The Gift Of Light

December 5, 1999

Samuel: It has been like this.

Yes.

S: Is this a good thing? Maybe it means that you have become, over the last month, transformed into a small Chihuahua dog that sits in the back of a car.

I’ll try it again: So, how was your month?

Good.

Busy.

S: Are you over it yet? Because this one, which is so filled with the absolute delights and glories of this time of year, all of those slowly settling down into the ease of the end of the year—well I’m glad you laughed; I was starting to wonder—because this month is going to be filled with surprises for you. And it should be good.

For you.

S: Aye, well now. As a month of celebrations, what are you celebrating these days?

Winter solstice.

S: The solstice. That’s a good celebration. Aye. Festival is called for a reason. What are you celebrating in your life?

Some completions.

S: Good, good. And because this is the end of the calendar year as you celebrate it these days, that shows that you’re moving in a nice flow with that sort of timing, and that’s always a good sign, too. Completions at a time of completions.

Aye, love.

A lot of people are celebrating birthdays.

S: Indeed. Aye. Shows it was a busy spring not too long ago. Hello, love. What are you celebrating?

I’m celebrating change, because I’m seeing how differently I respond to things in my life. And things are easier. Even though life seems much busier and more filled with activity, I’m not as . . . and attached may not be the right word, but . . .

S: Attached is a very good word.

I’m not as attached to what’s going on around me as I used to be, particularly the dramas. And that’s so wonderful, because there’s so much peace that can be had when you don’t do that.

S: Aye.

And so I’m celebrating. Almost every day I see how the old self might have responded to something, and where I’m responding the way I am now. And it’s a celebration from that.

S: That is a celebration. Good work. Although it probably borders on some sort of heresy, don’t you think, because this is the season to have drama—fa-la-la-la-la. And what does all that drama come up about? Why is this the season of drama? Why is it you can laugh? Because you relate to it? What‘s that for?

Folks have a lot of expectations about how their Christmas or their holidays should be, how family should react, what gifts they give or get. There’s a lot of attachment and expectations surrounding that.

S: Expectation. Attachment.

And charged with emotion.

S: Charged with emotion, and sometimes just charged! That too will add to all of that. That’s right. Aye.

Overwhelm.

S: Overwhelm. Often.

It’s a time of bringing together, sometimes, people that you only see once a year or biannually, or whatever. It’s a mixing of people. And there’s more of those events, too.

S: A lot of emotional surges this time of year. And you know that an emotional surge will have a lot to do with how you feel physically, how you think, how you feel emotionally. And, of course, all of those will have an effect on how you’re feeling spiritually. ‘Tis the season to have drama—fa-la-la-la. That was closer. Eventually. Eventually.

I’m going to talk about gifts tonight. Sort of. It’s not the shopping channel. Not that sort. A different sort.

Let’s see what we can do about atmosphere here. Stuart, is there anything that you can do without making your machinery too upset?

The box? You mean the lighting?

S: Right.

You can do anything with it.

S: Good. Well, I’m not sure . . . actually, love, what I’m after is you can do something with those two that match nothing over here.

[Discussion in back of room about lighting options]

But you became a shadow.

S: When?

When you liked it.

S: Ah well, it’s not real anyway.

Holy cow!

S: That’s so far from true. So far.

This is story night. Aye. Very often at the first Sunday of December, I take it as an opportunity to tell stories, because as you know it’s very rare that I ever tell a full story. More often than not, my preference is to begin it and then get you to fill in all of the blanks. And by doing that, at least there is a little bit of a hope of being correct—and I won’t get into which one of us has it right, all right? And inevitably, the stories are centered around the different holidays of this month, and that is also true tonight. But my desire in this story evening, is always that perhaps by the telling you might have a different perspective from the hearing. That what you get adds to your whole experience this month.

Now, as you are working through the year, you have . . . I should have said month there . . .  you have several holidays happening, and what’s the first one? I’ll give you a hint. You’re in it.

Hanukkah.

S: What’s Hanukkah about?

Belief.

S: Again.

Belief.

S: All right. That’s good. That’s good. Belief. Why?

They had to have faith in order to believe that the lights would stay lit.

S: Very good. Very good. Who is “they”?

The Maccabees.

S: A particular tribe. Good. Good. Have we got a whole room full of Jewish people here, or just those who have heard this story over and over and over?

