The Solutions We Are Looking For

The Bible tells us a story about a man named Naaman, the chief military officer to a king who was stricken with leprosy. Naaman was advised to go and see a prophet named Elisha who would tell him the cure. When Naaman went to meet Elisha, he was greeted not by the prophet himself, but rather by one of Elisha's messengers who told him the simple remedy: Connect to the power of water and submerge in the Jordan River.

“If you do this one action,” said the messenger, “you will be cured.”

Instead of being happy to have received this prescription, Naaman was angry. He didn't feel that Elisha had treated him with the proper respect he deserved. And not only was he angry that he had been greeted by a messenger and not the prophet himself, but he was also upset that he had travelled so far for such simple advice!

Essentially, the answer Naaman sought had come in a very different package than he had expected.

Very often in our lives, we have the same reaction and behave in the same way. If our ego is not stroked, we simply refuse to see that the answer we seek is right in front of us.

What we don't realize is that when we ask someone a question and we are given a complicated answer, the person probably doesn’t know what he or she is talking about. The answer should be simple because the Light is simple and the truth is simple.

Many of us spend our lives “seeking” the truth. Sadly, though, we would rather “seek” the truth than “find” it because if we found it we would have to do something about it.

Very often, the truth is right there in front of our faces, but we don't accept it because we don’t like the package that it’s wrapped in. This week, when a difficult situation arises or someone tells us something that makes us angry or uncomfortable, let’s remember that sometimes the truth comes in unlikely, even occasionally unpleasant packages. But if we can remain open, perhaps we will find the solution we have been looking for.