Have you ever looked down at a sidewalk or parking lot and marveled at a single blade of grass that had somehow found the will and the way to break through the pavement out into the fresh air and sunlight? When we think of a titanic struggle, we don't usually think of a little seed of grass buried in the darkness and fighting to get out in the light. And yet, even though we may not see it as we hurry through our days, this ancient struggle for life in the light that goes on just beneath our feet is actually taking place within us as well. Mostly unanswered but endlessly calling to each and every one of us is our natural and Higher Need to find our place in the sun; a world just outside of our old limited self where Real Life is open and free. This need in each of us to rise above ourselves is an Eternal Law that expresses itself in all living things.

However, unlike the new grass or mustard seed which seeks the sunlight with no concern for what may be blocking its way, we are often easily discouraged by the host of inner-shadows that stand between us and a bright new life. This is an unhappy condition that only grows sadder each time we fight and fail to free ourselves. That's why we must learn how to fight right. This right kind of self-understanding is everything if we wish to win. Here's how it applies to discovering the wondrous world outside of yourself. If your quest for self-freedom has been repeatedly rejected, it isn't because you have lacked the strength or opportunity. Neither the abundance nor the absence of these circumstantial attributes makes any real difference when it comes to true self-escape.

The wise eagle knows just where to wait on the wing for certain powerful updrafts. Its compliance with natural laws is rewarded with a soaring life. So we too must learn to comply with the higher laws that govern self-liberation if we wish to be lifted.

For now, let's see how these natural laws govern even the smallest of things. Jesus Christ spoke of these compassionate Higher Principles when he said, "Consider the lilies, how they grow: They toil not. They spin not; and yet I say to you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If God so clothe the grass, which is today in the field and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?" If these Higher Principles take such astonishing care with the least in life, how much more so are they capable of helping those who choose to cooperate with their immutable laws?

We know that a young shoot of grass born in the darkness must soon break out into the warming rays of the sun; otherwise it will perish. It must get outside of its present unfavorable circumstances in order to claim its full life. Of course, this tender little shoot of new life can't know this, but it is not alone in its desperate fight for the light. In its favor is LIFE itself -- an intelligent and undeniable force that meets all barriers with the same fearlessness. And so the baby grass emerges against all odds because Life, in one way or another, invariably finds a way to be stronger than anything that would deny it the expression of itself.

You can have these same powerful Life Forces working for you. Surely you have felt the need for a greater life outside of yourself. Who hasn't? We all feel this natural need for rising above self-limiting thoughts and feelings because our True Nature, like the source of Light that it is, beckons to us to emerge out from under the heaviness of our own mistaken false identity. It wants to give us a New Life in exchange for our old one. It asks only that we willingly comply with its eternal process of self-renewal and it does the rest.

Don't wonder whether or not this is true. You can see it for yourself. The proof you seek is in every living thing around you. There is a new world of lightness and rightness just outside of your present self. The journey can be made. Others have gone before you.