Life in the Slow Lane

Mum used to have this saying, actually, she still does. She says “you are the weakest link. Goodbye,” and then hangs up the phone. It’s from a short lived show called The Weakest Link that aired in the early 2000s and was hosted by Cornelia Frances, who played Morag in Home and away. In its 18 months of showtime mum managed to take away a line that has lasted over 20 years. In recent times, it’s had me contemplating the “missing links” that we unconsciously forfeit day to day, the tiny observations that need to be noticed to be actualised. Marianne Williamson calls these miracles.

Today I drove 600km from Hopetoun to Perth and in the early hours of the morning the moon sat in a perfect half above me. At first glance I realised that it is the 21st of June, the winter solstice. This time of year has been long revered in my books as an opportunity to be still, rest and transform. It reminds me of the duality inside and out, something our waking life often omits from the general coming and going of seasons, days, hours. Despite our hardwired forgetfulness, Earth in all of its wonder and complexity still tilts in space with its impeccable cyclical rhythm.

Duality.

Ram Dass, the great spiritual teacher who passed in 2020, talked about the ego, he taught us that death is the end of the ego. “The ego sees death as suffering, the soul sees death as the awakening of a new world. A new perception. So, you should identify with your soul in life. That will be the best thing for you to do, to anticipate death.”

Ego / the mind / Satan (in Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke, Satan translated to ‘adversary’ or ‘crazy thought’) are reflections of our dual nature. Jesus said “the kingdom is within” signifying our light, knowing very well we are also shrouded by the dark rivers of thought.

I want to premise these next two paragraphs with this: the Christ consciousness I have come to know is not the same image or reference guide that has been passed down centuries with various edits and deliberateness. The long misquoted and misunderstood Jesus of Nazareth that I follow has been largely misconstrued for the purposes of history and power.

Let me begin.

The blessed awakening through the trinity of physical, emotional and spiritual interpretation of God was realised through the life of Jesus Christ. Born of immaculate (interrupt how you will) conception and raised by parents who saw beyond the veil, Jesus was the incarnation of ‘presence’ itself. He lived with humility, devotion and gratitude. The original saint, the Prince of Peace, was adored for his playfulness, wisdom and kindness.

In his short life of discussions, healings and trials he offered an invitation to the land beyond lands where every sheep is retrieved. His method was not a religion, it was a way to live… It was a new (yet now, very old) vision cast heavenward, able to be obtained in private reflection. His prophecy was an internal reincarnation and liberation. Although, this was too potent for the times, and its essence became a mystery that was reshaped to be more palpable, profitable.
More on that another time…

Because we strive to be right, to know the unknowns and be reassured by the stories of generations passed, we can have trouble accepting that missing links remain.

In many ways I feel that the 20s are our invitation to change, to reacquaint with the precious nature of the world — internal and external. The liberation of an individual in its deepest and purest form is a freedom that belongs to that person, and that person alone. No war, famine, doctrine or habitual existence is greater than that precious kingdom of light that lives within.

We may have been broken by a health pandemic and boosted into a digital revolution that redirects us, but the laws of cause and effect (particle and wave) are embedded truths in this universe.

Tangibility, roots, the ability to see ourselves in step with nature, to listen. These are the ancient truths that have long guided us home. Nature’s potential goes in every direction, no different to yours and mine.

“The quieter you become the more you can hear.”

Ram Dass