From:
Suzanne Lie
and my many multidimensional versions of SELF
To:
All of you and
your and your many multidimensional versions of SELF
THE PENNY
The small child was very excited
that he had found a penny. The adults smiled because they knew that a penny was
not worth much. But the child did not know that. He was as proud of his find as
an adult may have been of a hundred-dollar bill. Every day he polished his
penny and returned it dutifully to his pocket. Some days he had no pocket so he
carried it in his shoe. But always he carried it.
It became a talisman ~ an omen. He
knew that it meant that something special would come to him. It even made him
believe that he was something special ~ special because HE had discovered the
penny. The adults thought he was being "cute".
Until IT began…
No one could say when it began or
even how, but slowly—very slowly, the penny began to glow. At first, everyone
thought it was because the child polished it so much. But, gradually, it became
evident that no ordinary penny could glow like that, no matter how carefully it
was polished. And furthermore, the glow began to change. Some days it was gold,
other days it was blue or orange and sometimes, the colors flickered in and out
like rays of the rainbow.
Everyone was surprised and shocked,
except for the child. He had known all
along that the penny was special and that he was special for finding it. Unfortunately,
life being as it is, someone (and we won't say who) coveted this penny so much
that they sought to steal it from the child.
One night, when the child was
sleeping, the culprit crept into his room, took the glowing penny away, and put
it in THEIR pocket. However, that night the child had a dream. In the dream a
wise old man came to him and said,
“Someone seeks what you have and
will steal it from you while you sleep.”
“No, no!” cried the child. “That cannot be! I need that penny!”
“Oh, no, my child you are very
wrong. You see, the penny is just an ordinary penny and you made it special
because ~ YOU are special! The glow comes, not from the penny, but from you. The
penny was just something that you could cherish outside of yourself because you
did not yet know your own inner worth. The penny is gone now because you no
longer need it.”
“But I DO need that penny.”
“Here,” replied the kindly man,
“take this one. This is a penny that came from inside of you and is the symbol
of your inner self-worth.”
“But it is only a penny! It can't be
worth much!” said the boy.
“Only a penny? Have you been
listening to others instead of to yourself? Even the largest tree grows from a
small seed. If the seed is loved and nurtured from the very start, the tree
will grow healthy and tall. This penny is like your seed. It is a special penny
because it is YOURS.”
The child awoke with only the memory
of a tree. He grabbed the penny from its “sleeping place” and went about his
day.
Now, the one who stole the penny was
riddled with guilt and could not understand how it was that the child was not
upset. Finally, the guilty party said,
“How is your penny today?”
The child smiled and reached into
his pocket. He pulled out the glow that was stronger than ever. In fact, the
glow was so strong that no one could see a penny through it. Instantly, the wily adult ran to the stolen
penny to see what could have happened.
There the penny was, but alas,
WITHOUT the glow!
The voice of Guilt whispered into
the culprit's ear,
“You see? You can steal someone's
penny,
but you can't steal their GLOW!”
May the GLOW of
unconditional love fill your Holiday Season
And guide you through
2014!