A Thorn In The Paw

Contemplating what I consider to be one of my failures, a particular insight showed up. A little background first.

This beloved person turned to evangelical fundamentalism, complete with all of its meanness, judgementalness, holier than thou anger and ego. The self-preoccupation of being "saved" is opposite of the emptying of self to be open to Spirit taught by almost all spiritual masters of all traditions. Self-preoccupation is an activity of the ego. In this case, my beloved person fell prey first to falsehoods instilled by his grandmother and the accompanying seeds of rage. He was, I suppose, pre-conditioned to slip easily into the mean-spirited theology where he finds himself.

Actual spiritual awakening requires healing ego, emptying oneself, and walking into mystery.

So, I saw him in my morning quiet time this morning in the old story of the raging lion with a thorn in his paw. As you may recall, as soon as the thorn was removed, the lion stopped raging and was grateful for its removal. Immediately the question arose, how to remove the thorn/thorns???? I don't know the answer at the moment. What I do know is that, because God gave me the vision, the thorn is removable. There is hope.

Divine Presence, how thankful I am for the insight You showed me this morning. Whomever, whatever, however the thorn is to be removed, I rejoice. May Your profound Love prevail in the lives of all with thorns of pain. May healing sweep across the land and thorns fall in great mounds. May Your people be set free.