Out of the Shadows

In the comic movie "Ground Hog Day," Bill Murray is doomed by some twisted time warp to relive the same day over and over again. He is a reporter sent to do a cover story about a fuzzy, cute rodent that sees his shadow, and retreats into the hole for six more weeks. Murry is pretentious and is cursed it live an inevitable life until he can make a spiritual connection with the world. The only thing that breaks this evil spell is a change in Murray's attitude.

Some individuals have experiences that are similar to both scenarios. Some are like Murray, and live the same day over, and over. They are focus on the external and the light does not shine through them Others, are like the fuzzy ground hog, they are afraid of their own shadows. In this fear they retreat into their den, fearing more winter. They live like the prisoners in Kartal Soganlik, Prison in Istanbul, living without windows. Some live in teh shadow's of other's. They fear venturing out of their safety zone or accepting challenges to grow. All these scenarios are examples of spiritual winter. A shadow is a region of darkness. It occupies all of the the same amount of space as a object and is the result of to light in front of it. It is opaque. Spiritual winter results when the light shines around us but is not able to shine through us.

Have you ever focused on a past experience, projected into the future, and decided it was fate for you to continue? As long as we see shadows of the past, we continue to be unable to feel the sun on our face. We fail to remember that it is a law of nature that shadows can't exist without sunshine. Like Bill Murray, our egos often put us in places of separation. Our egos can separate us from others, and from our Higher Good. If, we identify ourselves with Spirit, we are not bound by time, and space in the same manner as Murray. This is illustrated in the life of Rolihlahla Mandela, whose spirit could not be broken.

Sometimes, past experiences cloud out the sun, and mask that fact that we are really Spiritual beings having a human existence. When you focus on an experience, you tend to get more of that experience. We wind up like Murray attracting the same day until we have a change in attitude.Murray's repeated bad dream is like some of our bad experiences. We will attract the same experience because it is a mirror of whom we are inside. That's why a change of attitude undoes the spell. It's why some people attracted the same relationships over and over again. Only, the names have changed. It's not about externals.

According to Marianne Williamson's book, "Being of Light," we are unbound by space and time. Murray demonstrates that when you focus on love, you get more in return. The Course in miracles says that "giving and receiving are the same." It may be time to come out of the shadows of Spiritual winter and into the flowery scent of our Soul's experience. Come out of the cold of old ego wounds, and thaw the ice that keeps us from moving forward to a higher self. What we give returns to us tenfold. "Most of the shadows are caused by standing in our own sunshine." (Ralph Waldo Emerson.)

Others, see our past, and withdraw in the same manner as the ground hog. The light can blind us after living so long in the darkness. When we return to our den, we fail to see that the light nurtures our Spirit. We fail to grasp the abstract of our being. "When you find yourself in the dark, toss it a match." (Debra Gregory)