This Is My Stick!....This Is My Bowl!

I trust everyone had a fantastic Labor Day Holiday! Of course, now that the holiday is over, it's time to get back to work! So here I am updating our little blog. It's been a couple of weeks and I have a lot of excuses I could give you, but you don't want to hear those!

So, how many of you attended Dr. Dennis Merritt Jones' seminar? We weren't able to attend the afternoon seminar but we were at church that Sunday morning when he spoke. He was fantastic! I will definitely make arrangements to attend any seminar of his if it's offered again. That Sunday morning Dr. Jones told a story that many of you may have heard before. It has really stuck with me and come in handy over the last couple of weeks. So I thought I'd blog about it a bit. I will be paraphrasing the story a bit but the general message is still contained.

Once upon a time (I think all stories should start out this way) there was a young man. This man sat at the edge of a river with his legs folded beneath him, his hands turned upward on his lap. His eyes were closed and he was desperately chanting, "I am One with God.......I am One with God......I am One with God." It just so happened that an older man and great teacher, with a stick in one hand and his bowl in the other, came upon the man and began to watch him. After several minutes of listening to the young man chant, the Avatar began chanting loudly, "This is my bowl!.....This is my stick!.....This is my bowl!........This is my stick!" The young man, clearly irritated at the interruption, squeezed his eyes tighter shut and began chanting more loudly, "I am One with God!.....I am One with God!.....I am One with God!" The Great Teacher, not to be outdone, began his chant even louder "This is my BOWL!.......This is my STICK!......THIS is my BOWL!.....THIS is my Stick!" The young man was really becoming annoyed now and looked up at the old man and said "Clearly anyone can see that THAT is your stick and THAT is your bowl. It is obvious. Now can't you see that I am trying to be One with God?!" And to that the Great Teacher answered, "Can't you see that it is just as obvious that you already ARE one with God?"

I can tell you that that story really spoke to me in church that Sunday morning. I had just been experiencing the same desperation as that young man by the river. Due to some recent life experiences I had been thinking, "I really need to make more of an effort to meditate" or "I really need to make sure I ask a practitioner for a treatment for me." Instead of seeing an exciting and stressful situation in my life for what it really is (well, exciting and stressful!) I had become anxious and fearful and guarded. I began to feel as though I needed to TRY and reconnect with my Divine nature. I needed some task to WORK at realizing my oneness with God. That story just helped me remember who I really am, and that I am ALWAYS connected to Spirit. It really does seem so obvious now!

By the way......welcome home Rev. Brian and Dr. Sheila!!