The below moving essay is by Kristyne Lemerand, who is currently moving through the early lessons of the transformation course. She gave me permission to post this for her so that you can share in the inspiration now. -- Fred
Winter into Spring
As winter comes and Mother Gaia changes, the cold and darkness that precede the warmth, light and new birth of Spring draw me to reflect on the changes and birth of new things in our lives, in our communities, and on a global level. We are changing all the time.
Some of us fear change, but it is occurring, flowing through the race of humanity like a river and as inevitably as the blood flows through our veins. It has done so for eons. The most destructive force on the planet isn’t Nature or God. The most destructive force on the planet is and has been Man.
What are we birthing in this moment? What are we nurturing within ourselves, our communities and our world? Thoughts are powerful things. There will only be war as long as we see ourselves as different and separate. There will only be hatred when we choose not to see love.
We are the same you and I. Our so called ‘races’ have intermingled for so many centuries that any differences that might once have existed no longer remain on a genetic level. Our hearts beat to the same rhythm. We breathe the same air, laugh with one voice and cry the same tears.
We want to see our children prosper and grow strong. We want to make our homes in places of peace and live our own dreams, each of us. We want to speak our own truths clearly and openly without fear. My truth isn’t the same as yours, but yours is no less important.
Your religion, the God that lives inside and all around you, is no lesser or greater than mine. Maybe you choose not to see God at all. That is a function of free will, not something I have to prove or to destroy you for.
We cannot make others see what they are not ready to see. We can only understand that it is not a choice to make except for ourselves. God is the quiet voice of Love and understanding. The voice of hatred and destruction and chaos we see around us is not of God. It is solely an invention of man.
We have used God and religion as an excuse to destroy each other for longer than we should have allowed. Many of us have accepted the God someone else would have us know outside of ourselves, knowing full well the God within us was quietly trying to show us another way.
Call God by any name with an open heart and integer vitae and God will answer. The real question is will we listen to the answer we are given and accept it? Can we change and grow so that we may wake and walk into a better day together?
I pray to the ALL KNOWING, ALL SEEING GOD.
Bigger than any name I presume to give or mankind knows to give. I pray that we find the love and courage of the Christed One, the strength and faith of Muhammad, the detachment of Buddha, the teachings of all Great Masters that have come before us to light our way. I pray we wake from the blindness that seems to overcome so many of us to know there is another way.
We have so much to learn. We find so little time to listen. We have many wrongs to right if we are to become what we are truly meant to become. We can destroy the gifts we have been given or we can be cohabitants and co-creators in this beautiful garden. Come build with us, in this Heaven on Earth. It stands quietly waiting, if we can only so choose.
As winter passes and we move toward Spring, may we see the birth of each seedling we have tenderly planted in what seems a cold grey dawn. May we see Peace break ground and recognize it’s coming. May we nurture Peace to maturity and understand it's full and intrinsic value. As above, so below.
Kristyne Lemerand for Coptic-Sun Inner Connection December 15, 2006