I heard a story that has stayed with me for many years. I’ve adapted it to fit my need, to make sense of my own longing, my craving.
Is it okay if I tell you a
story?
Once upon a time there was
Goddess. She was creative, kind, and intelligent beyond measure.
This Goddess had a God she loved, and adored.
His strength, vision, and fortitude were comparable only to her love, devotion
and compassion.
Out of their many qualities
of being, they shared a spectacular sense of humor and never took themselves
too seriously.
This showed up in the pranks
they pulled, games played, jokes told, and bets that were made, all for
amusement sake.
One day the Goddess
challenged God with a wager to trump all wagers! It went something like this: Would God in his
infinite wisdom, power and knowing agree to disperse himself into tiny bits all
through out the whole Earth? Would he be brave enough to forget his own
identity?
She bet he could not collect and reassemble
all the pieces of himself to remember who he was. But God, being God, agreed to
it.
It was in this gamble
humanity was born. Tiny God pieces were spread about the Earth in the form of
people.
As God had abandoned the
memory of himself, so he also forgot his beloved, the Goddess.
She looked after the humans
(all she had left of her God) bestowing her compassion, tenderness and
nurturing on them. Hoping that her love would awaken God and he would return to
her, whole again.
The people built temples and
worshipped her; they held festivals and ceremonies in her honor, yet still they
did not remember who THEY were.
In time she grew weary.
She became unresponsive and so the people turned their backs on her.
They became angry and the love that was once in their hearts was muted by
bitterness and greed. The people created a new god in this image, and angry
jealous god. They worshipped him through war and dominion.
Without love or attention,
her broken heart too lost faith that either of them had ever existed. She
became only a faint murmur without an echo reflecting back.
So it is today that we are
still ambling in the darkness of our own wager, the butt of our own joke. There
is one thing alone that lights the way. It is our longing, our craving to know
ourselves, to remember. That deep desire and ache to come home.
As we acknowledge that
craving, we awaken to the myth of reality. We look into the eyes of those
around us and see a familiar flicker. Divine nostalgia sweeps through us. God
remembers a bit of himself. God is waking up again. As he remembers himself, he
identifies another longing, a passionate craving and memory of his lover, the
Goddess.
This recollection affirms her existence back
into being. As she emerges so does compassion and tenderness. Bit by bit we
remember what it means to love. We agree to care for the sick, feed the hungry,
maybe even to love our enemy as we love ourselves. After all what could be so noble, or more
godly?
This story does not end with
“And they lived happily ever after” for that would close the loop, robbing us
of free will and the mystery! Let this story ripple thru your own waters,
stirring the perfectly good questions that need no answers.
We all have our Creation stories. I like this one.
Namaste. The light in me recognizes and honors the light in you!
