To Feel the Power of the Universe

by John K. Stoner (June 16, 2017)

Here is a response to my invitation on Tuesday for your comments on your experiences of transcendence and spiritual energy.  My thanks to this woman who looked beyond my cajoling (and whining?) to send a comment! 

There are two key things that have led me to the ability to feel the power of the universe at will:

Key number One:  A Choice

As mother says,   I finally "got it" the moment I realized that I get to choose my emotions.

  The vast majority of people never realize this. (My arrival at that realization is a story in and of itself.)   Choosing every morning to say "Good morning!" in a bright and chipper voice —to myself, to my other half, to everyone I contact all day long makes my life so much more enjoyable and full of energy than the life "before the choice".  People who knew me 15 years ago would never believe my nickname now is "Sunshine". 

Key number Two:  An Awareness

From my husband:  "When you feel blue, find something to be thankful for."   

Just a second of stopping to think about all I have to be thankful for makes my heart swell with the knowledge and wonder that there is a power who wants us to do well and live differently.

       The epitome of the awe I often feel was when Mom and Dad were here for a visit.  I started to say grace before dinner: "Papa God"  (I'm 1/2 Jewish you know 😉 ) and could go no further. My heart and soul were filled with love, promise, energy, a solidness that cannot be explained.    There was nothing special about it except appreciating my family and that I still have active, independent parents as they approach 80.

     The problem, that I face — and the trouble with being human — is that while some of us may arrive at this point of awareness, there are two challenges:

First:   being in the habit of drawing on it when things are tough. 

      I recently had a few really bad days with work and my husband’s reaction to the chemo.  I got sidetracked and forgot to choose my emotions.  I told several people "superbitch" had entered the building and I couldn't figure out why.  The answer, when I paused long enough to let it come to me?  I had stopped making my choice to start every day with "Good Morning!"  I had gotten sidetracked.

Second:   having the will to do all that the feelings call us to is a different matter.  

       Do I have the will to convince my partner we should give away our wealth to help the homeless?  Not yet.  Do I know that there are troubled teens who need a home and parent figure to help them succeed in life? Yes.  Am I ready to trade my comfortable world - and probably lose my partner in the process - to take on that challenge.  No.

And so, To your question do "humans have a capacity for experience of transcendence, a spiritual capacity to touch goodness and love and to act on it". Yes we have the capacity for the experience.  The capacity to act on it - probably - but I'm still groping in the dark to find my way to that point.

I thank this reader for her candor, and courage in sharing.  She gives us much to ponder.  She is in touch with a resource within herself which she knows she could ignore and suppress, because she does that sometimes.  But sometimes she does not!