5.
The Map of Light

      Drift up in concept with me, if you will, to a position above the daily affairs of life. We float quietly, like two balloonists, out of range of the noise and pressure. See below us countless persons traveling their life's journeys on a moment-to-moment basis. They jerk randomly, convulsively, reacting to the things of the moment, following no plotted course.
      Look closely. Observe how some individual paths, analyzed from our vertical advantage, are each a series of jagged redirections. Sometimes they reverse. On occasion they circle. They go nowhere.
      The reason for the incoherency below us lies in the maps used. A map measures position in reference to a center, the selection of which is dependent on the architecture of the map. Every person pursues the journey of life by consciously or unconsciously using some map. The chart that naturally arises from life's experiences has one's own being as its center.

      As you and I peer down below us, we see that each of the aimlessly moving persons is surrounded by a hazy bubble that clouds the view from within. The inside surface of the sphere is a map centered in the individual.
      To attempt to travel using only a map centered in oneself is futile. Navigation requires a chart centered in a fixed, changeless feature of the world through which one travels.
      See below us how some individuals travel steady paths. Straight they go, with evident purpose, from feature to feature of the terrain of life. Always each proceeds consistently toward a distant light where the orderly paths all converge. The trails of these individuals, though distinct from one another, are mutually coherent and harmonious. Suddenly you and I recognize the flowing summation of their paths as the processional of the children of light, which we have seen before.
      Observing one of these persons more closely, you and I detect that the individual carries a map of light, centered in The Infinite One. And we realize that God is the one fixed, changeless reality. The map of light is the map of life, with which one can travel limitlessly, with absolute certitude.

      Our hearts leap as we follow the noble drama played out in the life of each child of light whom we observe. High purposes and portents, apparent in our skyborne view, are less visible from within the dusty plain of daily living. As our eyes adjust to the light toward which the children of light stream, we recognize the subtle fact that these persons do not follow the path of light: they create it in their passage. Their eyes always focus on the living reality of the Infinite Father, independent of futile, dry, formulaic routes.
      From our eyrie, you and I perceive that the lives of the followers of the map of light are imbued with thrilling relevance.  High purpose. And true fulfillment. And we realize that it is these qualities that the others below seek in vain, without knowing it. For these realities of light are not attainable as goals; they emerge naturally in the lives of those who plot their course through life from the map that is centered in the Father of All.