by Christina Pivarnik and Sanford Baran
Christina Pivarnik: Sanford and I are delighted to share this hour with you. Happy Father’s Day to you strong, nurturing men who provide fatherly guidance. But as we know, we are here to honor our Father within, our Creator, and to be in the presence of the One Who Dwells. It’s a great pleasure to be together, to gather in this holy place in collective celebration of our deepest love for our Beloved. How blessed we are to have this consciousness of clarity and purpose, knowing the divine part we play together in our daily moments.
Yesterday, the Tone of Life coordinating team gathered by Zoom for a few hours to consider our collective purpose. There were practical considerations such as who will provide the focus, and when, for our biweekly gatherings and dialogues as well as any changes that we sense might be needed.
One idea that was brought to us is to allow a little time before the breakout sessions in our dialogues, giving us all a chance to consider the question as a starting point for our conversations to come. So, for our next dialogue with Joyce Krantz and Alan Fisher, we’ll do this. We all agreed that 20 minutes gives enough time for our conversations to develop and unfold naturally.
Over the past few months, you may have noticed various changes on our website, toneoflife.org. This is a beautiful resource where you can listen to downloads of our most recent gatherings, read transcripts that were just released, as well as some from past gatherings. Our upcoming schedule is there along with an opportunity to comment, either about a transcript or anything that’s moving in your heart. We’ve also added more photos to visually complement our topics and we will be adding a new heading for transcripts from the past, highlighting presentations from speakers like Alan Hammond, Bill Bahan Sr. and others. Special thanks to Sanford for being our webmaster!
We come together every other Sunday representing the one body of the living God, to offer collective clarity in our sense of spiritual responsibility, a clarity of consciousness and through our life expression. There is an unfoldment coming from source, an opportunity to be more fully present on earth in these days. This provides refinement of spiritual expression and spiritual substance that permeates everything we do and touch daily.
I’ve been thinking about this in terms of our eternal consciousness. We live in this place, our divine home that’s unshakable. The things of humankind, and of our own human facilities, are seen, heard and felt, but from where I stand, where I live, there is a vastness untouched by human nature. Here, love prevails because the ongoing focus is my Beloved. In a sense, I am the observer of these human things, but remain untouched as I dwell in this holy place.
We’ve talked often about living at the crossover point and I daresay, this is an ongoing reality for many of us in our daily living. It’s no longer an aspiration, but a fact. And as we’ve been consistent in spiritual expression, a new world has been gradually opening up until there’s a realization that we’re actually living above the crossover point. And the view is quite magnificent from this place!
John Gray recently touched on this in an email to a few of us. It’s really for him to elaborate on at some point, but I’d like to touch on it in the context of where we find ourselves living these days. In all humility, there seems to be enough awake and aware individuals comprising the conscious body around the planet to be living more vertically than horizontally—in other words, above the crossover point.
But the view from here is not narrow, it’s vast and expansive. One might say the sky’s the limit, but even that’s limiting because the entire cosmos opens to view from this vantage point. And yet we’re right here in the moment, handling the details of daily life. Sometimes human challenges may arise, but they don’t touch us in this holy place. We simply observe them and continue to offer true love.
I recently ran across some words of Martin Exeter’s from a service of November 7, 1982, relating to a perspective of the Lord’s prayer from this place. These words are spoken by the Lord, from his high perspective.
“I am in heaven.
The revelation of myself is holy.
My kingdom comes because I am here.
My will is done in earth because my will is done in heaven.
I give the bread of life in each moment of my living on earth.
I forgive, and that forgiveness is received by those who share the spirit of forgiveness.
I lead no one into tribulation, but deliver all evil into the creative cycle.
For mine is the kingdom present on earth because I am present on earth.
Mine is the creative power of the Word.
And mine is the glory which results, shining round about, to be reflected by the world which I create.”
Here is the eternal consciousness of the one I am. I am the one who says this. Here is the radiance we offer into our worlds, our lives. This brings me to a place of deep humility for the privilege of being incarnate on earth at this time, to play my part in fulfilling this mission of restoration.
My days are frequently filled with moving in and out of many business meetings, listening to problems various ones are facing and dealing with, but in the midst of it all, here I am in heaven, to bless, to uplift, to offer love and joy into these situations. In this place I am again an observer, not a participant. From this vantage point, it’s interesting to watch what can change. Recently several people who have been at the heart of these various problems have rather organically left their positions. This has resulted in new individuals bringing a fresh, more uplifting perspective to their organizations, and all of a sudden, the landscape is quite different. Here is spiritual expression at work—“out in the wild” as they say!
So here we are, in the presence of the One Who Dwells, the eternal presence, and it is such a joy to do so together.
