Marie T. Russell's Daily Inspiration

In our spiritual quest, we can become very selfish, thinking only of our own growth... We fail time after time to realize, as Saint Francis says, "It is in giving that we receive."

We selfishly want liberation, or enlightenment, or love, but the only way to get these is to sacrifice our desires for them by helping the "strangers on the steps below us."

In her book, Initiation, Elizabeth Haich describes how during one of her initiations she got to a step that was impossibly high. She saw no way to mount it. It seemed hopeless. She then noticed someone else near her trying to scale the same steps. She forgot herself for a moment and helped the stranger up the steps. Imagine her surprise when she discovered she was at the top! The helping of another lifted her up without her even knowing it.

Written by Barry and Joyce Vissell

Join me again tomorrow for the Daily Inspiration and focus of the day.

Today, we remember that it is in giving that we receive.