I had the most interesting encounter at a local store illustrating how the world around me reflects my own inner debates.
I was returning an item and there was a line. The guy in front of me “stalled out” texting on his cellphone when our line moved ahead, and I, in my eagerness to move things along and thinking he hadn't noticed mentioned it to him.
He was a big guy, the burly truck-driver type, which in fact, is what he turned out to be. He looked up at me from his texting with a scowl that said he was ready to fight, and said, “I KNOW the line has moved, lady. I'm not blind.”
I immediately apologized for getting in his business, and he turned slightly cordial … I could tell because he began to complain, as a way of making conversation, about how hard it was for a truck driver like himself to make ends meet, “especially when you're trying to buy a truck.”
Suddenly a fellow standing off to one side, spoke up, and speaking to my truck-driver friend, said, “You gotta just give it to God.” And then HE launched into his story about being a traveling evangelist who had preached to the poor and the mighty as well. He began to mention names we might all know, and then ended with saying he had preached to Bill Clinton, “although he'd never admit it if you was to ask him.”
The truck driver got his feathers a bit ruffled, and replied with something like, “Yeah, well where was God when that 9 year old at the Boston Marathon was blown to smithereens? Huh? That's a hard question, ain't it? You got an answer for that? I mean I believe in God & everything, but you can only take that stuff just so far …”
He rolled his eyes in my direction, as though he were asking for my opinion, and I, feeling at a loss to know exactly how to respond simply resorted to thinking my thoughts out loud. I said “Listening to you guys is a lot like listening to that same debate going on in my own mind. I have one voice that says, “Life is hard, ya can't make ends meet, and God is no help” and another voice that says, “Just give it ALL to God. God is bigger than any dilemma or problem possible.”
The truck driver laughed a single, rather loud “HAH” in immediate response, with a shocked look on his face, as if to say, “I never thought of THAT before!” Outloud he mumbled “yeah…” and, I guess not knowing how to respond … simply turned away.
He finished his business at the window and then nodded at me and the other guy as he left. But my evangelist friend was still standing in the same spot, when I finished my turn at the window. I smiled at him, and sent him blessings on his way … and the last thing I heard him say as I walked away was, “I know my God, and He takes care of me.” I made eye contact with him just long enough to see the look of piercing certainty in his eyes, as he spoke.
I love this dialog we get to participate in with the Universe through encounters such as these. I laugh too at the wonderful sense of humor that the Universal Mind has in showing us in vivid color, using bold characters, our own inner dialog. 🙂
These two characters were like exaggerated forms of those same voices inside my own mind! They played out for “my viewing pleasure” the unhappy harangue I've been guilty of having with myself, and helped me to find where it is I stand in judgment of myself. That's just how Reality works.
When we are aligned with Reality, we readily see the truth in the principle, “The world is a mirror.” We understand that what constellates in our life is going to be a reflection of the workings of our own mind – only always.
This live entertainment I experienced in the department store served to reflect to me what I look like when I get caught up in believing unhappy stories of lack and struggle, like my new trucker friend so beautifully illustrated with his tales of woe. I was also given the opportunity to see the part of me that is afraid of being seen as just a bit crazy to even believe that it's REALLY possible to turn everything over to Source.
The question my witnessing brought up in me was this, “Am I willing to appear crazy for the love of Source? Will I allow the part of me who wants to manage other people's opinion of me to surrender wholeheartedly to the One and Only Reality?
I want to respond with the same fiery certainty that I saw in the evangelists' eyes, “YES!” no apologies, no looking back – well, except in those moments when my fear of being misunderstood gets in the way, and then I find myself back in debate.
I am relieved to know that the goal is progress through consciousness, not perfection in delivery. I notice that my Creator Source goes right on loving me just the same. Regardless of whether I abandon all to Him, or hold myself apart from Him, in fear.
Showing us our own inner voices is how the Universe supports our process of awakening.
Blessings,
FYI: We have developed a simple toolkit for teaching kids basic principles of Reality like the one shared here which shows us a benevolent world that serves us, only always, by reflecting to us the caliber of our own belief system. Go to www.happykidproject.com/gogo to learn more.