The Book Of Mysteries: 14-Day DevotionalShembull

The Face in the Waters

We walked for some time until we came to a pool of water hidden at the foot of one of the desert mountains. We sat down by its edge.
"Smile," said the teacher.
So I did.
"No," he said, "smile into the waters. Lean over the waters and smile."
So I did.
"Now make a face of anger."
So I did.
"Now open your hand and stretch it over the waters as if giving a gift."
So I did.
"Now do the opposite."
"What's the opposite?"
"Stretch your hand to the waters, close it and withdraw it, as if taking something away."
"I'm not seeing the point of this."
"Oh, but there is a point," he said, "and the point is critical for you to learn. When you smiled at the waters, there was a man smiling back at you."
"My reflection."
"And when you glared at it, the face of an angry man glared back at you. And when you stretched your hand out to the waters to give to it, the hand in the waters stretched back to give to you. And when you reached toward the waters to take from it, the hand reached back as if to take from you. This is the law of reflection.

As you do, so it will be done to you. If you bless others, you will be blessed. If you withhold blessing, your blessings will be withheld. If you live by taking, it will, in the end, be taken from you. If you live a life of giving, it will, in the end, be given to you.

Condemn others, and you will be condemned. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven. Live with a closed hand, and His hand will be closed to you. Live with an open hand, and His hand will be opened to you. What you give will be given back. What you take will be taken back. Therefore, live a life of love, of giving, of blessing, of compassion, of an open hand and heart. Whatever you do, remember what you saw here. Live your life in view of the face in the waters."

The Mission: What is it that you seek from life and from others? Today, make it your goal to give to others the very thing you seek.