If you think about it for a moment, spiritual evolution could be seen as a continuum from a lower-density point of being bothered by many things to a higher-density point of not being bothered by anything at all.
The lower-density point we could call disturbance, irritability, or ungroundedness and the higher-density point we could call tranquility, serenity, or equanimity.
One of the most disturbing things for people, I think, is uncertainty. Uncertainty makes life complicated and unpredictable. It works against having a smooth flow to things. It requires thinking ahead, having contingency plans, having insurance against risk, etc.
And yet a feature of these times is that (1) there is a great deal happening, (2) most of it is happening behind the scenes, (3) enhanced communications mean we have a multitude of differing and conflicting interpretations before us, and (4) it seems impossible to reach resolution or certainty.
One of the things I like about the way Chris approaches life (1) is that he can hold two opposing views in his mind without going crazy. He can live with uncertainty. I’m certainly not there yet.
Most of the rest of us, I think, feel a need to reduce uncertainty to certainty. We can’t leave things alone. We thereby give up the suppleness of intellect that goes with embracing the whole, including seeming paradoxes, apparent contradictions, opposing sides, etc.
In our rush to reduce uncertainty, we often forsake refined distinctions and sledgehammer the truth to fit our desires. We make reality accord with our pictures. We “mess with” what is.
Our efforts have often been called “reductionism.” We reduce the truth to black and white or in other ways refuse to accept it on its own terms. What we lack in natural conviction we make up in strongly-held opinion. The cost is that we never have contact with the truth that will set us free.
As far as I’m aware, God embraces all sides. Not like I know, but it would make sense. The sage is said to be unruffled in the face of contradiction and paradox. And so I also regard it as something worth achieving.
To know the truth of a matter, I expect that I’d have to be willing to accept reality on its own terms, including embracing uncertainty, paradox, and contradiction.
I can’t claim that accomplishment yet. But these times, in which it seems impossible to know exactly what is happening while at the same time feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume of events, seem to be ideal to begin developing this willingness to rest in uncertainty without being bothered or going to pieces.
Footnotes
(1) See for instance Chris, “Standing in the Eye,” at https://goldenageofgaia.com/2010/12/07/chris-standing-in-the-eye/ , “Pooling our Presence,” at https://goldenageofgaia.com/2010/12/03/chris-pooling-our-presence/ and “Chris on Ascension as Acceptance,” at https://goldenageofgaia.com/2010/09/24/chris-ascension-as-acceptance/