White cells are merciless and will hunt down and kill every last pathogen they can find.  Bill Bryson

Bill Bryson has written another great book entitled, A Short History of Nearly Everything.  He previously wrote a book that I really enjoyed entitled, A Walk in the Woods.  In this audaciously titled book, Bryson examines the world from the micro to the macro levels and talks with interesting detail about the lives and findings of those who discovered so much of what we (think) we know today.

On page 313, I read about white blood cells.  I don’t know about you, but I’d never thought too much about these little critters except to be thankful they’re there when an infection strikes.  As it turns out, there are in fact about 10,000,000 different varieties of them in the human body, each variety designed to respond to a specific type of threat!

They aren’t arrayed as standing armies ready to attack, but rather as scouts that constantly monitor the body and identify which variety is needed as any given time.  When a threat is discovered the message goes back to the cells that produce the white blood cells.  These little manufacturing plants spring into action creating the army of cells that will fight, relentlessly and ruthlessly, until the last threat is gone.

This is all interesting information but suddenly I thought, is this not the way consciousness acts as well?  Remember a time in your life when you developed a strong affinity for something.  For me, I remember seeing early bluegrass musicians playing Martin guitars.  While I didn’t play at that time, I knew I wanted a Martin and to learn how to play it.  At that time, once I identified my desire, the forces of the the Universe began creating the circumstances and events that would allow that to happen.

At first I got a cheap guitar that was basically unplayable.  When I was 15, however, I bought a nylon string guitar from a friend for $10 and that was the beginning.  Over time, I honed my desire and forces conspired to bring me the guitar and ability to play it that I wanted.  Just like the white blood cells, conscious forces rushed in to help fulfill my desire once I had clearly defined and identified it.

So it is with all of our lives.  Once we get unequivocally clear about what we want, forces beyond our own puny efforts gather to help make it come true.  Our job is to align with this energy and get out of the way, taking our own small actions to move in that direction and allow them to be amplified by the life force that infuses all that we are, all that we have and all that we do.