I hate to contradict one of your favourite slogans, but “expecting a miracle” is not always helpful. Sometimes you think you need a miracle, but all you need is a little common sense. Sometimes, you are certain you need a miracle, but all you need to do is walk through your fear.
I’m not trying to suggest that there is a shortage of miracles out there and that you must save them up for special occasions. On the contrary, there are miracles happening everywhere, but you often don’t see them because you are expecting fireworks.
When you are doing the best that you can in your life, you are making miracles constantly. When you are moving through your fear, seeing your projections, and reaching out lovingly to people who are dispirited or afraid, you are a miracle worker.
But if you are smart, you don’t call yourself a miracle worker. You don’t call attention to yourself. You let others whom you empower and uplift to take the credit: “You see what you did with God’s help… isn’t that fantastic!” You help people build up their confidence so that they can learn to make their own miracles.
Some of you think that God does all the work. But I hate to disappoint you. You do 90% of the work in every miracle that transpires. God does just 10%. God inspires you and guides you, but you do the work. Yet you cannot take credit for the work you do in God’s name. You need to give God the credit, even though you did 90% of the work.
Why is that? Because you do not want people to become attached to you. You want them to understand that the God that lies within their own hearts is the one who makes everything happen. Then they will begin to listen. And when they feel divine inspiration within, they will act on it. They will put all of their energies behind it, and so they will make their own miracles and pass them along to others.
I could have taken credit for the healings that happened in my presence, but I did not. For I was just the force that catalyzed these movements of healing and forgiveness. The faith that people had in me they learned to find in themselves. I gave people back to God. I did not ask for a following.
Nor do I want one now. Please don’t go around saying “Jesus says this and Jesus says that.” Forget Jesus. Just be a loving, accepting presence, and others will come home to the true Self through you.
You see, it does not matter who the door is. It could be me. It could be you. It could be another brother or sister. The door does not need to be celebrated.
When the door needs to be celebrated, it ceases to be a door. When people grasp the finger pointing to the moon, they can no longer tell where it is pointing.
Don’t make yourself important. Let the glory go to others and you will be glorified truly. You will experience the ecstasy of being the door that opens when people knock. And I assure you there is no greater ecstasy than that.
When you do not call attention to yourself, you become capable of working deeply in every moment. No one interferes with your work. Indeed, only the most discerning notice what you do.
It is a rare person who can go about her work without calling attention to herself, without seeking publicity, without building an organisation around her. It is a rare person who inspires without taking credit, who heals without charging a fee and gives without asking anything in return. You may seek her, but you will find her only if you are prepared to walk in her footsteps.
The greatest teachers are the most humble, the most loving, the most empowering to others. If you wish to find such a teacher, you must look beyond appearances. Find the man or woman who promises you nothing, but loves you without hesitation. Find the teacher who makes no pretension to fix or to teach, yet who opens your heart when s/he looks into your eyes.
When you think of great teachers, you think of glitter, flowing robes and great crowds of people gather together. But none of these trappings are required. Indeed, they often get in the way. The focus goes onto the Guru, instead of onto the aspirant. But it is the aspirant who must wake up, not the Guru.
One day, I am going to create a rest home for Gurus. I’m going to call them to a beautiful spot in the Andes, or the Himalayas, where they can keep busy playing bocci or shuffleboard and stop causing so much trouble.
Without authority figures out there to inspire or validate you, you will have to pay more attention to your own experience and guidance. You will have to stop looking for fireworks and work with the warp and woof of your life. You will learn to accept the unfolding tapestry, mistakes and all.
No matter how tuned in, accomplished, or holy you are, life is not going to unfold the way you expect it to. Sometimes a hidden challenge will surface and require all your love, patience or attention. At other times, an unexpected gift may arrive like a hummingbird appearing magically at the feeder outside your window.
There are ups and downs on the journey. But the ups are not always up, and the downs are not always down. Buddha Knew this. And you will learn it too. Just stay steady in your life.
Don’t expect a miracle. No, no, no. Don’t expect anything. Just be with what happens as best you can.
~ Miracle of Love, Staying Connected to Love, Paul Ferrini ~
Living the Miracle
Apr 10th, 2011 by admin