The idea came to me one day that our physical life can be compared to the years that a young man or woman spends in a private school that their parents have sent them off to so that he or she can get a good education. Being so concerned that their children get the finest education so that they can follow in their footsteps, they send them to a private school far away. Similar to the time spent between middle school (sort of like Hogwarts in the Harry Potter story) and high school, the young man or woman spend perhaps seven years away from home at school.

However, life at this prestigious school is very intense and occupies most of the young student's time. The school is their place of growth, intellectually, morally, spiritually, emotionally, and it is their home where they forge friendships that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. Every now and then, though, the boy or girl takes respite from their academic studies and writes home. As they put pen to paper their minds are filled with fond memories of home. Although months and years have passed and they only go home at the end of the term or major holidays perhaps, they are preoccupied with life at school. It is only in these quiet moments spent writing their parents or brothers and sisters that they remember or come back to reality of where they come from and who they are.

What I'm alluding to here in a metaphorical way is that life is a school. We are foremost divine spiritual beings having spiritual experiences. So, I think the symbolism of a private boarding school works very well here.

Each one of us is a spirit incarnated into a physical body right now. We are spirit and we have a soul. If you feel like denying it, that's perfectly fine but the majority of people alive today don't. We often talk about spirit, don't we? Well, what do we say? He's in good spirits; or We must maintain our school spirit. What do we mean? We repeat this so often but how often do we really understand what we're saying? If we say a person is in good spirits, aren't we saying that he's of a optimistic frame of mind? And to maintain school spirit, are we not reinforcing the spirit of unity, collegiality? But yet this is not at the expense of a person's individuality. More on that later.

With that said, for now, let's return to our metaphorical expression of life. If we are primarily spiritual or divine beings, made in God's image, then what on Earth are we doing here? Life is for learning; we all know that, right? Then what are we learning?

Michael Newton's series of books entitled, "Journey Of Souls", & "Destiny Of Souls" and "Life Between Lives" are a collection of extensive work that he did over many years. Newton, a professionally trained hypnotherapist has worked with patients to regress them back into their earlier memories and more importantly into their past lives.

Because of his tireless work and research, Dr. Newton has uncovered so much information about a part of our reality that we know so very little about: our true divine selves. The reason that I think that his work is so ground breaking is that what Dr. Newton discovered is a glimpse into who we really are behind the mask of our physical life.

All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players, a quote from William Shakespeare's "As You Like It" says. Most of us are familiar with this quote. I'm not exactly sure what he was referring to but we do find ourselves playing different parts during the course of our lives, don't we? So, why do we play certain parts and not others? Why do we find ourselves where we are while others might be better or worse off than we are? Are we lucky or is it some strange joke that we are afforded the lot we have in life? This is why I think that reincarnation has a way of explaining the questions and dilemmas that we face in life.

There's no need for you to take my word for it. Accepting the validity of reincarnation should be your own conclusion. We are all Divinely created by God. He has infused us with liberty and freedom to choose. Therefore, He is expecting nothing less from us but to appreciate our freedom to choose and utilize it often, in our own time. I see my purpose as the writer of this column to provide you with an alternative so that you can make the right decisions. I will not impose my beliefs on you but show you what I've learned and make suggestions.

In the spirit of freedom, each of us has made certain important decisions which have resulted in the life that we are living right at this moment. In a way, our lives are predestined. Some of you who are more independently minded might be cringing right about now as I so often have. Predestination, give me a break. I'm the one who makes the decisions in my life. For now, I will say that you are absolutely right. However you are faulting the term, Predestination, assuming that it means that someone, namely God, has set down every aspect of your life and there is no escape from it. With a modest understanding of reincarnation you will come to understand that prior to this life you presently live you were assisted by spirit guides to choose a physical life that would best suit the goals that you have so that you can grow and develop in the most effective way. So, in a way, you're life is predestined, but by you. Now, I'm not at all sure how that makes you feel at this moment. Some of you might be comforted that you are in control and that you indeed can chart your own destiny if you wish. Yet, others might be questioning your own judgment, wondering what possessed you to put yourself in the position that you are in now. The bottom line is, don't be too hard on yourself. You did make certain critical decisions on this life you are presently living but you were also free to deviate from that plan of action. It's entirely plausible because when you finally incarnated into this life, you forgot everything as every soul does.

Which brings me back to the boarding school metaphor. When the child is sent to school what do your parents say to you? "Please do well in school and work hard. Now we expect you to write home but other than that keep yourself focused on your studies. We'll call you from time to time to check up on you but don't worry about us."

And that's pretty much how it should be. You knew what work you needed to do at school and what is expected of you and that is all you needed to think about until you returned home. Meaning: You made the appropriate decision of the life you were going to incarnate into and the issues you needed to work on and this physical life is a reflection of that. Then when you were born all that was forgotten so that this life is all you know. And then from time to time you do get calls from home. Have you ever had a déjà vu experience or seen somebody that you thought you recognized but who your logical mind said you didn't? Did you ever have a close brush with death where your life flashes before your eyes? These are but samples of experiences we all have in this life and they are wake up calls. You are reminded that your life is fragile and someday you will die. Life is temporary and it should be appreciated for the time you have on Earth. We all know this but if you understand the wisdom behind it then you'll realize that physical life is temporary because it is not all that we are. We are spiritual beings having physical experiences. We are Divine Beings going to school and learning our lessons on this physical plane of existence. That is the only way we can grow and change.

If you liked this article please read the others by clicking the article link on the left. In addition, you can express your appreciation for what I've written by telling your friends and family about this site. Just click on the envelop link below. And don't worry I'll have more for you to read soon.