We Are Not in Charge
Dear friends,
I believe a humorous story can often be more effective than the expounding of an idea. To that end, there are a couple of stories I’d like to share this week with a similar theme: that we are not as much in charge as we think! The part of our lives that is our responsibility should receive 100% of our focus and energy, of course, but there is more going on beneath the surface than we are aware of…
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Story #1
A number of friends of mine went to Disneyland together many years ago. There was (still is?) a small lake there with little power boats one can drive around. The boats have steering wheels, but in fact are on tracks beneath the surface so children can have the fun of working the wheel without risk of damage or collision. The boat maneuvers safely regardless, at a modest speed.
Well, one pair of friends was passing another husband and wife pair. As they passed each other on the lake, the first pair waved an enthusiastic “hello” shouting and smiling. In the second boat, the woman waved and shouted back, while the husband was still steering. She nudged him to encourage him to wave back whereupon he exclaimed pointedly, “Leave me alone! I’m driving!” Hmmm...
Story #2
A minister had finished his sermon and was standing at the church door greeting congregation members with a warm smile and a handshake. A woman held his hand and began a long list of complaints. None earth-shattering, but each a moderate annoyance in her life. After a while he interrupted and said, “Madam, please understand. I am in Sales, not Management!”
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The “steering” we are responsible for is using each life experience to learn what Spirit is trying to communicate to us, and to cooperate with true guidance. Listing complaints and wishing things were different, or having us focus on things that cannot be changed, simply has us miss the value inherent in what is actually happening. We spend altogether too much time pining for an alternate world. A great disciple of Yogananda’s had as her motto, "Change not one whit of my outward circumstances; change only me.” Changing the world around us to make it better is, of course, appropriate as service. Wishing things to change merely to suit our tastes might well miss nuggets that have been carefully prepared and presented to us. Then we get a do-over in hopes that what we experience might be fully absorbed and finally teach us what we need to learn (and if not… well... reincarnation, anyone?).
There is an Intelligence always trying to communicate with us. May we each have a greater desire to listen than to steer.
Blessings,
David G., manager
For the staff at East West