“Yes, life can sometimes feel disjointed, but every place you have been, every hardship, even your worst curses have been subtly raising your soul up rung by rung and leading you forward.”—Naomi Levy
I have been having a recurring theme in my dreams where people, places, time periods, and events are all intertwined. I always wake up and continue in the dream in a semi-conscious state as an observing asking “why am I seeing this?” In every dream, I am introduced to new people and the places/events are always grander yet the same as I remember them.
My life, like many lives, has been a series of chapters with little continuity. I have moved, changed jobs, etc. Social groups have changed in the process. I have many people I call friends who I have not seen in 20, 30, 40, or more years. I sure that I am not unique in this. I could easily list my life as a “table of contents” with a list of “characters” in each chapter.
Recently, particularly thanks to social media, I have found myself reconnecting with these chapters with increasing frequency. For the most part, I have just welcomed it and not given it much thought. Occasionally, I see some interesting connections between these chapters—characters from different chapters having some relationship to others from my past and present. This becoming increasingly more frequent. It is like stepping back from a Monet painting and seeing the object of the creation. It is increasingly evident that the seemingly distinct chapters are not so disconnected after all.
In Einstein and the Rabbi, Rabbi Naomi Levy discusses the forty-two journeys of the Children of Israel during their trek through the desert that are listed at the end of the Book of Numbers. I have often been asked the question (or something similar): “If you could change one thing in your life, what would it be?” I have learned that the answer to this question is: “Nothing.” Sure, there are countless times that I have screwed up, hurt someone, been hurt by someone, made bad choices, had difficult times, etc., but each event, each relationship, and each decision has brought me to where I am in this moment.
GOD has grown bigger for me over my lifetime. As I reflect on each “chapter” of my life, I can see how more of GOD’s image has been revealed to me. In reflection, I can see how the Universal One has had a hand in my life—my ongoing growth and the growth of others. I am seeing how each chapter is connected—not only in my story but in all the stories. I am a character in other’s chapters as much as they are characters in mine. While we have, perhaps, not been continuous characters in one’s story, we are nevertheless important characters in the Story.
As I see society around me being increasingly divided, I am given hope by the increasing interconnectedness I am also seeing. I am confident that all is leading to Oneness—that other-centeredness is winning over self-centeredness. I am welcoming characters back into my story because they have never really been absent. They have been a part of my story—of me—all along.
Rabbi Levy ends her chapter, “Perceiving the Forty-Two Journeys of Your Soul,” with the following blessing:
I pray you will learn to view your life as a meaningful story. I pray you will learn to see how even your setbacks are leading you forward.
May you step up to your soul’s mission in every place and may you be blessed to fulfill it. Amen.