Rev. Vicky's Message November 14, 2024

As I continue to process through my grief, pain, and fear around the new direction our nation (and seemingly our world) appear to be taking, I am grateful for our spiritual teachings that shine a light on our way forward.

Not by providing immediate answers. To be honest, I’m currently on a roller coaster–with periods of slow climbs, where my attention is focused elsewhere, like spending blessed time with my grandkids (while still experiencing some underlying anticipatory anxiety)–followed by brief, frightening descents, when I unexpectedly hear or see snippets of the news (which I’m still largely avoiding).

I recently read something that reminded me that a sure antidote to fear is curiosity, seeking to learn something (basically, choosing to focus our attention on something more interesting). But first, we must learn to recognize how fear sounds and feels, so we don’t mistakenly believe it as truth and spiral down the rabbit hole. By recognizing the symptoms of fear (false evidence appearing real) we can quickly ask ourselves, “what is needed here?” 

For example, I woke up Thursday morning in a state of anxiety (with thoughts about the cabinet selections the new president-elect is revealing). I tried to go back to sleep, but realized it was a futile effort. And so I got up and began to work on this message – which shifted me into my spiritual perspective – where I always ask myself, “what is here to learn?”

Immediately, my anxiety began to lessen, as I re-focused my attention on our truth principles – and how we can apply them to the current outer appearances.

Which is how our spiritual teachings shine a light on our way forward, engaging our curiosity and focusing our attention on meaningful questions. Questions that call us to deepen our faith and our practice, as we grow and develop greater understanding and insights about how we can be ever-greater expressions of God’s transforming light and love in our world.

To be clear…this is not an easy path. In fact, our current worldly state of affairs and circumstances is truly the greatest spiritual challenge I have encountered in my life. The good news is – that means it is also the greatest opportunity for transformation – individually and collectively. 

As revealed by my lesson title (“TBD”), I am clearly deep in the midst of spiritual discernment. And while I won’t have all (or any?) of the answers by Sunday…I am happy to report that I already have some really good questions. AND – many reasons to be grateful – like the fact that I am walking this path with all of you. 

“This, my dear, is the 

greatest challenge 

of being alive: 

To witness 

the injustices of 

this world, 

and not 

allow it 

to consume 

our light.”

dawnyb.me

In Truth and Love,

Rev. Vicky