Photo credit: Dhaval Vargiya. (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The whole idea is you’ve got to bring out again that which you went to recover, the unrealized, unutilized potential in yourself. The whole point of this journey is the reintroduction of this potential into the world; that is to say, to you living in the world. You are to bring this treasure of understanding back and integrate it in a rational life. —Joseph Campbell, Pathways to Bliss
The Beloved placed a golden seed of divine purpose in your heart. Now, you are being called to nourish this precious seed—your “treasure of understanding”—as it sends tender roots down to seek nutrients and etheric leaves up to probe the space it can occupy in your “rational life.” This is a time of big questions: What changes will living my soul’s purpose make in my life? Do I know all my gifts? How will expressing my gifts help me live a life I love? Who will help me do all this? Let’s begin with the one on which all the others rest: What does it mean to serve a purpose?
Although “serve a purpose” is one of the things the soul wants, I had never stopped to consider the meaning of the verb to serve until last March, when a dove—the symbol of Sophia, my divine Teacher!—laid two eggs under the eave of my house. If I counted correctly, her babies might fledge around the time my next “baby,” Soul Vows, flew into the world.
In soul writing, I asked Sophia the Dove “As we give birth to our babies, what guidance, what wisdom, what blessing do you have for me?” This was her response:
You are the servant mother. The loving mother. The conduit between the divine gift of life in Soul Vows and the hearts of the world. You are not the only mother. Wisdom is the mother. Holy Spirit is the mother. The One is the mother. You are to sit on your nest, nourish your baby, and trust the process. Remember when you were told your son chose his mother and he knew what he was doing? I have chosen your home and I knew what I was doing. Soul Vows has chosen you and she knew what she was doing. Be the mother!
Learning to Serve My Purpose
For the next thirty days, I learned how to be a servant mother. And I discovered a paradox hiding in the verb to serve: The more I serve my purpose, surrendering to its wisdom and possibility, the more gifts I have to serve to the world and the more gifts I receive in turn. If I had any doubt about Sophia the Dove’s message, it was dispelled when her babies fledged on April 1, Soul Vows’ publication day!
Before you proceed, I invite you to consider what it means to be a servant mother or servant father to your divine purpose, what it means to trust the process, and how it feels to know your purpose chose you and knew what she was doing. Take this word serve into your heart and explore how you can serve your purpose, your world, your God, and the sacred desires of your own heart.
Sanctify the Wording of Your Soul’s Purpose
The sounds, the vowels, and the composition of the sacred words is chemical . . . Therefore the repetition of a sacred word has not only to do with oneself and one’s life, but it spreads and rises higher than man can imagine, and wider than he can perceive. Verily every action sets in motion every atom of the universe. —Hazrat Inayat Khan, The Way of Illumination
Like the acorn that knows how to grow into an oak, your seed knows how to grow into a majestic tree and bear the fruits you are here to share.
There is no format or formula. For a few, their soul purpose sounds a bit like a profession. That’s the case for me. I hear my purpose—use words to connect people to the light—as a call to open my throat and hands so words can flow through me. Here are a few golden seeds that resonate as a call to holy doing:
Write with an open heart.
I am a healer.
I am here to be Love and Beloved; I am the hands of God touching people.
Most soul purposes point to ways of being. St. Therese, “The Little Flower,” is an exquisite example of this kind of expansive calling. She said “My vocation is love.” Here are a few golden seeds that resonate as a call to holy being:
Embody authenticity
Explore and express the depth, beauty, and richness in the world
Be a point of love
Bring love, joy, and peace
Lead through love
Sing my beautiful note
Are you surprised at the simplicity of these seeds? Simplicity is a key marker of a soul purpose. The examples above are so simple that someone who has not walked this path could easily miss the expansive capacity contained in so few words.
Another marker is that a soul purpose holds you transparent to the Transcendent; it shifts your attention away from your ego desires and toward a sacred desire to open wide to the Mystery. Or, as the masters and teachers of the Akashic Record remind us, “The reason to be human is to remember our divinity.” That means the particular focus of each individual seed answers three profound questions: How shall I remember my divinity? How shall I remember our divinity? How shall I help others remember their divinity?
Notice that a soul purpose isn’t a goal. Our consumer culture is addicted to setting and achieving goals, but walking through this human experience with an awareness of the divinity in you and all around you has nothing to do with goals. Nor does it have anything to do with success.
My purpose clearly points to a word-filled writing and speaking life, but it doesn’t say anything about how many books I’m to write or how many ears I’m to reach. My purpose is immeasurable, because love can’t be measured and a soul purpose is love manifest. Your soul purpose is a little ray of the Love of the Beloved living in and through and as you.
If you sense a call to sanctify the wording of your golden seed, explore these questions:
Does my purpose feel like my personal path of holy being or holy doing?
Will living my purpose help me remember the divinity of all?
Is my soul purpose simple? What can I pare away?
Will this purpose hold me transparent to the Transcendent?
Is my soul purpose expansive? Will living it expand me?
Is my soul purpose immeasurable? Or does it sound like a goal?
Do I love my soul’s purpose?
In the end, that’s the primary indicator of the truth of a soul purpose: your heart bursts with love. You can’t explain why you love your purpose so much; you just do. If that’s how you feel, you have remembered your soul’s purpose—whether you understand its meaning or not—and you are ready to let that soul purpose re-member you as it spreads its beautiful roots and branches in and through your life.
If your heart is not in love, simply step back into your heart in meditation, soul writing, or silence and ask your heart to whisper a truth that will set you both on fire. That’s the sacred seed you want to plant.
©2017 by Janet Conner. All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission of the publisher, Conari Press,
an imprint of Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC. www.redwheelweiser.com.
Article Source
Find Your Soul's Purpose: Discover Who You Are, Remember Why You Are Here, Live a Life You Love
by Janet Conner.
Finding your soul’s divine purpose, says Janet Conner, is not just one thing, it is a whole package of things including gifts, talents, teachers, symbols, stories, and even shadows, wounds, and woes. Unwrapping that package is why we are here and is what enables us to live a life infused with meaning and joy. In seven chapters, the author leads the reader on a journey of self-discovery.
For more info or to order this book:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1573246867/innerselfcom
About the Author
Janet Conner is a writer, speaker, teacher, retreat guide, and radio show host with one compelling message: what you seek is inside. She is the author of Writing Down Your Soul and The Lotus and the Lily. She created The Soul-Directed Life radio show for Unity Online Radio. She lives and writes in Ozona, Florida, a tiny town on the Gulf of Mexico. Visit her at www.janetconner.com.
Watch a video: The Perfect Prayer (with Janet Conner)
Books by this Author:
at InnerSelf Market and Amazon
