In Part 1 on Faith, we talked about how faith sustains us in all conditions. In Part 2, we explored why we feel this mutual connection to this infinite intelligence. And now as we conclude this 3 part series, we see how faith can heal the past and why you are meant to succeed.
Reaching into the infinite
You have read in past articles about the untimely death of my mother from leukemia in her prime at age 53. She was filled with such light and so kind and giving to so many, particularly young moms and businesswomen looking for a mentor. Perhaps this was because she lost her mom when she was only 19 and wanted to be there for others. Her grace and love taught us the beauty and fundamental decency of the human spirit. It had been 23 years since she passed and this is where faith heals emotional scars.
My first daughter Elora June Parvey (aka “Juney”) was born on June 30th, hence the nick name. It felt right since my mom’s birthday was June 19th and Lyndsy and I were married on June 25th. I had 3 boys before we had our first girl and our house was more like a boys dorm with lots of hard playing and crazy rambunctious boy energy running around. It was so exciting to welcome the sweetness of a little girl and I was overjoyed to experience the daddy-daughter connection. As her arrival got closer, I was bursting with anticipation and could feel my heart expanding to welcome her.
We decided to name her Elora, which means “God is Light” in Hebrew, although we have exclusively called her Juney since the day she was born. In the Jewish tradition, a ceremony is held after the daughter’s birth called a baby naming. The boys have to go through the horror of a briss, which as a parent was one of the most traumatic events I have ever witnessed. A baby naming is a much more pleasant ceremony. At Juney’s baby naming, I described what happened after her birth and how I transcended space and time that day with absolute faith.
On the evening Juney was born, I held her warm little shriveled newly born body in my arms and I looked at her. My heart was filled with joy. I looked at Juney with complete love and then I looked up at the setting sun glowing golden orange into the hospital room. I stared straight into the setting sun low on the horizon before it sank into the earth.
I stared from the depths of my soul at the glory of God and travelled far beyond that hospital room to millions of miles away. I felt us travelling through timeless space into the infinite. Juney and I may as well have not been in that hospital room at all for it was not even present to us. In the expanse of this great light, I begged the Creator from the bottom of my soul to bring my mother back to me. And as I did, Elora’s whole body startled in my arms and his will was done. My heart was bursting and tears of joy, love and gratitude poured out of my eyes. I looked down into her eyes and saw what the power of faith in the infinite glory can achieve here on earth.
From that point on, I never again felt any sadness or loss about my mother. How could I? I see her every day in Juney. Faith had completely healed the emotional scars of deep loss I carried with me for over 2 decades. Because I believed it could and gave every ounce of my being to realize it.
That faith in the infinite glory is always available to us if we are open to it and connect with the universe that is within us.
As Gandhi says,
“We shut our eyes to the Pillar of Fire in front of us.”
Take a moment each day to see that light in front of you and within you. Do it by seeing the light in the mirror and the glory all around you. Doing so has taught me to not just go through the motions but to see and feel the glory of God here and now. And to see that higher power in my children (regardless of their behavior) and in everyone (regardless of their behavior).
See this glory here and now as it is always right in front of you and within us all. It is what unites us. As we talked about in Part 2 last week, we are all united by our composition from the expansive universe.
You are made of the same stuff as stars and are meant to shine.
At the baby naming ceremony a few months later, with deep emotion and joy, I recounted this story to the family and congregation to celebrate our baby girl. I also offered a quote from the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, considered by many to be the most spiritual and impactful rabbi of the modern era. The Rebbe said,
Before your soul descended to this world, it was determined she would succeed. If not in this lifetime, then in another, or yet another — eventually she will fulfill her entire mission.
And in each lifetime, she will move further ahead.
It was this knowledge that conceived her.
It was this inspiration that brought the world to be.
It is this vision of her success that lies at the essence of all things.
You are meant to succeed.
Your soul was meant for a mission in this world.
As the Rebbe says, it was this inspiration that brought you and this world into existence.
It is the vision of your success that lies at the essence of all things. You are meant for greatness, we all are. We are not meant to live in a general malaise that is currently predominant in our society.
Leap and the net will appear
We see how faith heals us physically (see Part 1) and emotionally. But beyond healing, faith is essential for our success in our personal and professional lives. If you want to be the person you are meant to be, have fulfilling work you are meant to do and have loving relationships you deserve, then see them with faith and bring them to life.
About 100 years ago Florence Scovel Shinn, an illustrator turned spiritual teacher and metaphysical writer wrote in her book Your Word is Your Wand,
“Faith knows it has already received and acts accordingly.”
In teaching his science of becoming your future self, Dr. Benjamin Hardy regularly references this quote.
When I quit my big law firm job in 2008 right as the Great Recession was about to begin, I had no idea that 17 years later I would have brought clean energy projects to communities across the country. But I took the first step and the staircase appeared. It was scary. Heck, it is still scary being an entrepreneur all these years later. Taking a chance on your future self may be tough, but it won’t kill you. Things will not go perfectly well, but it is not about whether you succeed or fail, it is about who you become in the process of reaching into your future.
Nothing worth doing ever goes smoothly or as expected. But with faith and perseverance, new projects come, new partners appear, and new opportunities present themselves. And what calls you from within may change as you pay more attention to it. After 17 years of developing clean energy projects, that still small voice has told me to do something more, to talk to you. To write this article, to write a book called Light in the Mirror. To inspire you to listen to your voice within. To inspire you to action.
In the immortal words of American naturalist and author John Burroughs,
“Leap and the net will appear.”
That is faith. That is what is being asked by that still small voice within you. Just leap into it, whatever it is for you. Whatever you think about regularly that you know you will love and will make you happy, you must do. That is your true self and where you will find joy.
Leap to your calling. We all have it. It calls to us regularly and we ignore it and go through the motions. We do what we are “supposed to do.” We do what the modern world, our parents, our friends and society expect us to do. But that is not reality, that is not what the universe requires of you. It is not what you are capable of. You know what you want but you have to have faith that you can get it. You have to have faith that you can heal those wounds that keep you stuck. Then after you move on from what has been holding you back, you take affirmative steps so that the staircase will appear. You have to build the staircase.
“Faith knows it has already received and acts accordingly.”
See it, believe it and then act it out. Whatever you want is there for you if you see it in your mind.
Every single thing you see and touch that is not naturally occurring was just an idea in a person’s mind. Your car, your phone, your computer, your house, your pen. They were all just a vision inside someone like you. Other than nature and animals, everything you see every day was just an idea in another person’s head, it was their still small voice from within. But they gave it life. They leapt and the net appeared. They took the first step and the staircase appeared.
If you see that person in the mirror looking at you and longing for more, then take action today. The look of longing is faith within you knowing that you are meant for more and pleading with you to take that leap. The eyes staring at you wondering why you are stuck doing the same thing, is the faith within you calling you to take the next step to be the person you are meant to be.
In the immortal words of Dr. King stated in Part 1, “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”
Build that staircase. Envision a grand staircase. Envision yourself at the top of the stairs.
What are you like at the top of the stairs?
Who is your future self waiting for you at the top of the stairs?
Run up those stairs to be your true self. Run up those stairs like Rocky running up the steps of the Art Museum in Philadelphia. Then throw your fists up in the air in victorious celebration.
Once you take the first step, you will no longer see yourself with yearning. You will see yourself with love. You will see that the light in the mirror is you.
Visit benparvey.com to download our Habitually Inspired HabiTracker, get inspired and learn more ways to Reignite your Spark.
