We are cells in the body of God.

A teacher of mine gave me that phrase and it has become one of the most important pieces of wisdom I have ever encountered.

A cell is not merely a small part of a larger being. A cell has within it–whether it’s a skin cell, a liver cell, a brain cell–the DNA that creates the entire body. In the case of eukaryotic cells, they also contain mitochondria, pieces of the cell that are almost like little separate inhabitants all their own.

Not only that, but most of our bodies, trillions and trillions of cells in our bodies, are bacterial. They contribute to the life of the whole, and yet have their own identities. I heard a scientist say once, “We are colonies, at least as much as we are individual beings.”

Some people find that idea disturbing, I find it glorious.

We are part of all that is.

Yeah, yeah, Catharine, we know.

No, really, pause for a moment.

We. Are. Part. Of. All. That. Is.

In our breathing, in our eating, in our excreting, in our wounding, in our illness, in our health. There is nothing here or anywhere of which we are not a part.

We are part of everything that has ever been and ever will be, because we all come from that “explosion” at the beginning of what has come to be called time. We are all from those first hydrogen atoms. All from that First Fire. Nothing that is is apart from that beginning. Nothing.

This idea is the central of my spiritual life and practice. I’m sure I will write about it more.

At the moment, I am thinking of my dear friend whose body has ceased its actions, but has not ceased to Be and to Become, as we all do, as we all will. As everything does.