The integrity of liberation psychology requires that we reconcile the paradox of paying the price and reaping the reward. As we have noted, the cost usually precedes the gain in the psychological realm. Instant gratification is more the potential of the physical world. Pleasure of the body is quicker to gratify than pleasure of the soul. Both realms, however, are paradoxical and both need to have reconciliation of the paradox. Today we are addressing the reconciliation of reaping and sowing.

Paying the price of diligence, commitment, discipline, accountability and firmness is a necessity for liberation, but so is reaping the rewards of this effort. Otherwise, it's like an alternator that malfunctions, and the battery is drained but never re-charged. Reaping gives us the relief from always putting out effort, the joy of experiencing the sense of self-satisfaction and well-being that comes from journeying with integrity and the intimacy with ourselves that it brings. Reaping allows us to inhale and let the warmth of our efforts circulate through our whole being.

Our body responds with a relaxed feeling of taking in the beauty of a sunrise, our spirit lightens and skips a beat, our heart sings and our spirit can soar. The paradox of body and soul is reconciled in a oneness with the reaping from what we have sown. Hard has yielded to soft, difficult has yielded to worth it, and we are grateful within and smiling without. Regenerated, we can keep on keeping on. The cycle is infinite, sow and reap, reap and sow, expend and receive, the fairness of it maintains the momentum. We must never underestimate the power of reaping, and we must never take it lightly. Treasure it and appreciate it. It is the source of hope and the meaning of life.