In my lesson this past Sunday at Unity Spiritual Center
Denver, I opened by sharing the story about a little boy who goes in search of
God and experiences God in his connection with a woman he meets on a park
bench. They share smiles and laughter while eating Twinkies and drinking root
beer. I have included a link below to a video on YouTube that depicts the story
with a slightly different telling. You may also listen to the recording of my
lesson here.
In my post on July 5, I invited and encouraged us to
take some time to reexamine our concept of God. I shared that I had set an
intention for myself to do that as well. I am pleased to report that I did take
some time while on vacation in the mountains to reflect upon my concept of God.
I hesitate to admit this in a public forum, but in my quiet
contemplation time, I realized that my encouragement for you to reexamine your
concept of God was so that you could “wake up” and come to share my concept of God. I know! What
arrogance!
When I realized that I have been holding to concepts of God
that I have taken on and thoughts about God that have become my “religion,” I
laughed and cried. I laughed at the absurdity of thinking that I can possibly
know all there is to know about the Infinite. I cried at the sweetness and
freedom I felt as I released my need to think I know.
Through my laughter and tears, I surrendered and I cried out,
“God/Universe/Infinite Mind/Spirit reveal yourself to me. Show me. Tell me.
Speak to me.” And, in the silence I heard,
I am every thought you think.
I am every breath you take.
I am every beat of your heart.
I am the life that lives as you.
I am the All that lives as all you see.
I am the All that lives as all you do not see.
I am the tree.
I am the beetle that feeds on the tree.
I am the mountain.
I am the fire.
I am the bird.
I am the mosquito.
I am the wind.
I am the wave.
I am every breath you take.
I am every beat of your heart.
I am the life that lives as you.
I am the All that lives as all you see.
I am the All that lives as all you do not see.
I am the tree.
I am the beetle that feeds on the tree.
I am the mountain.
I am the fire.
I am the bird.
I am the mosquito.
I am the wind.
I am the wave.
I was also reminded of the following quotes.
“There is no spot where God is not.” – Origin unknown
“God is an infinite circle whose center is everywhere and
whose circumference is nowhere.” – Attributed to Voltaire
“He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold
together.” – Colossians 1:17
“Where can I go from your
spirit?
Or where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
If I take the wings of the morning
and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light around me become night,”
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day,
for darkness is as light to you.” – Psalm 139: 7-12
Or where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
If I take the wings of the morning
and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light around me become night,”
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day,
for darkness is as light to you.” – Psalm 139: 7-12
In my listening, I was
reminded that there is no duality in God. Duality only exists in a mind that
believes it is separate, a mind that judges. A mind that believes in duality is
a mind that suffers.
All of this was a calm
and gentle reminder that God is Omnipresence. There is nothing that and no one
who can be excluded from the Divine.
Each aspect of God
vibrates at a unique frequency, and because we are given the gift of freewill,
we can choose to align with any aspect in every moment. We are so free that we
can even choose bondage to old outdated ideas and concepts about God, concepts
that may limit our experience of God, ourselves, each other and the world
around us.
We also have the freedom
and power to release ourselves from that bondage and open to a new, empowering,
and evolving understanding about God, our relationship to God, to each other
and to all creation.
Over the next few weeks,
I will share in this forum and in my Sunday lessons some of the beliefs I have
held about God and the new revelations that have arisen and are now arising as
I continue exploring God for myself. I am calling this series, “Myth
Busters.”
My first lesson in the series is “Myth
– God is in control.” Did that trigger anyone? I encourage you to let
it go and be open to hearing your own expanded concept of God, from God, as we
explore and bust this myth. Join us on Sunday at 10:00.
I appreciate your vulnerability and ability to write so I can take these ideas into my times of reflection. Indeed, as I travel my spiritual path, it is a process of "evolving understanding", spiritual in nature, yet organic in its manifestation, as it unfolds in my life experience. I find that as I remain consciously open to and aware of "my world" in all of its many aspects, my evolving understanding of the breadth and height and depth of God as omnipresence, omniscience and omnipotence expands. Yet, as there is a sense of expansion in my "outer view", there is also a sense of inner and personal deepening of who and what I am....all of it a part of the whole. In the quiet, still moments as well as in the joyously expressing moments AND in the moments that are the most difficult and challenging (probably the most significant because of the opportunity for a return to wholeness) I can be willing, even surrender to the knowing that I AM THAT I AM - God in the midst of it all.
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