I wrote my first manuscript when I was a neophyte on the spiritual path, about 1979, and called it One Voice in Many. I have just found it again, in a beat-up file folder among records of long-ago classes I taught. It was typed on an old portable Olivetti typewriter, before the day of computers! What a surprise to meet myself again as I was perceiving the world back then. Some of it is naive, but some is quite fresh and simple.

We see each of you as both student and teacher, as it is the function of light to constantly shine both in and out. We cannot forsake you; it is impossible; we cannot separate from you. We always hold a lamp to guide the way. Remember, in turn, not to hide your own light or withhold it from neighbor or stranger. Choose to be at peace, as you remember that We are with you, right up close, even when you feel lost. Simply remember your connection to Us, have courage to proceed into unmarked territory, and trust in your own innate light. Things will unfold aright.

Be patient—in the present moment—and have faith in the reality of spirit. Spirit is the experience of home, the memory of who you really are. It is relaxing and exhilarating! BE as much as you can, express your love to the fullest you know how. You are more than the limited mind and are not alone against the world. We are One in Spirit, and together We move forward. We simply wait for you to accept the larger view. Feel. Listen. Soften your heart. The way is laid wide and open. Relaxing brings the ability to move forward in truth, to be open to change and lack of structure, and the desire to commit to becoming the Light. Proceed from deepest yearning. Step forward. Where will your foot land? You don’t know and really don’t need to care too much; yours is just to pick up the foot again and let it land where the Flow, the Us, the Divine, places it.

Begin your day in a place of silence. Move out from there and return there when you feel the tension of frustration, unresolved emotion, or lack of answers. All tension is incompletion and in the moment, in the silence, you return to what is whole and complete. You return to personal truth. Ask in your heart to know the divine in everything. By doing this you cultivate an awareness of unity, and through unity, which is love, comes clarity. Through clarity also flows love, because love and truth are aspects of the same force and point to each other to reveal the whole.

So let’s keep life simple, eye on the luminous inner nature of form. Let’s watch together the joining of separations through common bonds of love. Let’s look for the kindness and vulnerable places within others. Where fear materializes, there is an opportunity for the powerful radiation of love.

Copyright by Penney Peirce; illustration by Aaron Johnson