Author: Susan Schulte

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A Spark of Divine Light Within 

“From my point of view, God is the light that illuminates the darkness, even if it does not dissolve it, and a spark of divine light is within each of us.”

This quote is by Pope Francis, who was Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 2013 until 2025.  He was the first Pope from a Latin American country, and he was known for his concern for the poor, migrants, and refugees, his emphasis on God’s mercy, and his humility, as well as for many other qualities.

Pope Francis’ description of God as the light that illuminates the darkness causes me to think about the gift of faith.  For having faith helps us as we take the steps of our earthly journey and gives meaning to that journey.  The light that illuminates also brings to mind the word “enlightened”—being able to recognize truth and to remember the good that is in others.

His words “even if it does not dissolve it,” referring to the darkness, reminds us of the realty that life will always include challenges, times of doubt, not having the clarity about certain things that we would like to have, and wondering why certain realities are as they are, including the presence of evil in the various forms it takes.

And Pope Francis’ words “a spark of divine light is within each of us” reminds us that our Creator created each one of us as a unique human being and gave us, and continues to give us, life for as long as we are on our earthly journeys and beyond.  That divine light is also our inner voice who gives us guidance each day–the guidance that comes to us through our dreams, synchronicities, unanticipated happenings, our intuition, and in other ways.  Knowing that divine light is within us is a reassuring source of hope.

I am thankful for Pope Francis’ words and for all that he did to make our world a better place for many people during his earthly journey.

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Growing in Compassion

“We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer.”

This quote is by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian, author, and resistance leader against Nazism.  He was imprisoned and later killed when he was 39 years old for his involvement in the resistance.

When I first read Bonhoeffer’s quote, I had the thought that his words are a profound way of describing compassion.  For when we are compassionate, we recognize that every person we encounter has experienced and/or is experiencing things we don’t know about, and those experiences often involved a level of suffering.  Suffering has many degrees and takes many forms, including what might be termed milder forms such as being disappointed or realizing a person who we trusted is no longer trustworthy, to more serious and persistent forms such as being physically abused, having chronic pain, or struggling with depression.  These and many other forms of suffering naturally affect a person’s personality, the ways they interact with others, and their worldview.

When I read Bonhoeffer’s words “in light of what they do or omit to do,” I thought about how we tend to make judgments about others after seeing them do a certain behavior or by noticing something someone hasn’t done that we think that person should have done.  But these observations are just part of what we know about the person.  There is far more that we do not know, including what they have suffered or are presently suffering.  When we judge others, we are doing the opposite of being compassionate toward them.  Also, when we judge others, we go against the teachings of many world religions, including Christianity where Jesus said “Do not judge” and reminded us to instead look at ourselves and see our own faults.

I recently saw a photo of a child in tears because her parents were being deported.  The woman and man had lived in the United States for a few years, had jobs, and had taken the steps to become citizens, which is often a long process. The person who had posted the photo said it made him ashamed of our country.  I believe many Americans would also disagree with how these people were being treated.  This type of treatment, including them being denied due process, was an example of lack of compassion at a systems level.  Too often compassion is lacking not only by individuals but also by such systems, including certain laws, legal processes, and political agendas.

It is concerning that the virtue of compassion is not considered to be more essential by some of us.  People who perform compassionate acts are sometimes ridiculed, including on social media, by certain news organizations, and in films.  Just as with all of the values that matter, each of us individually needs to try to grow in compassion, not only because it matters to our own soul work, but also so that others are influenced.  This is especially important for children to see so that they too will be compassionate as adults.

I’m thankful for Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s thought-provoking words and for the other ways he showed wisdom and courage when he was on his earthly journey.

 

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Love, Time, Attention 

“I may not be able to give my kids everything they want, but I give them what they need:  love, time, and attention.  You can’t buy those things.”

This quote is by author Nishan Panwar.

I have experienced the wonderful gift of raising and loving a daughter who is now in her mid-30s.  And now I am experiencing the wonderful gift of being with and loving a grandson who is two years old.  Nishan Panwar’s quote certainly applies to parents, but it also applies to others of us who have close relationships with children.

