Through the ages, there have always been those who, when they looked at another, understood they were looking at themselves. Seers and mystics of all religious traditions have seen through the veil of form and recognised the essential oneness of all things.
But what would be the implications if we held an awareness of the Divine in everyone all of the time? What if we tried genuinely to live this belief day by day, minute by minute, in the encounters we have with our family, with our friends, at work, and in society at large?
This book is an invitation and a challenge to explore these questions. It draws on the author's own experiences as a Quaker and as a student of A Course in Miracles.
Excerpt:
Imagine you are standing on the shore of the ocean, the waves breaking gently at your feet. You wade in a little way, and you take an empty glass and dip it in the water. What are you holding in the glass? It is not the ocean. The ocean is still there and has not been diminished to any visible degree. But the water is of the ocean: from it, and like it. Its essence is the same. For me, God is like the ocean. And God's Spirit within us is like the water in the glass.
In my own understanding, God is what Is. There is nowhere - no time, no place, no situation - where God does not abide. God is our essence but, more than that, God is Essence. Anything which is not God is not real, even though it may appear to be so. At our heart is Love, and that Love is of God. At our core is eternity, which has been, is now and forever will be. When we show kindness, it is God acting through us. Our God-Self is the truth about Who we are.
Are we the 'mad monkey mind' which chatters away, judging others, judging ourselves, never satisfied and always seeking more?
Are we male and female? Young and old? Gay and straight? Black and white? Are we rich and poor? Healthy? Sick?
Are we our bodies which live for a while but then return to dust?
Are we the things we own? The jobs we do? The roles we play?
Who are we, when we take off our costumes and masks?