383: Pillars of a Joyous Life: Community

In order to determine who we are we must find time to be alone. To determine our place on this planet and indeed in the very existence of all there is, it is important to carve out time each day to be silent and alone with our thoughts.  In the moments when we are successful at silencing the ego and blocking out distractions we are able to connect with our higher selves and determine how we can grow, learn and serve.   While solitude is necessary for growth, so is companionship.  And companionship is not simply spending time with those we know.  It encompasses much more.  It means spending time connecting with the entire human population.  Clearly it is impossible to spend time with the entire population of the planet.   But is it?  Perhaps it is and perhaps is not.  Who are we? Who is the woman selling you groceries?  Who is the man in the wheelchair, making his way down the street?  Who is the child smiling at you from the next car at a stoplight?   Each of them is you: not in your image but in your energy.  More importantly the same energy, manifesting itself in a different image.   We are indeed all one energy with one common goal: to define our divinity.   We are all truly God, not in God's image but indeed God.  That is not a blasphemous statement.  It is a glorious realization.  As Neale Donald Walsch the author states in his Conversations with God series we are splinters of God.   Why would God experience humanity?  To determine what true divinity is.  We cannot appreciate the true nature and beauty of sunshine without the knowledge of rain.  Each are important and symbiotic.  Each is balanced.  One cannot truly embrace Love without overcoming fear.  One cannot experience divinity without knowledge of baser energies like greed, ego and loneliness.   So where does that leave us?  Hopefully with the realization that we are all one "person".  The man muttering to himself, the woman barking on her cell phone and the child crying on the playground are all the same energy, they are all images of us, parts of who we are.   When we realize this principle we hopefully become kinder and more patient.  We treat all these people with the same care that we would grant ourselves.  We acknowledge that the smile we relay to another is a reflection of the joy we experience acknowledging another "piece" of who we are.   We become united when we acknowledge and respect others around us; we create community.  Community is not a town or a neighborhood.  It is not a political party or a legion hall.  It is all these things and much more.  It is the realization that when we come together and create a "common-Unity" we become closer to experiencing divinity.   It is easy.  Connect.  Don't simply text.  Take a drive and have lunch with a friend.  Perhaps strike up a conversation with someone at the bus stop or in line at the grocery store.  Take a step and offer a hug to someone having a difficult time. Do not fear.   The energy will be received and welcomed in its truest beauty.   As technology grows the perception would be that we would become closer as a "people".  Yet taking calls in a busy store cuts us off from other patrons, other parts of who we are.  In doing so we truly demonstrate our disregard for ourselves.  When we text, we communicate on the fringe, not letting the recipient bask in our smile or feel our need for sympathy as we weep.  When we phone instead of making an effort to enjoy the true physical company of a loved on we disband community.   So again, connect.  Connect with everyone from friends to acquaintances. Smile at the person you hold the door for as if it was your own mother.  Stop to assist a "brother" in need who may have car trouble on the side of the road. In your minds eye envelope the stranger in white light, a prayer, who may be angry, confused or mentally ill.   Dispense with judgment and embrace all these people; embrace yourself.  We learn from spending time alone with our thoughts.  But we also learn from others.  In fact we learn the most about who we are by how we treat others.  Show others love and you are acknowledging the love you have for yourself.   With Light, Thom