Friday, June 14, 2013

Oneness

For a long time, following my injury, I decided I didn't believe in God. I use this term, only because I grew up in the Episcopal church and God is what we called the higher power working in our world. I hesitate to over use this name because I now think it doesn't really have to have a hard and fast name. This doesn't mean I don't have faith in anything because I do. I just don't really have a name for it and I don't really think it needs a name. A few years ago, a friend asked if I really define myself as a Christian. I felt a bit offended, but also a bit perplexed because I kind of agreed.

As a young girl, I attended a Catholic elementary school, went to mass one day a week, said the stations of the cross at Lent, and then attended the Episcopal church services on Sundays. I never really questioned the existence of God. I eagerly raised my hand in Sunday school and recited the answers to many of the questions. St. Mary's grade school taught religion very well and I knew the Bible stories inside and out. In the second grade, I organized a prayer group for all of the non-Catholic students who were not receiving the sacrament of First Holy Communion. During my senior year of high school, I gave the youth sermon at my Episcopal church. I assumed my belief system was pretty solid.

However, I experienced a terrible, traumatic accident and this uprooted any foundation of belief I thought I built. I immediately thought this whole church and God thing was a joke and something people just do and believe to make themselves feel better. I couldn't imagine believing in something that caused so much suffering and hardship. Even though I struggled with these thoughts, I continued to volunteer and help out with various groups at the Episcopal church. I just saw the activities as an opportunity to serve and nothing more. When I was at my lowest moments, getting out and helping others always seemed to remedy the situation, until it didn't. I kept volunteering, almost making a full time job out of it. I hoped to find some relief to my pain in the service, but nothing changed. I just kept feeling worse and falling deeper and deeper into depression. My health deteriorated, my relationships crumbled, and I was left feeling utterly hopeless and alone. I opened my eyes to all of the suffering brewing and boiling over in this world and only felt more and more disconnected from God or anything like him.

It was quite some time before I awakened to the possibility of a higher power. All I could see was a sick girl who was ignored and thus forced herself to be heard. I purchased countless books and read until my eyes hurt. I tried anything and everything to heal my body, but soon realized my soul was the one in need of the true healing.

When I say I read everything, I mean everything. A few weeks ago I went to the bookstore to buy a friend a book. I knew what I wanted to purchase, but decided to peruse the shelves anyway. I started in the New Age section, then the Christian, Judaism, and Buddhism sections, and ended in the Self Help shelves. As I looked through all of the authors and their books, I felt a sense of warmth, a sense of connection. I actually thought, my friends, all of my friends. There they were, the entire history of my journey staring back at me. There were many books I still need to read, but the authors all very familiar and close to my heart. These are the people who brought my connection back, these spiritual advisers, these poets, these guides, and these teachers. I don't think one is better than another. All encourage a spiritual practice. All encourage prayer, meditation, and seeking. I read from all different authors and concluded everyone shares the same exact message from Einstein, to Buddha, to Jesus, to Mohammed, to God, to Rumi and Pantanjali. As I left with my gift for my dear friend, I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude to be on this side of my journey, the side that allows me to pass on my friends to my friend. Gratitude for the part of me that sees the seeker in another. Gratitude for the part of me that trusts we are all the same and isn't afraid to share a piece of myself with another.

You see, this is what I have come to believe in, oneness. I don't know what it is called or if it has a particular name. All I know is that we are all one, sharing in one, never ending, always forgiving, loving relationship with each other and ourselves. I am everyone I come in contact with and they are me. We all want the same things and we all deserve the same things. The higher power is the love and the forgiveness that passes all understanding. It is the higher power we all possess and we all feel called to practice. When I feel out of sorts, judgemental, cruel, or unhappy, I am not acting from this true and honest place. I am reacting to my fear, my worry, my hurt, and most of all, my pain. I assume another doesn't feel these deficits I feel and so I want to be heard and do so through attack. But the thing is, we all feel hurt, we all feel pain. Finding this common thread is what heals.

I don't really define myself as anything anymore. I discovered this is limiting to my growth. Some say believing in everything is believing in nothing. I disagree. Believing in everything is believing in everyone. I welcome difference because I see the similarities, not the polarities. Tears are tears. A person's skin color, or sexuality, or name, or hair style, or body art, or body shape, or disability, or strength, or suffering, or income doesn't matter. Everyone cries and everyone laughs and mostly, everyone has the ability to love and begs to be loved. Now, when I struggle to feel a connection, I know it is because I need to forgive or to love, nothing more. Connection isn't found in dutiful service, it is found in seeing oneness. When I see my oneness, the soup I serve or the door I hold takes on an entirely different meaning. I see the person I serve and I see me, I see you, I see all of us. This is what matters to me now. I believe in oneness.


7 comments:

  1. I love your philosophy. "Believe in everything is believing in everyone". How beautiful. You have given me a lot to think about.

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  2. Thank you, Sarah - this is a good reminder that we are all in this life together and loving one another is the most important action that we can give.

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  3. Opening ourselves to the love is the hardest part. Peace.

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  4. So eloquently and beautifully spoken.

    I am forwarding this to everyone I know.

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  5. I like that you want to give love and be connected with others but I feel sad that you feel the need to look outside traditional religious institutions to find spirituality and peace. The "higher power" that you speak of has a name and it is GOD of which there is no other. I understand your heartbreak, anger and disappointment that life is different than you planned but you still have a life and a very intelligent mind. You could have died in the accident but your "higher power" (God) must have spared you to encourage and help others as you are doing through this blog. When I get depressed and feel where is He and why do I have to bear these burdens I am reminded of the pain and awful suffering that was endured because He loved me so. If that much pain was endured for little ole me surely I can endure whatever comes my way difficult as it may be at times. This life is filled with troubles and heartbreak but we don't have to deal with them alone. We are not promised that bad things won't happen to us but we are promised that God will be with us through the bad times to support and love us. It sounds as if you already have the foundation of belief in God but you are very hurt that the tragic accident happened to you and you blame him. I hope you will realize that if you believe in God and accept salvation through death on the cross that is all you need. No other guru, spiritual advisor or leader can give eternal life. Every human being is a child of God and in that respect I agree that we are one. You are such a sweet soul and I am sorry that you have been dealt this blow in life. I pray that as you read and search for meaning in your life that you will return to your spiritual roots and realize that love, forgiveness and all the things you are looking for are right back where you started your spiritual journey. I am not being critical or judging you and can tell by your writings that you are a wonderful person wanting to find peace. They say all roads lead home so I hope that is true for you.

    A friend you have never met...... Linda

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  6. I love your words: "Now, when I struggle to feel a connection, I know it is because I need to forgive or to love, nothing more". I found myself immediately and automatically testing this out mentally, recalling recent people and situations in which I have struggled to feel a connection. Sure enough, your words rang true with each and every example I gave myself. I need to forgive: (I am harbouring past hurts/remembering past words) or I need to love: (I am holding back because of fear of getting hurt/fear of being rejected). Thank you Sarah for sharing your wisdom once again. You are so thoughtful and clever in identifying and bringing to the surface, hidden thoughts or feelings which as human beings we all go through. Next time I find myself struggling to feel that connection, I am going to try to recognise that and try to apply either forgiveness or love.

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Thank you for commenting. I appreciate all of your words.