Inner Light Outer Peace Yoga Blog

“We are going to emancipate ourselves from mental slavery because whilst others might free the body, none but ourselves can free the mind. Mind is your only ruler, sovereign. The man who is not able to develop and use his mind is bound to be the slave of the other man who uses his mind….” The Redemption Song Bob Marley

Redemption. A wonderful word meaning among other things: salvation, rescue, deliverance, atonement, pay back, recover, convert, to make amends, and last , but not least, to deliver for sin and it’s consequence by means of sacrifice offered for the sinner.

My spiritual mother often talks about the power of redemption and her belief in it. Many movies are about redemption. Dead give away: The Shawshank Redemption.

Redemption, it’s a good thing but do we really know what it is and when we are in it’s presence?

I am not sure if I have been as aware of it as I was this week. I got to experience it first hand and in a totally beautiful and present manner. I had dinner with a dear friend of 20 years. To say we have been through a lot together would be an understatement!
But through it all, I always saw in him the man I knew him to be, now the man he is becoming. Even when we were strained and distant, I knew there was a heart in there and he would have to walk his own path, just as we all do. We had a great time reminiscing and catching up and of course, we talked of the past. Now with fresh and new perspective, we were able to laugh and admit the fears, the pains and the hurts from so long ago. To sit across from another, with compassion, non-judgment and non-attachment, allowed us to redeem ourselves in each other and in ourselves.

It is said that a willingness to always choose love when there is conflict is one of the challenges that relationships present to us. All of us want to love and be loved. We want authentic relationships where we can be who we are. The love and acceptance of our friends and lovers gives us the confidence to be authentic. I read an article about a Rabbi who was teaching his class about the sacrifice of Isaac, and how at the last moment an angel came and stopped Abraham from sacrificing his son. One of his students asked “What if the angel came a second late?” The Rabbi answered “The angel can’t be late, friends are sent by God when it is never too late.”

Real love is honoring who someone else is and wanting the best for them. It involves trust, patience, compassion and forgiveness. It is about the big picture and putting the small hurts aside. Love doesn’t judge, have conditions or expectations. Love never fails. Love is when we allow each other space to grow, it looks beyond appearances. In order to receive it, we must be willing to give it. When we become the love that we seek, we shall find it blossoming in and all around us. Maybe that’s all it is…..to be redeemed is to find ourselves rooted in faith and having thrown our hearts in the ring, whatever the ring, to have faith that we will come out the other side full of love.