Vernon – BC – April 10, 2020 – The Emily Dahl Foundation

Today was a lovely sunny day , a great day for a bike ride in the Okanagan Valley.   I took out my electric bike for a spin and stopped in to see my parents who also live in Vernon, BC.

My parents are part the congregation of Our Lady of the Valley Church in Vernon.  We spent some time in their back yard with social distancing, of course.

I had recently bought and delivered a gift to Father Peter Hoan Nguyen who I visited at their Church.  Father Peter had reached out his hand of compassion to me months ago and a very unique event between Peter and myself brought us together just a few weeks ago.  Father Peter is amazing and gave me some wonderful teachings.

During the visit with my parents we discussed many things including Covid-19, the state of the economy , and Jesus Christ.  This seemed appropriate given it was Good Friday.   We even reminisced on our previous lives in Regina, Saskatchewan where my Father and Mother ran a Captain Scott’s Fish and Chip restaurant.  My parents had smiles on their faces as they remembered the rather large net full of cash on Good Friday. The masses were  eager to show that fish shapes are said to have been used as a secret symbol by Christians to identify each other when their religion was banned.  Many of Christ’s followers were fisherman too.

Somewhere in our lengthy and enjoyable visit my father brought up The Trinity.  The Trinity of The Father , The Son and The Holy Spirit.

As I rode home I thought of what the meaning of the Trinity means to me as I truly begin to understand the experience of the passing of my daughter.

When we look into and touch deeply the life and teaching of Jesus , it is possible to see the the reality of God .  Also you can penetrate the essence of my daughter Emily.  Love , understanding , courage, and acceptance.    These are the expressions of the life of Emily , and they are also the essence of Jesus Christ and The Buddha.  This clarity of understanding of Jesus Christ can be found in the book “Living Buddha , Living Christ” by Thich Nhat Hanh and my own intense experience of my life with Emily and the sudden departure of Emily in the form of a loving daughter , family member and friend to so many in this world.

Yes , God made himself known to us through Jesus.

If we deeply consider the true nature of Jesus with the Kingdom of God within him we know that Jesus touched the people of his time.  He talked with commoners and prostitutes and tax collectors, and had the courage to do whatever was needed  to heal His society.   As the child of Mary and Joseph, Jesus is the Son of a woman and man.  As someone touched by the energy of the Holy Spirit, He is the Son of God. The concept that Jesus is both the Son of Man and the Son of God is not a difficult thing to understand for me.

In fact , we touched that inter-being on Good Friday in my parents backyard.  We can see that nature of the non-duality in God the Son the Father, because without God the Father within Him , the Son could never be.  But in Christianity , Jesus is usually seen as only Son of God.  What I realized sitting with my parents  today (my very own Father ) , is that you must look deeper into every act and every teaching of Jesus during His lifetime , and use this as a model.

To me the seed of the Kingdom of God is within us. Emily perhaps showed us how to plant this seed in the soil of our lives, so it could grow and become a large bush as a safe haven for others to take refuge. The key is you do not have to die to arrive at the gates of Heaven. In fact , we have to truly be alive.  The practise is to touch life deeply so that the Kingdom of God becomes a reality.  This is not a matter of devotion or faith, it is a matter of practise.

Is it possible that Emily transcended her form of a body , after searching and touching something deeper with the loving desire to teach us? The answer is yes, most certainly it is possible. All those that know Emily will find comfort in the fact that she is still there for us in the miracle of the formless nature of her being that is shared with us all.

As Eckhart Tolle, a world class spiritual leader would surely say,  “The Kingdom of God is available here and now”.  Many passages in the Gospels support this.

The one I remember as a child who was taken to The Church many times was, “Thy Kingdom come ….. ” , along with as Jesus said,   “I am the door”.  He is describing Himself as the door of salvation and everlasting life, the door to the Kingdom of God.  Because God the Son is made of the energy of the Holy Spirit , He is the door for us to enter the Kingdom of God.

So without really knowing it I had experienced my own meaning of the Trinity , The Father , The Son , and the Holy Spirit all in one visit and we can now see clearer the door that Jesus was showing us in the very symbol of Jesus Christ that both Father Peter and I have to enjoy.

Happy Easter !

Sherman Dahl

Emily Dahl Foundation