I have
described several instances where, smelling and observing the myriad life in
the muck of my wet-weather creek, I found myself making sense of me in light of
the commonness of this thing called “Life.” I simply had this feeling of
knowing what the indigenous peoples have known and trusted: Life is universal
and non-discriminatory. Native Americans, as well as Australian Aborigines and
others, understood that all things have life or spirit: animals, birds, fishes,
reptiles, trees, springs, rocks, winds, storms, and – of course – humankind.
But they also understood there was no hierarchy. No one form of life was
superior to another.
When I
truly sense that reality, I become immediately calm. My little spark – called
biological life – is no different (nor better than) any other form of
biological life. I’ll watch an ant. I don’t think he’s saying to himself: “I’m
tired of this. Why couldn’t I have been born a soldier ant instead of a worker
ant? Why couldn’t I have been born a butterfly – or a hummingbird?”
Then I’ll
talk to him, asking, “Are you even
vaguely aware of how upset I am?” “No? Don’t you care?” “No? Okay, maybe I
shouldn’t either. Thanks for listening.”
Maybe I’m
just a little off my rocker. But I feel calm. I feel peace. I feel at ease. And
I have grown to love those small, little moments. If only people could be as
non-judgmental as ants. Oops! That means I am seeing others as judgmental,
which means I am looking at them through my own judging eyes. “Mr. Ant! Where
are you?”
I recently read a passage in a book called “A New World If You Can Take It,” by Rev.
Michael J. Carter [Grave Distractions Publications, 2014]. He is a pastor of a
Unitarian Universalist congregation in Western North Carolina. In it he
discusses a redefinition of the word God. He begins to equate the word Change and the word Life as synonyms for the word God.
Carter writes (p. 51): “In short,
the words Life and God are interchangeable. Life will not punish or reward you.
Life is the process of change and growth and some would argue so is God. If our
life is a process of change, the words God, Change, and Life are all the same
thing.
”If these
concepts of God and life seem too impersonal, you are correct. Life is not
concerned with us individually, but we can use the energy of life at any time.
In this way, life becomes our greatest friend. You and I are life itself. We
can use this energy. How? Simply by using our thoughts intentionally. Remember
now that thoughts are things. What we focus on, we also create. Thought is just
another form of energy. We use the energy of life when we are thinking and
feeling. These thoughts and feelings can be applied in certain situations as
knowledge. This knowledge applied can be wisdom. We use this energy in the form
of prayer, contemplation, and meditation … by reading, witnessing and creating
art … by philosophy … by observing and spending time in nature. More
importantly, we tap into this energy by keeping our hearts, as well as our
minds, open to what comes our way by risking being vulnerable and saying “YES!”
to life ... You see, we are life/God itself.”
To really believe that about ourselves will
lead us also to believe that about all others we meet. To believe that about
all we meet leads us to begin believing that about all of humanity. To begin
believing that about all of humanity means we have begun morphing into a State
of Oneness, which, as A Course in Miracles (ACIM) states, is being in a state
of acceptance through proper perception to fulfill our Function here on Earth –
seeing all of us in all our actions as either performing acts of Love or calls
for Love. That is precisely how the Holy Spirit perceives each of us all the
time. There is no “Sin.” Only error. Ask for help from Spirit to change your
perception of people, situations or events – and be willing to change your mind!
– and then begin again.
Ask and be willing. That is the key. So many
times I have asked Spirit for help and nothing happened. When I became truly
honest with myself, I understood what was really going on.
I was asking but I was not willing.
I was asking for Spirit to fix my reality to
fit my preconceived perceptions. I was not asking Spirit to fix my preconceived
perceptions in order to see Reality truly.
Wow!
As I’ve
stated before, “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 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 Oct 2016
Copyright 2016
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