An incidence of abuse cited by a female friend of mine (a man ‘Flashed” her from his car) has caused me to deliberate on life. As terrible as this may sound, one could view this moron's action as an excellent opportunity for spiritual growth. When such impactful things happen to us, maybe one’s Higher Power is accessing a wounded part of ourselves that needs healing?
My youth was filled with both abusive and peaceful opportunities for deeper growth, and then I went to prison. I used to wonder why God (my Higher Power) allowed me to see the awful underbelly of humanity.
Then I sobered up, as they say. I wondered what people meant when they said they never killed anyone while driving under the influence. I used to wonder why I was born to a mother who couldn't take care of me properly (the State of Minnesota deemed my situation ‘the worst case of abuse they had seen in Minnesota’ at the time...today it would not seem so unusual). I could go on and on.
But forgiveness always runs deeper than the wound or offense that required its presence. If there was no offense, forgiveness as a virtue could not exist. The wound was a wonderful opportunity for spiritual growth. Oprah said, “Make your wounds your wisdom.”
A friend of mine asked why she could not stop drinking. Everything else in her life was OK, she said, but drinking wasn't. I didn't say that maybe what she was going through was for OTHERS. Sometimes we go through things to help others reach a brighter end of their healing journey.
In God's Economy, nothing is wasted. I was suicidal without ideation for years, but 1) because I had given my will and life to God, my life was not longer mine to take. I couldn’t steal it, and 2), I also realized that IF I committed suicide, then when someone needed help getting through their grief, THEN I couldn’t help because I’M DEAD. I NEEDED to pass the test for OTHERS. Like Cypher said in The Matrix, "I mean how can he be the One if he's dead?"
The Dark Night of the Soul is dreadfully difficult, but also terribly beautiful. I wouldn’t trade one day of the pain during those darker days. To do so would be to reject a part of myself. I would lose my wholeness. A person cannot be Holy without Wholeness. Everywhere we walk is Holy Ground because we are there. We paint the future with our lives. The world is our canvas. The images we create can be ugly or beautiful.
Still, for some gravely wounded poetic warriors, healing might be a lengthy process. I am in no way saying that the offense that caused the injury was right or justified. The offense was wrong, yes, but what are we gonna do about it?
Many are called to attend the Higher Learning Centers of Life, but few are willing to drop the Victim Mentality, hang up the ego-centered Blamethrower, and bring the darkness to the Light. One's things' for sure, shit happens. A dung beetle loves and makes shit its home, lays its eggs there even, and if we are not careful to wash the actions of others from our unconscious minds, we might do the same. Taking our power back is imperative. Only dogs get mad. Humans are supposed to look at what caused us pain, consider the highest possible message, and migrate our consciousness by 'life on life's terms.'
Changing our minds will change our lives. Stick with the winners, and never get into a pissin' contest with a skunk. When can experience peace no matter what the crazy world of ours is doing, right? Must we attend every fight to which we’ve received a RSVP? Choose your battles wisely.