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Be the Light that You Are: Ten Simple Ways to Transform Your World With Love
10 Simple Ways to Live with Light and Love—Change the World!Be the Light that You Ten Simple Ways to Transform Your World with Love inspires readers to put their spiritual practice in action—and gives them concrete ways to do it.In a time of highly charged political and emotional issues, this simple guide helps readers move from bitterness and divisiveness to true peace.The book outlines ten steps for extending the light within,
Claim your unique giftsFoster self-loveMeet others without judgmentAsk for helpRise above the battlefieldTake the path of forgivenessInspired by A Course in Miracles and other spiritual teachings, Be the Light that You Are provides a simple path to help readers live with kindness, decency, and authenticity in troubled times.
Claim your unique giftsFoster self-loveMeet others without judgmentAsk for helpRise above the battlefieldTake the path of forgivenessInspired by A Course in Miracles and other spiritual teachings, Be the Light that You Are provides a simple path to help readers live with kindness, decency, and authenticity in troubled times.
237 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 1, 2019
16 people are currently reading
60 people want to read
About the author
Debra Landwehr Engle
19 books226 followersI grew up loving books. Some of my earliest memories are of trips to the grand old library in downtown Des Moines, where we'd pull book after book off the shelves in the children's section and carry them home with great anticipation. I still remember the feel of those books, and the smell of the pages and bindings that had been loosened and wrinkled by so many readers who loved the books as much as I did.
One of my sisters (I'm the youngest of six kids) and I had an ongoing contest to see who could read the most Newbery Award books. At the library, we'd pick up bookmarks that listed all the award winners, then we'd lose ourselves in Islands of the Blue Dolphins, Up a Road Slowly and A Wrinkle in Time.
Today, books continue to nourish me—as both a reader and author. I find that, when I write, I do exactly the same things as when I read: sink deep into a story, experience “ah-ha” moments that make me put the book down for a moment to catch my breath, and see myself and the world in new ways.
Years ago, in meditation, I suddenly had an image of myself sitting in front of a coffee table covered with books that I'd written or contributed to. This was before my first book was published, so I was VERY surprised (and intrigued!) to see those volumes, looking as if they already existed. I had the sense that writing them had been easy—that they had created themselves.
Now, several books later, I can tell you they weren't always easy:) But each had a reason for being written—-a story that needed to be told, an inspiration that insisted on being shared, a message that was determined to change the world.
I think of a book as the fulfillment of a contract between the author who follows her internal guidance, and the readers who select the book—hopefully with the same anticipation my sister and I had for those Newbery Award winners.
Books come about because, as writers and readers, we say yes to a seed of inspiration and then allow it to grow within us. "We read to know we're not alone," said C.S. Lewis’ character in Shadowlands. I’m happy, and infinitely grateful, to write for the same reason.
One of my sisters (I'm the youngest of six kids) and I had an ongoing contest to see who could read the most Newbery Award books. At the library, we'd pick up bookmarks that listed all the award winners, then we'd lose ourselves in Islands of the Blue Dolphins, Up a Road Slowly and A Wrinkle in Time.
Today, books continue to nourish me—as both a reader and author. I find that, when I write, I do exactly the same things as when I read: sink deep into a story, experience “ah-ha” moments that make me put the book down for a moment to catch my breath, and see myself and the world in new ways.
Years ago, in meditation, I suddenly had an image of myself sitting in front of a coffee table covered with books that I'd written or contributed to. This was before my first book was published, so I was VERY surprised (and intrigued!) to see those volumes, looking as if they already existed. I had the sense that writing them had been easy—that they had created themselves.
Now, several books later, I can tell you they weren't always easy:) But each had a reason for being written—-a story that needed to be told, an inspiration that insisted on being shared, a message that was determined to change the world.
I think of a book as the fulfillment of a contract between the author who follows her internal guidance, and the readers who select the book—hopefully with the same anticipation my sister and I had for those Newbery Award winners.
Books come about because, as writers and readers, we say yes to a seed of inspiration and then allow it to grow within us. "We read to know we're not alone," said C.S. Lewis’ character in Shadowlands. I’m happy, and infinitely grateful, to write for the same reason.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 25, 2025
3.5 Stars *Spoilers*
This is a good little book and i enjoyed reading it. It includes a good amount of principles that we should follow in our daily life. It is a good starting point for younger generations who want to find themselves and their light.
