On Living as Spiritual Beings

I think that many, many people are aware of Wayne Dyer’s incomparable statement: “We are spiritual beings living a human life.” It is startling; it is arresting, and it demands a second thought, in fact many second thoughts. If we believe Dyer’s insights ae accurate, we could ask what, then does it mean to be a spiritual being living a human life? Does it mean an automatic kinship with everything that lives? Does it mean that behind all the tribalism we so worship there is a divine connection that cannot be denied? Heads will be nodding, I’m sure.

Tribal separatism...

Yet where does our humanity often take us? Into our tribal separatism, of course, where we hate and fear the threatening “other” and let ourselves be amped up and set off by media and politicians who trade on sensationalism and irrational fears. It is so very easy to forget the silent connection that describes us in the face of manufactured hatreds invented by those who do not know who they are.

e pluribus unum...

Americans should know something about the meaning of e pluribus unum, “out of many, one.” Not so much a melting pot but as Rev. Cecil Williams has imagined, a wonderful salad, a fine dish with many ingredients, all unique, but all adding to the final offering. Should we, who have never all looked alike, never all believed in the same way, forget what being united means?

A ploughshare...

Whether we are Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists or no belief system in particular, nothing changes our essential Oneness. We only close our eyes to it. In these days of recriminations and the desire for knee-jerk action, will we open the eyes that fear and anger have closed? Will we act with wisdom and inspiration, and if the sword must be used, will we follow it with a ploughshare?


I think Dyer was right. We are spiritual beings living a human life. What, we can wonder, would it be like if we lived as if we believed him?

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