As once again the country begins to lift Covid restrictions, I have been reflecting on limitation. This seems in contrast to my recent Zoom talk on The Space of Potential, but limitation is really an aspect of our potential as human beings and the unlimited, boundless creativity of God. This is not always easy to grasp at first. Fundamentally, it means making our peace with the parameters of the world we live in, the bodies and minds we function as, and the limitations of relationship. "Laws" of limitation define limits in legal matters, in language structure, in mathematics and banking, in ethics and behavior in many contexts--limit-setting is part of the structure of culture. Spiritually, different streams of religious thought impose various limitations on their followers in the form of rules, interpretations and belief structures. But the human impulse enfolded in both culture and spirituality is to transcend limitation or grow beyond it.
The abstract idea of unlimited potentiality actually is a free space that pulls humans into the creative field. In that pulling, new concepts, ideas, visions are possible, and those begin to define specific forms or events that, at first, are possibilities and then, when nurtured though thought, belief, repetitive activity and acceptance, become actual. We describe this as a process of consciousness. This is a basic principle of New Thought as well as other metaphysical spiritual teachings.
And yet, paradoxically, to function well in daily human life, in this world, we make our peace with limitation. While we have developed technology to fly planes and even rockets to get from one place to another, it's not necessary to defy the laws of gravity. We live with it's limitations and it's gifts. Gravity keeps us grounded and on that ground we live and grow. To successfully use any tool or technology, we need to understand its limitations. To stay well during a Pandemic, we bear the limits that make for caution. To live in a peaceful society, we bear the limitations of others. We all as unique individuals deal with personal limitations as well. They form the boundaries that define us as individual expressions of the vast creative activity of Life, of God. Defining our limits then, becomes part of the task of being an individual.
To go beyond our limits is to draw on that larger reality where we also live, move and have our being, in the Oneness of God. That Oneness includes all that is and well as all that holds potential for Good. (Susan Nettleton)
For a poetic reflection on the human condition of dependency, consider Maya Angelou's poem "Alone" (1975) . Follow the link: https://poets.org/poem/alone