Happy Fourth of July - FREE WILL

Going Home (Thanks to my friend Susan who sent this to me July 4th appropriately)

In The Beginning, the world was without form, void and silent.
There was only darkness. There was neither color nor light.
God moved upon the face of the Universe.
And God said, "Let there be light." And there was light.
And God saw that it was good.

First came motion, then sound, then light.
God then created the heavens and the earth,
And all manner of living things upon the earth.
God saw that it was good. It was paradise!

All this was given to man. And one more thing
Was given to man: free will. God did not intervene.
Mankind has created the world
As it has existed for thousands of years:
A world of anger, violence, sadness and destruction.

In the midst of this, you were born.
Why have you come?
You have come to remember;
To remember the perfection in which you were created.

You came to see this:
Your sister and you, in the midst of a heated argument;
Suddenly remembering the creation;
She, with a deep breath, saying,
"All this does not matter, does it.?"
You, in a moment of pure vision, reply, "No."
And you and your sister embrace.

You came to see a man grab his dagger in anger,
And raise his hand to stab his neighbor –
Yet in the midst thereof, remember who he is!
Behold! The dagger clatters to the floor!
And they embrace.

You came to see the suicide bomber, driving toward death;
Suddenly stop the car, disarm the bomb;
And accept peace in his heart.

You came to let go of anger, judgment, ego and greed.
And remember the motion, the sound and the light.
Motion is the dance everlasting;
Sound is a song of the purest love.
Light exposes the world of illusion,
And bathes it all in a glorious warmth.

You have come to experience the ultimate joy.
– The joy of choosing peace.
– The joy of living in a world
Where violence is thing of the distant past.
– The joy knowing that when you hurt another,
You hurt yourself.

Let us live in a world without strangers;
A world without fear.
Let us dance, sing and send light
To all the world.
Let us kneel and give thanks for the creation.
Let us go home.

Stanley Peele
July 4, 2008