Image courtesy of Ningren

Without darkness, light would have no definition. Without evil, good would never be challenged to expand. Without definition and challenge, there would be no growth. Without growth, our spirits would not evolve.

Many indigenous peoples say the Earth is a schoolhouse and we incarnate here in order to learn. This makes sense only if we view the spirit as separate from the corporeal. If we do, then advancing to higher consciousness and an elevated spiritual plane holds great promise for human transcendence.

The Earth is a bipolar planet. Since all matter converts to energy, we can infer that our lessons will be of a bipolar nature. Darkness and evil are not, in and of themselves, our enemies. When we set up something as the enemy, we constrict and lose all prospect of growth. When we see adversity as our ally, our growth potential expands and accelerates.

I recently reviewed The Little Soul and the Sun by Neale Donald Walsch. You can read my review HERE.

The message in this book is that our spirits pledge with one another to learn specific lessons when we incarnate, and each of us plays a role specific to any person or persons with whom we have contracted. Thus, if I pledge to help another soul learn joy, I might be the implement of sorrow. Likewise: prejudice → tolerance; cruelty → compassion; animosity → forgiveness; fear → love.

This places adversity in a very different light, inclusive of the importance of endeavoring to change a bad situation. Growth lies in rising to the challenges we pledged to meet when making our contracts.

Viewing life in this way is empowering. If we made a contract that we later discover no longer serves, then it is within our power to change it. However, we might not readily see the means by which to do so. I have encountered this many times in my life and still struggle with it in some areas.

My spiritual teacher has often told me that I have the power to manifest what I want within a split second. When I sit in relative consciousness, this concept boggles my mind. When I move into absolute awareness, I understand and see the vast potential of existence.

Rumi speaks eloquently on this subject . . .

The Guest House
~Rumi

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing

and invite them in.

Be grateful for whatever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

If truth holds that we contract with each other before we incarnate, then everyone we now meet is a guest in our lives. We might not like the gifts they come bearing, but they are gifts nonetheless – seeds to help us grow.

I see the Winter holidays as the Season of Light. Christmas: Star of Bethlehem; tree lights. Chanukah: Star of David; menorah. Kwanzaa: kinara. Yule/Winter Solstice: candles; yule log. The list goes on.

Each of us chooses whether to light our path or walk in darkness; whether to see not only with our physical eyes, but also with our spirit eyes. We choose whether to open our hearts and allow light to enter, or close them and live in darkness.

During this Season of Light, I wish us all the warmth of an open heart and the myriad blessings it bestows. May we invite in each guest who knocks, honoring the pledge we made to them. And may we walk in beauty, love, and harmony with all living things.