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.
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