If this world is not an accident- the fortuitous product of its own basic uncertainty, or strictly speaking the ramification of a series of serendipitous oscillations in a quantized electromagnetic field- well, then it must be on purpose. We are left with no acceptable alternatives.
Well… it could have been a mistake, but that is a scenario we hardly ever entertain. That would really be a head-scratcher wouldn’t it? To have been brought into existence as the work of a great and vast Awareness, albeit the nervous type who inadvertently spin off worlds when caught off guard, is just no good at all. It would go something like this. God, in the throes of learning His trade, is sitting at the work bench with His magnifiers on, etching a world onto a grain of cosmic rice, completely in a flow state, when the front door whips around on its hinges as if Thor is practicing the hammer throw on the front porch. BAM!
The rice grain goes flying, cleaved in two, the small half sticking to the ceiling. “Je-sus Christ!”
Whoops… The sound of angels hitting a high note with impeccable harmony. There’s a world… Oh, boy…
Jesus is caught flat-footed by his Father’s glare, which is streaming like infrared beams over the top of the magnifiers.
“Sorry, Dad.”
Young Rumi and Hafiz, a little preoccupied with an incessant whirling competition they can never seem to be without, crash into their friend in the foyer, giggling, as the boy Buddha, ever observant, neatly sidesteps the three car pile-up and says, “What’s up, Mr. Maker? You got any new ideas?”
God sighs. He can’t stay angry for long. “Come close boys. Let’s take a look at what I’ve just done. Jesus- you know not to surprise me like that while I’m working…”
They all peer over the rim of the world.
“Wow…” “Cool…” “I wish I could live there…”
God chuckles, looking at the sight of happy children- usually it’s just stars and space, maybe some weird-shaped rocks, but they love it every time. Then He leans over and takes a look…
“Oh my…”
This one is a little different. Something out of the ordinary. They watch, as something skitters across the sand. “Look!”
“What was that!?”
“Let’s go boys!” One by one, they dive into the world. God, too…
* * * * *
Maybe it could work…
* * * * *
What I like of this little escapade is that God dives in, too. God is touched, surprised, intrigued by what has come into existence. I’m not saying that is an accurate or complete description of the state of affairs, but I’m also saying the notion of a God who already knows everything at the level of what television shows will be on the air next season may not be entirely accurate. God will be there when they air. God will be there when they are conceived. God will be with each viewer. But still… it might have a Life of it’s own… This is ongoing. We live within the moment of Creation.
I like the feeling this idea engenders within me- the notion that Creation isn’t done yet, the notion that it’s an outpouring with no end in sight. It’s like the instant you try riding the bike without training wheels the first time. It’s a little loosey-goosey. You feel caught in between states, like you’re suspended on a chair with four legs, one of which is a tad too short. The experience has been freed of a few parameters you once thought were vitally important: such as the idea that God knows precisely what’s going to happen next. Maybe She doesn’t. Maybe we don’t, either. Maybe no one does. How would that be?
That feels ecstatic to me right now. Being part of something like that feels like being up to divine work.
For some, however, I acknowledge this could feel scary, just as launching across the pavement on two in-line wheels without a pair of stabilizers could be too much to take on some days. If you remove the training wheels, something awful could happen. This whole thing could go right off the rails. Isn’t that how we think? What is the difference between being excited about not knowing what comes next and being panicked about it?
The difference is knowing the only thing that matters: there is only Love.
Let’s drop the concept of God altogether, or if you insist, I’d like to suggest we borrow the concept Jesus offers in A Course of Love, which is the notion that God is the Relationship of all things to all things. Maybe we can just say Love, though technically in ACOL sense, God is more like Love with a plot, Love stirred up and boiling over in funky shapes. To know that One is Love, and there is no other One, and there is no Other Love, is to know everything. Nothing else can ever exist. It is the Knowledge that no event or circumstance could ever change your Reality. This is shockingly good feeling, and it keeps going to work on us… We never get to the end of it. It is like delicate snow falling through the mind that perpetually falls, and never grows deep… Each flake is a holy Idea… A saving grace… A quantum of healing…
“Holy !@#%”
When this realization sets fire to your mind, you cannot help it: you want to tell somebody about this. Have you heard?!