I remember when my daughter was a child how special it was to see her attain each milestone:  smiling, crawling, taking her first step, saying her first words.  And also seeing what caught her attention, what toys she chose to play with or books to look at, what caused her to smile and to laugh.  Being able to observe the many aspects of her being a unique little creation.

As is the case with most adults, I needed to work, and therefore I was with my daughter less often than I would have liked to have been.  But when I was with her, I valued being able to give her the love, time, and attention of which Panwar speaks.  For, as he says, those are what matter most.

Interacting with children in a loving way is essential for them to thrive, to feel secure, and to sense that they matter.  Being loved enables children to have a positive self-concept, which can be the foundation not only for a good relationship with their parents and other caregivers but also for having good relationships with others as they grow older.

Time can be hard to come by in many people’s busy lives.  In order to have time to spend with our children, we most likely need to decrease the amount of time we spend doing things we enjoyed doing before having children.  In other words, to adjust our priorities.  The time we devote to being with and interacting with children is an essential part of nurturing them.  And we also gain by being with them.

When we are with our children, we need to give them our full attention—listening to what they say and responding, and thereby letting them know that we value what they are sharing with us.  It’s important to set aside distractions as much as possible and to be fully present with them.  I realize as I write this that this can be challenging at times, depending on what other things are going on in our lives—we can just try to do our best.

As I was when my daughter was a child, I’m thankful for being able to experience the joy of seeing my grandson grow and change, be active and interested in things.  And I again have experienced and continue to experience having a special relationship with a child and doing my best to add to what is positive in his young life.

Children will thrive when we give them what they need:  love, time, and attention.  These are wonderful gifts for us to give to the children in our lives.

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Simplicity, Patience, Compassion

“I have just three things to teach:  simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.”

This quote is by Lau Tzu, a Chinese sage and philosopher who was born in the 6th century BC.  He is considered to be the founder of Taoism and is generally credited as the author of the Tao Te Ching.

One of my first thoughts when I read Lau Tzu’s quote was how fitting it is that he refers to simplicity, patience, and compassion as treasures.  For, as with treasure, those three qualities have great value.  Thankfully, many people do value them.  And what a difference it would make in our world if many more people did.

Simplicity can refer to choosing to live in a more modest way, to not be taken in by the materialism of our modern-day culture.  Sharing our money, time, and/or abilities with organizations and causes that assist others is another way to live more simply for, by doing so, we are not holding on to those gifts just for ourselves.  Simplicity can also refer to the simplicity of the spoken word, being clear and thoughtful when talking with others.  These are a few of the many ways that we can add the value of simplicity to our lives.

When we are patient, we show others that we care about them by not putting our agenda first.  We try to be understanding about whatever the situation is that requires us to be patient, to pause and be present with others.

Being compassionate toward others is one of the most helpful qualities we can have.  None of us can know the many influences that formed the personalities of other people—how they were treated as children, whether they felt loved and secure, whether they were given attention, and what behaviors were modeled to them by the adults in their lives.  And as adults how various experiences and interactions affected them.  Therefore, it’s important to pay attention when we are having judgmental thoughts about someone, and instead to remind ourselves to be compassionate rather than making judgments.

I value the qualities of simplicity, patience, and compassion, but I certainly need to remind myself of them from time to time.  It helps me to remember the times throughout my life when I was treated with patience and compassion and when I was positively affected by seeing others living in a more simple way.

There are many qualities that matter and, as Lau Tzu says, simplicity, patience, and compassion are three of great value.

 

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Spring – The Promise of New Beginnings

“Spring is when life’s alive in everything!”

This quote is by Christina Rossette, an English poet who lived in the 1800s.

