One thing I’ve noticed is that people can shine so brightly and yet be so far away from each other. Take where I was recently, a park with a lake and a walking path adjacent to a large athletic complex hosting a youth soccer tournament. All the people gathered there looked so blissful, smiling and shouting encouragement to the children. They seemed at once so happy and yet so distant. Everybody had their own lives, their own agendas. At the moment they were sharing the experience of watching a sporting event, young people striding and striving to be triumphant in the contest, but the adults seemed to be taking time out of what else mattered to them. My point, I guess, is that people are guarded about what they consider their life, and alone.
Of course I am somewhat guarded and alone and yes, to some extent I project that upon other people, those whom I observe becoming like a mirror to me, but the point stands nonetheless. I believe that we as a society, while free individually are meant to be united comprehensively. Conflicts of the past should no longer bind us to a fear-based way of life. Throw the cards up in the air and see what destiny does when confronted with billions of people who are fervently alive. I don’t know what’s going to happen today but I hope it surprises me. Hug a loved one and buy a friend a present for no reason. Do what is incontrovertibly good and see how it flies into the future. We face resistance, but I tell you the war is already won.
Blood flows through our veins as water flows through creation. Go wherever the day takes you and find hope for all the tomorrows hereafter. Okay, okay. Silence is good as well. Just listen to the trees… They would not speak a sound if not for the air running through them. Trees take light and convert it to sugar, food for them to reach ever closer to the light. The whole world glides on such cycles.
When I say people are distant from one another I mean that our worlds aren’t as connected as they should be. It is only in moments of exaltation, through art, music, the joy of company, when people can relate to one another and really speak what is most important, that two worlds can merge into a universe greater than the sum of its parts. When people let their guard down, not because of external forces but for the sake of what is inside them longing to fill the world with love, this is when interesting things start taking place. Forget the government, the stock market, the drama on television, what is infinitely more exciting is a person whose heart is unleashed.
So much of what is found on the border between reality and fantasy is of the world beyond, and therefore, because the world we abide in is temporary, and the world beyond is eternal, the line between here and imagination is the truest place one can stand. I believe in elves, magic, dragons, heroic adventures where good wins in the end and love conquers all, I believe in supernatural voyages through mystical realms, and I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that what happens in those moments when people don’t care and stop paying attention has the power to open the skies and draw back the curtains on a glorious kingdom that has no end. The power of God is love, for sinners and saints and everyone in between, if there is an in between.
My patience wears thin. It must soon be time to fly. I soar above the clouds when I feel restless, high enough that only passing airplanes could see me, so I stay out of their line of sight. If everyone could fly, psychiatrists would be out of a job. Perhaps we would need more.
I make the observation that people are distant only because I sense a change to come. Granted, all must embark on their own journeys and press on through whatever trials lie ahead. I am merely saying that the end of our journey is a great, high, overwhelming communal love that will turn past enemies into future brothers and lift everyone up to unfathomable heights of joy and fulfillment. We have only just begun to learn what love is. I assure you there is far, far, far more than this.
In conclusion of this chapter I would like to invite you all to fly with me. Get ready, on the count of three we are going to rise above the chair, couch, or bed you’re on and take to the skies. One, you can do this, two, I believe in you, three! Are you flying yet? You’re supposed to at least float and hover above where you were sitting. Still no? Alright, forget I said anything. We’ll work on this.
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