Birthdays come and go. The tree is decorated. Lights surround the windows, Christmas ornaments grace the piano. Candles stand in glass containers waiting to be lit.

We laughed and shared a meal, or two. We danced and told stories and sang and sat together, family and friends, our lives woven together by this journey called life.

Day moved into night. Night into day. Time moves in an ever flowing stream of moments passing one by one. That moment has moved on. The next is upon us. And still we wait in this season of Advent for the One the world awaits, the One for whom angels sing on high. The One who will bring peace, hope, love and joy to all mankind.

The time is now. The time has come.

It’s already here. Already amongst us. Already is.

It is within us. Within each of us. Within all of us.

We are the one we’ve been waiting for. We are the one to remind ourselves of the divine essence of our birth, the essential magnificence of our human presence here on earth.

Let us wait no longer. Let us look to no other than ourselves for that which we seek, right here, right now. It is within us. It is here for us to give and receive. To create and to become.

Peace. Hope. Love and Joy.

Let us rejoice.

We were born magnificent. We were born children of God, of the Divine, of Allah, Jehovah, Buddha, Hare Krishna. We were born to live our humanity, our human journey. Not in toil and strife, but in the light of our magnificence.

It’s just we forgot.

Life. Happenings. Times unfolding. Things we’ve done. Things that have been done unto us. By us. For us. Things that have been done in the name of our mothers and fathers, in the name of others, in the name of peace, for the love of another, things that have hurt us, that have confused us and made us forget our birthright, they do not matter.

What matters most, is our remembering. Our claiming our brilliance. Right here. Right now.

What makes a difference isn’t what happened to us. What makes the difference is what we do, right now, right here to live our greatness. To express our brilliance, our light, our beauty.

That’s what will make a world of wonder. That’s what will create a world full of peace, hope, love and joy.

When we let go of remembering the hurts. When we let go of naming the past and all that happened to us, when we quit holding responsible all who did what they did to us as the reason for our being unhappy, dissatisfied, disgruntled with the way of our world today.

When we release ourselves from holding onto that which hurt us and those who abused our trust, our love, our body and soul, we create space for the beauty and the wonder of our humanity to awaken and set us free to live that which we have forgotten — our magnificence.

It is the second week of Advent.

We wait, in silent contemplation of the darkness, hoping for the light to return. For a child to be born.

It is here. He for whom we wait has always been amongst us.

To see it, to be witness to the sun rising, to know the Son who is coming, to know God, Allah, Jehovah, Hare Krishna, whatever the name of your faith, open your eyes and heart and mind to the amazing grace of your presence here on earth. Awaken to the stunning beauty of our shared human condition shining in the morning light.

Awaken and sing. Sing a song of joy. Dance a dance of jubilation. Pray a prayer of gratitude. Get ready for your soul’s calling. Open yourself up to peace, hope, love and joy and let your light shine.

The world needs you.

The world needs each of us to be the light of peace, hope, love and joy.

Namaste.