Spectrum of Spirit: A Digital Sanctuary for Spiritual Discourse and Community

The "Spectrum of Spirit" blog features insightful articles, essays, and reflections penned by the founder, Paul, and diverse guest contributors. Focusing on contemporary spirituality, the blog offers regular updates with weekly themes and seasonal reflections, fostering ongoing engagement and a deeper understanding of spiritual practices and trends.

Imagine the Hand That Reaches Back?

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By

Solstice

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8–13 minutes

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Wingspan, or reach, is a desirable physical characteristic in basketball. Though height is important, a plus wingspan, or a wingspan that is greater than one’s height, is opportune for the potential of a basketball player to play bigger than their listed height. Wingspan gives the potential for a player to stretch out wide covering more ground on the offensive and defensive end. Reach might allow one to guard or mirror the offensive player, even though the defender may not be the similar in size as them. Wingspan can shrink distance from one defensive player to another, cowering gaps where there might be holes in the defense. Offensively, a baller with a longer reach can create different passing angles, get their shot off over defenders, and have a handle that is wider and even closer to the ground. A gifted two-way player with a plus wingspan can give opportunities for their team to score and provide needed defensive stops for their team. However, in the current NBA, most of the best NBA players are not required to be the number 1 option on offense and guard the best player on the other team, explained through energy optimization and conservation for these players. However, I would like to provide a spiritual lens to the conversation of reach, wondering whether giving and needing in our life is held in one’s perspective or one’s pain.

In plenty of communities, compassion is emphasized, giving to those you associate with when they need it or in a time of celebration. In American society, we praise those who give to “good” causes, who give to charity, who support a movement working towards the changes one supports. However, I would like to challenge this notion. I imagine the needy is not something outside of myself, but a reflection of myself, a version of me that made one or two decisions at pivotal times. This reflection leads me to see how one or two times I would have been more intentional with my actions could have led me on one path of life, more beneficial than the one I am on now. This recognition leads me to see how one of two times I would have been less intentional with my decisions could have led me on one path of life, more harmful than the one I am on now. I challenge you to view those asking as as a fracture in the timeline, growing towards what they once were, becoming the best version of themself, just like you, one day at a time.

Exploring Reach

I love origins. Ever since I can remember I loved hearing the mythology that would explain how certain things work, the evolution of how we came to the conclusions we have now, and where a certain type of style came from. In my continued fascination with origins, I have found that there are some traditions, some stories that seem to overpower those around them, even though they were written within a similar time frame, sometimes even a period predating the dominating thinking. Unfortunately the reasons for some origin stories reigning “supreme” to others seem to relate to abuse of hierarchical power structures within religious, political, economic, racial systems, which is a topic for another time. Regardless, Spectrum of Spirit is about bringing power to those stories, the stories that are misrepresented or underexposed.

On the Stay Spiritual channel, Justin and James get together to share their reaction to a video highlighting the secret truth of Hindu gods1. After watching the video, James comments on how Indian monk, the creator of the video, always has stunning videos in his work2. In terms of the message, James has a million questions about the math, pointing to how the quick video doesn’t provide visuals to the precise calculations it talks about3. James is also curious about the Hindu audience, and how much they believe that Avatars can happen only within India or if they believe Avatars can manifest in other places4. James and Justin laugh at the opinion on Jesus, him being seen as an Avatar, but not of Indian origin5. Justin wants to be careful, and elaborates on his intention to set minds free6. Justin looks around and there are so many gods, severe gods, that are coming and out to get people that do not do it right7. Justin relays a hypothetical, posing what if there were only “Justavars” that were created in North America8. Justin gets upset that so many religions try to market their people as the chosen people and their people are the best9.

James and Justin, particularly Justin seem to have a very passionate perspective on this video from the Indian Monk. Justin seems to be upset at the exclusivity of these traditions, flavoring it with historical, archaeological, and scientific numbers to support the origin or mythology behind it. In the past two years, there have been wars in Gaza and Ukraine, rooted in a group of people doing whatever they please to prove their right to a certain land. I believe Justin’s point on “Justavars” is comical, but is worth a more serious look. Justin jokes about “Justavars” being the Indian version of “Avatars”. Though I still think we need to respect the tradition of Indian culture, I do think there is a way of envisioning the next generation of humanity as having divine qualities. I believe the next wave of humans could be ones that are defined by compassion for themselves, the willingness to sit in their own suffering, creating action to better others suffering. I believe there is potential for us to move past traditional ties to a sacred physical land, removing our desire to explore the reach of one’s dominion, and appreciate the divine dust under our own feet.

Unity Reach

My mother used to tell me about her dad, my grandfather. He was a pretty prominent person in the Vincentian community. Along with plenty of other roles I forgot, he was one of the notable cricket umpires in the country. My mom even has her family name on a street because of the profound impact Grandfather Browne had on the community. My mother also used to try to relate to my basketball experience. She would recall her experiences playing netball, where she was apparently pretty good, using her reach to disrupt the opponent from scoring and scoring herself from time to time. I share this to say Vincentian culture has games that were made to unify the community. The games were followed by celebration: music, food, and dance near the sandy beaches.

