A very big aloha.
I'm Reverend Cindy Palos,
And I'm recording this on the first day after about a five-day storm here on Maui.
I've been blessed to live on Maui for quite a few years,
Over,
I guess over 18 years now.
And I've seen a lot of weather changes,
But the storm we just had was one of the biggest storms I've ever seen here.
It did a lot of damage to a lot of people.
Here it was more like trees and branches and limbs and stuff coming down.
But,
You know,
It makes you aware of a few things.
The weather changes is one,
Of course.
The other,
If we're looking symbolically,
Is that there will be storms.
There will be times where there are storms in your life.
There's no way around it.
It's natural.
And that you have to remember in those times of storms,
And the times that are difficult in your lives,
That these are passing things.
They don't always stay in that state.
Now,
The one we just had in the storm,
Five days,
Was a long time with a lot of heavy-duty rain and lightning and stuff flooding.
The wind was up to,
Some places up to 90 miles an hour.
So what happens is you start to realize,
Okay,
There are going to be storms where it gets even more intense over time.
But at the same time,
There's going to be some days where that's not there,
Where you can then return to the magic and the beauty.
And the beauty is so powerful that it can bring you back to that awareness that,
What was it like?
You know,
When that storm was at full force,
Were you able to still be able to feel that inner beauty,
That inner strength,
That realization that there inside you,
Between the storms,
Between the ups and downs that occur in life,
Are you still able to be strong and realize that center within you that will always bring you back?
And the thing is that center,
Just like the weather,
That center changes and grows in time.
Through the lessons that we learn and the friends that we have and what we read and what we have realizations of,
There is this amazing progress that happens,
That we learn these hard lessons and we grow from them,
You know.
And some of the lessons take friends to learn,
Some are just inner sources and things that happen in life that help you grow.
But the truth is that you will continue,
Just like a storm being over,
You will continue to grow and see moments of just amazing beauty,
Regardless of the storms that happen in your life.
And those times of the inner strength and beauty are very valuable.
But I think the most valuable thing that you can have is that gift that comes in meditation to knowing that there is always that unbelievably strong core of your inner strength and your soul and that energy and that light within that gives you that love and that faith to see that there is always that ability to go within,
To find what you need to find within,
To give you the courage,
To give you the strength,
To give you the ability.
It doesn't necessarily make it easier to do something with it,
But it gives you that source that can inspire you to do something about it.
That's part of one of the most valuable lessons I think you can learn in life.
I think it's one of the greatest gifts that we have,
Is to always remember that inner source that comes to feed us,
To inspire us,
To give us that courage,
That faith and the strength we need.
That light,
That love that comes from the source of all light and love that is always there.
If you can just remember and go within and take the time to call upon it,
To open yourself to it,
To believe it,
To receive it and then become that beauty of that light and that love that you are.
And I'm sending you,
My friends,
My deepest blessing and gratitude for you being there and being part of this circle of light and love.
