The Morning Blessing
11.23.12
From Meditations of the Heart by Howard Thurman
"The Outer Life and the Inward Sanctuary", p. 173
The inward sanctuary is my sanctuary. It is the place where I keep my trust with all my meanings and my values. It is the quiet place where the ultimate issues of my life are determined. What I know of myself, my meaning; what I know of God, His meaning; all this, and much more, is made clear in my secret place. It seems strangely incongruous, often, to bring into my secret place the rasping, gritty noises of my outer life. Again, this may be for me merely an alibi. For I know that in the searching light of my inward sanctuary all the faults, limitations and evil of my outer life stand clearly revealed for what they are.
I determine to live the outer life in the inward sanctuary. The outer life must find its meaning, the source of its strength in the inward sanctuary. As this is done, the gulf between outer and inner will narrow and my life will be increasingly whole and of one piece. What I do in the outer will be blessed by the holiness of the inward sanctuary; for indeed it shall all be one.
that I rest in Oneness with the great maker of All That Is. This
great one is at the center of my Being and provides the healing
balm when outer experiences hurt. This kindness that forever
has made its home in my heart knows nothing except wholeness
and so I live as Spirit's perfection in this day and time.
With all I do, and achieve in my culture-sculpted life I am granted
the consciousness of "spirit first". I am the wave of consciousness
that my ancestors set in motion. I move faithfully into each and
every moment of my Life alive with the knowledge that a life lived
apart from God is not worth living. I have sought the kingdom within
and have discovered the glory of its sanctuary. The pulse of my
vibration beats calmly, and quietly with the peace of inner holiness.
This purity is my strength in challenging times, my joy in the easiest
of times. I know my life to be the revelation of what lives deep within
so I commit to living from the inner first. The outer life bends to the will
of the conscious thinker and creator.
Being in control of my Mind and therefore my Life is the greatest feeling!
I am humbled to know that such greatness is tucked away within my
reach, right in my own thoughts. Gratefully I release this concentration
of sacred energy for the production of a truly satisfying life. And so it is.
