A Grits Bar with Michelle

In downtown Greenville, South Carolina there is a cool gastro pub kind of place called The Nose Dive. On Sunday mornings they offer a grits bar with over-the-top fixings, which is great because many of us know that grits need some serious dressings to be really appetizing.

It was there that I met a long-time friend and fellow spiritual student for a very gritty conversation. Pun intended. 

In the company of spiritual folk that Michelle and I often hang out with, there is always a conversation about the power of choice in contrast to all the evidence of powerlessness exhibited in the life of most everyone. And it is a consternation to some because the ideas seem so at odds. So it was this day for Michelle, who said with a few colorful embellishments that I won’t repeat here, “What the hell? Which is it? Do I have power to choose, or not?”

We had a long and convoluted conversation right up until the moment that a truth fell out of my mouth. As an aside, how I said that is really important. I can’t lay claim to having the power over my words and thoughts because until the idea hit the table, I had never thought or heard it before.

“No awareness, no choice.”

Michelle and I both cussed then because we could feel the truth of it.

“There it is,” she said further.

“Can you repeat it back to me?” I asked. “What did I say?” As another aside, there it is again. I said it, and heard it said, but could not recall it an instant later. Clear proof that I am not in charge of what is unfolding.

Michelle repeated It back to me and off we went into a deep, grits-assisted discussion. Here’s the gist of it.:

First assumption, there is Power. Maybe it is God, though it may just as likely be the creative energy that animates the universe. It could be Yoda’s Force, or the flow of Tao, and it could just as easily be Great Father, Mother Earth, Yahweh, Allah, Higher Self, of any number of possibilities. Certainly, we can see ample evidence that Power is present in all things, and sometimes does remarkable things. Yet, we don’t really know, do we?

That said, if we are unconscious to something, there is not knowledgeable access to Power regardless of what it may be. We are powerlessness because we are in the dark, or perhaps it would be more true to say we are in the dark because we are powerless.

Yet as soon as awareness brings with it consciousness, things become possible. Sometimes it seems to come from beyond us, and sometimes it seems to be through us, and sometimes it really does appear to be us. Once again, it doesn’t really matter as long as Power flows.

Awareness changes everything, and make things possible.

No awareness, no power. No power, no choice. No awareness, no choice.

Of course, the ego of us really wants to believe we are or can be the chooser. The problem is that if we look honestly at our lives, and insist we are choosing, then we must accept that everything that comes to us must be through our choice. Even the terrible awful things. We don’t get to be the chooser, and only claim the good stuff.

Not one of us would say we knowingly and willingly choose terrible things for ourselves. So we must not be the chooser, but somehow we are choosing.

Seeing True™

“Do I have free will, or not?” asks the student.

“Yes” replies the wise one.

“Which is it?”

“Both are true. In the same moment. The question is one of awareness, not one of will or choice.”

Seeing True™ in Action

The only way to find the truth of these matters is through our own inquiry.

Where do I have evidence of the power to choose?

Does it hold up consistently? Why or why not?

What happens when awareness changes?