Dear Reader:
“When time comes for us to again rejoin the infinite stream of water flowing to and from the great timeless ocean, our little droplet of soulful water will once again flow with the endless stream.” –William E. Marks
I don’t know about you…but I think about the conundrum between individuality and plurality, in a spiritual sense, pretty often. It is an endless puzzle that I can’t seem to find the piece for… to answer my questions and thoughts.
I do believe that we are part of something bigger than even our active imaginations can create. I, also, believe that each of us is an equally important part of the puzzle and the puzzle would remain incomplete without our existence. (And that one day “our little droplet of soulful water will once again flow with the endless stream.” )
Will my piece of the puzzle be complete when I “flow with the endless stream?” I don’t know. I hope so…but I am not sure, exactly, what my piece should look like.
These days I am more interested in finding inner “peace” than becoming another piece. I have finally realized that inner peace is about as close as we can get to understanding eternity and our place in it. (The feeling that we are one with the universe, one with our Creator.) It is an amazing feeling and one I wish I could maintain permanently…but I am not sure that objective is obtainable on this side of the veil. We get only glimpses of a perfect world where unconditional love reigns.
I read a story the other day from Huffington Post that brought together some of these questions I have had and gave it new light…mainly the connection between one person’s inner peace and its affect on the universe. The story went like this: (Source-Huffington Post – Alan Briskin) ” A Taoist Parable”
During a time of great drought, a Taoist master was asked by members of a village if he could help bring rain to their dry fields. They confessed trying many other approaches before reaching out to him, but with no success.
The master agreed to come and asked for a small hut with a garden that he could tend. For three days, he tended the garden, performing no special rituals or asking anything further from the villagers. On the fourth day, rain began to fall on the parched earth.
When asked how he had achieved such a miracle, the master answered that he was not responsible for the rain. However, he explained, when he came to the village, he had sensed disharmony within himself. Each day, as he tended the garden, he returned a little more to himself. When he returned to balance, the rain came naturally.
………………………..
This parable is not a normal cause and effect example…it is not supposed to be…and it is not necessarily saying that if we get “Right with God” the rain will fall on an individual request basis. (I’ve tried it…doesn’t work…at least for me)
But it does bring us back to my original question: Does our spiritual individuality affect the rest of the people on Earth/Universe or even the laws of nature?
Carl Jung thought so. He believed in synchronicity…“a principle based on the concept that our personal attitudes are inseparable from events taking place in the world.” Jung said that our “personal consciousness connects us to a collective unconscious that gives us access to the rhythms of a larger universe.”
Maybe Sonny and Cher were right when they sang ” And The Beat Goes On” and we discover we only have “access” when we, too, sense our own disharmony and give back to the universe creating a balance between it and ourselves.
The nice thing about being around little children is that they naturally flow with the harmony of their world…through the curiosity of all it contains. Jakie is “smooth operator’ when it comes to keeping with the rhythm of life. This child loves to dance.
Jakie is, also, my nature child…a great observer of nature and people which results in some of the sweetest and funniest moments.
Jakie first observed the herons and egrets from the back screened porch and begged me to take him “outshide” yesterday…so we were off. Jakie got as close to one of his “burds” as humanly possible.
In one neighbor’s yard I had to do a double-take…I thought a real turkey was in the yard until Jakie and I got closer…he didn’t seem too sure himself but he kept a smile on his face and bravely petted the turkey (with no adverse effects) giggling “Gobble.”
For better and worse…we adults need to demonstrate the right actions in front of little children because they will imitate our actions…Thank goodness for John…Jakie imitated his dad wiping dew off my car, and cutting the grass for dad with his lawnmower.
Back at you Jakie…I had fun! Stay healthy for Thanksgiving at W.T. and B.B.’s house!
Right across from Mandy and John’s corner is a Wakendaw East sign. For two days a neighbor (down the street) worked on re-painting their sign to make it fresh and appealing for people driving, walking. or even riding their bikes by. He uses his retirement and talent time to keep all the street signs in Wakendaw looking updated at their best. What an act of kindness!
So until tomorrow…Father show us the way and then give us a nudge when we lose direction.
“Today is my favorite day!” Winnie the Pooh
*Today I am meeting Brooke in Walterboro and we are off to Columbia to spend birthday time with our Ya…Jackson. We are all looking so forward to being together again!
Happy Birthday Jackson and Happy Thanksgiving! We are thankful it is this year and not last (Jackson lost her home in the 1000 Year Flood) and we are all here together for you and another celebration of life!
ichaseferalcats
John Turner
Legally Ohm
Becky Dingle