Bump in the road

Have you ever been so captivated by a novel that when you came to the end you didn’t want it to end?  Maybe you’ve read a book that “lingers” while you ponder some of the deeper meanings.  There is a deep stirring inside us we can’t explain and our words fall short of the emotions that bubble up. This experience becomes a part of you. Years later you can still “feel” the moment.

We can have those experiences in all facets of our lives. We can remember and feel a past encounter with someone, a life event, a personal triumph, a goal attained, a loss, a tragedy and so many more. In those moments we feel “real”, down to our core. We touch a place that is so familiar but can seem so far away. In our day-to-day lives we seldom go to this deep place. We often pretend it isn’t even there. The emotions and feelings are intense. These feelings could disrupt our projected facade and others might notice. We want to fit in and be like everyone else so we don’t draw attention to ourselves. Our fear of losing control to the deep place, and the subsequent emotional expression, shuts a door with a key we hide away in our illusion of control.

Until something happens, something we didn’t expect and often something we didn’t want. Ironically deep sadness often breaks down our imaginary door and the deep calls to deep once more. Pain can have us crashing through that door like it was rice paper. Then all these emotions saturate our minds with a cascade of inputs that we can’t control or make sense of. We feel lost but in these moments we are actually finding our true self.  WE are this innermost, deepest place of us.  When we have these divine, eternal, soul-piercing experiences. we are waking up to who we are and where we come from.  Often we have pre-sent these experiences as an opportunity to wake up.  It is a present (pre-sent) when we can see the perfection in the moment.

I’ve talked a lot about the movie “Wrecked.”  Check out these two posts.  It will probably “linger” with me for a while.  How about another “revelation” from this allegory?

In summary, this man finds himself trapped in a wrecked car at the bottom of a ravine.  He wakes up not knowing who he is.  In his pain and trials, he creates a false identity.  Check out the posts for details.  When he comes to the end of his journey he remembers that he is not the fictional person he manufactured in his mind, but a very different person altogether.  I believe this is very much like  our journey here in this temporal reality.  We are a divine extension of God, like a finger on a hand, projecting into this reality in this form.  We wake up not knowing where we come from by design, so we can experience “the all that is” as us and through us.

This character comes to realize that he is actually the hero of the story.  The robbers had taken him hostage in their violent getaway.  While they are driving down the dirt road, through the mountains, he notices that none of them have seat belts on.  He slowly puts his on and in a moment of courage, grabs the wheel and sends the car plummeting down the ravine.

Imagine if when we woke up, he knew this truth.  What if he remembered exactly who he was and what had happened?  Imagine him knowing he is loved and, in being taken, he protected his loving wife.  What if he knew all this when he found himself trapped in the car?  How would he react then?  How would you react?

The bank robbers are dead, so there is no more danger from them.  He isn’t a criminal with no future but a loved husband with a wonderful future.  He isn’t an unworthy “sinner” but a heroic “saint.”  He is a savior, in a sense, representing his true self.

I think he would feel very different.  I think the physical pain of the car crash wouldn’t have him spin-off into illusion land, but instead his certainty of his identity would lessen the pain.  He wouldn’t feel helpless, but hopeful.  He wouldn’t feel lost but secure in the moment.  He wouldn’t fear the unknown but have incredible resolve to return to this family.  His determination to survive would be powerful and a motivator to get free and back to safety.  He would see this whole thing as a “bump in the road.”

Am I being to idealistic?  Maybe I am, but this is the point.  When when we know who we are, then circumstance, no matter how tragic as it may seem, is just a bump in the road.  When we have the awareness that we are on a journey to remember ourselves then we see perfection in the moment.  We realize that each moment prepares us for the next.

When we see our oneness with the divine and therefore one with each other, we see ourselves in each other.  When we know that God cannot be offended, then we know that offense is an illusion.  When we know that God has everything and nothing can be taken from him, then we know we have everything and nothing can be taken from us.  We can see that, in eternal reality, there are no victims and no villains.  We can see that offense is of our making since nobody can take anything from us.  We see that the opinion of others is their opinion and their journey which we cannot control.  When we experience unloving encounters, we know that unloving actions are out of ignorance.  The other doesn’t know who they are as divine love.

When we have this awareness, this understanding, this “enlightenment”, we can see every moment for what it is.  We can see that our journey is one of discovery or remembering and our “tragedies” are just bumps in the road.

Maybe this is a bridge too far and I expect it is for many.  If it is for you, I would ask you to go deep within, spend some time in that place where God’s voice is your true voice and the voice of comfort and peace.  You will find love when you find love for yourself.  You will find the awareness to see events for what they are.

You do have to go through the door.  You actually need to get rid of the door.  You might have to plow through fields of old wounds and pain and more, but the beauty of divine love is waiting.  The beauty of this journey will open up to you as it has for so many.

This is what Jesus was all about.  He was sharing what it is to live aware of who he was.  He was one with the divine as are you.  He did only what the Father did because he saw himself as one with the father, as are you.  He only saw through a lens of love and forgiveness and acceptance and peace because he was one with the divine awareness, as are you.

So go for it!!!  Discover yourself.  Remember yourself.  Be honest with yourself.  Be transparent with yourself.  Go deep within yourself and discover God who is LOVE.  Let this post be your permission like when this character discovers his perceived identity was an illusion.  Let this post be one of your “experiences” that touches you deeply.  You are a saint.  There are no sinners since God can’t be offended.  No one can sin against you, because you can’t be offended.  You are limitless and powerful and are now creating your next moment.  Create a great one even if it is a bump in the road.

Yay God!

Lance