The Wound Heals - That's the Nature of Wounds

From "Creativity" by Matthew Fox
Otto Rank said: In man, identification aims at re-establishing a lost identity: Not an identity which was lost once and for all, ... but an identity with the cosmic process, which has to be surrounded and continuously re-established in the course of self-development. Rank calls this loss of cosmic union and "original wound," and I believe this term is far more accurate than the "original sin" term that certain theological traditions have oversold to us. We inherit a wound, not a sin. We do sin; we inherit wounds... The Christ story is a story of the wound being healed... If creativity is of our origin and if evolution is continuous, then creativity is of our original nature, and when we give birth to the Buddha nature just as, in the Christian story, we give birth to the Christ when we give birth. Here we tap into the Spirit that desires to co-create with us. Thus the "original wound" is healed once and for all.

It seems to me the topic of wounding is coming up regularly recently in various things I read, from Richard Rohr to Matthew Fox. I was intrigued to read Rohr's ideas about how failing/falling leads to springing upward ever higher and more consciously. I am thrilled to read Fox's thoughts on creativity, being a life-long lover of creativity. 

The thought of the original wound brings new clarity to the human situation in many ways. Eckhart's seed breaking open has long spoken to me. To grow, expand, express and become what is encoded within, the wound must open the shell. The assumption is also that deep wounds, dealt with, open the way for more meaningful contributions and inspired creativity.

The reason the shell must be wounded is that the creative gift each brings to earth must come out and be given. God has given us life, and our gift in return is to give the creative gift we came to express.

I know that I am most happy when I am engrossed, indeed lost, in some creative endeavor, be it quilting, sewing, painting, writing, cooking, etc. I feel the flow of something greater as something new comes through me to form as a quilt or a book or a brand new recipe or some other thing. I did not intend it. It took on a life of its own. It came through me.

My humor says God must have sent me with a ton of gifts to give because with all the wounding I've experienced I am basically now a sieve. I sometimes cry out for the wounding to end, enough! But from my family of origin to the government, wounding has been an experience that stalks me and so far has not ended.

I ask what more am I to give? I come willing to the task. Show me, Lord. Open the path You would have me walk. But, could You please stop with the wounding?!! :)