"May you live in interesting times." Old Chinese curse
Well, it's gotten pretty interesting the past week. We had a 10th inning comeback from the lovable losers, who defied all the odds, and created a new paradigm by winning the world series in the 10th inning.
Being a fan of the Cubs (as noted in Flipside, even knowing how the Flipside works, doesn't stop me from being a fan) I got the chance to sit down and watch all the playoff games in a row. MLB offered them on their channel - and it was only the games the Cubs won. So I sat through edited versions of all the Giants, Dodger and Indians games.
I've never done that before. Like life, normally we don't get a chance to experience the thrills of sports in a row. It's usually one week at a time, or one game per day, or even every four years. But watching the games, I started to see the familiar patterns, which of course I've seen in a lifetime of sports - but all in a row, I could see it from a new perspective.
"Two men on, two outs, two strikes... and the wind up... and the pitch..." And something dramatic would happen. The person would strike out, or they would get a hit. But something else was apparent. In innings where a player made an error, that person had a chance to "course correct" the error - Javy Baez and Dave Ross come to mind in Game 7 - where they went from "goat to hero" in one inning. But when you watch all the games back to back, you can see this happening game after game. Only we never see games back to back like this. We only see them at various times.
It's like life - we can't see how all of our lifetimes are connected, how in one life we make errors, and in the next life we correct them or "hit it out of the park." We can't see that we grow and evolve in each game, we get better (or we fall back) but we're there being cheered on by our friends and fans, and at the end of the game, we all congratulate each other - or hang our heads in sorrow.
In this research, we're shown time and again that we "choose our parents" "choose our lives" and "choose what's going to occur." But we don't know the outcome - no one can know the outcome - because time is not set. But we can have likely outcomes. We come to the field with a team, and if everyone does their part, we will get the outcome we came for. And sometimes we sign up to "lose a game" so we can experience what that feels like. I'm sure Cleveland fans are feeling that right now - they're happy for the delirious Cub fans, but they are licking their wounds, figuring out how not to lose next time, etc.
And we come to the ballpark, or the series if you will, armed with the hallmarks we are supposed to achieve. We come to help our pals achieve their goals. Not everyone can pitch a no-hitter, but it requires invisible help from all of our teammates to make that happen. The manager sends signals, the catcher sends pitches, the pitch makes the pitches - and the outcome is not set in stone, but the hitters do their best to change the course of those events.
But when the game is over, we can't jump off cliffs, run into traffic, or blow up the neighborhood. We cheer, we laugh, we cry, we think of all those people who've been here before, who couldn't "be here" to experience the victory. That fellow who drove to his father's gravesite comes to mind. You know, the Cub fan who "watched the game" with his father at his tomb, based on a promise he made in 1982.
Was his father there watching the game? Of course he was. His father was likely saying "Son, I appreciate the long drive and the trip. But I'm not here in this cemetery. I'm WHEREVER YOU ARE." He didn't have to make that long trip to watch the game with his dad. They were all watching the game as well.
I had lunch with Jennifer Shaffer that week. And she said "Oh, they're all celebrating over there. They're all enjoying this week."
And then another thing intervened. The election.
I can vouch for Jennifer's insight into the election. I don't believe the future is set, and I've spoken about it often. People come to see Jennifer Shaffer because they want to know the future. She can tell them likely outcomes, but no future is set. But in this case we were talking about the coming election, and she got a sad look on her face. "I'm sorry, but I don't see her winning. Something happens."
So I was prepared for the loss, emotionally. I spoke to her after the election and she was pretty upset about it, like having seen a car wreck and helpless to do anything about it.
I meditated on it a bit, and asked my "spirit guides" (who knows? you ask a question you get an answer. Maybe it's your spirit guide. Maybe it's Harry Carey) and here's what I heard.
"We got this."
And an odd calm came over me. As if to say "The events that have happened are meant to be, and there's a higher purpose for them."
I know that sounds... eh... not very helpful. I equally know that in this research I've had tons of conversations about "the rise and fall of Hitler" because it's the most memorable human event where the drama of life is played out in front of all of us. And I've heard consistently the same information about that era - that people agreed to experience the "light and darkness" of the time period. I've heard variations on people saying "it was a lot darker than I imagined it would be" or "that experience scorched my soul." So I'm not mitigating or diminishing it, or anyone's experience with it in any way. I didn't sign up for a lifetime during that era that I'm aware of - and I get the feeling that I did that because I just didn't have the courage to do so, or some other reason. But it takes courage to come to the planet, it takes courage to live through difficulties.
So let's start there. To those who "lost" in this election, there is no losing or winning. On the flipside, everyone is equal, there exists unconditional love for everyone, and we come to the planet to experience the loss of it. Or the journey to finding it or giving it. That's the process, that's why we're here. We chose to be here. Things don't happen "by accident" - although there's variation involved. Imagine if you were watching a play called "the world series."
Wasn't that one of the most dramatic series ever?
Imagine you're watching a play called "the election of 2016." That was a pretty dramatic turn of events, wasn't it? Someone despised by both sides of the fence rises through the ranks and "takes the crown." Hard to take the crown for a guy who already thinks he's wearing one, but I digress - for those who "won the election" - they too signed up to experience this.
At the end of the day, the game will end, the series will be over, the election will be another one, and life will move on. Since no one dies - there's no harm that can ever come to us. There's suffering, but it's only the kind of suffering you get from stubbing your toe. "OW!" But eventually the pain subsides and you move on. "What did I learn from this? Don't walk barefoot. Wear thicker shoes. Love my neighbor as myself. Love everyone equally."