Once upon a time, long ago, there was a people who were at war. They were a people who held a particular faith that was under siege. And, as is so often the case, when your beliefs are under siege, that means you are as well. And that was indeed the case here.

This group of people, however—and I’m going to be shortening this story, because I’ve got a whole lot of them to get to tonight—this particular group of people left a great legacy, a gift, which is the point that I am making tonight. This is the story about a gift that was given.

Now, for those of you who know it, the story in the short version is that, after having what was actually a minor victory in the larger picture of things—victory enough to come back to their temple that had been ransacked—these people recognized immediately that they were going to need to purify the whole place, but in the ransacking process all of the sacred, blessed oil that goes into the lamps that are a part of the purification ritual . . . just as a candle would be a part of a ritual in your own life, the ones that you do when you’re lying in the tub finally at the end of a day, and you light that candle, and have your ritual. Right. That’s what you’re doing, isn’t it? Right. I’m praying, really I am. Right.

There was only enough for one lamp to be lit, and only enough for that one lamp to hold the oil for one day, and it was going to take eight days to complete the ritual of purification. So obviously the most logical thing to do would be to give up. Decide that the timing isn’t right. And I’m sure that two or three of them got that in their sitting, that the timing wasn’t right and that they needed to hold off on the purification of the temple until they could send out a messenger to get the oil. Makes sense, but it would not be a story remembered this many years if that’s what they did, because that would be typical human nature.

Two magical things happened. The first one was they wanted the temple purified so they could worship. And the second thing was, they sent out for the oil. Now, what are two magical things about that. Well, the first one, that they wanted the temple purified so much that the second one came to pass, is a magical sort of thing because it’s a statement about the power upon a community of people who are tired and seeking comfort—that they are seeking that comfort in their spirits.

Now, what would be the more typical version in this day and age? You’ve just made it through a really desperate day at work, or you’ve just won a great victory. What do you do? Well, in this day and age you go around the corner to the bar and you start celebrating. You certainly don’t think, Oh goody, now I get to go pray. Oh, I had such a hard time at work, but we finally won that contract. I think I’ll go celebrate and have a prayer.

A people who recognized that the bond that they had with one another was strengthened by the bond they had with Source itself is the beginning of magic—and, in your own life, as you realize that magic begins because in unity with others your heart finds joy in things that bring the spirit to heights. Not the mind, not the body, but the spirit. You have established a link with that which is eternal, with that which is miraculous.

But, I said that it opened the door to the second thing, which was they sent someone out for the oil, which actually makes a lot of sense, but it was not mentioning what they did anyway. They sent someone out for the oil, and they lit the lamp.

Now what’s the miracle there? That they sent somebody, that they lit the lamp, that they did both? That they did both. They recognized they had a sacred duty, and that in doing that sacred duty they may not be able to determine the outcome. Oh, don’t you hate that part. I’ve got this thing I’ve got to do. I don’t know what’s going to happen. Always makes you feel comfortable, doesn’t it? But they did put feet into action there. They did what they knew they could do, along with what they had to do. They put what the world could offer into the process.

Do you know that—which probably isn’t too much of a joke after the great flooding that’s going on in your world now, and just recently in your country—but to make this a very quick story, the fellow who was on his rooftop, and the fellow in the canoe came by, and said, “Mr. Johnson, we will save you. Come, get off the roof, and into the canoe.” And he said, “No. God will save me.” And then a helicopter came by and said, “This is the last call. You must let us send down the ladder, and you can come up, and we will save you.” And he said, “No, God will save me.” And the waters kept rising, and eventually Mr. Johnson was under those waters and died.

And at the gates—oh, goodness. Pearly gates. Pearly gates. Whatever is a pearly gate? Is that like a pearly tooth? Oh, that’s an interesting thought, isn’t it? Probably has to do with the breath as the essence of the soul, and so the pearly gate. It’s just to remind you of heaven. Or not. Maybe not. All right.

He is greeted by the angelic choir, or some personage of great esteem, and he said, “What happened here? I thought God was going to save me!” And the choir says, “What are you talking about? We sent you a canoe and a helicopter.” So human.

And so, these warrior people who had so much to celebrate, including the ability to come back together and renew their spiritual selves in harmony and love, lit the lamp knowing that the very last of their oil would be used up. And they sent somebody out for more oil, even though their going out would be a three or four day journey away and back.

