October 21, 2012 – Journey Into Oneness

10/21/12 Rev. David McArthur

We have heard so many times “we are one”. But we really are one. It doesn’t look that way. It appears that you are separate from me. Emilie Cady said, “Man, who is at first living in the selfish animal part of himself, will grow up …to the divine or spiritual understanding wherein he knows that he is one with the Father…” The Father is the part of the divine that loves and cares for us, and is within us, yet is infinite.

If we are one, then you are one with that other political candidate, and more troubling, all those people you just don’t get who support that candidate. When watching the debate, I first felt condescension for them. It was an experience of separation, viewing them as less than. It was uncomfortable. I thought maybe I should try something different. I stepped back and I saw that all the people really cared. A sense of connection took place. I stepp ed farther back and saw all the country experiencing a polarization which hurt, and I felt compassion. How difficult it is to work with those hugely complex issues! And I saw that the polarity blocks clarity, and our fears are surfacing. When we fail to see that the One Power cares for us all, we instead empower our fears. We see ourselves as separate and different. We fail to see our oneness unfolding in the most important vote, which is for care.

This world can’t see beyond its opposites, or see our oneness. That comes from within us. Jean Houston: “I was no longer just Jean Houston, age 6. I had awakened to a consciousness that spanned centuries. Everything was important. It was as if I knew everything, was connected to everything. I was an infinite being.” She said, “It’s your true self.” Alfred Lord Tennyson told that from boyhood he frequently had a “waking trance” in which it was as if individuality was gone and he was part of the “boundless pure being”. Vedanta teaches “Thou art that. All you see you are. Thou art one with the Universal Being. Every soul is your soul. Every body is your body. The Universe is my body.” We journey to consciously touch and know that.

This beautiful connection teaches us our oneness. We sense the presence, the power, the oneness. We touch that beautiful wisdom moving through life, and see that God is good all the time! God is good all the time! All the time God is good! Practice this chance to vote for love!