More Notes From The -Re World

Alvin Kevin Walton King



THE WEEKLY ORACLE

I just finished reading an article in the January 27th New Yorker Magazine this morning by Casey Cep about the history of slavery in Jamaica entitled The Long War Against Slavery. It is a review of Vincent Brown’s new book Tacky’s revolt: The Story Of An Atlantic Slave War. The major premise of the article and the book is that the abolition of slavery is due to the revolts and insurrections of the Africans who resisted slavery in Jamaica and not the legislative largesse of 19th century Britain. This new understanding is of great significance and holds great promise for us all.

The subtitle of the article is Revisiting the Slave Rebellions of Jamaica, which brings us to another musing on the machinations of Re. In this case it is revisiting. The word means to visit again. But it presupposes a later time than the initial visit or experience. And so, both the location of the visit and the visitor are no longer the same. In other words, a lot has changed since the initial visit. In this case one revisits from a different or new mindset.

Which got me to thinking about our own story. For we hear a great deal about revisionist history, here is our great sage Aunt Re again, and in this case the word means to see again or to understand again which in essence means to have a different experience. And in our case and our story it means to have a different experience of ourselves. You see there is limitless potential and possibility in the world of Re.

This definitely relates to my work as a psychotherapist. I think a lot of folks coming to therapy want help with their story, not their screen play, but their understanding and experience of their life. They come to counseling or the initial visit without a real Re, but with their initial vision or understanding or experience. So, they relate their story and the dilemma that it contains. But this telling is usually a continuation of the original telling. Its like when we used to have records and when you played a song you liked it would get scratched and then get stuck playing the same groove, some folks got smart however and placed a coin on the needle to avoid the situation altogether.

But what if we all could revisit our story from a different place. In the first instance or edition we were limited by the experience and our experience. Maybe we were the victim. Maybe we were the villain. Maybe we were the innocent child. An inscrutable curiosity will help you get closer to the realm of Re. For instance, what role did you play or do you gravitate to in your story. You can tell by how the telling makes you feel. Do you feel lower, higher, grounded, anxious, depressed?

In a traumatic or even a transcendent experience for that matter, it is extremely difficult, but not impossible to stay with the present experience. In the former, our sensing and feeling bodies are overwhelmed and we resort to our thinking body where in the latter, if we are able, we can move beyond our isolated self altogether. The traumatic experience carries us back further and further behind the time of our initial story and our self in a kind of regression. We become consumed with thoughts such as why did this happen to me. Or why do I feel so terrible.

But if we could revisit our story from our highest self or whole self, would that not be what the teacher and other sages refers to as a rebirth. This is how we enter the realm of Re – the world of the twice born. Where we come into contact with our truth or our true self and trust that it will prepare a place for all our parts and experiences to come together for our benefit and in a way that will also be beneficial for us all.

With the help of Re, we can choose to revisit our story and life at any time and from any vantage point that is appropriate and most helpful. We can realize that all our life up till now has made us stronger, braver, richer, wiser, and kinder. We will be amazed at what we have accomplished and where we have traversed. We will see the miracle that we are and have the faith to make room for those still yet to come.

So, what then is the work of Re, she helps us to give shape to our life, and like a potter or master composer, this shape begins to make a space for meaning. Often this shaping and meaning making becomes generative and hosts multiple shapes and meanings. And through this shaping and meaning making, we begin to notice our true self. We are the place where consciousness resides. This is the work of Re.

Yes Re is an indispensable element of our life experience, and with the Easter season approaching may she help us all to remember that she is at this very moment preparing for our unique resurrection, now that is a Re I cannot live without, can I get a witness.


Follow Walton King on:

https://twitter.com/thevillagedmi

https://www.facebook.com/thevillagedmi/?ref=hl

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-king-99633bab

Comments