Well, of course, the story is that the miracle is that the lamps stayed lit, and it’s true, that is a miracle. But I would tell you, as is the case with so many miracles, it was the result of the magic that happens when priorities are made right. And one is made stronger by the many ones coming together for one.

And that’s the gift of Hanukkah. It is a story about the power and the magic of coming together for a spiritual purpose. Coming together. The unity that brought the light.

Now, next in line in your month of gifts would be what?

Kathy Adams’s birthday.

Turning thirty.

S: Well, may they be good ones for you.

Would probably be the Festival of Lights. Now, what’s that about? It’s about Phoenix putting lights everywhere.

It’s the return of light.

S: It’s the return of light, but it’s the return of light after the longest night of darkness in this hemisphere. So, what’s that about?

Hope.

S: Hope. Aye. Hope. The gift of hope. So imagine, if you will, that there you are, long ago, last week maybe. Maybe it was last week in another dimension in which life was much simpler. So simple, in fact, that what your computer prototypes did was find maybe the North Star only. Or could mark the sunrise and the sunset by the chips in the stones. A time in which darkness meant cold and fear, and in which the coming together of tribal families was done for security purposes.

Those of you who live out in the boonies forget in your genetic memory, you forget that little voice that says, “No, no, no. You must surround yourself with people to be safe.” Your society has become so safe, at least from the four-legged bears and tigers. You have the two-legged variety instead.

And so to a people who were tuned to nature and who recognized that the great giver of life was the sun, and the sun was with you less and less and less, and the darkness was greater and greater and greater, how wonderful to recognize a pattern—a promise if you will—that it would never grow completely dark, that you would never lose the light, because it would only go so far and turn around and start becoming longer and longer light.

All right, that’s the historian’s version of what the winter solstice was about. And perhaps that’s so, although I would not say that that’s too very much of a gift. If it’s a gift at all, perhaps, it’s a gift simply of your being happy that you’re not so simplistic. I will tell you that there is more to it than that.

The first thing that I want you to remember is that as true as it is that there were not palm-corders—palm-corders?

Palm pilots.

Kinds of little computers that are . . .

S: Those tiny computers.

Yes, palm pilots.

S: All right. Palm pilots. Or the ability to send a message across the world in a matter moments through . . .

Email.

Satellite.

S: And all of the above. It was not a primitive society; it was just a different one. It was one, however, that indeed was very connected to the cycles of the earth, because it was recognized that the earth was a part of a living power,  recognition in which the greater Creator was seen in all aspects of life. And the solstices and equinoxes were a representation of life—of life, and death, and birth, and rebirth, the ever-renewing cycle. A wisdom that seems very much to be lost in your age, because in this age individuals fear tomorrow. They seek to know what is going to happen and to control their worlds in such a way that there are never surprises. To control your relationships, to control your work, yourself, because you fear not knowing. Hmm, which one is the more advanced society? Those that recognized a kinship with the spirit of creation, or those that had lost it? Those that recognized the power of coming together or those who worked so hard to uphold their individuality, learning how to build careful walls around their hearts, and homes, never knowing the names of their neighbors or the lives around them.

The solstice was a recognition of more to come. It was the gift of tomorrow. And, yes, hope is a good word for it. And on other first-December evenings, I’ll talk about it that way, but this is a story of those who recognized that tomorrow it will start getting brighter, because that’s how the pattern works.

In your life, or in the lives of those you know, do you find there are times in which you do not trust that pattern? Except, perhaps, as a joke. Well, it’s got to be better tomorrow.

The Festival of Light is my preferred version of the winter solstice, because it was a time of great celebration, recognizing that the light comes. And you in your world right now are at the winter solstice, the Festival of Light, the time in which what has seemed to be getting darker and darker and darker is turning around to become brighter and brighter and brighter. The gift of tomorrow is yours.

Now, interestingly enough, the next holiday brings about a very interesting version of light, and a very interesting version of light that also has to do with, again, unity creating a gift. So tell me when you recognize this story.

Once upon a time, there was a jolly old elf—no one you know, I assure you—who apparently liked the cold quite a bit, and lived in the very far north where, in order to bring joy and happiness across the world, spent all of his spare time, along with a great contingent of wee people of different sorts—depending upon the nature of the culture you came from [as to what] you would call them, little miniature magicians, making toys, and keeping lists. Of course, your society would put a morality play into everything.

