"This is My body"

And... My Body, My Choice

I watched my children as they came from distant worlds to me and their mother. We could experience the uniqueness of their being and their sense of purpose. It was as if we were surrounded by a warmth which we could feel day and night. When they were born, I was astonished to look into their eyes and recognize them as that human being. And here’s the thing - every parent I’ve asked has experienced the exact same thing.

To start at the beginning…

As we are leaving the earth, several remarkable things happen. First, we die. What is this? I’ll tell you - not what it seems. The life leaves our body, and suddenly we are outside of it, present in the room, but in a different way, to say the least. For the first time we are more in the ‘etheric’ world than in the physical. That is to say, our ties to our physical body are quickly becoming more nebulous, and our experience in the realm of memory and connection to others is primary. This, of course is why we can see the tableau of our life spread before us all at once; we must no longer rely on the intermediary of the nervous system to provide us with memories one at a time, for the body of formative substance in which these memories are impressed has become freed and available.

This process is critical, because the next stage is the digestion and ordering of our whole life-time of experiences. This means we must expand even further, into the world of consciousness, or ‘astral’ world. Famously, everything we have done or said we now experience from the perspective of those around us - and their pain we feel as our own just as acutely and vividly as if it were our own. I imagine that for me at least this is going to be mightily uncomfortable. The real point however is that all experiences are processed; what we’ve learned, the effects of our actions, where we’ve succeeded and fallen short.

But what on earth could happen next? What am I supposed to do with my whole life, now that I’ve understood it? The highest level of the work of transformation, for that is what it is, of a life-time, is the re-forging of our self into a new self, a new plan, a new life. This we by no means do on our own, we require the guidance of beings and angels who are lofty enough to help mold the past into a just future, to find a destiny of meetings, relationships and experiences which will create the exact circumstances for us to take the next step in our evolution. This is called karma in the truest sense of the word. Necessarily, this meeting with these forces of destiny must take place in the highest realm, the ‘spiritual’ world proper, as opposed to the soul or energetic worlds.

As we complete this process, we begin to direct our gaze back down to the earth. As we descend, we finalize the agreements made with friends, colleagues, and most certainly parents. The type of body we will need to realize these plans in the most ideal way is carefully chosen - physical and mental constitution, race and sex; all have a meaning.

As we get closer and closer to the earth, the forces from below, the physical forces, meet and unite with the forces from above, the forming intentions and spiritual realities of the incarnating human soul on its descent. This happens in the miracle of conception, development and birth. It happens within the mother.

The question is legitimately asked; what happens when this great cosmic process is disrupted by accident, war or some other tragedy? Often, rather than go back and create a whole new life plan, a child will look for another way in. Perhaps it will ask a sister or someone in the same town; a life-time is a precious thing and we tend to take any option we are offered. So what happens when a soul is rejected by its own parents?

I was told a true story about a little girl whose mother had had two abortions, but then had a child after getting pregnant despite an IUD. When the girl was five, she said to her mother “Mommy, I tried to come to you before, but you pushed me back out the front door. Then I tried coming in the window, but you pushed me back out the window. Finally I got in through the keyhole!”

The will of the soul to come into the world is seen in their pre-earthly choice. A choice which they, and we have already made long ago.

I watched my children as they came from distant worlds to me and their mother.

We could experience the uniqueness of their being and their sense of purpose.

It was as if we were surrounded by a warmth which we could feel day and night.

When they were born, I was astonished to look into their eyes and recognize them as that human being.

And here’s the thing - every parent I’ve asked has experienced the exact same thing.

This is what people are super angry about: whose choice are we talking about when we talk about choice? We aren’t just concerned about it, we are furious; we take to the streets and demonstrate. Laws have to be passed to say whose choice takes priority and when. It’s an absolute war and people feel like it’s life and death.

If you’ve ever heard about some state or other wanting to ban abortion and felt a little uneasy, or like that was just another symptom of an underlying backwards and primitive state of mind, you know what I mean.

When I found out I had been chosen to be a father, I was absolutely terrified. I would have legit rather have been chased by a bear. At least then my survival or demise would have been swift, rather than a giant looming 18 years of exchanging freedom for responsibility, which appeared like a bear the size of a skyscraper over my innocent head.

What ensued was a process of giving up control. I no longer had it, and that was certainly a good test of my maturation as an adult. But did I have no control? Was I perhaps blinded to the control I’d had, when I made those choices long ago, far away, together with my children? What a tragedy that recalling that agency and responsibility is so hard to do these days.

Every broken cup, every violin recital and little quarrel with friends reminded me of my choice over the next decades.

Here is another question which has been asked: why are the particular words this is my body used in the argument? This is my body, it is my choice. Ok. Is it merely because they make a good soundbite? Why not use a more detailed argument for a complicated question? Or… perhaps there is power in those words.

This is my body. These words are the beginning of the first sacrament, the mysterious offering which the Redeemer of humankind asked us to partake in. Very few such requests have come down to us from the mists of time, yet this one has special magic.

This is my body, this is my blood. What kind of teaching is this? It is not a teaching at all. This offering of the body is a sacrifice, the deed of Christ sacrificing himself for others. But let’s not leave that in the abstract. All things around us have a spirit to them, a quality, an archetype. The greatest of all is the spirit of humankind, the true archetype of the human being. When Pontius Pilate said “Behold, the Man”, he is speaking of this. Christ is the bearer of the meaning and essence of what is truly human. And this is inner freedom and love.

No teachings, no rules; actions. It is not called the turning point in time for nothing. This highest of living beings made the choice to give his substance to the earth, in order to re-enliven humanity, which could go no further in its created state. We needed to be re-founded at our deepest level by the very force which makes love possible.

When those mighty words are inverted, they refer to the sacrifice of someone else instead. I make that sacrifice for the sake of the part of me that is blinded to the great path through the heavens to the earth that we opened with. For truly that is the only way I could make it, if I can’t see or don’t want to believe in the human spirit.

Well, whose choice are we talking about?

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U.S. Statistics for 2023:

3,592,000 children born CDC

1,037,000 abortions performed Guttmacher Institute

If you’ve been impacted by this issue you can talk to me by replying to the email or going to Contacts.