Listen/Download Audio of Meeting Yourself
Remember that your world is full of you. You meet yourself every day in your friends, in your problems, in your joys, in your troubles, in your work, in your play, and even in the weather.
Your world is like a vast mirror in which you are seeing yourself everywhere you look. If the people in your world are smiling they reflect your own smile. If you see people about you who are troublemakers you may be beholding something out-pictured in them that is really in yourself. I have known persons who misunderstood the friendly actions of other persons and resented them as being prompted by ulterior motives. Thus the evil they saw in other persons was only a reflection of their own adverse attitudes.
We usually praise what we like and find fault with what we do not like, but whether we praise or find fault we are using the creative energy of our thought and word to create conditions after their kind in our world. It requires as much effort on our part to find fault as it does to sing praises. Then why waste time and energy in thoughts and words whose unpleasant images are reflected in our lives and affairs ? By giving praise and thanks we increase the good in ourselves so that it appears to us wherever we may go. When we find fault and criticize we seem to call out the negative aspect in our associates as well as in our worldly experiences.
When we let our mind dwell on evil things the reflection of our discordant consciousness seems to appear in all we meet. It is possible for two persons living in the same environment to meet two entirely different kinds of reactions in that environment. One person may be continually running into discord and unhappiness, arguments and misunderstandings, while the other person may find that all his experiences and all the people he meets bring him something good that contributes to his happiness and well-being. Like a mirror, one environment is capable of reflecting both beauty and ugliness.
We always have difficulty in recognizing the good in others when we look for their shortcomings. Nearly everyone has two sides to his nature. We appeal to the good side of others when we cultivate a positive, loving, praiseful attitude of our own, but we appeal to their negative side when we carry a cloud of critical, discordant thoughts in our mind. Meeting a stranger may be a pleasant experience or a boring one, according to the spirit in which we meet him.
There is always something interesting and pleasing in everyone, even in the most unprepossessing person. We find this to be true when we look for the good in others, and by expressing the best that is in us we encourage them to express the best that is in them. Often a person’s good may be brought out into expression simply by our harmonious attitude and good thoughts, and perhaps a few kind words thrown in to break the ice.
The Christ Spirit is in you, in me, and in everybody. We may or may not be aware of this divine presence in all, but because it is there it will respond to every true thought, from whatever source it may come, and it will answer with a loving word or action. Even the so-called criminal has the Christ Spirit in him, which may be quickened when the Christ Spirit in another person calls out to it. The erring one may be surprised at his own unexpected good behavior when the Christ Spirit within him moves him to do something good.
Let us therefore go forth to meet Christ everywhere by first recognizing Him in our own heart. Thus we shall meet many brothers and sisters in Christ wherever we go and so be able to enjoy the harmonious, happy, and thrilling experience of entering the kingdom of heaven while still on earth.
SUGGESTIONS FOR DAILY MEDITATION
SUNDAY: I know that the goodness of God is shining in me when I see it reflected in everyone and everything I meet.
MONDAY: As I praise God and give thanks for His goodness I quicken my appreciation of goodness so that I am able to discover it everywhere.
TUESDAY: I smile and the world smiles back at me.
WEDNESDAY: My thoughts are too precious to waste on things and conditions that I do not want.
THURSDAY: I rejoice in my good, which I see others reflecting back to me.
FRIDAY: Discovering the Christ in my neighbors fills my life with pleasant surprises.
SATURDAY: When I find the Christ in myself I am able to see Christ in everyone.