And this great, benevolent being of goodness and giving once a year would load up all of those things that his group made, and stuff them into a great sleigh, and load up all of those toys in order to take them around the world and drop them off by way of chimneys. Very large chimneys, I’m sure. And for those children who did not have a chimney, it was because they were on one of those lists. Right?

Oh, there is more to this story. Then what did this great benevolent being have? Magic keys to get into the house. Right? Sure.

The reindeer.

Wrinkled his nose.

S: Now, as you are imagining this great sleigh moving through the atmosphere with this jolly old elf in it, with the sleigh stuffed full of toys for good little girls and boys, the next great being of light for this season comes forward, because who could lead that sleigh but a magical deer who was born with a birth defect. And that’s actually the story I’m going with right now, because there’s a gift in that story.

Now, how many of you have seen a reindeer? How many of you have seen a dear reign? Anyone you had now would be, wouldn’t it? You’re very slow tonight. Very slow.

All right, for the most part a reindeer, massive creatures, that only a few of them could pull a great sleigh loaded with enough toys for every good girl and boy in the world. Have you seen children lately? Maybe you’d change your mind.

Well, these were magical reindeer. It was a whole herd of them. And you could probably call them by name. Could you?

Yes.

S: All right. There was . . .  [Audience starts naming the reindeer] It is how ingrained such incredible stories of power are into your deepest psyche. It is the craving of our very soul for stories of light and power that brings that magic to your forefront, even in what would appear to be a children’s tale. Because it’s not. This is a very important story. You’ve just got to sort of get around the reindeer horns, or something like that.

All right, so you’ve got this magical troop of reindeer that somewhere along the way decide that they’re going to multiply and increase their own particular herd, and in doing so there is one born amongst them of a magical mother and a magical father, this little throwback to something else. Because what should happen to this little deer but it’s got a red, shiny nose. And this nose glows. And so all of the other reindeer . . .

You know there’s this little war going on here. It’s this amazing brain I’m using here that’s got singing happening to me here. Aye. Have you got it? It’s a song.

Yes, it’s a song. [Audience sings “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”]

S: Aye, you know the story very well, you do. So you’ve got it then.

They made fun of this wee creature. And they made fun of him because he was different. That’s right.

So deep into the psyche of the human, it’s known that if you are different, you’re not going to be acceptable, so you’ve got to do what you can to make sure that you’re like everyone else. And I’m sure that Rudolph gave that one a try.

Nonetheless, the red nose would win. And one of two things happened. He recognized that he was different, and different was bad, and therefore made himself an outcast. And as he got older and older, he got weirder and weirder, and pretty soon all of the other reindeer kept their own little rein-babies away from him. Stay away from Rudolph; he’s kind of strange in his old age there, you know. He’s been by himself too long. It happens to a lot who don’t have the gift of family and friends.

Or he could have done something else, he could have grown stronger through it, but of course that only happens when he sees the advantage of his uniqueness.

In life, you’re going to always have that choice. Always going to have that choice. You can determine that what you’re dealing with is not good, or you can choose to step back and see it from another perspective. You can choose to see the good.

Well now, Rudolph had some advantages. For instance, all right, on foggy nights …

His nose would light up.

S: He could see. Sure. That’s a good one. Probably in the dark he would not trip going home at night from the reindeer games that he only watched from afar.

He could have become an outcast or he could have chosen to become stronger. Victim or victor. Rudolph might not have known that he could be the victim or the victor. He might not have known victor was ever an opportunity for him, because no one in his life did, until one foggy Christmas Eve when it was probably going to be too foggy to go out and give presents to all of the good children in the world and get rid of all that junk lying around the house all year. Aye, they’d been making away all year. You know that it’s full to the corners; you’ve got to get rid of it.

Somebody saw potential. Now I know that in your childhood legends Rudolph is the story of the deer who was different and got to become a swan. Right. The ugly reindeer that grew up to be the beautiful swan. Mixing my stories here, but I’d like to tell you that it was the vision of somebody who chose to have a love that was inclusive, who found a way to include others. Santa came to say, “Rudolph, you could help us here. You could save the world.”

“Oh, Santa! I all of my life have known that there was something important for me to do here, on this planet, to help all of the good little girls and boys in the world, but I’ve not known exactly what it was. I thought perhaps it was my feats of daring-do, leaping and jumping harder and faster than all of the other reindeer, because you know I’ve had to prove myself higher and better. And so I’ve worked on becoming a good reindeer snob, rejecting before I would be rejected.”

