10 Simple Ways to Live with Light and Love—Change the World!  Be the Light that You Are: Ten Simple Ways to Transform Your World with Love inspires readers to put their spiritual practice in action—and gives them concrete ways to do it. In a time of highly charged political and emotional issues, this simple guide helps readers move from bitterness and divisiveness to true peace. The book outlines ten steps for extending the light within, including: Claim your unique gifts - Foster self-love - Meet others without judgment - Ask for help - Rise above the battlefield - Take the path of forgiveness Inspired by A Course in Miracles and other spiritual teachings, Be the Light that You Are provides a simple path to help readers live with kindness, decency, and authenticity in troubled times.   Debra Landwehr Engle is the author of The Only Little Prayer You Need, Let Your Spirit Guides Speak , and Grace from the Garden . She is a longtime teacher of A Course in Miracles, and she mentors writers one-on-one and at international retreats. You can find her at debraengle.com. Be the Light that You Are Ten Simple Ways to Transform Your World with Love By Debra Landwehr Engle Hampton Roads Publishing Company, Inc. Copyright © 2019 Debra Landwehr Engle All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-57174-849-2 Contents Acknowledgments, Introduction, 1. Be the Light, 2. Apply the Power of Your Mind, 3. Foster Self-Love, 4. See Only Love, 5. Meet Others Without Judgment, 6. Detach with Love, 7. Rise Above the Battleground, 8. Redefine the Problem, 9. Practice True Forgiveness, 10. Set Your Self Free, CHAPTER 1 Be the Light Within all of us, there's a light that shines like a lantern's bright flame. We may call it love, divine energy, or an expression of our Source. No matter what name we give it, that light never goes out. As we go through our lives, though, our self-doubts dim the sides of that lantern. The drama in the world adds its own layers of soot. And eventually, it's easy to lose sight of the flame burning within, forget how bright it is, or believe it was never there at all. Fortunately, our forgetting doesn't change the brilliance of the light, but it can limit our ability to claim the truth about our very existence. In fact, by starting this book with "Be the light that you are," we're beginning with one of the most challenging principles of all. It's the only place to start, though, because every principle in this book rests on the solid foundation that you are the light. Without that, the layers of other teachings would teeter on shaky ground. We've spent generations building our world on a fear of who we are. That's why, to build a better world, there is no place to begin but the truth. * * * When I was a little girl, I knew there was something more than this world of houses to live in and Monopoly games to play and bicycles to ride. On some level, even though it wasn't conscious, I knew that we each had a soul, a spirit. Our dog, Pepper, and all her puppies had souls. The sycamore tree I climbed in the front yard had a soul. The fireflies we caught in Mason jars with holes punched in the lids had souls. The word "soul" means different things to different people, but I mean it as a spark of light, a mysterious but animating energy that brought us to life and gave us the ability to feel, care, and experience. I knew this light came from a source beyond me, and that we all embodied it. And it was so much more than how we looked or what we wore or how we acted. Our gruff old neighbor across the street had it. So did my teachers — the ones I liked and the ones I didn't. So did Billy, the boy in my class who talked with a lisp and was the target of other kids' jokes. And although I lived in a homogenous neighborhood in a homogenous state, I knew that the people of other colors and countries that I saw on TV had it, too. Knowing there was light in everyone was not a special gift on my part. I'm guessing that as a child, you knew this as well. Hopefully you still do. But often the knowledge that we are the light — a light of goodness that's as divine as the power that created us — gets wrung out of us, and fear of not being enough takes its place. That's why it's so important to start with this foundational belief and restore it, remember it, and embrace it — no matter how tentatively at first — so you can transform your world with the truth of the light within. * * * The idea that you are the light may seem radical. But references to being the light show up in every major religion and spiritual teaching. * A Course in Miracles says we are "the light of the world." * The Buddha said, "Be your own lamp, seek no other refuge but yourself, let truth be your light." * Matthew 5:14 — 16 says, "You are the light of the world ... let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." Each of these quotes alludes to the truth th