Wellsprings

"You and I have been offered an unique observation point." So begins "Wellsprings," a brief essay from my book, Thin Places and Five Clues. Wellsprings was mentioned by a recent reader as being particularly noteworthy for him. It is included in this blog post as a metaphorical plea for us to work together for local, regional, national and world peace.

Wellsprings

"You and I have been offered an unique observation point. From it we can see groups of people gathered around dozens of hand-dug wells, peering down the open excavations, straining to get a glimpse of the Great Overflow Dynamic, as it is called. It is known as the river of life. Deep below -- running through all of the wells and connecting each invisibly with a dynamic energy, the juncture of which is usually missed by the excavators above.

Each of the well sites has a sign designating its claim to the Dynamic. Some hold the sign high, proudly exclaiming the superior location of its site and thus the best access. Others use their sign as a shovel to scrape away the loose soil from around the opening. Others use the sign only to confirm their location.

We observe fights breaking out at some of the sites, people pushing and shoving each other, throwing stones towards other well sites which are believed inferior and a threat to the source Dynamic. Others strain to get into a better position near the deep void, to peer below - often loosening the soil and causing clumps and rocks to fall into the well -- splashing into the pure water below, and enraging the crowds into accusations and disciplines.

But, the pollution, as they shout at each other, is not realized to extend to all of the wells since they are all served by the same great source. Those at adjoining wells look over in disdain while lulling in comfort about the purity of their well. While the splashes of debris are not recognized as a temporary and natural process the river uses in its own dynamics.

There is an endless array of sites stretching out beyond us, some with large groups, some with just a few huddled together peering down into the shaft. Some with one person. Some sites are vacant...perhaps abandoned. And, some which apparently are only drawn to the crowds are clustered around dirt only. No well. Just a staked claim, in dirt, for they see only holes at the other sites and not the source below. They see only dirt and empty holes. Yet the Great Overflow Dynamic energy still mingles below.

Murmurings abound, mostly honoring access points to the Great Overflow Dynamic. It has become symbolized among those gathered. Some refer to it as G.O.D. Others as simply GOD. Others portray it as the Great Spirit. The site signs are raised high in celebration as the groups cheer around some internal signal. One sign reads Jewish. Another Presbyterian. Independent Thinker. Buddhist. Islam. And on and on.

Yet, we can sense from our observation point that each expression is veritably sacred at its core. Not because of the fashion of their apertures in the earth. Nor because of their signs nor their proclamations, which often are against each other. Their loving sacredness emanates from each, in their own way, craving to tap the fringes, the hemline, the small bits of seemingly imperceptible and imponderable vapors of the Great Dynamic through their own crude wells. Our own wells. Pinholes in the vast infinite cosmic sea of GOD."

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