Long-standing stories about what is valuable and real are under siege by science and technology. “The stories we tell ourselves about who we are and why we are here are changing,” says futurist and author Barbara Marx Hubbard.
She draws on the work of Jesuit priest and paleontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin to sketch the beginning of a new story. Chardin imagines evolution as God at work and people as participants in the process. In playful seriousness, Hubbard suggests that as peoples grow conscious of new possibilities within themselves they will evolve … from homo sapiens to homo spiritus!
Her bold vision ignites my imagination; I want to be part of the emerging story. Why not? Why not me? Why am I here? Uncertain where to begin, I shuffle through an assortment of study-notes and hope for inspiration. The following grabs my attention:
The point of spiritual practice is to…
- Cultivate depth. It is necessary to go deep in order to attain experience and knowledge of profound things.
- Establish in ones self a state of consciousness suited to receive revelation.
- Awaken deeper levels of consciousness.
I reflect on my spiritual practices and the positive changes they bring: increased discipline, greater patience, inner ballast, a diminished sense of entitlement and renewed vitality. In a flash, an answer to the question, “why am I here?” comes:
I stand with the entire human family on the cusp of an evolutionary leap—not of body but of being. I labor to grow, awaken, build, forge, evolve and deepen a personal consciousness devoted to midwifing what is valuable and real, profound and revealing, into the unknown future.
This vision equips me with a compelling and aspirational story to live by.