Once the kids are asleep, I walk out behind the house, looking for the Moon. I find her up in the blue blankets of night, showing me her wide, white belly. I sit, admiring her, then look to the blinking fireflies beside me - small, spontaneous spots of light in the darkness. Above, bats flap and feast, while a gentle breeze tickles the trees. One little lantern glows on a holly leaf. It isn't blinking. I step closer and lift a limp, lightning bug. I hold it, waiting for it to go out, but the creature continues to glow her green song. Several minutes pass while she lies little, lifeless, and lit in my palm. I bring her to my bed and place her on my journal. Then I write these words while her body shines a gold dot upon the book. It takes thirty minutes for her light to go out.
I am like the firefly. I, too, have light within me.
In all my seeking, reading, gathering, and remembering, I now know this: God is within me. God is within me, which is to say, God is within YOU. God is within everything - the plants, the minerals, the animals. Everything is divine. Everyone is divine.
When I look now at a cluster of trees, I see that they are a collection of beings, infinite and wise, stretching toward light above and connection below. They are holy. The clouds, too, floating by like boats of loose cotton, are holy! I pull off the sturdy skin of a banana, carried north to me in a crate from the tropics. It smells of sunshine and honey. It is holy. I split a speckled watermelon. It creaks open like an old door and wobbles on the cutting board. Its pink flesh sprays, while my body salivates in silent prayer. Holy! I fry an egg. Holy. I smell fragrant, floppy wildflower petals. Holy. I stand barefoot on rocks, socked in soft woolly moss. Holy! I slip my bones and skin into a cool, clean pond. Holy. The list is infinite.
I close my eyes. I imagine that I am full of light. My skin is like lantern glass, my bones are golden brass. I can see my light.
My mother is holy. My father is holy. My siblings, my children, my dog - all divinely holy. The birds, owls, and squirrels in the trees outside are holy. The mushrooms, the maples, the blue whales, the dandelions, the dragonflies, and the fireflies - all holy.
We are all holy.
We are all glowing and growing. And yes, there is mess and chaos. There is bloody gore, war, and many hungry children. Peace will eventually arrive on the warm, wide wings of the Phoenix. Until then, let us pray for the evolution of every human being. Let us pray for every single one of our spiritual evolutions. For the more humans who renounce fear and remember LOVE, the more peace and bliss will grace our world and universe.
