To Hell With Distancing

(Note: This is not a lockdown protest chant, it’s a purely spiritual POV. Read on...)

"...We are asked to consider that the distance we perceive between any other human being or living creature and ourselves is the exact distance that lies between us and our experience of Presence.”

- Michael Brown, The Presence Process

Our mortal minds too easily perceive the boundaries of bodies, space, and time and fall into the belief that we are separate entities with scant resources, clamoring for separate interests. Our failure to notice the ties that bind us is most notable (and troublesome) in our inability to recognize Presence in other people. We may have an easy time "loving God with all our heart, soul and mind," but "loving others as our self" can be exceedingly difficult.

I have learned the separation I feel with other people is a crucible for my spiritual growth. It is the gap, Michael Brown alludes to in the opening quote, that becomes the very measure of my separation from Presence itself. As Jesus observed, You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. Like the quantum perspective, we simply can't make exceptions to where we find Presence, for it is Omni-Presence, which means everywhere and everyone.

Wherever and whenever I decide God is missing, marks the place and time of my suffering. Wherever I perceive a dark place in my life, or in an individual, I know I must invite Light to show me the truth about the situation or the individual. Until that Light illumines my perception, I do suffer, because maintaining the "gap" is a gaping wound in my relationship to my Wholeness, to Presence, to God.

This is why so many of Jesus' teachings emphasized relationships, loving of enemies, forgiveness, compassion, and service to others. He held a deep understanding that closing the gap of separation by whatever means is the way to our Oneness with God.

So while we may be “keeping our distance” physically as a way to our physical wellbeing, we would be wise to close the separation gaps within our own hearts so that the One that we truly are can be seen, felt, and known from any distance.

Peace and blessings,

Larry