Читать книгу Beyond Soul Growth - Lynn Sparrow Christy - Страница 7

Prologue

Beginning in early adulthood, I began to have recurring dreams about visiting theme parks. I distinctly remember the first one. Shortly after I had moved to Virginia following college, I had a dream about going to Kings Dominion, a theme park just north of Richmond. I had never been to Kings Dominion, nor did I have any plans to do so, but I couldn't help but notice the clear metaphor in the name. To one whose spiritual sensibilities were very much attuned to the ideal of God's kingdom manifesting “on earth as it is in heaven,” the symbology of “king's dominion” seemed obvious. It represented earth under divine rule, and I took the dream as a call to an awakened, Spirit-directed life.

The theme park dreams continued over a span of more than three decades—in fact I still have this dream periodically today. Over the years, most people with whom I shared these dreams have jumped to the conclusion that the theme park image was a cautionary one—a warning about the unreality of this world. They saw it as a reminder that this world is just the arena of souls’ play, a wispy fantasy place that diverts our attention from our true domain until we get tired of make-believe and then return to the “real” world beyond this earthly plane. To them, the dreams meant “This life has no ultimate reality.”

But that construction never fit with the “king's dominion” frame set by the very first dream in the series, nor did it account for the spiritual intensity that these dreams always awakened in me. No matter how the details of my theme park dreams may have varied over the years, two conditions are always present: First, I feel intensely alive and engaged with everything around me. I am struck with the beauty and wonder of it all, there is so much to see and do, and I feel exhilarated by the sheer number of possibilities. Second, time is always short. It is near closing time, and I often regret not having gotten there sooner. There is an urgency to do and experience as much as possible before time runs out. Right alongside my ecstatic joy in being there, I feel a deep ache over the shortness of time.

For me, these dreams have embodied in both symbol and felt experience the intangible something that bubbles up within me when I hear the evolutionary call of Spirit in this world. The universe becomes a place of endless possibilities, a place that invites us all to delight in the wonders of the creative impetus that brings worlds into manifestation. From this perspective there is something new to discover around every bend. It can be a wild ride at times, when the best we can do is fasten our seatbelts and hold on for dear life. And it can be a place where we indulge appetites that are less than spiritually nutritious. But then it is also the place where the best of human ingenuity and problem solving can find a fertile field for expression and where visions of perfection can be molded into visible reality for others to experience and enjoy. And while it's true that if we look closely behind the scenes, we may find ourselves disillusioned by a mercenary taint on some of this world's most delightful offerings, there is also much innocent joy to be found, if that is what we look for. Perhaps most important of all, this world is a place that holds magic for each generation of children born into it, if only we will take care of it and pass it on to them in better shape than we find it in now.

Just as I wrote these words, the day's mail arrived. As if to remind me to mention that this universe is alive and speaking to us, the delivery included a special offer for a “Fun Pass” to the Busch Gardens theme park.