Retreat: we’re all in this together

Certain forms of retreat are fine: a general signals retreat, and the army falls back to prevent certain defeat; a spouse retracts an insult hurled in a moment of anger; a defendant backs off a statement in the face of perjury charges; a politician retreats from a position when opposing public opinion swells. These are the kinds of retreats and retractions we are familiar with.

There is a different kind of retreat.

When we encounter a deeper truth, about ourselves or about life, such truths can cause us to recoil from our new-found awareness. This is a form of retreat we often refuse to acknowledge. When we encounter an exceptionally deep truth, one characteristic of exceptional depth is that truth resonates in a manner that is undeniable. It is not, however, simply the resonance itself we can’t deny; it is the deeper truth itself that is undeniable. It is a case of undeniable, self evident truth.

When we experience deeper, self evident truth we have a choice to either accept it at face value or deny it. Obviously, it is very hard to deny something that is undeniably true. Yet we do. And that creates conflict.

Deeper inner conflict will not resolve itself until we accept the deeper inner truth that we are in conflict with.

The value of a life

If you want to measure the value of a person’s life, look at the affect of their life on their world, on the people in their life. Look into their close relationships. Look at how they make other’s feel about themselves.

There is no need to wait until we die to stand before the so-called Seat of Judgment. It is all happening right now, in plain view.

balancing

Serenity has a wonderful post, On Being, discussing keeping our four dimenions of Being in balance: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.

Being able to keep multi-dimensional balance is essential for walking deeper and deeper down the path of inner understanding and awareness. While often challenging, and sometimes painful, I have always found it productive to do the work of improving myself in each of these areas, including learning to balance them relative to each other and toward my purpose and goals.