the Source

"In understanding God as the Source, there is nothing that we are spending - not strength, years, wisdom, substance, or life-force - because it was not ours to begin with.  It is all pouring through us as we call upon it from an infinite Source.  To believe in a limited supply is very much like gauging the water supply of a community by the amount of water in the pipes at any particular moment, forgetting that there is a reservoir close by and that that reservoir is constantly being replenished from the never-failing source of the rain and snow."

- Joel Goldsmith, The Thunder of Silence

easter weekend 2016, western north carolina

digital / no rendering

Pattern Recognition

"All a musician can do is to get closer to the source." - John Coltrane

 "Starlings"

courtesy P.D. Leitz

As I see it, an essential practice for progress along the way is pattern recognition.  By this I mean the ability to transpose the messages and symbols we find in one experience - maybe driving along a country road, for example - seeing within that landscape a lesson for our life or a solution to a problem we are working with.  Noticing the connections among seemingly unrelated things can greatly benefit our spiritual growth and maturity.  And not purely for 'spiritual' reasons since I am convinced that there is no difference between our daily life as householders, going about our routines of livelihood and ordinary circumstances, and those elevated moments when we know we are 'in the zone' and experiencing something we might call spiritual.  Life is a whole cloth, an uninterrupted flow of existence and awareness.

I think there are several benefits to practicing pattern recognition, not the least of which is gaining the sense of connectedness with all things and the emerging understanding that the universe is continually speaking to us and urging us toward the greater good.  Certainly there is an aspect of intuition present in this activity, and if we get to the point where we do this naturally and spontaneously we experience clear insights and develop confidence in our own faculty of discernment.  So try this as a practice and a new way of experiencing life and learning may well open for you.

When we see patterns and can 'get it' all of a sudden, we get a sip of unity awareness if only for a few moments.  We relax, knowing that we are supported and the world is a magnificent and beautiful place we are privileged to call home.  For a few moments, we become a master jazz musician transposing chords and tempo; improvising as we take queues from our companions.  So this business of life becomes a unique experience we are able to enjoy thoroughly and we recognize our own life's pattern which fits perfectly into ever widening patterns of consciousness...as we steadily make our way toward that universal Pattern which never changes.

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Spring Dogwood, Western North Carolina, 2015

Holga 120CFN; Ilford Delta 120mm, iso400