Living Light: On Purpose
Oprah Winfrey appeared on The Van Jones Show on CNN on March 11, 2018 with a message: You’ve gotta stay in the light. She explained how important it is not to give our energy to the apparent darkness in our world today, but to stay as a warrior of the light. She wakes up in the morning and the first thing she says, even before opening her eyes, is “Thank you.” She does her chores and then gives herself some time for prayer or meditation before looking at the day’s news. Oprah is a prophet of the emerging consciousness.
Many of us are feeling the pull to live differently from the demands of the culture around us. We sense that our lives are meant to have purpose. We are leaving behind the emotional baggage of the past – our own, our ancestors’, our history, our evolution – in order to detoxify our minds and spirit. As we shed addictions and behaviors that perpetuated a culture of domination, broken families and armed conflict, we are seeking new patterns to empower the emerging culture of peace. This is at heart a spiritual quest. At a time when the wisdom of indigenous, religious and spiritual teachings from all over the world are available to us, we are taking a fresh look at what it means to live a life that is fulfilling at the soul level.
How do we learn to live in the light, as the light, lightly? We are learning from one another! We are sharing spiritual experiences. We are recognizing the light in one another. We are opening to our inner guidance. In this column, we will explore a wide range of everyday practices that are helping us to move into the new consciousness, a journey we are taking together.
To begin this exploration, I asked myself what would be the bottom line quality shared by everyone who is part of this vast awakening? To me, it seems to be a sense of purpose. This feeling began to take root in me when I was ordained as an Interfaith Minister in 1993. I realized that once I added “Rev.” before my name, I was declaring my willingness to “minister” to all who asked, to live a life of service to others. This stirred something deep inside me, a tiny seed beginning to feel the pull of the light yet invisible above the ground of my being.
If you are reading this, you have been drawn to some kind of spiritual practice, inner exploration or outer service that feels to you to be part of something larger than yourself. Your service to humanity may be at a global scale or very quiet and small – but somehow you know. Even if you feel called but haven’t figured out yet what is your piece of the puzzle, don’t worry! The path is rarely straight and most of us are still learning how to hear the guidance that is whispering us on.
Yet, when we meet we know we are family, that somehow we share a mission to advance human consciousness in real and exciting ways that could fundamentally change how we live into the future. Perhaps your passion is healing or the farm-to-table movement or conflict resolution or animal communication or teaching or spiritual practice. Or you may be an artist, writer or musician trying to bring forth a meaningful message from your heart. Or maybe you are raising children who will live from their deepest creativity instead of buying into the prevailing culture. What passion is driving you? If you’re doing it to make money or become famous or look fabulous… that’s not the one! Or maybe you are simply making changes in yourself: releasing the judgments of the past, taking responsibility for your life, appreciating the people around you, changing your sense of who you are in the world.
Oprah describes this purpose as “being the best you that you can be,” although that can be an ego-directed path and sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference. Because you do want to shine. As you move into your purpose, you know you are on the right track because the people you need to meet start to show up, doors begin to open, synchronicities happen, and insights land. Everything you do becomes rich with meaning. There is an exhilaration to it, like falling in love. Your spirit seems to be saying yes to life, and life responds.
The key is that whatever your purpose may be, you are not doing it alone, even if you are in a cave on a mountaintop or in the deep silence of your inner being. Across the world and perhaps across the room, others are waking up to the need for profound change from the inside out and are rising to their purpose just like you.
You are part of nothing less than the conscious evolution of humanity.
With this sense of purpose giving meaning to your life with every breath you take, you may just feel the urge to join Oprah in starting every day by saying, “Thank you.”
LIVING LIGHT, by Rev. Deborah Moldow, is a regular feature of LIGHT ON LIGHT MAGAZINE
Click here to read the magazine. The Living LIght article is on pp. 20-21
Many of us are feeling the pull to live differently from the demands of the culture around us. We sense that our lives are meant to have purpose. We are leaving behind the emotional baggage of the past – our own, our ancestors’, our history, our evolution – in order to detoxify our minds and spirit. As we shed addictions and behaviors that perpetuated a culture of domination, broken families and armed conflict, we are seeking new patterns to empower the emerging culture of peace. This is at heart a spiritual quest. At a time when the wisdom of indigenous, religious and spiritual teachings from all over the world are available to us, we are taking a fresh look at what it means to live a life that is fulfilling at the soul level.
How do we learn to live in the light, as the light, lightly? We are learning from one another! We are sharing spiritual experiences. We are recognizing the light in one another. We are opening to our inner guidance. In this column, we will explore a wide range of everyday practices that are helping us to move into the new consciousness, a journey we are taking together.
To begin this exploration, I asked myself what would be the bottom line quality shared by everyone who is part of this vast awakening? To me, it seems to be a sense of purpose. This feeling began to take root in me when I was ordained as an Interfaith Minister in 1993. I realized that once I added “Rev.” before my name, I was declaring my willingness to “minister” to all who asked, to live a life of service to others. This stirred something deep inside me, a tiny seed beginning to feel the pull of the light yet invisible above the ground of my being.
If you are reading this, you have been drawn to some kind of spiritual practice, inner exploration or outer service that feels to you to be part of something larger than yourself. Your service to humanity may be at a global scale or very quiet and small – but somehow you know. Even if you feel called but haven’t figured out yet what is your piece of the puzzle, don’t worry! The path is rarely straight and most of us are still learning how to hear the guidance that is whispering us on.
Yet, when we meet we know we are family, that somehow we share a mission to advance human consciousness in real and exciting ways that could fundamentally change how we live into the future. Perhaps your passion is healing or the farm-to-table movement or conflict resolution or animal communication or teaching or spiritual practice. Or you may be an artist, writer or musician trying to bring forth a meaningful message from your heart. Or maybe you are raising children who will live from their deepest creativity instead of buying into the prevailing culture. What passion is driving you? If you’re doing it to make money or become famous or look fabulous… that’s not the one! Or maybe you are simply making changes in yourself: releasing the judgments of the past, taking responsibility for your life, appreciating the people around you, changing your sense of who you are in the world.
Oprah describes this purpose as “being the best you that you can be,” although that can be an ego-directed path and sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference. Because you do want to shine. As you move into your purpose, you know you are on the right track because the people you need to meet start to show up, doors begin to open, synchronicities happen, and insights land. Everything you do becomes rich with meaning. There is an exhilaration to it, like falling in love. Your spirit seems to be saying yes to life, and life responds.
The key is that whatever your purpose may be, you are not doing it alone, even if you are in a cave on a mountaintop or in the deep silence of your inner being. Across the world and perhaps across the room, others are waking up to the need for profound change from the inside out and are rising to their purpose just like you.
You are part of nothing less than the conscious evolution of humanity.
With this sense of purpose giving meaning to your life with every breath you take, you may just feel the urge to join Oprah in starting every day by saying, “Thank you.”
LIVING LIGHT, by Rev. Deborah Moldow, is a regular feature of LIGHT ON LIGHT MAGAZINE
Click here to read the magazine. The Living LIght article is on pp. 20-21