Our Children's Birthright

 

Finding Higher Ground

“We can find common ground only by moving to higher ground.”

Jim Wallis

          I had a dream a few weeks ago in which I was standing on a wide, flat, gray stone above a green valley, back to the “camera,” so to speak, arms outstretched. These words, which were not spoken by me but by a disembodied spirit that I call “the dream maker,” said, “You must move to higher ground.” I woke with a million questions—what does that mean, who said it, and where do I go to find its meaning? Since then, I have held the dream close and waited for it to reveal its meaning.

          When I am pondering the meaning of a dream or an encounter, I find it helpful to dig into what other people have said on the subject. Stevie Wonder, of course, had a very famous song titled “Higher Ground” that hints at reincarnation and gratitude that his karma from a passed life steeped in “sin” had not closed the doors to higher ground. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “If you would lift me up, you must be on higher ground.” I take this to mean, don’t try to teach what you don’t know, what you have not experienced yourself. Higher ground then is reached by learning the lessons put before you, without giving up or giving in to what will take you back into the spiral of dead ends referred to as “sin.”

          Trying to find common ground with one another nowadays is not easy. In fact, it’s darn near impossible. However, it is also essential. We don’t have the option of allowing things to go with the flow because the flow is too slow. The way we pass along something of ourselves, something hopefully more elevated than we were born with, is by making certain that every statement we make, every idea we put forward, and especially how we treat one another is worthy of being called higher ground.

          I am, as are you, a work in progress. What we struggle to overcome today, hopefully on the right side of history, will be handed down to our children and grandchildren to the seventh generation. Not just by word of mouth, but through our DNA. Whatever gains we make in terms of elevated consciousness will be their birthright. We must strive to make that birthright one that stand firmly on higher ground.

                                                  In the Spirit,

                                                  Jane