31 October 2014

A new kind of humility–self-assertion

Awakening :: Week 8

 

The invitation during this season of awakening in my life was “self-assertion”—to be broken free of what was holding me back from being more truly and fully me and to stand up straight with proper confidence. Marianne Williamson articulates the fears we encounter upon awakening:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.” We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. (Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of a Course in Miracles (New York: HarperCollins, 1992), pp. 190-91.)

Reflection

  • In what ways do you identify with or not identify with Williamson’s idea of our deepest fear?
  • In what ways have you been playing small?
  • In what ways do you long to shine?
  • What do you need to help you live into your truest, brightest self?

 

photo credit :: Lanecia Rouse

2 Responses

  1. I love it when I feel like the world is small, and that’s what happened when I read this. I just posted a blog on finding and using your voice as an act of kindness to yourself and others. In a lot of the reading I’ve done on spiritual formation, I love that knowing and becoming more yourself is seen as an integral part. What better way to know God than to know his creation and his voice in you, and to honor Him by being the best you possible? Thank you for this different view of humility.

  2. I love the thought that our greatest fear is not inadequacy, but understanding how powerful we are in our true self. Moving in the light of humility, love, compassion and vulnerability is where I sense God is working in me as I become less afraid of my true self. I want to risk being fully alive and breaking out of the boxes I have constructed. Thanks Phileena!

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