Everyman's WEEKLY Journal #64
© 2014 Rev. David Seacord
March 2, 2014
"Are you 'The One'?"
Hello good people, here's the deal on the bi-line above…
Although is it 'a good lead intro' into exploring the insanity of relationship projections (and that's a wonderful subject to visit), for right now I am focused on a more personal and practical application of the question…more along the lines of issuing a Public Notice informing all readers of a behind the scenes reality in hopes that someone might have relevant information. So, "Are you the one?" really means "Are you the one who keeps unsubscribing ME?" It's a mystery that I have been trying to figure out for a good many months now… that every couple of weeks I get a notice from Mailchimp confirming that I have unsubscribed from the list that receives this journal (which I set up, and which I manage). Of course I am not doing it to myself, and there are very few ways that anyone else could inadvertently be doing it, and I am not involved in any of those ways..thus the mystery…how is this happening? It's probably a glitch in the Mailchimp program, but, on the off chance that someone receiving EWJ has actually been trying to unsubscribe THEMSELVES but still keeps receiving it, I apologize for the reoccurring malfunction, and simply ask you to email me directly and request to be unsubscribed. I will be happy to do it, as I do not wish to be sending EWJ to anyone not wishing to receive it. OK, enough on that…onward…
And btw, the real answer to the question 'are you the one? is always 'yes'.
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"Lessons from Being Rescued"
The point of this next adventure is of course at the end, so please enjoy the journey…
Ambrose and I "had to be rescued" this past Thursday evening because of vehicle mechanical problems. We were doing some shopping in Mom's car, and suddenly it would not start. The owner (and an employee) of the fruit & veggie stand we were at tried to help, but in the end I called my friend Sean, who left his dinner and came to our rescue with his car towing trailer. It's not something I love doing… calling for help, but as I recognized that this was our only choice short of paying a serious tow bill or a ten mile walking hitchhike, I made the request.
When Sean arrived he was obviously a little grumpy and irritated at being called while at supper, but I have seen him in moods like this before and I did not respond to it, just having space for it to be. He parked the trailer and dropped its drive up ramps in front of the car and we began to try to push the car up, but we were not strong enough, so we used the reverse momentum and pushed the car back down off the ramps and away from the trailer a couple more car-lengths than it had been, and then tried pushing it forward up the ramp again. We got further, but not enough. Ambrose was inside the car steering and we had him push on the brake at that point so the car wouldn't roll backwards. From that point we used 4 flat-web ratcheting tie-downs connected to the front of the trailer to pull the car the rest of the way onto trailer. This process was laborious and inch by inch slow, and the two of us discovered in the doing of it that when we worked side by side TOGETHER, cranking the ratchets at the same speed and time, that we made better progress. And, as we aligned into this TEAM working TOGETHER, Sean's mood markedly shifted, and we began to make jokes, as men working together often do. Eventually we got the car up on the trailer, drove back home, and pushed the car backwards off the trailer into our driveway.
As Sean is an excellent mechanic, we did a couple of quick tests to confirm the battery was pretty dead, and connected up the battery charger for the night. And Sean went home to his wife and to finish his supper.
In the morning, while the sky was still red with dawn, Sean texted to ask if the car had started. I texted back that the battery was now charged but it still hadn't started and he coached me to make sure all the connections were good. This was a process of disconnecting all the wiring to both the battery and the starter and wire-brushing them etc to make sure any corrosion was removed and then reconnecting them. For the next hour I did all that, with the result that the car still would not start. It was Sean's day off, and he came back over. We did a few more electronic tests by-passing this and that to see what was up, and decided to pull the starter. Once pulled, a couple more tests confirmed it was not working. At this point the normal thing is to simply replace it with a new one (so this was an exit opportunity if Sean wished to have one), but instead Sean asked 'do you want to try fixing it', meaning dismantle the starter and see if, for instance, it just needed new brushes or something. As I've never taken apart a starter before, I said yes, let's try that first… and I went to get Ambrose so he could witness the lesson too. Sean was in his prime as he carefully dismantled the starter, explaining as he went. We learned about brushes, magnetos, reduction gears, solenoids, coils, and lots of stuff like that. And, we discovered that the starter was worn out, fried, kuput, and would need to be replaced. So again we reach another exit point, but Sean, instead of leaving and letting me take it from there (which I could have done on my bicycle) offers to drive me over to the parts store three miles away, which we do and where I buy another starter and where we stop at a garage sale on the way home. Re-arriving home, we work together to reinstall the starter, both of us down under the car assisting each other in various ways, and having a lot of fun doing it. Finishing the job, the car starts and runs beautifully. We clean up and separate our tools… making sure no unintended swapping occurs, and then Ambrose and I treat Sean to some of our home-made coconut milk, and Sean refuses my offer to pay him. He does ask a favor though… that I when up in Oregon next summer bring him back a supply of obsidian (a volcanic glass-like rock), because he wants to teach his son how to nap (make) arrowheads from it (and then make arrows and bows etc). He knows Oregon has a lot of obsidian. I accept the karma happily, remembering that I had seen the rock often around the state. On impulse I pick up my guitar and create a little thank you melody, which gets a good laugh at the punch line of 'it would've been a pretty long walk!" And Sean apologizes for the third or fourth time for being grumpy in the beginning…he WAS hungry, after all. We completely understand, not a problem...
Finally, it's time to go and there's nothing left undone to justify not leaving, but we still don't move fast, as there is really nowhere to go, right? What I mean to say with all this is just that spiritual communion doesn't have to look any particular way, or be some kind of holy ritual. It is simply the natural result of having space for and being present with another human being. And in my view, one of the quickest access points to communion is 'to work together'. What beautiful karma, to "need to be rescued"….
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What is Petty? What is Important?
These questions have been floating around my mind of late as I swallow the curriculum life has been providing me. For a couple of months now, Ambrose and I have been watching 2 or 3 documentaries each week from the Higher Perspective website, which has a list of about 160 to choose from. These have all been highly educational, and all somewhat disturbing. The question is, disturbing of what? And my answer to that is, they disturb THE ILLUSIONS that we, in either naivety or denial, have been living within.
A long time ago I realized that 'enlightenment' was actually 'complete dis-illusion-ment'. Back in the late 1980's while living on the road for two years as a prophet of The Love Declaration, I would sometimes lead weekend seminars… and the title of the seminar was "Living Life Without Illusions". Gangaji's basic teaching is similar… "Find out what remains" (after you have seen through everything 'phenomenal'). It is a profound instruction, and one can invest one's life in that inquiry. So 'what is important?' is (to me) an important question. Here are some of my 'answers' ….perhaps useful for today… perhaps not to become attached to… but offered as perhaps worth contemplation.
It is important to be true. This is the path of self-honesty.
It is important to serve. This means without a personal agenda.
It is important to follow The Way of Love. This is also called 'following your heart'.
It is important to remember that everyone else is also you. This is the doorway into Unity.
It is important to cultivate a silent mind. This is that you may know wisdom.
It is important to understand what compassion is. It begins 'at home' and connects us to each other.
It is important to be responsive to what is present. This reveals if we can see, or if we are being blind.
It is important to be authentic. This means without a forked tongue or mind.
It is important to maintain the 'body/temple'. That you may be alive, and that you may fully discover living.
It is important to be, and demonstrate, wholeness (self-unity). Holding all that is as 'lawful', knowing nothing needing to be is impossible.
It is important to, whenever any of the above are not attained, to self-forgive and begin again.
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Namaste, & Sat Nam,
David
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Rev. David Seacord
Fine Art Painter / Sufi Cherag
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