Dr. Thomas Maples

A Passion for Love & Wisdom

Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

A New Years Blessing

Out with the old and in with the new. This quote kept me up last night, even though I have worked these words of wisdom on no less than three occasions. Sometimes our mind creates avenues for growth the soul cannot let go as it learns to chase the light of spirit.

I was in a paradox, and as a student and lover of philosophy, I know paradoxes encourage growth. But why did this paradox of consciousness greet me, especially on the last night before the New Year?

First, thank you for joining me today as we celebrate the upcoming New Year. I am genuinely grateful for the community, kindness, and support the Word Press forum fosters. Lastly, I want to turn my attention to the beauty of mastering the soul’s winds, waves, and gravity, which, when we learn to let go of, we reignite the spirit of passion within that may once have withered away.

As a psychotherapist, I have seen firsthand in the healing journey people undertake to let go of the past demons that will drag them down. I have experienced this personally in my psychological treatment as a budding psychology student. Going within to tend to emotional baggage is part of our collective human experience, as I am positive everyone goes through this collective form of personal development. Nevertheless, what better act shall we ever undertake than to let go of those past storylines that weigh us down to make room for the new?

But this is not the end of the journey. As you can see, our philosopher priest, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, gears our mind towards a future perspective, one where we re-discover the fire within. While powerful in its own right, it is future based, a view yet to be realized. But this perspective remains without merit if I fail to bring the present “me” to the moment with the full force of the only emotion we genuinely are given: Love.

Today, I commit to bringing the total energy of passion to every post I write. I feel something rekindling inside: a need to nurture my planted garden. There is something beautiful in that act, an act which, if you are here, reading these words, I am sure you too have felt burning inside. While the passion of spirit may be burning deep inside, just as a flame needs kindling to spark a fire, we, too, need to nurture our inner flames of passion. Nurturance occurs in the present moment, yet when ignited, it lights the way for the soul to find its way from the dark recesses it creates to ultimately re-discover its burning desires.

Today, I commit to those dark recesses the soul needs to retrospect and reflect upon what was. Today, I commit to the enlightening path offered by the spiritualists and philosophers of old and new, who once lit the course, providing us mile markers along the way for our holistic well-being. I commit to my family, loved ones, and the community I serve. They are ever-present in any decision made—thank you from the bottom of my heart. But most of all, I commit to the loving presence of God, who, no matter what name we may know this force by, guides us as an arrow to that ever-present being which is our higher state.

To my friends and your family, I send you blessings. We are all travelers on this beautiful path called life. Thank you for being here and joining me for this New Years Blessing. May the power of love and purpose guide you along your journey to advance confidently in the direction of your dreams.

Dr. Thomas Maples