Let every setback be a catalyst for learning to let more deeply.

To let what?

To let your heart come to rest, so that you can listen and hear more clearly and so that you can see more clearly.

Listen to what more clearly?

To listen with your heart to the still small voice within. That voice is the voice of wisdom; it is in you and it is you. Wisdom forms first in the heart.

See what more clearly?

See the pattern of outworking in context. Everything is contained in something larger. Your life decisions are nested in those of the larger body of humanity of which you are a part. The body of humanity is likewise contained in something larger.

Something larger than the body of humanity?

Yes. Call it the body or family of God or part of the “all that is,” for lack of a better term. Your thoughts, words, and deeds are all contained within this larger context. Your thoughts, words, and deeds－your “life expression”－both influences and is influenced by that larger pattern－the field of creation－in which you are contained.

Your heart and mind are a creative field, a subset for the creative field of the body of humanity. There is order, design, hierarchy if you will, everywhere. When you suffer a setback, it is likely because you either acted in accordance with an errant, out-of-pattern impulse or you didn’t provide a sufficiently receptive, protected, safe, and nourishing creative field (i.e., a fertile womb) for the true creative impulse.

Out of Pattern

When you suffer a setback, you must ask yourself what compelled to you to move in that direction and in that manner. Waste no time dwelling in blame or self-deprecation. Review your orientation honestly. Were you acting from a place of balance and stillness, without expectation of result? Or were you looking to stuff life into a box of your own making that was cut according to a pattern of your own design?

Most setbacks occur because of these self-centered, ham-fisted, narrow-minded attempts at achieving something for oneself or for others. This is true of the so-called “good” and “bad” ideas. If they are conceived independently or without respect to the central, intelligent coordinating influence that pulses through creation in every moment, they are destined to eventually fail and likely to disrupt other patterns in the process. If you’ve ever been in a canoe with another person who does not know how to paddle, you know what I mean. Even the best intentions are disruptive if they aren’t “in pattern.”

A Fertile Womb

The second most likely cause of a setback is that you failed to proved a sufficiently fertile and protected womb for that which the still small voice commanded. In this sense every individual has a womb－a heart and a mind that are designed to work in agreement with one another in the reception and translation of that invisible, still small voice into a pattern of visible, outward action. The body of humanity and every individual of which it is composed was designed to be the means by which and through which the invisible is made visible. 

If your heart is troubled or if your mind is tense, your womb is compromised. This is why wisdom feels most distant in times of distress. It is also the reason why flashes of inspiration come when desperation leads the individual to finally let go, to stop attempting to control and direct matters self-actively. 

A tranquil heart and a supple mind, on the other hand, provide the core of what is required for the reception and transmission of wisdom－in the individual and collectively, in the body of humanity. The heart is the initial womb or creative field in which the seed of wisdom is planted; the mind is the secondary field in which the seeds of wisdom gestate. Both are necessary to give birth to a perfect life expression, be it the “mot juste” or the right action for right action’s sake. 

Perfect Expression

Yes, you can be perfect. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar, a coward or a fool. You were designed for the expression of perfection. Your heart and mind are up to the task. The key is in letting, not in trying harder.

Letting what?

Letting your heart come to rest in the recognition that despite whatever setback you’ve suffered, the truth is true and all is well. Letting your mind come to rest that the patterns, the logos, are ever-present, no matter how much you or the body of humanity have missed the mark in this moment or any other. 

Let not your heart be troubled, likewise, let your mind come to rest. 

All is well. 

The voice is still there for all who have an ear to hear－even during the disheartening, frustrating times that we call “setbacks.”

Learn from them.

Let go of that which has escaped your grip and let go to the wise and generous counsel of that still small voice.