I know this is going to sound a fanciful suggestion, but I'm wondering whether the same thought has struck you.Let's find out . . . even if you've only given it momentary consideration, has it occurred to you that a very bright, very invasive spotlight is shining on all our lives?
Yes, I know the idea sounds far-fetched, but just think about it for a moment. Over the past year or so, a seemingly never-ending sequence of ill-judged events, deceitful occurrences, hidden misdemeanours, some from way back in the past, have been brought to public attention as never before.
Heroes have become villains, pillars of society have been exposed as criminals, those we trusted have proved fraudulent, the seemingly illustrious have been shown to have feet of clay.This fierce spotlight has spared few of our national institutions.
Amongst others caught up in its judgemental beam have been the BBC, the National Health Service, the political parties, the City, the Catholic Church, the Police Force, the media, and the meat industry.
Day after day we've watched in horrified fascination at what has been revealed by this probing searchlight . . . at the nature of the dust being produced from under a previously secure carpet.
What is particularly interesting is its indiscriminate nature . . . switching, as it does, without apparent rhyme or reason from one long-hidden misdemeanour to another.
But, if it's indiscriminate in what it targets, does this mean that this light is shining on all of us?
Shining on me . . . shining on you . . . ?
The grey days of winter are a good time for pondering, and perhaps they help to focus our attention.
Not only is the light shining, but change is certainly taking place . . . taking place with great rapidity.
Just think about it, in rapid succession there's been a new Archbishop in Canterbury, a new President in China, and a new Pope in Rome.Appointments that have all taken place within days of each other.
Such profound changes and revelations also raise an intriguing possibility . . . could this light signal a time of universal deep-cleansing?
No, please don't dismiss that idea out of hand. Let's just consider it for a moment.
If it holds any possible credibility we need to ask some questions. Firstly, the nature of this powerful light . . . and, equally as important, where does it come from?
I'm no scientist, but I do know that, ultimately, all matter in the universe consists of pure energy.
With this thought in mind, may I share a simple exercise that I was given the other week?
I suggest that you close your eyes and hold your hands out in front of you. You needn't stretch them too far, just hold them comfortably with the palms facing each other . . . not touching.
Now . . . gently move them a little closer together . . . then a little further apart . . . can you feel anything?
Can you feel a slight build-up of energy between your hands?Keep your eyes closed and try again . . . palms moving slowly towards each other . . . now palms moving slightly further apart.
It could be that you have a sensation rather like holding a balloon. A sense of something between your two hands that is tangible and pliable.
Now . . . move your hands slowly further away from each other and, as you do so, feel that sense of contact dissolve . . . did it go?
If, as I hope, you had a real sense of a strong bubble of energy contained between your two hands, then you had tangible proof of this energy we're talking about. An energy that not only forms us, but extends its scope beyond our bodies.
How does this experiment relate to that powerful light?
Well . . . is it so fanciful to suppose that the bright light that we've become increasingly aware of over the past few months could be no more nor less than our light . . . the light of humanity . . . ?
Just think about it for a moment. Don't we acknowledge this subconsciously in the language we use? How do we describe those children whose hands shoot up in eager response to the teacher's questions?
We say that they are 'bright'.
"Let your light shine," a wise man once told us.
What if this is literally true? Could it be that your light, my light, and every other light, are all conspiring together to focus attention on the social and economic chaos we've created . . . not to cause disruption and upheaval, but to help us see clearly so that we can put things right?Only one thing is certain when you're caught in a searchlight . . . there's nowhere to hide.
Perhaps it's time to heed the wisdom of Einstein, "You can't solve a problem," he said, "with the same thinking that created it."
What are we waiting for?
Let's look out those rubber gloves, raise our consciousness, and undertake some serious spring-cleaning!
