One of my favorite books is A Return to Love by Marianne Williamson. Whenever I feel scared or out of balance, reading a few pages of that book always brings me back to center.
When I first began reading the book, the Christian terminology threw me off. I was raised Christian – Catholic, to be more precise – but as an adult, I don’t feel that Catholicism has much to offer me. I never enjoyed church because it was rarely uplifting. Believe it or not, it isn’t too fun to sit in an uncomfortable pew for an hour each Sunday and be told, at great length, about what a terrible sinner you are.
A Return to Love gracefully gave me new tools to transform my idea of God as an angry, vengeful, jealous deity surveilling me from above to God as the essence of pure love, flowing in and around everyone and everything at every moment.
With this new mindset, I was brought to tears when I read the following passage. Marianne is discussing how it’s not just random luck that we all ended up on this planet together. We are, in fact, here for an incredibly important purpose.
“We have a mission – to save the world through the power of love. The world needs healing desperately, like a bird with a broken wing. People know this, and millions have prayed.
“God heard us. He sent help. He sent you.”
Sounds kind of heavy, right? I’m here to save the world?! Um…I don’t remember signing up for that. But I think all we have to do is remember the infinite love and compassion that are within us (since we are part of God after all) and live from that place. Will this be easy? No. But is it worth trying? Of course!
Just take it day by day – moment by moment. If you’re feeling stressed, angry or scared, take a deep breath and think, “Since I’m God’s gift to the world, what could I do at this moment that would serve the highest good for all?” And if you’re like me, you might laugh a bit at the idea that you’re God’s gift. But that alone is progress! Laughter is a lot better than being stressed. And then whatever answer comes to you – go with it. It might involve taking care of yourself or it might involve doing something for someone else. Trust that whatever kindness you bestow upon yourself or others has ripple effects that go out into the universe. You are powerful. You are love.
And you are God’s gift.
