Guiding Thought

Knowing the essence of All as my Self, I respect and revere All Life. I love my Self; I love All Life. I bring this Love regularly, sincerely, and thankfully to all my activities and interactions. I now Know the Peace inherent in Oneness. I Know All as my Self. I Know my Self as Love.

Reflection

Sometimes when I think, “All Life”, my mind thinks about the cosmos, all the planets, dust, black holes, and “stuff” out there. Sometimes when I think “All Life”, I think about the cells in my body, the processes that keep my heart pounding, my cells fed, my joints lubricated. Sometimes when I think about “All Life”, I think about protons, electrons, atoms, sub-atomic particles, waves, sounds, energies, vibrations.

What is Life, after all, but the everything and its interconnectedness? If it were not for that stardust, my cells, hormones, and dna, all of the particles that make up “me”, I would not exist.

When thinking about any of these different ideas of “Life”, I feel awed and amazed. I am here! I am in this! How amazing is that?

But mostly, when I think “All Life”, my mind goes right to nature. Beautiful, beautiful nature. Beautiful, beautiful earth.

There is nothing like being in nature to remind me of my connection with All Life. There is nothing like tuning in to the beauty, the stillness, and the activity of nature to be reminded that all of my personal traumas, disturbances, and petty worries are negligible.

I took a walk at lunch today and tuned in. there is a marsh/stream right out back. I go there regularly. Turtles hang out on logs in the water (stillness). Chipmunks scamper across my path (activity). The trees wave gently in the wind (beauty). Sometimes I can hear the trees sing. Sometimes I can feel the Life within everything surrounding me. Sometimes I Know myself as the stillness, the activity, the trees, the birds, the song of nature.

Today, I did not feel those things, though my mind was calmed and stilled as I connected with the turtles.

I was also gifted with the activity of beavers. I have yet to see a beaver, but I see their evidence. It’s these moments, these gifts–the small things that require noticing to appreciate–that I understand how dependent “I” am on All, and how I must love and respect All of Life, for its Being.