Marianne Williamson and Listening To The Voice of Spirit
“I have a conviction in a world where you are only love.” This is what Marianne Williamson said last weekend at her talk on forgiveness in San Rafael, California. The words resonated deep within me. Knowing that, as a facilitator of spirit, if I look deeply into another, this is what I see – love. And the spirit within us is this love. Not a personal love, but a love that encompasses all. It is in this recognition that we each individually get to choose with whom we wish to identify – our spirit or our ego identity.
Being spirit-led requires a relinquishing of the voice of ego. This is not an easy voice to let go of because it often appears to be the loudest voice within. As Marianne stressed in her talk, it is our spiritual practices that help us to quiet this voice so we can follow the voice of love. This includes being able to forgive ourselves, and others, when it almost seems impossible to do so. I have had my own struggles with forgiveness, as I am sure you have, too. There are many instances when the ego wins and we have yet another thing to forgive. But as Marianne pointed out, “We move more quickly when we are patient with our mistakes.” So be patient with your mistakes, as I try to be with mine, and from this step we grow toward a deeper unification with the spirit within us.
I felt inspired as I left the talk. I have always been a fan of Marianne and followed her work for many years. As people were lining up to have her sign their books, I bought one too, hoping to get a chance to speak with her. After I bought the book and was already standing in line, I listened to my spirit. It was clear: You have the book, now leave. My ego protested, as it did not make sense – what a wonderful opportunity to meet such an important role model to me and share my gratitude. I asked my spirit again. Leave, it said.
Trusting the voice of spirit, I left. I went for a walk around the gardens and then got in my car and drove to lunch. Spirit guided me to a Mediterranean restaurant. My ego protested again – You ate Mediterranean food last night. Allowing my spirit to override the voice of ego once again, I went to the restaurant I knew was aligned. The food was spectacular and this was reward enough for following my spirit’s guidance, but something else happened. As I got up from my table to make my way to the bathroom, I rounded a corner, and who was sitting there waiting for her lunch? None other than Marianne Williamson.
Not wanting to interrupt her or react from ego, I went to the bathroom and asked for my spirit’s guidance again. “Am I supposed to talk to her now?” I asked. A resounding, Yes! is what I heard.
I composed myself and made my way to her table. Just as an aside, Marianne has been very instrumental in my spiritual growth, albeit indirectly. For many years I would carry her book, A Return to Love, around with me just about everywhere I went; it was my own personal bible. There was a period in my life where I would give this book away to anyone I thought would benefit from it because it had so profoundly helped me. So there she was, a role model to me, and someone for whom I had immense gratitude.
As I introduced myself, she was very gracious and I told her a little about my journey, my current work in the world, and that I too had a “conviction in a world where each one of us is love.” Then I shared my story of how I followed guidance and ended up at this restaurant because I was supposed to meet her. “Of course,” she said. There was no explanation necessary, as I was talking to someone who was also spirit-led.
That morning, upon packing my purse, I had grabbed the last prototype copy of my soon-to-be-released book. So I took it out of my purse and asked Marianne if she would read it and tell me what she thought. She took the book and said, “Yes, I will, but aren’t you going to sign it for me?”
This was the first time anyone had asked me to sign my book, and the person asking me was Marianne Williamson. The voice of ego said, Don’t be ridiculous. Who are you? No one. The voice of spirit said, What a wonderful way to show your gratitude to her. The voice of spirit won. I signed the book and wrote, “Thank you for being an inspiration to me.”
This is just another example of what can happen when we follow spirit. Spirit will lead us to where we are supposed be, when we are supposed to be there. Don’t let the voice of ego be the loudest voice anymore. When you follow your spirit, you follow love, and you are really following your Self because you are love.
In Love & Gratitude for YOU,
Jenai