“Be Ye Not Afraid … Good Is Always At Hand” by Lola Wright

Bodhi’s very own Lola Wright kicked off “Stories of Light,” our holiday-centered theme for December, as we continue our Building the beLOVEd Community series. Below is an outline of her message, featuring notes, quotes and takeaways.

Opening

• 2006, lying in bed (landlord’s bed) in a puddle of tears … hopeless, alone.
• Two kids – 8 and 6.
• In 8 years, we moved 7 times – lower rent, different neighborhood, looking for work. I just couldn’t get ahead.

“The path into the light seems dark.”
— Tao de Ching

The Book of Lola showed no evidence of the light: it was dark, no two ways about it!

Objectives

• Would it be useful to you to develop a new relationship with this time of year? The dark periods and pockets of your life?
• I am here to convince you that the dark and cold winter is a gift! Denial – the path of anxiety and despair and depression. How can we turn it into a gift? It must serve us!
• The dark is the time of becoming/awaiting/rebuilding; when something new is germinating. Examples: Advent, The Story of Jacob and Bodhi Day.

Takeaway

“In the darkness of the womb,
life is conceived.
In the darkness of the soil,
seeds germinate.
In the darkness of the inner mind,
ideas are born.
Darkness is nature’s time of rest,
formation, incubation,
rejuvenation, secret rendezvous
of invisible powers
and unseen realities.”
— Rocco Errico
From Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, “Long Walk to Freedom”: 18 of his 27 years in Robben Island – the floor for his bed, a bucket for his toilet, with one visitor per year and one letter every six months. He never dishonored the darkness; he was the master of it. The Spirit of Nelson Mandela lives on.

Homework

Recite daily:
“Perfect God within me, Perfect Life within me, which is God, come forth into expression through me as that which I am; lead me into the paths of perfection and cause me to see only the Good.”
— From The Science of Mind by Ernest Holmes

Summary

Honor the dark this month. Honor your dark this month. Join me this month in appreciating our own unique journey of enlightenment.

Closing

As I lay on that bed in the winter of 2006, my children nearby, they knew (as children often do) that all was well. Laurand placed her hand on my back and said, “Mommy, it’s ok. It’s ok.”