How Do You Do It?

I was standing in the kitchen when I heard the knock on the door.  My son ran to answer it and was standing there, in the doorway when I arrived, wiping my hands on a dish towel. There were two men there waiting. 

"Hello," I said to the odd pair on my porch. "How may I help you?" 

Side bar: I once received a critique on a novel section submitted for a writing contest.  The critic wrote, and I quote, "Who talks like that?"  I do.

The elder gentleman, a light-skinned, soft-spoken and genteel black man spoke. "May I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"How do you think," he asked, "are we supposed to honor God?"

I was amused by his question, as it presented me with an immediate and telling insight about my inquisitor.  I smile at him, thinking, Let the Games begin!, nodded to his partner and replied, "Let us assume that we are, in fact, created in the Image and Likeness of our Creator - God, for lack of a better word."

He looked sideways at the younger man who somewhat resembled every action movie, bad guy side kick. Short dark hair, greying and thinning but cunningly styled to conceal the wispy-ness, a dark blue suit that could have been a thrift store find or a well worn Armani, shiny, shiny shoes, and one front tooth which had been replaced at some point not too recently.  The younger man nodded back, a grim expression crossing his features."Please continue," said the elder.

"Within each of us, you, me, every man on Earth, is a Divine Spark - our Essence.  It is incumbent upon each of us, in this marvelous experiment of Life, to find out what our unique purpose is - or create it ourselves.  As reflections of our Creator, we similarly have the ability to create.  But, we are Human."

"Indeed we are," says the elder. "We are all just Men."  He looked again at the younger with a wry smile.

"Yes.  We are only Men," I agreed.  I suspect the pair expected me to be offended, as I am female. To their slight, but noticeable dismay, I did not object to the sexism. Why feed a fire over a misunderstood word?  Man refers to Human.  One of the whole of  Humanity, of which I am a part.  That is nothing to be offended about. "As men, we operate in matter and it limits us, yet, as creators we should create.  This would is the way I try to honor God, the Creator, the Universal Life."

The elder considered this and said, "But what do we call this 'Creator' of yours?  Is it God? Buddha? Allah? Jehova?"

"Yes. You see, ultimately there is one truth. But God, or whatever anyone calls God based on their culture, understanding or conditioning, is not limited in the same way we are. And this one truth that some of us seek is so far above and beyond our comprehension as Human Being, that it is not possible to understand it in our limited condition as Human Being.  Also, I cannot imagine that a creative entity capable of manifesting here on Earth millions of different species would be so narrow in its conception as to have to be called 'God,' or 'Allah,' or 'Jehova.'  It is known by all of these names and while not one of them can contain the entirely of It, neither can any name diminish It. Further, as we are created in its likeness and image, are we not also a part of It and It a part of us?"

The conversation went on this way for some time.  His questions became less about trying to sway me to his beliefs, and more about explaining these ideas further.  Drawing upon experience, religion, psychology and even a touch of physics (I could not resist after the Higgs boson was confirmed to mention how similar quantum physics and quantum mechanics are to the process of intentional manifestation!). 

The two who knocked at my door were, and may still be, Jehova's Witnesses come looking to spread the Word, as they see it.  But at the end of the conversation, the younger looked distraught and the elder said, "Ma'am, you have given me something to think about.  You stuck a chord.  I am going to go home and meditate on what you have said to me and see if I can understand it."

"Good!" I said.  "Remember: to seek outside of yourself for what is already within is a waste of time and our biggest vanity.  Vanity - look up the Latin root." 

The truth is everywhere and nowhere, existing within us, waiting to be uncovered, waiting for us to rid ourselves of the blindness from which we all suffer.  The exceedingly rare Human Being arrives here ready to see the truth early in life - the rest of us either work very hard to catch glimpses until we are much more experienced and can begin to awaken, or work very hard to avoid seeing the truth.

Question Everything.  Conduct life like an experiment, neither accept nor dismiss anything without weighing it thoroughly, and if possible, without bias.  Or not. There may be one truth, but not every one seeks.

M. Kate McCulloch