Where It Might Hurt the Most, or What do Zombies Have to do With Agreement 5?
We all feel a certain amount of pain, seemingly all the time. Agreement 5 (Heal the Real Wounds) says: Pay attention to where it hurts for you, personally.
In this, consider the possibility of a hierarchy of pain.
Earth Pain
At the bottom is our basic human experience is what I call “Earth Pain.” It just hurts to be here on earth. Neil Maxwell said that we are a timeless people caught temporarily in time. “Clearly, time is not our natural habitat.” Disconnected from our previous infinite perspective, to some degree, we feel a lost and alone just being here.
Abused and Betrayed
On top of this, to one degree or another, we are born into and perpetuate a trans-generational wave of dysfunction, shame, anger and abuse. For many, the karmic river of opportunity flows deep. Millions suffer each day with very painful life experiences. More or less, most of us understand where it hurts when it comes to feeling abused, abandoned or betrayed by someone.
Self Betrayed
With the first two dimensions of pain, there isn’t too much we can do about the incoming. We are here on earth. We are born into dysfunction. We can and should feel the pain, give as much as we can to God and develop therapeutic possibilities for healing.
The third dimension of pain is the most important because it is the dimension we actually have control of; self betrayal
There are obvious ways we betray ourselves- negative self talk, dishonesty, abusing others, abusing ourselves, acting out of integrity, the list goes on. Perhaps the place it hurts the most, is the least obvious:
It hurts when we betray our basic nature to love and to serve. We are designed to touch others. We are designed to lift others, and when we don’t it really hurts.
It is a lonely place, a life sentence of unhappiness.
There is only one way to free ourselves from this kind of isolation. The world around us, the people that God brings into our path, has to move from theory to reality. Your family, friends, coworkers, neighbors, everyone, must become a chance for you to serve and to touch someone else. For as I reach out to touch your life, I am freed from prison.
In the movie, “I Am Legend”, Will Smith survived a zombie apocalypse. He and his dog, for a while, seem to be the only one’s still left (at least in his area). Every few days he goes to a video store. He has set up some manikins there to make it seem like there are other people. At one point, in tears, he pleads with one of the manikins, “Please say hello to me. Please.” But the manikin isn’t real, she cannot talk to him. What is perhaps even more said, is that she cannot hear him. If he were to reach out to her, she could not feel his touch. He cannot affect her for good. He cannot touch, or heal or inspire her life, because she is not real.
This is what is perhaps so lonely for Will. The world is spinning by without him. He is not part of anything because he cannot serve anyone. Then, suddenly, another real human being appears. His spirits are lifted. They embark on a project together to find a zombie vaccine and ultimately Will gives his own life to save humanity. That’s how much we need to serve. This is how much meaning service has to our eternal souls, that if it means to lose our own life, en route to completely and permanently touching someone else, it is a price we are willing to pay.
Where it hurts the most is where it is easiest to get lost. We are, as the Savior said, designed to lose our lives in the service of others. We are designed to feel fully alive as we fully give and serve.
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