Click for audio: Why Am I Here?
Last Sunday, two people raised two different questions that are, in some ways, interwoven. One asked, Why are we here? What is our purpose? and another asked if I would address the issue of reincarnation. At first glance, these questions may seem unrelated, but I think you’ll see that the viagra economico approach I take to both issues makes them quite compatible.
For me, a good place to start is with the question of how I got here in the first place. Was I put here by God? Was I put here by my parents? Has my soul’s lack of full development made it necessary for me to come here and learn lessons? While I have embraced all three of these possibilities at different times in my life, I have come to another way of thinking. In a sense, all three of these scenarios exclude the notion of free will. If God did it, I had no choice. If I am the biological product of my parents, again I had no choice. If I am here because earth life holds lessons critical to my spiritual growth, then once again, I had no choice.
Last week I made the point that life in our city means different things to different people. Some will see it as a blessing, some a curse, depending on the circumstances they are in. Likewise, if we ask various people why they came to live in this city, we will get a variety of answers. The common denominator behind all these answers, however, is that of choice.
What if we were to declare: I am here on this earth because I made a choice to be here. While the answer of why we may have made such a choice may not be immediately apparent, the question puts us in a position to at least get an answer. And if we embrace the possibility of reincarnation, we can entertain the question of what keeps us coming back for more.
From a spiritual perspective, we are all here to express the life, love, power and intelligence of God in everything we do. While this may seem too abstract a notion to have any practical value, it does go along with Jesus’ statement to let your light shine. By giving yourself fully to the place in life you are in right now, by stating that you are here because you made the choice to be, you are letting your light shine. Your interest in the choice you made to incarnate may have changed, but your life and your place in it is still an opportunity to continue to make new choices concerning how you will let your light shine. Meditate on this possibility. Listen carefully to your intuitive response. We move through many interests, many phases, but the full and responsive dynamic of life never ends. Make the choice to be here now and you may be surprised what a difference this will make.
What seperates me from the tree in your illustration is that I experience a desire to relate to my source. Not simly to be the best human being I know how to be. Of course, being related to ones source can be included in living life to its fullest. It seems to be the necessary purpose of consciousness. The purpose of life, therefore, is to partner with our higher power in so far as possible.
I suspect the primary reason the apple tree doesn’t spend its life attempting to be a pear tree is because it totally relates to its source. This is one of the great lessons Nature has to offer. It works because it doesn’t have the imagination to veer away from its true blueprint. We do, which is why a prime element of the spiritual path is a return home to the awareness of our Source.
Doug, The question, of Why I am here, is simply stated, an expression of the source from which I sprang. I suspect that transcendent principles guided my conception biologically, genetically and irrationally as they have through generations of humankind. I developed with an introspective capability not always we exhibited others with whom I come in contact. I am comfortable with the serendipitous nature of spiritual realization and cheap viagra find no need to construct a spiritual story of my origins. Mystery is fine with me. I am the product of divine (no imagery here) principles at work in the universe and desire closeness to the source of those principles. I see my life as an opportunity to explore and express that relationship.
Thank you Allen. What struck me as I read your comment was that I may plant an apple tree for the purpose of getting apples. The tree itself, however, does not produce apples specifically for me; it just produces apples because that what it does and is. Regardless of why it was planted, its purpose is to be the best apple tree it can be. For me, this ties into what you say, “I see my life as an opportunity to explore and experience that [divine] relationship.” Thanks again for your input.
Your metaphor is VERY helpful. I awoke this morning and before I could think, I became aware of a relationship, a presence around me. It was as though I was surrounded by a benevolent affirming presence.