Spirit has long been sentenced to reality’s fringes as a figment of our imagination. Spirit is deemed unknowable and locked into churches, whereas science is regarded as truth and is disseminated in elementary schools. Science, however, is merely one part of the story. It would seem common sense that anything human-touched, such as science or organized religion, would be as flawed as humans are. Meanwhile spiritual truth can be heard whispering in your own heart as an original thought – something you might feel you didn’t think for yourself.
Everything is made of stories. If you observe this idea playing in your life, you will find that truth is an elusive concept. Reality is still today being translated by myth, though the myths are touted as infallible scientific knowledge. Most of science is theory – which is to say, a story. However this is downplayed such that theories are taught as truths. History has a record of constantly shifting paradigms. Our view of the planet as circling the sun rather than the sun circling it is a perspective born of an age where science is believed to prove itself. Yet science (and all things) can be argued, disbelieved, and thus called a myth or a collection of stories. Even logical laws of physics may not accurately describe the fullness of reality. As I once wrote in a poem,
Maybe reality was merely what she saw
And the distant trees were really that small.
How we navigate a world of story is up to us. I choose to collect stories – to honour opposite, mutually exclusive truths simultaneously. I believe both that I walk through space and also that I walk by turning the Earth with my feet. You can try the latter as an exercise – it is a very interesting one even if you don’t take it very seriously. However I feel both perspectives have merit, and ultimately both are stories that I believe exist together simultaneously, both true in themselves. I believe that every story has what I call a “retrograde perspective” which is an opposite or mutually exclusive idea. Although many people think that history and photographic evidence “proves” that the Earth is round and moving at tremendous speeds in various directions, I believe that such evidence can be equally intelligently challenged, and an opposing view taken (as some people have argued, though they are labeled “conspiracy nuts”) that the Earth may be flat and motionless. I then savour both stories equally and take them together as metaphors of my reality.
Ultimately, I live in a free-fall where there is no concept of solid truth for a foothold. Yet this doesn’t affect my day-to-day activities or even my attitude very much. It is certainly not distressing to me, but instead delightful, as it opens up every story in the world to be experienced as my reality.
I say all this because it colours my idea of spirit and how I interact with spirit in my life. By embracing retrograde perspectives it is easy to incorporate both science and spirituality into my worldview. Also, I believe that truths can be heard whispered into your own mind as fleeting sacred communication mingled between your own thoughts.
No matter what you believe, you will find this blog respectful of different ideas and I welcome you to adapt the ideas presented here in your mind to fit your own perspective. Truth ought to be a journey, so I welcome you now to walk with spirit, and keep your imagination open wide.
Where Spirit Stops 