Fresh Thinking, Inspiration, and Vision on the Process of Spiritual Transformation

It’s good to feel the presence of the vibrational body gathered consciously at this time. I’m speaking to you from the Ivy Room at Glen Ivy, in California, in the culminating moments of our Emissary Southwest Regional Gathering. We’ve had thirty-six people gathered for the weekend, and we find ourselves in a room that is quite full. It is full of presence—presence of the One, presence of the One I Am.

An exercise we engaged in during our time together was an invitation for each one to answer this question: Why is it important to be here now? For me, the answer to that question is “Because…” but not in a flippant, adolescent way. It is simply to be cause.

Look at the world now and what do we see? We see turmoil, anxiety, frustration, change, a sense of loss. This is balanced by hope and a sense of the new being born. It is important that those who stand as cause are clearly present now, more than ever; to stand together with a sense of purpose and destiny, individually and collectively; to hold that sense of purpose and destiny for our planet. In that stance there’s excitement to be capable of meeting whatever comes, in clarity and confidence, to provide real hope and real inspiration for the people in the world.

An image to describe and understand the current turmoil and increasing pressure is the metaphor of birth. A new world is being born. Birth does not happen without pressure. Certainly mothers know this; the rest of us know it from witnessing a birth or just from logic. A birth requires pressure.

If you polled all the people in the world, a very high percentage would say, “Sure, there’s a lot of pressure these days.” For some, it’s the pressure of finding food to get through another day and feed their family. For others, it’s the pressure of financial uncertainty—the economic climate has changed rather suddenly. And there are many other pressures as well, some personal and some larger. There is mounting pressure about the resources of this planet, the very physical health of this planet—lots of pressure.

I learned in childbirth classes, before my wife, Mary Ann, gave birth to our daughter, Amber, that in the process of childbirth there’s a period that’s called transition. Interesting word to think of now: transition. What marks the period of transition in a human birth is that, suddenly, the mother-to-be has had enough. “No more! I don’t want this baby; I don’t want this process anymore. No, no, no!” These days, I wonder if that’s what’s in the consciousness of some people. In transition, it is most helpful to have someone present, the father-to-be or a midwife, who understands the cycle and knows that it’s normal and natural. Everything’s actually okay. Pressure is required for the birth. It is so useful to have a reassuring presence to hold gratitude, compassion and unconditional love, no matter what the mother might be doing. That’s the presence of the One I Am.

What are our habitual reactions when we feel pressure? I believe we all have them—little escapes or big escapes; crutches to keep from running screaming into the night. Many will turn on the TV, pick up food or drink, something. Some go shopping for “retail therapy,” to allow the pressure to be stemmed. What’s to be done about these back doors?

It’s simply to be conscious of them—rather than allow our lives to run on an unconscious program. People need to know their capacities. The trials we experience are for tempering our capacities to be more present, stronger and more resilient. Our trials, our circumstances also provide the theater of action for the One I Am. Isn’t it true that, whatever it might look like to our capacities, the circumstance we face now as a vibrational body is perfect for the increased conscious emergence of the One I Am?

So when I say, “Be cause,” it means simply to stand in the identity of the One I Am, unwaveringly, no matter what. This One is the way, the truth and the life. Pressure patterns cause both change and some kind of activity. On the one hand, it’s valuable to have the husband or midwife as a reassuring presence that knows everything is normal. Yet the pressure is also the spur, a goad to activity. Presence in stillness determines right action to be taken individually, to be taken together as a vibrational body. This allows the pressure to have its appropriate effect: another step in the birth of the new, in the fulfillment of the destiny and purpose of this planet. We discover what this is as we see it.

So it’s possible, probably necessary, to be thankful for pressure, thankful for discomfort—the signs that the creative cycle is working, vibrational work is being done. This is clear indication that this is our time. This is what we were born for. This is why we have come: to be the One I Am, in action on Earth.