I like the change of seasons.  Where I live, the winters are cold and often there is snow, and then it’s the opposite in the summer when temperatures frequently reach the 80s and 90s.  Even though I like aspects of all four seasons, I especially like spring.  In addition to enjoying the temperatures being mild and the sunlight lasting longer after the short days of winter, I like how spring brings with it the promise of new beginnings. Trees and bushes, after being dormant and leafless during the cold months, gradually leaf out.  First there’s just a hint of green, then leaf buds appear, and before long the branches are full of beautiful green leaves of various shades, shapes, and sizes.  And there are the colorful early spring flowers, including tulips, daffodils, and lilacs.

Other forms of life appear or reappear as well.  It’s special to see Canadian geese and the many other birds that return after having flown to warmer areas in the fall.  And to hear the great variety of birdsong.  And in the spring we get to see the newly born animals.  In the urban area where I live, I most often see squirrels and rabbits.

Spring is a special time to enjoy the outdoors and take in the fresh air and beauty of that time of the year.  As Rossette says, it certainly is a time when “life’s alive in everything.”

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Acts of Kindness

“You cannot do an act of kindness too soon.”

This quote is by Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, minister, abolitionist, and poet who lived in the 1800s.

When I read Emerson’s quote, I was reminded of acts of kindness people have done for me, including this recent one:  I take a light rail train to and from work.  As I was walking toward the train platform, I saw that the train had arrived a couple minutes early and was waiting there.  I walked faster in the hopes of getting to it before it left.  There was a young man a ways ahead of me who was also walking toward the platform.  When he arrived at the train, he pressed the button to open the door and held it a few seconds for me to arrive there and enter the train.  I thanked him.  I assumed he too was going to get on the train, but he didn’t.  Once I was in, he continued walking down the platform.  He had held it to help me.

Gestures such as the young man’s are gifts.  He didn’t know me; I was one of many people in the city who don’t know each other.  But he decided he’d do something helpful for another person.  I wouldn’t have expected someone to do that for me, and if the train had left a minute early so that I would have needed to wait for the next one, that would have been an inconvenience but not a major one.  And yet his thoughtfulness—his act of kindness–added a special moment to my day.

All of us are able to add special moments to other people’s days.  Those small gifts can make a big difference for the persons who receive them, and they add to what is positive in our world.  And as Emerson says, such acts of kindness can never be done too soon.

I’m very thankful for all that is good and right and beautiful in our world.  But we all know there is also bad and wrong and ugly in our world.  Anything we can do to counteract that matters.

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Learning from Our Dreams

“Dreams are primarily about the dreamer.”

This quote is from John A. Sanford’s excellent book Dreams-God’s Forgotten Language.  Dr. Sanford was a Jungian analyst, Episcopal priest, writer, and speaker.  He wrote several books about Jungian psychology and related topics, and he had the gift of presenting C.G. Jung’s findings and insights in a clear and understandable way.

A primary concept of Jungian psychology is that dreams make it possible for information from the unconscious to become conscious.  One of the ways to try to discern what our dreams might be telling us is through our associations to the people and places that appear in our dreams.  When Sanford says “dreams are primarily about the dreamer,” he is referring to this.

If a person who appears in our dream is someone we recognize from physical reality, the dream is rarely about that person.  I say “rarely” because, according to dream research, there are exceptions to this.  However, the great majority of the time dream figures represent aspects of the dreamer.  That person symbolizes certain qualities or characteristics that we associate with her or him.  If, for example, a characteristic we associate to that person is selfishness, it is likely our unconscious is telling us through the imagery of the dream to recognize areas where we tend to be selfish.  Perhaps we hadn’t noticed this about ourselves, and our dream brings it to our awareness so that we can make positive changes.

Here are examples of learning from associations to dream figures from my own work with dreams.  I dreamed that I was attending a speech being given by a well known public figure.  In outer reality, his words and actions made it clear that he was lacking in empathy, dishonest, power hungry, self-centered, and in many other ways someone for whom I had no respect.  Those were my associations to him.  Then I needed to ask myself what might have been the purpose of the unconscious having him appear in my dream.  One possible answer was to remind me that all human beings, including me, have a dark side.  It’s important that we recognize this because it helps us to have humility.  The dream also caused me to look within myself to see where my negative associations to him were reflected in my attitudes and/or behavior.

