We were missing singers due to illness; had to make last-minute changes to the Festival of Light musicians; and a miscommunication meant one of our quartet singers didn’t even know we were performing until it was time for rehearsal (yikes!). 🤦♀️
So, I’m obviously very grateful that all those glitches got worked out…thank you, God!
But there are other things for which I’m even more grateful…
🎉 Jyotish and Devi giving their first Sunday service since their return from three months of traveling in Europe and India.
🎉 An incredibly beautiful Thanksgiving-themed altar.
🎉 And a fun and successful CD-signing after service.
I always find Ananda’s Sunday service to be inspiring, but some weeks it is so deeply inspiring that I feel fully recalibrated by the end.
Today was one of those Sunday services, and it was just what I needed — exactly when I needed it! (Not to mention the lingering impact of the uplifting Sevaka Retreat that took place the day before.)
I’m so grateful to be starting Spiritual Renewal Week with a renewed awareness of — and strengthened commitment to — living my life in service to God.
I especially love the words in this portion of the Festival of Light that we hear every Sunday:
Many times has that light descended, Drawn to earth by the call of aspiring love. Your chosen people have always been Those of every race and nation Who, with deep love, chose Thee.
(The minister lifts the candle aloft with both hands to symbolize this choice.) Please pray with me:
O Lord, With all my heart, With all my mind, With all my soul, And with all my strength I choose Thy love, I choose only Thee.
Most weeks since 1999 I’ve listened to the Festival of Light as part of Ananda’s Sunday service.
In the Festival Swami Kriyananda condensed the central message of Ananda into ceremonial form, expressed in way that is moving and inspiring.
Over the years I’ve known a few fellow devotees who don’t enjoy the Festival, finding it boring and repetitive. I’ve always loved it, actually, but today the Festival came alive for me in a way that I would never have anticipated. And now I appreciate it on a deeper level than ever before.
Basically, it was one of those mornings when the to-do list seemed so overwhelming that I was tempted to skip meditation and just start “getting things done!” And although I successfully resisted that temptation, I had a hard time keeping my mind from treating my meditation as a planning session.
But then, it happened! I had a huge “aha” moment of getting it that none of what I ever do or have ever done is by my own power — everything is done through God’s infinite power acting through me.
And these words from the Festival of Light came to my mind:
Hours passed, and night fell. The little bird grew afraid. “How,” it cried, “can I fly in this darkness?” And the night whispered, “Fear not. For lo! peace awaits you in the unknown. Surrender to me, and your strength will be renewed.” And after a time the tiny rebel surrendered, and found the night’s counsel true.
And rain, and sky, and grassy fields all sang: “Behold, your very strength to fly has never been your own. Look to the source of all power, if you would conquer fear and weakness.”
And the bird asked, “Where can I find that source?”
And they answered, “Seek it in the farthest depths of Being, in your own Self.”
And I realized in the core of my being that the only way to truly resolve the issues I struggle with is through looking to the “source of all power” in order to conquer the fears that keep me bound to attitudes and behaviors that don’t serve me.
All in all, it was an emotional but remarkably freeing meditation.
