My theme song for 2012 is the REM Tune, “Its the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine!!” Seriously I have to giggle at all the doomsayers who predict the end of the world. We will wake up on December 22, 2012 and if we haven’t done our Christmas shopping, we’ll have to get moving. The 26,000 year Mayan calendar cycle will have ended and we will still be here!

The world will go on long after we do. It is an eternal school and it will be here as long as there are souls who doubt their eternal connection with God. By the very nature of that doubt, we land here on earth once again. The point of this existence is coming back home to our real nature – which as the angels always point out, is love.

Life isn’t always easy, and it isn’t always easy to bring love into situations that are painful or difficult. I don’t always manage it myself, but most of the time, when I do, even the toughest stuff is handled with greater grace and ease. My lesson lately has been to trust God even more deeply when I don’t have a clue how to make things work. I’ve been immersed in that one since mid November. And lo and behold, the holidays turned out fine in spite of nothing looking like I wanted. As the song by the Rolling Stones goes, “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need!” And what we need is to know that God loves us and will guide us to a better reality that we can create by trying to force our will upon others and the world.

I had a silly example of this in December. I was with friends and we went to park in a parking lot that typically has no fee. I drove past the guard at the gate and parked. He was furious! I had no idea that this particular day out of the hundreds of times I’d been there, was a fee day, where they were charging for charity. So, very contritely I went back and apologized and asked him how much the fee was “$5 per car!” he demanded angrily. “Not a problem,” I said. “Please forgive me. I have been here many times and didn’t know you ever charged.” I handed him a twenty and waited for my change. He put it in his change envelope and waved me on. “I gave you a $20,” I said. “No you didn’t!” he snapped at me! “You gave me a $5.” I sat there and breathed deeply, knowing there was no way I was going to prove to him that I gave him a $20 and no way he could tell by looking in his envelope. I shut my eyes and prayed quickly. “God what do I do?” “Let it go,” I heard by way of reply. I drove on and parked. The money was going to charity. There was no reasoning with this man, and I wanted a loving day with my friends. Under different circumstances I might have received different guidance, but this particular day God didn’t want me to ruin a beautiful day over $15. Lo and behold, I got a tip the following week that made up for it. God truly IS in charge. And while I do not believe in being a doormat, sometimes there is no point to arguing.

We can all learn to let go a little more. When someone glares at you after you’ve smiled and said a friendly hello in the grocery store, realize they need a prayer. They must hurt pretty badly to return love with unkindness. When someone says something unkind, breathe, walk away, and pray. I pray all the time when people are unkind. They need it. And I pray for myself too because I want to feel God’s love no matter what the world is doing. And while “protecting” ourselves with anger and upset and unforgiveness appears to be self-loving at times, it is not. It is only we who suffer with these walls around our hearts. The world may sting at times, but we can always feel good about ourselves when we are the kind ones. We are bigger than the small behaviors. We are more than that. And when we know it, and live it, we feel good no matter what. When we forget, we get sucked into the dramas around us. And as we all know, that is not always so much fun!

This year promises to be a bit stirred up on earth, but it can still be glorious if we live in the truth of this love. It is really God’s way or the chaotic way this year. So I choose the “High Way” which is love. It truly does feel very, very good.

Happy New Year!
Hugs and love,
Ann

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