Spiritualize the Material

“Oh Michael. I took a deep cleansing breath, and I set that notion aside, I tabled it. I said to myself, as clear as this may be, as potent a feeling as this is, as true a thing as I believe that I have witnessed today, it must wait, it must stand the test of time. And Michael, the time is now. This moment, today. Here, this room, this air, and this, especially this, Michael. That you’re here. There’s a reason. A reason it’s you.”

— Arthur Edens (portrayed brilliantly by Tom Wilkinson in Michael Clayton)

I believe we all face the moment where it is demonstrated to us that the word faith does not do justice to the reality of the universe.

The correct word is knowing.

And from that moment, there is no longer room for avoidance. The fork in the road approaches, and the wrong path is dire. We must participate in the movement, the flow of it all. The river.

The spirit.

To refuse this call from above is no longer an option.

Idling has ended.

Walking along the river at nearly 8000 feet of elevation in Colorado on Easter Sunday, with three huge bull elk as my only material companions, the idea strikes: there is no such thing as work / life balance, it is unobtainable. Does not exist. Never has.

Certainly not for these elk, and for us, it is merely a mirage. Another abstraction. A category. Marketing. Products. Services. Spending. Waste.

Work and play. Different versions of us, serious and relaxed. Separated. Why?

When you no longer feel any separation in the energy of the earth, above and below, these words lose their meaning.

One. With everything. We just are.

Last Thursday night as I was drifting off to sleep I could no longer hold off the idea that the universe – God – was making it crystal clear for me to understand: it is every single moment that matters.

Every choice, all day and everyday. Each second is real; each one counts for something.

Everything, from small to huge, in every moment. One continuous creation from the beginning of the universe.

There is just right now. All the time. And an unbroken chain from the beginning. You didn’t spring up out of nowhere. There is a direct connection all the way back to everything. And everyone.

For one to call today leisure and tomorrow work is to set each of us up for collapse, for misery, for stress. I can enjoy today, but tomorrow – Monday – brings misery. Or at least our regularly scheduled version, the pain. Required. 9am.

It is this thinking that leads to vice. My behavior, therefore my moral values, are now split into categories. Two different people. A drink is OK today, no big deal. Tomorrow is the important day when I shall be productive. But not today. Today is different. This moment stands aside. Fun and loose.

Today is 18 chicken wings and beer. It is wine. We will gossip, then tomorrow we shall heal it all. With spreadsheets and email.

And then next weekend we will enjoy ourselves again, briefly. As a change of pace. Because that special category of time has arrived. A different version of me. The one who is allowed to make choices that are a little sloppy. Maybe a lot sloppy. Without that connection to the other version of me. I’ll sleep it off. Or something.

I am writing these words on my phone, now as I walk, because the heavens have decided to open up the wet snowflakes just enough to accumulate on my heavy wool shirt. I’m fine, but I’ve decided to attempt to walk my way out of the one cloud above that’s doing something.

Right now is a mixed spring weather day in the mountains, both sun and a few flakes, yet also nearly 50 degrees. It’s both winter and spring at the same time.

I am still writing while moving.

Why wait? We are now living in a moment where we can create, from art to much else (which is all still art, in reality) while on the road, from everywhere. We can write, paint, draw and express anything in every moment on our devices. Entire supercomputers now travel with us all the time, in the size of a book, or even smaller, from just yesterday in clock time.

A clock time that is rapidly losing its value to our lives, if it ever had value. A return to the infinite cycle of stars and planets. The real time, the real space. Now. One category.

It is that universe – God – that only responds to right now. This decision. The next one, too. And the one after that.

When you open up completely to it, the feedback is immediate.

Synchronicity is not merely an album by The Police; it is the actual default state of everything in every moment. Humans made the decision to tune out. We have other things now. Loud things. And images, millions of images. Words too, but less than we preferred 100 years ago. Mostly images.

This is the story of Adam.

But when you tune back in, or simply notice that someone, something, some energy, everywhere, is looking for you and letting you know, you will then face a choice.

Do you continue to send that call, that summons, to voice mail?

Will you return your mind to DO NOT DISTURB?

Will you scroll Netflix again today for hours? Will you dine at the buffet of noise again? Will you walk past this moment wearing your earbuds?

I won’t.

Have a wonderful day.

A beautiful now.