By Hope K
The story goes that, upon the explosion of the Gadget at White Sands, New Mexico, Robert Oppenheimer thought, "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." The quote comes from the sacred Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita.
Oppenheimer also gave the first nuclear bomb test the name Trinity, which is a Christian doctrine.
It's occurring to me now that maybe Oppenheimer isn't a good example because he was partly responsible for our nuclear bomb problem, but do you see what I'm saying? Sometimes the most intelligent people are also spiritual.
And that's okay. You just want it to be the good kind of spiritual, not the bad kind.
It's easy to tell the difference between the two. The good kind lifts you up and inspires you to be a better person. It's not about money or power or fear. You should run far, far away from any kind of spirituality that makes you afraid. The good kind helps you to not be afraid.
Not all people are spiritual, and that's okay, too. But I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that most people are, in some way. It's a part of our human nature, and it goes back to our origins. Ask any archaeologist.
There are so many different places that people feel spiritual, from the pews in church listening to a hymn to the forest listening to the songs of birds. Some people like to practice theirs alone and others like to do it in groups.
Some people enjoy it as a feeling or belief, and some people are called to put it into action. The actions can be lighting candles, meditating, and/or reading scripture, those kinds of things. Some people's actions include physical works, like feeding struggling people or going to an anti-war protest.
I'm a spiritual person, and I always have been. I like going to church and hiking in the woods. I have had moments where I felt like I slipped into another dimension, one where, for lack of better words, angels and demons exist.
Many scientists say the universe is made of energy, whirling vortexes and entanglements. That would mean that you, too, are made of energy. What if you could harness that energy and use it purposefully? What if a lot of people did this at the same time?
Is it possible for us to influence the world in a positive way? I believe so. Not only do I believe it, I think we have a duty to do it. I think we only live up to our fullest potential when we are helping people, animals, the world. Whether it's praying for a sick person, donating to a homeless shelter, or taking in a discarded pet, the things we do matter.
I think it's even possible to intentionally manifest outcomes in the material world. Once you realize this, I believe you must be careful. You don't want to find yourself in a desert realizing you've unleashed fiery evil into the world, like Oppenheimer.
Damien Echols of the West Memphis Three (those of you who have read my blog know I was a WM3 supporter) has a book coming out October 30. It's called High Magick. I'm looking forward to reading it, and I might do a book review. Anyway, Echols says that while he was imprisoned for a crime he didn't do, he didn't let himself think about things like his last meal before they put him to death. Instead he visualized himself being set free. He spent hours meditating to intentionally manifest his freedom. With a lot of outside support, his wish became real and he was let go. Now he feels the need to help other people on their journeys, so he wrote a book about his unique approach to spirituality.
It kind of reminds me of Viktor Frankl, the neurologist who survived the Holocaust and used that experience to write Man's Search for Meaning and to develop a new psychological theory, logotherapy, to help people feel less neurotic and reach their potential. Frankl concluded that people need to find an authentic purpose in life or they would face an existential vacuum. One of those purposes, he believed, was a person's spirituality.
So one day I was perusing Twitter, as I am apt to do, and I came across the hashtags #LightUp4Julian and #LightworkerWednesday. I had to look up what a "lightworker" is. At first I thought they might be talking about electricians, but it turns out it means something like, a spiritual person lighting a candle and saying a prayer for somebody.
That's not hard, I thought.
In fact, I decided I could do more than that, so I took my Julian Assange action figure (I can't draw, and models complain and want money, so I use action figures for pictures sometimes. Yes, I know it might appear juvenile. I'm having fun, so I don't care.) and I sat him by some candles I arranged in his initials. Then I chose a Bible passage and posted it with the picture and sent it out into the world on that flow of energy they call the internet.
I feel a bit of a tingle in my hands as I write this. Either it's the Holy Spirit or maybe I'm getting carpal tunnel. I prefer to believe the former.
No matter what anybody says, it's okay to be spiritual. It doesn't mean you're dumb or gullible. It just means you have an interest in the same things that people always have, the things we don't know but are curious about.