Richard Burton: The World According To Burton

Joy fights the darkness and it is the first and last defence.

Ann: Asking one or any of you if you would talk to me about joy, about what I can do to maintain joy and to keep from slipping into low spirits. I have been thinking of you, Richard, and wondering if you have anything to offer in this regard?

Richard: Well, love, I have been watching and waiting for your return to home base. I have been both entertained and impressed with your perseverance and that of those who plan to see this darkness through, though, as you would say, what’s the choice?

          Well, as you know, there is always a choice, though it has been hard for you and others to break out of your addiction to focusing on the encroaching darkness. It's an addition of sorts all of its own.

As you know, I never conquered my addictions and enjoyed my alcohol, among other things, until the very end, even though I knew it was both killing me and keeping me alive.

          Perhaps some of you can relate to those of us who need a "reward" coming behind what is sometimes experienced as as the punishment of human existence. We would all like to believe those who teach of life as expanding, beneficent, and transformational, but such is the recalcitrant human spirit, - at least yours and mine - that, without experience of same, such proselytizing seems to engender the opposite of its intent.

          This is where joy comes in. It fights the darkness and it is the first and last defence. If it has seemed to elude you, you are not alone, but now is the time to consider altering your focus, if just by the slightest margin.

Each of you has our own wellspring of joy, however tiny, to inspire you. It is there if you are determined to find it. Any of us can do so and one way or another. Are you an artist or a poet? Can you make something work which was heretofore broken?  Who smiles when you come in the room? 

When we identify a source of joy, no matter how small, we touch the source of creation, the grounding of the world in love. And then, inevitably, as you intensify your connection with the Divine, you share your joy with others. It is yours to receive and yours to give.

          And yes, I see you roll your eyes, and, yes, a lot of gurus hold forth on love, love, love.  Even to my ears it can get old and trite when the house is built upon the sand. However, there is often a reason an old saw is tried, and that is because it is usually true.

          These words, however, mean nothing unless the experience of joy is within your being. Therefore, it is up to you to find it. And if it eludes your grasp, keep looking because it is there in your life.

Keep on until you find the real thing. This is the Holy Grail that everyone has searched for since time immemorial. Culture after culture, civilization after civilization, each have searched and settled for some substitute that allows them to resist the fundamental truth that we are joined in love and connection with everyone else. And without adherence to this truth, no victory can be achieved.

I know this is a difficult time, a heart-rending, treacherous time of destruction. It cannot, however, destroy your essence. That is what you are looking to bring into your consciousness.  When it is set free to blossom in and around you, you will find that nothing else matters except that the contagious joy that follows in your wake wherever you go.

          Your consciousness and the collective consciousness of so many living in this time of radical transformation have exponentially more power than you can imagine.  Those who focus only on the darkness have brought the shades down upon human civilization time after time.

It need not be so this time. It is within your ability to find your joy and continue to fight the Encroacher; it is within your grasp to keep the shades open in your life so that you can see where you want to go.

Find your joy. It's the best defense - and offence - against darkness.

March 25, 2025

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