My baby son is 10 months old now and one of his favorite pastimes is climbing up the stairs.
More and more frequently, he heads to the stairs for his climbing exercise. Sometimes we head him off at the pass and sometimes we allow him to climb with supervision. I let him go at his pace, but I am his safety net for now.
As I hovered behind him during one of his stairclimbing adventures, he stopped halfway up. Usually he climbs up as fast as he can go. He climbs with a smile on his face and jabbering his excitement as his ascends each step.
This time, he paused to examine his pathway.
He intently studied the light and dark variation of the wood grain, touching the pattern with his little baby fingers. He was fascinated by the knotholes in the wood, tapping at them.
As he examined the steps, I found myself thinking about how we as humans often use the ladder or stairway as a symbol for spiritual development. It seems universally accepted that vertical is good, horizontal is not as good, down is bad. Given the physical natural law of gravity at work on our Earth, if you have ever fallen downward the injury cements this notion.
While we climb to our spiritual summits, we often examine our pathways. We study the light and dark variations of our journey. We try to understand the pattern. We are fascinated by the knotholes of our life, tapping at them. Sometimes we spend a lot of time obsessing over those knotholes and we are paused on a plateau. Sometimes we are afraid to move - frozen in place - where going up or down is unthinkable. Perhaps we feel pressure from ourselves or from others to get a move on. Then, we finish our analysis lesson, stop feeling stuck or pressured, and continue onward (and hopefully in a positive direction).
And like small children, we have loving presences around us to support our spiritual Journey.
Angels, spirit guides, loved ones in Spirit, the Divine, and even our own Higher Selves are the safety net. The loving power of God exists in our life, permeating everything we do. The Universe is constantly conspiring for our Greater Good.
My wish and hope for all of us is that we remember to climb our stairways (physical and spiritual) with smiles on our faces and jabbering with excitement as we ascend each step with Gratitude and Joy.
More and more frequently, he heads to the stairs for his climbing exercise. Sometimes we head him off at the pass and sometimes we allow him to climb with supervision. I let him go at his pace, but I am his safety net for now.
As I hovered behind him during one of his stairclimbing adventures, he stopped halfway up. Usually he climbs up as fast as he can go. He climbs with a smile on his face and jabbering his excitement as his ascends each step.
This time, he paused to examine his pathway.
He intently studied the light and dark variation of the wood grain, touching the pattern with his little baby fingers. He was fascinated by the knotholes in the wood, tapping at them.
As he examined the steps, I found myself thinking about how we as humans often use the ladder or stairway as a symbol for spiritual development. It seems universally accepted that vertical is good, horizontal is not as good, down is bad. Given the physical natural law of gravity at work on our Earth, if you have ever fallen downward the injury cements this notion.
While we climb to our spiritual summits, we often examine our pathways. We study the light and dark variations of our journey. We try to understand the pattern. We are fascinated by the knotholes of our life, tapping at them. Sometimes we spend a lot of time obsessing over those knotholes and we are paused on a plateau. Sometimes we are afraid to move - frozen in place - where going up or down is unthinkable. Perhaps we feel pressure from ourselves or from others to get a move on. Then, we finish our analysis lesson, stop feeling stuck or pressured, and continue onward (and hopefully in a positive direction).
And like small children, we have loving presences around us to support our spiritual Journey.
Angels, spirit guides, loved ones in Spirit, the Divine, and even our own Higher Selves are the safety net. The loving power of God exists in our life, permeating everything we do. The Universe is constantly conspiring for our Greater Good.
My wish and hope for all of us is that we remember to climb our stairways (physical and spiritual) with smiles on our faces and jabbering with excitement as we ascend each step with Gratitude and Joy.
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