A Look at Desiderata - Day Six

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

I have always thought this was a direct reference to I Corinthians 13:11 which states, “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things (From the Lamsa Bible).

To me, the key is to mature in our wisdom by learning the lessons our life has to offer us.

I set out every day to do at least one new thing and to learn one thing new. It is not so much that I seek out facts as I look to learn something new about myself each day.

We are all constantly inundated with information. Even when we seek to avoid the news, we still are bombarded with facts, speculations, and many different kinds of information, from many different sources.

The information, I seek, is garnered by being an observer of my interaction with the world I encounter. As I put away my autonomic robot-like reactions and become more consciously present in my minute to minute existence, I am putting away my childish patterns.

The more I mature in my spiritual development, the more I realize that everything simply is. My mature mind no longer seeks to apply the bad vs. good judgments that my child mind employed.

From this place, nothing can disrupt my peace; not even sudden misfortune.

From this place, there is nothing to fear.

If I have nothing to fear, there is no purpose for worry.

As I grow, I continue to release any of my youthful illusions which no longer serve me.

Here lies the freedom to choose peace in every situation.