I sat on the beach today in Ft. Lauderdale and watched the sun rise.  Well, actually, I watched it being revealed.  How is it that something as powerful as the sun can be almost completely masked by smoky black clouds that are nothing but water vapor?  I’ve never sat still long enough to watch the rising sun play Peek-a-Boo with a cloud bank from the time when Sol is barely noticeable to the inevitable conclusion of the game when even my Ray-Bans offer insufficient protection for direct viewing.  This was a treat and I have some observations.

Making my question from the last paragraph more personal, how is it that something as powerful as the Divine Light at the core of my Being can be almost completely masked by clouds of judgment, fear, emotion, and doubt that are nothing but wisps of illusion?  Like the sun, this Light is never actually gone.  It is simply being blocked from my view and, therefore, the evidence of it is not available in my expression.  In effect, I become the cloud relative to my world. 

I took notice this morning of an interesting illusion.  As the cloud directly between me and the sun continued to move, the sun began to appear below the cloud, rather than above it and so appeared to be setting rather than rising.  I find that my own wisdom or brightness of Love may show up in my experience from unexpected directions.  Yesterday, a truck drove by as I was taking a walk and the driver, a man I have surely never met, honked, waved, and gave me a huge smile.  I wasn’t under any black cloud at the moment but my day brightened up another notch.  Having a practice of waving and smiling at drivers as I walk, it was joyous to see this simple, yet powerful act initiated by another.  Had I been in a funk, this simple, and unexpected, expression of light might have been enough to connect me to my own light within, dispelling the illusory cloud.  If you doubt that the clouds blocking your internal Light aren’t real, watch how instantly they dissolve in the presence of a child playing, a joyous song, a sincere compliment, the love of a pet, or the effort of helping someone else.

There were other black clouds in the sky this morning.  The wet sand was witness to the fact that it had rained earlier.  Before the Sun’s hide-and-seek game played out, those clouds were encroaching upon me.  I watched each one transition from “solid” black cloud to thinning gray cloth into white puffs that disappeared as they blended into the sky directly above me.  Never saw that happen before and it was magic that David Copperfield can only dream about.  Hmmmm…..I’ll let you visualize the analogy of how that process works out in your consciousness and I welcome your comments on this blog site.

A last thought about the full radiance of the sun.  You can’t look at it directly for long.  No need to.  The beauty is now reflected on the ocean’s waves, felt as warmth on the skin, and celebrated in the brilliant azureness of the sky.  So it is internally.  As my fear dissipates, doubt dissolves, judgment recedes, and emotions calm, there is no more need to seek the Light.  I only need allow the evidence of it to be seen and felt wholly in my world.  It is known in my smile, my words, my touch, and my caring.  That Sun need never set.