Who Are You BECOMING... Because of What You Believe?

Undeniably, spirituality and the quest for meaning is extremel important to many people.

However, there is a difference between making spirituality engaging and turning a spiritual quest into a carnival.

I understand the temptation. When I interviewed renowned psychic medium Michelle Whitedove on my "Radio Nahmaste" show years ago, she told me during an ad break: "Don't join the carnival, Sarah, just don't. Most people just want the thrill, they're not interested in the truth." That stuck with me.

Teaching has always required a little theater. A story that holds attention. A symbol opens a door. Mystery invites curiosity. Ritual gives the invisible somewhere to land.

And yes, sometimes we need wonder...

But somewhere along the way, wonder can become spectacle. A circus performance, instead of a teaching moment.

Suddenly everyone was someone important, in another lifetime.

A priestess.
A pharaoh.
A saint.
A famous mystic.
A keeper of some ancient lineage.
A reincarnated historical figure carrying forward a grand spiritual mission.

Very few people seem to remember the lifetimes of being the woman who baked bread for twelve children; the farmer who died unknown; the fisherman who never left his village, or the person whose entire spiritual accomplishment may simply have been learning how to love the people standing directly in front of them.

That interests me.

Because spiritual maturity — at least as I understand it — does not require us to become more extraordinary.

It asks us to become more honest.

More awake.
More compassionate.
More discerning.
More responsible for the energy we bring into a room.

There is nothing wrong with mythology, archetypes, past-life stories, visions, synchronicities, guides, symbols, or extraordinary experiences. My own life would be considerably easier to explain if I dismissed all of them.

I don’t.

But I have become increasingly cautious about confusing a meaningful experience with a "magnificent identity."

Perhaps you encountered the Magdalene archetype because something within you is learning devotion.

Perhaps the warrior appeared because courage is being demanded of you.

Perhaps the ancient priestess is not telling you who you were. Perhaps she is showing you what you are becoming.

That possibility may be less glamorous.

It may also be far more useful.

Spirituality should occasionally astonish us, but it should also humble us.

If every revelation simply makes us more important, more chosen, more exceptional, more cosmically significant than the people around us... then I think it becomes worth asking whether we are really encountering Spirit...

... or simply giving our ego a makeover with better costumes.

I still believe in mystery.
I still believe in the unseen.
I still believe there are experiences that do not fit neatly inside our explanations of reality.

But these days I have become less interested in the carnival than in exploring the direct experience.

I want to sit with the part that remains after the lights go out, the music stops, the costumes come off, and we are left alone with the oldest spiritual question there is:

Who are you becoming because of what you believe?

I appreciate you stopping by my blog for a spell, and hope you'll visit again!

Thank you for reading, please share your thoughts because I love comments and then take a minute to look at the community of Silverbloggers and join us if you think you qualify. (If you think you qualify, you probably do!)

All photos and graphics are my own!
An abbreviated version of this essay was also shared on my Facebook profile.