Making The Divine Mind Mine – Rebirth: Dealing with the Hoard
By Reverend Mother Nariel, Magna Mater, COAC; Elder UCA
I love the holidays as much as the next guy, but really… looking around myself today I feel so materialistic. Over there is the “must have” pile that will soon be replaced by the “must get rid of” pile in order to make room for all the new loot—my new hoard.
Granted, it’s mainly books but it is hard sometimes to justify having so much when some have so little. It bothers. It sticks between my teeth. I want to put it all behind a curtain or a door so no one can see my extravagance and then… oh yes, and then… I will enjoy my hoard in secret. It is kind of like rifling through the Halloween candy for all of the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and hiding them in your bottom drawer. (Oh wait, like none of you have done that??!!)
In order to truly have a spiritual rebirth we must first deal with the mess that we’ve left behind.
Our Secret Hoards
Our secret hoarding may start simple enough with the things we withhold from others, the finest cut of meat, the last glass of milk and the last cookie. It begins with the notion of entitlement. The world owes us something. We work hard don’t we? We deserve this. No one deserves this more than me. Right? Soon we find ourselves hoarding the best books, the best and newest entertainment gadgets, the clothing and shoes that are perfectly reusable and yet somehow make their way to the garbage rather than to the thrift store or a local shelter. Soon, we’ve winded our way back towards the secret doors and places with the bolted shutters. In these places we hold back our true and lasting faith in one another, the trusts we used to share, the best of our love, the many smiles and encouragements, praises for a job well done and compassionate hugs for the everyday failures.
Oh! How we hold back the very things that this world needs the most!
Hoarding. We all do it to some degree, with many reasons, yet all the while we convince ourselves it’s perfectly fine to hold back our feelings, and concerns. We go along without a care about the withheld handshake or smile all because of some long ago and far away grudge. And our hoards grow bigger and bigger and sometimes more dangerous. We forget over time where we put the keys, and the doors remain locked up tight even though we struggle to find a way to bully them open. All of those necessary sentiments and emotions become unreachable. We become the very people we swore we would never be.
As time marches on disrepair begins to threaten the entire structure in which our hoard resides. Other things sneak in through the small holes and cracks and become trapped as well. Our ability to deal favorably with others, to trust them, to love them dissipates. The body count begins as the stench is unbearable from behind the weathered walls.
Was any of the hoard (secret or not) worth the pain of current situations? Do we even remember where it all began? How do we push past where our spirits find themselves?
Generally, the best way to begin is with the little things, the closest clearing area: genuine human compassion to those around us. Sometimes, beginning closest to home, we find areas that we are actually interested in becoming involved. Altruism is considered one of the top ways to alleviate stress and increase the longevity of life. It proves what has been said before and will be said repeatedly after we are gone “It is better to give than to receive”. In this near-life cleaning event we also have the ability to put away those things that need to be put away or disposed off—things like unforgiveness, rage, “nit-picking” others. Perhaps we’ve been trying to reduce the amount of the #$*%(# expletives in our everyday language—this is a good time for that. Perhaps we criticize others too often, surely there’s some other place that could go!
Little by little we begin to find the pathway to the locked doors and shudders. It’s time to survey the wreckage.
Let’s face it—this is not going to be pretty.
These are the places within our beings, where no one has been in years. Truth is, we locked them up nice and tight to forget about the contents years ago. Unlocking these doors is going to require a nice, deep breath and a whole lot of courage (and quite possibly a hazmat suit). It will take great courage, but you know something? You can do this!
This was the nature of Plato’s Cave, turning to find the reality, seeking the Truth from the lies. We approach the light rather than hiding in the dark even a moment longer.
(To be continued…)
Categories: February 2013, Making the Divine Mind
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