I have to credit the title with an incredible woman I have just recently met.  This is Isabelle Laak's quote, "To be highly spiritual, you need to be highly grounded."  Where did this come from?  What was the context?

As all of our conversations tend to go, we started talking about spirituality.  I was sharing with her a personal story about a family member that considers herself so spiritual, so above us all, and doesn't believe in right and wrong.  She openly celebrates people that hurt, people that intentionally do harm.  In fact, her celebration of these individuals has caused my direct family pain, and lots of it.  Yet she is so "spiritual" and causes others that much hurt?  It doesn't make sense.  Although I understand where she's coming from since my own studies in spirituality tell me we shouldn't consider things "right or wrong."  They don't really exist since it is a value judgement and each person's, each culture's, values are different.  "Right and wrong" are only man's judgements.  God really doesn't care.  Then why does it feel so "wrong?"  And why does it hurt so much?

Wise Isabelle says, "To be highly spiritual, you need to be highly grounded.  That means you need to have a moral compass.  You need to judge between right and wrong.  That is the Law of this reality, this world.  We have 'right and wrong' because one causes joy and the other causes pain."  Wow.  She nailed it in so few words.

I've spinned this concept in so many ways trying to understand how this family member could be so uncaring, so unsympathetic, so callous.  She opens her arms to the ones that cause pain and hurts the ones that only want to love.  Now, I know the ones causing the pain need love too, but does it need to come from a family member so up-close and personal?  No.  That is where I stand.  I guess I am truly a "lower spiritual being" and so be it.

I firmly believe that we choose our family before we come to this reality.  We choose those people that surround us, be they family, friends, etc.  I believe we do this because this reality, this world, can be a pretty ugly place and the people we put around us, called "family," can help us get through it, or contribute strongly to our growth and development.  Morality is a part of this reality.  Now different cultures define morality differently, but it all boils down to celebrating love and joy (doing right) or causing pain and suffering (doing wrong).  Family and friends should look out for their family and friends.  Celebrate the right and cushion each other from the wrong. 

This does not validate all out war, or personal attacks by family or friends, to those people that "wronged" them.  No, not at all.  But it does mean you don't embrace the person causing your loved ones pain.  Send the wrong-doer love, but wrap your arms around your family or friend that is hurting because of it.  Stand by them and love them all the more because they need it.  Don't turn your back on the ones "wronged" to love the one that caused the pain.  That hurts even more.

I will embrace my truth, although it might be considered "lower" in the spiritual realm by the self-proclaimed "higher beings."  I will stand by a moral compass on this earth that celebrates love and joy as "right" and pain and suffering as "wrong."  Although I will not intentionally hurt the wrong doer, I will send them love instead and walk away.  I will embrace and LOVE, with all my energy, the person hurting because of the acts of another.

Perhaps by grounding myself in the law of this reality--the moral compass--I will eventually become more highly spiritual.  I will not cause others pain though, in my qwest for this higher plane.  I am not judge nor jury.  I do not pretend to be.  I am love and I seek to be light so I may guide others to joy.  This is my purpose.

I send this family member love.  May she continue on her qwest to find what she is looking for.  We, though, will not have her around us or in our lives anymore.  Go in peace.  We choose "right"--love and joy.  And I am grateful for that choice!

[Isabelle Laak, owner of Holistic Massage, LLC, operates out of Berthoud and Boulder, CO,  She is an extremely gifted massage and colorpuncture therapist.  Check her out at www.integratedholisticmassage.com