We live in an infinitely benevolent, ever loving, universe …. but a very, very strange humanly (dis)organized world!
After all, a world where a tiny virus weighing a microgram can upset the world economy in a few weeks is either inhabited by a very, very clever virus…or then is really inhabited by an extremely strange group of people.
So now that the tsunami is on us, we need to ask: OK, what now? Have we started learning the lesson?
Learning The Lesson
Major economic interest groups in our societies are already speaking of when the growth will pick up again. It is sad to say but it has to be stated clearly: they are the blind leading the blind of which a great avatar spoke 2000 years ago.
The same Jesus also spoke against material accumulation, and the abundance to which he alluded to in his teaching referred to the inner wealth we each already have in us. In other words, we simply need to discover what he called the Kingdom of Heaven, i.e., that infinite abundance of good – of peace, of joy, of healing abilities, of forgiveness and generosity, of strength and so many other qualities – we already possess as daughters and sons of the Divine, of the Source.
Simple Living
Simple living today is a demand made upon many of us on the spiritual path. This is not theory. Personally, I have been living it for many years. I only had a second-hand Mini Morris for 18 months when in my twenties and have been a joyful cyclist for 75 years. I have never ever owned a television and consider myself very well informed on world affairs.
I have been an ultra-modest consumer for my whole life, and it has enabled me to use my money in ways I considered more useful and which brought me much greater joy. As a matter of fact, simple living is the demand on any world citizen in a world where half the population lives on less than $2.50 a day and 24,000 people (of which 8,500 are children), die of hunger every day.
Putting Things in Perspective
Compare this with the Covid statistics which have us trembling simply because we readers of this blog are probably not even remotely menaced by hunger, albeit there are far fewer people dying of the virus than those dying of hunger.
If I do not follow my personal rule of not normally mentioning myself in this blog it is simply because for me simple living has been such a source of peace and joy for well over 60 years. One of the very first spiritual callings made upon anyone on a spiritual quest is not e.g. “Do you closely follow your teacher’s advice” but “Are you in your lifestyle a good world citizen?”
That is a highly spiritual question.
Let us live it.
A Blessing for Simplicity
In the whirl and swirl of our modern world, I bless myself in my ability to step aside, stop, and enjoy the greatest gift of all: the infinite simplicity and riches of Your Presence.
May I learn to prune my life of all its useless trappings and activities and simplify it down to its essentials, that I may have the time, energy and desire to hold on to what really matters: listening to You and serving my neighbor who also happens to be myself in disguise.
May I drop the hectic and impossible challenge of keeping up with the Joneses, the latest news, the latest book “I just must read,” and the latest fashion of this or that. May they just fall by their own weight, and may I stand in the simple elegance of one who has discovered the fundamental truth that the “Kingdom of God” is simply that place of sublime beauty inside us where there never entered a single unessential presence or thought, where reigns but the feeling of God happening within.
I bless my fellow humans that they may discover the healing peace of uncluttered lives, the healing simplicity of an existence guided by one single and only desire: to love more, to serve more faithfully and hence to rejoice more constantly.
A Blessing For Commitment to a Win-Win World That Works for All
It is becoming clearer every day that either we create a world that works for ALL, animals and nature included, or it will soon work for no one, starting with us humans. As citizens of the world – and we are all, whether we know it or not, such citizens – this should be one of our very top commitments.
We bless ourselves in clarifying our vision of a world that works for all and in our deep commitment to making it come to pass.
We bless ourselves in our willingness to give up those forms of consumption that do not enhance our ability to serve and work for this unified world – be it water use, transportation, keeping up with fads and fashions in all areas, or anything that oversteps the limits of having enough but not more.
We bless ourselves in our ability to share this vision with great simplicity and sincerity and without a trace of “preachiness” or self-righteousness.
We bless ourselves in our ability to see that such a vision is implicit in the very structure of the universe we live in, where absolutely everything is linked to everything else, that we may feel it and not only believe it.
And may we have that unshakeable trust that, at this very moment, our wonderful home, the universe, is conspiring to make this true for our beautiful blue planet and all its inhabitants.
©2019/2020 by Pierre Pradervand. All Rights Reserved.
Reprinted, with permission of the author,
from the author's blog and also from the book,
365 Blessings to Heal Myself and the World.
Book by this Author
365 Blessings to Heal Myself and the World: Really Living One’s Spirituality in Everyday Life
by Pierre Pradervand.
Can you imagine what it would feel like to never feel any resentment for any wrong done to you, gossip or lie disseminated about you? To respond with full awareness to all situations and people rather than react from your gut? What freedom that would entail! Well, this is just one of the gifts the practice of blessing from the heart, i.e. sending out focused love energy, will do for you. This book, from the bestselling author of The Gentle Art of Blessing, will help you learn to bless all situations and people as you go through the day and add overwhelming joy and presence to your existence.
For more info and/or to order this book, click here.
About The Author
Pierre Pradervand is the author of The Gentle Art of Blessing. He has worked, travelled and lived in over 40 countries on five continents, and has been leading workshops and teaching the art of blessing for many years, with remarkable responses and transformational results. For 20 years Pierre has been practising blessing and collecting testimonies of blessing as a tool for healing the heart, mind, body and soul. Visit the website at https://gentleartofblessing.org
