I Corinthians 2:1-16
2:1 Spirituality cannot come with a superiority complex or "holier-than-thou" complex. Paul's urging for humanity to explore their relationship with divinity was born purely out of his hope that we each could find comfort rather than justification or exaltation.
2:2 Paul wanted to ensure that everyone understood that not only did he not believe himself to be better than anyone, he was also quite aware that he really was not and did not want anyone to make the mistake of thinking differently. Paul's protestation is that the only wisdom he claims to have is given, sustained and inspired directly by God.
Paul does not wish to convert or impress anybody to what he thinks. He wants to humbly speak of his experience and let God's compassion and wisdom yield the results.
2:3-4 Relating to every human being alive (ever) Paul explains that he is and has been weak and fearful. He isn't perfect and polished or infallible. Paul reminds us of this because his testimony is not an invitation to a selective group from an exclusive club: it's an honest, humble man's experience with trusting the universe.
2:5 Faith in the power of God means to have faith in the divine circumstances which brought you and this universe into being. Whether or not we understand why or how or when, life abounds miraculously around us with order and purpose. We have life, significantly measurable life and we should allow ourselves to continue to be projected through it, because of it and within it.
2:6 Ironically, sometimes the more seemingly powerful or knowledgeable humans get, the less and less they trust or acknowledge the simple truths around them. Well, if this applies to us, we need to get off of our "high horse." Everything humans think, do and create has already been allowed and created, and divinely so, by something else. Real power, real wisdom, real wealth cannot be materially or geographically procured. Wisdom is in our purpose here and our purpose here is in compassion.
2:7-9 The truths of the world are so abundantly prevalent: everything and one around is a living, intricate series of complex miracle. The beauty of and in the world was not conquered or purchased. Similarly, true beauty in our lives cannot be conquered or purchased.
We have to become perceptive, observant, curious, introspective. For although wisdom and life and beauty exist abundantly and consistently around us, we take it for granted in the pursuit of our desires. At least to some degree, each of us forgets that we are made up of the natural earth and material we manipulate to make our houses, cars, technology, food...that not only can we live without any innovation of our own, we can also thrive without it. Life has been provided for us.
Through introspection and honed, natural perception, we can learn to realize and find comfort in the fact that the universe has always bent and stretched and broadened and given itself to produce and sustain the very live within us, collectively and individually. We don't actually require anything: we were guided here and given life; it has been a long and arduous, loving and calculated process to get us here, it simply does not make sense that we would be abandoned upon arrival.
2:10 Each spirit has the capacity and the yearning to remember, acknowledge and reassume trust in its origin. The universe has chosen and birthed us but has done so generously, humbly: we are not required to chose it. For those who do, it seeks us in return: pulls us toward home as we walk toward it. A mutual effort of reunification.
2:11 We are known, intimately. Humans have the limitation of only knowing ourselves (and even that we're not great at). The universe knows us but also knows itself: therefore what we are proffered is truth.
We can't always trust in our own knowledge because our brains are tools that have been provided by another's knowledge. A greater knowledge. This verse is meant as a comfort: the universe around us is so wise, so trustworthy that only it can understand itself. Humans are not able to attain that level of compassion and wisdom, which is why we often struggle with existentialism.
2:12 Yet the Spirit of the universe envelopes us, waves "Hello!", hopefully expectant at being greeted in return. We don't have to earn its acknowledgement or its love. We are the offspring of the universe, a manifestation of the life it has and projects.
2:13 The love and wisdom and compassion of the Spirit, of the universe, of whatever manifestation of divinity a person believes in, cannot be articulated or transcribed (sure, speaking and writing can be avenues to journey toward them but...) they must be felt.
So we cannot get caught up in the grandeur of religion or religious institution or custom. We should not allow ourselves to be mesmerized or controlled by another's eloquence because the message from the universe is a simple one, a humble one, a modest one: value life. And that can only be done without pretentiousness.
2:14 Alignment with the wisdom of the universe can only be done through spiritual introspection. Yet spiritual introspection can be done through a myriad of mediums: art in all of its forms, relationships and friendships with others, the contemplation of life and self and animal and plant.
Without a connection with nature, a person is foolish because that person has neglected their origin, their purpose. If we neglect nature we are vulnerable to finding value in the things which corrupt it.
2:15 A spiritual soul is an inquisitive soul, a soul which seeks the depth and intricacy of all things. A soul so wise as such is not readily understood by those in the world who have muted their inquisitive nature. For example: a spiritual soul is a soul at peace, and in such a disparate and tumultuous world, peace of mind is rare to come by. A spiritual soul has it, constantly, despite and in spite of its seeming impossibility.
2:16 We do not understand the function or origin of divinity or universe itself but it's nature has been made known to us. Its plan and purpose includes us, is proffered to us and awaits our acceptance of it.
