Conversation these days doesn’t often veer towards evolution, but it has been on my mind. We talk of freedom and struggle, hope and change, yet hold our humanness static in ways that unnaturally oppose a collective inclination to positive development. Quarterly reports for growth should be mandated for individuals as a means to progress. Unfortunately, one gets the sense that we expect more from the corporations that hold our 401ks than we do from the biological entity that shrouds our essence.
Why is it when we speak of evolution, we speak of the past? As though evolution is something that happened and not something in which we continue to participate. That it has become a catchphrase for something animalistic and less than human seems detrimental. A concept of evolution in opposition to spiritual forces rather than a kindred force that propels us towards a future in which we inhabit a more supernal demonstration of humanity is counterproductive to peace.
People have been primed to think that evolution is unnatural and yet every day our cells strive for survival. Physical changes take place after years of genetic mutations adapted in response to inherited genes as well as our environments. What is expressed visually is a reflection of the minute changes that occur first on an imperceptible internal scale. Much like the incoming presidency: evolution is happening whether you believe it or not.
The true selection then, involves velocity: movement breeds development. Our capacity for growth remains unbound and yet we revel in the limitations of past incarnations. We say we want peace but individually sow the same seeds for conflict and intolerance that we have experienced historically. We look back for examples instead of dreaming forward for inspiration. Why else would we still live in a world where fear drives the hoarding of all too abundant resources and leads to war? A clear vision for a better world involves active participation and a willingness to create that future.
When we speak of progress, what are we progressing towards?
It is always fashionable to seek justice but seldom fashionable to fight for freedom. Reaching for freedom is at best tolerated but more often seen as a threat to justice rather than its connection point. Too often when people say they seek justice, they are actually seeking deliverance from fear. And when people speak of freedom, they mean justice. Our language does us a disservice because a struggle for freedom does not mean the same as striving for freedom, but we talk as though they are equal.
True freedom both unbinds us from external desires and brings harmony with our environment in ways that negate the need to subjugate others for our own advantage. True freedom cannot be given from the outside, it must be chosen and nurtured from within.
It may seem strange to conflate evolution with freedom but, really, is it any more strange than associating consumerism with freedom? We’ve been shaped to think that purchasing power leads to liberation. The cost for this has been enslavement of culturally rich peoples, mass slaughter, and environmental degradation. We must divorce consumerism from freedom if we are to evolve beyond the limited concept of humanness in which we live today. We must strive for freedom to unleash the power of a new future.
Failure to recognize a concept of humanity determined to strive for freedom and peace only slows our progression into a truly evolved species.
