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Into one sentence, Spinoza
just about said it all!
Charles Fillmore later told us
that our individual contact with
God is in our mind, the God Mind
we share with everyone.
This morning in my prayertime
I had a tremendous realization
about this. One feeling that I
had was that, as I communed with
God, I was a centre connected to,
one with, all persons everywhere,
each one a centre of God
presence, intelligence, love, and
creative activity.
I realized that there are no
gaps in God's omnipresence, so I
was already and always absolutely
one with all persons, and in no
sense is there any separation.
So then I saw that what
Spinoza meant is that God is All
there is; each of us is a centre
of, instead of in, God's
omnipresence.
As the meditation went on, I
realized that this did not mean
that I am aware of everything
going on with everyone; each of
us has our own individual life.
The point is that there is no
basis for any sort of conflict
with anyone. Our reality is
God-oneness, perfect harmony.
Back to the beginning. Think
about this with me: a pragmatic
aspect of realizing connectedness
(in contrast to the absoluteness
of oneness) is the fact that we
are indeed very personally
involved with some of the many
God centres! I like to feel that,
in my daily meditations, I am
tuning into a sense of harmony
with every person I come in
contact with, even in what
appears only casual or trivial.
There are no trivial persons in
the world; therefore, there
really are no trivial
intersections!
The intention of being in tune
with the life process that brings
us into sharing experiences with
others is very significant, I
believe, because each of us fits
into the lives of others in
helpful and meaningful ways. The
prayertimes help us to transcend
the seemingness of our separation
as physical beings so we can be
mutually helpful to one another.
Perhaps this is the
opportunity I have been waiting
for. I have wanted to tell my
readers about my intersection
with a man I have named Turkeman.
Turkeman was riding on a bus in
Turkey on one of Rick Steves'
television shows on KCTS, the
Seattle PBS station. Rick has
been traveling around the world
for a good many years as a result
of the trips his parents took him
on.
It was a hot day as Turkeman
was riding on the bus. What I
experienced as I watched the show
has stayed with me vividly - and
importantly - for several years.
A man came through the bus and
poured a little water into the
hands of the passengers. When he
came to Turkeman, he had such an
expression on his face as he
cooled himself with the water,
and his face seemed so beautiful
and noble to me, that I have
never lost the vividness of this
intersection with a man I had no
physical contact with, but an
enormous spiritual one! What this
experience did to and for me is
the point of my story. I began to
practice a ritual of oneness with
Turkeman at the conclusion of
every time my wife and I played
golf. I would go into the men's
room, splash a little water on my
face, and commune with Turkeman
as EVERYMAN! I could see his
beautiful countenance, and I
thought of him as representing
every person in the world! I
would call him by name and ask
him to pray with me about a
certain prayer project I was
working with, and I told him I
would remember him and his family
in prayer. On succeeding days I
would thank him for his help, and
ask him how things were going
with his family.
Through the weeks and months,
this progressed to my asking him
to help me in my own
consciousness development, and I
have had a distinct sense of
receiving his spiritual help.
This ritual has given me the
sense of my oneness (and of our
oneness) with everyone
everywhere.
It is absolutely true that we
are all one. So it makes a lot of
sense to commune with everyone
every day instead of thinking
only a few persons are part of
our lives. Each of us plays a
part in the life of every other
person there is! Your
consciousness, and mine, is
contributing to the building of
the collective consciousness of
humanity.
Years and years ago Eric
Butterworth arrived for
Conference at Unity School with a
new song he had written, "A
Vision". The first stanza goes
like this:
In moments rare there comes to
me/ A vision unexpected,/ I
clearly see within my soul/ The
universe reflected,/ I am a part
of all that's good, I feel, I
know no limiti/ The God - in -
all stands forth so clear,/ No
fancied ills can dim it.
I think it is more than a
coincidence that quite an event
(for me!) happened on this "in
tune day." I was talking with a
friend in New Mexico, Lou
LoCicero, who, with her husband
Leo and their children, was very
close to us in the LaCrescenta,
California church from the mid
70's. We hadn't talked for weeks,
so we were in no hurry to end the
conversation. But at 12:15 I
suddenly looked at my watch and
realized the garage had told me
the car would be ready about
noon. So Lou and I hung up, and I
hastily called the garage: they
had just tried to call me, but
found my line busy . There was no
doubt in my mind that the
consciousness that had dominated
my day was working just the way
it should have!
Don
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