Consider for a minute that you are merely an organism on this planet. You are the result of every effect following another effect so far back that we cannot make out the fuzzy long distance image of what an original cause might have been. This moment you are experiencing right now is exactly what needs to happen and is what creates the moment you are experiencing now just seconds later. Imagine that there are countless timelines all moving forward and intersecting each other, with every person, every animal, every molecule experiencing a varied experience of the very same shared moment in history.

Life is so beautiful because of it’s diversity/difference and rich lush landscapes with one complex harmony of structures meeting another. The intricate network of nutrients in transit in the structure of a leaf sits against the cold lifeless concrete that’s been from the soil, to the factory, to the truck, laid down by a worker and has now seen thousands of these leaves live and die against it. When I slow down and think about the complexity of every object, every being, every aspect of my daily experience, I find that not only is the world inherently forever in motion and constantly changing but that each and every state of every thing is perfect.

In recent weeks, I have found myself wishing for a resolution of the violence in the world.  I have wished that both the police and protestors at the occupy encampments across the nation could find a way to practice non-violence in their actions.  I have often wished that economists, politicians, and those in academia would practice non-violence in their suppositions, beliefs, and attitudes.  And, like many of you, I have wished that the people around me (close friends, family, people next to me on the bus) could practice non-violence day to day in their interactions.

It isn’t every day that you hear great music with a real message.  I mean, not everyone is John Lennon or Bob Marley – right? 

That’s what I thought, but I had to think again when Erin Ross introduced me to Luminaries, a Venice based consciousness-expanding Hip Hop group whose history as teachers, social workers, activists, MCs, and instruments of service informs their music and their message.  These are not just incredible musicians, but messengers of hope, whose song titles on their debut album, “One,” read like a list of mantras: “Everything is One,” “Only Love,” “Show the World,” “Peace” and “Be the Change.”

How did the rose

Ever open its heart

And give to this world

All it's beauty?

It felt the encouragement of Light

Against its being,

Otherwise,

We all remain

Too frightened.

- Hafiz

Some days I wonder how I will ever be able to fully offer to the world that which has been given to me.  I, like you, am gifted.  I know that if I were to open up, to sing my song to all who had ears to listen, I could heal the entire world, and set everything aflame with the primordial joy of being.

Thank you for the unwavering beating of this heart, the continual flowing of blood and plasma, the steady in and out of the breath and the ability to be present to it. Thank you for the exquisite function of the liver, kidneys and other cleansing organs. Thank you for the perfect lubrication of joints, the certain endurance of muscles, and the steady strength of bones. Thank you for taste, smell, touch, sound and sight - these senses which make being alive so delightful. 

You work miraculously with no  effort on my part, and for that I thank you. 

I honor you as the sacred vessel for my soul, the home for this lifetime's journey and the channel through which my soul's purpose is able to be conveyed. Without you my spirit would not be having nearly as grand an adventure with all the other wonderful spirits embodied here at this time in this place.

I apologize for any way in which I have ignored you -over-taxed or fed you, or under-exercised, fed or loved you. I apologize for any ways in which I have allowed others to hurt you in any way - with their words or their hands. I apologize for not standing up for you when you deserved it. I apologize for any way in which I have not cared for you as the precious gift you are.