Breaking the Crusts

I watch my nieces and nephews grow up and see each passing year their subtle and sometimes outright independence becoming part of who they are. Yet I know that underneath the outer shell of independence is the beautiful child of God that was born with fullness. I also see as my brothers and sisters age we are now 39 up to 51 years and we too have passed the independence to add other layers or "crusts" as I like to call it. These crusts consist of our defense mechanisms that hide the child within. Now my parents who are soon to be 80 and 83 seem to have begun to shed some of the crusts through their own acceptance of what is and through seeing the suffering of human kind including their children's personal sorrows over so many years. I don't like to think the key to cracking through the crusts is suffering, however I am reminded that is was through Christ's cross - his death in humanity that brought back life in the spirit. My constant prayer is that we learn to break through our own crusts through such practices as yoga, breathing, meditation, prayer, walking versus through a major dramatic event. Authentic living for those that don't remember is when you were a child and you cried the instant you were hurt, you laughed out loud in church or anywhere when something was funny and you lived so fully that your energy was unlimited until the moment you laid your head down and fell into a deep and restful sleep. Authentic living, restful sleep comes from breaking the crusts away to reveal the spirit of who you were created to be.