Bumper Sticker Messages

Look for what's hidden between the lines!

Lately I’ve been noticing bumper stickers. The one that recently has intrigued my attention and intention, starkly states it all, simply in two words, on two lines — "Only God". At first when I read the missive, my mind added an interpretative twist, making it ‘Only My God’. This allowed my sense of rightness, my ego’s dearest friend, the ability to judge this simple little sticker as farther right than my rightness was left. I had no idea, what ideology had produced the sticker, but mind, in its need to compare and contrast, created a storyline with all the characters intact. It was amazing to watch how quickly it got to the judgment point. Snap! Now what? What’s next?

As the weeks flew by, I kept noticing bumper stickers and this little one—Only God—appeared in the watching each day, like a bad habit impossible to shake. I had only to get in my car and drive somewhere, anywhere, and there it was. Not one to overlook the synchronicity, I realized a message was hidden between the lines.

Since I had quickly seen the tragicomedy within my judgment, my story of rightness, I knew it wasn’t the hidden gem. There was more. I waited for God’s infinite grace—the teaching moment—and continued to read bumper stickers, devouring them with my curiosity. I love the one that says ‘Co-Exist’, with each letter written in a different symbol from the world’s religions. It always brings a smile for its creativity and its message. I like to read the stickers and then look at the person driving the car, to see if my story about the owner matches the reality. Sometimes it does. Other times, it’s like someone stole the car—so far off, it doesn’t make sense, to this mind at least.

It never fails that just about the moment I forget I’m awaiting a message, the message arrives. It also never fails to knock the wind right out of me, so clear, so precise, so obvious that any question of truth is absolved in the looking. The religions have always spoken this message—Only God, nothing more, just that—simply. It is the meaning of La illaha il allah—the language of Islam—no other god but God. Moses returned from the mountain and his encounter with the Divine with the words, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me”, burned into his tablet. The words are saying the same thing—Only God! They are messages from heaven, designed to awaken us, just like the simple little bumper sticker, just like every person we meet, every experience we encounter. The game is rigged when we are purposefully playing.

So what does ‘Only God’ mean? Recognizing that all words are interpretation and can act as pointers to that which is Truth, the reality that coursed through me, was there is ‘Only God’. There is nothing else but God. When I look at you and see the earth, the body of flesh and blood, I murder you. I murder God. There is only God. When I look at you and see ideas and theories, I steal from you, I steal your magnificence. I also murder myself, steal from myself in the moment I deny you your divinity. All ideas are of flesh and blood, the earth. All theories are the same—just dirt. All differences, a fusion of earth. They are of the animal within—the body, nothing more. When we cling to our rightness, we choose our little gods of mind, and refuse That which Is, God.

As I was dropping opinions, dismantling old notions and presumptions, basically taking apart all I had created, all I valued, all I railed against, I gained a deeper understanding of who we really are. I had, what I see now to be, just a glimpse of our true magnificence. Shredding the mind’s story leaves one, in that in-between place, like a babe in the woods, uncertain which path to follow, and not caring, or worried in the least. But, with the love of the most amazing teacher, I had already given my heart back to the Divine, so my path was determined. Now, as I give, and re-give, my mind over to God, seeing the Holy in all things, I find myself torn apart and so miraculously, grateful for the tearing.

Last week, at a Board of Directors intensive at Inei-Re, I was given a whole new understanding of Truth, and a broader glimpse, for it can only be a glimpse ever-changing, ever-widening, into the truth of our magnificence. I sat in circle and something within acknowledged the God-light in each one present. Bathed in wonder as the presence of each expanded, my sense of self intensified and opened out as well. The light of each cracked me open, further, further than mind believed possible, for this was beyond mind. As I expanded into the light, it broke me apart as tears welled through my body. The light that I am, lifted into the heavens and returned, intensely, and spread out to enfold the others sitting in circle, like a wave brushing up against the rock shore. It reached them, caressed them, and folded back on itself returning to me, lifting me again to the spaciousness of mindless ‘Yes—Only God’, and with each wave, washed away pieces of old programming, cleared nerves of residue, no longer useful.

Only afterwards, did I understand what had happened. We are in a mix, constantly interacting with the divine of each. We use the pure light energy of each other to heal ourselves, to cleanse the nerves of all that is held, of our little gods, even when we are not consciously aware of being this light. It is what we are, whether we know it or not. It was clear that each of us supports all others. We are a supporting force. Our light always shines even though our fears or doubts prevent us from seeing clearly. We can shake loose of the ‘my-nd’s’ ties that bind, by simply remembering two words—Only God. The parable about caring for strangers, embracing each visitor at your door, of seeing Christ in every person we meet, is much more than parable. It is truth. When I was willing to extend this to all others, an amazing thing happened. The gate opened. What I searched for was found.