The Supreme Okay

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.