Getting the Wheels Aligned

In practice, we are at our best when our body’s desire and intuition is joined with the emotional impulse of our heart and guided by our mind’s knowledge and insight to live daily in a way that makes sense with our beliefs. We live what we believe and our three centers of intelligence - thoughts, emotions and actions - all work in union with our core values. Our core values spring from what we decide to believe. Translation? We wake up in the morning and greet ourselves in the mirror without shame; we brush our teeth at night, stare into the mirror and know that we did a decent job at being human today. And on those days when we totally blow it - we know what to do to make it right. We know that God finds a way for banished people to come back home.

On decent days, we go about our day reflecting the image of God by loving what God loves, thinking as God thinks and doing as God would do if he were in our place. This does not have to be some big grand epic thing. Most of the time it will not be big or grand. But we can appreciate God, ourselves and others. We can live a reasonably peaceful and productive life in a way that makes the world a bit better because we are alive, fully present, and capable of doing the next right thing as best as we can understand it.

What happens when it all goes to hell in a handbasket? Again, we are going to wrestle with what we believe. BUT. The bad days often reveal what we doubt, what false beliefs we have buried deep inside, and where we need to ask for help. Bad days feel bad but can be great gifts and reality checks too.

In God's Image

At our healthiest, we are a people of God who can embrace the fullness of our humanity and practice the capacity God gave us to “bear his image”. Basically this means that we practice what we profess to believe. Is that hard? Yes. Are we often confused about how to apply our core values in real time? Absolutely. But we struggle with this by actively seeking to improve our conscious contact with God and our self-awareness so that we can sort out our confusions and live consistently within our framework of belief. If you are coming from a Christian perspective, then our work includes sorting out all the confusions about what it means to be a Christian and work to practice those beliefs that we understand and accept as true. This is more practical than it sounds.

For now, think about this: If we say we are Christian - which we do not have to but if we do - then we by default must take an interest in what God says it means to be a Christian. How do you receive that? What might need to change for your to embrace that commitment? Now - if you are not a Christian, that’s cool. You fill in your blank about your belief system but you still need to wrestle with the same principle!!!

Meditation Moment- The St. Francis Prayer

One way to increase our spiritual practice if we are rusty or just plain or reluctant is to rely on the words of others. Here is a prayer option to begin your day:

The St. Francis Prayer

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace -

that where there is hatred, I may bring love -

that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness -

where there is discord, I may bring harmony -

where there is error, I may bring truth -

where there is doubt, I may bring faith -

where there is despair, I may bring hope -

where there are shadows, I may bring light -

where there is sadness, I may bring joy.

Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted -

to understand than to be understood -

to love, than to be loved.

For it is by self-forgetting that one finds.

It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.

It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life.

Want to add a bit of weight to your prayer? Spend a couple minutes breathing. Then re-read the prayer.

Sorting and Certainty? Not for Me!

Belief is tricky. In the faith of my youth, it was presented as an either/or, in or out proposition. We either believe and are “in” or we are unbelievers and are “out”. The price of admission was confession and acceptance of who God is and what Jesus did for us. If we were unwilling to do that we were labelled “those people”. I clearly got the message that to be “those people” is a very bad thing.

I was never comfortable with this sorting and certainty. I grew up watching pastors say one thing and do another. I observed Christians who behaved badly; I met some of “those people” who had no expressed belief in God yet as far as I could tell lived a Christlike life. How confusing! (Of course, I also met some awesome authentic Christians - but that is not the point of this blog!)

I confused myself too. I believed that God was trustworthy, but could not find a way to trust him with me. I could acknowledge that God was a wonderful Creator, gracious and loving, but did not believe that he had much interest in me one way or another. I felt unworthy but willing to try to earn his approval. Despite my efforts, God remained at best distant. On my worst days, he was frightening and I feared his judgment.

Have you ever felt that way? I no longer feel this way - most days. So what happened? How did I move through these confusing experiences?

To be continued….

Meditation Moment- The Serenity Prayer

One of the absolutely best ways to foster belief and transformation is establishing a daily practice that includes: silence, solitude, and stillness. Not great at any of those? Let’s practice! The Serenity Prayer is a common prayer in Twelve-Step programs and a useful a daily practice. Start today with this prayer. Sit with these words for a few minutes.

God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change,

the courage to change the things I can,

and the wisdom to know the difference.

All you need to practice the three S’s is to repeat this prayer, breathe in and out, and be still. Try it!