Self-Expansion: Inspiration for the Week

Self-expansion is the essence of all aspiration. Why do we seek to possess things? Because by acquisition we imagine we’ll expand our dominion. Why do we seek to learn more? Because we think by enlarging our knowledge to expand our understanding. And why do we seek ever new experiences? Because we believe that, through them, we’ll expand our awareness. When you stretch a lump of dough outward, it becomes not only broader, but thinner. Such often is the case when we stretch the mind only outwardly. Reaching out too far, we sacrifice depth in our lives. The Self-expansion toward which all life aspires is of the spirit: an expansion of sympathy, of love, of the awareness that comes from sensing God’s presence everywhere.

Affirmation:

I feel myself in the flowing brooks, in the flight of birds, in the raging wind upon the mountains, in the gentle dance of flowers in a breeze. Renouncing my little, egoic self, I expand with my great, soul-Self everywhere!

Prayer:

Beloved Spirit in all that is! Help me in my own nothingness to find myself one with all that is.