Tommy T is the Answer

The Roots class I am taking has been wonderful. I am actually surprised. I did not expect the authors we were reading to provide the stimulation and excitement that I have experienced in the class. I mean, actually, the word Roots made me think of something old and dusty and messy.

Surprise!

First, we read Emerson. I had, of course, heard of Ralph Waldo Emerson but had never read any of his work. Old, right? Do you remember how difficult it was to read the Science of Mind when you took the Foundations class? It made my head explode when I started. So circuitous and verbose. That was my experience reading Emerson. We read four articles and each article became easier to read and to understand. Some of the people in the class looked up words and references they did not understand. I do not have the time available to do that. I read for understanding and for glimmers of understanding. And I found them. Emerson believed in Unity, not dualism. Reading his words describing the crime of dualism made my heart sing.

Now we are reading Thomas Troward. Tommy T, as Reverend Janis calls him, was a retired judge. His writing is very systematic and logical. But his thoughts and his conclusions are spectacular. I do not know if his logic would survive a peer-reviewed publication at the U of AZ unless the peer reviewers were metaphysicians. His thoughts definitely encompass metaphysical ideas. “If we conceive of anything as entirely devoid of the element of extension of space, it must be present in its entire totality anywhere and everywhere – that is to say, at every point of space simultaneously.” (The Edinburgh and Dore Lectures, Essay on ‘Spirit & Matter’, page 5, paragraph 1). Judge Troward has changed my understanding of the Divine Spirit in that Its entire presence is complete at every space. I am not articulating this idea as well as I wish I could but after reading this book, I feel more confident in my understanding of the Spirit and of Law. It also helps to have a definitive text in addition to Ernest Holmes wondrous writings. I have received so much more than I expected from this class.

Why is Tommy T. the answer? This Saturday, Chris and my two daughters were to go to Flagstaff to go skiing. Nicole, whom many of you know, arrived Saturday night with only one dog in her car. Teddy had disappeared on the drive from her house to our house. We searched both neighborhoods to no avail. Nicole stayed home Saturday night and Chris and Aimee headed up to Flagstaff and to Snowbowl to ski, arriving at 2:30am! They were able to ski Sunday. Nicole found Teddy on Sunday morning on TucsonLostandFoundAnimals.org at a home in my neighborhood. He somehow snuck out of the car when she stopped to answer her cell phone. According to his rescuer, he ran up to her door and barked. When she opened the door, he ran right in, making himself at home with her four other dogs. Sunday, the question was how to get Nicole to Flagstaff to enjoy some skiing. You know, I was quite invested in making everything turn out okay. It is Nicole’s birthday on Tuesday, and she had really hoped to ski. I was in my usual mom-mode of being extra-controlling trying to ask the right questions to prompt Nicole to make the arrangements. This was not a fun space to be in – I clenched my jaw and I was wound up tight like a spring. I had to let it go and attend to my homework for Roots. Reading 4 lectures by Tommy T. relaxed me and gave me the space I needed to remember that Spirit will impress what I send out and return it to me. I was grateful for Tommy.

So, now for 2 1⁄2 days, my son Sam and I are watching 6 dogs, 3 of my own and Nicole’s two and Aimee’s one dog. But, luckily, I am still able to attend class Monday night. And have another great experience discussing Tommy T!

–Marya Wheeler

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