There are other statements I loved, but one specifically is: "If you retreated to a cabin in the woods without access to the news and reentered the world a year later, you'd see the power of the ego's status quo. War? Still raging. Political squabbles? Still front and center. Poverty and Famine? Still unresolved," World peace can only happen if we put love back into the world. I gave $20 to a homeless man on the corner. he got excited and said, "I can buy shoes!" Even though he was homeless, I felt his same excitement that he was able to afford shoes.
I would have given this a five-star rating but I had some issues with the repeated rhetoric that is more harmful than good. At some point, we need to realize what is positive and toxic positive and follow outdated myths about emotions and healing.
Issues with the book:
• Yes, everyone is deserving to see their light, even if they are considered a bad person or acted in a way that may be deemed "bad". But this rhetoric is why Christian parents(or any abusive parent) think they can act in any way they choose that is harmful, as long as they "pray" and ask for forgiveness, they are a good person and will see heaven. If you are acting horribly every day of your life but believe that people should still see your light, you are simply delusional. I understand the sentiment, but it's said in the wrong place of the heart.
• Your self-love is not determined by how we interpret pain and anger. There is healthy anger. There is healthy resentment. There is healthy grudges. Anger can be healing. It doesn't mean you are diminishing your light. These emotions help you heal and move on. It's not bad to feel "bad" emotions. I struggled to heal because I was taught that any emotion is bad.
• What we're not going to do is tell people that they are making their healing worse by seeing their "perpetrator" as a bad person. A rapist is a bad person and they deserve to be condemned. Anyone who abuses another person deserves to be seen as a bad person. Whatever pain that was felt, is real. The sentiment is coming from the wrong place. You can heal and feel resentment. YOU CAN DO BOTH!!!!!!!!! You bounce back and forth between "discuss it" vs "forget it happened." I understand the sentiment but its said without any empathy. You are not victimizing yourself by seeing your perpetrator as a bad person, they ARE a bad person.
• "Forgiveness frees us from the past." I absolutely agree, but I hated that you included historical events attached to this. There was no correlation with the book talking about the brain/ego vs. historical events. No one should forgive war and what comes with it (violence, sexual violence, destruction, death). No one should forgive slavery or move on from it. Many of these things are still happening TODAY! No, remembering these things doesn't stop it from happening but it is cause for discussion that can make a change. Why did you say that the more we discuss school shootings, it is good because it causes a discussion for change, but when it comes to historical events such as Slavery or War, you suddenly flip the script and say these should be forgiven and to move on? This is horrid advice for the affected parties. Slavery is still prevalent in other countries, and so is war. Are you going to tell these people they should forgive what is happening to their home country? No, didn't think so.
Chapter four - see only love.
• I understand the sentiment of this chapter and know that we should see more love in a person but you can only do that so much. Of course, you can see past sinful behaviors and see the truth and light in a person but not every single person is worthy of love; there is a line here. This follows the same pattern of teachers telling young girls that the boy pulling her hair has a crush on her. "Boys will be boys" type chapter.
• Pedophiles are not worthy of love or care. This reminds me of the act of rehabilitation for pedophiles and how rehabilitation can change them. No matter the number of studies trying to be positive toward sexual offenders and pedophiles, their behavior, unnatural needs, and wants do not change. They will reoffend if given the opportunity. Have you seen a church and the number of priests who reoffend because Christians who forgive their actions or ignore those actions? Serial rapists will reoffend and are not worthy of love. Violent and diagnosed or undiagnosed psychopaths are not worthy of love, as they hold no love themselves. Love cannot change their acts of sin. You cannot compare real-life criminals to fictional. Freddy Kruger was fictional, so his actions are meaningless.
• What is worthy of love and seeing light in a person? Preventing a school shooter, preventing theft, preventing suicide or homicide, or preventing bullying. The movie "Walk to Remember" is an example of how you can use love to see a person's inner truth. Even is she were sick, it did not change how she put love back into the world. Those with mental illness and addiction are worthy. Those with personality disorders deserve every bit of love if they are choosing right by their disorder and making a difference with themselves. If they choose to become abusive, you have the right to distance yourself.
