MULTIPLE ASCENTS
I read that a quality mountaineer will point out that any rock has multiple ascents. Some climbers prefer one ascent, others another. No one ascent is objectively best, though there may be a personal favorite ascent for any particular climber. In fact, no one ascent is better than another, so long as it leads you safely to the top. I found this reading quite enlightening. It reminded me of how I feel about life and the pathways people take to find and fulfill their purpose in living.
Each person has a unique purpose in this world, just as each person is unique. As such, how I go about realizing my purpose will be deeply personal and unique. Certainly there are general guides and helpful principles that speak to people in similar circumstances with similar goals, but the synthesis and application of those guidelines will be distinctive in each unique context. So my path through space-time is as unique as my fingerprint.
I take a bit of peace in knowing that no matter what purpose any of us has, regardless of what we contribute to the world, we all share a common, human destiny. We must all face a shared future in life and death. We are conceived in a world of struggle, where pain and dysfunction precede us as far back as life has existed - without fault from us - that we must sift through and deal with as we live. And although we are neither born into nor live in a vacuum, the world exists as it does largely because we make it so.
Some religions claim we must be punished for this, for the pain and evil far too often present in life, but they do not seem to understand that we are being punished. We are punishing ourselves. Every misdeed makes this world that much more painful and dysfunctional for us all. It sends ripples throughout the entire system. To be fair, every good deed makes this world a better place to live. So our overall quality of life is significantly impacted by the sum total of our collective actions. That we are all in this together, for better or worse, as we chart our individual and collective destinies is for me a call to remember my humanity. We all strive to make this a better place. At times we succeed, and at times we fail. We succeed and fail together and reap the consequences in kind.
I take even more peace in knowing that each person's quest for purpose is personal, is her own, and need not be judged as she journeys on her path. Indeed, I cannot judge what I do not fully understand, and am in no position to understand anyone's journey but my own. This isn't to argue that I should ignore or minimize harmful actions, but that I would be a fool to make blanket judgments against a person based simply upon an action at one specific moment in history. Inasmuch as I need understanding and toleration in my own journey towards wisdom, I would be wise to extend the same regard to others. Such an expansion to my perspective has provided a richness to life that I never recognized as a Christian, where so many of life's possibilities were bifurcated as either right or wrong, so I gratefully welcome this newfound wisdom in embracing people's individuality.