Stumbling Towards the Light

We're all just beginners here.

The perfection of nature is beyond anything the human brain can fully comprehend, from the mysteries of outer space to the smallest atomic particles. As much as we know, there’s so much that we do not yet know. The laws of physics are further revealed with every generation, and what we know now is surely nothing compared to what our descendants will likely discover.

The laws of metaphysics, however, are complete and timeless. We hopefully grow in our ability to apply those principles, but the principles themselves have been all laid out. Gleaned from myths, religion, philosophy and spirituality, humanity has received throughout time what’s called the Wisdom of the Ages. Anything being revealed today was already revealed with layers of genius thousands of years ago.

The hard part isn’t learning those principles; any basic primer on spiritual understanding can give us that. Comparative religion and philosophy, the study of spiritual and mystical traditions from around the world, give us an understanding of the themes of spiritual enlightenment.

But that is so not enough to transform the world.

Puttapon

Enlightenment begins as abstract understanding, then makes its journey from the head to the heart.It’s not enough for the brain to know something, if the heart hasn’t yet fully embraced it. For those of us who are interested in transforming our world -much less transforming ourselves - we need to take ever longer strides in the direction of embodying more things that by now we already know.

Let this be a week of practical application. In the days ahead, let’s apply more things that we intellectually understand, perhaps, but know in our hearts we haven’t fully yet integrated into the core of who we are in the world.

It could be forgiving someone. It could be trying to understand someone. It could be dropping our obsession about the past. It could be releasing the future. It could be trying to live more fully in the present. It could be making a serious effort to be kinder, or to listen better, or to be more aware of the feelings of others. It could be a healthier lifestyle. It could be praying for others. It could be developing a more generous spirit.

Whatever just came to you, that was it. You work on your stuff and I’ll work on mine. All of us are flawed and all of us are fragile. All of us are yearning at the deepest level to be more tomorrow than who we are today. We’re all just beginners here. We’re all just stumbling towards the light.

Dear God,

Please pour Your spirit on the week ahead

and expand our ability to be more like You.

Open our eyes that we might see

and open our minds that we might know

the other world that is possible now.

Amen