Last night I got to see a great comedian – Toby Hargrave – at the Cascades Comedy Club here in Langley. Laughing was a great way to end my birthday! During one of his stories, a phrase he used jumped out at me and hasn’t let me go. It’s this:
“It’s not the differences that separate us, it’s the silences between us.”
I started thinking about the times I’ve had an experience that was way too embarrassing to share with anyone .. and of course, had only ever happened to me … only to later find the same thing had happened to others as well.
I’ve had people go through things, which when I found out about them after the fact, asked “Why didn’t you call me?” .. the common response is “Oh, I didn’t want to bother you with it.”
Why do we do this? Suffer in silence? Perhaps it’s because we’ve been taught as children not to “air our dirty laundry” or perhaps it’s because as New Thought people we’ve been taught that talking about what we feel is negative is wrong. Perhaps it’s because society has told us there are things that just aren’t to be talked about. So we muddle through, doing our spiritual work (or not) and trying to stay positive. Our embarrassment often stops us from talking with the people we love because of our fears of being rejected or because we don’t want to hurt their feelings.
We are not meant to go through anything alone. We are spiritual beings having a human experience and part of that experience includes all sorts of feelings and needs and desires. One of our needs is communication. We need to share with one another. The Truth is there is only One Story, and we are all living it. We’ve all had embarrassing moments, painful moments, frustrating moments, moments of rage, moments of pleasure and moments of joy.
It is our silences that separate us.
Yes, it is possible to hear someone’s story without buying into it. Practitioners of Religious Science do it all the time. We can stand in the Truth for each other, knowing who we are listening to is an expression of the Divine!
Oh, we can also share our stories without complaining J
Blessings, Rev. Angelica
SPIRITUAL MIND TREATMENT
I live and move and have my being in the Heart of God. This Heart is filled with unconditional Love. There is nothing I could have ever done, or will do, that can prevent me from experiencing this Love. Only in my mind can I separate myself.
Today I choose to accept my story as Life’s Story. It is filled with lots of moments, and it is shared with all. I let go of any embarrassment, fears of being rejected, or self-pity, and breathe deeply. I let myself participate in honest communication, knowing as I do, I am releasing the energy I have bound to myself by not sharing who I am. I know that as I let go I make more room for Love. And this is good, very good.
I celebrate myself as Spirit in form. I am grateful for the human experience. I no longer let my silences separate me. I live in peace. I feel the fullness of Being.
And so It is.