“No,” Santa says, “It‘s not that one, Rudolph. It’s actually, Rudolph, that nose of yours.”

“Oh, you don’t mean my nose now. I’m very embarrassed about my nose here. In fact I was going to be talking about some surgery on it. Nobody likes my nose.”

Now, you fill in the blank there. Yours might not be nose. Yours might be income, education, thighs—I had to get that one in for Pittsburgh. But somebody saw potential. Somebody was a problem solver and chose not to go along with the crowd and say, “You’re right, you’re useless! You cannot play reindeer games with us.” What are reindeer games, by the way? He said, “You have a unique ability to be of help here. And if you would be willing, I would be very grateful. If you could just be you, for in so doing, the light you put off will guide others.” Ah, you did not know it was a holy story, did you? “And in guiding others, it will bring joy and change this very night”—which rather makes it sound like Santa is throwing out quarters and nickels and dimes. Bringing change. Just keeping you awake. The gift.

Two gifts. Inclusive love that seeks potential. How I do wish you that gift this holiday season.

There is another holiday. It’s the one that’s often thought of in this society as the most traditional one. Some are silly enough to think it is the only one. It is . . .

Christmas.

S: Christmas., the celebration of the birth of the child that would be called the Christ. It is absolutely one of my favorite tales to tell, but ultimately the very wording of the story entails that light guided the way to those who would recognize the power of that one. It is the story of a child born in very meager circumstances who grew up to be a light, the Light, in the world. Recognition of Christ’s birth is what is usually celebrated at this time in which society after society recognizes the coming of light.

Now, not trying to get maudlin on you here, but I want you to know the gift of the birth was the death. And let me explain that, because the function of that energy—Jesus, that became the anointed one known as Christ Jesus—was that, through the living, a new covenant would be forged in all of the spiritual function. Until that time the connection with God was through others, was through the priesthood, a mediator of one form or another. And the outrageous spectacle that Jesus created was all because he said, “I bring a new covenant. It is one of love.” The greatest commandment there is, to love one another, which is quite a far cry from what had been given, which was six hundred and forty-eight different specific rules about how to guard and guide each minute of your life. Rules that had to do with your spiritual power being tied into how well you did or did not do these things. That in one version or another had been the shackles on humanity’s spiritual natures until the time of Jesus. That light who said, “I am here to show you what you’re about, because what I do you can do, because when I leave, you will not be alone, because, that which I am you are, for you are in my hands and I am in my father’s hands.”

And when he left, a new—well, some would say religion was born. I would disagree with that. I would say a new world was born, because from that point, because of the birth that eventually resolved into a life that had a death, just as yours will do, it opened the door for the mantle of “Chosen” to be available to all who sought that life. And if you seek, you will indeed find.

Rather than the energy of the Christ being focused in one being walking the planet at this time, that energy in this time is focused in those who recognize that connection.

It is a constant awareness of Christ in you that is the hope and the glory. The light that is the gift of the death that is the result of the birth that you celebrate now, you see. That’s a story you know, and it’s a story of one who was a part of a great and special tribe who backed away from it.

Every story thus far has been of many who came together in spiritual consciousness. One who was different who became accepted by the whole, and now one who essentially moves through life touching very few, and touches them all by doing so in order that the light can move from one to one to one, to all functioning as one.

And in your world, you now have another holiday associated with this time. Right after Christmas.

Kwanza.

S: Kwanza, which is a story of remembering. A gift of remembering, because it is a holiday that is designed around the idea of unity, community, and the gifts that come together from many who choose to remember what has been, coming together to create something new from it, which I find the perfect, whole example of the culmination of all of these gifts of light. The unity of those who recognize the hope, the promise, the co-creatorship. The unity of those who recognize the greater light rather than the fear. The unity of those who seek within to love without. That’s not minus something; it is “within . . . without.”

The fruits of those gifts are what is celebrated through that season. And it’s celebrated, one of the ways, with the constant this night, a lighted candle. A recognition of the greater light.

This is a season of the gifts of light. This is a month in which you will, out of your most basic human essence, follow the path of all of these holy days. It is a journey. From the beginning now, where the light and promise of the ancient Hanukkah moves into the journey of the Festival of Light. The recognition of Rudolph’s light opening the door in Christ’s light, and resolving itself in the recognition that what has been is not what now is, but from that we can choose to come together and make something new, make something more.

