Gazing in the Mirror

April 17 - The More Things Change . . .

The more things change,
the more they are the same.
~ Alphonse Karr

It is only as we allow
the Divine current to flow
through us on and out,
that we really express life.
~ Ernest Holmes

Things have changed a LOT, yes ?  Typically, things do not seem to change very much, do they ? I came across some thoughts I expressed in some writings from 2008.  As I post and update this essay it is 2020. I always find these encounters with my old writings interesting. In 2013, I was revisiting a discussion thread that a friend of mine started and noticed how much was still the same in her thinking as it was then. I commented about the "slow" nature of Life unfolding to which she replied that "I realize that in some ways I've made phenomenal changes and in other ways am still working with some of the same issues". So it is with these words. In one sense I feel that I have so expanded and broadened my understandings that I am in a far different place now than I was then. Until I read something like this old snippet, I am surprised to find it still expresses the best of my understandings.

I'll share the one I'm writing about here with you now. It comes from the book 365 Science of Mind by Ernest Holmes for this date – April 17th – "Our activity of thought is actually a Divine compulsion of the One Mind in us seeking an ever-increasing achievement and expression through us. The forms and outlets for this self-conscious process of thought, which appear as a unique creation of life in man, may manifest in many ways. We each interpret and use the urge for greater expression. For some, the fulfillment of this inner drive may be found in a new home, increased business activity, or better health, as well as in the desire for greater spiritual awareness."

Continuing those thoughts – ". . . All of these desires are urges of the indwelling Intelligence, and we can either combat the urges we feel or we can give them expression. The choice is ours to make. But we cannot stand still. We have to continue to express this action of Life within us because creativity is our Divine Essence." And once again revisiting this today I noticed its conclusion – "Our lives and experiences may well be likened to a river. If we stand on the bank of a river and watch it flow by, we become aware that the river seems as though it never changes; but that its content (and I note – the water and debris flowing by) is always 'new'. By analogy, we might say the purposeful dynamic quality of the life force within us never changes, but the content of our personal experiences in living never remains the same."

The funny thing is that when I reviewed this essay in 2013, I somehow mis-attributed the 365 Science of Mind thoughts as my own. A year later, I discovered my error in re-reading and editing this essay. The quotes above not mine but Ernest Holmes thoughts. There was definitely a "river theme" in the various contributions within my old Living Metaphysics community's Daily Guides on this April 17th date. Resonating similarly with me were these thoughts shared by the writer Gail Manishor RScP (a Religious Science Practitioner) in a Daily Guide written for the Science of Mind magazine in 2009. Students of Abraham-Hicks will readily recognize it – "In Esther and Jerry Hick's book, The Astonishing Power of Emotions, there is a description of seeing yourself in a canoe on a river. Instead of pointing your canoe upriver and fighting the current, turn your canoe around and go with the flow. You go with the flow by allowing yourself to go where you are intended to go". My own perspective is that 'the river' is the flow of Life itself through time and space. And that my embodiment is that canoe. The Spirit of Life itself sustains and upholds me at all times for I am an expression of It in material form.

My friend, Judi, and I have both had river analogies on our minds in the past.  My family usually goes on an annual 3 day, 2 night canoe float in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways (though due to the pandemic, not this year, and we all miss it dearly). The Science of Mind textbook on page 274 reminds us – "Treatment is not for the purpose of making things happen; it is to provide, within ourselves, an avenue through which they may happen". We do not change ultimate reality but since the Oneness expresses itself in a multitude of forms we have the capability of consciously aligning ourselves with the "parts" that appeal to us the most for we are always shifting through "parts" within the wholeness. In our expression there may be many "parts" that we need to experience. In our core essence that is fully connected to wholeness Adyashanti says in his book Emptiness Dancing – "you realize you cannot avoid any part of your experience". So the experiences come and how we respond to them remains our choice.

Truth is there is no ultimate spiritual destination. We are on a journey. And we are in form and that form is constantly changing and eventually the dimension we "find" ourselves inhabiting will change. I personally believe that the Law of the Conservation of Energy applies to my "spiritual" self and therefore I do believe that my self-awareness or self-consciousness will "go" somewhere. Perhaps all it will do is re-merge with the ocean of consciousness. Something that many of us who have some spiritual awareness "practice" while still embodied. Awakening or enlightenment really simply implies that we are again confident of what we've "known" all along even if we temporarily "forgot" due to being confused by societal programming for some period of time.

~ perspective

There is no ideology that
reality fits into for life is
beyond conception and is
the deepest of mysteries.
I realize that I am already
complete and good enough
and that I am not who anyone
else seems to think I am
because even I, who is as
close to It as I am, can't
define It for you.
I know I don't know everything
and I know that I could be
wrong about anything and in
that spirit of humility I
approach as close to Truth
as I am able to understand it.
Some define the material world
as an illusion but I don't find
that quite accurate even though
to a large extent whatever we
believe has a collective agreement
upholding and supporting it.
My willingness makes a difference
between surrendering to despair
or actualizing whatever potential
for manifestation is inherent
in the creativity within me.

#canoe #ease #flow #journey #oneness #past #resistance #river #thought #understanding