What does that mean: to have a Human experience?
I had a Native American teacher who used to tell me, “You white people don’t get it. You are not a person seeking or having a spiritual experience. You are a Spirit having a Human experience.”
What I learned from her and from my Christian roots, and I believe other of the world religions teach something similar, is that I was first an idea in the heart of God. First, I was a spirit being, created in eternal thought, and that it is my blessing and privilege to have this human experience.
Psalm 139:13-14 tells us,
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
I interpret this to mean that God had the idea of me, of you, our inmost being. Your Soul, My Soul from all time. Selected parents, for each of us. Finished creating us by knitting our individual Souls in our mothers’ wombs, so that our human bodies and personalities could develop over the time of our life span. From Pre-birth to Death, a Spirit, a Soul having a Human experience.
I also think that not all spirits are privileged to have this human experience. Those of us who are here, knowing the beauty of Earth, the reality of a physical body, emotions, enjoying food, and on and on, the myriad of human privileges. We are blessed to be here.
I want to experience all that I can. I want to remember all that I experience. I give thanks every day for this rare privilege of being human.
It has taken me a lifetime to learn that every painful moment, every sorrow; physical, emotional, spiritual, has been essential, to my becoming who I am today.
Life is a mix of highs and lows, joys and challenges. There was a time when I couldn’t say this. I am extremely grateful for every experience and I appreciate the struggles that have made me strong. These struggles are what have opened my heart in a way that I can now help others who are facing similar struggles. Every tough time has been my Teacher, with a capital “T”.
I have shared some of my deep thoughts here. What are you thinking? Any connection for you? What has been your most difficult challenge? Do you continue to carry anger and hurt? Have you found the lesson and the blessing of that lesson? You know that person you find so trying? Could be a family member, someone at work, school, church. Have you ever asked yourself what you are meant to learn from his or her presence in your life? Maybe if you pay attention and learn the lesson, you won’t have to continue to experience it over and over. That’s what I try to do. Stay alert and learn the lesson before I have to experience it the third, fourth, fifth time.
Always so much to think about.
My prayer for you today: Live into and rejoice in the joy that is yours to live. Whatever difficulty you may encounter, learn the lesson quickly and move on with open heart to the nearest joy awaiting you.
Strive to be a blessing!
Carol
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