A vital aspect of our humanity is our ability to overcome adversity. Some will claim that this is merely the survival instinct, but there is something more, a third thing, higher up, and further back still than mere instinct.  What exactly is that thing that tells us we need to urge on one instinct (ex: protection of our children), while at the same time telling us to diminish another instinct (ex: indulgence)?

I am arguing it is the Divine impulse. We all experience it. We explain it differently using our own unique categories. Please allow me to share mine. 

Every aspect of the world is constantly telling and retelling the story of overcoming. We are all knocked down. Some of us are knocked out. But most do not stay down.  We rise up. How? What is the power source that causes such rising?

It's a cycle. Rise. Fall. Rise. Fall. Grow. Live. Die. Birth. Grow. Live. Die. Forward. Back. We all know the drill. But have you contemplated it? Can you see through it and get a glimpse of what is inside like a small portal on a passing train, or do you just see the train?

A seed dies in the ground and a tree emerges.  A parent sacrifices and a child becomes responsible. A student forsakes nights of fun and gains an education. We pay a price, to gain a reward.  Everywhere you look, it's the story of the cross. It's the messianic tale being experienced by all of us. We need not define this in Christian or even religious categories but it is a perfect explanation of the power that overcomes. 

On one level, overcoming is simply the human story, but on another level it is the retelling of a cosmic story in the everyday drama of life. It's the great joining of spirit and flesh, light and dark, mind and matter, God and humanity. It's the event horizon for "both." It's visible every time we overcome.