We bought a grill for our backyard. We were so excited to finally have one. It’s been sitting in the garage for almost a month unopened. Finally, we were having company and we had to open it and put it together. What we thought would be a simple deal turned into 100 screws, and several dozen pieces of metal. Not what we expected. Yikes!

We began the process, but quickly decided to give up. Our time was better spent doing what we do best working on CSL Kaua’i. We decided to hire someone to put the grill together, when a friend came to the rescue and did it for us. He did it quickly and easily. He knew the pieces and where they went even without looking at the instructions. I worked beside him most of the time, ahhing and oooing at how easy it really was.

Why am I telling you this? Well, I find a spiritual metaphor in all of this. In our teaching we believe that the Spirit within us, our true selves is infinite in its capacity to know and to have answers for everything. We do not look to the outside for our answers. Instead, we delve deeply within. If we choose to call on a Spiritual Practitioner we know that the Practitioner will lead us back to ourselves. “The Spiritual Practitioner takes his/her client gently by the hand and leads them back to themselves.” Ernest Holmes

However, what sometimes happens is what happen to me with the grill. We see the pieces of our life and feel that we cannot put them together. We resort to outside sources and people to tell us what to do. We give it up as hopeless. We try for a while, and then say we cannot do it. “This spiritual stuff is _____; let’s get back to reality.”

What I know about this is we will never get the answers permanently and truthfully for us until we find them within. We are all unique, intelligent and all-knowing Centers of God-consciousness. We can rely on this.

I worked alongside my friend yesterday and learned that I too could put a grill together if I wanted to. However, like I said I’d rather hire it out. This is okay in the world of choosing what we want to do and not do in our lives, where we wan to focus our time. However, when it comes to our spiritual advancement, I do not want to hire it out. I want to walk the path, know that teachers and mentors will show up along the way, but always know that the “Self” knows best and is always available.

Love and Aloha,

Rev. Rita