, but instead serves as a vessel of hope and support and help and encouragement to others.
Someone who wants to bring peace into the world will act on that belief and do peaceful things. They will manifest peace where there is strife, and thus dissolve strife through their peace in the same way that light dissolves darkness. People who live in peace with others are Peacemakers, and if it weren´t for these Peacemakers our world would be full of strife. Mother Teresa was once asked to join a march against war, but she refused to join because she was a Peacemaker … so then she told the anti-war movement that if they were to hold a march for peace, she would be there. Thank God for Peacemakers because they reflect the peaceful nature of God, and they bring peace into our world.
Someone who believes that they are loving will act on that belief and love themself and others. They will be a centered person who has a healthy sense of self-respect and self-love because they know that they are made in the image of God … and God don´t make junk. Someone who believes in the love of God within them will act on that belief and spread genuine, unconditional, love throughout the world. God is love, and those who live to love are living in God.
The full power of God is within each of us, so let´s all believe and act on those beliefs in order to manifest “even greater things” for all to enjoy.
Keith