Nothing I do, say, or think during my time on Earth has any bearing on the residence of my soul beyond this life. Some folk in my faith family will have a problem with that statement, rejecting it outright as faithless, even blasphemous. And I willingly acknowledge their perspective as valid – for them. But it’s the marker of the moment on my spiritual journey, a journey I perceive as having no destination, more like a path of my making, beginning and ending in eternity, all relative terms that would have no meaning for me were I not a reasoning being.
That said, I believe the way I live my earthly life does have great significance for my human family and for all of creation as I experience it, and for me that’s all that really matters. I believe that if my life fits into some cosmic plan in the mind of the creator, it is that I live my life in harmony with the rhythms of the created order – with my environment, my human family, all that is within the scope of my senses, and beyond. My failure to do that may be likened to singing off key in an otherwise harmonious choir. Or tearing the fabric of an otherwise unblemished tapestry. Since peaceful coexistence seems to be incompatible with our need for cultural comforts and a sense of rightness, we have, by default, embraced a humanly imposed norm of disharmony and discord; the tapestry is shredded and we seem to be resigned to a shredded, chaotic existence that can only be salvaged and once again made whole by an interventional cosmic fixer. I believe we have the capacity to restore the tapestry to wholeness, and we have larger than life coaches and time-honored play books to guide us toward that objective.
We begin with ourselves – adjusting our functional settings, changing our defaults, not at someone else’s insistence, but by our own initiative as we become convinced that we are not islands and that we live in relationship where the well-being of the whole is more desirable than that of any single part. It’s hard to do when ideological and spiritual scratch marks run deep. One of those may relate to our attitudes about our God, the one we learned about in early religious instruction, the one who sets the standard for the way we relate to each other and to our environment, the one we may perceive as dictating the terms of our existence. This may be the same God we affirm (and worship) as Spirit – a comforting presence, loving, forgiving, accepting, gracious – yet condemning, judging, and punishing, having the capacity – and the will – to assign an unruly, rebellious child to an eternity of immeasurable suffering.
On that note, may I propose that our concepts of life beyond human death are human constructs that fulfill our need for reward for ourselves and punishment for others we perceive as undeserving of Divine blessing. Evil is seen as pervasive and unconquerable, therefore necessitating Divine intercessory action lest we all spend eternity in a cosmic torture chamber. Concepts of reward and punishment also satisfy our need to define reality in relative opposites, i.e., right and wrong, black and white, up and down, beautiful and ugly, tall and short, etc. Perhaps such descriptors are not of God. Perhaps no human descriptors are suitable for God. Perhaps we have appropriated and adapted God to fit the limits of our own human understandings and our need for a framework within which we can explain the “why” of our existence. Does God need us? Do we need God? To whom are we accountable beyond ourselves? Perhaps to those for whom we can be lights in the darkness of their lives, and to those who can either bloom or wilt because of us.
How do I find the road to recovery and wholeness, not just for myself, but for my world? I’m speaking of a condition beyond the natural restorative and regenerative processes of nature that will prevail with or without my contribution. How do I align myself with forces and influences that bring wholeness to my human family? How do I learn to sing in harmony with the cosmic choir? How do I align my thoughts and actions to enhance the beauty of the tapestry? And do I find answers outside myself, or do I go within to a God whose creative artistry is manifested in me and whose eyes mine can be?
Food for thought for this day … and many yet to experience.
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