The Light of This New Year’s Day

I walked today in the afternoon light of this first day of 2023.

I was also mindful of how this same light came into my attic abode, bestowing a peaceful beauty on everything it touched.

Strange as it may sound, I carried this peace and beauty with me as I walked through my neighborhood to the river.

As I walked, my eyes more often than not raised to the beauty of the bare tree branches, I found myself softly singing and whistling Kiki Dee’s song, “Loving and Free.”

It seemed totally appropriate to the moment . . . and perhaps, I thought, to how I wanted my life to flow in this new year – awakened, loving, and liberated from anything and everything not aligned with my true-Self.

Bound, I am bound, like the knots in a string
Eager to be where my life can begin
Out of the shadow and into the sun
So many things that I should have done

I will untangle myself, so that I can see
I will untangle myself, everything will be
Loving and free

Bound I am bound, like a rope on a swing
Up in the air and then down again
Sure for the first time, so clear in my mind
Wise to the feeling I gently unwind

I will untangle myself, so that I can see
I will untangle myself, everything will be
Loving and free

Bound I am bound, to remember your smile
Something so special doesn’t fade away
Sadness is sweet when you’ve gone for a while
When I see you there’ll be a lot to say

I will untangle myself, so that I can see
I will untangle myself, everything will be
Loving and free

– “Loving and Free”
Written and performed by Kiki Dee

I mentioned in my previous post that I’ve started reading A Year With Anthony De Mello: Waking Up Week by Week. The lyrics of “Loving and Free” reflect the following from this book’s introduction. Indeed, both reflect what I said earlier about how I want to embody the flow of my life this year; I want to be awakened, loving, and liberated from anything and everything not aligned with my true-Self and thus the Divine Presence within and beyond all things.

People are asleep. They’re living on delusions, on crazy ideas about everything, about love, about relationships, about happiness, about joy, about what the world should be, who they should be, and what they should want. Spirituality is about waking up.

. . . What is extremely important, if you want to wake up, is to go in for what I call Self-Observation. Be aware of what you’re saying, be aware of what you’re feeling, be aware of what you’re thinking, be aware of how you’re acting. Be aware of where you’re coming from, what your motives are, but with no judgment, no attitude, no interference, no attempt to change, only to understand, for you only change what you understand. What you do not understand and are not aware of, you repress. But when you understand it, it changes. Awareness releases reality to change you, but you’ve got to see that for yourself. The moment you see that a belief is false, you’re free. As you begin to move ahead on this path, you’ll discover this for yourself. Don’t expect that [someone is] going to do it for you. That’s another delusion, that someone else can liberate you. Not even the greatest guru can take a single step for you. It is you who must become aware of the illusions that have been programmed into you that block the truth. . . . When your illusions crumble, you will look out at the world and say, “My, how different everything looks.”

– Anthony De Mello
Excerpted from A Year With Anthony De Mello:
Waking Up Week by Week
Beyond Words, 2022
pp. xi-xii

Interestingly, though not really surprisingly, the introducion of A Year with Anthony De Mello begins with the following quote from the second spiritual text I’ll be reading/studying throughout 2023.

Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all of the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.

– A Course in Miracles

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Shining On . . . Into the New Year (2022)
• A Very Intentional First Day of the Year (2021)
• Carrying It On . . . Into the New Year (2021)
• A Blessing for the New Year (2020)
• A Blessing for the New Year (2019)
• Jane Goodall's New Year Message (2018)
• A New Year (2017)
• Move Us, Loving God
• Andrew Harvey on Radical, Divine Passion in Action
• For 2015, Three “Generous Promises”
• Threshold Musings (2013)
• A Song and Challenge for 2012
• In This Time of Liminal Space
• Dwelling in Peace
• A Sacred Pause
• Aligning With the Living Light
• Mystical Participation
• Returning the Mind to God
• The Beauty and Challenge of Being Present in the Moment
• Being the Light

Related Off-site Link:
All Will Be Well – The Leveret (January 3, 2023).

Images: Michael J. Bayly.