Notes on Our Molecular Responsibility

 

April 10.

I've been given a life in the wholeness of Being, but do I sense it?

My very atoms belong to this planet, not to me. There's a part of me which believes everything belongs to me, but the idea itself is absurdly false. Even the simplest critical evaluation of our nature reveals its emptiness; yet it insists. 

It believes it is powerful.

The wholeness of Being isn't my own wholeness of Being, but an individual iteration of the Being of the planet. In this sense, I’m like one of the microbes that inhabits my own body; I'm part of a vast and essential chemical process which I make a tiny contribution to. The quality of my contribution depends on the quality of my chemistry; and this is not just in the crudest sense of what I'm eating and drinking, but the actual quality of the rate of vibration between my molecules, the way that they come into relationship with one another. The quality of my thinking and feeling, the quality of my sensation, are dependent on the quality of vibration between molecules. If I’m quiet and I enter into myself more deeply, with less tension, I can begin to sense this.

This sensation produces a sense of wonderment; because it's so different than what my mind assumes and the way in which I rush about like a bull in a china shop. Even the least touch of a finer quality of Being already reminds me of the fundamentally extraordinary nature of the chemical relationship on this planet, the energetic relationships, which are fully embodied and absolutely expressed within each manifestation of nature: blooming forsythia, narcissus and daffodils, birdsong. The moment in which spring reawakens revitalizes the chemical exchange, and I can participate.

All of these events are sacred phenomena; and each one of them can be more deeply received by the atoms and molecules of my Being, because it was specifically designed to participate in this in a very special way. Let me emphasize this: it isn't me that is very special, but the nature of the planet and my dwelling within that nature. It's an immense privilege to fulfill the responsibilities and duties that devolve upon any single creature gifted with the opportunity to be here. If rightly sensed, it brings no inflation of ego, but rather an expanding experience of humility and gratitude.

We can be touched by the chemical relationship that we are vouchsafed; it comes into us with each breath of air, each sip of water. Being more sensitive to these little things in a mindful way helps us to better appreciate what we have been given and to appreciate the wholeness of Being which is our birthright.

There's a quiet joy available in this place where the wholeness of Being arises; and there's an equally quiet and quite sacred sorrow. 

The two coexist in a place that is untouched by other concerns; and all goodness can be found there. 

The goodness of the whole planet is born in this silence. It is unto itself; I add nothing to it, nor do I take away from it. 

It has no need for advocates or arguments; but it does have a need for relationship. 

I serve to the extent that I helped fulfill that need.

Coming to a more organic understanding of the chemistry of our nature and participating more deeply in the molecular nature of our Being provides a foundation, a beginning, from which I can explore this question with greater respect than the one I have, on average, when I'm not paying attention. 

Even right now, the chemistry of the air that I breathe is influencing me; do I sense that? I’m already in participation. Here it is. 

Where am I? 

Do I have respect?

 These are the questions that are with me this morning.

May you be well within today.

Lee

Lee van Laer is a Senior Editor at Parabola Magazine.