It is part of the human condition to always want to be satisfied. We look in many directions, very often different directions in the course of a lifetime, but all to find fulfilment and that so very elusive sense of satisfaction.

Some, in seeking satisfaction, look only to the material. They seek to gain as many comforts to the flesh around them. It may be in relationships or it may be in material possessions. But these are all of what the Bible terms “the flesh” and not of the spirit. All the time we are pampering ourselves and pandering to our fleshly needs we are building the wrong house on the wrong foundations. We are building on sand and not rock. We are building a house of cards and not of that which will endure when this earthly fleshly experience passes for us and we see ourselves as we really are – spirit.

Throughout our lifetime on this earthly walk we are faced with the choice as to what to seek. Some have a head start because they have been here before and have learnt a little of the rules. Some have been here many times and have grown in their spirit. They see the futility of only pleasing the flesh, of self seeking and always wanting to enjoy the most comfort they can in life, regardless of the situation of those around them. They have returned for another go at earthly life in order to bring some advancement and enlightenment to those they meet here. Very often those they meet here are those they have known before in a previous life. But they have that awareness deeply hidden within their karmic history and are not generally allowed to know of that relationship. They may have their suspicions and beliefs about what they were to others they meet, but none can be sure.

The fact that you are taking the time and interest to read these words tells something about you. It tells that you are aware of these things. You know that you are not an island but a tiny microcosm in the entire cosmos that is existence. You probably know that you have within you all the seeds for fulfillment in this life and that you brought these with you when you came back here. Maybe the words you are reading help to put it into context. Inner thoughts you have had now seem clothed with greater solidity and certainty. You know you are here as a part of destiny and this will make you more determined to fulfill your purpose here and to run your course well.

Others we meet with in this life and interact with may well have some impact upon us. In fact they should. Nothing in this life happens by chance. Every meeting and every exchange between us and those we interact with is meant to progress either us or them – or both. Sometimes a meeting between two people may involve a necessary irritation which is vitally important in producing the pearl that is the desired and designed end result. The formation of a pearl is a biological process. The pearl grows within the oyster as the oyster seeks to protect itself from an intrusion into its protective shell. A little understanding of the oyster and the formation of a pearl is helpful here.

Oysters are “bivalves”, a shell made of two parts or “valves” held together by an elastic ligament. This allows the valves to open so that the oyster can eat. As the ouster grows, so must its shell. The “mantle” is an organ that produces the oyster’s shell using minerals from the oyster’s food. This material created by the mantle is called “nacre” which lines the inside of the shell. A pearl is formed when a foreign substance enters between the mantle and the shell, which irritates the mantle. The oyster reacts by covering up the irritant to protect itself. The mantle covers the invading substance with layers of the nacre and that is what forms the pearl.

Now can you see why it is beneficial for us to have irritants in our lives? Can you see also why you may sometimes be used as an irritant? Do you want to be an oyster that may be a delicacy, but is forgotten almost as soon as it is eaten? Or would you much rather be a pearl that is prized for its beauty and is cherished by the one who owns it? In reality it is God who creates all things and the divine desire is for pearls of great price and beauty, not oysters that are consumed and provide but little nutrition, soon to become a waste product!

The process of having irritation in our lives may not be the most enjoyable. Even being that irritation may make us less than happy and not bring the immediate desired reward of satisfaction and appreciation. But are we going to take the short sighted blinkered view or the long term life view of our purpose here? The way you choose to view this process says much about your stage of spiritual advancement and your value in the wider plan of divinity and the cosmos at this moment in time.

The time that we spend on this earth in this present incarnation is but a tiny part of our eternal existence as spirits. The material events that we pass through may help us to gain understanding of the true reality that is spirit. But the material is always left behind and only that which is spiritual endures and is carried with us into the spirit world. Things that we have used as comforts in this material way of living are of no use to us on a spiritual plane. The spiritual things we take with us onward into our next stage of journey into light and enlightenment are true knowledge and deep spiritual wisdom which allows us an unfolding insight into all that is worthwhile and enduring in the world of spirit.

It may seem to us very sad that there are those who spend their whole lifetime here seeking only fools gold rather than the real thing. But that is their lesson, the truth of which they will see when they next pass the veil into the spirit world. Their opportunity will come again to return with a new insight and work out their existence once again but now with a new light upon their path. It is for us to ensure that we each walk on this earth plane according to the light that we have been given. That light is a gift that we have had to gain by our own experience. It is wasted if we yet again decide to walk in the darkness, an opportunity which is ever present as a temptation from the path we came to walk and the mission we came to fulfill.

So ask yourself if you are really sure of the direction you are heading. Are you truly following all the light you have been given? Is much of that light still hidden within you, clouded by materialism that so easily detracts us from the true pathway? Do you value yourself according the standards others would use to measure you or are you aware that another standard of judgment is far more important? Is it not true that many of those who are considered poor by the standards of material judgment are the richest in spiritual values? Your “estate” may be massive and magnificent when viewed from the heavenly sphere, though small by earth’s standards. That quiet realization within you is far more satisfying than all the riches and comforts that earth can provide. When the earthly things fall away as each of us passes to the higher life it will be you who carries much onward and upward to that higher sphere whilst many you knew in this life will go almost empty handed. Those who wielded power and authority on the earth will appear powerless whilst the strength of your spirit will appear immense. Let this be a revelation to you that will help you live a life that continues to gain in light and true value, value that will be real and enduring.