Someone came up to me yesterday after our Celebration at CSL Kaua’i, who had never been to our Center before. He wanted to give me his two cents on what he thought about me and what he had experienced during the service. I usually do not like when this happens, and I tend to become inwardly defensive. I’m thinking, “You just got here. You do not know me. You don’t really know what I am about. Why are you talking to me like you think you can read my mind?” Of course, I am polite and I usually just listen even though I feel that tug of defensiveness from inside. That is what happened yesterday.

I found myself wanting to defend myself, and then all of sudden the voice within whispered, “Just listen without your usual defensiveness. Remember whoever is speaking; God is talking. So, I did.

I didn’t agree with everything he was saying, but I did hear one thing. It is the same thing I heard from my mom in a private conversation in my mind after her death. The words weren’t exact, but the essence was the same. “Be yourself!” 

To me, this means stop pretending that you do not know. Stop pretending that you are not powerful, intuitive and know that you know all that you need to know. This particular man was chagrined by the amount of quotes I used in my talk.

Well, everything is opinion and the truth is we each have to find out what it is we truly believe about ourselves and our purpose here on Planet Earth. We have to find our unique self and the gift that is ours to give. This is a journey into the self and, yes, it requires that you “be yourself.” Not your small self, filled with insecurities and nonsense, but the true powerful Self that raises you up into a new state of Being. It might be the Self that you’ve been hiding for a long time.

This month at CSL Kaua’i is about rising up into Sacred Service. I believe that what we will find out is that all of life is about serving and service. It is sacred because it is coming from the truth of our being. I am sacred; you are sacred. I am about to take the journey to being myself on an even deeper level. It will first take admitting that I am sacred. Breathing into that is huge. I’m really looking forward to this journey and all that I will discover this month.

Love and Aloha,

Rev. Rita