The One That Is Both

“Jerry, you will be introduced to the Sagrada community in a couple days.” “Great. I was beginning to think you were going to horde me here all to yourself.” “This is not just ‘hi how are you.’ You will have a Welcoming Ceremony, which is a sacred event, like an initiation, especially for someone such as yourself who has never experienced anything like this before.” “This sounds serious.” “It is, and it’s not. It’s not solemn serious, but it is something that we take very seriously to keep the integrity—the wholeness—of our community intact. We usually perform it for a new child who comes into this world, this strange world compared with the one they just came from. You have come into this world, which probably seems a bit strange compared with where you came from, o you must be welcomed just like everyone else. However, since you are no longer an infant, you must prepare for the ceremony.” “Why?” “Because a baby does not resist what is new. You have lived long enough to build walls and defenses to keep you safe, to protect you from new experiences. So, one of two things could happen. You might resist so hard that you won’t actually experience being welcomed. Conversely, when you have 200 people who are all intentionally creating a certain reality, if you are not absolutely grounded in yourself, you might be so caught up with the energy that you would literally lose yourself.” “Again? Does it help that I’m already lost? What do I have to lose?” “Good, I will make arrangements. Our Leader will speak and then he will ask the community to welcome you. This will be the overwhelming part. You will be so welcomed that it might destroy you unless….” “Whoa. Hold it. How can welcoming destroy me?” “Unless you are sufficiently prepared for this kind of Welcoming, it could kill you.” “Kill me? It’s that dangerous?” Jerry backed away from her. “Not physically, but psychologically it could.” “How?” Jerry asked. “In an ordinary welcome there is always some reservation, perhaps some distrust, perhaps some pretense. For example, when you visit someone and they welcome you into their home, it is with the unspoken caveat that you will not mess it up, damage it, take anything, and that you will eventually leave. Although you are welcomed, it is not complete. It is a guarded welcome, almost ‘you are welcome here only temporarily and only if you don’t express too much of your humanity.’ Conversely, we know that you are human. We will welcome your humanity, your foibles, your irony. We will welcome you for who you are and who you are not. It will feel like being sucked into a whirlpool because the usual reserve of your kind of welcome will not be there to keep the distance and separation between you and the rest of You. To you, it will feel like you have lost your ability to choose. Hence, you must go into it with no reservation. You must be willing to release your need to choose how you think the Welcoming Ceremony ought to be. It will be however it will be, with no right or wrong, no good or bad. So allow yourself to be welcomed without reservation.” “Maria, are you saying that I should let go of all my beliefs about not deserving it and my fears of not being able to handle it all, and just go with the flow?” Jerry asked. “That too. I’m saying that only when you relinquish the need to control your choices and those of others will you truly have the freedom to choose.” Jerry smiled at the paradox again. "I have to give it up to get it." “Yes, and one more thing, Maria added. “You will be tempted to preserve your sense of having free will. You will want to control the situation because the emotions will be overwhelming. Do not try to control anything, even your emotions. Cry if you want. Scream if you want. Don’t try to resist because your intention to resist will be mirrored by the whole group, and your resistance will rebound back to you 200-fold. Your free will will not be gone. On the contrary, you will have a stronger will because you will be connected to our community. Your free will instead will be amplified by us, not constrained. You will see that free will isn’t the important thing—it’s a given—choice is the important part. You can choose to resist what is happening, but why would you want to resist being welcomed? Conversely, what happens happens, and you will find it more powerful to choose to accept whatever is happening how it is happening. Choose how you feel. Choose to be overwhelmed or choose to fly with it. You will be welcomed into a community that seeks for your intentions to be realized. So your first intention, I should hope, would be to welcome the community as they welcome you. It will complete the circle. A complete circle is very strong. Come, we shall practice.”