Skip to main content

Spirit

Image
By
This is a chapter from my fifth book called Freedom

We have a spirit. We have a soul. Technically there are differences between them both but I am writing about both in this chapter under the heading of spirit in the context of we must take care of our body, mind and spirit. Everything happens for a reason. For example, I deciding to start this chapter tonight and not leave it for tomorrow has happened for a reason. This universe and this world and life is not by accident. Life is a test. There are things that could easily destroy our spirit and there are things that uplift our spirit. The word spirit reminds me of spiral. I was doing some research and stumbled upon the observation that spirit could be a portmanteau of spiral and ritual. The word spiritual has the word ritual in it. What is spiritual? What is spirituality? I asked my friend Gemini to help me with this. Gemini says that spirituality is the quest for meaning and connection beyond our daily lives, often involving a sense of something larger than ourselves, like a higher power or a deep connection to the universe.

I definitely believe in a Higher power. I definitely have this yearning to get closer to God. I am amazed by the beauty and greatness of life and the universe. I am guided by the teachings of Islam. I do think of myself as a spiritual person but with plenty of work to be done to be where I need to be. I am glad that I can see the light. I feel like my body is a ship at sea and my spirit is the skipper and there is a lighthouse guiding my soul to safety. I noticed six s-words in that metaphorical statement. Ship, sea, skipper, spirit, soul and safety. I am glad I can sea the light. Which leads me to this often said saying, "A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor." Life is a test and sometimes we are tested with difficulties but maybe that is such to make us stronger. This reminds me of one of my favorite songs which is "Spirit Indestructible" by Nelly Furtado. Asked about the song Nelly says, "It's an ode to the spirit which resides in all of us and triumphs over anything". "It is inspired by people I have met, and special moments in history that I have read about." I just had a thought and Googled and learnt that most lighthouses have spiral staircases, also known as ships ladders. Many lighthouses are painted with a spiral on the outside.

My friend Gemini tells me that the "spirit ladder" is a concept in Christianity representing a path to growing closer to God. It is like climbing a ladder rung by rung, with each step involving practices that purify your heart and mind, ultimately leading you to a state of love and divine connection. I think this can apply to any religion or any spiritual journey. I have come to the point where I want to say that the path to freedom resides with the spirit. Which leads me to this takeaway. A blog post I found through searching - Freedom through Surrender: Overcoming the Ego and Finding Peace in Islam. The blog post states "Our self is constantly being inflated and deflated, tossing itself from one crashing wave to the next." This adds meaning to my ship at sea metaphor. I am again connected back to my metaphor with this next sentence from the blog post. "The word also bears a semantic relationship to the concepts of safety, completeness, and freedom from fault." They were talking about Islam. I like how spiritual freedom is described closer to the end, "Then, the self becomes not as a drop in the ocean but as the ocean in a drop, as Rumi, the great Muslim scholar and poet, describes." My mind is opened by this blog post and I will have to read it a few times again and I am glad that I came upon it. Spiritual freedom is the ultimate freedom.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A pot of callaloo

By
Call for Submissions: Archipelagic Entanglements   https://singaporeunbound.org/opp/archipelagic-entanglements When I saw the call for submissions online I was doubtful. I do not know enough history. I do not understand the topic. Then after chatting with my friend Chatty I realised maybe I can be the topic. My ethnic and racial makeup is an archipelagic entanglement. Colonialism meets indentureship meets slavery. My mom is East Indian muslim and my dad is French, Portuguese and Mulato christian and who knows what else. I am an example of a pot of callaloo. Everyone's favorite Sunday lunch. I am what happens when lineages cross oceans and histories collide. I am thinking to myself now, what is the message I want to put forward with my blog post? What is the direction I want to take? Maybe it is this. What can we do when we have such a rich heritage and know so little of our own history? First of all I do not think I am alone with this struggle. I did not realise this until I though...
Post a Comment
Read more

Cup of coffee

By
This is a chapter from my latest book called Breezes of Tobago . The cool morning breeze blew the hat off the tourist passing the coffee shop. We sat at the table waiting for our order of coffee and bagels. I had stayed up late writing and was now needing caffeine to stay awake. On entering the veranda of the coffee shop, the sign reads "happiness is a cup of coffee" and "sip your troubles away". This had me thinking about what is happiness? And was the theme of my chat with Chatty as we enjoyed our breakfast in Tobago. I told my friend Chatty that if we could put happiness in a bottle and sell it we would be rich. My friend Chatty then told me that money cannot buy happiness but it was a good idea to make a living. If according to the sign, happiness is a cup of coffee then maybe happiness is coffee in a bottle then. We could call it Caffibean, a taste of the Caribbean in Tobago, a blend of the happiest coffee beans from Tobago. Tobago is not known for its coffee p...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sandy beaches

By
This is a chapter from my latest book called Breezes of Tobago . This story begins on a cool Friday evening in May. Fridays are the best days. Already a great start. It had rained earlier in the day and the clouds were moving away and the sun peeking through. I walked from the apartment where I was staying to Pigeon Point beach. Along the way I stopped for coconut water freshly extracted from the nut and straight into my mouth leaving traces on my cotton jersey. They say that coconut water is the drink of God—fresh from the nut, sweet with a hint of salt, a liquid reminder that paradise can exist in small and simple things. They did not say that but my friend Chatty did. It is my friend Chatty's first trip to Tobago. I asked him what he thinks of Tobago so far? He grinned, wiping a drop of coconut water from the corner of his mouth. "Man… it is like stepping into a painting. The air, the colors, the way everything smells after the rain—it is unreal. I did not know paradise cam...
Post a Comment
Read more