I recall once reading a recipe in the original Moosewood cookbook for a cream of mushroom soup. From what I remember, it had three types of mushrooms: Shitake, Portabella and that special variety so easily found in all supermarkets covered with specks of sand in the styrofoam container, whose name is ironically - mushroom.



I remember that the author, Mollie Katzen, wrote in the preface to the recipe that her favorite comment about this soup was that it was like " sipping the essence of mushrooms ."

That is it - honoring the sacred is like sipping the essence of mushrooms in every day living. Honoring the sacred is sipping the essence of life in every moment. When we sip the essence of what the moment has to offer, we bypass the mental, material, physical - third dimensional bologna (that's a technical term) that influences our interpretation of the moment and instead land at the heart of the experience.

The heart of every experience, without exception, is the opportunity to learn, to grow, to love, to heal, to appreciate and to express our Divine nature.

Of course taking advantage of the opportunity is another enigma in and of itself. However, my objective with this article is to focus on how seeing the sacred essence of every moment will equip us with the awareness required to more fully realize our fullest potential as human beings.

The first step towards conscious change is awareness. Once we have a visual on the issue at hand we can then consciously maneuver and make the appropriate decisions that will support and uplift us to the exalted space of satisfaction that we all desire.

In the past the word sacred meant not singing at the dinner table because God might not approve, or not skipping through the church halls because it would be disrespectful to the Great One that should be feared, as this was His sacred place. Sacred observation has nothing to do with being God-fearing but everything to do with being fully baptized in the appreciation of life.

So, what's the payoff? What do I get if I walk around appreciating everything in life? What do I get for seeing the sacred in the bumblebee that's chasing my three-year-old son? Or in the yapping dog next door or in the beautiful blue-haired boob in the blue Buick that cuts me off and drives 20 mph on the freeway on ramp? If I am going to be a Pollyanna - I want to know what I'm going to get out of it.

I am no different than most when it comes to wanting instant gratification even in my pursuit of enlightenment. Yes, I want enlightenment but I'd be lying if I said I was ever going to be willing to walk around in a bed-sheet to get it. Yes, what I want is to overcome the ego-driven pursuit of Earthly possessions and my deepest desire is to have Peace on Earth, good will towards all men/women and to live my life completely saturated with the love of God and my fellow human.

This is all true - that's what I want - and that is sacred, but I also want - what else I want! I want nice things, a nice place to live, a beautiful, loving relationship, travel, adventure, fun, respect, success and prosperity and these are sacred too! I believe there is nothing unspiritual about wanting to "suck the marrow out of life" and as long as my desires are in alignment with my ultimate values and reason for being - then each desire at its core has the potential for atonement and spiritual enlightenment - and therefore is sacred.

How then does honoring the sacred in every day living benefit me while also benefiting my ultimate spiritual desires? What's the purpose and will it help me get more of what I want out of life?

The payoff to seeing the sacred is that we get to resonate with the essence of spirit, the essence of gratitude, the essence of the Divine and thereby reap the rewards of what that vibration can and must do for us. The rewards are that we get to be more attractive, we get to be happier, healthier, more successful and more prosperous - just by honoring the sacred in the moment. Why? Because it is absolutely impossible to honor the sacred and to be in harmony with anything less than your truest desires in that moment.

What a deal - we get to be happier in the moment, more at peace with life while also being completely in-tune with that new car we have been dreaming about and that sexy specimen of the opposite sex that we've been fancying - or something or someone better.

Honoring the sacred is a simple exercise in looking past the mushrooms in the soup, looking past the fat in the cream and seeing and experiencing the essence of what the soup and the moment is and has to offer. Honoring the sacred means we ask - in every moment - what is sacred about this moment? What is sacred about this experience? What is sacred about my life today?

At the essence of everything and everyone is the experience of love, the experience of beauty and the essence of the Divine. When we choose to see that - we are choosing to raise our level of consciousness, raise our vibration and be in harmony with our life's purpose and ALL that we ultimately desire that is in harmony with our highest good. Thus we are in harmony with the energy that creates worlds AND fulfills our dreams.