It happens to us all. We sit at our father's knee. We receive instruction. We form opinions. We are given gifts be them intangible or material. We set out on our own with an attitude that the world is ours and our lives as well in such a way that we live to fulfill desires that are unfullfilling. Now, at first our intentions may seem nobel on the surface and even beneficial. But we experience the consequences of living in the flesh and disconnected from the father. More specifically the Spirit with a capital S. We experience the world and the world IS the flesh. The world is that which exists outside of the Spirit. As a result we become broken. Humbled. Frightened by our own failure and the potential for even worse circumstances to come. We hit OUR bottom.
The term "hitting bottom" is used in the recovery community to describe the point at which alcoholics or drug abusers hit the point where they reach out for help. Usually, this occurs when the consequences of their alcohol and drug abuse becomes painful or embarrassing.
It is the lesson of a prideful person. A person who goes through life believing they are in total control of all they experience and that they direct their lives accordingly. The prodigal son took what was his and went into the WORLD. Into the flesh. Absorbed with pride.
James 4:6
But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
So, God waits. We separate ourselves from the Spirit and not the other way around. God waits for us to become broken in spirit. He waits for sincere contrition. A realization that without the Spirit being our means of life here on earth we are blind in the wilderness.
Isaiah 57:15
For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.
You must feel it deep within yourself. Understand it. Accept things as they are and live from that moment forward in the spirit. Guided by the word and the conviction the comforter provides.
The world is one created by God and we are indeed Spiritual beings here on earth having that human experience. When God created us in his image as the scriptures tell us it was not the flesh. Not this body. No, God is not some anthropomorphic bearded man as dipicted within the cistine chapel. God is Spirit with a capital S and we originate from that spirit. The world is a place that we use to hone our spirit for things much much greater than what we endure so briefly here. Ashes to ashes and dust to dust those things superficial will fade away. We must let go of the past and embrace a future with the Lord and more specifically with the Holy Spirit because it is our direct connect to God.
As the song Dust in the Wind says,
I close my eyes only for a moment, and the moment's gone
All my dreams pass before my eyes, a curiosity
Dust in the wind, all they are is dust in the wind
Same old song, just a drop of water in an endless sea
All we do crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see
Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind
Now, don't hang on, nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky
It slips away, and all your money won't another minute buy
All of this is temporary. Temporal. The flesh is temporal. Temporary. The Spirit is eternal.
Coincidently, the band that sings the song I just read also sang of the prodigal son in a song called "Carry on my wayward son"
Once I rose above the noise and confusion
Just to get a glimpse beyond this illusion
I was soaring ever higher, but I flew too high
Though my eyes could see I still was a blind man
Though my mind could think I still was a mad man
I hear the voices when I'm dreaming,
I can hear them say
Carry on my wayward son,
There'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don't you cry no more
Masquerading as a man with a reason
My charade is the event of the season
And if I claim to be a wise man,
Well, it surely means that I don't know
On a stormy sea of moving emotion
Tossed about, I'm like a ship on the ocean
I set a course for winds of fortune,
But I hear the voices say
Carry on my wayward son
There'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don't you cry no more
Carry on,
You will always remember
Carry on,
Nothing equals the splendor
Now your life's no longer empty
Surely heaven waits for you
It is a song about realizing the folly in our own ideas and finding the true glory in repentence and a life lived in the Spirit.
We must follow the path the Spirit guides us to take and that is found in constant prayer and communion with God. God gives grace to the humble. The person with a servants heart. We must accept things as life presents them to us with a cheerful spirit, always giving thanks. In the AA Big Book on page 449 there is a famous passage that has been used by many both suffering with addiction and also seeking the wisdom of the spirit and I believe the Spirit was indeed at work here.
- And acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing or situation -- some fact of my life -- unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment.
Nothing, absolutely nothing happens in God's world by mistake. Until I could accept my alcoholism, I could not stay sober; unless I accept life completely on life's terms, I cannot be happy. I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world as on what needs to be changed in me and in my attitudes.
The attitude change can be found in the space that separates the flesh and pride from the Spirit and Humility. We are all our own prodigal son or daughter. We all seek the forgiveness of the father and we all must endure the harsh criticism of those who still live in the flesh just as the prodigal son of the bible endured the judgement of his sibling telling the father to with hold grace. But it is the nature of God to love his creation and when we repent with sincere contrition and seek his will we will experience that grace.
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:11-13