Sanford Baran: Thank you, Christina for your beautiful words. One of the most enjoyable aspects of teaming up as speakers is the opportunity to spend informal time together beforehand. I much enjoyed the fun brainstorming we had in preparation for today. We’ve known each other for, I don’t know, over 40 years? And here we are now, at this juncture in the cycle—sharing this gorgeous expansive view from above the crossover point. Indeed a sight to behold. Looking out over this heavenly landscape one can only marvel at the breadth of magical opportunities at hand in service to the one creative whole. As you indicated, quite the time to be alive. Much appreciation for your spirit.
I recall the delightful nationally syndicated public radio program called The Splendid Table that used to air here on Saturday mornings. Hosted by food writer and cook Lynn Rosetto Kasper, its tag line was, “The show for curious cooks and eaters.” One of the really fun segments on the show was called, “Stump the Cook,” where listeners would challenge her to come up with a dish using a list of random ingredients they provided. The segment showcased Kasper’s culinary creativity and deep knowledge of food preparation as she spontaneously created recipes and offered cooking tips based on the given ingredients.
In one episode she was presented with this bizarre list of ingredients: kohlrabi, a block of cumin cheese, cacao nibs, Turkish spice paste and a jar of Vegemite. And here’s what she came up with: “Rub the kohlrabi with the spice paste and roast it to get ‘a lovely crustiness.’ Then use hot couscous—cooked in a Vegemite-tinged broth—as the canvas for the kohlrabi, the cacao nibs, some raisins and spices, cubed cumin cheese, sweet paprika and ‘a ton of black pepper.’” Bon appétit!
We delight in such displays of artistry and resourcefulness, recognizing that same spirit of creativity in ourselves—an essential part of who we are. Rightly each one of us is a creator, which we reveal in unique and fascinating ways in our daily affairs. The compulsion and instinct to do this is simply part of our spiritual DNA.
As creators, what we’re often doing is drawing together substance or ideas of one sort or another and allowing these elements to mingle and come together in perhaps novel and unprecedented ways. While not every such blending of elements is necessarily useful or advisable, our interest is in allowing that which is resonant and complementary with the one creative spirit to come forth.
It’s good to remember that a hallmark of creation is that everything is already connected. A vast network of connections and relationships already exists—it’s not as if these have to be invented. Where we come in, is to simply notice and become aware that they are very much present. Actually, not just notice but also discern and discover the nature, quality and essences of such associations, their implications and creative possibilities. In doing this we shine light on what was heretofore hidden, creating an aperture for greater awareness and appreciation of our divine identity and shared destiny.
Leading up to today’s gathering I started playing around with these things, drawing bits and pieces of material together, not knowing exactly what might come of it. My starting point was Alan Hammond’s poem, “The Eternal Presence,” which quite dramatically provides a sweeping panorama from above of the vastness, grandeur and eternal nature of that which powers all of creation. Add to this a recording of my reading the poem, some possibilities for music, a selection of internet-sourced photographs that caught my eye and an openness to simply let the process take its own course. I then set to work. A few days later I came up for air.
Perhaps you might be interested in what ultimately came to fruition. Here it is, the piece “The Eternal Presence.” (Click here to watch)
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share this with you.
It occurred to me, having gone through the process of building this, of how many people potentially were involved. Of course there was Alan Hammond, whose magnificent poem provides the backbone and meat for this piece. And then there were the 60 to 70 photographers whose images carry such dramatic impact. Add to this everyone associated with the music— the composers, performers, producers and recording engineers. Then there is the technology: the amazing audio and video editing software I used to assemble this work. Think of all the technical folks who were involved developing all of that! I’m figuring in the tens of thousands! So, a gigantic cast of characters either indirectly contributed to the piece itself or created the infrastructure that made it possible. To all of you just mentioned, wherever you are, I say thank you so much! Of course there would be no reason for you to have any conscious awareness of what I’ve been up to lately, nevertheless I would emphasize that your input and contributions have been absolutely indispensable.
It really does take a village. How was it put? “We are responsible individually but only successful collectively.”
One final observation. I’ve been struck by the sheer volume and abundance of what is available to us today, all of the raw material, artistry and tools just waiting to be put to creative use. Let’s acknowledge that we and many others are the ones who have been entrusted to do it.
We are so privileged to be alive in these splendid and marvelous times. Let’s take full advantage of what is so immediately placed before us, in service to the one creative whole.
Following Comments…Christina: It’s a joy to be together. I, along with you, am deeply thankful for the opportunity to do so. I was blessed to be a small part of Sanford’s creation and am in awe of his ability. We acknowledge his talent to create the work of art shared with us today. He called it a slideshow, but it is so much more! However, we all create works of art every day, as Sanford mentioned earlier. That’s what we’re here to do. It’s nice to have an opportunity to appreciate someone’s artistry, like Sanford’s, but we each have our own unique abilities and artistry we express in our daily living. We treasure this time together, to generate the fine spiritual substance that conveys spirit out into the world, across the earth and into the cosmos.