Manifest Destiny: America from the Bottom Up - 84 - Phoenix, AZ - Pilgrims of Time

Dick Johnson and Marc Neubauer

"Through their long careers in the evolutionary universes the pilgrims of time have been experiencing a growing awareness of the reality of an almighty overcontrol..."

A Source of Truth

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Marc and I have been in contact online for many years. We co-subscribe to a certain Cosmic Philosophy.

On this third day we had planned to meet up again and visit with one of our common friends in Phoenix, Dick Johnson, a wise elder of the philosophy mentioned above.

Dick and I had corresponded a few times in recent years. But he and Marc had spent many times together personally in discussion and fellowship. And now Marc had the foresight and opportunity to bring me and Dick together; actually, the three of us together.

We - all three - believe that there is both existential perfection and experiential perfection in a kind of ultimate reality. These two kinds of perfection - the perfect and the perfected - need each other to round out this reality in a Central Place.

Furthermore, we share an understanding that time and space (where we all live) is the expression of this Central Place. It needed to project an evolutionary panorama (the visible Universe) in *imperfection*, in order that beings like ourselves might grow in enlightenment - through many levels of living - so that we might also be able to enter the Central Place and become part of it forever.
The human beings who die a material death in time and space (we all) are raised up in a more permanent form on the "other side," going on to climb ever inward through the adventures of eternity until we reach the central Place--or so the philosophy teaches.

I know this all sounds wacky, but it is important to understand for further grasping what happened on this day.

Without going into much more detail about this aforementioned philosophy, let me simply say that the chance to bring our three minds together at Dick's house was historic for us and exceptionally so for me personally.

Marc picked me up at about 1:00 pm and we drove over to Dick's house not far away at all. Dick lives in a nice neighborhood in Phoenix. The streets are lined with ornamental oranges and the houses are adorned with date palms, lemon and grapefruit trees. The grass around this area is cropped short, green, lush and well maintained.

When we arrived at Dick's place I knew he was one of us but the many concentric circle symbols on his house and car. Marc and I got out, locked up the car and knocked on the front door.

Dick answered the door and greeted us warmly. We walked into his comfortable house to the musical talking of his parrot. Another pet met us in the kitchen, a cute little black cat, named Murphy, that Marc had saved and raised by feeding him milk when he was a tiny kitten. The cat immediately recognized Marc and spent a lot of time rubbing up against his legs.

We were offered coffee and Marc made some raisin toast for us. Absolutely delicious stuff. And we settled in for a good talk. Dick asked me many questions about my journey. And, unlike most people, didn't call me crazy. In fact, he seemed to understand certain phases of it that I have not really explained here at Facebook. He fully accepted the idea of the coming New Advent without needing any further explanation.

We all discussed the many aspects of our philosophy in greater detail than I had been able to with others, beside RhonnaLeigh (in Washington, Missouri) and Marc himself in the parking lot the day before. I can tell you some of it since you might find this interesting.

Dick asked us what we thought the soul really LOOKED like.

I explained that I thought that human perception of non-material and semi-material things and beings was limited by the evolutionary development of humans.

Paraphrasing and adding on some extra details: We were, after all, once, akin to seaweed. Through hundreds of millions of years we developed eyes. We learned how to swim toward the light as primitive creatures. But, we are currently at a stage of development where though we can detect phenomena that is super-material, we cannot yet visualize it without using what we already know how to describe.

The idea is that the external world meets our bodies as ONE THING. It is not broken up into light waves, sound waves, odors, taste and skin sensation until our senses divide it up as such.

Our five senses deliver an imperfect impression of what was once one thing, and our brains re-integrate this five-way impression as our understanding of what we currently perceive around us. So, even though we DO see each other's souls, it is nearly impossible for us to verbalize this effectively.

The most we can tell each other about the image of the soul is a vague and fleeting description seriously boxed in by the limitations of the English language and the incompleteness of our evolutionary development as a species. I believe when we are a bit more evolved we will have a non-material juxtaposition from which we can reflect and represent what we REALLY see as another person's soul.

Paraphrasing again: Marc made it more understandable and added that we simply recognize each other as individuals, despite the potential confusion of how similar humans are to each other. Conversely, after getting to know another person we seem to ignore the peculiarities of physical material attributes and appearance, and instead deal with the inner personality. I think what he was saying is that when we first meet, we see wrinkles, or gray hair, or brown eyes, or baldness, but immediately upon KNOWING a person, those material aspects tend to fade in our consciousness. And when we deal with the person again it IS the soul that we see.

We never lose the ability to view each other's physical traits, but we evolve an "image" of the person that reflects more the way they ARE as an animated entity, than the way they LOOK as an animal-origin creature.

There was a lot more to this part of the discussion. I wish I could better represent what the other two guys were saying. I despair at not giving a more accurate portrayal. No doubt, MY interpretation of the exchange is not necessarily how Marc or Dick understood it. Nonetheless, perhaps it gives a flavor for the depth we were immediately able to plumb. I'd only really met Marc the day before and Dick only minutes before. I hope people can understand just how profoundly this kind of deep talk can satisfy a person like myself; someone who longs for more than just pleasantries and comments on the weather. This had SUBSTANCE.

We went on to discuss related subjects like material objects as compared to non material objects, or how would a being who was never human - born on a higher plane of reality - view humans and our world. Could there be unseen temples, even semi-material plants all over the place here on earth, without us even suspecting them?

