“Ask and it shall be given you, because it has already been given. Ask for light and learn that you are light.” [1]
Generally most people suffer for two to ten years before arriving at a stage of such agony that forces them to ask for help or guidance. This attitude is especially widespread among religious and spiritual individuals and, far from being an attitude of strength, it stems from deeply rooted grievances. Here a remote pride of separation and pent-up feelings of unbearable shame are smuggled as superior qualities by the ego.
A common attitude is also assuming that Guides, Spirits or any kind of higher beings, cannot be disturbed or annoyed by our problems as they have so much to do! A similar attitude also reflects in the relationship with human beings and is translated into manipulation games aimed at obscuring real needs and expressing them in most distorted and unconscious ways.
“Not asking for help or support” is a sort of spiritual anorexia aimed at depleting the foundations of our being and starving our inner child. The latter, being unable to nourish himself in this environment, is then forced to withdraw somewhere else and live a separate life. The first step, after meeting the Spirit Guide, consists of retrieving the relationship with all the parts that have been lost out of lack of nourishment.
Spiritually, whoever is here on Earth, no matter what he thinks about his inner development, carries a frightened and starved baby within. On this planet he learns to move his first steps, relating with new senses, striving to be heard, trying to identify who is around and knowing very little about how to feed himself. In this situation he is forced to find his way to receive help. In relating with the Spirit Guide and Spirits, it is essential to ask.
“You do not ask too much of life, but far too little” (ACIM, W245).
In this regard one of the most powerful prayer in A Course in Miracles is: “What would You have me do? Where would You have me go? What would You have me say, and to whom?” (W122).
Guides are always close to us. Yet, due to the wall that my hallucination has created, they cannot be perceived unless I am firmly willing to connect with them. It is not a question of getting to know where they are or how to find them. They are always here, in every moment. What is required is my availability to open up to them. A basic law that keeps together this universe is based on the creative power of the mind. No healer, no matter how powerful, can give healing or joy to somebody who chooses not to have it. It is not possible. To access the Spirit Guide, to receive nourishment and support, your consent is an unconditional requirement. It is not 100% consent. If we were able to reach such a totality of openness, perhaps we would be somewhere else. Only 51% is needed. Then life truly starts to change.
“Holy Spirit, I give You my fear of asking for Your Holy Help. I give You my pride, my embarrassment, my clumsiness, my sense of failure, my fear of being selfish, my desire for separation and independence, my love of martyrdom, my fear of no reply, my fear of getting an answer. Let God’s still, small voice become loud, clear and booming. Help me, Holy Spirit, to ask, to listen well, and constantly to receive Your Holy Help.”[2]
© Franco Santoro
[1] A Course in Miracles, Text, p. 141.
[2] William Holden, “Moses, a Child, & Asking for Holy Help” in Miracle Worker, No.9, Mar/Apr 1996, published by Miracle Network, 12a Barness Court, 6/8 Westbourne Terrace, London W2 3UW.