I think we live in the midst of the telling.
We are whispering it to each other. This is our holy work, and Meaning comes from telling our piece. You have a piece no one else has, and it is important you allow it to be told. You have a piece to heal no one else can heal, and it is important you allow it to be healed. I think this is what we are up to, and I think it goes somewhere, but it’s a lot like tying a rock around your waist and jumping off a steep mountain that goes all the way up. You can give up the worry about hitting the ground.
So, as we were saying, this Creation business… It was no accident. It looked up its sleeve and found a big fat Nothing, and pulled out a rabbit. There’s just no end to what comes next.
Embracing Forever 
I think what you’ve written is absolutely wonderful. And true. And exhilarating. It’s how we live – always on the cusp of creation, riding the crest of the wave, constantly giving thanks for what it yet to occur. And thanks to you for writing this beautiful piece. I will read it aloud to Don.
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Thanks, Alison. Sounds as though you are living well, indeed. Since discovering your blog I always look forward to the updates from your travels. My life has a little more locality to it these days, and I think in this context living on the cusp has meant discovering the aliveness that is all around me, right here. But it wouldn’t be the same without hearing about those who do travel. 🙂 It takes all of it to express who we are! I hope Don enjoyed it!
Michael
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Don liked it very very much. And I do agree – it’s about discovering the aliveness that is all around, the aliveness that you are, whether the body appears to move through the world or not. I’m glad you’re enjoying the stories of our adventures. And yes, it takes all of it, all of us.
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Glad Don enjoyed it. Safe journeys to you both!
Michael
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the notion that Creation isn’t done yet
Wonderful. And yet fully complete, in each and every moment.
You make wonderful meaning whenever you tell your piece here – thank you & be well~
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Brilliant addition: to be aware that constant change does not mean incompletion at any point. I so often forget that. To give up on getting there, and in doing so to arrive. And in arriving to become joyously aware that I’ve only just begun… Can we just take a moment, and listen to the sound of snow hitting the roof before we continue?
Michael
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Zen Master Dogen said, “No creature ever falls short of its own completion. Wherever it stands, it does not fail to cover the ground.”
The intersection of creation and completion, then, is perhaps a rich and fertile ground…
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Agreed. Thank you for sharing your insights. We are all enriched.
Michael
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And likewise, I always enjoy the deep thoughtfulness of what you write.
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“You have a piece no one else has, and it is important you allow it to be told.”
Yep, there is definitely something synchronous about the pieces. 🙂
I love your writing Michael. I could have stopped at the first paragraph, struck as I was by how obvious purpose and meaning are. How can anything that shows up, especially something as big and as small as this world is, be unpurposeful?
It’s okay that some pieces fall on the floor. They might evn get kicked under couch. So, we’ll just have to wait a little bit longer before someone finds them to complete the picture. God knows where they are.
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D,
I was sweeping the steps going downstairs and out to the street the other morning at my apartment in NYC in an attempt to access a Mr. Miyagi Zen moment and found a little dust ball chunk tucked over under the electric meters…your looking under the couch gives such a precious shares into my life flow as well :).
M,
Thanks Michael for such an excellent and timely deep post. It is a reminder to myself to get up and keep going! Body is T*I*R*E*D in by corner of the adventure, but it is still dressed in the proverbial black leather ready to take whatever comes to the mat. We are all asked from time to time to leave the Heart’O The City Hotel, but it is a nice reminder that it never leaves us.
Whispers heard loud and clear and great love for the reminding screaming back! 🙂
http://seeingm.wordpress.com/2013/04/09/get-up-trinity-get-up/
-x.M
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Thanks, M! I empathize with the T*I*R*E*D of the long days. Wishing you wonderful recharging and play time. You’re crafting worlds, you know, whether you realize it or not! Each flight you touch hundreds of souls…
Matrix references are always welcome. 🙂
Michael
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“as big and as small as this world is…”
Yes… when confronted by the realization of how tiny a volume of the cosmos our world occupies, alongside of the realization of how grand is the idea incubating thereupon… One is forced to admit, Someone is cracking some REALLY big jokes.
