First published years ago, we are re-publishing for your consideration at this time of the year. “Whatever beliefs we hold, be they positive/constructive, or negative/destructive, we possess the power to create, transform, and dream worlds into being. Sovereign liberation of the highest for all. Peace on Earth.” ~ Esperanza. The image is a weaving of peace, hope, faith and the beloved Christmas tale, Polar Express with the story’s metaphor of hearing a bell ‘s ring in keeping the wonder and magic of Christmas alive in one’s heart. Of course, this metaphor and symbol reaches beyond Christmas specifically and into the infinite possibilites in our choice to keep and steward the gift of our imagination and power to create. Esperanza Smith is an Energy Medicine Practitioner, Holistic Educator, and Founder of PureEsperanza, NFP.
We have come to this time, in the closing of the year, when this season expresses itself through festivals and celebrations across the globe in many ways, from material to spiritual, from head to heart, and a simple word that packs powerful energy… Believe!
For the child full of wonder, Santa may be a symbol of It. For the adult, questioning Life It may be hope for new possibilities. For humanity, it may be the “magic” of the Season, its Light, and its grand gesture of Goodwill unleashed upon the earth. For You, and me, It Is our liberation! To Believe becomes a practice of transformation and the transformations you witness opens your heart to Believe more.
Since childhood, along with many children, I believed in this wondrous notion to “Believe”. It was not from what someone told me or what I had heard. Yet, I remember hearing it as a child and feeling it was something so big, much bigger than myself. In elementary school, there was a whole theme on “Believe” as part of a creative writing curriculum in which the assignment was to write about what dreams we wished upon. In the process of Becoming, from childhood to teen-hood, adulthood, parenthood, grandparenthood, to Believe took on many faces.
At times, I lost sight of it, even disbelieved for periods of time, only to find it again and reclaim it. Yet, to Believe never failed me. It was I who had failed It. Believe Lives! Through fears, pain, suffering, pessimism, sarcasm, cynicism, weary eyes, it was still there buried under all the weight we carried. Sometimes only in a flicker of light or in a moment of upliftment, perhaps, it was all one in the same. But, to Believe was there.
All I had to do was turn my eyes, my focus, my intention, inwardly to It and when I did, I felt better, stronger, able. Still, that only got me up onto my feet. The part that took the longest for me to integrate, and eventually to understand, was to sustain my attention. Distraction, in so many forms, is easy enough to give way to. To Believe, takes understanding, acceptance, trust, and beyond hope… faith.
We get a whole Life to practice at what first may appear childlike, then a challenge, then a discipline, an unlearning, even an undoing of conflicting beliefs that we donned along the way, letting go, and then an alignment with the Unknown. The Unknown possibilities we knew as a child that simply lived in us and in which we simply Believed in. Perhaps, the whole journey of Life simply returns us to Being able to Believe.
So, I have decided, and aligned with, that I am going to write about what I dream, wish and believe can liberate us, transform us, and our world. I am going to share It as we close this year in this season of Life. I am going to remember what I knew as a child about the mystery of the Unknown possibilities. I am going to Believe in the inherent benevolent gifts bestowed upon and waiting for us to reclaim.
