Minister's Letter -- Meaning Within Life Events
Well yesterday, I went out to cut my grass before the arrival of the forecasted rains (I got 8 inches at my house). The grass was already getting to long. I got halfway done and my 19-year old, electric lawn mower stopped working! How Dare It! I thought the cord might be clipped (no); looked at the neighbor’s light to see if the electricity went out (no); finally, I found the problem, a circuit and been thrown! So, I clicked it back in place, but as soon as I pulled the handle of the lawn mower, I heard the circuit breaker click off! My wonderful, amazing, non-carbon producing lawn mower had died and I would either need to buy I new one or get it repaired. I began to think about buying a new one and perhaps relenting and buying a gas propelled one, as I got my trimmer (electric also) and finished cutting the lawn. Amazingly it looked great, just like I had used a lawn mower.
Strangely enough, when I arrived at the church to do a couple small tasks, I looked out the kitchen window and saw the shed door moving back and forth in the wind! I wonder why it wasn’t locked, so I went out to check. Someone had cut both latches on the doors of the shed. The only thing that was missing, was the 19-year old gas propelled lawn mower, I had bought about the time I had bought the one at home. It had been sitting next to the riding lawn mower. It also needed a new bag to catch the grass, a new filter, the blade needed to be sharpened and I was having a hard time starting it. It needed some repairs and those repairs would probably cost almost as much as a new lawn mower.
The paradox of two push lawn mowers going rogue in one day, hit me right between the eyes and I thought of the Na'vi people, in the movie The Avatar. Yes, that is right, I thought of the Na’vi People. Whenever they would have a challenge or find themselves out of sync with life, they would pause and connect with the Living Force that permeated and connected all of life in Oneness. This Living Force that indwelled in all things, would provide them the answers they needed to move forward. It also allowed them to communicate with other life forms through their intuitive nature. So, if you were living in sync and in alignment with this Living Force, you had nothing to fear and knew deep down everything you needed would be provided.
Hum! Sound familiar! For sometime I have had a tugging at my heart to watch the movie Avatar again, but I had given my DVD. So, I recently, bought a new one and had just watched it last week. It actually brought tears to my eyes! What, an action-packed movie filled with violence, brought tears to my eyes? Well, although much of the advertisement is focused on the violence, and the many ego driven materialistic traits of humankind, much of the first part of the movie is about the way we human beings were originally designed to be! Yes, the Na’vi people, mirror many Native Culture traits around the world and how they live in Oneness with life, with intent and purpose, taking life into a whole different level of awareness. This is what our soul longs to experience, to live fully in alignment and “in tune” with nature around us and with the Spirit – the Breath of the Divine – that fills us and inspires us to be. This is why certain scenes brought tears to my eyes, not the love scenes with Jake Sully and the love of his life Neytiri, but rather the scenes where he is so totally in love with the life he has come to know. As the movie progresses following the metaphysical timeline, you can understand how the Na’vi people develop a connection with the Living Force, and how we might do the same.
As you might have gathered, I did realize that Mother Nature was trying to give me hint as to what I might do about my new law mowers, and what might be the focus of the theme for the month of September, Divine Order. And how do we go about connecting with the Living Force, so we might rise up over the challenges we face and live in alignment with our soul’s purpose. Namaste, I See Into You, Rev. Doc. Patrick