We Are the I Am
by Rev. Cory Bradford-Watts
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Readings
Exodus 3:14
God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
Revelation 1:8
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
John 8:58
Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am."
Read the written message below with music videos
It may seem a little self-indulgent to assume that we are one with the great “I AM” (as God calls herself in the Hebrew Bible), but in practice, I think the realization that we are one with the One can be quite the opposite – opening us up to compassion, clarity of awareness, and our deep connection with others. From a mystical viewpoint we are all one in God, all one in awareness and life itself, no matter our differences of tradition and culture. We can lean into this understanding of reality by taking the time to meditate or pray on this fundamental truth between all of us – that we are, that “I AM,” for a few moments letting go of all else. In this state, we can find renewal and uncover a peace that some might call, the Prince of Peace.
The Lord teaches throughout our world’s traditions that some things must be experienced or embodied, and not just taken on faith. Indeed, God often calls on us to reconnect with our source even when the best we’re willing to do is say that we already are. Today, I invite you to schedule some time to sit, just remembering that “you are.” When thoughts or feelings start to creep into this meditation, don’t react to them – just watch, noting that you are the watcher of even your mind.
To me, this is a good representation of the key benefit of prayer. Not seeking anything but God himself, who we can experience most closely as our own compassionate, peaceful awareness – leading to bliss. It’s a state of awareness and reconnection with our source, the I AM, that Christ empowers when he tells us to entirely stop worrying about the future and release our mind’s hurtful habits like lust, self-dismissal, and hate, and follow him. Following Christ means to follow the one who always is, to follow the part of us that’s eternal.
Weirdly enough, God tells us that to let go of selfishness and the pain it brings we must come to absolutely love who and what we truly are. Scriptures like the Bible and mystics like Swedenborg tell us that beyond our sourcing in Being Itself, all else is transient and passing: thus, ultimately nothing at all – no matter how much we obsess about it! A lie screamed from a rooftop is no truer, and a dream we convince ourselves is real is no less a dream.
As we’re told, to love the God at our core (which is the truest part of us) we have to centre on that God, which is why these meditative practices are so important. But it goes beyond momentary prayer – as the good book says, “pray unceasingly.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) Using these meditative moments to ground us, we have to carry this state forward into our lives, meditating on the fact that I AM, throughout our day: being as vigilant as Christ encouraged us to be while letting go of our disconnected – body, reputation, and mind identifying – delusional thinking.
This remembrance of who we truly are means forgetting what we aren’t. Through our oneness in God and awareness, we can start to see that we are not our shifting minds nor bodies. Throughout the day our idea of ourselves and the world can shift 1,000 different ways, exploring the nuances of our reputations and accomplishments, shifting between various emotional lenses and histories. Those ideas are hollow, obviously transient, and don’t centre on the core of our being. They gravitate to what our minds and bodies fear and desire, instead of these truths found in our intrinsic awareness: we have everything we could ever truly need within and have no need to fear.
The great I AM is the first and the last, never shifting and infinite. “I am” is the thing you never lose, whether dreaming, awake, in the spirit or in rebirth – whatever your cosmology, beliefs about the afterlife, and life itself, it is the one undisputed fact within your being. Take the time to get to know it better. Brush the dust off your seed of awareness and note its vastness and peace. Let go of fear and the desires of the mind, watching them come and go without reaction as you centre on what’s central.
Peace and light to you,
Cory