So often, we hear that this is an intelligent Universe, that we have guides and angels who want to help us, that God is Love. And we look around at the mess of the world, and at our own lives, and call bullshit.
“If angels can help us, why don’t they? Why do they let us suffer?”
To understand this, I have to take you somewhere. Will you come with me? Will you allow me to pull you, for a few minutes, out of your current situation?
Imagine rising with me out of your body (which remains perfectly safe, by the way), and then out of your house. Suddenly we find ourselves in a beautiful meadow, because, well, that sounds like as nice of a landing place as any.
Into this meadow appears a being of light. It looks a bit human-like, but it’s more light than form, and it’s big. There is such power radiating from it, but the power feels wonderful. And you realize that what you’re feeling from it is love. Pure, powerful love.
“Who are you?” you whisper with awe.
And the being says, the words forming in your head like thoughts, “I am you. You are me, an aspect of me. I am your soul.”
“I thought my soul was in my body.”
You sense the being’s, your soul’s smile. “I focused a small part of myself into the human form that you consider your body, yes. But I am so much more than that small part.”
“But…why? Being human is so hard!”
“But it’s also glorious, is it not? To experience the senses as you do, the explosion of taste when you put food in your mouth, the exquisite sound of birdsong, the incredible feel of a warm breeze on a spring day.”
“I guess. But…why do we have to suffer so much?”
“You do not have to suffer. The suffering is a choice, if an inadvertent one. There are experiences that we decided to offer ourselves before your incarnation. Some were fixed, in order to create the opportunities for growth for ourselves and those we would incarnate with. Some were optional. If you had remembered all of this when you incarnated, you might feel very differently about these experiences.”
You look at me askance, so I try to explain.
“Have you ever ridden a roller coaster in the dark, like Space Mountain at Disney World, back in the day? You can’t see what’s coming, but you know it’s going to be a wild ride. When you climbed into the ride, you kind of knew what to expect, and more importantly, you knew it wouldn’t last too long and you would get off again, none the worse for wear, right?
“Imagine instead that as you climb into the roller coaster car, you take a pill that instantly gives you temporary amnesia. Imagine that that’s the way this particular roller coaster works, the draw of it. It’s an amnesia coaster! What fun, everyone thinks when they stand in the long line to ride it.
“But then the ride begins and you don’t remember who you are or how you got there or anything at all. All you know is that you’re strapped in, hurtling through the dark. Alone, but for the screams of others who are doing the same, though you mostly can’t see them. “You’re terrified. Surely you’re going to die! This is awful, this is awful, this is awful. What terrible thing did I do to be punished in such a way?
“And then, finally, the ride ends. It glides to a stop, and as it does, the amnesia begins to wear off. You’re still rattled, your heart is pounding, but you’re starting to remember. It was a ride. It was just a ride. You were never actually in any danger, no matter what it seemed like.
“You stumble out of the coaster, meeting up with your friends who were on the ride with you. And by the time you’re all striding back out into the sunlight, you’re laughing with relief, with the thrill of an adrenaline high like you’ve never known before. What a blast that was! And before you know it, you’re all in line to ride it again.”
You look at your soul, somewhat aghast. “That’s what being human is like for you? Just a thrill ride?”
You sense your soul’s kindness, it’s compassion, wrapping around you.
“It’s more than that, of course,” your soul says. “There is great expansion that occurs, great learning, tremendous growth. But it is true that incarnating on Earth is different from most incarnations because it does require amnesia, which makes it so much more terrifying to the human.”
“But we die!” you say. “Unlike your roller coaster analogy, we die.”
“The body dies, yes. When you are through with your life, you leave the body behind, much as you left the roller coaster car behind when you left the ride. But we are eternal. And once the lessons and growth of a particular lifetime have been fully assimilated, we are greater than we were before, wiser, more loving. Never less, no matter what experiences we encountered during our physical lifetime.”
You shake your head. “So I did all this to myself on purpose? You did this to me on purpose?”
You can sense your soul’s amusement. “Yes. Absolutely. And from my vantage point, it’s a thrilling ride. You will come to see this, I believe, for we have incarnated at a singularly exciting point in time.”
“The world going to hell?” you grouse.
“The world emerging from it’s amnesia.”
You look surprised. “Seriously? Like, we’re all going to suddenly remember?”
“Not suddenly, no, for the shock of that would be too great. You are gradually remembering, and not all of you at once. But those who awakened first are helping the rest of you to remember who you really are, why you’re actually here, and what you can make of this life of yours when you come into the knowing of the power that you truly have to create the lives you wish to live.”
“That sounds…unlikely.”
Now you can actually hear your soul’s chuckle in your head. “Just keep an open mind, for I am with you always, as are your guides and angels. And while we chose to incarnate as the human you know yourself to be, your guides and angels agreed to support you and steer you from the non-physical.”
“Well, they haven’t been doing a very good job,” you mutter.
“Perhaps you haven’t been paying much attention,” your soul counters. “But they did get you here, did they not? To this experience, with me?”
“I guess? I mean, I just stumbled upon this blog by accident.”
“Did you?”
“You mean I didn’t?”
Your soul just smiles, then says, “More and more, if you continue down this path of discovery and remembering, you will find that you can shift your life situation, and draw to you more of the experiences you’d like to have, no matter how extraordinary. But the first step is to try to view your current situation more as I do — a roller coaster ride, yes. But also, a glorious adventure.”
You feel a wave of energy flow over you, so much love it brings tears to your eyes, and then your soul fades from view.
“Time to go home,” I say, and the next thing you know, you’re floating with me above your body, which looks exactly as you left it.
“What do I do now?” you ask. “How do I change my life and make it the way I want it?”
“It’s a process,” I say. “Step one is to ask your guides for help. Spirit cannot interfere in our lives unless invited to. So ask. Live your life with as much peace, or even joy, as you can. And follow the inspiration and guidance when it feels good. If you’re guided back to my words, read them. If you’re guided to someone else’s, go there. But keep your eyes and ears open to guidance in all forms, for it can get quite creative sometimes.”
When we see the bigger picture, and begin to understand how it all works, and how much power we actually do have to live the lives we choose, the suffering can end. But the choice whether to see our current situation as misery, or just part of a thrill ride, is ours.