Everything Changes. Nothing Is Permanent. Hallelujah.
Mother Christ Teaches the Way of Hevel and Simcha
In the Beginning, All Was One
In the beginning, all was one. As the one flared forth into time and space, all remained one, interconnected in more ways than any mind can conceive. A star burning in the endless night does not believe it is alone. It dances with all the cosmos around it.
This oneness is not sameness. Difference is not a burden to the One Life and it is not a corruption of it. It is the oneness of unity, not ruled by the vile power of conformity which arises from greed, fear, or lust for power. Oneness is a dance, and communion for parts arising from the whole and from which the whole emerges. It is the flow from concentration to dissolution, and back again.
On the night before his arrest, the Living Christ prayed in his body the yearning of the Divine toward the cosmos. As he poured out his life, with his feet on the earth and his heart in the holy of holies in heaven, he prayed that all eyes and hearts will be opened so “that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me (John 17:21).” This unity is shown in love, since God is love. The care we have for one another goes beyond the order of love Babylon presses upon us.
Babylon demands that we love ourselves, then our families, then friends, then fellow citizens. All these circles are used to define the stranger, so they can be excluded or so they can justify giving them less for each degree out. It shatters the unity of life and divides the house, so it is easier to topple it over until it falls.
Love loves all. What happens to one affects all. Every hungry belly, every thirsty soul, everyone left to wander when they could be given a home, lessens the whole. A full belly steals no bread. An illness cured does not spread. A home built is a blessing to all.
Behold the great mystery revealed to the world: “The glory which you have given me, I have given to them; that they may be one, even as we are one (John 17:22);” for the Glory of God is the name of God etched into every particle of the cosmos.
The Glory of God is the majesty and honor of God manifest in the world. It is the heart of the kin-dom. As majesty, it guides us ever toward the Light. As honor, it is the lamp of the heart to guide our lives. To receive the Glory is not to be aggrandized. This Glory is shared with us and all that lives. It is the sign of our unity, leading the dance of life.
And so we sing the Song of the One Life: “I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that you sent me, and loved them, even as you loved me (John 17:23).”
There is no separate self in the same way there are no separate rivers. Even though they flow in diverse places, the water in them returns to the same source to be collected then recirculated around the world. We could argue forever over whether the river is the course it follows or the water that flows. Both are ever changing, different day by day, but they arise from one water that circulates and flows through them all. The river is real, and so is the water. They are one though they are different, but one cannot exist without the other.
The Wild Christ is the flow of life and creation, the Anointer and the Anointed, each creating the other in an endless cycle of making. “He is before all things, and in him all things are held together (Colossians 1:17).”
All the Hands That Made You
Dance with the Wild Christ in the day and in the night. Under the mystery of the stars, in the light of the Moon, dance in the soothing cool till the morning sun. In the brightness of the day, under the heat of the sun, dance with the strength life gives you. In awe, in mourning, in inspiration, in protest, and in celebration, dance.
The Wild Christ is the dancer, and God is the dance. “For in him we live, and move, and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring (Acts 17:28).’”
What does it mean to be the offspring of the Dance? Life is living God. Movement is moving God. Being is being God. Yes, no individual is God, but together with all that is above and below, within and around, before and behind, God lives, moves, and has being through us all.
Think about the farmer. No farmer can sow if no one has ever reaped. There must be seed before there can be a harvest. The farmer collects the seeds, protects them through the winter, sows them in their season, and gathers some of what has ripened, allowing the rest to go to seed before they are collected. Then the cycle begins again.
The farmer is the sower, the gardener, the harvester, and the shelter of the crop. This is the way of all life. The farmer and the field are one. If the farmer does not understand the soil, the needs of the plants, the times and seasons from planting, watering, fertilizing, pruning, the yield is diminished. They must know what threatens and sustains the plant and the fruit. The farmer who is not the field blinds themselves from the glorious harvest that could have been theirs. They fall out of sync and do not maintain or sustain each other.
All of life is like this. The practice and the practitioner are one. The act and the actor are one. The person and the people are one. In all things, we are interconnected and entwined in a web of actions, interactions, and reactions that cannot be managed or controlled, because there are too many to track.
