The Inextinguishable Fire of Hope

Hope is the joyful reassurance of a pre-existing certainty that simply requires us to create the right conditions for this eternal promise to be revealed and manifested. For instance, the Fire of Love that lives inside the human heart, like the light of the Sun, can be temporarily obscured by clouds of doubt and despondency. Hope is a golden guarantee that the Light of Life will, in the end, always break through the psychological overcast of conflict and hatred to enlighten our lives with its radiance.

Our journey on Earth passes through a series of heavenly portals that mark the celestial seasons which support the continuous expansion of consciousness and the constant process of revealing the One Life in time, space and substance. Here in the northern hemisphere, April recently heralded the advent of Spring when the Fire of the constellation Aries impregnated and awakened the dormant seeds of winter filled with the promise and possibility of new life.

These ‘messengers of eternal hope’ entered the soil of a new terrestrial cycle and now in this month, through an earthly embrace from the constellation of Taurus, the light of the future is being firmly anchored in the heart of matter. This Zodiacal pageant progresses naturally with the mercurial touch of Gemini following next to quicken the germinating seeds and cause a twin movement: a diving downwards into Mother Earth to deepen the roots and a rising upwards in a joyful act of striving from the darkness of matter towards the attractive and irresistible light of the Sun.

The magnetic waters of the constellation of Cancer then bathe, nourish and call forth further growth that culminates in the summer sun of Leo when the fire of fulfillment blazes and crowns the cycle of revelation. The promise of the flower that was hidden inside the seed from the very beginning has now blossomed to reveal its full splendor. Each season brings new revelation inside the Garden of Gaia - a pattern reflected in the garden within us where the beauty of Self naturally unfolds.

It is reassuring to know that the pattern and promise of fulfillment is already contained as a blueprint and a potential within the seed. The Principle of Essential Divinity  declares that a fiery spark of the Creator lives inside each person as a fractal of the One Life. This universal principle is reflected in the biblical passage from Colossians 1:27, “Christ in you, the hope and glory” that affirms the deep mystery of the God Within which is also referred to as the indwelling Christ Presence.

Do we truly understand and appreciate that deep within the heart of the Self there is a fiery seed of immense and immeasurable hope and beauty that contains our unique gift to the world? The hope that dwells within the spiritual seed is not the hope that laments, “I hope there is more to life than this” but a bold declaration that affirms the promise of an inevitable burgeoning of the immutable Self.

Hope lives inside the core of our being as a Fiery affirmation of what already is. Hope is not waiting around and wishing that certain things will come to pass. Hope is a state of dynamic expectancy where the potency of life has already impregnated our being and we stand expectant. We are pregnant with Life, and Hope is the deep knowing that this promise will be delivered once we have created the right ‘birthing field’ filled with the needed nutrients of loving kindness and compassion, consecrated to serving the good of the whole. Hope is the joyous celebration of a pre-destined outcome.

Like the flowers in our gardens, the seed of our Essential Divinity utilizes the field of time and space as the garden in which to express. Despite all the available plant material and advances in genetic engineering, it is still impossible for our human ingenuity to reconstruct a living flower from the outside. The natural path of birth and manifestation for the flora of our planet is from the inside out.

There is a great difference, however, between growing flowers and unfolding our own human destiny. As a gardener, I am extremely grateful to the seed companies for printing clear instructions on the packets telling me how to sow and tend the plants. Alas, frequent inspection of my own human ‘packet’ fails to reveal the same detailed information. Someone, somewhere, omitted to label and print precise instructions for my care and spiritual wellbeing, or to offer a few well-chosen words telling me who I am, where and with whom I am best planted as well as what fruits I have to offer.

Unfortunately, this earthly garden of ours is often over-grown with choking weeds of negativity and tangled briars of discord that separate us from the innate and essential truth of our divine nature. To plant a garden fit for the soul in such adverse conditions requires great horticultural acumen. First, we have to clear away all that hinders the growth of the human spirit and then introduce the needed nutrients.

Knowing which nutrients our ‘divine seed’ requires each day for its growth and flourishing is our primary task as responsible gardeners. Perhaps an extra dose of love, compassion, forgiveness and goodwill would be helpful as a starter in establishing a positive nutritional regimen for our spiritual development.

The promise of hope that we each carry in our heart can only be known and shown to be a reality by being sown and grown day-by-day through right relationship with our inner Self, others and the world around us. These make up the core tenets of the practice of Soul Gardening. Hope is a reassurance of the Soul’s inevitable flowering.

The Ageless Wisdom teaching asserts that Life Itself cannot be destroyed. However, its earthly forms of expression may temporarily be damaged, distorted and delayed until more suitable conditions are established that are able to reveal ‘that which has always been and always will be’. During times of distress and difficulty, Fiery Hope can be counted upon to declare that, “This too shall pass”.

Let us dare to remember and realize that the presence of Fiery Hope affirms an irrefrangible future certainty. It is not a cross-your-fingers optimism, but a rock-solid, deep knowing that the innate Truth, Goodness and Beauty of Life remains as an ever-present reality and will always triumph over any obstacle blocking its Path.

Michael Lindfield

Meditation Mount

Board President