by Craig Hanson
Divine Spirit, Mother and Father,
We sit, immersed in your divine presence.
You fill us with such joy, knowing your eternal wisdom shines upon us.It’s brilliant light washes away all thoughts, all desires, save one,
the desire to love you with all our hearts, minds, and souls.We know that all our actions, all our thoughts,
can bring us to the face-to-face encounter with you, our Beloved.Amen.
As we look into the beauty of nature with our five senses, we can behold the perfect symmetry and beauty that surrounds us. It gives us inspiration, love, and guidance.
The value of meditation can be expressed in one word: peace. Peace is the absence of all thoughts. As we look upon the face of another in peace, no thoughts, no judgment, we can then behold God’s face shining back at us and realize it is our face.
The sun we see outside today winking at us through the clouds, is an expression of that same inner sun, our divine companion, that likes to play with us, hiding in and beyond the creation, playing with us, enjoying life. I’ll share a story that I feel captures the mystery and playfulness of divine Spirit.
Many years ago, I was living in a little place called Oasis, Nevada, just off Interstate-80 where I worked in the truck-stop. It was 150 miles from the nearest city and 30 miles from the nearest small town—so in the middle of nowhere—yet some amazing experiences took place for me there.
The front door had a little bell that rang when someone came into the store with its café. There we had an old cassette player, and I would play music for the customers. It was part of a game I played, imagining what kind of music a person would like when I saw them come in.
One day, around two or three in the afternoon, an incredibly beautiful woman came into the store. I had a sudden inspiration to play Jean-Pierre Rampal, classical flute music. She would really appreciate that, I thought, because she seemed very refined and also spoke French. She sat down in the café.
Having put the music on, I started to stock the shelves. The bell rang again, pretty hard this time, and I heard heavy footsteps come in the door. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a huge man. He had earrings and big patriotic tattoos. He must have weighed 270 pounds and been about 6 foot 7.
He was looking straight at me, and I suddenly thought he was going to do some damage. He walked right up to me with what seemed to me to be a menacing stare. My first thought was that I’d better turn the music off because he’s not liking that music.
When he got about three feet from me, in a surprisingly gentle voice he said, “My wife is a flutist for the Houston symphony orchestra, and she loves Jean Rampal!” His voice was so soft, and he had tears in his eyes. “Thank you so much for playing this music! You made my day, and it is nice meeting you.”
Then he turned around, and walked to the restroom. My jaw dropped, and I realized how much divine Spirit likes to play with us. That experience will always be with me. It shows that we are each created so differently, and yet are each so much a part of divine Spirit. So my prayer today is to see the divine beauty in everyone, and remember divine Spirit is always looking at us, and playing with us.
Oh divine Spirit, Mother, Father, we pray to you, that all your wonderful projections for this world will come about. We will be your hands, your minds, and your spirits, as we play and create a heaven upon this earth. So let it be done. Amen