Don't Settle for Darkness

 

Follow Your Light

“Whatever you are physically—male or female, strong or weak, ill or healthy—all these matter less than what your heart contains. If you have the soul of a warrior, you are a warrior. All those other things, they are the glass that contains the lamp, but you are the light inside.”

Cassandra Clare (Clockwork Angel)

          Isn’t that a beautiful picture of the soul—the light inside the lamp. I like that. I believe most of us have souls of light—we make human mistakes, and we have destructive habits, but in our heart of hearts, we are caring souls. Occasionally, we may run into someone whose soul has gone dark. Whatever has happened in their lives, some terrible loss, some injustice, has extinguished their light. Their eyes, the windows of the soul, are cold and dead. You know someone like that, I’ll bet. Your intuition tells you to keep away from them.

          Some people seem to know that their soul is light; they’re just born that way. Their innate nature is simply joyful, playful and kind. You probably know folks like that, too. And what a pleasure it is to be around them. But some of us have to find our way to a soulful existence—we may even spend a whole lifetime working to overcome the darkness within. We read, we go to therapy, we search ourselves and we ask lots and lots of questions. Eventually, if we are deliberate and determined, we discover our light, and then the job becomes fanning the flame to keep it alive.

          It doesn’t matter how you get to the light within you or how long it takes. What matters is that you keep trying. Remember Jesus’ words, “seek and you shall find.” That’s what he was talking about. What matters is that you don’t settle for the darkness. It’s always there, mind you. We all have a shadow that is ready and willing to step in and take over. But the shadow way is not the soulful way; in fact, it will get you lost in a house of mirrors if it can. That’s when your warrior soul should kick in. Just watch for a glimmer. When you see the light— when your heart tells you, “There it is! Go there!”—just go. Follow your light. Your joyful, playful, sweet soul will be right there, within it.

                                                            In the Spirit,

                                                            Jane