A touch of science

I'm reading a new book, "Teilhard's Mysticism: Seeing the Inner Face of Evolution," and finding it fascinating as the scientist and mystic merge. This afternoon I am struck by the following thought:

They have noticed that elements found in outer space 

are the same as those present on Earth.

Ordinary matter found both on Earth and in the stars is composed of intricate combinations of a handful of particles, protons, neutrons and electrons; 

all matter, it seems, is essentially made from the same stuff.

Everything is made of the same elements. We are kin with everything that exists. And furthermore, these elements keep circulating so that, for example, we each have atoms that have once been in every other person who ever lived. We walk into a room, we breathe, sneeze, cough, laugh, etc. and our atoms are shared with all others in the room. We leave the room with atoms that entered the room in each of the persons present and they each leave with ours and everyone else's. We are in a flow of life that is constantly circulating, forming, re-forming.

Not only spiritually, but also physically, we are One. Knowing that, we know that when someone hurts, it hurts us. When someone is uplifted, we are uplifted. Ripples of life, connections connect us with or without our permission. There is no "they." There is another part of ourselves. We are one. In the Christian model, we are part of the body of Christ, as the pastor said this morning and Paul said 2,000 years ago.

Reflecting on Oneness takes on new dimensions and leads to expansion of understanding. Let us dare to so reflect and move into awareness of Oneness. A big mystic step.