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Posted: April 5th, 2007 at 2:36am By: Anne E. Ulvestad
Sitting here listening to them bicker as they play cards. So nice to have kids! How did my mom ever get any work done? "Sing in your head, Christopher — Mom's trying to concentrate. You've been listening to that Christmas CD again, haven't you?" "You don't need a poker face when you're singing all the time."
"Cheater." "Pumpkin eater." All right, time to move into the other room. "Keep it down to a dull roar, kids." (Something my mom used to say.) Christopher had said earlier that Kjersti wasn't his sister. Why not, I had asked. It seems to me that having another family could be more of a good thing. Especially since these two were both only children, having a sibling finally was just what they had always wanted.
His answer was that if she was his sister, then it would spread and then all people would be everyone's brother and sister. If that happened, then there would be only good people in the world, and since good can't exist without evil, then everyone would be like a zombie or boring or like a robot.
Interesting. I've heard that argument before. One can't be too good — that would make everyone the same. On the other hand, one can't be perfect, because after all — you're only human. That means that it is our uniqueness that makes us human, and therefore fallible. And what makes us unique is our free will. But what is free will other than our ability to choose, or take responsibility for our actions, and not our ability to do evil?
What is our uniqueness, other than the purpose of our existence? It sets us apart, but also binds us together. As the Little Prince expressed so eloquently, "You are not at all like my rose," he said. "As yet you are nothing. No one has tamed you, and you have tamed no one. You are like my fox when I first knew him. He was only a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But I have made him my friend, and now he is unique in all the world."
We can't be good, or beautiful, or loving without someone to be good to, or beautiful for, or loving toward. So in our uniqueness we need each other, and it is this challenge that ends up defining the purpose of our life. This is what makes it clear to me that God, the Heart of the Universe, is a personal God, one who can clearly say, "I am Your God and you are My people."
Rabindranath Tagore wrote: "My God, You have filled my body and soul with Your gifts. Now what nectar of mine do You want to drink? The beauty of Your creation is painted in my interior as a colorful voice. Your love, O Lord, intermingling with it, has awakened all my songs. You see Yourself, in some delightful way, portrayed within me because You have given Yourself to me."
This giving and receiving is the very soul of the universe, the power behind all existence. How can such goodness and beauty result in a perfection that is boring or conventional? My mom asked about perfection when I last saw her. She opened a door slightly to give me an opportunity to share my differing views of life. I said a lot of what people believe about goodness and truth is similar, once you define your words clearly.
I told her that I believed perfection was not another word for absolute, but was a state of maturity. Like a tree growing from a seed, to become a seedling, and then on to having the ability to produce fruit, we also grow in love. As a child, we learn to receive; then, as we grow, we learn to share; and with the fruit of our intercourse we see ourselves reflected and have the opportunity to learn to give, and give unconditionally.
This maturity allows us to belong to the Beloved, as well as to behold the Beloved in others — to be unique in all the world, and yet to share a connection. As we allow relationships to change us, inducing more from us, our inimitable gifts ripen and blossom, producing nectar that can even satisfy our God.
And so, are we all brothers and sisters? I hope so. As with the Little Prince, enfolding one person into your heart will create a memory, and a pattern to embrace others. "And at night you will look up at the stars. Where I live everything is so small that I cannot show you where my star is to be found. It is better, like that. My star will just be one of the stars, for you. And so you will love to watch all the stars in the heavens ... they will all be your friends."
— — —
Anne E. Ulvestad is a free-lance writer residing in Maryland. She has her masters in earth literacy, and is available for public lectures and group presentations and rituals on Spirituality and the Environment. Anne can be reached at {email anne@ourplaceintheuniverse.com}anne@ourplaceintheuniverse.com{/email}. © copyright 2007 by Anne E. Ulvestad
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Sitting here listening to them bicker as they play cards. So nice to have kids! How did my mom ever get any work done? "Sing in your head, Christopher — Mom's trying to concentrate. You've been listening to that Christmas CD again, haven't you?" "You don't need a poker face when you're singing all the time."
"Cheater." "Pumpkin eater." All right, time to move into the other room. "Keep it down to a dull roar, kids." (Something my mom used to say.) Christopher had said earlier that Kjersti wasn't his sister. Why not, I had asked. It seems to me that having another family could be more of a good thing. Especially since these two were both only children, having a sibling finally was just what they had always wanted.
His answer was that if she was his sister, then it would spread and then all people would be everyone's brother and sister. If that happened, then there would be only good people in the world, and since good can't exist without evil, then everyone would be like a zombie or boring or like a robot.
Interesting. I've heard that argument before. One can't be too good — that would make everyone the same. On the other hand, one can't be perfect, because after all — you're only human. That means that it is our uniqueness that makes us human, and therefore fallible. And what makes us unique is our free will. But what is free will other than our ability to choose, or take responsibility for our actions, and not our ability to do evil?
What is our uniqueness, other than the purpose of our existence? It sets us apart, but also binds us together. As the Little Prince expressed so eloquently, "You are not at all like my rose," he said. "As yet you are nothing. No one has tamed you, and you have tamed no one. You are like my fox when I first knew him. He was only a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But I have made him my friend, and now he is unique in all the world."
We can't be good, or beautiful, or loving without someone to be good to, or beautiful for, or loving toward. So in our uniqueness we need each other, and it is this challenge that ends up defining the purpose of our life. This is what makes it clear to me that God, the Heart of the Universe, is a personal God, one who can clearly say, "I am Your God and you are My people."
Rabindranath Tagore wrote: "My God, You have filled my body and soul with Your gifts. Now what nectar of mine do You want to drink? The beauty of Your creation is painted in my interior as a colorful voice. Your love, O Lord, intermingling with it, has awakened all my songs. You see Yourself, in some delightful way, portrayed within me because You have given Yourself to me."
This giving and receiving is the very soul of the universe, the power behind all existence. How can such goodness and beauty result in a perfection that is boring or conventional? My mom asked about perfection when I last saw her. She opened a door slightly to give me an opportunity to share my differing views of life. I said a lot of what people believe about goodness and truth is similar, once you define your words clearly.
I told her that I believed perfection was not another word for absolute, but was a state of maturity. Like a tree growing from a seed, to become a seedling, and then on to having the ability to produce fruit, we also grow in love. As a child, we learn to receive; then, as we grow, we learn to share; and with the fruit of our intercourse we see ourselves reflected and have the opportunity to learn to give, and give unconditionally.
This maturity allows us to belong to the Beloved, as well as to behold the Beloved in others — to be unique in all the world, and yet to share a connection. As we allow relationships to change us, inducing more from us, our inimitable gifts ripen and blossom, producing nectar that can even satisfy our God.
And so, are we all brothers and sisters? I hope so. As with the Little Prince, enfolding one person into your heart will create a memory, and a pattern to embrace others. "And at night you will look up at the stars. Where I live everything is so small that I cannot show you where my star is to be found. It is better, like that. My star will just be one of the stars, for you. And so you will love to watch all the stars in the heavens ... they will all be your friends."
— — —
Anne E. Ulvestad is a free-lance writer residing in Maryland. She has her masters in earth literacy, and is available for public lectures and group presentations and rituals on Spirituality and the Environment. Anne can be reached at {email anne@ourplaceintheuniverse.com}anne@ourplaceintheuniverse.com{/email}. © copyright 2007 by Anne E. Ulvestad
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