This week, March fades into April. It's been an eventful month and I feel the pull to extend this winter-into-spring transition. A metaphoric blooming of spring seems tenuous with so many rapidly unfolding events--war, Saturday's phenomenal nationwide protests, airport chaos, the A.I. surge, contradictory news, and of course, the actual weather. How do we connect with the Real?
The other morning, I needed information about changing my internet service, so I called my phone company. The call was answered by a robot. It introduced itself as a "digital service provider". Let's be clear, it was a machine, and a machine that actually spoke a little surly to me when I corrected its misinformation. So I hung up. Realistically, I will have to call again, because I need to set up the change in my account, but I took a few steps back first to recalibrate. With a little self-reflection, I ironically realized that my next planned task was writing this Sunday's post on the intended topic, "staying open" to the Good.
We connect to the Good by our openness to it. But how do we distinguish the Good from societies' waves of shifting reassurances, and almost simultaneous undercurrents of threats? Here, I have to repeat one of my favorite quotes from Robert Pirsig, (who attributed it to Socrates): "And what is Good, Phaedrus, and what is not Good? Need we ask anyone to tell us these things?" We all have within us the capacity for recognizing what is Good and what is not Good. Yet, as a culture, and as a world, we do not all agree on what is Good. That said, we as individuals do have the capacity to Cultivate the Good, by staying open to it, and trusting that the larger Reality (God) does both guide and protect us. Staying open to Good as an affirmation of our spiritual life is more than just "hope"; it is actively participating in an unfolding process of Life, our personal life, that remains an essential part of the whole. I have to call it essential, because Your individual life is such a miraculous mystery. In other words, You, as a unique individual, complete the whole of Now.
Our capacity to affirm the Good in Life is our participation in unfolding Good. There are many ways to that. Today, I am sharing two of my favorite affirmations, inspired by the late Reverend Johnnie Colemon, the "First Lady of New Thought", who founded Christ Universal Church in Chicago in 1956, and was the minister there for 50 years. She was one of the most powerful, inspirational speakers I have ever heard. Both these lines below hold the theme of staying Open.
"I am open to new delight and discovery, knowing I am sheltered from that which is false in my life, in the world, and all my affairs."
"I am completely open and receptive to the inflow of infinite Good in my life."
This first one acknowledges that humans are susceptible to, and can get caught in, the nets of false ideas and false understanding. The Real provides shelter. Here, I can also add Robert Schuller's prayer--a good one to remember as well: "Lord, help me to see where my answers are wrong." We aid ourselves in the spiritual art of side-stepping the false, by remembering that we humans are susceptible to blind allegiance in belief systems. To truly be healing and transformative, our affirmation of Good requires depth. "Completely open and receptive" to the Good, means our willingness to dive deeply into "delight and discovery." What an adventure!
Now I am ready to re-tackle the phone/internet carrier. I really do know how to ignore the robot, and find my connection to a human being and the Real. You do too. (Susan Nettleton)
https://hopefischbach.substack.com/p/poetry-lesson-stay-open-by-james https://hillsidesource.com/openness-poem?rq=openness https://words2da1.wordpress.com/2023/08/11/poem-for-everyman-john-t-wood/