The World Wakes Up
by Matt Johnson
I have been ordained for the better part of 20 years. I was ordained in a very traditional setting. In those days, I was a very conservative, Christian and my ordination was carried out by the laying on of hands by the elders/church board of a small church that I helped to start. I fasted 24 hours prior in preparation. It was a very solemn occasion.
Life would go on and I would grow as a person. While I worked during the day in radio, I found work in the evenings as a college instructor. I taught critical thinking, history, Native American studies and several other classes. My time there opened my eyes to a lot of things and I began to question everything.
Within a few years, I had expanded my understanding of religion greatly. I no longer viewed one religion as the only way, but one of many ways. I realized all religions are allegories for the same truth. I became a Universalist. This was a very liberating experience and I studied every religion, philosophy and worldview I could find. I read hundreds of books. I delved deeply into esoteric subjects including meditation, entheogens and magic. I am still the same person I always was, but I am also not the same at all. I call this period of my life my “awakening”.
Many of my old fears and concerns are simply gone. I have tried to spread this message through my writings. However, my calling in life has always been a spiritual one. I am still ordained from those earlier days and, from time to time, I perform weddings. Usually, it is for friends or family. I have performed weddings in 5 different states and all sorts of venues.
I have performed weddings in large expensive places, in living rooms and in backyards. I have performed weddings in a suit and tie or in flip flops! On March 14, 2020, I performed my first wedding as “the Dude” (a character from the movie “The Big Lebowski”). This was requested by some really good friends as we are big fans of “the Dude” and I bear a passing resemblance to him at least in my hair and beard. I also don’t worry about anything…at all. This probably helps!
I tweaked my usual little ceremony I do to be very “Dudesque”. It was a beautiful wedding and a fun time. It was the last normal thing I have done since the pandemic began. The same day of the wedding, I went to the grocery store. It was like a scene from “World War Z”. People were loading up their shopping carts and frantically running around. There were lots of basic items that were out of stock. It was madness. I bought what I could for myself, my wife, my son and my mother and went home. The air was tense with fear and the possibility of irrational or even violent behaviour. I always trust my intuition and I knew it was time to be at peace with what I was able to get and go home.
My employer has me working from home for the rest of 2020 which has been a blessing. I am fortunate to be employed as so many others are struggling during this crisis. As many of you saw during the initial lockdown, there was a silver lining in spite of all the death, illness and economic hardship.
The silver lining seems to be an awakening of sorts. At first, it was in the natural world. The air in my city of Phoenix, Arizona cleared up. Normally, there are pollution warnings, but the air was completely clear, healthy and normal for a brief time. This happened in cities all over the world. Dolphins returned to Venice as the water became clear. Bears, coyotes and javelinas were seen roaming the streets of various cities and towns.
People also began to do beautiful things. Italians were singing to each other from their balconies. New Yorkers were getting up to cheer every morning so as to encourage their doctors, nurses and other essential workers. A burst of creativity of all kinds came from people quarantined in their homes: music, poetry, dancing and art of all kinds.
I have seen many memes stating that we should NOT wish for life to return to normal. These memes tell us that normal was not healthy. It was making us sick, tired and angry. It was killing our Mother Earth with plastic, smoke and chemicals of all kinds. Our water, earth, air and animals were suffering and dying. This terrible situation gave us a brief glimpse of what could be. The old way of doing things is not sustainable. It is unnatural and unhealthy.
As I have studied, I have come to the conclusion that ancient civilizations were far superior to ours. They possessed great wisdom, literature, conveniences and advanced technologies of all kinds. However, their technological advances took a different route than ours. None of them were in violation of nature. They worked in harmony with the Earth. This is taught in the “Mayan Calendar” class with the University of Metaphysical Sciences and I highly recommend it.
We need to wake up to this. How do we do this? Live your life authentically. Do not hide who you are. Be creative, open and honest. Spend time with people instead of always looking at your phone. Take time to get out in nature and learn to meditate. Pursue spirituality that is based on freedom and open-mindedness instead of fear, hate and exclusivity. Educate yourself. It can be done for free reading books such as mine or there are entire degree programs for a very low cost such as is available at the University of Metaphysical Sciences.
Recycle, drive less, walk more and push your government to adopt cleaner ways of doing things. Learn to be content with the simple things. There are many other things we can be doing which could fill up an entire book. Many have written extensively on these things.
The world woke up just a little bit for just a brief moment. We saw what was possible. In the midst of so much tragedy, I believe this was a gift. However, we are slipping right back into our old destructive ways. It is up to us my friends. We must get the word out and live right until all the world wakes up.
Matt Johnson is an author, an ordained minister and a psychic medium. He holds degrees in history and business and is currently furthering his education with the University of Metaphysical Sciences. For more information, visit him at: https://mattjohnsonofficialpage.blogspot.com/
