The conversation.

“Why do you sit here and do nothing? I have seen what you can do. I know who you are. How can you just sit here?… So useless. It’s like talking to a wall… What? Why are you smiling at me?”

“It’s hard to have a conversation when the other person doesn’t respond. Isn’t it?”

“No. It’s impossible. It’s just me saying the same thing over and over again.”

“Quite right. Which is exactly why I am sitting here.”

“What do you mean? People want to see you. People want to listen to you.”

“But, that is not a conversation. I have shared what I had to share. If I am to share more I need to know if what I have already shared has been understood, and how it has been understood, so I can tailor the next lesson accordingly.”

“What do you need to hear? What can I say?”

“That is not a conversation either, is it? Simply telling a person what you think they want to hear, just so you can get what you want.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand.”

“It’s alright. Be patient. Some conversations take a very long time.”

“But, the people need you now.”

“That is the problem. They don’t need me, they need to be a part of the conversation.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“It is not desirable for people to become dependent on me. This does not help them, and thus, it is not my goal.”

“But, I have seen what you can do.”

“And as I have said, they can do it too. They can do it all themselves. All they need is to be a part of the conversation. Once they are all a willing part of the conversation, as equals, they will see that God was always with them, and they were always a part of God. Only then will I be able to share more.”

“This is so frustrating.”

“You should really try to be more patient. Some lessons can take thousands of years to learn.”

“How? If people don’t live that long.”

“It is the divine duality; we are all free willed individuals who are also inextricably part of a greater whole. We are all born into a community, born into the conversation, and the conversation goes on with or without our consent, or even awareness. But if we are aware and engaged, then everything becomes much better as the conversation ascends to another level.”

“So, people are nothing more than pawns to this conversation of God’s?”

“They don’t have to be. That’s the lesson. It just takes a while to break old habits.”

“Forgive me, but unlike you we don’t have thousands of years to appreciate any of this. The people need you now.”

“The only difference between you and me is that I choose to be fully engaged in the conversation at all times. Even when it means being still.”

“I can’t believe that.”

“That is the habit you have to break.”

“How?”

“To start, you have to understand the nature of choice. You see, what you do at the store as you walk the aisles, or at a restaurant when you read through the menu, is not really making a choice. You are simply reacting to information. Real choice is sustaining a condition against your reactions. Like a recovering alcoholic. For them having a drink is not a choice, it is a reaction. For them to remain sober they must sustain the choice to avoid alcohol. If they stop sustaining that choice, it is only a matter of time before cause and effect drives them to have a drink.

     Or marriage. For a couple to remain married they must sustain the choice to work together, day in and day out. If they should ever stop sustaining that choice, cause and effect will eventually drive them apart. All relationships, communities, societies, and civilization itself are the result of sustained choices. And when these things begin falling apart, it is because people have stopped sustaining the choice to do the work needed to keep these relationships alive.”

“Then,.. what is the nature of the conversation?.. I get nervous when you smile at me like that.”

“Growing is sometimes scary. The conversation is everything. Do you remember that meteor that hit last month?”

“Yes. Of course. It made a little impact crater in those people’s back yard. It was all over the news.”

“To understand the nature of the conversation is to know that the meteor did not interrupt the conversation. The meteor was a part of the conversation. The end result of a statement made millions of years ago. When you walk down the street immersed in your thoughts and you see something in a store window that derails your thoughts for a while, that object is a part of the conversation along with your thoughts. A painting an artist makes, a fly landing on your nose, a dream you have, and your morning coffee are all a part of the conversation. All your behaviors and routines, and all of your desires and wishes. Not to mention the verbal conversations you have and books you read. Everything is interwoven.

     Philosophers used to be concerned about the prime cause, the first thought in the endless conversation that is our existence, but the scientists have distracted people from this awareness. Like an alcoholic falling off the wagon and having a drink, they told a story of the universe that makes the conversation nothing more than a material series of reactions. The truth is that the conversation began long before the physical universe. The material universe came into existence because something happened that caused the conversation to ascend to the next level, much like what will happen when all people choose to engage in the conversation themselves.

     Consciousness is being aware of the processes we are a part of, and consciousness is always expanding. Growing. Watch a baby and you will see them watch their hands open and close. Their new brain learning what it is capable of. To be a part of the conversation is to know that this learning never stops. We can always work to extend our consciousness, but to do so we must leave all of our prejudices and assumptions behind. To maintain the choice of being engaged in the conversation is to accept responsibility for our role… as an equal part.”

“I don’t know. It sounds a lot like you’re saying to live in the moment and be reactive. But that is not a conversation.”

“Yes! Very true. In a conversation we must also have a vision of ourselves and intent. The vision of ourselves is found in God and the devil. God being our possible future and the devil being our animal past. At any given moment we must intentionally move towards one or randomly fall back to the other. And we must also have the intent to engage in the conversation; intent to build and maintain our relationships.

     It is all about the conversation. It was always about the conversation. The Ten Commandments were given as a language to engage in the conversation; grammatical rules that build and maintain relationships at every level.

     The choice to be sustained is to remain engaged in the conversation while pursuing a vision of our future self as part of functioning civilization. The divine duality.

     Not only is it what I do, it is what all the Saints did, and Galileo, Darwin, Newton, and Curie. All fully engaged in the conversation. All of them unique individuals who will always be a part of our civilization… And you.”

“Me? Not me. I barely understand.”

“Ha! It is the pursuit that matters, not the understanding. You are here, now. Fully engaged. No one else is. Everyone else is waiting for someone to save them; to give them the answers. Most of them want the world to go backwards. They want something to remove half the population, or someone to give them answers so they can live as they did fifty years ago. They are lost souls trapped in the material world… If you choose to remain engaged and pursue a vision of your future self as part of the conversation you will be the rock they build my new church on.”