The Quest for Vitality and Depth
Making the Choice
My favorite TV series of all time is the remake of Battlestar Galactica from the early 2000s. As I watched the first season, I was floored.
This wasn't just a sci-fi action-adventure series that took a ragtag group of people on a journey searching for a new home. This was a highly philosophical work of art.
In the opening scene of the series, the writers subtly tip their hand. Cylons enter a diplomatic space station. A human-looking Cylon woman walks toward a human man who sits in a chair. She sits in front of him, looks into his eyes, and asks the question that guides the entire season…
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"Are you alive?"
What does it mean to be fully and vitally alive?
The answer depends on the person answering.
In the series, each of the characters had their own answer to that.
Commander Adama experienced vitality as the protective father who would do anything to save his children, even risk the lives of the rest of humanity.
Colonel Ty found the thrill of command and battle to be invigorating enough for him to put away his alcohol.
Starbuck loved to fly. Her version of heaven was found in the cockpit of a Viper fighter.
Through the story, each character revealed what made their lives meaningful.
And that which makes life meaningful makes us feel vital and alive.
Unfortunately, the dynamic of meaning cuts both ways.
When we experience life as meaningless, the weight of despair threatens to crush us into dust.
The invitation
Do you want to embrace your Destiny?
Would you like to discover your full potential and unleash your True Self?
Do you want Divine Vitality to flow through you for others?
If you were able to do that, would it make you feel fully and vitally alive?
If so, what's stopping you?
The resistance
I think at some level we all want to become our best selves.
Or do we?
It sounds great on the surface, but after we start exploring what that means for our lives, we start to become aware of the degree of sacrifice that kind of journey requires.
You see, that which prevents you from embracing your destiny is not to be found in certain other people who may seem like your antagonists in the story of your life. It’s not even found in the society or culture you find yourself immersed in day in and day out. In fact, it doesn’t even come from anything that you can find outside yourself.
That which prevents you from embracing your destiny is nothing other than you.
While on your quest for spiritual becoming, you are your own proverbial worst enemy.
Your ego and shadow: friends or foes?
Within your psyche are two independent, yet related, forces: Your ego and your shadow. They are both intimate parts of who you are right now.
Before I start talking about the ego and the shadow, I want to emphasize that they are not inherently bad. In fact, both are a part of what it means to be a healthy human being. Both serve you faithfully at times, even if you don’t know they are there supporting you.
That being said, there’s a reason contemplative and mystical traditions tend to emphasize the need to “let go” of the ego or “integrate” the shadow as if they are forces opposing your quest to become your True Self.
Introducing your false self
Together, the ego and shadow contribute to what is popularly known as the “false self”. The false self is a socially constructed, very limited way of perceiving yourself. It likes to categorize and compare so it can evaluate itself, others, and the world around it.
In contemplative and mystical circles, part of the task of personal becoming is learning how to empty yourself of the needs and desires that come from living out of the false self, and correspondingly learning how to refill your emptiness with your True Self.
Which brings us to the lived reality of incarnation: Which self will you give expression to?
Most people live primarily out of their false selves. Concerns about such things as status, power, wealth, security, and material possessions dominate their daily concerns. Given that, is there any wonder why we as a species seem hellbent on destroying ourselves, each other, and the world in which we live?
People act as if living out of the false self is the only way to function in this world. The cultural story we live in consistently affirms and reaffirms that story. But, I’m telling you right now…
Don’t buy into it. It’s a lie.
The alternative
There is another option. You can choose to move beyond living out of your false self, and pursue authentically living out of your True Self instead.
Another term used to describe the false self is the “small self”. I love that term because it captures so well how limited the depth of experience is when living out of it. It’s not that people who live out of the small self can’t experience meaning and vitality. Indeed, they can and they do.
But there is so much more waiting to be had.
It’s like limiting yourself to eating a few peas and being happy with it when you are sitting right next to a free buffet. All you have to do is walk over the the buffet table and fill your plate.
But, there’s a catch…
You have to make a choice.
Time to choose
Yes, it begins with a choice inside you. You have to choose it. You have to commit to it. And, you have to follow up, which will mean making changes to your life.
This brings us back to…
Do you want to embrace your Destiny?
Would you like to discover your full potential and unleash your True Self?
Do you want Divine Vitality to flow through you for others?
Or, to put it another way…
Do you want to grow spiritually?
If so, then learning about your ego and shadow and how they affect your life and your becoming is really important. Once you understand some of the dynamics that are happening inside you, you can start to work with them.
I’ll start talking about that next week.
Peace, Bo
www.evolvingchristianfaith.net
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