A Little off the Deep End

When we understand that the infinite includes all, we begin to realize that each of us and all of us are part of the infinite.  Everything that exists is part of the infinite, and thus has a spark of deity within us.  And if we have that spark within us, so does everything else that exists within the physical world. Each of us has love within us as part of the infinite, as well as hate, fear, and every other emotion, both positive and negative.  We have all felt these negative emotions, some, with very deep reason, but we can all aspire to focus on the love.  Christian teachings support this, as well as many, if not all other religions or ways of life.  Think about the Golden Rule   Think about  "turning the other cheek".  Think about Paul's letter to the Corinthians (1st Corinthians 13:13)  "Then abideth these three things: faith, hope, and charity [love], but the greatest of these is charity [love[". The church's teaching that we should love the sinner but hate the sin, and the "love thy enemy". I'm sure that most, if not all, other religions and ways of life have similar references.  But what I'm trying to explain here is not love as it is currently defined rather the understanding that we are all a part of the infinite and thus are completely interconnected.     It's quite easy to feel this connectedness (love) with our family, our friends, our neighbor who joins us every morning for coffee, or is on our softball team.  It's a little harder with the old grouch who lives down the street,  or the racist who harangues persons of other races.  It's harder to with those who live in another part of the world whom we will never meet.  And it's harder yet with the person who has committed a serious crime, especially if we have been the victim of the crime, or have suffered great personal harm or injury,  It's hard to focus on the fact that all of these people are as much a part of the infinity as we are and have the same spark on deity as we do within them.          However the fact is that all things and feelings are part of infinity, and thus reside in each of us,  This includes the concept of free choice.  We can be faced with two options - to become friendly with our new neighbor or to stick to our old tried and true friends. We may love our new neighbor, but still decide to stick with our old friends.  I may have a red shirt or a blue shirt, and love both of them, but I can choose one shirt, while still loving the other. We can choose to focus on that connectedness and to extend it to all, or to focus on the fear and hate that these people caused, especially if it is a personal attack.                                                                                                                                 But even beyond this, we need to extend our connectedness to all that is and to all that is not. It needs to extend to all of creation - all forms of life, and all forms that we do not perceive as life including rock and water, fire and air, and know that every action or thought that we have becomes part of the infinite that we define as deity.