An insight may arrive freely—but it cannot complete its purpose while sitting comfortably inside your head.
Test it. Accept your part.
Then put legs on it.
We go about our routines when suddenly something stands out, captures our attention and requires a pause.
Not necessarily a physical stop.
It happens within us—in the twinkling of an eye.
A thought, concern, possibility or responsibility arrives. It may seem insignificant, or it may carry a sense of necessity:
Call that person.
Correct that mistake.
Write that idea down.
Offer some help.
Begin what you keep postponing.
This is where existence and purpose meet—and invite our participation.
ALL LIFE PARTICIPATES
Notice how life on this planet works and interacts.
Visible and invisible systems coexist all around and within us. Much of their activity occurs without our awareness, yet we depend upon it every day.
Life participates simply by being alive.
SOME LIFE FOLLOWS ITS DESIGN
Plants, animals and insects respond to their design, environment and experience in remarkable ways.
Their awareness and abilities differ from ours, and science continues discovering just how sophisticated some of them are.
Still, much of nature faithfully repeats the essential work of living—growing, adapting, feeding, reproducing and contributing to the larger system.
Pause for awe here.
We depend upon life doing its part.
CONTRAST THIS WITH YOURSELF
Human beings can receive what is presented and then add to it, take from it, improve it, misuse it—or ignore it completely.
What we do and fail to do affects visible and invisible worlds within and around us.
For better.
For worse.
Or not at all.
We can even observe the results, learn from them and choose differently.
What a gift—and what a responsibility.
A BABY GOAT
A baby goat is born, gets on its feet, feeds, grows and becomes what it was created to become.
It does not attend a seminar titled:
DISCOVERING MY INNER GOAT.
It gets busy being one.
There is Richie’s lesson.
We humans can question, imagine and create—but occasionally we think so long that the goat has already climbed the hill, eaten lunch and returned home while we are still designing the plan.
MANKIND MADE IN A HIGH IMAGE
Marvel at humankind—male and female—with the ability to question, direct, improve and change circumstances.
We can care for life around us or damage it.
We can build, teach, heal and serve—or use the same abilities selfishly.
Our capacity is special.
The gift is intentional.
How we use it becomes our answer.
YOUR LIFE IS AN INVITATION
Life is not merely an invitation to exist.
It invites us to live deliberately—with purpose, humility and intent.
We are entrusted with caring for ourselves, one another and the world around us. As we grow, more mystery may be revealed for us to steward.
Some duties are large.
Some are small.
Both matter.
WHERE DOES INSTRUCTION COME FROM?
Guidance may reach us through faith, conscience, Scripture, prayer, experience, wise counsel, common sense, reason or careful observation.
Sometimes it arrives quietly from within.
But every inward prompting is not automatically sacred instruction.
Fear speaks.
Pride speaks.
Impulse speaks.
So does yesterday’s indigestion.
Test what you receive.
Does it align with truth, love, responsibility and wisdom? Does it respect others? Can it withstand honest examination?
If so, it may be time to act.
INSIGHT AND REVELATION
An insight can arrive without invitation.
Suddenly we see what was present all along.
How did it come?
Why now?
What are we supposed to do with it?
Perhaps we will not receive every answer. But when insight exposes a worthy next step, our responsibility begins.
THAT IS OUR PART
A grand idea may inspire us, but inspiration without participation remains unfinished.
Dreaming has value.
Planning has value.
Prayer has value.
Then comes the doing.
Otherwise, we may drown in dreams or sink in thinking.
At some point, put legs on it.
HUMILITY IS THE FUEL
Humility does not mean believing you have nothing to offer.
It means remembering that you are not the entire source, purpose and audience of everything you do.
Leave ego and pride outside the driver’s seat.
When action is guided by love and service, the work becomes larger than the worker.
The gift is received.
The gift is used.
The gift is given back.
DON’T CONFUSE THE SYSTEMS
Thinking, emotion and the five senses are essential to earthly life. They help us evaluate, decide and act.
Faith reaches toward something higher—the intimate, loving power that gives earthly action eternal meaning.
These need not be enemies.
Reason can test the path.
Conscience can examine the motive.
Faith can provide courage.
Then your feet can begin moving.
PAUSE FOR CAUSE
Before acting on a prompting, ask:
- Is it true?
- Is it loving?
- Is it responsible?
- Does it serve only my ego?
- Who could be helped or harmed?
- What is the next honest step?
PEARLS INSIGHT
Purpose is not merely something we discover.
It is something we participate in.
RICHIE SPEAKS
The instruction may arrive as a whisper.
Your response gives it a voice.
The idea may be invisible.
Your action gives it legs.
Do not spend your life waiting for a perfect map when you have already been shown the next step.
Put legs on it—and begin.
— Richie
Pearls for the Soul
when you feed the soul, you feed everything.
https://pearlsforthesoul.com
Been expecting you