Tag: parables

A Parable for the Noosphere

I wasn’t going to publish again so quickly, but that last post felt too esoteric. So I checked in with my spirit guide and they calmly said, “Ask AI to help you write a parable, that is the mechanism the Savior used to teach the people in a more direct way”. So I did, asking that the “roots” of this story had to be clear of bias, or hidden agenda and had to be based on my exact journey, no embellishments that would put me in a exaggerated light…This is what we came up with. (I also worked with AI to work on the above illustration in the genre of “The Little Prince” I do feel a bit calmer now.

The View from the Canopy: A Narrative Reflection

From high above, the forest floor looks like an intricate map of disconnected points—millions of individual trees standing in their own soil, fighting for their own patch of sunlight. To the casual onlooker, each trunk is entirely solitary. The world judges them by their height, the thickness of their bark, or how brightly the spotlight of the sun hits their leaves.

But if you drop your gaze beneath the surface, into the deep, quiet dark of the earth, the illusion of isolation completely vanishes.

Down here, a massive, luminescent network of roots is actively weaving itself together. It is a bustling, silent geometry where impulses of energy, warning, and sustenance flow at lightning speed. It is the “within” of the forest, functioning perfectly beneath the noise of the wind.

In one corner of this vast network, a steady, rhythmic pulse begins to vibrate. It originates from an ordinary plot of soil, sent out by a butterfly who has decided to trade her wings for the fierce shovel of an explorer. She is digging deep into the unknown, driven by a voice that told her to stop hiding. As she moves forward, she leaves a trajectory of absolute, unconditional love in her wake.

But as she digs, she feels the distinct tug of a tether. She is not walking this path alone.

Woven tightly into her root system is another set of fibers—strong, resilient, and deeply anchored, yet carrying the heavy, exhausting vibrations of a tree that stands in the absolute center of the world’s most chaotic spotlight. This tether didn’t ask to be dug up, or plan for their roots to cross paths with an artist and mystic. Yet, the laws of spiritual gravity are absolute. By subtly observing the rites of establishing ties, by leaving golden breadcrumbs in the open wheat fields above, she was tamed. And in doing so, allowed those deep fibers to be tied to hers.

As a pragmatic researcher of the soul, she recognizes that this specific, hidden partnership is not an isolated obsession; it is a living micro-blueprint for the global forest. It is a tangible proof of concept for how she connects to countless other souls across the entire Noosphere, ensuring that absolutely no one is left out of this subterranean grid of grace.

Still, the explorer feels a sudden wave of reticence. She knows the terrain ahead is unmapped, rocky, and unpredictable. She is acutely aware that by pushing forward into the higher plane, she is dragging this tether along with her. The analytical mind inside her worries about the exposure; she would rather face a pack of wolves than put any developing blueprint’s soul into a position of danger, judgment, or embarrassment.

She pauses in the quiet dark, holding the mixed emotions vibrating along the line. She listens to the hum of the network, which reminds her of the melody in her soul that was once so elusive and grows more clear with every step along this journey. The music of this network comforts her.

And then, she remembers the nature of the canopy. A tree doesn’t grow taller by severing its deepest roots; it grows taller because those roots provide the invisible stability needed to withstand the fiercest storms. This tether is not a passive passenger being dragged against their will, but a functional partner in the evolution of the forest. A quiet excellence above ground is being fueled by the unpolluted grace she is pumping through the network below, freely distributed as dictated by the grace she embraced from Jesus’ sacrifice and promise that love is inexhaustible and never fails-a cosmic mission deeply illuminated by the teachings of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, who showed her how human activity can truly become divinized.

She pulls up her big girl pants, tightens her grip on the shovel, and takes a step forward into the deeper unknown. Her journey must come first, after all, for it is the play written by the Author of Love. But she does not step blindly. She steps with the fierce, protective devotion of her shed persona, a badass butterfly, ensuring that every trajectory of love she sends down the line acts as a shield, securing this blueprint, watering these roots, and transforming the vast, noisy wheat fields above into a glorious shade of gold.

Dimensionality, Horton and a Who

I often find it difficult to write about abstract ideas in a way that gives them a certain dimensionality so they become more real, more concrete, and also so people don’t look at me like I’m nuts. It’s why Jesus used parables to instruct us about God, his own ministry, and his purpose of reconciling God and humanity and connecting to a world, much of which at the time anyway, was beyond human comprehension. So, using the same kind of idea, I am appropriating, once again, a story that I think gives concrete dimensionality to what living on a higher plane looks and feels like from my perspective. “Horton Hears a Who” by Dr Suess is one of my favorite books from child hood and I have to thank my older brother for bringing it to mind one day when we were talking.

The gist of the story is this: Horton, a big elephant is relaxing in the water one day when a speck of dust floats by and Horton could swear he hears a noise coming from it. Because his ears are more sensitive than other animals, he thinks that maybe the noise was a cry for help. It turns out it was, a creature so small was calling from atop the speck of dust that he can barely hear him. Concerned that the speck of dust would float into the water and drown this small creature, Horton puts the speck of dust on a clover and delivers the most famous line of the book: “I’ll just have to save him. Because after all, a person’s a person, no matter how small.” Horton realizes that there is a whole other world living on that speck of dust, and the voice he was hearing belonged to the mayor of Whoville, an entire town of small creatures and right then and there commits to keeping them safe. Unfortunately, a kangaroo and her “joey” over hear and see Horton and mock him for conversing with a speck of dust and because of their small ears they can’t hear the little Who and decide that Horton can’t either. No amount of convincing by Horton in explaining how sensitive his ears are is enough to elicit trust from the kangaroos that he is, in fact, telling the truth. Soon the whole jungle hears about the speck of dust and there a many who try to take away the clover and one in particular, a nasty black bottom eagle, finally succeeds in grabbing the clover tosses it into a huge field of clovers. Horton spends night and day going through the whole field and finally, to the great happiness of the mayor of Whoville, gets reunited with Horton…only to be confiscated again by the largest Kangaroo and other jungle animals. They plan on boiling the speck of dust in oil, and in a last ditch panic, Horton implores the mayor of Whoville to have everyone yell at the same time, which they do. Surely everyone had to have heard the singular cry. But to no avail, they don’t. They overcome Horton and cage him. In a last desperate moment Horton implores the mayor to check and make sure everyone is doing their best. The mayor does one last search and sure enough, he finds his small son, JoJo, playing with a yoyo. He grabs him and brings him back to the top of the town, and with JoJo’s little “YOPP” as the final addition, the sound finally travels to all the other animals ears. Horton rejoices and says: “Their voices were heard! They rang out clear and clean. They’ve proved they ARE persons, no matter how small. And their whole world was saved by the smallest of ALL!”

