I knew upon returning that I was to share the experience at the appropriate time and that the message of God’s unconditional love would reach many people around the world. The message went out in 1992 with the publication of Embraced By The Light, and was increased and amplified by The Awakening Heart, which was published in 1996. The message now ripples out to millions who, in turn, share the power of God’s love with others. This is the ripple effect at its finest, creating waves of positive energy that are full of love, going forward until one day that love will be experienced by all.
Every thing we do ripples out; we affect others, and they in turn affect us. Sometimes the ripples create huge waves that wash over humanity, changing it forever, as Christ’s life did.
Sometimes they are so small that they remain relatively unknown in this lifetime. The ripples from Embraced By The Light and The Awakening Heart continue to go forth, and are now returning to me in the form of letters, e-mail and phone calls. I’m delighted, even overwhelmed, at how many lives have been touched. Each person received an answer to a prayer or question. Each received a response, through the Spirit, to a need in their lives. And as they read and felt encouragement, their spiritual growth and strength increased; as their strength increased, they felt the Lord calling them to a higher level of his work. People wrote to share how they had grown by applying universal principles to their lives. Some shared spiritual experiences, while others simply needed to share their pain. But, for whatever the reason, most people who contacted me did so, they said, because they felt compelled to write. If only a few people had said they were compelled, I might not have thought much about it. But when almost every letter began with the words, “I just had to write,” It became clear that an important connection was being made. A similar reaction came at speaking engagements, when people told me how compelled they had felt to attend. Many said they felt as though they had always known me, and when we parted, genuine feelings of sorrow were expressed by us all. I know that love is contagious, but there seemed to be something else occurring, something borne of knowledge as well as love.
Truth is so powerful that, when we find it, we instantly feel the need to reach out to the person providing it. When that truth is an example of God’s love, our desire to reach out can nearly overwhelm us. Spiritual experiences need to be shared. In my experience, Jesus told me that we are not to hide the truth; we are to share it with one another, to speak of the wonders and mysteries of God as they have been gifted to us.
We are all compelled by the Spirit to reach out, and I understand a little better why I have been given this desire so strongly. On my way to Washington D. C., surrounded by strangers on a jet traveling six miles above the earth, I was reading a letter from somebody I had never met, and the love I felt in the letter overwhelmed me. I sobbed uncontrollably, my heart could not help but give in to the waves of love and gratitude that I was feeling. Perhaps I should have been embarrassed, but the power of the words on the paper left me oblivious to my surroundings. I’m a passionate person and find it difficult to control certain emotions, especially feelings of love. Taking a minute to compose myself, I reread the letter.
Dear Betty,
Your book, Embraced By The Light, has been such a major part of my life lately, and I suppose it’s only right that I explain how and why. Not long ago, I found work at a convalescent home as an activities assistant. This is where my life began to change significantly. It was very difficult, at first, dealing with terminally ill people and even with the folks who weren’t dying. So many were desperate to have company, a friend or just a little attention. I soon found that I could offer such things, and it felt great.
It was heart-warming to see the volunteers who gave their time to these folks. I remember one man in particular. He was a black man who looked as though he belonged on a professional football team, but even bigger than that was his heart. The first time I saw him he was traveling from room to room with your book in hand, reading certain parts to different folks. It really touched my heart, as the chemistry he had with even the very ill people was so strong and spellbinding.
That next payday I got myself a copy of Embraced By The Light and was instantly absorbed in its pages. I cannot express adequately what it has done for me and others. All I know is that it is always there, like a rainbow that travels at my side, no matter the distance . . .
After reading your book and closing its last beautiful page, an important question came to mind and heart, “Who would benefit most from this book right now?” Then there was a name that entered my thoughts as big as a billboard. I had been drawn to this new patient the first time she entered the facility. She was young, early sixties, and had lung cancer. I had been told that she didn’t have long to live, as the cancer had entered her bloodstream.
I couldn’t wait to give her your book. I came to work eager to get to her room, because I was sure God wanted the book in her hands as soon as possible. But when I reached her room, I stopped in my tracks and fell speechless. There in her hands was the book! She said her daughter had given it to her, and she proceeded to tell me all the things about it that I had planned to say to her! It blew me away—to say the least.
Later in the week, she revealed to me that she could no longer read. Her vision had become too obstructed. So I offered to come on my day off to read more of your book to her.
