Ushering in The New Dawn

By Bonnie Starr Mandell-Rice

Most people have heard of, if not experienced for themselves, the "dark night of the soul," a time when one feels cut off from or abandoned by God, experiences the absence of hope, and enters into a state of despair. It is a time of soul evolution as one is "nudged" to surrender personal will to Divine will and as the individual moves from an egoic consciousness into a higher consciousness. Some of these dark nights are short and seem to move an individual only a little way on this path toward becoming Self-realized, while others are lengthy or profound and propel the individual into greater states of consciousness. It has been said of these dark nights that, as with the nights of the physical world, the night is darkest before the dawn.

What most people do not realize is that we collectively experience these dark nights, for in truth we are One. As with each of us, whose soul is always seeking to evolve and expand into greater levels of consciousness, so too is the collective soul. We collectively are going through such a period now and have been for the past several years – a period that many of us in the United States and elsewhere in the world might trace back to the events of September 11, 2001. Since that time, war and acts of terrorism expanded, North Korea and Iran have furthered nuclear development that we fear will be used for weapons rather than peace, and we here in the United States have been kept on alert by "orange" level warnings at airports and other public areas. Since that time, devastating storms have ravaged Indonesia and New Orleans and Galveston; killer earthquakes have struck Pakistan and China; and massive flooding has occurred in the Midwestern United States and in India while other parts of the world are parched from drought. Since that time, the real estate market in the United States has plummeted and thousands of families have lost their homes. Most recently, the stock market has fallen and precariously rebounded and now has only been saved from the brink of collapse by the federal government. Yes, we are in the dark night of the collective soul of the United States and of the even larger collective soul of the Earth herself. The good news is, however, that this seemingly ever deepening of this dark night signals that the dawn is getting closer.

It is this good news that I invite you to remember as we continue to move collectively through this dark night of our collective soul. Even as on the night of the Winter Solstice, which by virtue of being the shortest day of the year also had the longest night, when the Native Americans would stay awake, faces turned to the East, to await the return of the sun, keep your faces turned toward the Sun, toward the Light. Wait with expectancy that when the Sun returns and the dark night ends, a new age will dawn. It is an age that has been heralded through millennia as the Golden Age: an age of peace and prosperity for all.

The new age will not happen magically overnight (unless it does). Each of us can do our part to usher in the new age. What can we do? Here are my suggestions:

* Let go of beliefs in separation, lack and limitation, and the fear that accompanies them, and choose Love instead. Each of us now can choose consciously to let go of all that no longer serves the highest good of all, in order that we might assist in the release and transmutation of the old energies that have kept us feeling and acting small and powerless. It is time to reclaim our power as Bringers of the Light, so that we may herald the dawning of the new age.

* Let go of the past. Why would you want to drag all of your old "baggage," all of your old stories, into the future with you? We cannot create a new future if we cling to the past. As we were admonished by Jesus: do not pour fresh wine into old wineskins. We create a new future by letting the past go (which we do when we forgive and bless all that we have created and experienced in the past), envisioning the future now and empowering our vision now with our love, our peace and our joy.

* Thus, stay focused on the world we wish to create rather than on the dramas unfolding around us. Stay focused on the highest vision of this new age, in which, as the John Robbins prayer goes, "all are fed, all are healed, all are loved." Imagine, as John Lennon sang, a world in which we are all living as One. Imagine a world in which our differences are cause for delight – just as the variety of flowers in a garden gives delight - rather than division and separation and fear.

* Do not deny, however, your fear, your anger or your sorrow during these times; rather, bless them and thank them for showing you where you still believe that you are small, weak, and powerless. Reclaim your authentic power as a beloved child of God and as a guardian and emissary of Her Love, Wisdom and Power. Act when you feel called to act, and let your action come from your compassion and love. Let your action be aligned with the Golden Rule, "do unto others what you would have them do unto you" and its corollary, "do not do unto others what you would not have them do unto you," and with the Hippocratic Oath sworn (but often not observed) by all physicians, "first do no harm."

* When you see the sorrow and pain of the world, do not judge, for judgment creates and perpetuates duality and separation. Wonder instead. Wonder what God is up to and what miracles God will work from the grist and fodder of the current situation. Wonder what is possible now, under whatever the new conditions are. Wonder how God might use you to work His miracles and to create the Golden Age of peace and prosperity for all.

* Bless everyone (including yourself) and everything. Bless the people who you think have betrayed or taken advantage of you or hurt you (or anyone you love) in any way. Bless the politicians you like and those you don't. Bless those whom you despise and those whom you admire. Bless your friends and your enemies. Bless everyone suffering and sorrowing in these times. Bless every situation, however painful or devastating it may appear. Blessing will transform you and, because we are all One, the transformation within you will begin in the world. As you do this, you will find it easy to….

* SMILE. Smile, as some old song goes, though your heart is breaking, smile through your tears and sorrow. The sun will come shining through, and it will shine through you when you smile. To smile is to See Me (God) In Life Everywhere. When you smile – whether it be at another person, at your dog, at the beauty of a rose or of anything else in this wonderful creation (including whatever you may judge as less than wonderful or as ugly) – you are seeing God there, you are acknowledging God is there. And when you acknowledge God is Here Now, then God IS Here Now in your experience.

Thus it is that you will usher in the new day, for you will be the bringers of the light of the new day that is dawning.

COPYRIGHT: @ Bonnie Starr Mandell-Rice 2008. This article may be forwarded provided that the complete article and this copyright information are included. This article will be archived at http://www.transformativecoaching.net/.