It takes such a great deal of humility to realize even the tiniest bit of truth it’s no wonder we sit so long in darkness. How difficult it is for one trapped in the self-made prison of pride and vanity to acknowledge our need for assistance. Pride insists we can do. It’s a tenacious illusion because we make daily offerings to it. These endless alms nourish it until it grows so large we take fitful rest in its shadow. It brings to mind some of the final words of Jesus on the cross. Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34). How true this is for us today is staggering if we allow it to wash over us. Our pride acts like a raincoat that keeps the truth from washing over us and touching us in any way that can begin the cleansing process. The song, O Holy Night, has a line in the lyrics that I like. Long lay the world in sin and error pining. Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth. The spirit can’t feel its worth as long as pride and vanity are feeling their worth.

Today I received an email from a listener in Central America. He said something I’d like to share with you. I am grateful that contact with you had worked to bring a bit of light. To notice this. It’s not often we can get behind our pride to see how much we need others. Part of thinking that we can do is thinking that we now do. The way the word is used in esoteric teachings isn’t the mechanical reaction of a machine but the conscious action of a Man who has attained Real Will. Of course we all imagine we have will and if we have it then it must be real. This is not the same meaning self-realized men and women have. Here follows part of the response his email drew:

Yes, that's how it works. It's difficult for people to see beyond their pride and vanity. Because we think so much of ourselves it's hard to see that contact with another can work to bring a bit of light. It's just like putting your watch (if you have an old watch with a dial face and numbers and hands that glow in the dark) by a light source. Then, when the watch is no longer near the light source, it glows for a time with the collected, stored light from the source. By regular exposure to a light source we can begin to see things we could not see before, on our own. This is why the Conscious Circle of Humanity can work for us and with us. If it were not for this merciful law we would be even more lost than we are already.

It's interesting that this season is the outward manifestation of that very merciful universal law. There was the true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man (John 1:9). Of course fundamental understandings of this esoteric truth miss the broad and universally applicable point, but we can approach a greater understanding if we're willing to surrender our limited points of view. All come into the world with that light within them and don't need to submit to some form of religion lacking the power. Some hide that light under a bed or basket while a few put it on a lamp stand where everyone in the house can benefit from the light if they wish it. If they don't, they are free to shut it out, which the majority do.

Mercy is compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm. In the strictest sense, The Ocean of Love that is the source of our true nature, who we really are, has no power to punish or harm us because it is against love’s nature to punish or harm. Words come from our limitations and therefore fail miserably when we try to use them to express the infinite. You may be able to describe light but you will not make light dawn for yourself or another through your description. We must experience it and one of the easiest ways to experience it is to be close to a light source. Yes, we are all potential sources of light, it’s true. Our pride blocks it most effectively but the potential is still there. Those who have removed the basket from the light that we all ultimately are stand ready to enlighten every man. There are many somethings we can do to begin to remove the basket so we too can take our place in their company and let the true light shine into a world that lay long in sin and error pining. May the true light that transcends all man made boundaries shine brightly in your inner world this Christmas season.