Then I think: is a relationship with god/dess always built on loss and grief? Of course, we are separated from god/dess, as s/he is "beyond the veil" like our beloved dead. But doesn't loss mean that we were once together - whether it was in the Garden of Eden or in the cosmic soup of souls?
Rudolph Steiner and Waldorf educators speak eloquently about this. They say children younger than 5 are not fully incarnated (well, children under 21 are not fully incarnated.. but specifically under 5) and so experience the world in a holistic, unified way in which they are one with everything. They say the major work of a 5-7 year old is the work of putting their feet more firmly on the ground of this phyiscal earth and coming to grips with the fact that they are, no longer, one with everything. They are an individual element in this big wide world. This can be scary or disconcerting and the Waldorf Kindy and 1st grade curriculum is designed to make that landing as soft as possible.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it was a "fall from grace" or "expulsion from the garden", but I suspect it was more an "awakening of consciousness" that causes our feeling of separation with the divine. Ignorance really is bliss sometimes :)