By Elizabeth Egan
“When your heart is alive with wonder, you are ready to receive the affinity and kinship that awaits you and welcomes you. At the heart of which is unknown, within you and around you.”
—John O’Donohue from The Invisible World
What if I told you that you were not who you thought you were? That, in fact, before you came into the physical realm, you were a being of great light? What if I told you that your soul was created in the birth of the stars, and that you are more ancient than the known Universe? What if I told you that every struggle, heartache, and triumph was chosen by you before you came into this life with the purpose to refine your spiritual nature, develop your wisdom, and deepen your ability to love yourself and others? Would you believe in the vastness of who you are?
In the Celtic tradition, November 1st signified the sacred day when the veil between the visible world and the world of the unseen was most transparent. A time when one could glimpse the wisdom of the eternal world, leaving behind the murky perspective of the mortal realm. It is a time to glimpse your greatness and transcend the illusions that keep you disempowered and small.
In the spirit of this tradition, I would like to challenge us all to take some time to wonder about who we really are. Who are we beyond what is ordinary? Who are we in the scheme of Divine Order and Divine Imagination? What secrets has the Divine whispered and gifted to our soul? Each of us is on the path of toward perfecting our energies. We are all beings of form and beings of light.
The mind is the sister to the visible world. Together they eludes us into believing that what we see is all there is.
They lead us to fall victim to our vulnerabilities and shortcomings. But we must remember there is another more enchanting world of spirit. A matrix of energy, intelligence, and imagination. The realm from which all that is seen was once first dreamed and birthed. This is the realm of your soul’s dominion, and the realm to which all the secrets to the mysteries of who you truly are reside.
There is more to you than the disempowering stories of this lifetime. There is more to you than your pain and suffering. There is more to you than the title of your career. Deep within the caverns of your heart lies the truth of who you are, and the truth you are destined to share with the world. Deep within you lies the struggles and the challenges you face every day through the experience of just being you, and managing the state of the human condition. We are all amazing at some things, and struggle terribly at others. It’s just part of the experience. Isn’t it easy to admire others who seem like they have it all figured out? But take heart in the reality that they too are just doing the best they can. The paradox is that although treading between our personal successes and failures is universal to the human condition, there are no two human beings with exactly the same dreams, skills, loves, challenges, heartbreaks, talents, interpretations, perspectives, emotions, or callings.
“Each person in the world is standing on their own ground. You can only compare like with like, and there are no two humans anywhere in the world who are alike.”
—J.O’Donohue, The Invisible World
For this reason, I challenge you to look all your perceived faults and failures straight in the eye, and not only accept them as your current reality, but be grateful for each and every one of them. Push past the resentments of loss, disappointment, and unworthiness to find the spiritual purpose for all that you are and all that you are spiraling toward. The fire of all that we are is the kiln of our soul’s greatest design. Only through acceptance, wonder, and gratitude for all that we are can spirit bestow the sacrament of our ordination. The beauty of this is as we are refined through our falters, we gain wisdom and compassion toward all others, strengthening our union to all that is.
The world of spirit is in constant communication with us, but in our modern world, we are too distracted to realize it. Our minds are so busy, and so distressed by the chaos we have invented for ourselves, that we have lost the means of going out into the openness of the landscape to feel the wild presence of Divine spirit. The ancients knew the value of the unseen world and knew the importance of staying in union with the world of spirit. They understood that the spirit has a fluency and energy that cannot be contained within any form, and that in order to maintain a sense of health and wellbeing, one must pay attention to the inner rhythms of the spirit.
In a way, our modern scientific approach to life has explained away the mystery—and robbed us of our wonder. But, now, we must find our way back to the reality that lives beyond the visible world. We must honor all parts of who we are with a sense of gratitude and wonder. We must allow time and space for the spiritual realm to reveal to us its secrets, and pull us ever toward the dreams it has for our life.
May the misty veil between the visible and the unseen worlds disperse long enough that you might glimpse the dream of your belonging.
May you hear the whispers of the spirit world as they chant their hymn to your soul.
May you find the cadence that will dance you toward the mysteries of your unknown self.
And may you always be alive with wonder and gratitude for all that you were created to be.
—E. Egan
Elizabeth Egan is a 6th grade science teacher, Reiki Master, and spiritual singer-song writer with a passion for learning and teaching about the infinite nature and wisdom of the soul. She has spent her life singing in spiritual settings, and last spring released her first album, INSPIRED, in which most of the songs were self-composed. You are welcome to visit Elizabeth’s blog for inspiration, thoughts, prayers and meditations any time at www.spiritlightandlife.wordpress.com.