We Are Eternal
How can we human beings be certain we are eternal beings?
“If we meditate upon the existence of life after death, then all illnesses would seem to be taking us closer to the movement from one life to another, a transfer more desirable than undesirable.” –Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom, April 29
Science and spirituality are now in agreement that time is more circular than linear. Examples of our beautifully circular universe are seen everywhere in nature, yet often the human mind prefers a linear, logical timeline defined by a precise start and finish.
Mystic and Celtic wisdom have always offered alternative answers and solutions to life’s deepest paradoxical questions, but very few have eyes to see nor ears to hear this visible and invisible reality.
John O’Donohue reveals to readers this timeless Celtic wisdom and worldview in a most poetic manner in his international bestselling book “Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom.”
Below are some selected book quotes (in italics) which I found profound and inspired my new song, “We Are Eternal”. The truth is we are not only headed toward eternity, but if we choose, we can embrace this “kingdom of God” within right now.
For 30 years I’ve participated in and researched spiritual renewals, starting in 70’s with the Jesus Movement, Charismatic Renewal, Kingdom of God Restoration and now the Contemplative Renewal.
“There is an unprecedented spiritual hunger in our time… More and more people are awakening to the inner world…This is a new form of consciousness. When your soul awakens your destiny becomes urgent with creativity.
We are always on a journey from darkness into light… Our birth was the first journey from darkness into light. Light is the secret presence of the divine love in your life in the night of your heart. It’s like the dawn breaking within you.
The circle of time is never broken… The life of each person is a circle. The circle brings perspective to the process of aging. Aging is not the demise of your body, but the harvest of your soul… Aging can be a time of great strength, poise, and confidence.
Here’s some of the best news you may ever hear for those suffering from memory loss or who have loved ones with Dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.
Your soul is the place where your memory lives…The soul lives mainly in the mode of eternity. Bodies age, souls get richer, deeper, stronger… With time your soul grows more sure of itself.
Time’s eternal dimension… is where everything is gathered and nothing is lost. This is a great consolation. Nothing is ever lost or forgotten. Everything is stored within the temple of memory, giving a new strength, poise and belonging never available when you were young.
A different state of being… Space and time are the foundation of human identity and perception. When the soul leaves the body it is no longer under the burden and control of space and time. The eternal world does not seem to be a place, but rather a different state of being.
Death is sometimes referred to as “Enlightenment at gunpoint,” but the Celtic view says that glimpsing of our death can be a major threshold of spiritual growth.
We are wrong to think that death comes only at the end of life… Physical death is but the completion of a process in which your secret companion has been working with since birth. Death meets us when we were vulnerable, frail, hurting or negative.
At death physical separation is broken… When you live in the body, you are separate from every other object and person. In death the soul is released from his particular and exclusive location in the body. The soul then comes to a free and fluent universe of spiritual belonging.”
