The road to Enlightenment is a tumultuous one at best. It is said that it takes many lifetimes to achieve this feat, to reach a state of grace, to find Nirvana. Along the journey there are many tests that one must endure and pass to make it to the next level of attainment. I would say that the closer we get to God the more difficult the tasks, the more pain we have to endure, the more courage we have to muster up.
After all, to find yourself in a state of Grace, a state of sanctification by God; the state of one who is under Divine Influence…requires a trip fraught with wildly twisting, winding roads that eventually are met with mountains so high their peaks are seemingly non-existent and valleys so low, they at times resemble the very pits of hell. The embers of these valleys burn bright with white hot heat created for only the stout hearted to wade through and come out on the other side unscathed. Within the valley lives many dragons of all sizes and proportions and to say you must slay them one by one is to say that you take a steady prescription of the vilest poisons in existence. And yet, this is accomplished daily by many who are in the midst of attaining Grace.
Some work endlessly, tirelessly at climbing over their personal mountains, these are laden with icy cold whipping winds whose only job is to knock you back eight steps for every ten you take. There may be slashing, biting rains accompanied by violent thunder and lightening so electrifying you fairly smolder in the air around it.
Occasionally, for seemingly the shortest periods of time, you have a stretch of the straight and narrow road to saunter down; lured into complacency by its smoothness you almost forget those valleys and mountains. It all but engulfs you, its happy, its friendly, its comfortable and just when one thinks they have smooth sailing before them they stumble and fall into a valley or are abruptly halted by what seems to be the largest mountain they've ever encountered.
Clay Aiken may very well be on his path to Enlightenment. I don't know whether or not I believe in reincarnation, coming back lifetime after lifetime to achieve Nirvana. But I have said many; many times that Clay is a wise old soul. If I have, by any stretch of the imagination hit the proverbial nail on its flat head then I must say that Clay is in the throes of slaying dragons and climbing mountains, he is in the thick of his journey toward a state of Grace…elevating himself, soaring to momentous unity in becoming a being under Divine Influence!
I have often written than Clay Aiken has a light like no other I have seen in anyone, not even in my circle of family and friends. Clay just glows from the inside out with an illumination so bright and so different from anything or anyone I know.
That's not to say that my family and friends aren't wonderful people because they most certainly are. They are kind, loving, giving, helpful…but none of us, myself included, have ever seemed to illuminate our fundamental inner essence, even on our happiest, finest, most meaningful life changing days. Oh, yes, we "glow" on our wedding day, we "glow" during pregnancy…we are "milestone" glowers.
Clay on the other hand seems to have his light switched on permanently, even when there are tears in his eyes for a moving tribute to him by adoring fans or after crying for two hours over a scene he has witnessed, like the children of Uganda sleeping in parking lots and on store front verandas. The light from within continues to radiate outwardly, seemingly not diminished in the least even though his human heart may be breaking. Clay, well Clay is just different!
I think Gladys Knight said it best when she said to him "You're, you're a mystery…you have your own look, there is something very magical about your look and your voice is so pure. I don't know, in the contemporary world, what's going to happen with you…but something exceptional is going to happen for you somewhere along the way because you are so pure!" Even then, on a stage for millions and millions to witness, this gentle, humble sweet soul illuminated all those around him with his amazing light.
This is the visage I behold every single time I look at Clay! It doesn't matter what he is doing or what he is singing…whether he is holding a sick infant in his arms, or delighting us with swiveling hips ala Elvis or causing us to stare, eyes brimming with unshed tears while he prays a glorious Christmas hymn in song.
Clay Aiken is a man on a mission, he is in fact a Spiritual Being on a Human Journey!
He is here at the behest of his Father, his assignment is to light up the lives of as many other spirits on this earth as he possibly can… for so many of us, on this human journey, have lost our way in the day to day struggle to understand what it means to be human and to live in a world where we must face struggles and adversities of all too consuming proportions at times.
Clay is here to develop his own spiritual level to new heights having faced so many trials and tribulations already in his young 27 years. He has slain more dragons in his youth then many of us slay in a lifetime!
Since reading Clay's beautiful book, I tend to think of him as a wounded soul in some respects. The unresolved issues with either father, the absolute heartbreak of not having a last conversation with a sister who would take her own life, the hurt and pain he suffered by being bullied and excluded by peers for most of his youth…and yet this "wounded soul" has a spirit that dances and glows like a welcoming beacon in the night.