In another dream, I was married to a different well known public figure.  Based on what I had read about him, speeches I’d heard him give, and having read two of his books, my associations to him were positive:  He exemplified integrity, was honest, was open-minded, acknowledged when he made mistakes, and had other qualities that I value.  This dream figure symbolized the positive aspects of my psyche, and it was a reassuring dream.

I encourage you to write down your dreams, to contemplate them, and to endeavor to discern what they might be trying to tell you.  For they help each of us to make positive changes and to grow in consciousness and through that to have more meaningful lives.

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Messages from Our Dreams 

“Our dreams serve our psychic totality, and seek to bring the ego into relationship with the psychic center in order that our totality may be consciously known and lived.”

This quote is by John A. Sanford from his book Dreams-God’s Forgotten Language.  Dr. Sanford was a Jungian analyst, Episcopal priest, writer, and speaker.  His books have been of great help to me, and I recommend them to you.  In addition to Dreams-God’s Forgotten Language, some of his other books are Healing and Wholeness, Dreams and Healing, The Kingdom Within, and The Strange Trial of Mr. Hyde.

As I have written in some of my other posts, I’m very thankful I learned about Jungian psychology many years ago.  I met with a Jungian psychotherapist for assistance in dealing with some difficulties I was experiencing, and that led to my becoming familiar with Jungian concepts. C.G. Jung’s findings based on his psychological work with numerous clients over many years, his reading, his travels, and also based on his own individual life experience have helped many people, including me, to have a better understanding of themselves, to be more tolerant of differences between themselves and others, to grow in consciousness, and to have a sense of purpose and meaning.

Among Jung’s findings is that our dreams play a vital role in our lives.  Therefore, when I started my therapeutic work, I also started writing down my dreams in a journal.  According to Jungian theory, the source of our dreams is our unconscious, and one of the purposes of dreams is to make available to us information from the unconscious which then is integrated into our consciousness.  This is what Sanford is referring to when he says “to bring the ego into relationship with the psychic center.”  By becoming more conscious as a result of this help from our dreams, emotional healing takes place and we become more whole.

The messages of dreams vary greatly.  For example, sometimes dreams help us to realize that we’re heading in the wrong direction, and other times they give a sense that we’re on the right path.

And sometimes dreams give us a sense of hope.  I experienced this a couple months ago when I was diagnosed with pneumonia.  Even though I knew intellectually that by taking the antibiotic I was prescribed, getting sufficient sleep, and in other ways taking care of myself, the illness would run its course.  And yet, even knowing that, I had a tendency to wonder if I would ever feel well again and in general be able to return to my “normal” life.

During the time that I was ill, I had dreams showing young children dancing, some women and I volunteering at a food donation program, and a young man and woman from a different era and culture from mine who were in love, had been kept apart, but were finally able to be together and to marry.  These dreams were comforting because it was as if they were given to me to remind me that I would be well again.  They did this by portraying through their stories and symbols youthful energy, being active and helping others, and a loving and committed relationship.  Each one, although very different in their stories and characters, portrayed positive happenings and through that a sense of hope.  It’s as if the dreams were saying in their various ways about my illness and related isolation that this too will pass.  And the illness and aloneness did pass, and I’m thankful to be healthy again and to be able to do the things that I care about and that add meaning to my life.

For those who are reading this post who are not already recording their dreams, I encourage you to begin to do so.  In this way, you will honor the dreams given to you.

 

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Reduce Selfishness – Become More Selfless

“Manifest plainness,
Embrace simplicity,
Reduce selfishness,
Have few desires.”

This quote is from one of the writings of Lau Tzu.  Lau Tzu was a Chinese sage and philosopher who was born in the 6th century BC.  He is considered to be the founder of Taoism and is generally credited as the author of the Tao Te Ching.

In reading Lau Tzu’s words, I can’t help but notice how they offer guidance which is directly contrary to that which is promoted by many aspects of modern American culture.  Much of what is on the internet, many movies and TV shows, and abundant advertising emphasize accumulating more belongings, having larger homes, upgrading to the latest technology, going on expensive vacations, and so on.

