"You must learn the cost of sleeping and refuse to pay it. Only then will you decide to awaken"

To awaken to this power is to become aware. Aware of the so-called coincidences of life and to know that they are not coincidences at all, but rather lessons that our souls have come to earth to learn or to teach. Each lesson takes us further along the path of light, opening yet another door and awakening yet another dimension of our souls. With each lesson learned or taught, the path of light gets brighter and our eyes open more widely. Where once we were blind, now we can see.

Each story and reflection on the pages that follow, represent some of the many awakenings—the lessons—my soul has experienced while traveling along the path of light. The life changing moments that have allowed me to move further towards my truth, reduce the endless chatter of my ego and surrender to the power of love.

Some of these stories may feel familiar to you; for I am certain that in many cases, your soul has come to earth to learn or to teach the same lessons as mine. If so, that particular story will ring true for you as you recognize our parallel paths. Smile and enjoy it! Bask in the glory of how similar, yet different, our life experiences can be.

I think you will find God's fingerprints—like a child eating chocolate on a hot afternoon—visibly imprinted on every page. As I would rise in the morning to meditate and pray, I would ask God for the words I was to write that day. The response was often immediate and as soon as my fingers hit the keyboard the words would flow with an easy cadence and rhythm. During these moments, I was but an instrument in God's hands, not knowing exactly how the story would begin or end. As always, I simply surrendered to the God force and placed my trust in a universe that knows exactly what It's doing.

At other times, the words might elude me for days, only to show up at the most unforeseen moments as I was out-and-about experiencing this thing called life. Just as I was becoming a little impatient, thinking that perhaps I had writers block, once again the universe would deliver just the right words at just the right time. I simply had to pay attention and be prepared to receive them no matter when or where they arrived.

Frequently, I would come upon a verse or a group of words somewhere—in the Bible, the Koran, the Tao, the Bhagavad-Gita, the Dhammapada, the Tao-te Ching or A Course in Miracles—and know that what I had just read was not an accident. In those instances, the ideas expressed within those sacred teachings formed the conceptual framework of that particular story.

My writing does not draw from any one religion or belief system, but rather takes a holistic approach to spirituality. I believe in a spiritual tapestry that incorporates the teachings from all spiritual masters—those who lived thousands of years ago, those who lived hundreds of years ago and those who live today. I am compelled to take this approach because after four decades of walking the spirit trail, I am convinced of at least two things: God has no religion and God doesn't just speak to some of us, God speaks to us all.

Like spokes in a wheel with God at the center, we are all coming from different directions but headed towards the same destination. It makes no difference how you choose to connect to the God force, only that you do. Since God is not separate from us but rather lives inside each of us, the ways we choose to connect to this power will be as different and as unique as we are. Every path to God is worth taking because every path to God has something to teach us.

In many ways, this book represents my hope for a better tomorrow. A tomorrow built upon the solid foundation of love as opposed to the shifting sands of fear. There is optimism in my heart that bridges can be built to span the distance between us and allow us to understand each other as never before. I am confident that somehow we can eliminate the hatred and war that seeks to destroy the future of our children and replace it with a lasting peace and heaven on earth. The time to awaken our souls is now, for the cost of sleeping has become far too high a price to pay.

If there is to be an awakening, it must be with in us—within each of our souls—for that is the only place that true and lasting change can occur. We must awaken to the wonderful possibilities of what we can become as one world, and not focus on what we have been as separate nations. We must awaken to the things we are for—the things that unite us as a planet—and not dwell on what we are against by drawing lines in the sand. We must awaken to the power of the God force and allow it to lead our collective consciousness to a new and higher way of being. We must awaken to the power of love.

I look forward to a day when if asked, "What are you?" we will not respond by saying, we are Christian or Muslim, or Buddhist or Jew. We will not even consider suggesting that we are American or Russian or Chinese or Arabic. We will not see ourselves as white or black or yellow or red. That somehow, we will transcend our differences and begin to recognize our brothers and sisters in the eyes of every human being.

I continue to pray for the day when we will see ourselves as members of the same family of man connected by love to the same God. I continue to pray for the day when all barriers are removed, all fear eliminated, all differences tolerated. I look forward to a time when if asked, "What are you?" each and every man, woman and child on this magnificent blue planet, will join hands with one another and answer, "We are awake." All the best! All Rights Reserved © 2002 By Jeffrey Alan Hall

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