Many of the qualities that we (rightly) attribute to the divine are attainable for us as flawed human beings. Right. Now. I think we create myths around qualities such as forgiveness that make them feel unattainable. Why do we do that? We often separate the human from the divine. Yet, I put forth that our humanity is not something completely separate from our divinity, in fact, it is our humanity that draws us nearer to divinity than any other characteristic we have.
"To err is human; to forgive is Divine." Yes, I agree with that adage, however, I'd like to add that to be human is also divine. It's just Divinity in an infantile state. Why am I bringing this up, you may (or may not) ask? Well...
I listened to an incredible podcast, of course! You should do it, too. (I've never said the words, "When I was at band camp." However, I often use the phrase, "When I was listening to a podcast..." and it seems to have the same intonation.)
The idea that we are somehow inherently disconnected from the Divine simply because of our fleshy nature causes all sorts of problems. One of them being we shy away from capitalizing on abilities we already have within us. We make bigger deals out of things that are part of our natural structure and attribute those qualities to something magical or beyond our normal capacity. Another problem is we don't recognize the time investment needed for natural processes and we expect events. We place unreasonable expectations on ourselves (and, consequently others) to achieve a particular state within an arbitrary amount of time.
When it comes to physical growth or healing, while still impatient, we have a little better understanding of the important role time plays in it all. We would NEVER shame a child for not being tall enough to reach the drinking fountain! We would not tap an impatient foot and tell her to hurry up and grow. Instead, we pick her up so that she can get a drink. We would NEVER shame our best friend for being bed-ridden with an illness. We would not tell him he'd better get it together soon or else we'll remove ourselves from the friendship. We would bring him soup. So, why would any other innate process be any more receptive to impatient foot-tapping and tongue-clucking? Our spiritual selves are not as far removed from our physical selves as we think. The capacity for greatness is inherent!
It just.
Takes.
Time.
"To err is human; to forgive is Divine." Yes, I agree with that adage, however, I'd like to add that to be human is also divine. It's just Divinity in an infantile state. Why am I bringing this up, you may (or may not) ask? Well...
I listened to an incredible podcast, of course! You should do it, too. (I've never said the words, "When I was at band camp." However, I often use the phrase, "When I was listening to a podcast..." and it seems to have the same intonation.)
The idea that we are somehow inherently disconnected from the Divine simply because of our fleshy nature causes all sorts of problems. One of them being we shy away from capitalizing on abilities we already have within us. We make bigger deals out of things that are part of our natural structure and attribute those qualities to something magical or beyond our normal capacity. Another problem is we don't recognize the time investment needed for natural processes and we expect events. We place unreasonable expectations on ourselves (and, consequently others) to achieve a particular state within an arbitrary amount of time.
When it comes to physical growth or healing, while still impatient, we have a little better understanding of the important role time plays in it all. We would NEVER shame a child for not being tall enough to reach the drinking fountain! We would not tap an impatient foot and tell her to hurry up and grow. Instead, we pick her up so that she can get a drink. We would NEVER shame our best friend for being bed-ridden with an illness. We would not tell him he'd better get it together soon or else we'll remove ourselves from the friendship. We would bring him soup. So, why would any other innate process be any more receptive to impatient foot-tapping and tongue-clucking? Our spiritual selves are not as far removed from our physical selves as we think. The capacity for greatness is inherent!
It just.
Takes.
Time.