As I believe I once mentioned here, I have never seen anything that I considered to be a supernatural phenomenon. I have never seen a UFO, nor spoken with discarnate entities, nor seen an angel or a ghost. I'm a bit of a hardhead in this way. I have joked about having such good opportunities for these things to happen to me while being in the woods so many times or walking late at night alone on some desolate road.

But, I did tell them about the only real "visions" I've ever had. They occurred while I was very close to death in the hospital after my heart attack in 2006. I won't go into them now, but they will very likely be recounted in my book. They have much to do with the current direction of my life. And I think many people might find them as an obvious explanation of what motivated me to quit my job in the financial industry and take the first steps away from everything that had brought me material comfort back in 2011 (an action that is described here on my Facebook Profile page if one has the patience to filter down through the last couple of months).

As an aside, Marc and RhonaLeigh are the only human beings who know the fine details of an unfortunate experience that I brought upon myself during my first year at college. Not sure that much more can be said about that for a long time. Yet, it should demonstrate to you just how much I trust these people. If I had thought they'd laugh at me or write me off I never would have even approached such personal experiences.

We walked outside and took a break looking at Dick's yard. Marc explained how the city maintains and also mandates the upkeep of neighborhood properties. He went from plant to plant describing their common and scientific names. He and Dick both knew much about the life cycles of Arizona's plants, as well as the patterns of its seasons. I found this all quite fascinating.

As we stood there in the golden warmth of the waning mid-afternoon sun, under a sky so blue that it reflected its hues off objects on the ground, we brought up some lighthearted memories from each of our days in school. The classes we like and also had trouble with proved to be a good source of humor and entertainment.

Dick is a much older man. He struggles with the issues of weakened sight and some more serious ones. But his mind is exceptionally sharp. Aside from his natural ability to subtly direct we younger men, his demeanor and warm disposition made us feel completely at ease. It was as IF we were three biological brothers. That we were now true spiritual brothers only added to the comfort of our communion.

We went back in and Dick showed us pictures of some book study groups he's held. They are not insubstantial in their membership either. He had held these meetings regularly for nearly 30 years. The intellectual ability of this gregarious and charming man was obviously undeniable. To experience it firsthand was a gift I will never forget.

Once we had taken some pictures and finished up our visit, Marc and I said goodbye to Dick and we climbed back into Marc's truck.

On the way back to my motel room, Marc drove down some of the other streets of Phoenix to give me a better idea about the architecture of the houses and the other plants around the area. I asked about ornamental oranges and he said they were very sour, then pulled over encouraging me to snag one from a bush on the side of the road to see what it was like. Later, in my room I did cut and juice it and as he said it was sour. But I found it enjoyable in the way a lemon is, and even a bit sweeter.

When we pulled into the Motel 6 we sat and talked for another hour or so. This conversation was very personal for both of us and because of that I will always consider Marc one of my closest friends and brothers. He left and I thought much about the day...

Here, in this time, at this place, on a blue planet circling a small yellow sun, three souls were able to become as one. Not only did it affirm all of my beliefs about the potential for human peace and progress, but it actually demonstrated WHY this is so important. I am a pilgrim in the most original sense. Marc has been in the same situation and fully grasps what it means. Dick is a pilgrim who has wallked through the years of his own human life, having seen the best parts of it; something he is now able to stand at the end of and tell about with authority and grace.

What we do today can live on into eternity. The Spark gives us the options. We are then allowed, through freewill, to exercise any of those options that we choose. The experience derived from these choices, creates more substantive options. The substance of the soul is solidified by this process. The perfection of the Spark that came from the Central Place can lead to the perfecting of the soul, that it might survive the passing of the material body and continue its journey through the worlds of Light, ever ascending inward back to the Spark's home. In truth, THAT is what it is all about, going home.

The metaphors that I have observed along this long and winding road have fully justified this philosophy for me personally. It is not my job to preach about what others should do with their lives. That would be the worst thing I could ever aspire to do. But I hope that meeting so many interesting people. My getting to know them - and love them - and thence allowing YOU to know them as well, may give you more information about where we stand as a people, as a nation and as a species. Reporting for the Cosmos, for you and for myself is the greatest privilege that I could ever hope to be given. I can't really believe that I'm actually getting to do what I do.

As you all know by now, I am filled with many flaws and shortcomings. I am not, nor will ever be, someone to look up to as an example of what to shoot for in your own life. I make mistakes constantly--more than any other person I know! I trip, I stumble, I fall. I say stupid things sometimes, and I thank the gods of Facebook for the delete button. (Often.)

This is my evolution. The migration of my soul from its birthplace within me, to its eventual place on the outside of myself. I may have Google to consult when navigating a city grid, but I (like you) have no map for allowing my soul to free itself from my imperfections; to finally perfect itself. So I must Will-to-act, and the spark will do the Real work. Over time a new being made up of my material personality and the perfect leading of the Spark builds itself into an existence that can then become able to survive material death.

This is a time for the oversoul of humanity to find ITS freedom from the confines of history. This is a time when none of us should be ashamed to drop our facades and become pilgrims; each in our own way.

We who CARE enough to consider these things about ourselves and our world are the Children of the New Dawn. We are the discovers of a Golden Age--almost here.

We are ALL the Pilgrims of Time.

And LOVE is the path we must wallk.