Waves Winter 2004 Newsletter

...I knew that God had placed them there as warring angels...who believed in God and loved him enough
to give their lives to his service. -- The Awakening Heart by Betty J. Eadie, p. 88


March, 2005	W.A.V.E.S. Newsletter	Spring Edition

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Embraced by the Light

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Opening Yourself to the Light

by Sharon Robbins

(Originally appeared as a post to the WAVES board on March 4, 2005)

Sometimes the people around me think I am stupid because I try to confess my shortcomings aloud for all to see and hear. But I do this because I know from experience that exposing our sins, our shortcomings, to the light, allows them to heal. I once was a student of St. Francis (proverbially, of course, when I joined the third order, but, alas, I have since left the Catholic faith). This is a lesson I learned from him. As humans, when we fall down and sin it is natural to hide it, to hide it so well that no one will ever, ever find it. But, in truth, it is the hiding that is the most damaging and that hurts us.

When we hide our shame, our pride takes over and exclaims, ‘I am perfect; I have no flaws.’ In essence, we turn away from the gift that God gives us by adorning us with His Love as "Children of God". Turning away from God and His gifts, like Adam and Eve, we dig ourselves in deeper.

To be healed, we must bring our shortcomings out into the light and expose them to God's healing grace. God blesses this kind of humility, and we learn so much from the healing. And healed, we can move on along swiftly to the journey to which God calls us.

If we continue to hide the wound, the sin, we remain stuck and unable to embrace the path to which God calls us. Unable to receive God's love, we are forever doomed to repeat the sin as it tries to expose itself.

Of course it is important to choose wisely the people we expose ourselves to when bringing our shame to the light. This community is an excellent place, a safe place, with loving, wise people who share our own belief system.

I, unwisely, would sometimes expose my shame to someone who was not part of my community or belief system and would endure the shame being thrown back in my face during a discussion or argument, for example, by my ex-husband.

Remember this truth. You are not of the world; you are children of the light. Once you have exposed your sin to the light or confessed your sin, it is gone. No one can again use it to wound you. Even if they try, it will not carry any weight. OOh, what a feeling!!

(Disclaimer: This message is in no way intended to imply that I, Sharon Robbins, am shame-free, sin-free, or sinless. Our spiritual path is a journey, one that I am still learning daily. I am learning that I have many shames I have hidden even from myself. And as the light of the Holy Spirit exposes these shames to me, I, like anyone else, struggle to free myself. Thankfully I have this wonderful community to dwell in and grow with. This message is only intended to bring light to those who seek it.)

Warring Angel Volunteers on Earth, (WAVES) is acknowledged as a trademark of Betty J. Eadie