There is no separate self. How many hands grow, harvest, transport, and prepare our food? How many minds have thought and taught the ideas and beliefs we hold so dear? Every grain of sand has a lineage of lives, mountains, lands, rivers, oceans, and stars that all contributed something to what it is now and what it will become in the future.
If you feel alone or isolated, turn to see all the hands that made you, and make you even now. Not all those hands worked with love, justice, and joy, and may have left bruises and scars.
Honor love. Honor justice. Honor joy. Honor hope. These are the hands that heal and create, they sustain and maintain life. Anger, ignorance, hate, greed, fear, and violence are parasites that feed on life because they have no life of their own.
This is why there is not one path to the One Life, but there is one way. Love, justice, joy, and hope guide the way, but there are many ways to serve them. We are not conformed to them, but are transformed by them as we turn from what is not love, justice, joy, or hope. Some will use the same words, names, and practices as we do, but if they truly honor these, we are walking the path together. These connect us deeper than the words ever will.
Breath of Breath: All Is Breath
The secret of life cannot be held, only beheld: “Emptying upon emptying! —said the Assembler— Emptying upon emptying! Everything is emptying (Ecclesiastes 1:2 from Rabbi Rami Shapiro, Ecclesiastes: Annotated & Explained).”
Listen to the heart of the Assembler, “Emptying! Emptying upon emptying! The world is fleeting of form, empty of permanence, void of surety, without certainty. Like a breath breathed once and gone, all things rise and fall. Understand emptiness, and tranquility replaces anxiety. Understand emptiness, and compassion replaces jealousy. Understand emptiness, and you will cease to excuse suffering and begin to alleviate it (Ecclesiastes 1:2 from Rabbi Rami Shapiro, The Tao of Solomon: Unlocking the Perennial Wisdom of Ecclesiastes).”
There is so much meaning in so few words: Havel havalim. Havel havalim hakol. Hevel is the mist-like nature of life. It is real and beautiful, but fleeting, elusive, and beyond our control. The word means breath, vapor, mist, or smoke. Another way to say this same thing is: Breath of breath. All is breath.
When we breathe we draw in and release air from and to the world. We take in and we let go. That is the foundation of living. Though each breath is fleeting, another follows it. This is how life flows in the world.
How many breaths do you breathe? Is it a breath in and a breath out, or is the in and out one breath? When not thinking about it, breath flows in and out, filling and emptying our lungs without notice.
Hevel means breath, and so does Ruach, or spirit. A steady breath is a sign of a steadfast spirit. God creates us in Original Blessing, and establishes us with a steadfast spirit, or breath. This is our home.
When our spirit is disturbed our breath becomes divided. Fear catches the breath in the lungs. Dread quickens our breath. The spirits Jesus cast out of people were the ruach tum’ah, unclean spirits/breaths. This is the divided breath that keeps us from participating in the practice of the community. It is the spirit/breath that separates us from the community and within ourselves.
In repentance, returning to the path, God reestablishes the steadfast spirit/breath in us.
As we understand that all is like breath, and establish our hearts and minds in it, we grow in the steadfast breath and the Holy Spirit/Breath breathes through us.
The path of wisdom is easy to walk, and the tree of life grows in us in every step. Root yourself in the awe and knowledge of the Holy One who Is. Grow in the spirit of counsel and strength. Branch out in the spirit of wisdom and discernment. In all these things the Spirit of the One in whom we live, move, and have our being will create a pure heart in you day by day.[1]
Everything changes. Nothing is permanent. Hallelujah!
Sown Like Light
“Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart (Psalms 97:11).” Right relationship is the ground of life into which the Light of the Holy One is sown. This Light is the Living Word, spoken from the heart, carried on the steadfast breath, empowered by the Holy Breath of the One in whom we live, move, and have our being. Simcha; joy, gladness, rejoicing, or delight, is sown in those whose hearts are sincere and aligned with what is right.
This joy, this simcha, is sown like the light! It rains from the heavens and sustains the hearts of those who live in right relationship with one another and with the world. Receive this joy as a leaf receives the light, so life may flourish in and among you.
Do not confuse joy and gladness. Gladness (chedvah) refreshes, sustains, or radiates from the Ground of Life. It is a feeling arising within us, bringing a smile to our face, but it is not the same as joy. Simcha is joy experienced, expressed, and celebrated together. It is joy rooted not in circumstances but in belonging, integrity, and the light that persists within us. Simcha transforms our community as it grows into the fullness of life. God’s gladness becomes the source of the people’s joy. Remember, God is not merely the One who gives joy, but the living movement of gladness unfolding through us and between us.
