A few nights ago I awakened at 2 am and could not fall back to sleep. I tossed and turned and finally gave up and got out of bed. The house was totally dark; everyone was asleep. I was hesitant lest I make any noise, so I thought about what I should do. I was feeling really tired and I saw a long, dark night ahead of me and an early call to the office. I felt deep distress and darkness. Too sleepy to read I went to the kitchen to make something hot to drink. Then I thought, “Christ, please let me see the light in my life.” In the dark room, lit slightly by the moon, I noticed the book Cosmos in Man on the table. I picked it up, turned the reading light on, and sat down quietly to read it. I opened it to Chapter One, “Search for the Ageless Wisdom” thinking I could certainly use this story of the search. What was I searching for that left me so sleepless?

As I started reading about the stories of the search, “Training the King’s Son,” “The Lion Cub,” “Search for the Jewel…” suddenly, I had a realization of something that is so obvious that it had escaped me. I realized that following our inner guidance, our search will take us to the right places. It is in our spiritual genetics to go toward the answer, the light. I realized that the sun was going to come out and light will be everywhere in just a few hours. If I could look ahead and not fall into the darkness, I will see the light of the day; guaranteed!

When we are sitting in darkness, we do not recognize that in just a few hours, just around the corner, this darkness will pass and the light of day will come. As obvious as that seems, we forget it! We feel that the darkness we are in will be forever!

So, I read for a few hours and then I went back to sleep determined to keep in my heart the faith that light was always just a few hours away. The sun will rise. I will see daylight enter our house. Just to make sure I would feel the first light, I opened all the window shades so that the first rays would be immediately captured inside our home.

That evening was a profound experience for me even though the sun rising every morning is not an unusual occurrence by any means! The fact that I internally saw that was really important. I was able to feel the light in the extreme of the darkness of a silent night. As I walked back to bed, I realized why the birth of Christ has had such deep significance for millions of people for over two thousand years. The birth symbolizes the rising sun in our life through the extremes of darkness and cold. Christ was born quietly but determinately. The Three Kings followed a little star. They knew a Savior was born on that very dark night. They knew they would find the right place at the right time and they followed that inner guidance. What great symbolism in this little story that has captured our imagination!

In the Ageless Wisdom Teachings, Christmas is celebrated as the rite of giving birth to the sun in our life. As you are preparing for Christmas, take some time to reflect on how you interface with the sun in your life. Are you feeling like you are stuck in an unending dark night? Do you know that the sun will rise? Are you waiting for the truth to be shown to you? Are you waiting to find the hope of glory inside of you? Are you waiting for a turn of events in your life that will be full of light and healing and joy?
It will happen when we are able to tune into our inner guidance and use that guidance as a bridge and see the darkness and the sunshine with the simplicity of a child. No matter how dark the night is, physically — emotionally — mentally — spiritually, the sun will rise again, even if the “shades” of your life are not fully lifted to allow the sun to shine in with complete radiance.

These experiences help us to stand above successes as well as failures. Success and failure are the ups and downs of life; one follows the other. If we are alive and moving, we will experience both and learn to stand above these natural fluctuations. When we live with the rhythms of nature, we will not despair when darkness comes but welcome it as a time of listening and communication with the inner guidance and learn the art of fruitful expectation.

Christ said he overcame the world: He conquered death, He conquered betrayal, He conquered abuse, He conquered loneliness. He was born in a cave and rose to the heights of Initiation. People reviled Him, abused Him, told lies about Him, and crucified Him; He still rose above it all. He triumphed.

Now when the nights are long, cold, and dark and I am sitting quietly reading a book. I have forgotten the sweltering days of Arizona Summers. I am actually looking forward to the warmth of the sun! I know that in a few hours, the light will shine through the windows and the tall glass doors and I will joyfully stand in the streaming rays and let the warmth fill me with the hope that every morning light brings.

I wish you a most joyful and prosperous Christmas and New Year. May your New Year be full of the warmth of the winter sun shining gently on your smiling face.

Gita