Let’s face it, if it were easy, the evolution of the world would have turned out a lot differently. Spirituality – and all the corollaries that go along with it – requires more than just lip service, it demands contemplation. At its core, the concepts of love, compassion, harmony, oneness (as well as others) are more than just words and what they are trying to describe; rather, they are states of being. Spirituality means “of the spirit,” yet when we see what is happening throughout the world (and the United States in particular), it is clear that regardless of having a church, mosque, or other kind of spiritual temple on every street corner, spirituality has been mostly ignored or relegated to “when it’s convenient.”
If we were to truly embrace the tenets of spirituality “of the spirit”, we would honor our unity and recognize the oneness that is inherent in all life and all races. Our behaviors would be radically different than what we are seeing playing out in cities throughout the country and throughout our history. If we were to become more of what being spiritual is about, it doesn’t mean we would necessarily agree on everything, but our foundations would be on solid ground with respect to others and the “big picture.” Through the tenets of a bonafide spirituality, you can accept the validity inherent within another and still have disagreements. Such disagreements are meant to instill growth; to make something that is imperfect to become less imperfect (It should be noted, “perfection” can never be reached while on earth). Coming from a space “of the spirit” certainly doesn’t play to the notion that one must be “better” than another, or whoever is seen as “incorrect” be ridiculed to the point of making it seem their very existence should not be respected. Yet, sadly, this is where we are, in my opinion.
We are often told to “be more” loving, compassionate, etc., but how often do we take the time to sit and really work with these states within our consciousness? For many, they are left to be a simple understanding sitting idly on the shelf, ready to pick off when the timing seems right to fit a more psychological scenario versus an in-depth property of our souls. Such negligence leads us to inevitable conflicts that otherwise could have been avoided.
In other words, spirituality requires effort.
In order to become truly spiritual and “of the spirit”, we must take what we understand as being components of a realized spiritual being and work to make them our own instead of just understanding them on a surface level. We may believe in them, we may say they are a truism, but again… To proclaim such qualities simply is not enough. Are they really “of your spirit” or not? If they aren’t, then how can we ever hope to experience that timeless adage “The Kingdom of Heaven is Within”? You can’t, and neither will the rest of us if we follow that same lead.
The resistance or simple lack of spiritual contemplation in the world is a guarantee that positive and progressive growth will forever by stymied and at odds with its opposites. Greed, selfishness, materialism… These things all cry of division, separation, struggle, and always lead to feelings and additional behaviors that don’t exemplify the cornerstone of spirituality: Love. And it seems to me, we have spent a lot more time focusing and cultivating those opposing behaviors than what would truly set us free.
But then again, those in Spirit remind us: it wasn’t meant to be easy. Those calling us from the Other Side remind us that our earthly journey is a “school” to learn lessons. We have unlimited possibilities latent within us, with the function of material life as being the action of unfolding them into actualized experience for our awareness to examine. We cannot truly appreciate spiritual qualities without also understanding what makes them so valuable, thus the episodes of “struggle” we feel forced to endure. It has come to us from those in Spirit that the earth plain was never meant to be “perfect,” because no growth or evolution could occur if everything was already in its most idealized state. Plus, “idealized state” requires wisdom and knowledge of all the various points surrounding it. In other words, we must understand something about the nature of darkness in order to truly understand and appreciate the light.
However, at some point we need to acknowledge that we have learned the nature of pain as it relates to certain aspects of our lives and declare “Enough is enough.” In matters of spirituality, struggle is designed to inspire us to move toward that Great Spirit within us in order to bring it more fully into physical expression. That is, take the pain, then move within to unfold its opposite – to engage the true depth of our soul in order to bring about what we do want, versus continuing to wallow in what we don’t.
Spiritual unfoldment is precisely that journey. To take what is not “of the spirit” and transform it into “what is.” It requires a bold initiative to deny power to what it is we don’t care for as it is knocking upside our head, while simultaneously reaching to grasp a power we have somewhat separated ourselves from or not spent much time with. Again, qualities of the spirit are often a state of being, for it is the energy frequency of one’s state of consciousness that affects one’s experience and personal environment, individually and en masse. This is where the work starts and where we need to go. It is vital we do so now.
How easy is it to become impatient? Stressed out? Frustrated? In today’s world, very easily. Therefore, we should not assume that becoming spiritual wouldn’t require effort. When you are confronted with such opposing forces, it requires intense vigilance, intention, and continued action to unfold what the nature of Truth (with a capital “T”) is about. Paying lip service or sitting in a building or Zoom conference room is not going to do it for you. If it is “of the spirit” then that is where the focus belongs. Once there, we need to focus upon what it is we are trying to exemplify. What you focus upon grows, so we need to enrobe ourselves with the actual state of love, the state of compassion, the state of harmony, so that these qualities are no longer on the shelf of our mind, but are truly the actions of our eternal souls.
When we become these things, they will naturally be reflected in our lives and our environment. The world will change, as the exterior is always a reflection of the interior movements of consciousness. That’s the reward: A less imperfect world. There will always be challenges, as Spirit is always unfolding infinite varieties of Itself. If spirituality were easy, we really wouldn’t learn much about the depth of existence, of who and what we are. The tribulations are meant to spur growth; we just need to act on it.
It’s time to ACT. I hope you’ll join me.
Gandhi is often attributed as saying, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” What he actually said is much deeper and speaks precisely to the power of our spirituality when we embrace it:
“We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.”