The Universe: Hello, dear Alexandra! I see you’re getting into the Christmas spirit!

Alexandra: Hello dear Universe! Yes, I am. I’ve been wrapping gifts and writing cards and listening to a BBC podcast about the British pop song Do They Know It’s Christmas? Got me quite emotional.

U: How so?

A: I always get moved by people coming together and uniting for a selfless cause. Especially when they’re disparate people who might ordinarily be in competition with each other. Or people with egos, which would definitely include pop stars.

Also, I learned tonight that over the years, this 1984 project and its spin-offs has raised in excess of a staggering 26 million pounds sterling to help starving and sick people in Africa, including defenseless children.

I’m also emotional because kindness moves me deeply. Whether it’s from people or animals, or you, dear Universe.

U: Us?

A: Yes. Like this afternoon when I drove home from the west end of Toronto in the freezing rain, and you made sure that traffic was such that I got home just before it became too dark for safety.

And, on a grander life-saving scale, the way that, through the Gohonzon, you’ve helped me to change myself so much this year. My entire quality of life has transformed. I experience brief moments of fear, like blips in the continuum, but I no longer live under the constant tyranny of dread, as I used to.

U: We are so happy to hear this. And we hope you know it is you yourself who have made this transformation possible. Your communication with us (through the Gohonzon) has changed, and therefore our response has likewise changed. You have empowered us to be far more effective in your life.

A: I feel it. It’s due to my prayers, isn’t it?

U: Just so. Your prayers have changed from wishes and vague or desperate hopes to determinations that are reshaping your state of mind. You have found the courage to determine who you are and who you will become independently of who you used to be, or what is currently happening around you.

A: Thank you. It has been a very long time coming.

U: No matter. It’s here now. Because you always continued your spiritual practice, regardless of how you felt.

A: Yes. No matter how lost I felt.

And it all started this year with the prayer: “I am determined to see the Buddha nature in me and in everyone.” It’s nine months now that I’ve declared this twice daily to you, dear Universe, through the Gohonzon. It has opened my mind and heart to a greater truth and freedom than I’ve ever known.

U: It is our desire that you maintain this sincere purity of outlook for the rest of your lifetime.

A: Well! High praise indeed! Thank you so much. And please rest assured. Now that I’ve found faith and stopped worshiping at the altar of doubt, I’m not going to go back to my old ways. I am your servant forever, dear Universe.

U: Then no matter what storm clouds of trouble may appear, or how often you may stumble and fall, you will always rise, and it will go well with you.

Alexandra: Now I’m moved to tears again. Tears of gratitude.

Universe: They water the roots of a new life. And what is possible for you is possible for all of humankind on Planet Earth. Be sure to let them know.

Photo by Ross Findon on Unsplash