Wow....
----------
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> To: STUDIES IN WOMEN AND ENVIRONMENT <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Subject: The Little Soul
> Date: Thursday, December 31, 1998 1:47 PM
>
> The Little Soul
>
> ONCE UPON NO TIME there was a Little Soul who said to God,
>
> "I know who I am!"
>
> And God said, "That's wonderful! Who are you?"
>
> And the Little Soul shouted, "I'm the Light!"
>
> God smiled a big smile. "That's right!" God exclaimed. "You are the
Light."
>
> The Little Soul was so happy, for it had figured out what all the souls
in the
> Kingdom were there to figure out. "Wow," said the Little Soul, "this is
> really cool!"
>
> But soon, knowing who it was was not enough. The Little Soul felt
stirrings
> inside, and now wanted to be who it was. And so the Little Soul went
back to
> God (which is not a bad idea for all souls who want to be Who They Really
> Are) and said, "Hi, God! Now that I know Who I am, is it okay for me to
be
> it?"
>
> And God said, "You mean you want to be Who You Already Are?"
>
> "Well," replied the Little Soul, "it's one thing to know Who I Am, and
> another thing altogether to actually be it. I want to feel what it's
like to
> be the Light!"
>
> "But you already are the Light," God repeated, smiling again.
>
> Yes, but I want to see what that feels like!" cried the Little Soul.
>
> "Well," said God with a chuckle, "I suppose I should have known. You
always
> were the adventuresome one." Then God's expression changed. "There's
only
> one thing..."
>
> "What?" asked the Little Soul.
>
> "Well, there is nothing else but the Light. You see, I created nothing
but
> what you are; and so, there is no easy way for you to experience yourself
as
> Who You Are, since there is nothing that you are not."
>
> "Huh?" said the Little Soul, who was now a little confused.
>
> "Think of it this way," said God. "You are like a candle in the Sun.
Oh,
> you're there all right. Along with a million, ka-gillion other candles
who
> make up the Sun. And the sun would not be the Sun without you. Nay, it
would
> be a sun without one of its candles...and that would not be the Sun at
all;
> for it would not shine as brightly. Yet, how to know yourself as the
Light
> when you are amidst the Light -that is the question."
>
>
> "Well," the Little Soul perked up, "you're God. Think of something!"
>
> Once more God smiled. "I already have," God said. "Since you cannot see
> yourself as the Light when you are in the Light, we'll surround you with
> darkness."
>
> "What's darkness?" the Little Soul asked.
>
> God replied, "It is that which you are not."
>
> "Will I be afraid of the dark?" cried the Little Soul.
>
> "Only if you choose to be," God answered. "There is nothing, really, to
be
> afraid of, unless you decide that there is. You see, we are making it
all up.
> We are pretending."
>
> "Oh," said the Little Soul, and felt better already.
>
> Then God explained that, in order to experience anything at all, the
exact
> opposite of it will appear. "It is a great gift," God said, "because
without
> it, you could not know what anything is like.
>
> "You could not know Warm without Cold, Up without Down, Fast without
Slow. You
> could not know Left without Right, Here without There, Now without Then.
"And
> so," God concluded, "when you are surrounded with darkness, do not shake
your
> fist and raise your voice and curse the darkness.
>
> "Rather be a Light unto the darkness, and don't be mad about it. Then
you
> will know Who You Really Are, and all others will know, too. Let your
Light
> so shine that everyone will know how special you are!"
>
> "You mean it's okay to let others see how special I am?" asked the Little
> Soul.
>
> "Of course!" God chuckled. "It's very okay! But remember, 'special'
does not
> mean 'better'. Everybody is special, each in their own way! Yet many
others
> have forgotten that. They will see that it is okay for them to be
special
> only when you see that it is okay for you to be special."
>
> "Wow," said the Little Soul, dancing and skipping and laughing and
jumping
> with joy. "I can be as special as I want to be!"
>
> "Yes, and you can start right now," said God, who was dancing and
skipping and
> laughing right along with the Little Soul. "What part of special do you
want
> to be?"
>
> "What part of special?" the Little Soul repeated. "I don't understand."
>
> "Well," God explained, "being the Light is being special, and being
special
> has a lot of parts to it. It is special to be kind. It is special to be
> gentle. It is special to be creative. It is special to be patient. Can
you
> think of any other ways it is special to be?"
>
> The Little Soul sat quietly for a moment. "I can think of lots of ways
to be
> special!" the Little Soul then exclaimed. "It is special to be helpful.
It
> is special to be sharing. It is special to be friendly. It is special
to be
> considerate of others!"
>
> "Yes!" God agreed, "and you can be all of those things, or any part of
special
> you wish to be, at any moment. That's what it means to be the Light."
>
> "I know what I want to be, I know what I want to be!" the Little Soul
> announced with great excitement. "I want to be the part of special
called
> 'forgiving'. Isn't it special to be forgiving?"
>
> "Oh, yes," God assured the Little Soul. "That is very special."
>
> "Okay," said the Little Soul. "That's what I want to be. I want to be
> forgiving. I want to experience myself as that."
>
> "Good," said God, "but there's one thing you should know."
>
> The Little Soul was becoming a bit impatient now. It always seemed as
though
> there were some complication. "What is it?" the Little Soul sighed.
>
> "There is no one to forgive."
>
> "No one?" The Little Soul could hardly believe what had been said.
