Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
the wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!’

Emma Lazarus
poem - Statue of Liberty pedestal,
Ellis Island, NY

From the mighty lamp of Lady Liberty, the light of love goes forth announcing the presence of welcome.

Each of us has that same welcome within us, the same “golden door” that the Lazarus poem speaks of. Each of us has the capacity to hold our lamp high, to let our light be visible so that those who need a safe harbor and a ray of light to guide them so they can find their way.

Most do not know that they can do this, that they are the light that can shine in the distance, letting the weary traveler know that there is a home that awaits them.

You are the light that can signal safety and love to those who are afraid and who have experienced hardship or travail. It is a matter of believing that you are this. It is a matter of releasing self-doubt. It is a matter of being unafraid to live with a welcoming heart, a heart that does not send people away because they are deemed to be unworthy.

We think that our hearts are not large enough to express in this way or to be a lamp for all. We think this is for saints and other holy people. We think that because we have personal troubles and unhealed places within us that we cannot shine our light. We think because we have made mistakes in the past that we are not worthy of being the light in the present. None of this is true. The light within us is not diminished or extinguished by past mistakes or wrong directions taken. It may be covered over, but it remains pure and untouched.

There is much suffering in the world, and many who feel forgotten. There is much that needs changing in the world, and the motivation needs to be found to create this change. When we look at the world with eyes of love and lift our lamp high, we do not focus on what is lacking in others or in the world, or even on the suffering that exists in the darkness. We only see the possibility of being of help. We only want to lift our lamp higher, to let our light become stronger.

The welcoming heart embraces all. It says: “Come, my friend. I wish to help you grow and thrive and be all that you can be.” This is the message that the welcoming heart offers, not only to its family, children, or friends, but to all whom it meets. This is the message of Lady Liberty, and it is also the message of your own deepest heart.

Buddhism has a name for the wish to free all beings from suffering. It occurs in one whom we call a “bodhisattva,” an enlightened one whose compassion is brought into service to the world so that all beings can be set free. In your deepest heart, you are that. Your mind may be concerned with smaller, more ordinary things. Your feelings may be focused on your own needs and the needs of those closest to you. Yet, your deepest heart contains an open door to love and wants to help the world. It has come here to do this. Your deepest heart is a “golden door.”

When you consider the message that was written on a plaque at the base of the Statue that guides travelers to our shore, know also that they are being guided to you, to your open heart, to your capacity to welcome them. When you can feel this and become this, there will no longer be a need to lift a single lamp on high to indicate safe harbor, for each person will be a safe harbor for every other. This is the destiny of each of us upon the Earth, even though it may be less than visible at the present moment. This welcoming heart that lives within us is the future of the Earth as well.

The Village of Light Ashram in Leverett welcomes those who would like to be part of a support group for women who have experienced hardship along their way. Please write to GurujiMa at ashram@villageoflight.org to learn more. For general information, visit our website at www.lightomega.org.

]]>