Lifting Above the Fray
What feels on the cusp of crushing us is preparing us to live wider, deeper, and more beautifully.
Evolution is a messy business. One of my mentors used to say that it meanders as much as it progresses.
Most of us intuit being on the cusp of a new human era, one in which we unify as a planet and learn to live harmoniously and prosperously here together, out of our shared purpose and destiny. That is The Shift.
And then the news: filled with polarization, lies, thievery, murder, war, and so much more. There are perils aplenty, greed run amuck, and little evidence of empathy or mutual understanding.
It can be depressing to witness the least-evolved parts of humanity on the center stage and the destruction that creates, and it can lead us to doubt our intuitions that we are nearing the dawn of a new era — one in which humanity begins to truly shine.
I recently spent two weeks in Peru on our Sacred Journey to Peru, mostly in the Sacred Valley at 9,000 feet and as high as 15,000 feet at Ausungate, the highest peak in southern Peru. Something about that land, lifted so high into the atmosphere, connected with ancient sites, initiated by shamanic lineages, opened to soul healing, and surrounded by heart-centered Peruvians, lifted me (and others on the trip) into the future that we know, in our bones, is coming.
It was a feeling of coming home to the land, to each other, to our bodies, and to the recognition that we are all divine beings on a long pilgrimage back into the light of our souls. It is a journey of remembrance — even when that journey traverses times and behaviors that are dark, closed, fearful, and regressive.
I had a profound reflection one night on the nature of evil. It will never leave us, I believe, because it is part of the cosmic design of this laboratory on earth. It is the anti-life impulse that forces the pro-life impulse to mature ourselves, create appropriate protections, and enshrine our highest principles in form. It drives the plot forward, causing us to overcome our fears and smallness to stand in truth, integrity, and courage. Evil is a small part of the human experiment but it fulfills a higher function, which is to catalyze our evolution. Rather than become the evil that we fear, we find our greatness and our liberation by facing it down with clarity.
Coming back from this idyllic time of healing and initiation (click here if you want to be added to the list for future trips), I see that these times of lifting above the fray and seeing the play of human evolution from a broader perspective are essential medicine. By seeing the full trajectory, the bigger why, we can react with more resilience in the moment. When a terrible news story comes, we can see it as a chance to redouble our commitments to peace, healing, and upliftment. Rather than overwhelming us, tragedy can empower us.
So I encourage each of us to take the time we need to gain a higher vantage for our lives and our planetary unfolding. When we do, we trust that even that which appears on the cusp of crushing us is actually preparing us to live out even wider, deeper, and more beautiful parts of our being. The design of Earth is tilted towards our success. It needs to be difficult at times for us to summon capacities that we have yet to claim.
And as we gain the higher vantage and rejoin the evolutionary dance, we become ever more effective at touching, inspiring, and uplifting our fellow travelers on the journey. There truly are millions who have awakened to their soul purpose and consecrated their lives to bringing the new dawn. We are finding each other. We are blazing new trails. And we will, ultimately, succeed. We just need to be patient. And persistent. And trust in the divine plan for Earth.
Stephen Dinan, founder and CEO of The Shift Network, is a Stanford- and CIIS-trained leader, author of Sacred America, Sacred World, and internationally recognized voice in transformational education whose vision for a more conscious world continues to inspire global change.
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