>
> "No one!" God repeated. "Everything I have made is perfect. There is
not a
> single soul in all creation less perfect than you. Look around you."
>
> It was then that the Little Soul realized a large crowd had gathered.
Souls
> had come from far and wide--from all over the Kingdom--for the word had
gone
> forth that the Little Soul was having this extraordinary conversation
with
> God, and everyone wanted to hear what they were saying.
>
> Looking at the countless other souls gathered there, the Little Soul had
to
> agree. None appeared less wonderful, less magnificent, or less perfect
than
> the Little Soul itself. Such was the wonder of the souls gathered
around, and
> so bright was their Light, that the Little Soul could scarcely gaze upon
them.
>
> "Who, then, to forgive?" asked God.
>
> "Boy, this is going to be no fun at all!" grumbled the Little Soul. "I
wanted
> to experience myself as One Who Forgives. I wanted to know what that
part of
> special felt like."
>
> And the Little Soul learned what it must feel like to be sad.
>
> But just then a Friendly Soul stepped forward from the crowd. "Not to
worry,
> Little Soul," the Friendly Soul said, "I will help you."
>
> "You will?" the Little Soul brightened. "But what can you do?"
>
> "Why, I can give you someone to forgive!"
>
> "You can?"
>
> "Certainly!" chirped the Friendly Soul. "I can come into your next
lifetime
> and do something for you to forgive."
>
> "But why? Why would you do that?" the Little Soul asked. "you, who are a
> Being of such utter perfection! You, who vibrate with such a speed that
it
> creates a Light so bright that I can hardly gaze upon you! What could
cause
> you to want to slow down your vibration to such a speed that your bright
Light
> would become dark and dense? What could cause you--who are so light that
you
> dance upon the stars and move through the Kingdom with the speed of your
> thought--to come into my life and make yourself so heavy that you could
do
> this bad thing?"
>
> "Simple," the Friendly Soul said. "I would do it because I love you."
>
> The Little Soul seemed surprised at the answer.
>
> "Don't be so amazed," said the Friendly Soul, "you have done the same
thing
> for me. Don't you remember? Oh, we have danced together, you and I,
many
> times. Through the eons and across all the ages have we danced. Across
all
> time and in many places have we played together. You just don't
> remember.
>
> "We have both been All Of It. We have been the Up and the Down of it,
the
> Left and the Right of it. We have been the Here and the There of it, the
Now
> and the Then of it. We have been the male and the female, the good and
the
> bad-we have both been the victim and the villain of it.
>
> "Thus have we come together, you and I, many times before; each bringing
to
> the other the exact and perfect opportunity to Express and to Experience
Who
> We Really Are. And so," the Friendly Soul explained further, "I will
come
> into your next lifetime and be the 'bad one' this time. I will do
something
> really terrible, and then you can experience yourself as the One Who
> Forgives."
>
> "But what will you do?" the Little Soul asked, just a little nervously,
"that
> will be so terrible?"
>
> "Oh," replied the Friendly Soul with a twinkle, "we'll think of
something."
>
> Then the Friendly Soul seemed to turn serious, and said in a quiet voice,
"You
> are right about one thing, you know."
>
> "What is that?" the Little Soul wanted to know.
>
> "I will have to slow down my vibration and become very heavy to do this
not-
> so-nice thing. I will have to pretend to be something very unlike
myself.
> And so, I have but one favor to ask of you in return."
>
> "Oh, anything, anything!" cried the Little Soul, and began to dance and
sing,
> "I get to be forgiving, I get to be forgiving!" Then the Little Soul saw
that
> the Friendly Soul was remaining very quiet.
>
> "What is it?" the Little Soul asked. "What can I do for you? You are
such an
> angel to be willing to do this for me!"
>
> "Of course this Friendly Soul is an angel!" God interrupted. "Everyone
is!
> Always remember: I have sent you nothing but angels."
>
> And so the Little Soul wanted more than ever to grant the Friendly Soul's
> request. "What can I do for you?" the Little Soul asked again.
>
> "In the moment that I strike you and smite you," the Friendly Soul
replied,
> "in the moment that I do the worst to you that you could possible
imagine--in
> that very moment..."
>
> "Yes?" the Little Soul interrupted, "yes...?"
>
> "Remember Who I Really Am.
>
> "Oh, I will!" cried the Little Soul, "I promise! I will always remember
you as
> I see you right here, right now!"
>
> "Good," said the Friendly Soul, "because, you see, I will have been
pretending
> so hard, I will have forgotten myself. And if you do not remember me as
I
> really am, I may not be able to remember for a very long time. And if I
> forget Who I Am, you may even forget Who You Are, and we will both be
lost.
> Then we will need another soul to come along and remind us both of Who We
> Are."
>
> "No, we won't!" the Little Soul promised again. "I will remember you!
And I
> will thank you for bringing me this gift--the chance to experience myself
as
> Who I Am."
>
> And so, the agreement was made. And the Little Soul went forth into a
new
> lifetime, excited to be the Light, which was very special, and excited to
be
> that part of special called Forgiveness.
>
> And the Little Soul waited anxiously to be able to experience itself as
> Forgiveness, and to thank whatever other soul made it possible. And at
all the
> moments in that new lifetime, whenever a new soul appeared on the scene,
> whether that new soul brought joy or sadness--and especially if it
brought
> sadness--the Little Soul thought of what God had said.
>
> "Always remember," God had smiled, "I have sent you nothing but angels."
