One of the matters that concerns me is the amount and degree of divisiveness that exist at all levels all over our world.
Several years ago, in my work with Richard Rohr, I got introduced to the notion of "the cosmic egg." I am including an image of this with remarks below to stimulate your own journey toward psychological and spiritual growth.
If each one of us can work at being more inclusive of all of who we are, we can contribute to an inclusive atmosphere in the various places where we go on this planet.
Scroll down and look at the image carefully. Study it. Then scroll down below it for my commentary.
Here is what I would say about this very useful way to understand psychological and spiritual growth.
1. My story
We are living for the first time in history when people have been allowed to take their private lives and identities seriously. There is a wonderful opportunity for the individual here but also diminishment and fragility if that is all we have. In this first dome are all the things we think that make us special. It is precisely this that must be let go of in spiritual and psychological growth. Many people now live their whole lives at this level. They are what they have done or what has been done to them. Here we search for meaning through power, prestige and position.
2. This is Us (Our Story)
Most people are members of multiple groups. If a person does not have this level of meaning, they are autistic. This dome of meaning give us our myths, cultural heroes, groups, symbols, flags, special food, ethnicity and patriotism. The loyalties at this level have driven most of human history up until now. People have given their lives for their group. Much of religion is a "belonging system" more than a search for intimacy with Sacred Mystery.
3. The Patterns That Are Always True (Universal Meaning)
This level assures and insures the other two. It holds them together in sacred meaning. Our world will be saved by those who can live at all three levels simultaneously. This level of living saves us from the illusions of "we" and the smallness of "me."
Healthy spirituality honors and combines all three levels - the personal journey is raw material, communal identity is the school and training ground.
True Transcendence frees us from the tyranny of the "I Am" and the idolatry of the "We Are."
Liberals tend to get trapped in the first dome of private meaning and educated explanations.
Conservatives tend to get trapped in the second dome of group and tribal loyalties.
Both liberal and conservative thinking can be ways to avoid the great Mystery of Self and Other.
Doing inner work that achieves meaning required daily disciplines, increased personal responsibility and group courage.
The person who lives within the total cosmic egg is the mystic, the prophet, the universal man or woman, the saint, the whole one.