December Newsletter 2005

by Cathy Combs

What Is The True Meaning?

As we bring this year to a close I would like to share some thoughts with you about the transformative power of joy. 2005 has been an extraordinarily special, transformative year for me. One of my favorite authors, Dr. Viktor Frankl, addresses much of what this year held for me in his book titled, “Logotherapy In Action”. Dr. Frankl was a psychiatrist who survived the withering brutality of the Nazi concentration camps and gifted us with his bright spirit of love, compassion, and hopefulness. His work in the fields of psychiatry, existential psychology, and his many books are all classics in the field. His work is so noted for its simplicity its effectiveness was overlooked until recently. That is the paradoxical beauty of simplicity. We miss how profound it is! I feel that joy is a spiritual gift that fits this definition as well. In his work Dr. Frankl speaks of the necessity of answering the pivotal human question, “Why am I here?” He asks us to consider not what we can expect from Life, but rather what can Life expect from us? His fundamental premise is that every moment has meaning. I believe this as well. If we can understand the meaning of an event we can survive what seems to be intolerable suffering because we transform the suffering into an event that has meaning in our lives! It does not excuse the brutality of the event! It puts the event in a larger context. Dr. Frankl also speaks of the importance of Spirit. He says we are more than just a body and a mind. We are Spirit.

As we share this celebration time with all the religions of our world I am very grateful for this special opportunity to celebrate the vibrant Spirit of Love and Joy in all of us. I am grateful for the opportunity to be alive in this lifetime. I am grateful for the opportunity to answer the call of Life and say that I will express the very best of me. I will give the very best of all I am to making this world a happier, more peaceful, loving place to be for all! I will look for the silver lining when life seems challenging. I will breathe deeply and release that which does not serve my highest good. When I’m frustrated I will use the gift of perspective so I don’t take myself too seriously. These two simple and yet brilliant therapeutic interventions were designed by Dr. Frankl to help us be fully alive and appreciate our humanness. Paradoxical intention uses the physiological principle that we can’t be tense and relaxed at the same time. Dereflection is the principle of not being so “self-centered”, so inwardly focused and brooding that we are a detriment to our own happiness. By using these simple techniques we make room for the expansive expression of Divine Love, Joy, Peace, Compassion, and Hope in our lives.

What I especially love about Dr. Frankl’s views is that he is so hopeful. He speaks of the technological age that we live in today. Even in the 1920s when he was developing his practice he spoke of people being sick, not from organic or psychological origins, but from existential causes! People simply didn’t understand the meaning of their lives. They were bored, empty, lonely, frustrated, futile. All of that sounds so very relevant for us today, doesn’t it? In his own way he speaks of us not requiring enough of ourselves. When we don’t understand or appreciate our specialness we can’t possibly be in touch with our precious Spirit right within us. He gave an example of a young woman in her 20s who was considering suicide. He asked her to imagine herself in her 80s looking back on her life and her accomplishments. In doing this exercise the young woman saw her interest in being an artist, an educator, and her love for children. She charted her course anew. A few months later she was connected in the art world she loved so much, doing her work and sharing her gifts. She had connected with the true meaning of her life! I love these stories because they hold the same Truth for all of us. We’re here for a very special reason. We’re here to bless the world with our presence, our talents, our energies, our gifts. When we commit ourselves to serving the world we open the way for the vast repository of Love and Joy to be expressed in us, through us and for us! What is the true meaning? That is the true meaning! Be the Light of the world! Be the Joy of the world! Be the Love of the world! Be the “Doctor Of The Soul” as Viktor Frankl exhorts us to be!

For me the meaning was perfectly captured in a dream I had this year. I heard the words, “Do that which brings you joy and I will take care of the rest!” I connected with the Divinity within me and the answer clearly came. The events that have unfolded are beyond my wildest imaginings of what joy could be. I continue to step into the mystery and follow “at the pace of guidance” as Christina Baldwin says in her book, “The Seven Whispers”. The love, joy and peace I feel are beyond anything I’ve ever felt before. I know there is more to come! It’s the same for you as well! This access to joy that we all share is at the heart of our celebration of the birth of the Light and Love that is central to our many spiritual traditions. As we move into December I must say I find it so very interesting that the religions of the world seem to be so Earth-Based in their timing of celebrating the birth of the Light just when the days are getting longer. This synchronicity seems to indicate our symbolic, if not yet intentional, celebration of our oneness! The birth of the Light of Illumination tells us the joyful news that we’re all here together to share this world as Holy Love’s gift to us. The joyful news is that we are the Light and Love of the world! We are Divinity Itself. We are the Christ Light, the Christ Love in expression, the Goddess of Love, the Buddha Incarnate. We are the All in All of Life Itself. As we celebrate the birth of Love and Light may we truly understand we celebrate the birth of Peace. When Love and Light reign supreme Peace reigns supreme. May we live in a spirit that honors the magnanimity and awesomeness of that Truth. May we make Love and Peace and put all thoughts of war to rest forever. May we cleanse our hearts and minds of all thoughts of separateness and disillusionment. May we open to the Love, Joy and Peace of our connectedness, our true heritage as caretakers of ourselves and each other. May we never forget that it’s a real danger signal to our social consciousness when Peace is boring! That’s a real serious disconnect from our true spiritual center of Love. We cannot give what we do not have. We must reclaim our lives. We must reclaim the Love, Joy and Peace that reside within us with each breath we take. We are the manifestation of Spirit Itself, the joyous expansiveness of Love Itself. “Physician heal thyself” tells us we are the doctor of our own souls, our own lives. We own the “response-ability” to heal ourselves and to share this healing light, love and power with all others. That’s why we’re here. That’s who we are. That’s our mission and vision in Life. We are the doctors of our souls! Blessed Be to you as we share this awesome moment in our own stories of our own very precious lives. We are the Light, Love, Peace, and Joy of the world. Blessed Be to you, my precious sisters and brothers of our beloved planet, Earth!!! Blessed be to us all as we share these awesome spiritual gifts always!!!

 

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