The Grand Design

by Ariel Michael

      It has been quite a while since I sat down to write, and yet it has given me pause to reflect on certain issues everyone faces including myself. Being an incoming college freshman this year, it is to say without a doubt that my overall self-worth and success has weighed heavily on my mind like many of my peers. The question “who am I and what is my purpose?” is always the reoccurring theme in our lives—the ultimate goal we search to achieve. In search for that answer we, as curious and inquiring souls, may fluctuate from one philosophical spectrum to another. When accessing the worth of our lives, one can take a nihilist point of view that all is worthless in the scheme of things or the existential philosophy which states human beings through their own consciousness create their own values and determine a meaning to their life. I have found that manifesting the philosophy of nihilism in one’s mind can have a detrimental effect on not only one’s self esteem, but also the worthwhile reason to exist. Yet, in this reality that perhaps we are not so special, I believe there needs to be a marriage of the two philosophies. Perhaps, one is worthless until that person realizes they are a conscious being meant to do great things and thus give meaning to their lives. I believe it is worthwhile to be living and becoming the spiritual epicenters we all are. This is where one of my great epiphanies manifested hence.

      I was in my daily routine of a nice warm shower, trying to go about dealing with the fact that I’m here for some reason, when suddenly it occurred to me that reason lies within God himself. Picture this, you are the child-everlasting raised by your parents who are still children, still learning, still trying to gain wisdom to the big picture. One can seek the universal knowledge before passing into the next life, yet there is so much more to learn. The reality is that we are always learning. Everything is in motion, forever-changing. That is the beauty of the universe and of God. It would seem ludicrous to me that God is stagnant and perfect. Why would he bother to create imperfect beings if he is so perfect? Wouldn’t he create perfect beings given that we come from a perfect source? And if he is perfect and we are imperfect, why would he create us if there was no other purpose than to give us free will and watch us make mistakes? I would get bored if my toys were malfunctioning and going nowhere. That is why we as humans try to advance. Modern medicine and rockets are perfect examples of how we have progressed as a species to create works of art and science. And if we are progressing, it is reasonable to assume God himself is progressing as well. Likewise, we are children learning just like our Creator is a child learning. Through us he is experiencing what he himself could not experience otherwise. Just like it is worthwhile to dream and create realities for ourselves, God has created us to enjoy the reality of learning and living. Think of all the possibilities that exist with all the diversity we have in this world and the universe. Just as you on your own do not have the same experiences and life as another person, we are unique souls with the purpose of growing and advancing spiritually for each other and God. In essence, we are all God and God is all of us. They are not as separate as we may think. Our identities share this common goal of learning who we are and that I believe stems from the question God has always had on his mind—Who am I?

      Pause for a moment. Think. Who am I? Have we not all asked this question since our births? I suggest that God has also asked this very question since his creation. Most religions believe in some deity of sorts and yet can’t quite answer where and how God came into existence. Perhaps we don’t know the answer because God doesn’t know the answer. Not yet, that is. I feel that God is living through us not only to experience all the benefits and downfalls of the flesh, but to also learn how and why he came into existence. Every experience you have is adding to the knowledge of God, his universal database of memories and experiences. It seems more worthwhile that our lives are not meaningless, but are remembered in the mind of God to hold some potential to unlock this question of who am I. I believe that once we acknowledge this, we can better understand and feel closer to our creator who is essentially going through the same as we are. That is why I believe God is so compassionate and forgiving. If you think about it, if we are in the likeness of God, we are reflecting all of his good and bad sides. We are just as imperfect and perfect as he is, and yet, we strive to reach the ultimate goal of understanding that spirituality and love is the way to live. Our great teachers were spiritual beings who grew closer to God in the sense that they would reflect the best qualities and love that he possesses. That is not to say that the criminal is without God, because he very so much is. The criminal is the possibility of a less spiritually advanced, shall we say, primitively thinking and acting God. Do not shun the bad because all is necessary and good in the eyes of the Creator just like we should acknowledge and help ourselves to fix and transform our primitive tendencies.

      In this coming New Year of 2013, allow me to give you some food for thought. The beauty of learning is that we come from a unique and different experience and understanding. God created us to explore these different possibilities. We should recognize within ourselves that commonality amongst all of us and God. And hence, as the wise Jesus once said to me, we should have patience and tolerance for each other as we try to better understand ourselves in our relationship in God. May you find the beauty of this grand design of God’s creation and a little more tolerance and love toward others with the understanding that we are all learning together.

Many blessings in the New Year,
Ariel Michael

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Ariel Michael has a regular column in The New Era Times callled My Soul-Journ.

You can learn more about Ariel Michael at the following websites:

ArielMichael.com

Beyond-My-World.com