The Universe

I recently caught a clip from the sketch/stand-up comedy show “Inside Amy Schumer,” featuring hilarious (and sometimes quite vulgar) comedienne Amy Schumer.   In this clip, Bill Nye the famous “Science Guy” explains that while scientists once believed that the universe was a “chaotic collection of matter,” they now know that “the universe exists to send cosmic guidance to women in their 20’s.”  The camera moves to several different pairs of young women talking about how the universe communicates with them.  One woman recalls taking a wrong turn and ending up in front of a vitamin store, which she interprets as the universe’s way of telling her she should take calcium.  Another describes her recent anxiety over having an affair with a married man and the subsequent relief she felt when she saw a woman in yoga class wearing a t-shirt that said “CHILL,” which she interpreted as a sign from the universe that she should relax and keep having the affair.

At one point in the sketch, an exasperated Bill Nye just throws up his hands and says, “That just makes no f’in sense.”

I laughed (hard) as I watched this comedy sketch, but not for the same reason I would have laughed five years ago.  Five years ago, I would have laughed because I believed the silly writers of the sketch just didn’t understand the universe and its capacity for sending “cosmic guidance.”  But I realized the other day as I was watching that I was laughing because I am the one who doesn’t understand the universe.  I could see myself in these young women, and I have been just as inclined, even into my forties, to take an insignificant occurrence and turn it into a message from the universe telling me exactly what I want to hear.   Or to believe that if I simply put something “out into the universe” it will manifest without any focused action on my part.

Over the past year, my understanding of God, the universe, and the Law of Attraction has drastically changed.  Ironically, my year-long experiment with the Law of Attraction has made me less inclined to believe that everything that happens is a message from the universe, or that simply putting something on a vision board generates enough energy to make it happen. 

   

It’s so interesting to me how spiritual growth unfolds -how I can be absolutely sure I understand something and, a year later, come to see it from a completely different perspective.  Or how I can grapple with an idea for months or even years until I think I’ve mastered it, and then on the next turn of the spiral, watch it come back around in an entirely different context and throw me for a loop all over again.  I loved this comedy sketch because it shed a light on a part of me that is in the process of growing and changing.  I’m still playing with what I believe about the universe.  I’m working on trying to balance the idea of having faith, but also taking authentic action; of trusting God, but also taking responsibility for my life.  It's not that I don't believe in divine guidance, but I believe it's possible for me to use "the universe" as an excuse not to be accountable. 

In any event, I enjoyed this playful (and somewhat offensive) skit about a spiritual law I've come to know and love. 

~REBECCA