Two months ago, my sweetheart and I experienced a devastating loss when our home was stuck with lightning and caught on fire. As I watched flames shooting from the roof of the house panic began to take over. I stood helpless, hunched over the bed of the truck hyperventilating and crying uncontrollably. That’s when I heard a gentle message assuring me everything was going to be ok. It simply said: “Let go of physical form.”
In my distress I wanted to yell back at the thought of this. “Are you kidding me?? Our entire life is in there!”
The message was repeated over and over until my breathing returned to normal and I began to understand more clearly what it meant. Our life was within us. Those things that were in that house were simply complimenting our life. Most of them were not necessities, all of them just physical objects that could be replaced.
Through this experience I’ve been humbled with the awareness of what it's like to live purely through necessity. As a whole, the human race has created an attachment to physical form as a means to feel more secure and fulfilled, and I'm as guilty as the next. But when we’re forced to discover that these physical objects really aren’t necessary we are truly gifted with a whole new level of insight.
As we enter into the season of giving, I’ve been considering what motivates the gifts that we give. Is it the attachment to physical form? The honoring of tradition? The desire to fulfill someone’s wish? Or maybe (probably) a little bit of it all.
The tradition of Christmas gift giving began as an offering of gratitude to honor a promise of renewed life. This means of giving fills us from within. Both the giver and receiver feel more complete and satisfied when someone offers us a gift from the heart vs. from the local superstore.
So as you’re making your list and checking it twice, ponder not just the excitement of the unwrapping and unveiling of the gift, but also the fulfilment of the recipient’s heart. May you all be blessed beyond measure with unconditional love, joy and abundance throughout this upcoming year.
Mary
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