Where to Now?

If spirituality is that which comes from within and love is an unconditional commitment to someone, how do we bring the two together into one? I suspect that unconditionality can only come from within. It is certainly not a rational process of comparing pros and cons.

I have a good friend who naturally speaks of God and love as being synonymous. He finds it difficult to express one without the other. He describes it as the God within himself. For him, that place inside is unselfish, understanding, tolerant, accepting, and most of all humble. He is able to just be with someone as though a protective space exists around the two of them. The rest of the world does not exist during such an encounter. In such a space, the other person feels free to express their pain, hurt, confusion, successes, realizations, disappointments, anger, and ultimately love. For underneath all of these human emotions (which are amoral) is always love.

Love, in this sense, is not the opposite of hate. Love is not part of the human world of dichotomies. Love exists as the context of all human experiences. It does not judge. It compatibly embraces all of creation as being in perfect balance. Love is a way of being that is expressed in an infinite number of ways. Observing a loved one when she or he isn't looking and realizing how fortunate you are to be in partnership with that person. Sharing a learning experience with a child or teenager. Giving without any memory of it. Having the awareness to know when compassion is required of us. And, allowing others to discover their own answers to the life challenges they will continually face as long as they are alive.

During this season, I suspect there is a lot of introspection and reflection on where we are in life. An evaluation of the "big picture." Such a process for me always prompts the questions "Where to now?" "How do I create my future." "Who will be part of it?" "What drives me with passion?" (Sometimes called work) "How do I lay my past to rest, knowing there is nothing I can change about it." (But realizing I can certainly learn from it.) And most of all, am I willing to have the year 2006 be a blank canvass and allow the "Picasso" within me to fully express my unlimited potential!

If we can only partly live within this framework, our so-called problems and challenges will naturally fall by the wayside. Our lives will simply not have the space or time for them. And now we come to where "love manifested" is sourced from; love of one's self. If we can love ourselves unconditionally, then we can extend love to to others, whether they accept it or not! In my experience, it is virtually impossible to extend unconditional love to someone and not have it returned; in their own unique way.

So, what's the message? Love is as natural to humans beings as is breathing. Love is doing less and being more. All we need do is to set aside our survival-driven behaviors, where true survival does not exist, and the love from within will naturally come forth! That's it!

My next blog will share the Ten Principles of Spiritual Living.