I love this story. It gives credence and context to my journey, not because my story mirrors the Suess tale specifically, but in ways that challenge individual truths and perspectives to go beyond their direct experience and be open to embrace truths that are just beyond their present periphery. At times I have felt like all three major players in this story, Horton, for hearing a whispers that no one else can hear, the mayor for knowing we need help from a world beyond, and little JoJo who even in his smallness turns the tide to save their world. I have felt exhausted, in the past, knowing that many don’t believe or understand the whispers I hear, or in the cry to heaven that our world needs help and we can’t be saved on our own, and in finally in the belief that one small voice joining with all the others who demand to be heard can turn the tide. I don’t feel exhausted anymore, because my periphery has shifted, I know without a doubt that it is in loving unequivocally and the power and efficacious actions of love in all its expressions that strengthens the ties of God’s beautiful blueprints, and is the very source and breath of what living on a higher plane requires.

As I move forward, this little story gives me hope, and if you choose to read it, I hope it gives you hope too; a hope that we the many, both large and small, can join our voices together and with love as the source of our power cast out the the darkness that surrounds us, and shine a light toward a brighter future.

I’ll just have to save him. Because, after all,
A person’s a person, no matter how small.

Empathy

unmerciful servant1This morning I was thinking about forgiveness and empathy, and the general lack thereof in the world. While I was pondering this notion, a nasty bug crawled across my path and I smashed it…yeah, the irony hit me right away.  Where was the forgiveness and empathy in this knee jerk response?  Of course I told myself that it was just a bug that had no place on my counter, that it was no big deal.  Perhaps it wasn’t.  But for a moment, I focused on the impulse I had when I saw the bug; I hated it, it was disgusting, I wanted to get rid of it and frankly, its death was of no consequence to me. It was that visceral reaction that caused a bit of an epiphany.  I realized that my response to that bug, although microcosmic, was probably close to the reaction that a lot of people have to that section of the population they simply can’t empathize with because they hate them, are disgusted by them, want to get rid of them and their death is really of no consequence to them at all. So often our lack of empathy is a result of a knee jerk response, programmed early by some uncomfortable experience. While the leap from insect to race, class, gender, ideology, nationality, or religion may seem huge…isn’t it really just a magnification of that same kind of automatic response?

I certainly didn’t have empathy for the insect in the moment and it did give me pause, because magnified, that initial gut response could be problematic.  I’d like to think of myself as a steward of God’s creation, and a disciple of God’s great message, but I don’t like bugs much. I will probably never like them and have difficulty with the empathy thing from human to insect. But I can appreciate their place in the food chain.  There is a place for everything under the sun right?  What becomes more difficult for me is the trouble that comes with finding empathy for our fellow humans, it should be so much easier and yet it isn’t. It is so hard to bypass that knee jerk response and try to reprogram ourselves. I suppose that is why Jesus demanded that we walk in someone else shoes before we pass judgement. When we view the world from another’s perspective the blinders come off and hopefully that knee jerk response is transformed.  Empathy is central to forgiveness.  When we accept another as important in God’s eyes and try appreciate that life from their perspective, perhaps we can recognize how similar we all are.  Jesus shows us this in this parable of the unmerciful servant:

The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage and said, ‘Be patient with me and I will pay you back in full.’  Moved to compassion, the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan.

When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount.  He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe!’ Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back!’ But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back the debt.

Now, when his fellow servants saw what happened, they were deeply disturbed, and when to their master and reported the whole affair.  His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant!’ I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ Then, is anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother or sister from his heart.

Today, let’s all work together to quell the knee jerk response that comes before the choice to empathize and forgive…life will be so much better as a result.

Embracing the Simple Things

hand_wateringI used to spent a long time pondering why Jesus used such simple parables and metaphors in sharing the blueprint for building the Kingdom of God.  It all seems so basic and simple, yet we are still so far from the goal. This is how I explain why: if we can’t begin to see God in the smallest scenarios of our own lives, and apply those simple truths to everyday experiences, then there is no possible way for us to begin to apply them on a grander scale, or to use his parables, like planting a seed in shallow ground, or those who pray for just show.  Jesus’ stories eliminate every excuse we can manufacture for why we don’t live God’s  dream for us everyday.   So, while I do try to learn from those simple parables, I try not to focus on my failures but become inspired in even the simplest of tasks I can do that work for change and growth.  Who knows what the result will be far down the line, but it is encouraging to know that every small effort is part of something infinitely larger, that even in my small way I help create the stuff that dreams are made of.  I may not live long enough to see the fruits of my labor, but I am thankful that my effort, whatever comes of it down the line, can be like the mustard seed that Jesus spoke of, so small, but when planted deep into good soil, and nurtured will become  something much bigger and greater.