Splash Professional Writing and Mentoring

The Widow's Mite:
Recently I have been posting about the positive things people have done for me over the years or the positive ways they have shown up for me. People who were family, or people I adopted as family, because they served as role models in my life.

I have been listening to the S. Michael Wilcox Collection, and the most recent talk I finished was on seeing ourselves and others as the Savior sees us. Most of us are looking through the glass darkly. He talked about how he envisions a life review with the Savior. Being asked a series of questions, being shown the things he did right, talking about his own perceived failures, and having the Savior respond to the perceived failures with "I don't remember that."

What if the kindness someone shows you is their widow's mite. I have a list about a paragraph long of the positive ways my brother has shown up for me or done for me. What if those were widow's mites for him? Some people are raised in loving families who give kindness and love freely, they may or may not have worldly wealth, but they have an abundance of love in their hearts. Others are raised in abuse and neglect. Maybe their parents did the best they could, after being raised similarly. That never excuses such behavior, but it goes to say that a naked person cannot give you their coat.

I listened to the confession of the person who nearly became a school shooter, and he said the solution is LOVE. The person who reached out to him and had a group of friends over just for him, and made him a blueberry, peach pie saved his life, and possibly the lives of many others.

If the smallest kindness can change a persons life, then the smallest measure of gratitude toward a person who manages to show up or do something good, may change their life too.

I never looked for any of the good things a particular old roommate did. She never looked for the good things I did. Instead, we found fault continually with each other. Irritations festered, and mistakes were viewed as atrocities. Eventually, even the good things were undesirable because they were from her. But what if the cake mix she gave me, because she didn't like it was her widow's mite. What if her marking up a Book of Mormon for me really was done with some measure of love? If that measure of love is all she has to give, and it is acceptable to the Savior, that is what matters most.

That is one way to see ourselves and others the way the Savior does, to acknowledge their widow's mite.

My cousin Kandus expounded on the term "perfect" for me tonight. She has been participating in A Course In Miracles for three years now, and attends a weekly group.

To be perfect is to be present. That is where time touches eternity. It is where prayers are answered and miracles are wrought. All of us have moments in time when we are perfect. The rest is nonsense. The Savior of the world was consistently present throughout his mortal sojourn.

A mind pre-occupied with past thoughts and the emotions that result from the meaning assigned, cannot fully enjoy the present moment. Being anxious about the future also prevents one from living fully and making the most of this limited existence. Instead, the person fraught with distress because they see something that is not there, and dig themselves deeper into the mire.

In addition to my work in belief breakthrough, I have become a student of A Course in Miracles. This makes my life better and better every day. My peace of mind is mine to maintain, and I help others to breakthrough their limiting beliefs and live more fully in the present moment.