All Part of the One

Today I finally understand that we are all part of a Universal Spirit. I don't know why it hit me when it did. I have have read this, heard this, sang this. But today I felt it in a very deep place. The place that causes movement as big as an earthquake in one's Soul.

As I walked down the blue carpeted hall of the State building I work in I realized that each person I passed was a part of me and I them. Each of us expresses a part of that Spirit in our unique way. Think of this. Ten thousand people are given whistles. Each person will play their own song in their own style. But the sound coming from those ten thousand whistles is the same. Much like the expression of who we are as a part of the Universal Spirit.

I thought of people I don't like. I thought of people I like very much. I used to think these folks were at opposite ends my spectrum. But they are actually just exaggerated aspects of the same Great Spirit. And if this theory holds true, then it follows they are also part of me.

Many people I don't like openly exhibit behaviors I am uncomfortable with. Behaviors that are also, or have been, part of me. Things I try to heal. Things I try to hide. Things I have done and now deeply regret. Things I wish I could do but never will.

And those folks I adore? As the song goes, "Oh Lord it's hard to be humble." I see all the things I like about me in them. Except bigger somehow. I'm a little creative, but I love someone who is really creative. I am drawn to adventurers, seekers, dreamers. Those trying to make the world a better place. People who cook without a recipe. Are you getting me here? Do you see the connection?

I look at people differently now. With new eyes. And here is one thing I have learned.

To judge another is to judge myself.

And would it not follow that to love another is also to love myself, given we are both part of the same Source? By accepting and loving all things about me, then...

Wow.

Wearing a Veil

I don't know how
not to care...
to pass by an animal
dead on the road
and not think about
its Birth and Life
and tragic Death.
It lays there alone
melting into pavement
instead of Earth.

I don't know how
not to care
about melting ice caps
and drowning White Bears
and great Inuit Hunters
and not think about their Births and Lives
and tragic Death.
They sink into the darkness of Water.
which should be ice
Alone.

I don't know how
not to care
about the dying Water
watching Bird and Turtle and Child
swimming through gas and oil
unknowing of the cancer,
mutation, sickness
and not think about their innocence
and our guilt.

I don't know how to wear a veil
that shields my eyes
from the suffering of our of world
the way some do...
those who drive over carcasses
drill for more oil
pour poison into River
without a
thought
much less
a
tear.

Is something wrong with me
or them.