The thought came to me several years ago. It enveloped me like the warmth of a never-to-be-extinguished fire that lights and warms without end. I suddenly knew what my purpose was. I was meant to share the world as it was given me to see.
Since that time, the world has opened to me greatly. And I have taken steps to share that world, freely, and as clearly as I am able. As I become aware, I share.. This is somewhat new for me. My personal history was one of holding back, not sharing, perhaps because that gave me some advantage, perhaps because I thought that in my reservation I was conserving something for myself that I might not otherwise have.
Last night I set my alarm and got up to watch the total lunar eclipse. It was really quite a spectacular sight. Better than anything on TV. And because the eclipse proceeded at quite a modest pace, I intermittently sat at the computer and researched lunar eclipses. There I ran into an interesting story.
It seems that our American hero, Christopher Columbus, knew a thing or two about lunar eclipses, and it either got him out of trouble or into a bigger cosmic quagmire...you decide. On one of his later voyages, he and his crew were stranded in Jamaica. Not a bad place to be stranded if you can enjoy the comfort of a luxury hotel, but that was not the case for Chris.
He and his band were without provisions, in danger of starvation without some assistance. Happily, the indigenous people were hospitable, and provided them with food, which, of course the natives knew how to grow and gather. After some time, a few of Chris's crew spoiled things by stealing from the natives, who after the affront withdrew their hospitality. Can't blame them.
In dire straights, Chris turned to the reading of his almanac, probably one of the few books he had, and discovered that a total lunar eclipse was immanent. So he used that awareness to his benefit. He counseled the then inhospitable natives that their move to withhold food from him and his crew had angered the gods. So much so, that the very heavens were about to show their displeasure. The moon would turn red, the prelude to a pouring out of the wrath of the gods. The community would be destroyed.
Well, the moon did turn red, and the natives repented of their decision to starve Chris and company. They pledged to resume their support. And Chris subsequently reported that they would be forgiven. The rage of the heavens subsided and the moon again lighted the night sky as it always had. Smart Chris. Or was he?
Chris was aware of celestial events and he hoarded that awareness, using it to his own advantage. In the end, his exile ended and he became our hero. Let us not detail the genocide that he perpetrated on indigenous Carribean people.
But what do you think the story might read like if he had shared the awareness that he had? Would he have been believed or disbelieved? Would he have found an ongoing cooperative way of living with those whose island he shared? Might he have learned something from them? We will never know, but the story would surely have been different.
I don't like the way the story ended at all. I choose not to emulate the example of Christopher Columbus. I think I will just share the world as it is given me to see and know, trusting that a path will open, and that a new and greater experience of being will show up.
