“Nature will not let us stay in any one place too long. She will let us stay just long enough to gather the experience necessary to the unfolding and advancement of the soul.”
~ Ernest Holmes ~
“All experiences are valuable for the wisdom they bring or suggest; but when you have once gained wisdom and knowledge from any experience, there is little profit in repeating it, especially if it has been unpleasant.”
~ Prentice Mulford ~
Do you remember how, in your early years of schooling, that by the time you learned the lesson, got to know all your classmates, felt comfortable with your surroundings, and, confident about what you knew; it was time to go to the next grade? There was always more to learn.
However, some lessons are not learned the first time around. To become proficient in a particular subject, it may be necessary to repeat the grade. While some may perceive this as failure; wise ones perceive it as an opportunity to embody more deeply, the lesson being offered.
Life has often been compared to a classroom.
In fact, the above quotes seem to be in alignment with that metaphor.
What I’ve noticed is, no matter how grim things may look, even when we are stuck in a cycle of having to learn the same lesson over and over again; eventually, we move upward and onward. This seems to be the way of life.
Gaining insight about our inescapable oneness with one another is one of those life lessons that humanity keeps repeating. It is indeed challenging to stay awake, alert, and aware long enough to perceive the depths of our shared life.
The concept of Oneness is a spiritual one, and must be spiritually discerned. Our human viewpoint perceives separate beings, doing their very best on their own; while spiritual insight says, there is only One Self. This Self is the Living Spirit of the Living God, and It constitutes our individual life.
This One Self is an Invisible Intelligent Energy. It is the Universal I AM Spirit at the center of all. All manifestations (people, places, and things) live, move, and have their individual existence in the One Presence, and are forever held together by the proverbial Everlasting Arms.
Like all advanced classes, there are prerequisites that need to be mastered before one is ready to fully grasp the greater lesson. For example, when the adage, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself,” is properly understood and practiced, it lifts the veil of the mystical Oneness. True forgiveness of one’s self and another provides an opening to a realization of Oneness. Practicing inclusivity, loving-kindness, and harmony as a way of life, is preparation for the greater-yet-to-be.
None of this suggests being in lockstep, depriving our individual uniqueness; instead, it suggests there is great power in a unified consciousness of wholeness, expressing as an individualization of the One. Such a consciousness embraces the highest good for all concerned, feels the joy of living, and reveals a world that works for everyone.
When I ponder the lesson of Oneness in the context of the pandemic, I am reminded of a line from the song, “The Great Correction.” It says “The eye of the needle that we gotta get through; but the end could be the start of something new.”
“As a spiritual being, I know that on the Soul level, Oneness is being with the Presence of the Divine, and that includes me and everyone else.”
By Mary Jane LaBonte, RScP
StillPoint 