12/8/13 Rev. David McArthur
Light from the Darkness
What a wonderful thing the Christmastime experience is! There’s a glow about it. But there is another spiritual truth expressed. Out of the Roman times was to come enlightenment. “…mystery and manifestations arise from the same source. This source is called darkness. Darkness within darkness. The gateway to all understanding. The Master observes the world but trusts his inner vision… His heart is open as the sky.” the Tao te Ching, (trans. Stephen Mitchell).
We do our own darkness about our health, finances, relationships, etc. But we know God Is Good All The Time, even in the darkness. There is a presence of the Divine in every thing we see. This past week we have watched the world celebrate the wonderful Nelson Mandela. Out of 27 years of imprisonment darkness came his freedom and his leading a truly new nation to overcome justifiable hate and that enlightened more than just South Africa, but the world.
Darkness has the potential to fill with light. Mandela’s imprisonment is a picture of our darkness, our un-illumined state. Within it is our potential to receive enlightenment. It is our choice to awaken to it. “Can you cleanse your inner vision until you see nothing but the light?” Step back from your own mind where we make judgments. Move to understanding, a spiritual experience of the heart. The result is it cleanses our inner seeing. I trust my inner vision. My heart is open as the sky.
Bill Clinton once commented to Nelson Mandela, “I appreciated your having your jailer at your installation as president. How did you get to that point?” Mandela answered, “It was a particular moment in prison. I realized that they had taken everything from me…everything except my mind and my heart. Those I will not give away…” It is an amazing story of the power he had as a spiritual being to choose. He could have given it away in anger and hate, the natural response. But then he’d be as they. He chose love instead. Light in the darkness. It’s always there. It’s who you are! I trust my inner vision. My heart is open as the sky.
Yes, we journey through darkness in which we lose our hope and knowledge of who we are. In that darkness is the potential of light. You have the ability to see your inner vision. For your marvelous open hearts, I give thanks!