There’s that special place in all of us that is pure and loving and good. Its the place where politics, dogmatic opinionated religious divisive beliefs (as opposed to true spirituality) cannot enter. Some might refer to it as the Christ within. Others might say its the pristine place in the citadel of our highest expression. I am the happiest as a person here in this world when I express from that place. It becomes clearer to me that love, true love for everyone, including ourselves is an inviolable powerful force for the good of all. It is a high frequency expression. Traveling from moment to moment in that vehicle of  dwelling is a wonderful experience. It by no means means that one is oblivious to the reality happening around us, or is it the illusion we perceive rather than the cosmic reality? Suffering, victimization, abuse, is by the grace of God only temporary, no matter how omnipotent or all consuming its seems to be to us at the time. The light is always present in the midst of the darkest moments of our experience. When we look to the light, the darkness must diminish. When I’ve struggled with feelings I’ve had sometimes, especially when I’ve had some not so kind thoughts, and have inquired  of God in those moments I have been reminded and advised of a very simple but pure verity,  ”Just Love.” When we come from that place other than from condemning judgment, we come from the refuge of that special place.

If it weren’t for the loveliness of the process, what would this be all worth?  As an unknown, unrepresented Indie author it can sometimes bring a feeling of despair, until, I remember the many wonderful, gracious, kind, supportive, beautiful people I meet along the way.

An art teacher of mine at Ohio State University back in 1968 was the first person to say to me,,,”Don’t put too much value on the creative product, rather realize that the process is what is valuable.” He was ahead of his time in the sense that we read advice today in books like The Power of Now by Eckhard Tolle in which we are encouraged not to think past or future, but right now. That sometimes seems much easier said than done, but when you experience some of the pristine moments of practicing that conscious choice, it makes you want to live in those moments more often than not. Remember though, be kind to yourself. Our habits (especially ones of negativity) are strong, so for some of us it takes extra conscientious effort to be in The Now.

The writing experience teaches me gratitude and appreciation more than anything else. I thank each and every person, animal and plant that has been a friend along the way. We are all truly interconnected but many of us just haven’t perceived that reality yet. Those moments when eyes meet with acceptance and we see only soul friendship and not race, religion, politics, or  the costumes we wear to state who we are, we are joined in Spirit as it should be. Those moments are truly the elixir and essence of the loveliness of the ongoing life process.

When I saw the movies Close Encounters of The Third Kind and ET, I loved the portrayal of beings from beyond our little beautiful blue and green planet. We all know there was the obvious symbolism of being “different” especially in ET but also definitely in Close Encounters when the main male character, Roy Neary, played by Richard Dreyfuss was so deeply affected by his close encounter, affected to the point of obsession that eventually drove away his wife and children. He struggled and I struggled with him when he said  very passionately from the depths of his person, “But this is important!!!” and  ”I know this means something important.” His unstoppable determination, intelligence and intuitive savvy finally got him past all of the roadblocks and obstacles until he climbed  Devil’s Tower and came to the secret landing strip and the crew that awaited the coming of the extra terrestrials.  His childlike nature and sense of ethereal wonder was portrayed so beautifully when the alien children came towards him, held his hands and chose him from all of the others suited up to go and brought him into the blinding light of the boarding ramp. He looked back at us with an indescribable joy.

Seeing that movie planted in me the conviction of how wonderful a motion picture can be, and how whether consciously or subconsciously Steven Spielberg knew how to tell a beautiful story . As a high school Art and photo teacher I then began a program called Telecommunications in which in addition to broadcasting and journalism, we began to make “electronic cinematography” movies with teen oriented issues of self esteem,  drinking and driving, etc. and presented them as half hour movies in assemblies in our school and also on local access TV.

The great promise of what this kind of technology could do when used to reach the masses with good messages was a seed that grew in me further over the years. When I wrote Burden of Privilege:The Secret Life of Geoffrey Collins, I wrote it as a movie, dreaming like Ray Neery that something important was waiting to happen and waiting to be  born. So I continue like Mr. Neary to work past any roadblocks of doubt or bureaucratic complexity to make it to the mountain. My hope is that when I meet the special ones, everyone will come for the ride.

Hazel, my wife, best friend and so much more said to me a few years ago, Let it Unfold. She saw my sincere passion but impatient self trying to make things happen that weren’t ready to happen yet. If you will believe it, the kindly  spirit of Dr. George Washington Carver  also spoke to me (in the shower interestingly enough) with the words “Slow Down Boy” a little over a year ago. So in some respects I’ve slowed down and in others I have been inspired to reach out locally into the community where I reside and plant seeds and spread the word of a story that will be uplifting to a pained world.

So it begins, some visitations at local libraries, an upcoming WCPN 90.3 radio interview with Dee Perry on Around Noon,  a coordinated book signing at the Learned Owl Book Shop in Hudson, Ohio November 17th at 7PM, and an “on screen” interview with Todd Volkmer on www.ArtsQuestTV.com sometime in mid to late November.  So thank all of you for your good wishes and words of encouragement as we will Let it Unfold.

WJS

We should never think we ever do anything of our selves. The author of Universal love is known  by many names and the Spirit helps us more than we know. In the physical we have our visible friends. We are interconnected more than we know. Frodo would have never made it without his dear friend Samwise Gamgee by his side and the host of thousands that he never saw,  many dying such that he could complete the task that would affect all of Middle Earth. Even the pathetic Gollum played such an important part in the whole journey.  Once again we are interconnected more than we realize and in reality no one is our enemy. Our only foe is egotism, but by the grace of God we can overcome.

One of the easiest things to do is to believe you’re keeping the faith. Living it is a world of difference. I just watched an Oprah Master Class (again) today about Oprah’s climb to “success.”  People often don’t realize what an actual “climb” it is. Not only are there amazing life challenges along the way but even after you think you’ve surrendered to God, The Spirit will kindly show you when you haven’t, but just thought you did.  I will keep the Faith in regards to getting this story to Oprah. It will happen in God’s time. In the meantime I will do my best to be receptive to inspiration. I thank those of you that have good will for this story to become a motion picture. Your affection and support is very much appreciated.