Week 14–20 November Writing Prompt

It’s A Simple Point Of View

Be the master

This piece was inspired by another wonderful prompt from Nancy Blackman and her publication Refresh The Soul.

THE PROMPT: What is your life motto? What words do you live by?

The year after our wedding, author Richard Bach’s book, Illusions hit the bookshelves. I already loved his book Jonathan Livingston Seagull, so it was a no-brainer for me to purchase Illusions. To this day, I can tell you it is the one book I’ve read more than any other in my life. I must have purchased it more than a dozen times because I was continually lending it out, and for some mysterious reason, it never seemed to find its way home.

The reason I mention this is because of all the wonderful quotes and pieces of spiritual wisdom in this book. There was one, in particular, that jumped off the page and slapped me in the face. It was trying to tell me, “Hey, stupid. Pay attention.”

“What the caterpillar calls the end of the world the master calls a butterfly.”

For seven years prior to me getting slapped around by this quote, I had been on a spiritual journey. I had already reached the conclusion that I, soul, was not this human body that is typing these words. That I am using this body to gain information for my unfoldment.

But, when I read this sentence in Illusions, I had another great awakening. That the life I was living can be altered by a simple point of view.

Why be a caterpillar when I could be a butterfly?

It’s not a hard thing to do. To change a point of view. It doesn’t require years of training, a black belt in martial arts, a doctorate degree from Harvard, or years of isolation as a Yogi in the Himalayas. Hell, one doesn’t even have to break a sweat.

Accounting for the fact I was insanely in love with my new bride was certainly a factor in many awakenings I was experiencing at the time. For the first time in my life, I truly began to realize what love is. I don’t mean the wonderfully intense, crazy human love. No. Something far deeper which affects the very air you breathe. A knowingness that far exceeds the capacity of human experience. Divine love.

Then, out of the blue, a little paperback book suggested I could be a butterfly. And it also let me know… “Argue for your limitations, and sure enough they’re yours.”

Yes. This little paperback book told me it’s okay to be a master. My life has never been the same since.

May the blessings be.

© 2022 Joe Merkle All rights reserved.

This is such a wonderful prompt I need to share this. Please tag me with your responses. David Rudder, Spyder, Margie Willis, Carolyn Riker, John O’Neill, Patrick M. Ohana, Jocelyn Joy Thomas, Arbab Z., Suma Narayan, Dr Roger E Prentice, Denise Darby, Ali | Poet | Ameature Philosopher | Data Scientist, William J Spirdione, Ravyne Hawke, Jan Sebastian, Caroline Mellor, Joseph Lieungh, Neera Handa Dr, Galit Birk, PhD, Monoreena Acharjee Majumdar, Hayden Moore, Amy Christie, Benighted, Jaylee Reign, jules, Stephanie Morris, Alexander Semenyuk, Joejohn Black, Omar Wagdy, David Perlmutter, Thief, Mihai Brinas, Ali, Breathe & Be Still, Ann Christine Tabaka

Thank you for reading.

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