Essay: The Gift of Sight

Can Gift of Sight Make People Blind?

Surely you’ve met people who have picked up an idea that is very convincing, latched onto it as amazing truth, and then shut down their mind to any further discussion. That happens with some frequency to converts to a new religion. There are other people who are insecure and motivated by fear who act in a similar manner. Refusal to be open to change that is not immediately clear and evident is the beginning of a self-imposed blindness.

There is an abundance of activity in the Universe that we don’t see. Unfortunately there is a false axiom that pops up frequently – seeing is believing. What happens then for those who accept that axiom is that many aspects of reality are taken for granted and their significance is ignored – like The Big Bang itself, the allurement of gravity, the miracle of photosynthesis, the wildness and life-giving activity of air, the spontaneity of fire. Marshall McLuan nicely described this type of blindness: “Only puny secrets need protection. Big discoveries are protected by public incredulity”.

All-throughout the Universe is an organizing principle and activity that cosmologists refer to as unseen shaping. It is an extremely important dynamic of the Universe. The most obvious metaphor or symbol of this dynamic is fire. Fire has been here from the beginning. Everything comes from fire which in turn generates light, heat and wind – unseen activities that we experience and utilize constantly but cannot fully explain, contain nor control.

So what is fire? Only when the conditions are right will fire flare. The basic ingredients are combustible material, a spark and adequate air. There is a variety of materials that will burn, and several means of creating a spark. Air is unseen but available. Yet none of those ingredients alone are fire. You can alter the ingredients and get a different kind of fire – more colorful, brighter, hotter, faster burning. But what fires the ingredients? Brian Swimme answers, “It is the flame – an activity, a self-organizing unseen power that spontaneously erupts and shows itself whenever it is able to.”

So when you light a candle, watch the logs burning in the fireplace, see a fire raging in the forest, bathe in the sun, or study the burning stars in the firmament, what is it that you are seeing and experiencing? Unseen Shaping yes, but what is this Shaping? It behaves like it has a mind of its own. Could it be possible that everything in the Universe, and not just you and me, has a mind of its own? That is what science seems to be telling us today. Everything is alive – self-actuating, self-sustaining and self-fulfilling and most of it in an unseen way.

The dynamics of the Universe are not just active in the outer world. They are pervasive also in the inner world of our psyche, as all the great teachers of the past have said from Lao Tzu and Gautama Siddhartha 2600 years ago to Thomas Berry and Matthew Fox today. When the statement is made that everything is self actuating, sustaining, and fulfilling what is being said is that the Self with a capital S is within everything as an unseen shaping activity. What a risk the Deity is engaged in! What does a fragile Ego do when it gets a glimpse of the awesome grandeur that it is united to? Will it only bask in the glory or extend it to all creatures?

To become Unseen Shaping in human form is our task? First of all, there is a need to get a clear understanding of the core of the Universe theory. The core term that most cosmologists use is cosmogenesis. Diarmuid O’Murchu defines it succinctly: “Cosmogenesis refers to those unfolding patterns that reveal a tendency for everything to grow and develop. Nothing is static, nor do life processes simply repeat a once-and-for-all blueprint. There is a tendency toward repetition within nature but something new and fresh is added each time.”

Letting go of blinding convictions is extremely difficult to do. Albert Einstein advised us not to give up principles unless better principles are available. Within the past one hundred years, hundreds of thousands of the best minds in the history of humankind have discovered and developed new and meaningful facts and principles regarding our origin and purpose. Not to examine them is self-imposed blindness.

Once we are willing to let go of darkness then the task of becoming Unseen Shaping is an easy one. We simply live the life of the sun – we radiate. The sun is fire and through unseen organizing activity it radiates light, heat and wind with ultimate generosity. Every second the sun converts millions of tons of its core into radiation so that our environment will be balanced and foster life. Would that more people would adopt the attitude of the Pueblos of New Mexico. “We are a people who live on the roof of the world; we are the sons and daughters of Father Sun, and with our religion we daily help our father to go across the sky. We do this not only for ourselves, but for the whole world”. That is what Jung called “putting the stamp of perfection on creation.”

A dream of many Americans is to retire, a word that means withdraw, retain, not let go. Matthew Fox suggests that we should substitute the word refire and not wait until age 65 to do so. It’s time for all of us to be the sun in human form – refiring every second, enthusiastically and generously sharing our heat, light and wind (a word that means spirit) with all of creation.

The shaping force in Fireball is present now within us all.
Within our dreams and broad desires is found this process mirrored by fires.
There visions, hopes make us aware to carry on Primeval Flare.
By welcoming this awesome scheme we help the Earth birth cosmic dream.

1. What causes some people to be satisfied with half-truths?
2. Make a list of activities that illustrate unseen shaping for you.
3. What thoughts go through your mind when you watch a fire?
4. What are your reactions to the concept of cosmogenesis?
5. How close a relationship do you have with the Sun?

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