Follow
the Light
“The
absolute, Divine Mind, is all that is in everything that
is...Divinity is the enfolding and the unfolding of everything that
is. Divinity is in all things in such a way that all things are in
Divinity...”
Nicholas
of Cusa (1401-1464)
The Christian mystic,
Mechtild of Madgeburg (1207-1282), who recorded her visions in
German, came to much the same understanding of Divinity as Nicholas
of Cusa. She wrote, “The day of my spiritual awakening was the
day I saw, and knew that I saw, all things in God and God in all
things.” The opening chapter of the Gospel of John says, “In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word
was God...All that came to be had life in it and the life was the
light of the people...” All things that exist contain and are
contained within that which is Divine. That light spoken of in John
shone in darkness, but was not overcome by it.
Sometimes, when I feel
utterly discouraged by what is going on in the world, I remember
these assurances, and the depth of understanding they reveal, and I
feel confident again. Yes, there is darkness, but that darkness is
not overcome as long as the light of life shines within humanity. We
have seen this darkness before—it rises and seems to hold sway for
a time—but it is eventually overcome by the desire of humans to
move in the direction of light. It's important to note that the
darkness belongs to us, and so does the light. We can cast it in
terms of “good angels” or “bad angels” but both belong to us.
We choose every day which we will listen to and which direction we will travel.
Here, on the cusp of
Christmas, may we move toward the cosmic and universal understanding
of the birth of Jesus. The Light that will “save us” lies within
us, and has always been available to us. Like Mechtild of Madgeburg,
we simply have to see it, and know that we see it. Then, we have to
make the choice to live within it and allow that light to show us the
way forward.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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