Inner Work

For the week of October 17, 2005

Creating Ourselves

We live with the advantages and the limitations of our genetic heredity, our experiences, and the interaction of those factors. But, crucially, we also bring our own inherent spark of freedom to the mix. That freedom allows us to rise above the limitations of heredity and experience, to lay claim to greater possibilities and modes of acting in the world. That same freedom, however, also allows us to drift rudderless within the boundaries of our history and genes. Either way, we continually create our place in our body and in this world, in relationship and in action. Who we are depends on who we create ourselves to be. This last is not intended as a new-age slogan, but rather as a prescription for inner work, for a path to becoming and fulfilling our highest potential.

Self-creation constitutes our own primal act, recapitulating on our personal scale the original Divine act of creating the universe. Our act of becoming, of entering the fullness of presence and right action, holds unlimited significance because it makes possible the entry of the Divine into this world through each of us, even with our imperfections and limitations.

Given our circumstances, what we make of ourselves depends solely on us. Certainly we can and do ask for help. But even that asking is our own creation. And we cannot wait for that great hand from the sky or for the right lottery ticket to take responsibility for our life going forward. In our inner world, this can take the form of spiritual practice, of the work of self-discipline, presence, and prayer. Externally, it can take the form of responsibility and kindness to others and to our own creative flair, toward making real what is possible, toward our own small contribution to this evolving world.

For this week, please examine what kind of person you are creating yourself to be and whether you need a new direction or perhaps a renewal of an old direction.

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