M.O.J.O.

 I met an all-too-precious True Believer wearing an enormous yellow button inscribed with the letters J.O.Y.

I took the bait and asked him what the letters stood for. He said, "Jesus, Others, Yourself. Put Jesus first, then others, and finally yourself. That is the way to joy!"

I tried it for several years but it didn't work. So I took a different path. I put my Self first.

It's hard to admit this in a culture where the righteous pretend that "self" is a dirty four-letter word, when in fact Self is the unconscious legislator of everything they experience.

Here is what I discovered: If I try to put Jesus before myself, I don't have anywhere to put him. The radiant heart of my Self-awareness is the only place where my Lord can find a dwelling.

If I put Others before myself, I don't have anything to offer them, because I don't know who is making the offering.

But if I start by nourishing the Light Within, and I meditate in the vast luminosity of my true Self, I awaken a warm and generous space that welcomes all, including Jesus. Then I can give everything, because I am everything.

My button says M.O.J.O. It stands for Me, Others, Jesus, One.