The day I arrived, she was on the patio outside her room, creating a picture out of the flower petals from a garden there. Her bookmark was at the chapter entitled, “Embraced By The Light,” and I began to read. She listened while she continued working with the flower petals. With the last page and last words of that chapter, she stopped me. She said, “That’s a beautiful place to end it.” Not long after that time we spent together in the garden learning about God’s most loving message, she died.
Only days later, a friend called me out of the blue, a friend I hadn’t heard from for what seemed an eternity. She had been pretty wild in our younger days, a heavy drinker, and she frequented the nightclubs. That’s what made what she had to say even more shocking, as well as meaningful.
“There’s something I felt I had to tell you,” she said. “I’ve read a book that’s changed my life for the better.”
She went on to explain how this book had made her appreciate life in a way she never had before. It had touched her so very deeply and she was definitely “Embraced By The Light.” “I suggest you read it,” she added before hanging up. “Maybe it can do the same for you.”
“It has,” was all I could say...
Love for each person in this letter filled my heart. I saw no passengers on the plane around me, heard no sounds, felt no sense of time or travel. If I had been able, I would have crawled into the letter at that very moment to give each of them the embrace my arms longed to share. This letter illuminates love—a beautiful gift shared by a godly woman. Jesus once said, “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16). What an example this woman had been of letting her light shine! She had followed her heart, led by the hand of God, relentlessly giving of her time and love. She had become part of God’s ripple effect, his love that washes over humanity to remove fear by the power of its purity.
Who am I, then, that the message I share touches so many lives? I don’t know and I don’t worry about it as I used to. I am comfortable in the knowledge that I have a message to share, a message of Christ and his redeeming love. I know that for many God has used my light to guide them toward him. For that I am most humbled, and I accept that responsibility. The connections made are God given, God blessed. Some people he has prepared feel compelled to listen to my message; others do not. Some feel close to me, wanting to communicate and share their lives, and I rejoice in the oneness we experience. But I know that regardless of my reception, regardless of apparent success or failure, regardless of pain or sacrifice, I must share this message. I will create as many ripples within the family of mankind as God blesses me with. If it is His will, I will share His love until my voice is gone and my body stilled. And I invite everybody else who feels the call to do the same. It is the greatest gift we have to offer.
We are all shepherds to some degree. We are all compelled by the Spirit to seek his truth and do his will, each in our own way, creating waves that overlap others and resonate within their souls, inviting them to do better, to look to God, to live life to the fullest with joy.
Each letter reprinted here is precious to me, as are all I receive. And seeing how each individual has been profoundly touched by the power of God’s love, I’m humbled further to continue in some way to respond to the many questions and concerns.
My experience in the spirit world came as a gift to me, and though I am determined to share that gift with others, I am unable to answer each individual personally. I hope by sharing a few letter here that, perhaps, I can address the concerns and questions most often posed to me. In sharing these treasured letters, I feel a need to protect the writers’ privacy. No names or locations are mentioned, except in special cases. And each letter easily represents hundreds similar to it.
And by sharing the letters, I feel that I am doing what the Lord asked us when he said: “Let your light so shine . . .” Each person in this book has a divine purpose, and by sharing their light, we can see how one person can make a difference in our life. If each of us shares our light, soon all dark corners will be reached, and we will begin the healing of the world by chasing out darkness. We, too, will begin the healing of our own souls. As we each find one person with whom to share our light, a wonderful miracle begins to take place: we find the Lord answering our individual prayers and preparing us to become the light, the answer, to yet many others.
In this world of billions of people, many lead lives of loneliness and desperation. Because of pain produced by others, some protect themselves behind walls of anger or fear, lashing out at or retreating from others. God has shown me that the precious cure for their pain lies within each soul.
The cure, of course, is honest and pure love. God’s love. Unconditional love. It resides within each of us naturally at our beginning. In the stories that follow, we see how others have begun to overcome their own fears and hurts to become the answer to others’ prayers. We see that we are not alone, that everything we do touches everybody else in some way, and that as we release our love to others, we each become the vessel God has chosen from the beginning.
Letting our light shine, letting our love and truth emanate to as many people as possible, is a mission given to each of us. Allowing our goodness to ripple into the lives of others will not only bring us closer to the divine, it will create the spiritual Awakening of the world. This Awakening is now gathering momentum, leading many to come closer to God.
This movement is universal and unstoppable. And it must proceed from our hearts, our lives, into the lives of others. It is not God’s gracious work alone, it is our work, our opportunity, and it can only progress as we let our lights shine. As one reader declared, the time has come for us all to “Ripple on!”
Betty J. Eadie
September 1999
