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Power within
Maurice Fullard Smith on the need for grace
Hearing the statement that we are all right as we are can be liberating news. Billy Joel sang his way into my heart with the famous lyric, “Don’t go changing, to try and please me, I love you just the way you are.” Trying to change ourselves, gritting our teeth and embarking upon some great self-improvement crusade, can make us appear obnoxious to those suffering even a mild exposure to this self-righteous approach. What warms the parts that effort cannot reach — and often affects those around us, too — is to observe the effortless change that comes with a transformation from within. The transformation I am talking about is the process that thrills all those who have learned to trust their innermost life, even in the fires of their most dire life situations. Transformation comes to those who know how to lean inwards, especially when tempted to hold themselves together, or to escape by chasing hot-foot after outer emotional or physical rewards at the expense of inner calm. Such ability is often gained by painful experience, for it is not many who can readily hear the truth that our apparent strengths are often our weaknesses, while those things that we see as our weaknesses can in fact lead us into strength. The statement “When I am weak, then I am strong” has been proved millions of times since a follower of Jesus first uttered it nearly 2000 years ago. If we begin to acknowledge that we cannot conquer situations without reference to the eternal stream of life within us, it indicates that we are falling back into dependence upon the one life that is flowing from the creative source of all being. When we make such a weak and dependent condition our permanent residence, we gradually notice a latent power springing up within us, which develops into a constant stream of effortless ability. Nurtured by quiet appreciation, this stream will finally turn into a river in full spate, carrying all our cares away with it. This is the fulfilling life we have been searching for. Dependence on a higher power will transform us into strong, independent people. Aims and goals, targets and incentives may have their place in the competitive world of sport, business, or politics, where rewards are short-lived, and often bring disguised unhappiness with them. When we are considering the realm of ultimate satisfaction or inner peace, such methods are woefully inadequate. Our performance will not help us here. This is where we need to be utterly reliant on the unfailing power that is within us — which in fact is us, as we realise when we are finally seeing aright. God is our true life. We are OK as we are. We are just enjoying being fully alive in this moment, whatever our circumstances. We are finding fulfilment in the pastures of inner transformation, as we accept who, what, and where we are. At source, we are all wonderful people who have temporarily lost our way in a mad world of competition. We can take the first step back to sanity now by being silent for a moment, and allowing a still, small voice to whisper that we are unique and acceptable as we are. Let us allow the truth of that statement to permeate our whole body, as we sit where we are, for just a few more moments.This is an edited extract from This Is It: The art of happily going nowhere by Maurice Fullard Smith, published by DLT at £5.95; 978-0-232-52693-6. |
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