What are you worth? It seems to me that this is a very fundamental question: I first asked this question at a fundraiser for Dorothy's Place, speaking to a group of rather well-to-do-folks who attended the Basilica of Carmel Mission... one woman looked up at me as if I had just slapped her...
When I repeated the question, "What are you worth?", another woman caught my drift and shouted out, "I am worth the best!" Exactly, I said! In other words, "You are worth loving: being love, and giving and receiving love. Is that right?" At that moment, everyone got on board with my thinking and presentation... To this day, I believe that most of us operate in life under "false identifications", and again, most of us are unaware of exactly who we are... The more unaware we are the more likely it is that we are loud and boisterous as to our perceived identity: "I am such-and-such person"... And yet, to be frank, you are not: not unless you have correctly identified yourself as Unlimited Love! Perhaps you are thinking that that would be a pretty weird name: perhaps a name found in a long-lost hippie commune... Only on a "conditioning" level are we "Bob", "Stephanie", or "Miriam": we are not who we think we are, nor are we the determined projections of parents, family, peers, society, etc. You see, going way, way back: before there was anything but the Possibility of Consciousness: there was the Divine First Thought: "What if?" This "What if?" provoked a Second Thought: "Why not?" Sort of like an immovable object being hit by an unstoppable force: not a "Big Bang", but an incredibly enthusiastic "Oh yeah!" The Possibility of Consciousness: thought... answered, and implemented that thought: and wah-la: here we are... thinking we are "Pedro", "Maxi", and "Cosmos"... We are made of stars: atoms that took form with the Implementation of Divine Possibilities are within each of us right now! Everything that exists on any and every "level" is saturated with Original Star Shine: so forget that poop about "original sin": you are Original Star Shine! A story...There once was a thoughtful Emperor who wished to determine the wisest from between the Taoist sages and the newly arrived Sufi dervishes. So the Emperor gathered both groups in his Royal Hall, pointed to the opposite walls and challenged them with, "The wisest I will determine to be the ones who paint the most splendid mural! You shall share in the wealth of my land!" Three months go by, and the Emperor is determined to pick the winner. He instructs the removal of the curtains dividing the room each from the other: the Taoists had painted a magnificent landscape with stunning vistas and waterfalls... and on the opposite side, there was the exact same masterpiece painting! How, indeed, could that be!? The Sufi dervishes had simply followed their Path of Remembrance and had constructed a ceiling to floor mirror to perfectly reflect the Taoist masterpiece! Astonished, the Emperor pronounced the Sufis the winners... [Clapping one another on the back, all the Taoists and Sufis both snuck away from the Emperor by hiding in the Kitchen and joining the working staff...] Each of our "false identifications" fall away as we come to remember -- and reflect back upon the world -- our Divine Secret: We are That! "We were created by Love, for Love, to become Love." (Simone Weil) We live, move, think, work, play, sex, and everything else as "Mirrors" of the Divine: the One Love Consciousness: when we think that we are "George" or "Ali" we might try to kill one another: when we think we are "male" we probably try to control and dominate "female": when we think that we are "saved" we might judge as "unsaved" anyone not like us: when we are "afraid" we might react to drive away or out the refugee and the immigrant... and on and on... But as "Mirrors of the Divine", we steadily learn how to "reflect" back the Face of Divinity upon everyone we meet. This is the great mystic secret: the Divine has no eyes, no hands, no feet, and no ears but ours: We were created so the Divine could "discover" -- see -- Itself through our eyes and love through our loving compassion! No longer a crowd of "false identifications", we can become free to "be love now"...
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AuthorRobert Daniel Smith was privileged to serve the homeless and marginalized for 30 years in California. He is living now almost within shouting distance of the Twin Cities. He is a poet, artist, writer, and long-time Companion of the Way still dreaming... Archives
May 2022
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