On CULTURAL TV, the creators posted a soccer game, the speakers speaking in a language I am not familiar with10. They call a handball on one of the players, a penalty, that leads to a deflected shot attempt from one of the opposing players11. Later on in the game, the team in green takes a corner kick on the team in blue, the soccer ball bouncing around until a player on green kicks in a redirected pass12. Jumping forward time in the match, the green team takes a far out penalty kick that is again redirected into the goal by another player on green13. The team goes nuts, guys taking their shirts off, what appears to be a diverse representation of spectators in the crowd surrounding the player who scored the goal14. I’m questioning if this is a linear timeline of what happened in the game, as the score is back to 0-0 and players on both the green and blue team are taking free kicks, a one on one with the goalie to see who will prevail15. The camera cuts from highlights of the free kicks to what appear to be other spectators being interviewed about the team they are there to support, the events that happened in the game, or literally anything else, I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference lol16.

CULTURAL TV is a constant reminder to me about the pervasiveness of soccer across the world. Spectators get a rush when the goalie dives and saves the ball from going into the goal. Players jolt towards the corner after a miraculous turn of events lead to a goal. The team celebrations are seen as sacred, an event where people want to envelop themselves within the moment, within the parameters of their two feet. No matter the play, spectators can experience moments of fervor and excitement, similar to moments people have expressed within a place of worship or during a cultural celebration. The collective of soccer fans have an energy that pulses through the arena, creating a unity that extends its reach to all sharing a passion for soccer, no matter what other aspect they may contrast in.

The Art of Reach

My father has had a huge impact on my upbringing. He is the one who put a ball in my hand. He is the one who helped me fall in love with videogames. He is the one who taught me about the god of the New Testament. I am very grateful for having a father who was there to support me in my dreams, push me to become a version of myself, and be present at more than enough sporting events. One thing he tells me quite often is that I am one of the greatest gifts he has received. This makes me think of the relationship children have with their parents during holidays like Christmas. Though this is not taken for granted, and not every child gets this opportunity, the tradition I was taught is that I receive gifts from my parents and I give my parents a gift. When I was a young child, I wasn’t paying for a gift that my parents received. However, I would like to think, my name being on the card, the gift, and my presence being there to give it to them, makes my father’s reflection make a little more sense within my framework, presence being the best gift we can give anyone.

The Artistic Journey Channel posted a short about a cute easy gift idea17. The video starts with a paper folded in hamburger style, at the horizontal center18. Then they take a premade cut-out of something holding a birthday cake and glue it on to the outside of the folded paper19. The creator writes “Happy Birthday” in the top right corner before opening up the fold to the inside of the card20. Then the creator takes two pieces of paper, bordered with gold and a red bow at the bottom and glues them on the paper, one on the left side and the other on the right side21. The creator closes the card and shows off how it looks22.

The creator made what they consider to be a simple gift and shared it with their audience. On their own will, they offered a suggestion to assist those who wanted an idea on how to hopefully treat someone. This gift is not made for oneself, but to be a witness of what someone else means to their life. The card stands on its own, hopefully beside or around the person enough to make them feel a certain way. I believe this is the power of art, the power of creation. When the person the art is from may not physically be there, their presence can still be felt. Though the beautiful and simple card may receive applause due to its detail, the card, the art has the ability to reach out to the recipient.

Reaffirming Reach

Embody your imagination. Hand to the right. Reach lower. Back yourself. Rise to explore. Meet unity. Reflect on art. Reaffirm your steps. Understand the divine. Inhale one’s apprenticeship. Express compassion. Originate where you are from. Give eternally. Echo your reception. Motion towards mystery. See your twin. Mirror your soul.

Bibliography

  1. Stay Spiritual, “Why Do Avatars Only Take Birth in India I The Secret Truth Of Hindu Gods,” YouTube, October 14, 2025, accessed October 15, 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2uOFNEGb7o&t=19s. ↩︎
  2. Stay Spiritual, ↩︎
  3. Stay Spiritual, ↩︎
  4. Stay Spiritual, ↩︎
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  6. Stay Spiritual, ↩︎
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  9. Stay Spiritual, ↩︎
  10. CULTURAL TV. “Bola na rede Final Regional LDC Ser Juventude 2 (5) x 0 (4) 24 de Fevereiro.” YouTube. October 12, 2025. Accessed October 15, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdeRmGHg3cA&t=10s. ↩︎
  11. CULTURAL TV. ↩︎
  12. CULTURAL TV. ↩︎
  13. CULTURAL TV. ↩︎
  14. CULTURAL TV. ↩︎
  15. CULTURAL TV. ↩︎
  16. CULTURAL TV. ↩︎
  17. Artistic Journey, “Cute easy gift idea,” YouTube, October 15, 2025, accessed October 15, 2025, https://www.youtube.com/shorts/H5zZJAH5XNk. ↩︎
  18. Artistic Journey, ↩︎
  19. Artistic Journey, ↩︎
  20. Artistic Journey, ↩︎
  21. Artistic Journey, ↩︎
  22. Artistic Journey, ↩︎

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