Michael
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🙂
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Love with a plot, jumping off and flying up, pulling a rabbit out of the sleeve – seems so much that god did dive right in and looks out from your eyes – I am smitten with the spaces in which you dwell; Ein Sof Sophia and the rambunctious saviors are dovetailing from you and you from they – I feel deep resonance with your continual and ongoing idea of creation existing in the moment too; how incredibly novel, how exciting!
http://lifeasimprov.com/?s=god+dives+right+in&submit=Search
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Regarding our being a whole shebang of eyes… Eyes everywhere. A rock, suddenly opens up its eyes. A person with eyes, suddenly opens his eyes. A power tool, long overlooked, looks back at me. C’mon, pal… My computer screen, has opened my eyes. I am thinking of the moment when all the eyes link up, line of sight from one eye to the next, all around the world. A chain reaction of recognition. Just a wink. Poof!
It is done. What were we saying, again?
I feel resonance with the idea of continual and ongoing creation, too, but I do wonder about this playing with ideas. It feels so real, so potent, but I am just typing and asking my heart to condense ideas from the atmosphere. Seems like there is something to it. Like it could be real. It feels real, but when you step back, what’s real is that it takes up residence in others. I mean, it really can be shared. I am fascinated by that realization. You catch hold of ideas that take up residence in me. We’re building something…
Something both grander and quieter than we expect, if I had to guess.
Michael
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What a charming, delightful story to begin a post! Ah, I loved it, Michael–so creative, so fun, so tangible.
To marga t. you wrote: “I feel resonance with the idea of continual and ongoing creation, too, but I do wonder about this playing with ideas. It feels so real, so potent, but I am just typing and asking my heart to condense ideas from the atmosphere.”
Write on.
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Thank you, Meredith. I appreciate the encouragement. I think “writing on” is inevitable. It is the interface between worlds for me, the joining of sun and soil through which growth occurs. I am curious sometimes, though, about it’s long term side effects. 🙂
Michael
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What a bountiful table you have set here in your blog for all your readers, Michael. I’ve been meandering around the table this evening and feel kind of like I do at any buffet…it’s almost impossible to choose what to indulge in first.
I was delighted that you took the time to visit me at my blog, and having just spent the past hour or so reading some of the exchanges between you and your readers, I must say that you are not only generous and engaging in your responses, but welcoming and open-minded. It’s a wonderful combination that makes visiting here a genuine pleasure.
I recently endured a great personal loss when my brother returned to the source of all life, and reading your post here this evening gave me a sense that it might be better to think of it, not so much as a loss, but rather as a passage between here and there. I was particularly struck by your suggestion that...”….when confronted by the realization of how tiny a volume of the cosmos our world occupies, alongside of the realization of how grand is the idea incubating thereupon…,”..we are confronted by the notion that there must be something more deliberate afoot than simply a random cosmic evolution that created everything that exists.
My brother’s name was also, Michael, and it made me think he might actually be grinning about the synchronicity of that….Hard to say.
Thanks so much for your attention to my writing…I’m going to follow here a while too…John H.
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John,
Thanks for such a gift of a note- for taking the time. I have so far read just a few of the pieces of your own site and look forward to reading more. I’m interested in what you have pieced together about consciousness through your life experiences.
I’m sorry to hear about your brother. None of our intellectualizing about what it all means can (and perhaps shouldn’t) lessen the raw experience of living through comprehensive and undesired change. But perhaps beneath the intellectualizing, we can connect with a living thread that bridges from here to there, and have the additional experience of being invited into something far greater than we had previously imagined we were into.
Buffets are insoluble problems for me as well. I go with the guess and check method. 🙂
Michael
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Lol 🙂
I really liked your post and plots. I guess some things are known, more unkown and much unknowable… And that’s all the fun, as long as one can distinguish… xox
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Thank you. I am glad my madness resonates. Distinguishing is the key to it all, you are right. I have spent so many of my days confused as to what fits in each of those categories. I think it is when we discover everything unknowable is on our side, all the things unknown are the unknowable’s answers to our questions, and most of what we thought we knew was just nonsense anyway, it all starts to come together. 🙂
Michael
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