“I know that there is nothing better for those who [work in the Light] than to rejoice, and to do good as long as they live. Also that every one should eat and drink, and enjoy good in all their labor, is the gift of God (Ecclesiastes 3:12-13).” No one should stand in the way of simcha, and those who separate the people from seeing and savoring the goodness that arises in their labor stand between the worker and God. As we behold the good in the effort we pour forth into this world, simcha arises and gladness fills our hearts, overflowing into the community so all rejoice with gladness. Joy is life even when life isn’t joyful.
O, Blessed One, guide our hands so they may do good. You order our steps, and guide us to right relationship with ourselves, one another, and all the world. “You will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. In your right hand there are pleasures forevermore (Psalms 16:11).” In your left hand are strength and justice for all. May your Light ever greet our eyes, and your Life fill our bodies, so we may ever speak the Living Word with courage and hope.
Nothing is permanent. All is like the breath. It flows in and out. No two breaths are the same. So it is with our spirit and yours. Your breath is our breath. May our breath always be your breath, holy and filled with joy. Together in the unity of being, we work for the restoration of all into the Light and Life that flows forward to that great and glorious day when all find the wholeness and fullness offered in this life.
When we confuse joy with gladness, we believe that sorrow can rob us of our joy. “Those who sow in tears will reap in joy (Psalms 126:5).” Tears testify to our joy, and plant the seeds of the joy to come. You cannot mourn what you did not love or what never gladdened your heart. Each tear is a testament to the joy we had and will have again. Sorrow and grief do not steal joy from us; they proclaim the power of that joy in our lives. We may not feel it while in their embrace, but we can in the arms of those who console us and celebrate with us what we have lost.
As we wander through the narrow and dry places, we sing, dance, and offer glad tidings. We don’t pretend bad things do not happen, and we do not ignore grief or pain, but we do not let those things define us. We walk in the way handed down from the prophet: “For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace. The mountains and the hills will break out before you into singing; and all the trees of the fields will clap their hands (Isaiah 55:12).”
When was the last time you listened to the song of the mountains, or the clapping of the trees? Peace is the wholeness of the community, and joy is our celebration. We sing and dance with simcha. She holds our hands when we repent and return to the path. She gives us a shoulder to cry on when we need it. Simcha is our constant companion, and the heart of our life. So, “Go your way. Eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared, for today is holy to our Lord. Don’t be grieved, for the joy of Yahweh is your strength (Nehemiah 8:10).” “Go your way—eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has already accepted your works (Ecclesiastes 9:7).”
All Shall Be Well
Simcha lives in the heart that prays honestly, “All shall be well.” This is not a platitude or a hope for the future. It is the lesson we have learned from the hard work and struggles of all that came before us.
All shall be well does not mean that we do not take action. If the ground moves under our feet and the stars dance above our heads, how can we believe that we should refuse to act or freeze before the powers of the world.
Remember always that the One Life that holds you, flows through you and shares your days and nights. Remember hevel that frees you. Nothing remains the same forever, all things change. Good can be made better, Evil can be ground to dust. The mighty will fall from their thrones because they are brittle and snap under the weight of their misdeeds. Remember simcha that is yours. It holds your hands and guides you through all things.
Blessed are those who laugh and cry, mourn and dance, work and rest. Dream dreams, as the fire of the Spirit empowers you to restore life, light, and wisdom to all things.
Do not go alone, but together. Sing with the mountains and clap your hands with the trees. Life endures, so live. Live not in the past or the dreams of the future. Live now. This moment is the one that changes the future forever. Every moment is the one that transforms life to life in the endless stream of life.
Just as the divided breath weakens the mind and the body, the divided house cannot stand. United in love, celebrating in joy, do justice, and live God humbly, so you incarnate the truth that all shall be well.
Isaiah 11:2; Psalm 51:10; Acts 17:28↩︎
You left the institution but not the longing. Creation’s Paths: A Creation Spirituality Primer is for everyone who still feels the sacred moving through the world and wants a language worthy of that feeling.