After all it is about love. The loss of it, finding it, giving it. People are mourning for the loss of what they thought their country was. I'm mourning to find out that the owner of the Cubs and one of its ace pitchers voted for that other guy. But I love them too. I love the orange haired balloon as well. He's playing his role very well. It's only when you take it all seriously that you can find yourself in the miasma that human emotions can be. Which is okay too. Experience pain and loss, because it only makes love and acceptance all that more glorious.
My two cents.
 |
| It's #6 in kindle, #25 in books at Amazon |
Well, it's gotten pretty interesting the past week. We had a 10th inning comeback from the lovable losers, who defied all the odds, and created a new paradigm by winning the world series in the 10th inning.
 |
| Cub fan? Could be. |
I've never done that before. Like life, normally we don't get a chance to experience the thrills of sports in a row. It's usually one week at a time, or one game per day, or even every four years. But watching the games, I started to see the familiar patterns, which of course I've seen in a lifetime of sports - but all in a row, I could see it from a new perspective.
"Two men on, two outs, two strikes... and the wind up... and the pitch..." And something dramatic would happen. The person would strike out, or they would get a hit. But something else was apparent. In innings where a player made an error, that person had a chance to "course correct" the error - Javy Baez and Dave Ross come to mind in Game 7 - where they went from "goat to hero" in one inning. But when you watch all the games back to back, you can see this happening game after game. Only we never see games back to back like this. We only see them at various times.
It's like life - we can't see how all of our lifetimes are connected, how in one life we make errors, and in the next life we correct them or "hit it out of the park." We can't see that we grow and evolve in each game, we get better (or we fall back) but we're there being cheered on by our friends and fans, and at the end of the game, we all congratulate each other - or hang our heads in sorrow.
 |
| A long time ago. A planet far far away. |
And we come to the ballpark, or the series if you will, armed with the hallmarks we are supposed to achieve. We come to help our pals achieve their goals. Not everyone can pitch a no-hitter, but it requires invisible help from all of our teammates to make that happen. The manager sends signals, the catcher sends pitches, the pitch makes the pitches - and the outcome is not set in stone, but the hitters do their best to change the course of those events.
 |
| Cub fans circa 59 |
Was his father there watching the game? Of course he was. His father was likely saying "Son, I appreciate the long drive and the trip. But I'm not here in this cemetery. I'm WHEREVER YOU ARE." He didn't have to make that long trip to watch the game with his dad. They were all watching the game as well.
I had lunch with Jennifer Shaffer that week. And she said "Oh, they're all celebrating over there. They're all enjoying this week."
And then another thing intervened. The election.
 |
| Jennifer Shaffer Scott De Tamble |
I can vouch for Jennifer's insight into the election. I don't believe the future is set, and I've spoken about it often. People come to see Jennifer Shaffer because they want to know the future. She can tell them likely outcomes, but no future is set. But in this case we were talking about the coming election, and she got a sad look on her face. "I'm sorry, but I don't see her winning. Something happens."
So I was prepared for the loss, emotionally. I spoke to her after the election and she was pretty upset about it, like having seen a car wreck and helpless to do anything about it.
I meditated on it a bit, and asked my "spirit guides" (who knows? you ask a question you get an answer. Maybe it's your spirit guide. Maybe it's Harry Carey) and here's what I heard.
"We got this."
And an odd calm came over me. As if to say "The events that have happened are meant to be, and there's a higher purpose for them."
I know that sounds... eh... not very helpful. I equally know that in this research I've had tons of conversations about "the rise and fall of Hitler" because it's the most memorable human event where the drama of life is played out in front of all of us. And I've heard consistently the same information about that era - that people agreed to experience the "light and darkness" of the time period. I've heard variations on people saying "it was a lot darker than I imagined it would be" or "that experience scorched my soul." So I'm not mitigating or diminishing it, or anyone's experience with it in any way. I didn't sign up for a lifetime during that era that I'm aware of - and I get the feeling that I did that because I just didn't have the courage to do so, or some other reason. But it takes courage to come to the planet, it takes courage to live through difficulties.
So let's start there. To those who "lost" in this election, there is no losing or winning. On the flipside, everyone is equal, there exists unconditional love for everyone, and we come to the planet to experience the loss of it. Or the journey to finding it or giving it. That's the process, that's why we're here. We chose to be here. Things don't happen "by accident" - although there's variation involved. Imagine if you were watching a play called "the world series."
Wasn't that one of the most dramatic series ever?
Imagine you're watching a play called "the election of 2016." That was a pretty dramatic turn of events, wasn't it? Someone despised by both sides of the fence rises through the ranks and "takes the crown." Hard to take the crown for a guy who already thinks he's wearing one, but I digress - for those who "won the election" - they too signed up to experience this.
At the end of the day, the game will end, the series will be over, the election will be another one, and life will move on. Since no one dies - there's no harm that can ever come to us. There's suffering, but it's only the kind of suffering you get from stubbing your toe. "OW!" But eventually the pain subsides and you move on. "What did I learn from this? Don't walk barefoot. Wear thicker shoes. Love my neighbor as myself. Love everyone equally."
After all it is about love. The loss of it, finding it, giving it. People are mourning for the loss of what they thought their country was. I'm mourning to find out that the owner of the Cubs and one of its ace pitchers voted for that other guy. But I love them too. I love the orange haired balloon as well. He's playing his role very well. It's only when you take it all seriously that you can find yourself in the miasma that human emotions can be. Which is okay too. Experience pain and loss, because it only makes love and acceptance all that more glorious.
My two cents.