Grow Up!

In my Sunday lesson on October 18, I mentioned that I recently celebrated my 55^th birthday. I also shared that I have come to the unanticipated realization that it is time for me to grow up. When I say “grow up” I am not referring to learning to behave in socially acceptable ways or accepting responsibility for my well-being as an adult. I am speaking of something much deeper, and honestly, I am not yet completely clear about what it means to “grow up.” I am continuing to seek inner guidance and to explore others’ teachings. However, at this point in my understanding, I believe it is a process of personal transformation that can be expressed through developed innate human capacities as well as learned and practiced skills.

In the not so distant past, I believed that enlightenment, or awakening to the awareness of our shared Ultimate Reality, the conscious realization that each of us is God/Life/One Mind expressing, is the ultimate purpose of life. I believed reaching nirvana was the objective of my life, as well of all humanity. I also believed that, once awakened, we would create a Utopian egalitarian society in which not only the basic survival needs of all people are met, but where all people live together in love, peace and joy.

I am now beginning to wake up to the realization that enlightenment or awakening to our shared spiritual nature is not our sole purpose, nor is it the solitary solution to the end of suffering and the dawning of new earth. Yes, it is vital that we wake up to our unity in God, expressing that fully with each other and all creation. It is equally important that we grow in our human capacities so that we possess the necessary skills to live our truth and co-create a world that works for all. It is also imperative that we learn to live from a state of wholeness, which is the integration of waking up spiritually and growing up personally.

Synchronicity, when I am open to recognizing it, continues to delight and surprise me. Last Thursday, I received an email from Integral Life, the organization co-founded by philosopher, theoretical psychologist, author and teacher, Ken Wilber. The email promoted a newly released online program entitled Full Spectrum Mindfulness, a series of lessons designed to support one in the integral process of Waking Up and Growing Up. In the first lesson, Wilber asserts,

“So humanity is today—and has been throughout its entire history to this point—in a very strange situation. We have at least these two major paths of development—a path of Growing Up and a path of Waking Up. But never have both of those paths been practiced together—ever. This means that humanity has actually been practicing, working, to be partial, limited, fragmented—and virtually from day one. In short, humanity has actually been working to be broken. And all of history is a history of a broken humanity. It is only in the past decade or so that it was realized that we have both of these paths of growth, and that both of them are incredibly important and truly necessary if we want to be fully developed and truly whole human beings. And this very possibility opens us to an entirely new and radically innovative future, the likes of which we have never, but never, seen before.”

I often think I “should be” used to the ways Life responds so abundantly to my sincere questioning and desire, yet I continue to be amazed when moments like this happen. Often, I delete these emails because I assume they are marketing their ideas on how I can become enlightened so they can make money. I opened this one, and was thrilled to see what I interpreted as a confirmation of my recognition of the desire to “grow up.” After watching the introductory video, I immediately registered for the class. I am looking forward to delving into the material and practices offered. It is my hope that these lessons will support me, and assist me in supporting others, in living more fully from my wholeness.

I also continue to be delighted when a book I have had on my shelf for years comes into my awareness at just the right time to support me in my current evolution. Such is the case with SQ21, The Twenty-one Skills of Spiritual Intelligence, the bestselling book by Cindy Wigglesworth. She explores Spiritual Intelligence and delineates an associated skill-set that can be developed and measured. These skills, when understood and practiced, can assist us in living from our wholeness as spiritually awake and evolved human beings. We will be facilitating a study of her book as part of our Leadership Curriculum which will be launched in January 2016.

I am excited to be embarking on this inspiring journey of integrating spiritual awakening and personal transformation. I believe I have found a missing piece in my understanding of what it means to truly show up as a spiritual mature human being. And, as I said, I am still not completely sure where this path will take me. I am open to allowing the journey to reveal itself to me one step at a time. I am grateful for this auspicious beginning, and the support of Life as it brings me answers to my unvoiced questions.

As one of my first Unity ministers said once, “what is going on for me will be going on for you.” You will be hearing more about my process in my Sunday lessons and future posts. We will also be offering more classes and book studies that focus on the integral process of spiritual awakening and personal transformation through engaging in conscious practices. I hope you will join me as we journey together on this path of Waking Up, Growing Up, and embracing and living our wholeness.