You know, it’s a very African-American tradition, Kwanza, based upon one country over there. Is that it? Of course not. One tradition that everybody can relate to. Of course not. But a beautiful example, instead, in this winding path of exactly where humanity is indeed going. Many cultures, many tribes, many countries coming together with one focus, that of celebrating brotherhood, sisterhood. Celebrating the coming together.

These are the gifts of this month, and these are the gifts of this life. And yes, they are there for you to receive, and you do receive them as you allow yourself to contemplate them. Go think about them. The gifts of Hanukkah and the Festival of Light. And yes, do not leave out Rudolph, the birth of the Christ and the Kwanza.

You could take the next few days and take one of those a day, and just think about it. Think about the gifts each one offers. Or you might want to take a week for each one of them, and let it take you into the new year. And you can receive the gift that this light brings you, but it will not be enough, because the truth of it is—and don’t you know it—that in your life getting the gifts isn’t what makes you happy. That’s right. It’s the giving. Oh yes, it’s nice to get, isn’t it? But how many of you in your lives . . . part of the stress of the season is that you don’t know what you want. People want to know. Here it is, ‘tis the season to be . . .

Shopping.

S: Rich. Because the giving and receiving of those gifts has lost so much of its meaning to you, who have so much. Or maybe it’s lost its meaning to you who know what a real gift is.

The more you grow in love, the less the stuff appeals. It’s the giving of those gifts that satisfies you. So how is it you can give the Hanukkah gift? Got an idea? All right, that means you look back in your notes, and you say, what was that gift? Aye.

Give the gift of hope to somebody.

S: Sure. How can you give a gift of hope?

Sharing your personal story that you have with them.

S: Good. Good. Excellent.

Support.

S: Support, yes.

When something like a victory happens, you can celebrate by giving thanks to the Source.

S: You can send someone out for oil for someone else. You see a need, you can meet it. But let me tell you the trick about that one. You do it anonymously. Oh, few things satisfy a being of spirit more than that, because you’re doing good out of love, not out of ego. It’s good for you.

How can you give a gift of the Festival of Light?

Be inclusive.

S: All right. I think you’re moving onto Rudolph there, though.

You can be a light.

S: You can be a light. An example how?

By living your own belief in hope, and coming from that positive place.

S: You can be the positive influence that recognized that tomorrow’s going to come, and you know the pattern, and this is how it is.

Where there’s fear, provide options.

S: Yes. Good. Good.

All right, how are you going to be a good little red-nosed reindeer and give Rudolph’s gifts? You’d already said.

Be inclusive.

S: Be inclusive.

Don’t hide your light.

S: Don’t hide your light.

Being willing to recognize your gifts that you have.

S: Be willing to recognize your gifts and . . .

Look for the gifts and the things that are different. And the things in the other people that are different.

S: And look for the gifts in others, and other things.

And uniqueness.

S: Appreciate uniqueness. How many of you, when you were growing up, wished you had a little more appreciation of uniqueness directed toward you? Well, spread it out around you now.

The gift of Christmas. All right, well you can die!

And rebirth yourself.

S: Yes! Absolutely. That’s it. You can die to be reborn. And I’m not talking about the physical self. Well, how about maybe the emotional self. The self that for so long has been a little too sick. The mental self that’s too negative. The spiritual self that’s too weak. Let it go in order that you might be reborn. That’s a good one. What else?

Recognize the divinity within.

S: Yes.

And without. In others. Acknowledge the divinity in others.

S: When you pass that person who you don’t want to make eye contact with, do so. And see the Christ in them. Feel it in you, and breath it out. Pearly gates.

And the gift of Kwanza?

You can use your co-creatorship.

S: Yes.

Make something new.

S: Recognize your co-creatorship, and use it to establish something new out of the old.

And seek unity.

S: Seek unity.

Among difference.

S: Among what is different.

The Kwanza concept sounds like what we do when we tone of recognizing there has been something, there is something now, and we’re making something new of it.

S: Oh, nice, Joyous. Toning is very definitely a gift you give, and a gift you receive.

This is a season of light, and you hold that light. It is within you. It is without and around you. It is you.

May the fearless hope of your unique gift bring you to an awareness of the great, powerful love that you are and that is multiplied with every one you allow into your heart. And that you allow your heart to go out to. This season, as this century comes to a close, as you open the door toward a new millennium—depending on which calendar you choose to look at—you have the opportunity to be the light that makes the difference. And together, you become a new sun/son? Yes indeed.

Happy trails.