03/27/2026
One of our students asked me how I was able to get over what I call the "emotional waves," or as another person called it, the heaviness or intensity. Others have called it grief, despondence, guilt, regret, shame, etc. It’s remarkable how many names we give a feeling, yet no one seems to agree on what the feeling is, just that there is a feeling.
She asked if I had been learning about death. I kindly replied, "I assure you, I wasn't learning about death. I was learning about the human experience. It was the education of being in the human experience that I learned more deeply about it, yet, at the same time, not from it. You could say I was having experiences that didn't seem like an experience (or an exception, to use a Keith-ism), but it did indeed turn out to be a human experience brought to life via the principles of Mind, Consciousness, and Thought. That was when the "flavor" of human experience shifted toward the positive. It is truly incredible and mind-boggling how the world I see can be painted so differently once the seemingly believable connection between the world and human experience is broken.
A wise man once said, “A smooth sea doesn’t make a great sailor.” It’s what’s deep within our hearts that know how to navigate the rough and choppy seas and make our way toward the smooth seas of human experience once again. Resilience.
This, in turn, allows us to adapt to a reality we hadn’t considered possible up until now. As powerful as the evidence appears to suggest it is because of time and “getting used to it”, there is something else much more profound and simpler at work here, one that often isn’t immediately obvious.
While I deeply acknowledge that there has been a change of reality, as significant as it was, and whether I wanted it or not, there is one thing that hasn’t changed – the principles that give life to reality. It is unavoidable that we will have a reality, but what will appear in that reality is the great variable. Truly, nothing is set in stone, no matter how strong our convictions are. It is the three divine principles that are completely locked in for us, which is why Sydney Banks referred to the principles as a “gift”, and yet, it is our usage of such principles that gives us and our realities the stamp of individuality and moments.
In my case, or reality, it’s one where Keith is no longer a part of it, except in my memories and imagination. When I do “see” him again, I have nothing but love, appreciation, and gratitude for somehow crossing paths and for being given the gift of Keith being Keith and the wisdom he shared with me. I certainly couldn’t have been the person I am today if it weren’t for him, and many others benefited from his teachings as well. It is with a big smile on my face that I see this is what Keith pointed me to, and yet it is the very thing that helped me understand what I was going through after his passing.
After all, once something is insightfully understood, well-being, faith, and hope return to the bearer of the human experience and reality.
Love to all, Brett