Not every violent criminal is worthy of love and seeing their inner truth. Violence is just not it. While the book states that judgment harms your light, it can help your light shine when you know when a person is not good and diminishes your own light. Humans are naturally judgemental and there is no escaping that. I have tried and failed multiple times. What you can do instead is use judgement in a positive manner, instead of removing it completely. My light knows that violence is not worthy of love. But it does not dimish my light by feeling this way. It strengthens my light. I will not see a school shooter who shot a bunch of children as a person worthy of love. We can cause prevention but once it occurs, their light no longer matters due to action.
When we discuss seeing light in ourselves and healing, please include healthy judgment, anger, and resentment. ALL emotions can be used for GOOD. Boxing them in a category makes it more difficult for people to move forward. Reminder: This isn't a one size fits all. ALL emotions are good and help find your light. It does not diminsh your light whatsoever, it also encourages others to find their light by being closer to their emotions.
My review isn't victimhood like you discussed but a reality. We cannot put love into everything, or we will certainly burn out. We remove love once we remove emotion. We remove emotion once we believe we can't discuss these things.
This is a good little book and i enjoyed reading it. It includes a good amount of principles that we should follow in our daily life. It is a good starting point for younger generations who want to find themselves and their light.
There are other statements I loved, but one specifically is: "If you retreated to a cabin in the woods without access to the news and reentered the world a year later, you'd see the power of the ego's status quo. War? Still raging. Political squabbles? Still front and center. Poverty and Famine? Still unresolved," World peace can only happen if we put love back into the world. I gave $20 to a homeless man on the corner. he got excited and said, "I can buy shoes!" Even though he was homeless, I felt his same excitement that he was able to afford shoes.
I would have given this a five-star rating but I had some issues with the repeated rhetoric that is more harmful than good. At some point, we need to realize what is positive and toxic positive and follow outdated myths about emotions and healing.
Issues with the book:
• Yes, everyone is deserving to see their light, even if they are considered a bad person or acted in a way that may be deemed "bad". But this rhetoric is why Christian parents(or any abusive parent) think they can act in any way they choose that is harmful, as long as they "pray" and ask for forgiveness, they are a good person and will see heaven. If you are acting horribly every day of your life but believe that people should still see your light, you are simply delusional. I understand the sentiment, but it's said in the wrong place of the heart.
• Your self-love is not determined by how we interpret pain and anger. There is healthy anger. There is healthy resentment. There is healthy grudges. Anger can be healing. It doesn't mean you are diminishing your light. These emotions help you heal and move on. It's not bad to feel "bad" emotions. I struggled to heal because I was taught that any emotion is bad.
• What we're not going to do is tell people that they are making their healing worse by seeing their "perpetrator" as a bad person. A rapist is a bad person and they deserve to be condemned. Anyone who abuses another person deserves to be seen as a bad person. Whatever pain that was felt, is real. The sentiment is coming from the wrong place. You can heal and feel resentment. YOU CAN DO BOTH!!!!!!!!! You bounce back and forth between "discuss it" vs "forget it happened." I understand the sentiment but its said without any empathy. You are not victimizing yourself by seeing your perpetrator as a bad person, they ARE a bad person.
• "Forgiveness frees us from the past." I absolutely agree, but I hated that you included historical events attached to this. There was no correlation with the book talking about the brain/ego vs. historical events. No one should forgive war and what comes with it (violence, sexual violence, destruction, death). No one should forgive slavery or move on from it. Many of these things are still happening TODAY! No, remembering these things doesn't stop it from happening but it is cause for discussion that can make a change. Why did you say that the more we discuss school shootings, it is good because it causes a discussion for change, but when it comes to historical events such as Slavery or War, you suddenly flip the script and say these should be forgiven and to move on? This is horrid advice for the affected parties. Slavery is still prevalent in other countries, and so is war. Are you going to tell these people they should forgive what is happening to their home country? No, didn't think so.
Chapter four - see only love.
• I understand the sentiment of this chapter and know that we should see more love in a person but you can only do that so much. Of course, you can see past sinful behaviors and see the truth and light in a person but not every single person is worthy of love; there is a line here. This follows the same pattern of teachers telling young girls that the boy pulling her hair has a crush on her. "Boys will be boys" type chapter.
• Pedophiles are not worthy of love or care. This reminds me of the act of rehabilitation for pedophiles and how rehabilitation can change them. No matter the number of studies trying to be positive toward sexual offenders and pedophiles, their behavior, unnatural needs, and wants do not change. They will reoffend if given the opportunity. Have you seen a church and the number of priests who reoffend because Christians who forgive their actions or ignore those actions? Serial rapists will reoffend and are not worthy of love. Violent and diagnosed or undiagnosed psychopaths are not worthy of love, as they hold no love themselves. Love cannot change their acts of sin. You cannot compare real-life criminals to fictional. Freddy Kruger was fictional, so his actions are meaningless.
