Monsters and Shadows {A Short story}

My daughter is now at the age where she really loves playing with the idea of witches, magic, monsters and watching spooky kid movies. Funny enough, she’s happy about it during the day, but come nighttime, as soon as I turn off the light for bedtime, she says "Mommy, I’m scared of monsters and shadows when I close my eyes. I can see them. I’m scared."

In that moment I remembered the story by my friend and spiritual teacher David Hoffmeister about a boy who dreamt of a scary dragon, so I told her, "It’s okay to feel scared. When mommy was little, I felt scared too. But I do have a little trick to help you if you want."

She nodded her head saying yes, as she curled her body still feeling afraid.

"When you see them," I said. “Look straight at them and say 'Heyyy, wait a second, you’re not real.' And then smile and see what happens.”

She immediately applied it. I could hear her saying it next to me as she laid there in bed and closed her eyes.

She then said, "Mommy! They’re gone! I told them what you said, and it’s like poof, they go away. Thank you mommy, thank you!

This story makes me think of all of us children of God who still believe in illusions and shadows and live our day to day reacting to them, engaging and playing with them, when the truth is they are just illusions. But let’s not forget, Spirit is here, with us —waiting for us to choose again, with just a little willingness to see it all differently, gently dissolving all the false ideas and interpretations of our mind and letting the light begin to shine through and onto every dark shadow and hidden monster that keeps us from truly accessing the holy instant, here and now.

Find more stories like these on my first book coming soon. To stay informed about the book release and my process making it, sign up here.