On Accepting What Is

I pray that you may never, never, never get over this sorrow, but through it, into the very heart of God.
(Forbes Robertson)

We have often claimed in our writings that we live in the best of all worlds, at least from the perspective of our soul development. We have also said that no matter what our starting point may be, we have always access to a seemingly boundless energy source and creativity. Yet to have access to this force we have to start from what is, from where we are and not from where we want to be.

The NYT claims that one out of ten Americans are on anti-depressants, and for women in the 40-50 year age group this percentage is as high as one in four. Well, taking anti-depressants is a perfect example of not being able to accept your starting point.  Don't get me wrong, I am not judging any Prozac-user. If medication puts you in a position to better face life's challenges then absolutely, go for it! But I am saying that for every spiritual traveler acceptance of what is becomes a prerequisite for walking the path. If we don't accept what is, life will constantly remind us of what is. And we just cannot be in sync with the Way otherwise.

Illness, loss and death are part of life. We are afraid of it, but how do we actually feel when we experience it? Perhaps we end up feeling very differently than we anticipated it beforehand. Perhaps there is unexpected kindness in a loss, perhaps even humor in what we feared would be a humiliating situation. Certainly there are situations that are painful and nothing but. But let's be open to them too, difficult as they might be to face. Spirituality can't protect us from facing pain, yet one promise a spiritual path always holds: no matter what comes our way, our soul is bound to find meaning in this experience, and if we manage to steer through this event without avoiding it, we are yet a little closer to our Self.  Let's be open to life, accept what is and chances are the experience will turn out to be quite different from what we think it is.