Recently we had a
whopper of a rainstorm – over 4 inches in about six hours, which is a lot for
our mountainous clay soil. In no time at all, our creek, fed by the forest
behind us, was swollen and raging from the above- and below-ground runoff. The
next morning, still rampaging, I went out to do some superficial clean-up in
case we got a call to show the house. I found ten-pound pieces of debris from
the Catoosa Wildlife Management Area which our property abuts. I found
basketball-sized river rock that was now 10 feet away from where they used to
be. I also found exposed creek critters.
I was, again, reminded of just how much life
there is in a creek. There are microscopic, few-celled, and larger (but still
very small) organisms there. There are also tadpoles, frogs, crayfish and ducks
that make this their home. There is organic muck that feeds small-celled plant
life and algae. The few-celled live off the microscopic plant life and single
celled organisms. Larger insects live off the few-celled. Tadpoles live of the
larvae of the larger insects. Frogs live off the insects and some of the
tadpoles. Ducks and crows eat the smaller frogs. It’s a natural cycle.
Life (with a capital “L”) was revered by all
indigenous cultures. All Life, including human, was respected. There was no
hierarchy of valued Life. Life was Life. Most called Life some form of
“Spirit.” Regardless, Life was eternal, revered, and respected. These
“primitive” people understood the natural cycle of Life and lived within that
cycle. They understood that Life was
eternal, simply changing its form as it migrated from death to rebirth to death
again: Insects to tadpoles to frogs to poop and carcass to plants and algae
to insects.…..
Life itself hadn’t gone anywhere. Only its form
had changed. I recognized that Truth all over again as I was in the creek. A
Course in Miracles (ACIM) considers this to be a significant learning exercise
for each of us – namely, to begin understanding the difference between form and content.
As Robert Perry describes in the Glossary of
Terms from A Course in Miracles [Circle Publishing, 2005]: Form and Content – “Two aspects possessed by things in this
world; the shape (form) something takes – the words, images, or behavior it is
clothed in – and the essential meaning (content) which that form is meant to
communicate. The ego disregards content, believing that the form is the
content, the form is the meaning…. It thinks that problems are matters
of form and that the solution lies in changing the form. The Holy Spirit sees
the form as neutral, as inherently meaningless and content-free. Because His
only concern is the content, He will adapt form to suit the need…. We must
realize that what will save us is not a change in form but a change in content
– a change in the meaning we see in things.”
To change the meaning I see in things, events,
situations, or people, I need the Holy Spirit. It is beyond my capability to forcefully
will myself – by myself – to see things with the meaning seen by the Holy
Spirit. As I wrote in my book, How the
Bible became the Bible [Infinity Publishing, 2007, ISBN 978-007414-2993-3],
much of the biblical writings are attempts by people as they tried to describe
the power of God or their transformation via Jesus using very inadequate human
words. Many now believe the Truth of only the words, themselves, rather than
identifying with the transformations that have occurred in their own lives –
which is beyond description or explanation. In short, biblical literalists are
relying on the written form [words] of scripture rather than the content [their
own and the writers’ transformations].
From the Text of ACIM [14.X.7-8]: 7. The only
judgment involved is the … division into two categories; one of love, and the
other the call for love. [This
requires the Holy Spirit because] You
cannot safely make this division, for you are much too confused either to
recognize love, or to believe that everything else is nothing but a call for
love. You are too bound to form, and not to content. What you consider content
is not content at all. It is merely form, and nothing else. For you do not
respond to what a brother really offers you, but only to [your] particular perception of his offering by
which the ego judges it.
8. The ego is incapable of understanding content, and
is totally unconcerned with it. To the ego, if the form is acceptable the
content must be. Otherwise it will attack the form. If you believe you
understand something of the "dynamics" of the ego, let me assure you
that you understand nothing of it. For of yourself you could not understand it.
The study of the ego is not the study of the mind. In fact, the ego enjoys
studying itself, and thoroughly approves the undertakings of students who would
"analyze" it, thus approving its importance. Yet they but study form
with meaningless content.…
The cycle of Life: Dead insects and plant life
to soil to vegetation to deer to me and, eventually, back to soil again. Life doesn’t
stop. Its content is eternal. It simply changes its form. I need this constant
reminder from nature to help me stay on track. Perhaps, some day, I will be
able to discern my reliance on form rather than content without the prodding of
natural cycles. Perhaps I will be able to routinely ask the Holy Spirit to help
me see things as either an act of Love or a call for Love.
As I stated last week, “I have to understand,
on a visceral level, who the “Me” or “I” really is when I am speaking or
thinking. The “I” that says to myself, “I really need a newer, more reliable
car” is a different “I” than the one that says to my Holy Spirit, “I can’t do
this anymore. Help me perceive things the way You see them.”
Although
these messages are mostly for me, thanks for listening to me and getting to
know me – warts and all. As always, feel free to forward this message to your
friends, family, and those accompanying you on your spiritual journey.
Don
#3 May 2016
Copyright 2016
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