If we are to make any sense of our existence at all, it is to nature we must turn because the answers are hidden in her rhythms, as I have said before. If we are to realize our position as co-creators, we must acknowledge the methods of nature. And so the dead tree from yesterday begged for a closer look. I scrutinized it, finding that it had many secrets to reveal.
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| The dead tree reveals its secrets. |
It is our tests, then, our trials and tribulations that make
us who we are. Our successes are our
rewards, but rewards never shaped a soul.
It is the difficulties in life that carve and whittle away at our raw
material, leaving only the impervious core.
Only those who dare to be stripped of everything can hope to find the
grail.
Layer by layer, a person is stripped. All of the trappings of humanity fall away,
one by one, until the ego is at last exposed, helpless and naked. Then, standing on the perilous edge, the
decision must at last be made: To go
forward into the abyss with courage and conviction, or to stand back and
re-clothe the ego with deceitful silks and mindless mantras.
Very few will cross to the other side, not because they are
unworthy or incapable, but because they have believed their own fear. To those who stay, the spoils of what remains
on this side shall be fought for bitterly, with each hollow victory celebrated
as if it were the birth of a new world, while all along the soul is pierced
further and further and the magic of life ebbs away into inky blackness. But to the few who cross over, redemption is
finally at hand.
The Great Redeemer, then, is ourselves. At last we understand--not “know” but truly understand--that
it is not how well we did on the test but the fact that we actually took the
test at all which counts. From this, one
goes forth with dignity, pride, and a sense of regality. For the truth--the real truth, the one that
can be stripped no further--is now made manifest, and one who knows the truth
cannot ever be lied to again.
Where we go from there is anyone’s guess, but it will be met
with purity, humility, and gratitude because these are the gifts of the one
true heart.
