"Everything is holy now..."

"And when I was in Sunday school
We would learn about the time
Moses split the sea in two
Jesus made the water wine
And I remember feeling sad
That miracles don't happen still
But now I can't keep track
'Cause everything's a miracle
Everything, Everything
Everything's a miracle..."

I've been thinking about oil spilling from a broken pipe deep below the surface of the sea.  Peter Mayers' "Holy Now" has been a sweet reminder that I have every right to expect a "miracle" since, to me, "everything is holy now."  And it is.

Mary Baker Eddy says, in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, a practical guide to seeing everything spiritually:

"All that is made is the work of God,
and all is good.

and

"man has not two lives,
one to be destroyed
and the other to be made indestructible."

echoes what I believe Jesus admonished us to accept, when he said:

"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets:
I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil."

And finally, what John puts the seal of time on in Revelation:

"...and there were great voices in heaven, saying,
The kingdoms of this world are become
the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ;
and he shall reign for ever and ever."

God creating everything, governing everything, fulfilling the spiritual reality of everything.  His "as in heaven, so on earth," echoing, reverberating, lifting the shades of gloom, sweeping away the cobwebs of materiality's self-justifying claims of creation, abolishing duality, and establishing this one and only reality.  And because this is His kingdom of heaven, on earth, everything...from "a blade of grass to a star," from "the mental molecule to infinity," from a drop of water to the vast seas...everything is holy now.

So, why does this song, and its message of non-dualism, make praying about the Deep Water oil spill less tentative, perhaps, maybe, "I sure hope God is out there somewhere" somehow?  Because in this prayer, we are not praying to use Spirit to fix a material problem in a material situation, on a material earth...we are resurrecting the holiness of each element.  Reclaiming its one, and only, spiritual substance and purpose.

Mary Baker Eddy, in the "Glossary" chapter of Science and Health, defines Oil. as:

"Consecration; charity; gentleness;
prayer; heavenly inspiration."

This is the only definition of "oil," I am accepting tonight.  And since I have only one life (not two - "one to be destroyed and the other to be made indestructible"), one creation, one reality, one truth...where everything is holy now, there is, there can be, no crude consecration to God, no slimy charity, no destructive gentleness, no toxic prayer, no suffocating heavenly inspiration in the environment of my thought, my consciousness of God's presence, "as in heaven, so on earth."  On earth..on earth!  Right here and right now!  In every blade of swamp grass, in every scarlet feather of a cardinal's wing, in every drop of sea water...God articulated, God dancing, singing, holding the stars in their courses and defending the purity of each grain of sand with perfect integrity.

Charity is gushing through the depths of humanity's hunger for compassion and understanding.  Consecration is coating every suggestion of selfish pride with the balm of Gilead...the desire to bring healing to the hurting daughters of "my people."

Heavenly inspiration is being dispersed abroad, gentleness is calming the roiling sea of fear and blame with the holiest of holies...kindness and mercy.

All that can wash up on the shores of my heart are the songs of angels, the the lapping, rhythmic reminder that "God is here, God is here, God is here."

The same God who pulled the waters back to reveal a path for his children, can pull the oil, precious, holy, God-sent oil, into its proper place and purpose as a useful, harmless, and indestructible element of creation.  The same God who made the axehead float so that it could be returned to the lender, who multiplied bread and fish to feed thousands, and turned water into wine, can turn oil into water...fresh, clear, clean, oxygen-blessed, kelp nourishing, navy buoying, mussel inhabiting sea water. 

Because, everything is His...and "everything is holy now."  Now...not tomorrow, or August, but now!  He promised!!

"...This morning, outside I stood
And saw a little red-winged bird
Shining like a burning bush
Singing like a scripture verse
It made me want to bow my head
I remember when church let out
How things have changed since then
Everything is holy now
It used to be a world half-there
Heaven's second rate hand-me-down
But I walk it with a reverent air
'Cause everything is holy now."

Thank you for this reminder Peter...your music laps at the hull of my prayer ship and sings me to Him.

with Love,

Kate
Kate Robertson, CS