INITIALLY, IT SEEMED LIKE the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. I was running my own business, which provided amply for my family and me. I was respected. Successful. On the surface, everything looked ideal. But I wasn't really satisfied.
I realized I needed to make a change. The pressures of running the business, the demands, even the way I got caught up so easily in the busywork, were taking me away from what I knew would ultimately bring me true satisfaction and peace—namely seeing and understanding God more clearly. My guide for doing so was the sixth beatitude: "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." Matt. 5:8. With purity of heart as my model, I began to see that I had some serious mental housekeeping to do.
In one sense, human consciousness is like a pond. When the pond is calm and undisturbed, it perfectly reflects the beauty of the landscape around it. But throw in a rock, and the pond's ability to reflect is temporarily destroyed. So it is with our consciousness. If we are mentally still, entertaining good and perfect thoughts from the divine Mind, then we will see God—we will be conscious only of His presence, His spiritual reality. But if we allow in the "rocks" of fear, doubt, willfulness, and frustration, we impair our ability to see the Divine.
