A MIRACULOUS JOURNEY
Kate DiCamillo's, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane begins with this powerful clarion call and is an extraordinary treatment of the spiritual journey. It's an allegorical story of a toy rabbit's existential journey from Eden, to Hell, to Heaven that has left an indelible mark on me.
Without spoiling the details, the story begins with a young rabbit graced with a loving home at the beginning of its life. The naive rabbit did not care much for it, did not value it, took it for granted. As such, it wasn't destined to last.
Lost at sea, dredged through the pain of a life devoid of love, the rabbit found that it did, indeed, want to be loved. And it found love. It found that it did, indeed, want to love. And it loved.
Invariably, the transient happenstances of life left the ones it cherished in ruins, and it despaired of ever finding lasting love. It fooled itself into thinking it no longer needed it or that it did not exist, but did so only because it had given up hope.
Finally, through the passing of time, when it had stopped looking for love, when it understood that catching such a luminous thing was like catching the wind, it finally opened itself up to receive it. When the right moment came, when the poor, tired, transformed rabbit had come full circle, everlasting love came. It came, and took it back home.
We are spiritual beings not unlike Edward, the toy rabbit. We inhabit a garden with God, but feel the need delve into dualistic mindsets and assert our independence. In doing so, we eventually cut our conscious minds off from God, our purpose, and even our true identities.
Why do we do such things? The dualistic mind promises we can achieve the same result from two distinct actions - one aligned with God and our objective self in God and one against. We believe the lie and choose the latter. Why? For such questions I have no answer. Through endless cycles of time and lives, I believe I have finally come to a point where I do value it, recognize my need to receive and give it, and am open to it coming for me. My heart is ready; maybe it's been ready for several lifetimes now. Finally, I believe God has entered the toy store and happened upon my cracked and weathered body. I recognize him, he recognizes me, and he is approaching me now. I hope he takes me home. I am so ready to go my heart could burst.