I stood in my closet and surveyed my clothing options. As
always, at this time of the year, I wear shorts. The sweltering weather
squeezes the life out of everything, so I dress in the coolest clothes
possible. My two books were complete and my trip to Charleston was
delayed due to the hurricane. The day leisurely stretched before me and
even though I had several maintenance tasks planned, I wanted the exuberance of living
to tap me on the shoulder and lead me into a new
adventure. I was ready for the promised land of life. As I rummaged
through a neatly stacked assortment of shorts, I uttered a prayer. I
believe there's always a preferred path of doing, and I ask frequently
for guidance to that path. I asked “What would you have me do?” Almost
immediately I realized I was asking for some important task to fill each
moment and wanted that task to bestow meaning and purpose on the day.
Cleaning my bedroom would only take a few minutes. I would complete that
task
and then follow the direction of spirit. After making the bed, I could
do the real work.
Immediately, my heart overflowed with joy. I felt unending peace. I
was filled with a voiceless burst of knowing that it didn't matter what I
did. All I needed to do in any endeavor was to be present and aware.
There was no secret plan of doing; there were no special tasks that
would make life right. Meaning and purpose exist regardless of the task,
and I take meaning and purpose to the task. It’s not the other way around; the task itself creates no meaning.
What
relief; I wasn't missing some necessary secret formula for happiness
that could only be found through some mysterious magical mission. All I ever had to do was bring love and presence into every action, thought, and deed.
I cleaned up the bedroom, no longer thinking of the activity as
meaningless. I was filled with wonder as the sunlight danced on the
floor, and I marveled at the ingenuity and craftsmanship of my dresser. The need to be important and do important things vanished and took with it the relentless burden of effort.
I stood in the presence of completeness, wholeness. I was in and of
spirit. Invisible Presence stood with me. All dimensions of life
supported a Reality of
which I was an integral part. Time dissolved as I embodied life and
rested in Life’s deep pleasure. I was home again.
I know that Radical Presence brings meaning and fulfillment to each
moment, but that knowing becomes an intellectual knowing rather than an
actual realization. It seems like a cat-and-mouse game of forgetting and
remembering. How could I forget that each instant is imbued with
optimum Okayness? But I do forget, more times than I can remember.
In 1997 I had an awakening to the Supreme Okayness that lasted
several years. It was such an all-encompassing knowing that I closed my
spiritual center, Connection, and embarked on a journey to discover how
to live when I wasn't chasing enlightenment or trying to improve myself.
I was already who and what I wanted to be and I didn’t have to study in
order to fix life nor did I have to discover myself. I was free to
enjoy life. As the years passed, the light of knowing dimmed and
brightened
and life became a series of waking up, going to sleep, and reawakening.
While being asleep can have its moments—after all, the ego’s circus
is alluring and can be quite entertaining—nothing can compare to the
sheer joy of awakening to Presence. Maybe at some Divine level we
purposely arrange to go to sleep so we can experience the joy of
re-emergence into the sacred. Are we like kids who thrill to the ride of
a Ferris wheel or a roller coaster? After all, waking up is the
consummate spiritual ride and we love it.
All this conjecture is to say, “Make it easy on yourself.” The next
time you fall off the spiritual wagon, never fear: at some point you
will unexpectedly fall back into the truth of your being. The inner
alarm is set to go off intermittently and you won’t be left to your
slumber too long. Once you venture onto the path of your Being, you will
never be alone again. You will be guarded and guided as you explore the
vast unknown. We all need help. We are Infinite Beings squeezed into a
finite
living space – the body. It’s a tricky situation, but we are safe. The
Supreme Okayness reigns in every situation. Get used to it. You can’t
escape it. Your only assignment is to count on it, and, when you do, you
will always find that life is EZier and EZier.
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
Friday, October 7, 2016
Affirmation, Inspiration, and Vision
"The universe flows in perfect orchestrated harmony. That flow provides a moment-to-moment individual plan for my life. The plan is already active. When I rest in the stillness, my plan reveals itself. I am pursued and captured by divine impulse and that impulse creates right activity and perfect timing. It is so and I am so blessed."
-- Anne Sermons Gillis
"The mind paralyzes; the heart realizes. The mind intellectualizes; the heart experiences. The mind dictates; the heart allows. The mind dictates; the heart allows. The mind rebels; the heart consoles. The mind narrows; the heart illuminates.” (All references to the mind refer to the “egoic mind.")
-- Anne Sermons Gillis
"Since the mind has no way of knowing how the Universal Law (aka GUS God/Universe/Spirit) is going to deliver your miracle, don't just waste time trying to figure it out; just know! Your thoughts should be like acorns that develop gradually into oaks. If you dig them up to see how things are going, your tree will perish. It's important to avoid fretting. Center on the feeling that someway, somehow, the Universal Law will not let you down because everything in the universe is energy."
-- Stuart Wilde
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