Stand in Your Vastness

By Elliott Robertson

The time has come for you, dear one, to listen to the wisdom of your heart. She knows the gift of life is precious. She knows this gift is precious at all times.

A cyclone may destroy your house; still life is precious. Your spouse may leave you for another; still life is a treasure to be grateful for. Your cat may pass away, and you may grieve; still the One who holds this galaxy together has only mercy, goodness, light and love for you.

The time has come, dear one, to gaze not at the storm but at the rainbow, to know that even when life doesn’t go your way, you are invited to be glad. We do not have to lose our footing when the house is flooded or when the garden has been plundered.

Let anger be, let sadness be—no need to stifle feelings. Yet also stand in clarity and know you have a choice in your response. Cursing life for failing to deliver what you wanted is always an option. Another option is to say with true sincerity, “Thank you, God, for this inconvenient flood,” or “Thank you, Source, for this demotion when I wanted a promotion at my job.” Yes, you can know goodness must be on the way because the Holy One always wants you to receive good things.

Dear one, the time has come for us to stand within our poise, our power, to lean into the choices that will lead us to green pastures and contentment even in the midst of trials that deprive us of sweet sunshine for an interval. We’re called always to see the world just as it is and still to know, with open hearts, the Lord has made this day and somewhere in the midst of pain and angst there is an undercurrent of joy waiting for us to accept its vibrant presence.

The time has come for us to choose to leave bitterness behind so we might be open to sweetness. We are invited always to choose the cleansing of the heart of bitterness even when the rewards we wanted God to give us for our good behavior have not come our way, even when we have stumbled into hardships, one after another. In A Course of Love, Jesus has told us that  choosing is required:

Many rights and rituals exist for the purification of the unclean but I assure you that you are not unclean and that none can cleanse bitterness from the heart without your choice. The time of tenderness began your release of bitterness and made you ready for this choice. Choose now to leave your desire for reward, as well as all of your reasons for bitterness, and bitterness itself behind. Bring bitterness no longer to the dwelling place of Christ and we will seal the place of its entrance with the sweetness of love so that bitterness will be no more. [T3:6.6]

Standing in your vastness: a daily practice

I suggest making this your practice for the next 21 days. See if it helps you pivot from a posture of complaint about the circumstances that have come your way to a posture of certainty that God intends all things for good. When you hunger and thirst for your soul to be uplifted, know that only one thing is required: simply trusting God to always show benevolence toward you.

• Write down a sentence about what upsets you. Begin the sentence with at least one word describing how you feel. For example, if your investments took a sudden nosedive, you might write:

  “I am sad, confused, angry and devastated to have lost a huge chunk of my nest egg.”

• After you’ve written this statement, write a statement of your trust in the presence of your Source or in the goodness of the One who has created you. Begin this second sentence with the word “And” so as not to discount the previous statement. You do not want to set up a fight between the disappointment and the trust. The purpose of this exercise is to expand your world so that it’s big enough to include your trial, your feelings about the trial, and also your wise knowing that God is always for you, not against you.

  In this example, you might write:

  “And I know that my Creator wants all things to work together for me and for all those who I touch.”

  Start with “And” and then use your own words.

• After you’ve written these two sentences, slowly read the first sentence and pause for a few seconds before moving to the second sentence. Sit with the circumstance and your feelings for a few moments. During this brief pause you may want to say to your feelings, “You have every right to be present.” After sitting with the first sentence for a few moments, read the second sentence slowly and pause briefly to meditate on the truth and wisdom that it brings to you.

  Then repeat the slow reading of the first and second sentences two or three times, pausing after each sentence. Set aside what you have written and notice your vastness, your capacity to be with your certainty of benevolence even when life brings you things you didn’t ask for.

This practice is synergistic with the practice of beginning each day with a prayer of gratitude for who you are and how you’re made. In addition to doing this practice of standing in your vastness each day for the next three weeks, you may want to begin each day with a prayer such as, “Thank you, Source, for birthing me from your essence, from your love and light,” or “Thank you, Mother/Father God for creating me in your image, true light from True Light.” You can fall into the depths of your heart and experience gratitude for who you are with these words, with words of your own, or without any words at all.

Elliott Robertson is a happiness coach. He has been certified by Marci Shimoff to lead “Happy for No Reason” workshops. His book, Say Yes to Life: Seven Keys to Living Full Out from Within, will come out soon. He lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.