I respect the guidance of the entire quote, but in this post I’m going to focus on the words “Reduce selfishness.”  Each of us can do this by considering the needs of others rather than focusing only on our needs and wants.  Hopefully, we are already doing this within our families and regarding other loved ones.  But we can extend our endeavor to be less selfish by keeping in mind the needs of other people we don’t know, for we are all part of the human family.  And by keeping in mind the many worthy causes that help to improve the lives of others.  One way to support such programs is by volunteering our time, abilities, and talents. Another is by donating money to help those programs to continue to assist others.  Among the numerous additional ways to be generous with our time are visiting people who are in assisted living programs, nursing homes, and hospitals; being mentors to new employees at our jobs; and helping with fundraisers for activities in which our children participate—the list goes on and on.

Selfishness is also present on societal and national levels.  Legislators who pass laws that favor wealthy people and corporations; decisions to not fund programs that provide services, including health, nutrition, and educational services, to people in our own country who cannot otherwise afford those services and also to those who live in poor countries; and policies that deny or downplay the dangers of climate change are some of the many ways wealthier countries are selfish.

There’s another phenomenon to consider regarding selfishness.  In dealing with our tendency to overdo accumulating belongings, we should ask ourselves whether our desire (and sometimes compulsion) to have more and more materially might be a substitute for satisfying inner needs of which we are unaware.  For this often underlies such behavior.  It is essential to try to discern the guidance of our inner voice in order to make changes that lead to personal growth, which naturally includes becoming more generous.  Doing so will be far more meaningful and fulfilling than the temporary gratification we feel when we acquire additional material items.

All of us need to look within and acknowledge the ways we are selfish and then to make efforts to become more selfless.  By doing so, we will “reduce selfishness,” as Lau Tzu encourages us to do.  And by doing so, we will share the gifts of time, abilities, and talents that have been given to us by our Creator and thus will do what we are called to do.

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Gratitude and Faith

“Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer.  And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good.”

This quote is by Maya Angelou, who was a poet, singer, and civil rights activist.  In her quote, Angelou talks about gratitude and faith—two of the most valuable gifts we can have.

We can never have too much gratitude.  It’s easy to take for granted our abilities, our health, the opportunities we’ve had, that there are people who love us, and so much more.  Our ego attitude might be that we have earned or are somehow deserving of these aspects of our lives.  If so, we are wrong, for they are all entirely gifts from our Creator.

One of the many things for which I’m thankful is that I’ve had good health throughout my life.  I’ve been fortunate that I haven’t had a serious illness or injury which required me to be in the hospital or to need to undergo extensive treatment.  A couple months ago I had pneumonia for the first time.  In addition to congestion, a fever, and a persistent, deep cough, another of its symptoms was fatigue.  For almost three weeks I needed to sleep more hours each day than I was awake; the doctor who diagnosed the illness said that was to be expected and to not push myself to be active until my body was ready.  And that also meant missing three weeks of work.

I would catch myself feeling sorry for myself and at times feeling frustrated that I needed to miss so much work and that I couldn’t do my usual activities, including spending time with loved ones.  I was so used to being healthy that I had difficulty accepting my illness.  But then I’d remember the many people in our world who endure far more serious and long-lasting illnesses and other burdens, and I felt ashamed of my self-centered attitude.  I am well again and the experience has made me even more thankful for good health, and hopefully it also taught me to be more accepting of life’s challenges.

Angelou also talks about faith.  Having faith helps us in many ways.  Because faith is based on spiritual discernment rather than on proof, it enables us to better deal with the unknown.  Our belief in God reminds us that we are not alone on our earthly journey.  Faith accompanies us as we do our best to deal with difficulties that are part of everyone’s life from time to time, and faith is also a source of hope and meaning in our lives.

Each day we should recognize our many blessings and give thanks to our Creator for them, including giving thanks for the gift of faith.