Clay is ever evolving, the changes before our very eyes in the last three years alone are astounding. I marvel at his gift, I marvel at his presence, I marvel at the opportunities that have come his way but most of all I marvel that the young man who stands before us now, today…is at once a little older, much wiser and has a confidence level of the highest proportions…and yet, he remains unchanged where it counts. He is still sweet, polite, respectful and oh so humble. He misses his home town and his family and friends to the degree of relocating for the third time in as many years back to home and hearth. He sang a bluegrass song to his papa who has Alzheimer's as a public display of love and an unexpected Christmas gift. The sweetness on his face and the love in his eyes caused me to think back on the passage in his book where Clay states that if he could be very still, he could lay with his papa and sing him to sleep as a child.
Clay is just on a higher plain and is already far and away above us. I say he is an old soul, and I continue to believe that. Again, I don't know if we have one lifetime or several lifetimes, a chance to learn more and more allowing us to get closer and closer to God, rising to a different level of awareness and knowledge with each lifetime. All I do know is that whether he is enlightened or not Clay is on a special mission from God, not just for his own personal journey and growth but to take thousands with him on this journey giving us all the opportunity to attain the next level of enlightenment.
In three short years, this young man has taught us to be more tolerant of the disabled, particularly disabled children…to fully realize the vital importance of inclusion and to understand the mantra that "no child be left behind". Clay has brought new awareness to the horrific lives of the Ugandan children who for eighteen years have made the nightly mecca from the warmth and comfort of their homes in small villages to the parking lots of the nearest city just to be safe from the rebel army. This army, known as the LRA, has waged a solely child-targeted war against the most innocent members of society. They are raped, murdered and sold as sex slaves and Clay has witnessed the ravages of this eighteen year long onslaught by a measly army only one thousand strong who continue this travesty unchallenged by anyone in power or in the media. Why was Clay the one destined to witness this? We will never know the answer to this question because it needs to be asked of God, but I suspect it is because Clay gets it, Clay cares. He knows what it's like to be a child suffering and under attack. Perhaps Clay will one day be the one to make a difference in this cowardly war on the innocent. Perhaps, unknowingly, this will be his most important mission. If not, suffice it to say that one of Clay's missions in this lifetime is to aid and protect the wounded souls of some of the world's children.
On the lighter side of life Clay Aiken has brought back to thousands and thousands of us who were left out in the musical cold, the sultry, seductive beauty of the ballad. He has reintroduced the sexy movement of swiveling hips and slow dancing. And, heaven help us all…he hypnotizes us and draws us in with smoky, smoldering looks radiating from eyes of Jade. The intensity with which he looks at you is hot enough to be labeled as X-rated. Clay's body language is nothing short of sizzling. Ambitious shirt tugs, deep knee bends, slow fluttering hand movements and grinding thigh and hip animation work in unison to bring his adoring audience of female fans to the brink of feeling spent by the end of each and every song that passes through the most expressive, beautiful, bow-like lips.
Because Clay is here with us in our lifetime, we are experiencing a movement of heightened independence by the generation of baby boomers. We are making friends throughout the States, in Canada and even in other parts of the world via the Internet. This opened a lifeline for so many who were alone and lonely, sick or disabled to reach out and make new friends. To travel to venues to witness the beauty of Clay's astounding voice and to meet new people and have new experiences. Some of us are traveling alone by car or by plane for the first time in our lives. All of these changes, all of the fun, all of the personal soul searching we have been forced to explore, all of the random acts of kindness we have rendered, all of the prayers, love and support we offer to new friends, many of whom we have never met…all of the good that has ensued within the ClayNation…the very existence of the ClayNation…has all come about because Clay Aiken lives in our lifetime. We are so blessed!
For a multitude of reasons already known by Clay's fans…for his Love of God and thankfulness to Jesus for his life and his gift of voice, because he practices what he preaches, because he loves, because he cares…for his philanthropic endeavors and humanitarian efforts, for all the feelings he has evoked in us, for the love, the laughter and the fun he has awakened in us, for bringing music back into our lives, for making us dance in the aisles, sing at the top of lungs in our cars along with him to his songs, for making his older fans feel twenty five again…Clay Aiken no longer has to slay his dragons alone, for he is unconditionally loved and unwaveringly supported and always will be for as long as he is in our lives.
I hope that when God was choosing Clay's soul and filling it with all the beauty, light, love, strength, endurance, prowess, intelligence, snarkiness and comedic flair and the many, many other attributes it holds, that He took that soul and split it in half…giving one half to Clay and the other half to the person who would share his life. I hope that in many ways she is like Clay so they will fully love, cherish and understand one another. But I also hope that God had a mischievous twinkle in His eye the day he filled that special soul and included enough differences into the mix to spice up the lives of Clay and his soul-mate. Clay so deserves to find the love of his life , a love so deep and so true, one who will bring healing to the wounds in his soul.
Clay Aiken, is a most visible example of
a Spiritual Being on a Human Journey, may God bless him, watch over him and
protect him always and forever!
By: CorieLuvzClay
February 9, 2006