• What is worthy of love and seeing light in a person? Preventing a school shooter, preventing theft, preventing suicide or homicide, or preventing bullying. The movie "Walk to Remember" is an example of how you can use love to see a person's inner truth. Even is she were sick, it did not change how she put love back into the world. Those with mental illness and addiction are worthy. Those with personality disorders deserve every bit of love if they are choosing right by their disorder and making a difference with themselves. If they choose to become abusive, you have the right to distance yourself.
Not every violent criminal is worthy of love and seeing their inner truth. Violence is just not it. While the book states that judgment harms your light, it can help your light shine when you know when a person is not good and diminishes your own light. Humans are naturally judgemental and there is no escaping that. I have tried and failed multiple times. What you can do instead is use judgement in a positive manner, instead of removing it completely. My light knows that violence is not worthy of love. But it does not dimish my light by feeling this way. It strengthens my light. I will not see a school shooter who shot a bunch of children as a person worthy of love. We can cause prevention but once it occurs, their light no longer matters due to action.
When we discuss seeing light in ourselves and healing, please include healthy judgment, anger, and resentment. ALL emotions can be used for GOOD. Boxing them in a category makes it more difficult for people to move forward. Reminder: This isn't a one size fits all. ALL emotions are good and help find your light. It does not diminsh your light whatsoever, it also encourages others to find their light by being closer to their emotions.
My review isn't victimhood like you discussed but a reality. We cannot put love into everything, or we will certainly burn out. We remove love once we remove emotion. We remove emotion once we believe we can't discuss these things.
June 3, 2019
Nice reassuring way of reminding me of some great simple things. From being kind and forgiving to myself to breathing and asking God to raise me above whenever I find myself struggling to deal with a terrible whiney person, this book helped me deal with some big issues and pains I am dealing with in my life. From weird stressful situations to grief and loss of a loved one, this is a great book to mark pages and read again just to pull me back to life's most important things. Highly appreciated.
May 8, 2025
SOOOO Much Light!
I cannot say enough about the tremendous wisdom this woman lives, loves and shares. I have experienced her kindness, her insights and this book is no different. It’s the only book that I’ve sent three copies out to Family and Friend.
It’s wisdom is so accessible. If you let Spirit guide you, you will open the book and the perfect message will be there for you today.
Sending love now out to Deb Engle. I know that it will swish through her and back out into the world and a graceful, loving and peaceful radiance of light.
I cannot say enough about the tremendous wisdom this woman lives, loves and shares. I have experienced her kindness, her insights and this book is no different. It’s the only book that I’ve sent three copies out to Family and Friend.
It’s wisdom is so accessible. If you let Spirit guide you, you will open the book and the perfect message will be there for you today.
Sending love now out to Deb Engle. I know that it will swish through her and back out into the world and a graceful, loving and peaceful radiance of light.
June 16, 2025
Quick review of Be The Light That You Are
This is the third book I have read from Mrs. Engle, so obviously, I like her work. What a wonderful attitude she carries with her. She radiates her energy through her writing, and I am a better person for reading her work. There's some real answers in her books ; or, more accurately, guidance to realize the truths and answers we can find in our own soul.
This is the third book I have read from Mrs. Engle, so obviously, I like her work. What a wonderful attitude she carries with her. She radiates her energy through her writing, and I am a better person for reading her work. There's some real answers in her books ; or, more accurately, guidance to realize the truths and answers we can find in our own soul.
January 3, 2021
This book was a wonderful way to kick off 2021. Although published in 2019, many of the book’s lessons were so applicable to the challenges of life in 2020. I found myself taking notes on a variety of topics, from relinquishing judgement, processing the death of a loved one and forgiveness. I wasn’t ready for the book to end as it was filled with so much wisdom. 💞
Read
June 11, 2020I feel inspired to build a stronger Self.
August 16, 2020
Beautiful and well written.
January 9, 2024
Not for me. I’m not into Course in Miracles type philosophy
April 27, 2024
I have a love hate relationship with this one. Parts of Debra's messages I resonate with, however, others I completely disagree with. This book definitely has me thinking though.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews