My Sweet Praying Mantis

The last few days I have been watching Nova science episodes that really challenge my mind. For example, I watched one on the subject: "What is space?" To think that space is something that bends is so weird. The most intriguing episode was about multiverses. It appears there may not be a single universe but rather infinite numbers of them being created and destroyed all the time. Some of them might be duplicates of ours, but our faculties are designed only to detect our own. I also learned that scientists suspect our reality is not solid, but rather a hologram, a projection of information. That was really hard to wrap my mind around. How can all this stuff that appears to be solid actually all be an illusion? It's quite a paradox.

I also learned that our multiverse is expanding at an accelerated rate with no sign of slowing down. When I heard this, I began to think how in our world it feels like time is speeding up; and therefore, we over-schedule to stay ahead of it. Since the accelerated expansion of our multiverse happens within the domain of time, could it be why we are experiencing time going faster? If that's the case, this everywhere may be a function of something far greater than ourselves--and we simply are being propelled along with the accelerated expansion?

Lately I have been fretting and impatient about some transitions coming, questioning my choices, and not sure when to make moves. I want solid answers now, but life doesn't operate that way, especially these days in this rapidly expanding cosmos where changes happen so quickly. So this morning, as usual, , and as I was walking up the driveway, there, in plain sight, was a praying mantis. This is an insect I never see, so I had to stop and take notice. I felt it was a good omen, and I figured if space bends, then why can't there be things like "good omens?" So I went and looked up their meaning, and, of course, it was right on: "The greatest lesson this totem teaches is patience. Learning to wait for the right moment to strike."

I noticed when the praying mantis was startled, it moved into the praying position. Many of us do the same. We pray when we are fearful. This all brings to mind for me this idea of prayer and what it is. In the backdrop of the science shows I have been watching, it is as good a question as ever--especially given the idea that our reality might be a hologram of information. If that's true, maybe prayer is not so strange.

I pray when I am desperate, but lately my prayers come in question form. It feels more empowering. I ask the multiverse, "What would things look like if...?" Then I leave the space for the answer to show up in life. It's as if I am asking the multiverse to project the answer for me. It's often amusing how quickly answers come. Often they are not the ultimate answers I need, but instead give clues to the answers that later come.

I wonder how it is this happens, and I surmise that our reality is like our internet. We can actually "Google" the multiverse with a query and receive many possible answers, so that the internet itself points to how our multiverse is structured. Religious people will call this God; mystics call it "One Mind," scientists will call it a hologram, and skeptics call it "a coincidence." You are free to choose the point of view that suits you.

So what wisdom will I apply from seeing my sweet praying mantis? I'll have to wait and see. The one thing I do know is it cheered me up, and that is no small thing in my multiverse.