Verses 33–34: “When you see all these things, you may know that the end is near, at the very door. I tell you this: the present generation will live to see it all. Heaven and earth will pass away; my words will never pass away.”
Heaven and earth—mind consciousness and body consciousness—will change. We can choose to align with the passing of the old and move to new life. Or we can hold on to what is known and pretend change is not coming.
People in Noah’s day ignored the signs. Noah knew the flood was coming. He prepared to keep himself safe by letting go of the form he knew. He gave up living on the land to build an ark, to float. He was willing to let the waters of change carry him. He built a vessel capable of withstanding the floods.
We too must build a vessel capable of withstanding the floods of our impulses, emotions, body sensations, and/or compulsive thoughts. The vessel we need is a body-mind that lives in conscious relationship to God Within/Self.
Having our Self is no small feat! Too often, we get lost in the milieu of our environment—family, institutions, social media, larger culture. We don’t know what we really think, feel, or desire. We parrot what we’ve learned or been exposed to even when it isn’t the truth we know in our gut. In contrast, to “keep awake” is to know our Self. Knowing our Self means seeing, experiencing, and holding what goes on inside us on every plane—physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual.
Jesus’ injunction to “keep awake” was a directive to his followers to stay on the lookout for his presence. It was a reminder the Christ shows up anywhere, anytime. Likewise, no condition or circumstance precludes the presence of God Within. Psychologically, we know all we do, say, imagine, and experience internally has a seed of God Within. But the seed can be cloaked in ways that distort our seeing God Within. We have to be awake to see beyond the illusion and to know our Self.
Psychologically, to keep awake means to have consciousness, which is an energetic state that expresses itself in sensations, emotions, intuitions, thoughts, and feelings. Consciousness includes insight but is more than a knowing of the head. True consciousness includes the body. Our embodied felt experience is expanded; we are able to know more of what’s inside us and to hold it.
We have to work to build the vessel, the conscious connection to Self/God Within that can carry us through the floods. Our ego must choose staying awake for this to happen. Carl Jung once said, “Consciousness is contra naturem.” In other words, consciousness goes against nature. Our spiritual work is to choose over and over again the work of staying awake, being conscious.
Inner Reflection
Where do you have a tendency to go to sleep, to not be awake and conscious to your inner Self? Where do you see things ending? Where is change, bidden or unbidden, happening in your life? Take a few minutes to look for the seed of God Within in these experiences. Identify what you need to stay awake, to be more conscious. How can you strengthen your connection to God Within today? Let your breath be a reminder of your constant connection to the Divine Essence.