November 11, 2014
Grandeur versus grandiosity. Are they similar or are they different? Let’s look at Grandeur first. Grandeur is of God. It is a creation of God and is therefore real. The word itself brings a sense of comfort and reassurance to my mind. Because Grandeur is of God, it is also within us. Grandeur is an integral part of our Divine nature. It is impossible to separate it from us and so it is of us all. I was very fortunate in my college years to work my summers in the back country of Yosemite National Park. It was a dream job for me, and I have always cherished my time there and the people I worked with and served. The mountains, valleys, rivers, lakes, trees, and wildlife are so magnificent that words fail me to describe it all. All of it is so compelling and beautiful. All of it is imbued with power, life, peacefulness, completeness and abundance. It is a system that works together to form a complete life system – an ecosystem. And I felt that I was also an integral part of that system, so inseparable from the system that I remained connected to it when I returned to school in the fall. I experienced a love that had no bounds through this incredible environment. It has always remained with me to this day. This is Grandeur.
What about grandiosity? What is it as the Course defines it? The first word that comes to my mind is grandstanding. Grandiosity is an empty inflated sense of importance that lacks any sense of genuineness or permanence. Grandiosity is definitely of the egoic thought system. It is the ego’s answer to the Grandeur that is in us. Grandiosity is imbued with competitiveness. It puts up a false front and just when we buy into it, it deflates, it crumbles, and it leaves us feeling little and betrayed. It has no lasting power beneath it. Any completeness and peacefulness it may bring is fleeting as it fades into a sense of lack ad littleness. This is its goal and so keeps our minds distracted from our true essence and the awareness of who we really are. Just when we begin to feel comfortable with grandiosity’s essence, the rug is pulled out from under the security we felt and we fall into a state of uneasiness and loneliness. Perhaps even depression. We may feel the question, “What’s it all for?” This is exactly where the egoic thought system wants us; to block our awareness of who we really are.
Are we willing to settle for grandiosity? Are we willing to settle for that empty feeling of something that is supposed to be grand but somehow never quite feels adequate? I think if we were honest with ourselves we would realize that grandiosity feels quite empty and unfulfilling. While the egoic thought system’s answer to Grandeur is grandiosity, it is really only a distraction. The Grandeur within us is God’s answer to the ego’s grandiosity and it is the only true answer. Grandiosity cannot remain in the light of Grandeur. Like the mountains of Yosemite, all else fades away in the presence of Grandeur. I am so grateful for the four summers I spent in Yosemite experiencing the incredible Grandeur of God’s creation. At that time I was questioning who I was and who God was, too. Being in the midst of that Grandeur of God’s presence was a deep spiritual experience for me. I may not have understood much about the spiritual nature of humanity at that time, but I felt that deep spiritual connection with all of creation through my time in that place. I truly felt One with all creation there and I certainly felt the love of Spirit in that place. And then I carried it with me wherever I went after. The sense of that Grandeur never left me and later I would understand what I experienced through the lessons of the Course. Little did I know that the Course was just coming into the world during that time.
Put aside the feelings of grandiosity that keep you from the awareness of the Grandeur within you. What you seek you already are. Let the presence of Spirit within you rise up and remind you of the whole complete and limitless One we all are. We have never lost the Grandeur of who we all are in Oneness. Spirit is within us waiting for us to allow it to point us in the right direction where we will find our true divine nature and share it with all creation. Let it well up in you, overflowing as you share it with the world. We are truly the Divine Grandeur of creation.
Recent Comments