The Many and the One Ibiru: Out of the One comes the Many, and out of the experiences of the Many comes the One. A poetic puzzle, yes? But, when seen in the light of Wonder, it is not so puzzling after all. Individual lives are perfect manifestations of eternal truths. Look at the rolling, ever-changing landscape of your own minds. There is only one of you, yet an infinite variety of thoughts, feelings and perceptions are constantly playing within you. How you define yourselves changes from moment to moment, yet you are always who you are. Oh, Samantha, there is no one Truth or way to define Beingness. If you try to define the Source as any one thing, any one force, it will dance out of your vision as soon as you look! If anyone were to try to define you as any one thought or feeling or dream that you have, you, also, would dance, laughing, out of range. Just as you cannot define yourself by any single thought or feeling, so can the Sacred not be defined as any one thing or vision. To try to do so is to lose the essence of play, of joy and of delight that is the heart of the living experience. Every time you open yourself to the uncertainty, to the shifting hues of light and shadow that play across the Face of Spirit, you give birth to whole new worlds and grace the One with the gifts of your discovery and creation. Do not be afraid of the ever-changing landscape of consciousness. It is only you, discovering new countries and creating new Art within your Self. Even the deepest shadows contain uncharted and wondrous worlds, awaiting only your loving gaze to spring into being. Likewise, every action you take creates worlds. As you become more and more awake, your actions will become more like the actions of a Gardener - choosing carefully and joyfully what to plant and how to care for it. Do you remember your friend, the one who created that lovely painting of you? Do you remember what she wrote on the painting? "Of all possible worlds, help create the ones in which you most want to live." Samantha, you are choosing the worlds in which you will live, with every breath you breathe. Are they what you really want? Think carefully. Feel deeply. Imagine joyfully. And then live as if those worlds already exist. This is how the One creates the Many and the Many create the One. It is the Way of the Gardeners. Samantha, your arthritis is your way of putting a stop to the movements in your awareness. What is it you are trying to hold onto, locking your grasp around? Move your body in a dance, swaying slowly and easily from one position to another. Feel the movement of energy and the places where you are stiffest. Move those places with great gentleness and tenderness, listening carefully to what they tell you about yourself and your awareness. There are other ways, Samantha, to slow down when things move too quickly for you. Until the next time, my old friend.