The Book Of Mysteries: 14-Day DevotionalSample

The Power of the Yud

The teacher led me out into the desert ravine where we sat down in the sand, face-to-face. He picked up a stick and, with the slightest of movements, created the smallest of marks in the sand.
"This can change your life," he said.
"An apostrophe?"
"A yud."
"What's a yud?"
"A yud is a letter, the smallest of Hebrew letters ...barely more than a dot, so small you could miss it. From the yud came the Roman letters I and J. And from the yud came the Greek letter iota."
"As in 'not one iota.'"
"Yes, or as in 'not one jot.' It all comes from the same tiny letter."
"So it's the smallest of letters. Why is it significant?"
"That's the point ...as the smallest of letters, it is most significant. It is the yud that begins the greatest and most sacred of Hebrew words: The sacred Name of God, YHVH, begins with a yud. The land of God, Israel, begins with a yud. The City of God, Jerusalem, begins with the yud. And the name Jesus, in Hebrew, begins, as well, with a yud."
"And what does it all mean?"
"The greatest of words begin with the smallest of letters. In the same way, the greatest works of God begin with the smallest of strokes. Life itself begins on a scale so small, it can't even be seen. It's the secret of the yud."
"And how does one apply it?"
"We are called to the new and to change. But by nature we avoid both newness and change. So how do you change? How do you go from a life of failure to a life of victory? It's an overwhelming prospect. How do you do it? With the yud. You start by taking the yud of steps, the smallest of steps but toward the greatest of changes. You don't start out with a great victory, but you take the yud, one small action, one little step toward the great victory. You take that one step, the yud of courage, that iota of change, the smallest stroke of new beginnings, the yud of life you're called to live. You begin the greatest of things with the smallest of strokes. You begin by applying the secret of the yud."

The Mission: Today, take the smallest of actions, but in a new direction, the first step toward the life of victory you're called to live - the yud of a new journey.