Sacred Time

It is the middle of the night and, as I do every night, I have gotten out of bed for a period of prayer and meditation. It is during this two hour block of time that I "sift" through the activities of the previous day and my spiritual quotes seeking inspiration, which I then write about in this blog. Before writing I go through the previous day looking for activities or feelings that jump out at me. Today’s most prominent event of today was a few seconds when my eyes locked with the eyes of a baby we were visiting. She was taking note and probing me while I was blessing her, an intense and memorable few seconds. "When a peaceful silence lay over all, and the night had run half of her swift course, down from the heavens, from the royal throne, leapt your all powerful word." the book of Wisdom 18:14, 15

Gratitude

This evening I was hit with a wave of gratitude while putting away our cleaned dishes in preparation for making dinner. I had just rested having exhausted myself by scrubbing a smallish portion of the deck in the rear of our house. Scrubbing the deck will probably take me an hour or two a day (all I can manage!) for about five days, remembering that all tasks take three to five times the time normally required. Maria was in the basement continuing some repair work on one of our closets. We were each doing what we could in our own ways. My gratitude was because we make a good team and it could be so much worse.

My Plan

The spirits at Arlington National Cemetery are a diverse group of various ages, races, experiential backgrounds and both sexes at the time of death. I cannot possibly understand the differences but I can respect and love them. I can and will transmit to them that "very strong feeling or knowing of a Presence together with a very powerful feeling of unconditional Love and extreme peace", which I wrote of yesterday. I will also transmit my three questions ("Would I do this in front of God [or whatever you call the power or force behind the Universe]?; Is my name really on it [or is it really my responsibility]?; Will this increase the integrity of the universe [or is this action motivated by love, rather than fear, acting out of love always increases the integrity of the universe]) and ask that they, in turn, influence the living with these simple but powerful feelings. The specifics will vary according to the diversity — which is just fine.

Near-Death-Experience

When I had my Near-Death-Experience back in 2006 I was told "this is what it feels like to be dead". That feeling was a very strong feeling or knowing of a Presence together with a very powerful feeling of unconditional Love and extreme peace. My initial thought was that everyone would feel that when they died but then I quickly had the understanding that would be my experience and others would have something different. That feeling was available to all but what happened depended on the person’s experiences and beliefs. I planed to transmit that feeling and knowing to the spirits at Arlington Cemetery, but now understand that "It’s not that simple". I need to meditate on that. According to the Thomas gospel Jesus said, "I am the light which is before all things. It is I who am all things. From me all things came forth, and to me all things extend. Split a piece of wood, and I am there; lift up the stone, and you will find me."

Mystical contact

I commented yesterday that "My contact with the unseen, particularly spirits, has impacted me profoundly." That contact or awareness results in everything having greater depth, reality, purity and love. Working in the garden, cooking or even cleaning the toilet becomes a rich experience. I would like to pass that along to others. "To the mystic he [God] becomes real in the same sense that experienced beauty is real, or the feel of spring is real, or that summer sunlight is real — he has been found, he has been met, he is present." (Rufus Jones)

Ministry

As I was removing onion grass, a common weed, from my garden it occurred to me that, for the spirits at Arlington Cemetery, I could serve as an clear example of how spirits could impact the behavior of living humans, giving them a definite example and reference point. My contact with the unseen, particularly spirits, has impacted me profoundly. Rufus Jones points out that "God must have an instrument — an organ is perhaps a better word — for the revelation of His love and tenderness, just as his physical energies must have their coordinator and transmitter." I am honored to fill such a role. "When I shake myself awake and find that I have been doing that, [forgetting the need and importance of being a transmitter] I am always humbled and made heartily ashamed, for the one really big business in this world or in any world is the business of being a coordinator, a transmitter, of the love of God, the love of God revealed in a man like us."