Eternity

What Matters Most…                      Commentary by Jim High

Eternity

In 1970 I purchased a small cabin at the edge of Pickwick Lake on the Tennessee River.  It is a little over an hour’s drive from my home in Tupelo, and about as far north as you can go and still be in Mississippi.  I can sit on the deck and look across the lake at Alabama.  And just a mile or two down the river is the spot where Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama all join at a single point.

My first trip overseas was also in 1970.  I went to Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Singapore.  We were gone a month, and since then I have traveled all over the world.  I even once rode a camel across the desert sands to the Great Pyramid in Egypt.  But every time I come back to Pickwick Lake it still seems the best place on earth.  I’ve often said that it is my little bit of heaven on earth, so to speak.

Well, last week that comment took on new meaning.  Let me explain.  During the past few years I have read over 100 books on Spirituality, studied different religions, and have adopted the philoshpy of Unity, Science of Mind, Tao and other belief systems that tell us that everything in the Universe is connected to everything else, that there is a power and an order behind Creation, and that we are all a part of the on-going process of Creation.  It is all good, and all we have to do is be aware enough to recognize it, and then just accept it and use it.

I was at Pickwick spending a few days alone and one afternoon I sat on my deck for nearly three hours just looking at the lake.  No boats, no people, no cell phone, no text messages, nothing to disturb the peace and quiet of that moment of eternity, except the occasional bird in the air and the natural sounds of Nature.  Yes, that is exactly what it felt like - ETERNITY, where time does not exist.  My little piece of heaven became an example of the whole world existing in eternity, and I was able to sit quietly and just observe it.  My feelings and thoughts were about the endless expanse of time and the slowness, but always moving forward nature of Creation.  I was a witness to eternity during this short time on the edge of Pickwick Lake, and knew that I was a part of it.  I could feel it.

The next morning I was up at 4:45 AM before the sun.  To see the sky begin to turn from darkness to light, and then to see the bright red sun rise over the trees on the far eastern side of the lake is a truly mystical experience.  When the sun is near the horizon you can actually see it move and feel the power and the motion of the Universe.  Coupled with the experience of eternity the day before as I sat on the deck looking at the lake, well what can be said, except that it was all perfect, and all was well in my world.

What matters most is that each of us needs to experience, from time to time, the awareness of the infinite, timeless Universe in which we live.  Find this peaceful experience of ETERNITY as often as you can, where ever you can, and all will be well with your world, too.

© 2008 #1 Jim High can be reached at P. O. Box 467, Tupelo, MS 38802-0467