Today was the first day my wife, Christine, was able to get to the property. She went with Heather, our wonderful EFT Universe Operations Manager, who lives close by. Ray, Heather’s husband, brought tools to sift through the ashes.
Christine said it looked like a blast zone. The emergency personnel at the scene told her the house had been reduced to ash within five minutes of the fire reaching us.
There wasn’t much left to sift through. She found a few keys, but the metal had been twisted by the heat. Ceramics and sculptures had survived.
The most poignant image was of this Buddha sitting in the ashes.
To me it represents the central truth of my experience in the fire: While material things may come and go, the core of eternal energy that is the truth of our being cannot be burned.
The important things—love, connection, compassion, awareness, trust, faith—cannot be destroyed. When everything around them is burned away by the fires of life, their outlines stand out more boldly.
When Christine and I talked on the phone after her visit to the property, we reflected on all of our blessings. We talked about the stuff we’d lost, and we also talked about the great future we know we’ll create together.
The message of the Buddha is that the sooner we release the past, the sooner we can embrace a new and positive future. While there were many precious possessions lost in the fire, the possessions in our hearts are the ultimate treasure. With them, we will always feel rich and blessed, whatever challenges we face in the outer world.
Click here to learn about the GoFundMe campaign to help us keep EFT Universe running during the transition to rebuilding.