You have to meet people where they are, and sometimes you have to leave them there.’ Iyanla Vanzant
I got to honor this wisdom a few weeks ago when I interacted with a friend who is caring for a dying family member. She has a deep belief in the spiritual and with this comes an abiding trust that her loved one is not ‘dying’ but instead transitioning between worlds. Based on the many one-on-one experiences I have had with the dying, I was sharing with her, my belief that those in her loved one’s present state, are surrounded by a ‘spiritual welcoming committee’- a group of familiar souls that are just waiting to greet him when he makes his transition.
As her and I talked about this very thing, I was suddenly given a very strong series of images that were identified as being a communication from those who were there in spirit to assist her loved one as he crossed over. As I shared these images with her, she was elated to find that each one was very significant and hinted quite strongly at who the members of his spiritual welcoming committee were.
She considered sharing this information with other members of her family who had no interest in an exploration of the afterlife. She thought that sharing the validity of these images might bring them some comfort… and of course this is where the wisdom of today’s quote plays out.
She surmised that anything that could help them to see the reality of the spiritual world, would ease their pain. Earlier in my life I used to surmise this same thing – and I often shared my ‘spiritual treasures’ with those who did not have the desire to receive them. I learned the hard way that not only did it NOT help them, but it actually tarnished what was so sacred to me.
So keeping this in mind, my friend said nothing to her family about the spiritual welcoming committee that had made themselves known to us. Instead she put her trust in the universe that everyone would find their own treasure in their own way.
Or, as Jesus put it, “Cast not your pearls before swine.”