The NFL Draft 2015 is over.  I know.  I watched it.  Now, it is on to OTAs and training camps and rookie symposiums… and more.  Now, it is time to shine; to show what you have.  Here are some whose time may have come, if they shine.  But this post is not about football.  At least, it is not only about football.

Today, we lead a team of volunteers on-the-ground who will support the I am Genie Event featuring Marianne Williamson as the speaker.  Marianne’s work is of substance.  In my humble opinion, she is a champion of connecting the spiritual to the material.  Spirituality is not a lifestyle of disengagement for her.  It is about addressing issues of peace and justice and more.  If you are in the St. John’s area this evening, there are a handful of tickets remaining and monies support the I am Genie Foundation.  Win. Win. Win.  For now though, let me offer probably the most famous words of Marianne from her book A Return to Love.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Consider this.  Read it,  Read it again.  Meditate upon it.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

As I ponder these words today, prayerfully and practically, I consider several opportunities directly in front of me.  I consider timely conversations, expected and unexpected.  I bear in mind the lessons of a mother recently passing, and of a father long since moved on.  Our greatest fear is that we might actually be what God intended, whatever your concept of God or lack thereof.  As a champion of the power of education to achieve excellence, growth and change…. I am moved by the power of this message.  Real education starts with daring; and my thought this morning is that the freedom fighter in me knows the path to true liberation.

How about you?

Peace, passion and prosperity… through education.

Barry Lewis Green, The Unity Guy