by John Gray
Opening Music: Amaze Amaze Amaze [from “Project Hail Mary” – Original Motion Picture Score]
John Gray: The Artemis II manned mission around the moon earlier this month reminded many citizens of planet Earth of the exquisite beauty of our home among the stars. From the lunar perspective, the “blue marble,” the physical globe, appears suspended in blackness. But that is only how it seems to human consciousness. There is so much light we do not see! The substance of the solar and galactic contexts, not to mention the cosmic, reveal the truth of the oneness of all that is. The whole universe lives. We are not in the dark.
Meanwhile, here on the planetary surface, people search for meaning and worth, most ignorant that these are our true birthrights. Humanity, and thus all life forms on the planet, are homeless. We may remember the two Greek roots of the English word “nostalgia” combine to mean homesickness. Inspired poet David Whyte wrote, “Nostalgia is not an immersion in the past. Nostalgia is the first annunciation that the past as we know it is coming to an end.” For lots of people, it seems nostalgia is more popular than ever—longing for the good old days, forgetting that for the most part they never really were that good. The past as we know it is indeed coming to an end. This was foretold in the Book of Revelation: “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.” (Rev. 21:4)
The “I” who makes all things new is, of course, the individual Creator-Being and the Creator-collective we and many more compose together. We are the “I” in the raging storm of human confusion aswirl around us. We’re very aware of the intensifying superficial cyclone in the mind-made world, but gathered together in my name, we know and are the one whose name I AM, and we are unmoved by externals. Especially in these times, let’s not concern ourselves much with where we’re going, but keep our focus on where we’re coming from. As Zen master Pema Chodron said, “Remember, you are the sky; everything else is just the weather.”
Speaking of weather, these days many of us have cloud access through our phones and computers. I understand, in simple terms, that cloud computing means storing and accessing data and programs over the Internet instead of our hard drives. It’s a bit of a stretch, but I like the implied metaphor here. In various places in the Bible, there’s reference to a cloud of glory, a pneumaplasmic reality that is evidence of transcendent divine Presence. If the living computers of our bodies, hearts, and minds access this true cloud instead of relying on our limited mental hard drives, these capacities are permeated and uplifted by the power of spirit, and united, merged, with the source of all knowledge and wisdom. “Behold, I make all things new.”
“For where two or three, [or about 60, like today] are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Mat. 18:20) In my name signifies “in my identity.” It also means “in my cloud of glory.” Creator-Being identity is focused at the crossover point where spiritual and material blend. Heaven and earth are a single continuum of manifestation, not two separate things, as many imagine. We’re not two entities. We are spirit, manifesting materially. The Master Jesus said and demonstrated, “I and my Father are one.” (John 10:30) In this consciousness of Being, I am in heaven on earth, deeply at home.
Meanwhile, back in the dark, we see that a predominant characteristic of people in leadership positions in the man-made world is hubris, a highly arrogant form of extreme egotism. I looked up hubris and found this list of its typical symptoms: 1. extreme overconfidence, 2. dismissive of advice, 3. disregard for rules, 4. isolation, and 5. lack of remorse. Rather descriptive of the current diabolical state of affairs, eh?
“We don’t see things as they are. We see things as we are.” This quote is most famously attributed to author Anais Nin. It is so true! A person’s actual experienced identity determines the way everything looks. Self-centered people interpret everything in self-centered ways and assume everyone else is self-centered too. The good news is this fact keeps those who serve divine purpose on earth pretty much out of view, thankfully.
One of America’s founding fathers and the fourth president of the United States, James Madison, wrote, “If men were angels, then no government would be necessary.” A few decades later in his first inaugural address, Abraham Lincoln spoke of “better angels” in a context generally thought to refer only to the United States of America: “The mystic chords of memory…will yet swell the course of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.” I like to think this inspired man also had in his heart an inkling of a far more significant union: the re-union of God and man. In any case, I think he intuited that it was essential to preserve the national union so it could later serve as a primary setting for what was to come in the next century and now.
We recognize that although the master’s disciples and responding ones didn’t follow all the way through with him back when they had the chance, the way of restoration was opened then and is open wider today. Words attributed to the Lord of Lords when he was present in human form are just as true and meaningful now as ever. “And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put in his own power. But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you….” (Acts 1:7-8) Although it is not for us to know the times or the seasons, we may well perceive that now is the culminating time when the past as we’ve known it is coming to an end and all things are being made new. Our pneumaplasmic generations contribute to the new heaven which inevitably causes the new earth to appear. The power for the latter to occur comes through the substance of the Holy Ghost generated in our minds and hearts individually and together.
Let those of us participating in this live Zoom call, now, do something together. Let’s devote a few moments to looking, one by one, at each of the 60 or so facial images on our computer screens and at the array of all of us together. If not permanently, just for now let’s let our human associations, past and present, fade into the background. Let us accept each and every image as being an evidence of the presence of a fellow Creator-Being. We here are an assemblage of Creators, part of a large body of Creators on earth. Beholding one another in this true way, we feel the love current that joins us. We feel it intensify. We love one another, as the Lord of Love instructed. We do not have to try to do this. Letting what prevents this true experience just fall away, we know that we’ve always loved one another, in and as a transcendent body of Creators. Without needing to be asked to do so, we hold each and all in Attunement and experience unified radiation. Let love radiate!
May we be reminded, if we need reminding, of the two great commandments: “Jesus said unto him [and to every human being who has ever lived], Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” (Mat. 22:37-40) And this familiar restatement: “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another as I have loved you…” (John 13:34)
In this holy atmosphere, let us turn our attention now from extending God’s love to one another, to receiving God’s love, to receiving the Lord of Love, personally and as one. Receive. The spiritual body is bathed in the pneumaplasm of his Presence. It is his body. We gather in his name, his identity, his cloud of glory. The Lord comes home on earth as home is re-created for him. What could be more important?
Following Comments…
John Gray: Indeed, these are the good new days. We are reminded, in the time we’ve just shared, that the reasons for our gatherings aren’t to be entertained or educated or to hear something we’ve never heard before. It’s to be together. It’s to commune, to be of one accord in one place, to be home. When the atmosphere of home is sufficiently provided, then the One whose home it is, is found to be present. The Lord has never not been present. It’s often said that these are unprecedented times, but that’s not really so. What is appearing now is precedented; it just hasn’t been around for a long time.
